Previously, Falyn and Taylor finally banged after Taylor learned that the girl he met in Colorado was secretly his neighbor’s kid’s real mom, because I guess there’s a direct train to pound town from adoption junction. Anyway, I just wrote a joke with the words “pound town” and “adoption junction” in it, so I think I need to go to church.
Beautiful Sacrifice: Chapter 16
Given how secretive Beautiful Sacrifice has been about what it’s actually about, Taylor is naturally somewhat concerned about what direction the story’s going to go in next.
“So, what’s the plan today? I don’t want to be an accomplice to kidnapping before breakfast.”
I don’t think I’ve ever better understood where a Maddox bro was coming from.
I sighed. “I don’t want her to know who I am or why I’m here. I just… want to see her with my own eyes. This time, I’ll be prepared, and I can savor the moment of when I leave a tiny footprint in her life even if I’ll be the only one who knows. […] After today, I’ll be okay. I can let her go on my terms.”
Taylor asks Falyn if he can ask something “even though the answer doesn’t matter” and asks about Olive’s biological father. Falyn says that it’s a long conversation, but he wasn’t someone that she loved.
“How important is it for you to know?”
Taylor thought about it for a moment. “I want to know.”
I turned away from him. I didn’t want to see his face. “He was my teacher, my coach, in high school. He’s married. She knows he cheated but not that it was with a student. She doesn’t know about Olive.”
“Jesus, Falyn. He just left you to deal with it on your own?”
“No. He offered to pay for what he called a solution. I missed the appointment. And the one after that. I never thought he’d leave his wife for me. I never wanted him to. I still don’t know why I did it.”
So if you haven’t inferred by now, this is probably gonna be one of those chapters that’s more serious than “haha funny”. Although, as always, that’s despite the Maddox clan’s best efforts.
“Good morning, Maddoxes!” Trenton paused to acknowledge me. “And friend.” […]
“Enough with the friend shit,” Taylor said.
Trenton beamed as he sat in a dining chair between his father and brother with a bowl of cereal. “Oh, yeah? Did you seal the deal last night? Trav said you made her cry.”
Jim smacked the back of Trenton’s head. “Trenton Allen!”
Don’t forget Falyn is right there in the room while Taylor and his brother are talking about his sex life.
“What’s the plan today, Taylor?” Jim asked.
Taylor shrugged, looking to his brother. “What are your plans today, dickhead?”
Jim sighed. “Goddamn it! Can’t we have one meal without the language?”
The brothers shook their heads. Jim did, too.
As someone whose family members say things like “you little shit” to each other as a term of endearment, as if for one damn second a family that tosses around coarse language like this is still under the impression that maybe they could just turn it off.
Taylor casually asks Trenton about whether he’s babysitting Olive, and Trenton decides he could ask if Olive would like to go to the park before he has to go off to work “if you’re really hell-bent on spending the morning with a five-year-old.” Someone finally thinks that Falyn is acting very suspiciously.
“Six,” I said.
Trenton blinked.
“She’s six now.”
“Right,” Trenton said. “She just had a birthday last week.” […]
“The park sounds fun,” Jim said, eyeing me.
I wasn’t sure what he thought he knew, but he was onto us.
At the park, Taylor and Falyn accidentally stumble into a “oh, is this a relationship” conversation.
“Glad there is at least one adult in this relationship.”
“Oh, it’s a relationship?” I asked.
That caught Taylor off guard. “Um… well… yeah. Aren’t we?”
“I still have until Monday. You said we were friends until after the weekend.”
He arched an eyebrow, unimpressed. “I don’t do to my friends the things I did to you last night.”
This is a good time for Falyn’s secret daughter to show up.
She took off at full speed toward the playground, breezing past us as she made a beeline for the swings. […] In her sweet tiny voice, she called for Trenton to push her, and tears stung my eyes. The day I had been waiting for was here.
“I’ll do it,” I said, jumping up.
“Oh,” Trenton said. “Okay.”
“Is that okay?” I asked Olive.
She nodded her head.
As much as I love how Travis and Abby have become this story’s Students Without Netflix two chapters ago, I’m also pretty into how Trenton is on the way way other end of the spectrum and just mildly indifferent to how weird the story around him keeps suggesting it is.
Olive continues to Owiwewww it up.
“Highew!” She giggled.
I swear to god, I’m pretty sure “Highew” is a Pokémon.
For the most part, for all that buildup, nothing crazy happens in this chapter. McGuire wisely keeps it downplayed, and it’s a bittersweet description of Falyn and Olive playing in the park.
she asked me to swing with her, so I climbed into the swing next to her. Once I got myself going, she reached out for my hand. We swung back and forth together, giggling at nothing and everything.
And then it’s over.
“Bye, wady!”
I tried not to cry as Trenton buckled her in, saving my tears until he pulled away.
“That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Taylor said. “Was it what you wanted?” […]
I let the peace of closure set in. I took a breath and let six years of pain, anger, and shame leave my body as I exhaled.
The chapter ends with Falyn telling Taylor that “My heart doesn’t have room for anything else but you, her, and happiness.” It’s worth noting that we’re only 2/3 of the way through the book and that story seems… kind of wrapped up? So I guess we’re in for some buck wild third act shit. Anyone wanna bet on whether it’ll have anything to do with that kid who died in a car crash that Beautiful Sacrifice teased us with for 2/3 of a book before saying, “Just kidding! The secret is that she had a daughter! Not that she killed a kid. You may forget about the dead kid now. I got you guys good.”