AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Your doctor told you that today?” He shifts from his crouched position and sits next to me.
“No. I’ve known it for a while.”
“Does Lucas know?” Kellan’s voice is low and steady, a slow beating pulse that grounds me.
“No. And please don’t tell him.” I don’t look at Kellan. I focus on the black stitching that forms the bunny’s nose and mouth.
“I won’t tell anyone, and that includes Lucas. But you should tell him.”
I scoff, which sounds awful, thanks to my stuffy nose. At Kellan’s puzzled frown, I elaborate. “My ex-boyfriend dumped me when he found out I can’t have kids.”
“And you really believe you not being able to have kids will make a difference to Lucas?” Kellan’s words are soft, but the disbelief in his tone is a bitch-slap to the face.
I shrug because I have no idea what will happen once I tell Lucas the truth.
“Your ex-boyfriend was an asswipe. Lucas isn’t going to divorce you ’cause you can’t have babies. If you guys want kids, you can adopt. Like you did Jasper.”
At his name, Jasper glances up from where he plonked himself next to Kellan. Kellan pets him once more.
I study my brother-in-law’s deep blue eyes, so different from the brown eyes belonging to the rest of his family. “Are you glad Joanne and Ian adopted you?”
“I can’t complain. But I probably did when I was a kid. Having a biological mother who abandoned me so many times and not knowing anything about my father messed me up. I fucked up after I left the Marines, got into trouble, and had to serve jail time.” He cringes, guilt and regret shifting down the corners of his mouth. “I’m probably not a good example, am I?”
I rest the back of my head against the wall. “Probably not. But I’m sorry, Kellan, for how your mother treated you. She was the one who messed up. Not you.”
We fall silent, and I bury myself in my thoughts. I can’t tell if he’s waiting for the chance to bail or wants to sit with me a little longer. I don’t feel so alone with Kellan here. But for him, this visit must feel like a hockey puck to the nuts. If he had his way, the silence would stretch until his brother walked through the door. Or until Kellan found a good reason to escape.
“I’m guessing you came here to talk to Lucas?” I ask.
“Em, actually. She said something about swinging by here on the way home.”
“You just missed her. She dropped this off and headed to Treats to meet up with Zara and Kim.” I show him the bunny. “It’s a baby shower gift for Kim.”
“And that’s what made you upset?”
“Yeah. Pretty much.” Needing an excuse to talk about anything that doesn’t deal with babies and adoptions, I ask, “This is going to sound random, but does the word catfish mean anything to you?” It’s been ping-ponging in my brain since I found the word three days ago in the Greek mythology encyclopedia.
“It’s a type of fish and slang for someone who uses a false online identity to lure a person into a relationship. Why?”
Both of them I know. Neither explains why Aiden wrote the word in the book and on the scrap paper I found in my room.
“No reason in particular. I just figured it was something neutral to talk about that has nothing to do with our previous topic.”
Jasper’s head perks up, and he stands, peering at the front door. His tail wags so fast, it causes a shift in Australia’s weather. The wagging can mean only one thing.
Before I can scramble to my feet, the door opens, and a weary, dirty, unshaven Lucas enters the house.
His gaze drops to Kellan and me on the floor, and his expression shifts into a questioning frown.
Kellan unfolds from the floor. “Shit, man. You look like crap.”
An unspoken conversation passes between them. A conversation I can’t translate. Kellan nods at his brother, an emotion on their faces I can’t read.
“I should go and track down Emily,” Kellan says to no one in particular. He flashes me a you-need-to-tell-him look. A look that is supportive and tender. An unguarded expression you don’t often see on Kellan.
The front door clicks shut behind him.
“Why are you on the floor?” Lucas’s frown hasn’t softened. It’s even wearier now than it was when he walked through the door.
