AllFreeNovel
Share Us
An infuriatingly diplomatic answer to a hypothetical that doesn’t really matter right now. I shake my head. “Forget it. Just…where is he?”
“A huge fire in Maine. He took off after his morning hike.”
“He’s inMaine?” The words squeak out of me.
“He gets calls to go around the country. It’s his job.”
Shit. This is not how I needed this to go. I needed him to be here for me to vent my guilt at him, to apologize for not telling him sooner, for all of it. And I needed to hear everything he wanted to say to me for keeping his son from him these past few weeks, even the ugly stuff. Let him shout at me for being a bitch or a coward or some other terrible thing. I deserve it.
If I were the reasonable, kind person I want to be, I would have told him sooner.
Cormac takes a step forward. There is nothing but compassion in his eyes, and for some reason, that pisses me off. “Aria, I know this is a lot—"
“You think?”
“But when Everett gets back, you two can sit down and hash this out. It’s going to be okay. He’ll forgive you for not telling him and for not letting him see Owen. Everett’s a good man with a giant heart. You don’t need to worry about it.”
All that compassion on Cormac’s perfect face is an excellent target for my frustration. “I can honestly say I don’t give a flying fuck about Everett’s forgiveness, Cormac. My son has been without a father for five years because your brother lied to me about his name. The night we were together, he told me his name was James.Thathas kept him from seeing his son. Not me. Granted, the past few weeks have been my own doing, but for the years before that, it’s on Everett. I am sure he’s angry with me over the last few weeks, but I haveyearsof single mom anger I’ve harbored at Everett, sohisforgiveness is the last thing on my mind.”
His eyes widen. “Right. Uh, I didn’t mean anything by that.”
It’s then I realize I’m pointing a finger into his chest and I wasn’t just talking to him, I was yelling. Yelling at the guy who, in the big picture, has nothing to do with any of this. He’s an innocent, if misguided, bystander. Who is also my son’s uncle.
Shit.
I back off and give myself a shake. “Sorry. I’m just…sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Forgiveness runs in the family.” He gives a cheeky grin.
Suddenly, his relationship with Lily makes so much more sense. “No wonder you and Lily get along so well. You both make jokes about shit way too soon.”
He laughs. “Yeah, well. She’s the Clyde to my Bonnie.”
I laugh, too. “Shouldn’t that be the other way around?”
“Not at all. She’s the troublemaker. I’m along for the ride.”
I sigh and wonder what the hell to do. “This is not how I pictured…any of this.”
“I’d imagine that’s true for both of you right now.”
“Yeah. Um, I should probably go before anyone comes out here to check on you. Not sure how to face anyone else in your family right now—
“They’re your family, too, Aria. Even if they don’t know it yet.”
I can’t wrap my head around the concept that I’m family to people who live in a freaking mansion. That’s too much for now, so I focus on the other part of what he said. “You haven’t told anyone else?”
He shakes his head. “I already opened my big mouth once on this, and I am not doing it again. Everett can tell them on his own time.”
Well, that’s a relief. Sort of. “Okay. I’m gonna get going. Maine?”
“Yep. Not sure where, but if you want to know, it’s on the news.”
Worry hits me like a knife in the gut. “And he’s done this kind of thing before?”
“You’re worried about him? I thought you hated him.”
A bitter laugh coughs out of me. “It would be easier if I hated him, but I don’t. I’m angry, sure. But hate? No. And I just found my son’s father, Cormac. Of course, I’m worried about him. Owen deserves the chance to meet him. If Everett’s up for it.”
