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Regret mars her pretty face and she walks toward me.
“Oh, babe. I’m so sorry. I know.” She wraps an arm around my waist. I relax as soon as her body touches mine, and I hug her back.
“I have to reconcile that I lived with people who lied to me constantly and profoundly and that I never even had a clue. I feel like an idiot. Because now, when I think back on it, I would never have guessed any of this. Even when I think about all of the signs.”
“Signs? Like what?” She leans back and eyes me skeptically.
“My mother… I have these two versions of my father that are at war with each other in the part of my mind where I keep him.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, in public, she talked about him like he was a god. A bright light that had been snuffed out much too soon. But privately, the way she spoke of him was lukewarm at best. And when she let the curtain slip, and her grief was on full display, I thought she really hated him.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah. It was usually around his birthday or their anniversary. It was like a cloud descended over our house. And we all lived with the weight of what felt more like rage than grief. She would drink and then cry hysterically, sometimes all night long. She would look at me—the darker skinned, darker-haired version of him—and sneer when she told me, I was just like him. She’d never say how, but I knew it wasn’t anything good. I think she hates me, too.” My laugh is brittle and devoid of humor.
“Oh, Remi. She couldn’t.” I hate the pity in her eyes. Loathe it. But, it’s just nice that she gives a shit.
I loop an arm around her neck and bend down to kiss her.
“So yeah, I’m Remington Wilde. The Legend. But can a man just fucking wallow?” I stare down at her, my eyes serious as I let her absorb the weight of everything I just laid on her.
She smiles up at me, that soft understanding tempered with some regret.
“If you’re happy here. You should stay as long as you need to.”
“I’m fucking happy. And now, you’re here.” I bump the end of her nose with mine.
“I can’t stay,” she says quietly.
I knew it was coming, I had hoped to have more than a couple of days. I contemplate what’s waiting for me in Houston and my gut clenches.
“I’m sorry, Remi. So sorry. But, my job. I need to get back to Houston so I can figure out my story.” She looks up at me appealingly and I make up my mind.
I cup her cheek, kiss her quickly and then I pull back. “Okay. But before we go back, I want to cook you dinner.”
She wrinkles her nose. “You’re going to cook?”
“Why not? I’m—”
She squeaks and grips my forearms. “Wait! Did you say we’ll go back?”
“Yeah. We’ll go back. I’m not letting you out of my sight again.” The knot in my stomach doesn’t fist so tight when I add that.
She grins and then launches herself into my arms. “Oh my God. Are you sure?”
I laugh and set her back down with a nod. “I’m sure. I need to go and talk to my siblings anyway.”
/> “Remi, I don’t want you to leave before you’re ready. This morning you loved it here.” She frowns slightly.
“I do. But I’ve hit nothing but dead ends. Besides, I can’t have that young buck Rivers getting comfortable with the biggest lion in the jungle.”
“Well, good.” She claps. “We should drive through town tomorrow. One more time, just to make sure. I mean, I’m a trained investigator. I could ask questions.”
“I know I don’t have your training, but I’ve talked to everyone.”
“Let’s stop anyway. On our way back to Houston. With a pro at your side?”
