Hollywood Heights, Loren Tate; The story of my life
True Love? Chapter 19
Loren runs to the nearest tree, there's a pond on the other side of the house, she leans on the tree and slides on its side, she's crying, Eddie approaches her, he isn't sure what to say, he can tell she's upset.
"You have to calm down." He kneels down in front of her.
Tears stream down her cheeks; she looks towards the pond. Eddie doesn't know what's going on, and why she reacted this way. "Are you ok? Can I get you anything?"
She looks at him; he can tell she's hurting. "Come on, you have to chill, you're scaring me."
She takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry; I didn't know what else to do."
Eddie doesn't understand what she means. "You ran away from Vince; you could have said no to him."
She's confused, she wipes her tears. "What do you mean?"
"You realize Vince asked you to marry him?"
She stands up, she looks at Eddie wondering what he means. "He what?"
"He asked you to marry him?"
"I don't remember."
He furrows his eyes; he gets closer, he removes a piece of hair that's over her eye, he places it behind her ear. "Why did you run? Why are you crying?"
It suddenly comes back to her. "He's my father, he left us, he left my mom."
"What are you talking about?" Eddie furrows his eyes; he doesn't understand what has Loren so upset.
"I'm sure Katy heard them too, I heard the conversation."
She isn't making any sense, something made her run, he doesn't want to upset her, he has to know.
"Heard what?"
She looks at him with tears streaming down her cheeks, he wipes them softly. "Dan Roberts is my father."
Eddie pulls away. "What?"
"I heard Gail telling my Aunt that Lucy and I had to know that he's our father, I don't understand, I thought no one knew where he was."
"You have to get back there, your Aunt is walking this way, you have to calm down and talk to them, maybe you misunderstood the whole thing."
"I know what I heard Eddie, he left my mom, he never tried to find us."
"Maybe he didn't know?"
"I don't know what to think about any of this."
"You need to talk to him Loren, I'm sure Dan has his reasons, whatever they might be, you need to hear him out first, he's a great man, I have nothing but good things to say about him."
"I wonder if he knows how much this hurts, he's been close all of the time and .."
"Like I said, you need to go back and talk to him."
She downcast her look. "I don't know what to think anymore."
"You need to calm down."
Meanwhile Katy's standing with Gail. "We didn't mean to interrupt your conversation."
"Don't worry, maybe it's better this way."
Vince is sits wondering what happened to Loren.
"I told Nora to go and look for her, she must be very confused."
"My son followed her Gail, I'm sure he's talking to her."
Dan signals Gail with his hand, Max comes towards Katy. "Excuse me Katy; I have to tell my husband Loren knows the truth."
Gail walks away, Max stands next to Katy. "What happened?"
Katy looks at him. "Ugh Max, Loren and I walked into a conversation Gail was having with Nora."
"What made Loren run after Vince proposed?"
Katy sighed. "Dan is Loren's father."
Max's eyes widen. "What?How?"
"I don't know honey; Loren told me he walked out of their mom, he was never seen or heard from again, the king of the music world is Loren's father."
Max sees Dan holding his head, it seems Gail told him, he nudges Katy. "I guess, he knows."
"This wasn't the place for Loren to find out."
"I know hon, it had to be the night Vince decided to propose." Max stops. "Dan is his step-dad."
Katy shakes her head. "Omg I hope they can talk about this."
"Maybe we should leave and give them privacy; there isn't many people left."
"You're right, let's go and say goodbye to Gail and Dan, maybe we can help."
Max holds Katy's hand and they make their way towards the Robert's. Gail smiles when she sees them coming towards them.
"We're leaving, unless you need our help?"
Gail hugs her. "Please stay a bit longer; Vince is inside waiting for Nora to bring Loren back."
"May I suggest you go in there and tell him?"
"You think I should?"
"I think he should know what's going on."
"I'll do it, please stay, we need the support right now."
Katy smiles and looks at Max, they sit on the lounge chair. Dan stands quiet, probably wondering how he and Vince are going to handle this situation with Loren.
Meanwhile…
Nora's holding Loren. Eddie is still there. "Can I get you anything?"
"Thanks for your help." Nora says.
"No problem."
She looks at Loren. "We have to get back to the house."
"For what?"
"Nana is worried about you."
She finally looks Nora in the eyes. "Did you know he was my father?"
"I knew him when he married your mom, when I heard his name earlier today Nana and I wondered if it was him, we had a gut feeling it was Dan."
"I don't want to see him."
Nora looks at her niece. "He didn't know about you and Lucy, he was young, his Father made all of his decisions."
"He didn't know about us?"
Eddie clears his throat. "I'll let them know you'll be coming back to the house."
"Thanks Eddie."
"Glad I could help."
Loren's is upset, she watches Eddie walk away.
Nora looks at her niece. "We have to go back, I'm sure Dan wants to talk to you, Vince asked you something."
Loren freaks. "I can't marry him!"
"He's not related to Dan."
She takes a deep breath. "I don't love him that way Aunt Nora, I've tried too, I can't."
"Because you found out Dan is your father?"
"I was planning to talk to Vince, he's sweet, I love him, but, not that way, I hope I make sense?"
Nora sighs. "You make perfect sense, let's go."
Loren downcast her look, she looks over Nora's shoulder, she can see Eddie from a distance reaching the house.
"He's your true love?"
Loren doesn't respond, she holds her aunt's hand and they make their way back to the Robert's mansion.
Eddie's stands next to Kevin. "Is she ok?"
"I guess she will be."
"Did Vince scare her?" Kevin wonders.
Eddie takes a deep breath. "It's not my place to say, you'll find out eventually."
They see Loren and Nora walk back into the patio area. Dan takes a deep breath. Lorena makes her way towards her granddaughter.
"You have someone to talk too Lorenita."
"Nana.." She hugs her and begins to cry. Nora looks at Gail and Dan. He signals Nora to her to bring Loren into the house. Vince stands nearby with Jillian and Dalia, the girls seemed confused. Eddie walks towards him. Kevin trails behind him.
"Nothing against you; she needs to talk to Dan and Gail." Eddie adds.
"We're supposed to be celebrating our engagement, it feels like we're in a funeral."
"Have a drink." Kevin hands him a glass.
"Thanks, I spoke to my mom, none of this matters, I love her."
Eddie sighs walking away. Kevin nudges Vince patting him on the back. "Then tell her."
Lorena and Nora walk into the huge living room. Gail's the first to speak. "I'm sorry Loren, I didn't want you to find out this way."
Loren sits quietly. Dan takes the seat next to her. "I had no idea you and your sister were my daughters, I didn't know about either one of you, I would have been there for you and your sister."
She can't look at him in the eyes. Lorena speaks next. "Dan loved your mami very much, I know that for a fact, I believe him when he says he didn't know anything about you and Lucy."
She can't hold it in anymore, she's upset. "Why did my mom die alone? Why Mr. Roberts? If you loved her so much then tell me why?"
Dan closes his eyes and sighs. "My father didn't understand why I married Sofia, his business was his priority, it didn't matter to him that I was in love, we were so young, I hated myself for not standing up to my father."
He looks at Gail, he doesn't want to hurt his wife, she holds his hand, reassuring him that she's fine.
Loren finally makes eye contact with him. "I don't want anything from you, I wanted to know the truth about my father, I do now."
"I want you to be part of our lives."
Gail steps in. "This is your home Loren."
"Thank you Mrs. Roberts."
"Call me Gail; I thought we agreed on that earlier."
Nora interrupts. "It's been a long day, it's late, we should leave."
"We have plenty of room in this house, you could spend the night Loren, your Aunt and Nana are welcomed to stay."
"Thank you, we can't stay." Loren says.
"Jillian and Dalia are your sisters; I know they will be thrilled." Gail adds.
"Thanks Gail, I appreciate it, I need time to process all of this."
"Take all the time you need Loren, we will be here waiting for you and Lucy."
Loren sighs. "I had forgotten about her."
Vince walks into the room and heads towards Loren. She knows he's going to ask her again, she doesn't want to talk about anything right now.
"Can we talk later? I'm really tired."
"I know what's going on, none of that matters, the question still stands."
He holds her hand and they head towards the patio. Nana holds Nora's hand and squeezes it. "Don't worry mama, she'll know what to say."
"I want my girl to be happy."
"She's going to be fine, mama."
Vince sits at the nearest chair. "My mom and I talked."
"You know everything?"
"Yes, it doesn't matter Loren, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
From the corner of her eye Loren can see Eddie standing a few feet away. He knows why Vince wants to talk to her.
Vince feels anxious, Loren taking too long to respond. "I need an answer."
She knows who she wants to be with, the one that holds her heart. Vince loves her, maybe this is her happiness? She sighs, and looks him in the eyes, she's ready to respond.
"Vince….."
End of chapter