Page 13 of Chasing Honor

“I’m going to buy new stuff.” That was the truth, but the fact I was neglecting to tell him the rest didn’t sit well. It shouldn’t have mattered, he was no one to me, however I was overcome by an unsettling feeling, reminding me I was returning his kindness with lies. But I’d rather die a thousand deaths than tell Ethan the real reason for abandoning my old life: the disgusting plan Frank had come up with. No, that was a secret I’d rather keep to myself.

“I have a bed in the garage you can have,” he offered.

“That’s nice, but, no, thank you.” His suggestion felt a lot like charity, something I didn’t want. I moved away from Atlanta to learn to be on my own. A new start, a new life. I didn’t ever want to depend on anyone again. I had to stand on my own two feet.

“Really, my Aunt Regan gave it to me when they remodeled one of their rooms. It was a guest bed, I don’t think anyone’s ever slept on it, and it’s sitting in the garage collecting dust.”

“I said, no, thank you. I’ll buy something.”

His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t argue.

“Ready, Daddy. Are we leaving now?” Carson came down the stairs, interrupting our conversation.

“We sure are.” Ethan looked at me with a raised eyebrow, almost daring me to argue with him in front of Carson. The thought crossed my mind to put my foot down and tell him to butt out, but then Carson turned to me and flashed the cutest little girl smile I’d ever seen, and the irritation melted away. Her grandmother was right, she did have the sly, give-me-what-I-want look down pat. She was going to give Ethan a run for his money when she was a teenager. And on that glorious thought of cosmic payback I relented to let Ethan help me move my stuff.

On the short drive to Ethan’s parents’ house Carson told me all about the “awesome pool” her grandparents had put in a few years ago. Now all her cousins, even though they are much older than her and are really Ethan’s cousins, her second cousins, liked to come over and swim too. She gave me a very thorough run down of the family tree. There we so many of them, I couldn’t remember all the names except Ethan’s older brother, Carter. Carson declared he was the best uncle of the bunch. He was in the Navy and lived in Virginia. Whenever he came home, he told her all about the places he’d been and always brought back foreign currency for her—she had quite the collection.

Nowhere in the conversation had she mentioned her mother. Not even in the abstract or in the past tense. It was simply as if the woman who’d given birth to her never existed. I was sad for her, but the interesting part was, she didn’t seem upset or bothered by it. There were so many people around her who loved her she wasn’t missing anything. That was something I’d never had. After my dad died, it was just me and my mom for a long time. She had been all I’d needed, but listening to Carson tell me stories I realized there’s a big difference between need and want. I’d always wanted aunts and uncles and cousins—a family.

Ethan pulled into his parents’ driveway, and a tall, imposing, very good-looking man stood on the porch waiting for our arrival. It was easy to see he was Ethan’s dad. Ethan was a carbon copy, minus the graying hair. Talk about good genes. Some woman was going to get very lucky when she scooped up Ethan and Carson. Unwarranted jealousy bloomed in my chest at the thought of Ethan with a woman.

Shit. Maybe he had a woman in his life. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. He was out of this world hot. He had a nice house, a good job, the sweetest little Squirt I’d ever met. A woman would have to be a flat-out idiot to turn him down. First impressions notwithstanding, he seemed like a nice guy. A little bossy but—

“Wanna come in and see the pool?” Carson cut through my thoughts.

“Another time. We need to start moving Honor’s stuff,” Ethan, thankfully, made an excuse for me.

Shit on a shingle, Ethan’s dad was making his way to the truck.

“Sorry about this,” Ethan mumbled and exited the truck, rounding the hood and coming to my side. Carson had already unbuckled and was waiting for her dad to open the back door for her when, much to my dismay, he opened mine first.

Well, hells bells, it looked like I was meeting his dad.

I tried not to fidget as Ethen made the introduction at the same time he let Carson out of the truck. She yelled hello to her grandfather and ran into the house.

“Dad, this Honor Sullivan. Honor, this is my father, Carter Lenox.”

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Lenox.”

“Just, Lenox.”

“I’m sorry?”

“No Mister. Just Lenox,” he explained.

He had a funny look on his face as he studied me. His stare was intense, and I was afraid he could read my innermost thoughts.

“Are you Buck Sully’s daughter?” Lenox asked.

My body jolted, and Ethan’s hands came to my shoulders to steady me. “Whoa.”

“I am,” I recovered.

“Anyone ever tell you you look just like him? But you have your mom’s pretty, green eyes.”

“No one has ever told me that,” I choked out. “You knew my dad?”

My mom had been so heartbroken after my dad died she’d rarely spoken about him. I’d heard her in her room at night, crying herself to sleep. In the morning I’d sneak in and find the old letters my dad had written to her spread out over her bed. It was her private time with my dad, and I never intruded or asked about the letters. After she died, I tried to find them, the last of my father, but they were gone.