Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“I know about Millie, Zach.”
I looked up at him sharply. “What?”
“I know about Millie. I saw you.”
“When?”
“Christmas Eve. In the bar.”
It sank in fast. The shadow at the door. “Oh.”
“I mean, I’d suspected something before—at the rehearsal, actually. And if you remember, I asked you about it then.”
“You did. And I wasn’t truthful with you.”
“Obviously,” he said tersely. “What I don’t get is why.”
“I was ashamed,” I said. “And so was she. We’d—we’d spent the night together in New York without realizing the connection. And when we figured it out, we just sort of panicked.”
“I told you that night how important honesty was to me,” Mason said, sounding less angry now and more hurt.
“And I didn’t take that lightly.” I sat up taller. “Mason, believe me. That night, nothing was more important to me than earning your trust and respect. Since the moment we got those test results back, all I’ve wanted was to do right by you.”
“Why should I believe you? You clearly kept lying to me for months. You’re just like my mother.”
“Mason,” Lori said quietly.
I hadn’t even realized she was there, but now I saw her leaning against the entrance to the living room, arms wrapped around her middle.
Mason frowned. “Lori thinks I’m trying to get back at my mother by being mad at you.”
“I just don’t want this—this—misunderstanding to cost you an important relationship in your life,” Lori said, wiping her eyes.
“It’s not just a misunderstanding,” Mason insisted with a headstrong expression and set of his jaw that I knew all too well. “My entire life, people who claim to care about me have deliberately withheld important information from me. It makes me feel like a fucking idiot.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “You’re right, and I’m sorry. I should not have kept my feelings about Millie a secret. We thought we were protecting you, and that was wrong of us.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t be able to handle it? Because I can. I’m a grown man, Zach.”
He looked like such a stubborn teenage version of me when he said it, it was almost funny. It was like looking in a mirror thirty years ago.
“I didn’t reach out to you because I needed a daddy,” he said. “I just wanted to know my family.”
“I understand,” I said. “And I should have treated you like a man and not like a child that needed protecting. To be honest, I’m still grappling with how to be a father to an adult son. I have protective instincts as it is, and somehow finding out I’m a dad has multiplied them.”
“I get that.” Mason’s arms loosened a little. “I just don’t want to be in the dark anymore. I want to feel like I’m part of a family—like I came from somewhere. The things you gave me at Christmas, the stories you shared, all that meant so much to me. I’ve never had those things.”
“You will,” I promised. “Going through all those old things brought back a lot of memories, and I want to share them with you. That’s new for me—I’ve never really had anyone ask or care about my family history. I’ve never thought about passing things on to another generation. But now I am.” Then I took a breath. “This thing with Millie . . . I need to know how you feel about it.”
Mason was silent for a moment, taking it all in. Then rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s hard to say. My feelings about it are all tangled up in my anger about you guys hiding it from me.”
“I understand.”
“So you and Millie are . . . together?” asked Lori, coming deeper into the room and perching on the arm of the couch next to Mason.
“Not exactly. We have feelings for each other, and we’ve seen each other a few times outside of town, but a few weeks ago we called everything off.”
“Looked different to me on Christmas Eve,” Mason said stiffly.
“Yeah.” I felt heat in my neck. “Staying away from each other is harder than we thought.”
“So it’s serious between you?” Lori asked.
“It was. I hope it will be again.”
“Why did you call it off?” she asked. “Because of Mason?”
“Mason was the biggest reason at the start,” I said, “but there were a few other reasons too, although those have grown less important over time. To me, what matters right now is making sure, Mason, that you know I never meant to hurt or embarrass you. I know I was wrong to lie, and I want to be the kind of man you hoped your father would be.”
Mason didn’t say anything for a moment. “I guess that can happen. I just never thought my dad would date my ex-girlfriend.”
“Mason,” Lori chided, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You and Millie have been just friends for well over a year now. And you told me yourself you two were much better as friends.”