The Words She Couldn't Say

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Ten Years Ago

"You managed to go and do the one thing that puts this family's name down...".

I sit quietly on the old wooden chair, its wobbly leg making me sway back and forth as I sniffle back another tear. My mother is angry, as expected, but I had no idea just how livid she would be when I shared my news with her a few hours ago.

"Did you even think about what your daddy would have to tell the town folk' once everybody finds out?"

Each word is spit at me with increasing emphasis, and when I finally look up to make eye contact with her, I see disgust and disappointment etched all over her face.

"I'm so sorry, mama" I whisper, holding back a fresh wave of tears.

Just then, the back door of the kitchen swings open and my father comes storming in. I wish in that moment that I could go back in time, to that night four weeks ago when I decided to let Tyler Evans lure me into the back of his truck. If I had just listened to what my gut feeling had been trying to tell me, I wouldn't be in this problem right now.

"Caroline."

I look up immediately when I hear him say my name. It was the same tone he has used with me since as far back as my memories take me. There is no tenderness, no affection in his voice. Just an emptiness devoid of any emotion. My father does not love me. He doesn't love anyone. And at this precise moment, I know exactly what he feels towards me.

"Yes, Daddy?" I ask quietly.

"You're gonna' marry him tomorrow morning. I'll take you to the court house myself."

He doesn't raise his voice or sneer at me the way my mother did a few moments ago. He doesn't need to. He knows damn well I wouldn't refuse anything he ever asks of me. It has always been this way and it isn't going to change now.

A single tear makes its way down my cheek and I feel the wetness as it lands on the back of my hand, where I subconsciously palm the flat of my stomach. My one night's mistake has turned into my parent's worst nightmare. I'm pregnant.

"I'm only fifteen, daddy. They won't allow it."

Even as I say the words, I know I'm not going to get out of this. Two things are very clear in my mind: I am unwed and pregnant in my disapproving parent's home, and the father of my unborn child happens to be known by every single habitant of this small town.

If not him, then his father definitely is known by all. Richard Evans owns and operates almost every industrial company in the town of Beaufort. While there are hundreds of other industrial areas in the state of South Carolina, it is here that their family has chosen to plant their roots; this is where they started several decades ago. Every household in town knows about their influential family.

And now, they most likely know about my role in ruining their favourite son' s life. Tyler Evans is his parent's golden child. The apple of his mother's eye, and the hope behind the successful future that his father has mapped out for him. They are going to hate me forever.

"You don't gotta' worry about none of that, Caroline. You just have to be ready in the morning. I've spoken to the boy. He'll be there."

My father's words bring me back to the current reality that I have no way of escaping from. I know I already love this child; I knew it the minute I missed my cycle and realized there was a life growing inside of me. But every part of me is uneasy at the thought of Tyler and how he must be feeling about all of this right now.