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Because of that, I had never asked much about his own upbringing.
It honestly never occurred to me until the moment I saw a woman being led upstairs by Finn, who had very, very similar grown eyes with golden flecks.
I knew that his father had been Jamaican and that his mother was English.
So I had naturally assumed this was his mom.
Until she corrected me, dropping a bomb that had left me feeling completely shaken.
Lincoln’s mom died when he’d been away on his first tour.
His mom had died.
And I didn’t even know that.
He’d never told me that.
No one had ever told me that.
How was that not something that was known?
And maybe most importantly… why would he feel the need to keep that from me?
“You didn’t know?” Cat asked, brows furrowing at the look that must have been on my face.
“No,” I admitted, gaze moving over to Bellamy, who looked more serious than usual, shaking his head. He hadn’t known either. And Bellamy knew a hell of a lot, something he hid under his lighthearted outward demeanor.
“I know this likely won’t make you feel any better, but I had no idea about you either,” she told me, looking apologetic. “I think Lincoln has a lot to straighten out with both of us now.”
Within five minutes of Cat arriving, I could hear familiar footsteps on the stairs.
One look at his face said it all.
He was at once shocked, guilty, and apologetic. Likely toward both of us.
“Just this once, Aunt Cat, yes, I have been too busy for that. Gemma isn’t staying here to be closer to me. She’s staying here because she is in the middle of a very dangerous situation. Things have been a little crazy. I absolutely did plan on telling you about her. She’s important to me.”
“Well, I guess I can accept that. And I think I have accidentally created a need for the two of you to have an important conversation,” she admitted. “I’m sorry, Linc, I had no idea you still weren’t talking about Lizzie.”
Lizzie.
There was a stricken look on Lincoln’s face for a long moment before Bellamy–much to his credit–broke in to lighten the mood.
“Linc?” he asked, beaming. “As in the missing one? Why the hell have I never thought of that? I have to tell the whole office about this childhood nickname. Can I walk you to your car, Aunt Cat?” he asked, both of them having a silent agreement that it was time for me and Lincoln to have some time alone.
“That would be great. I have an appointment to go get these grays handled,” she said, waving a hand at her head. “It was so nice meeting you, Gemma. I hope that when you are out of danger that we can go out to dinner somewhere.”
“Gemma loves to cook,” Lincoln said, making Cat shoot him a knowing look, implying deeper meaning, something I hoped he would share with me.
“That’s fantastic. I, unfortunately, can’t even boil an egg. But I would be happy to come to your house when you guys are back at it for a meal. Bellamy, dear,” she said, taking his arm.
She stopped for a second to kiss Lincoln’s cheek, whisper something into his ear, then allowed Bellamy to lead her out.
“Gem…”
My hand rose, my head shaking. “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me anything if you aren’t ready to.”
“We agreed to be honest with each other,” he reminded me.
“Yes, but there is a difference between dishonesty and simply not being ready to discuss something.”
Hearing that, his chest expanded then deflated, but there was a ghost of a smile–a sad one–on his face.
“I think it is probably time to talk about it.”
“There’s no rush. I know you’ll tell me eventually.”
Moving away from the door, he came over to sit with me, reaching out to give my thigh a squeeze. “I appreciate that. But it’s time. It’s not a secret really. It’s just…”
“Like ripping a scab off a barely-healed wound?” I supplied.
“Yes, that is exactly what it feels like. But it will heal over again. So, where to begin?”
“One day in Fall, you were born…” I supplied for him, watching as his eyes warmed.
“Yeah, I guess that works. My mom had taken a vacation in Jamaica. She came home with more than a spare suitcase of souvenirs.”
“Did she know when she left?”
“No. Not a clue. By the time she found out, she was back in the States. She’d worked for years at her company in London to open up a branch in New York. It was her baby. There was no way she could go back to Jamaica. And, to be fair, it had only been a vacation fling anyway. It wasn’t like she was deeply in love with him, or he with her. So my aunt left university to move here, to sort of act as my nanny while my mom worked.”
