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“They’ve all met her,” came his hoarse reply. I sucked in a breath, feeling betrayed and angry and so damn hurt. My entire family had been keeping this from me. Realistically I couldn’t expect my Dad to be alone forever, Mom had been gone twelve years this fall, but I thought if he ever met someone he’d talk to all of us about it, ease us into the idea of having another woman in our lives who wasn’t our Mom. Turns out he had discussed it with everyone. Except me. And that stung worse than I thought possible.

“So you kept it from just me then?” I swallowed back the awful combination of tears and bile, and tried my damnedest to keep it together until I could get back to my apartment.

“Makenzie, I wanted to tell you. Ava has been dying to meet you-”

“How many times has she been here?” I snapped. My tone made my Dad straighten, and take on a fierce expression.

“Has she slept here yet?”

“Now that is none of your business, young lady.”

“The hell it isn’t, Daddy!” I clenched my jaw and willed the angry tears to wait just long enough for me to get through this. “You’ve kept this from me for months and now I’m expected to be completely okay with another woman being in our house?”

I wasn’t being rational, and I didn’t really care. The loss of my Mom right then was far too acute for me to think clearly and having been excluded from all of this only made it harder to swallow. As silly as it sounded I felt as though a complete stranger was trampling over every memory of us and our Mom. And I felt as though my Dad was doing the same. It was grossly unfair to him but I’d lost my objectivity hours ago right alongside my ability to think with reason.

My Dad stayed quiet, so I continued, “I knew that someday you might meet someone who could look after you, and make you happy in a way that children can’t. I never wanted you to be alone, Daddy, not ever, but I thought when that time came you’d talk to me too, not just the boys. I don’t understand why you would keep such a big thing from me?”

“I didn’t know how to tell you without hurting you, sweetheart. Telling the boys was easy, but with you I knew I had to be careful.” He reached out to touch me and then winced when I avoided his hand. “I realize now that I was wrong to keep you in the dark. I’m sorry baby.”

I looked away from my Dad, unable to carry both his hurt and mine. “I wish sorry was enough right now Daddy, but I need some time, okay?” I lifted my gaze and noticed that my Dad’s eyes were red and a little wet. “You should have told me.”

Before he could say anything else, I walked out.

I GOT HOME and found the apartment was empty. I’d never been more grateful to be alone. I took an extra hot shower, changed into some leggings and a t-shirt and crawled into bed. After such an eventful two days I just wanted to hide. I fell asleep and woke up - I checked my phone, disregarding the several missed calls from all my brothers and Maddy - and found I’d slept for a good few hours. I felt rested, a little less emotionally strung out and volatile. I stretched, and froze when I heard giggling from across the hall, followed by a very manly grunt. Oh dear God, was Maddy having sex with someone? A moment later I heard her door open, and footsteps sounded down the hallway, trailing off into the kitchen. As if on cue, my stomach grumbled. If I wanted something to eat, I would have to face whoever was in our kitchen. I crossed my fingers, hoping it was Maddy and not whoever she was doing mattress gymnastics with.

Fortunately, the person wasn’t a stranger, but I was no less surprised to see him.

Jackson had his bare back to me, and he did a little shimmy while making coffee in nothing but his boxer briefs. He spun around, and stopped short.

“Hey Squirt.” His cheeks reddened a little, and I had to admit that seeing my big brother blush was quite a sight.

“Hey.” A strand of hair had fallen from the messy bun atop my head so I tucked it behind my ear.

Just then Maddy came out, bouncing down the hallway in lace panties and Jacksons’ shirt. She had sex hair, and a stupid happy grin on her face. It had been a while since I’d seen her like that.

Her bounce faltered when she realized her and Jackson were no longer alone.

“Kenzi! Hi…I didn’t know if you and Alex were coming home tonight or tomorrow night.”

“I’ve been home since yesterday,” I replied. “I was at Vaughan’s house last night.”

Maddy’s mouth formed an “O” and Jackson frowned. “How’d you end up there?”

“Long story.” I looked between them. “So are you two back together now?”

Maddy nibbled on her bottom lip, and Jackson all but beamed. I hoped to God he wasn’t going to flip her over his shoulder and take her back to bed — there were some things a sister did not need to see her brother doing.

“We are,” he confirmed. “You have a problem with me dating your best friend?”

“I have a problem with you hurting my best friend. As long as you don’t do that, we won’t have any issues, Jax.”

Maddy clapped, and I gave her an emphatic eye roll.

“I’m going to make some pizza’s. You guys want some?”

They both nodded, and while Jackson disappeared down the hallway again, Maddy started helping me in the kitchen.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her delicately shaped brows drawn low.