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“We let him in,” I whispered.
Ash’s gasp cut through the room and she backed up a pace. “Hana, honey, come over here,now!”
“Why, Mum? I want to hold Cree. Is it my turn yet?” she asked Mo with an expectant expression, not realising he was her grandfather.
His attention flickered from Ash to Hana, and softened impossibly further as Hana gave him her best puppy-dog eyes.
“It is.” He adjusted his hold on Cree and waited until Hana set herself up cross-legged on the couch.
Mo handed him over with gentle care, then slowly rose to his feet, hovering close until Jess moved in to take his place.
Mo seemed to take a fortifying breath before rising to full height and turning to his youngest child. His throat worked and his eyes held pain like I’d never seen before.
“My baby girl,” he whispered hoarsely.
Ash tucked close to my body, slightly behind and using me as a human shield. “You’re not here. This isn’t real. You’regone!” she hissed.
He shook his head and cautiously approached. “I’ve been out of sight, but never gone. I’ve been watching over you and Jess for years.”
“Howdareyou!” Ash surged forward and lashed out, palm connecting with his face with a loud, sharpslap.
Hana’s little eyes bulged out of her head. “Mum just hit that man!”
Jess’s quiet murmur soothed the worry while I hovered, poised to intervene.
“How dare you! Youabandoned us!” Ash seethed. “Mum couldn’t handle it and Aiden has never been found. You single-handedly destroyed our family!”
“I’ve never stopped searching for your brother, and never will.”
“That doesn’t bring him back!” she cried.
While Jess remained racked with guilt over what happened to Aiden, Ash had taken their father’s abandonment the toughest. She’d had to fight the hardest to find herself. While in recent years she’d conquered her drug addiction and stepped up to be an admirable role model for her daughter, her internal scars were still jagged and raw.
Mo’s jaw ticked as he visibly locked down his heartache. “I did what I thought was best at the time. I thought leaving would prevent you from being dragged into my world, and it fucking broke my heart when you ended up there anyway.”
“It wasyourfault,” Ash wailed, voice pitching with despair. “Our family fell apart because you left, and Jess was left to pick up the pieces.He—”she exclaimed, pointing at me, “—has been more of a father figure than you ever were. If it wasn’t for Mace, I wouldn’t be here today, and neither would Hana, or Jess, or Cree…”
Ash pounded her fists against his chest, crying and sobbing with each hit that Mo stood steadfast and took. Her cries grew louder as her strikes softened, until she fell against his chest and sobbed her heart out.
Mo encased her in a strong hold. His tears silently streamed into her hair, and he gripped harder when her legs gave out.
“I’m so sorry, my baby girl. I’m so fucking sorry,” he chanted, over and over.
I backed away and let him console his daughter, then relaxed a fraction further at seeing Hana so besotted with Cree that her mum falling apart was nothing but background drama.
When Ash’s sobs eased and Mo’s murmurs quietened, I finally left their space and squatted down in front of Hana.
“What do you want for brekky, Chippy? Cream cheese bagel or bacon and egg breakfast muffin?”
Her dark-brown eyes met mine. “Can I have a bacon bagel?”
I chuckled and affectionately squeezed her little knee. “You can have whatever you want.”
“And a Marjorie hot chocolate?”
A snort passed through my grin. “I thought you’d never ask. Cree’s not allowed the foamy milk this time though, okay?”
“Okay.” Her cheeky grin created my own.
