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“Faith,” Shane called.
Several people reached out for her, but she shied away. When she reached the driveway, she yanked her cute pumps off and left them behind. She could hear someone chasing behind her—Shane, maybe?—but she sprinted to her car, threw herself into the driver’s seat, and took off before he could catch her.
Shane bent over,breathing heavily. He’d been too slow. He reached into his pocket for his keys. He needed to go after her and make this right. He started toward his car, but someone grabbed his arm from behind. He swung around and came face to face with Caleb’s father. For a moment, Shane wanted to shout at him because if he hadn’t gotten back together with his ex-wife, Dylan might not have gotten those crazy ideas about a reunion between him and Diana, and then they might not be here.
“Let her go,” Frank said. “Give her some time. Dylan needs you now.”
Dylan.
Hell.
Diana had just said something completely inappropriate in front of both of their sons, all of Dylan’s friends, and a number of their parents. At a kid’s birthday party, for God’s sake. Frank was right. He needed to do damage control.
He glanced at Diana. She stood, hands on hips, looking pleased as punch. When she saw him, she winked. His head spun. He started back toward her, ready to pull her and Dylan aside to sort this out, but before he could get there, Gabby rose to her feet and cleared her throat. His sister’s eyes were hard, and if looks could kill, his ex would be a goner.
“You are out of line, Diana.” Gabby raised a glass of juice. “I’d like to propose a counter toast. To Diana, the woman who abandoned her babies and her husband to pursue a life of fame and fortune and now won’t let the people she left behind move on with their lives. Cheers, you raging bitch.” She tipped her glass back and drank.
Diana’s mouth dropped open and she made a sound of disbelief, her gaze darting from one person to another, as though trying to discern how much credit they were giving Gabby’s words, and who they’d side with. When a number of people followed Gabby’s lead and drank, she took a step back.
“I suggest you leave before you do anything else to embarrass yourself,” Shane told her.
“No.” She crossed her arms and threw her head back defiantly. “This is Dylan’s day, and as long as he wants me here, I’m staying.”
Dylan.
Shane searched for his son amongst the sea of faces, feeling like a failure for not thinking to check on him sooner. His son’s cheeks were pale and his hands fisted at his sides. As the audience’s collective attention settled on him, he rocketed to his feet.
“I want you to go,” he cried, tears shining in his eyes. He looked absolutely distraught, and it gutted Shane. This was supposed to be a happy day, but his mother just couldn’t let it happen. And Shane, in seeking his own happiness with Faith, had given her a reason to behave poorly. “I told you that in secret!” Dylan’s voice rose shrilly. “You’re a user, and I don’t care if you go back to Hollywood and stay there.”
Diana looked so crestfallen that Shane would have felt sorry for her under different circumstances. She hadn’t expected his family—including their son—to rally around Faith. “You don’t mean that,” she said.
“Yes, I do. Get out. Just go!” Kicking the cricket wickets, he muttered a few curse words he shouldn’t have known and stormed into the house. Shane hurried after him, heading straight to his bedroom, where he had no doubt Dylan intended to hole up for the foreseeable future. He arrived in the hall as the door slammed and approached cautiously, pausing to knock outside.
“I don’t want to talk,” Dylan snapped.
“It’s Dad,” he said softly. “Can I come in?”
There was a moment of silence, but then the door opened. Dylan’s eyes were bright with the tears he hadn’t wanted to shed in front of anyone, and his face was flushed with anger. He let Shane inside and sat on the floor, drawing his knees up to his chest.
Shane sat on the edge of the bed. “Are you okay, bud?” he asked. “That was pretty rough out there.”
“I meant everything I said,” he replied. “I don’t care if it was mean.”
Shane shook his head. “I didn’t mean you. I meant your mum. She shouldn’t have done what she did. Especially not if you shared things with her in confidence and trusted her not to mention them.”
Dylan hung his head, his fringe flopping forward and hiding his face. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told her anything about you and Faith. I just wanted to make her happy. Do you think Faith will be okay?”
He wished he could brush away Dylan’s concern, but he really didn’t know. Faith might have put on a brave front, but she may not want anything to do with them after this. She’d managed to move on from the awful things that had happened when she was younger, and he’d dumped it all back on her doorstep with a hefty helping of more. He knew how much it had meant to her to make a good first impression on his family, and Diana had hit her where it hurt.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “It might not seem like it on the outside, but she’s sensitive.” He sighed, wishing he didn’t have to say this when Dylan was obviously already struggling with what he’d done. “I know you didn’t mean any harm, and I understand why you told your mum what you did, but you need to be careful the next time you’re asked to share private information about someone, because people can get hurt.”
“I know.” He sounded so ashamed that Shane wanted to gather him into a hug, but Dylan was at that awkward age where he wasn’t big on hugging and might not welcome it. Shane ran a hand through his own hair. Why did parenting have to be so damn hard?
“Can we go find Faith?” Dylan asked. “I need to tell her I’m sorry.”
Despite everything, a sliver of pride lodged in his heart. His boy wanted to make things right. Maybe he wasn’t screwing up the solo parenting gig as badly as he feared.
“I’m sure she’d like to hear that, but maybe not right now. She’s upset and needs time to calm down first.”
