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“Yeah, you did,” I admit, my voice cracking as a tear slips down my face. I swipe at it, but my brother doesn’t miss the movement.
“Shit, Cat, I’m so sorry. I—this isn’t me. I hate who I’ve become.”
I shrug. “I haven’t been so fond of that person either.”
Sitting up straight, he clutches my hand. “I’ll do better. Swear it.”
All I can do is nod in response. For his sake, as well as mine, I hope he does.
“That’s not actually why I came, though. I got distracted when I walked by Hanson’s office and heard him talking about his wife.”
I huff a laugh. Jay does love talking about me. And that word. He’s obsessed. All day long, he murmurs that one syllable. His emails are filled with the term. He whispers it to me when we’re in a crowd and shouts it when we’re alone. I swear if he could legally change my name to wife, he would.
I temper my smile. “Okay, then why did you come?”
“Grace is pregnant.”
The information knocks me back a bit, and I suck in a sharp breath. I didn’t expect him to talk about her, period. Honestly, since the night at the club when we tried to get her and Cash back together—which ended abysmally; he was an ass, and she stormed out, then refused to speak to me—I’ve tried not to think too hard about how her life was destroyed to save mine.
I’ve been selfish and so self-absorbed that I pushed her pain to the back of my mind. And now history is repeating itself. Except this time, it’s not my child who is suffering from the lies, it’s Cash’s.
I rub at my forehead, willing the headache that’s building to abate. “Does he know?”
Carter nods. “He overheard her talking to Hayden.”
Grace and Hayden have become close friends recently, and he’s one of her newest matchmaking clients. “Ugh,” I groan. “I’m guessing he didn’t take it well.”
Carter chuckles. “Yeah, he’s losing his mind.”
“Maybe this will get him to talk to her. And then maybe he’ll stop being a gigantic ass.”
“I really am sorry, Cat. We’ve all been awful. It’s just—Pa had us all so certain that Jay betrayed you.”
I hold up my hand. “Jay isn’t blameless in all of this. I know that and he knows that. But he loves Chloe and me. Really loves us. And everything he’s done has been because of that.”
Leaving it at that, I look away from my brother. Right now, at least, he doesn’t need to know that the only reason Mia slept with him was to get information for Jay.
But even then, he was trying to save me.
“None of this is easy. But rather than holding a grudge over things that took place so long ago, I want to move on and enjoy life with the only person I’ve ever loved. One action doesn’t make a person. It’s how we act throughout our lives that matters. And for the most part, Jay is good.”
Carter squeezes my hand. “It’s going to take me a minute to get there. Forgiveness, that is. But if you can find out where my child is, that would be a great start.”
I nod. “On it.”
“Thanks.” Carter stands, but he doesn’t move for the door. “And maybe you could talk to Grace. Get her to tell Cash.”
I sigh, dropping my shoulders in exhaustion. “She wants nothing to do with me.”
“He deserves to know the truth, Cat.”
“Okay. I’ll try. Thanks for coming by.”
Carter strides to the door but turns back at the threshold. “Kit Cat?”
My heart warms at the term, and I smile. No one calls me that but Cash. And Cash doesn’t know it, but it’s the nickname my mother used for me. Carter remembers, though. And hearing it from his lips means more than he could ever know. “I know Cash has always been your guy, but I’m here if you need me. Always.”
I launch myself from my seat and rush into my brother’s arms. “She wouldn’t be disappointed in you, Carter,” I whisper, looping my arms around him. “She didn’t judge. She loved. Let’s do a better job of emulating that.”
