“And why didn’t you live with us? With Mama?” I couldn’t stop the questions as they tumbled from my lips.
“Father didn’t want me.” Pain flashed in Tate’s green eyes. “But now I’m here. And so are you. This is so wonderful. Mama is going to be so happy to see you. We should go inside the house.” He clapped his hands together happily. He seemed so childlike. Innocent.
Doubtful.
Maverick squeezed my fingers. “Tate, I don’t think I can go in there.”
“Why?” Tate’s face fell. “Are you not feeling well?” His eyes ping-ponged between the two of us. “Are you sick like Mama?”
I squared my shoulders. “Mav and I... We don’t have happy memories here. Mom and Dad weren’t good to us.”
“I know.” Tate sighed softly and dropped his chin. “Mama told me some bad things happened that she wished that she could take back. That Father made her treat you terribly, but she loved you both so very much.”
Maverick untangled our fingers, and when I turned to look at him, he was sitting in the car, his arms wrapped around his legs, his face pressed against his knees. Shit, Jackson was going to be so pissed about this. But when I took a step toward him, Tate was quicker than I was.
“It’s okay to get scared,” our brother whispered, his fingers combing through Maverick’s white hair. “I get scared, too, sometimes.” I waited for Mav to push him away or tell him to stop. “When it happens to me, I like to bake or cook. It helps calm me down.”
Maverick raised his head, his green eyes rimmed with red. “What do you cook?”
“Everything. I like to make cakes, cookies, pies! Whatever I feel like. Mama says I spoil her with my food, even though she doesn’t eat much. I can cook for you sometime if you want.” Tate continued to push the hair back from Maverick’s forehead.
Mav nodded as he looked up. “I think that I’d like that.”
“Tate, sweetie, who are you talking to?”
Maverick’s eyes found mine at the sound of our mother’s voice. It had been years since either one of us had heard it. Was it going to be a trigger for him? Was he going to have another panic attack? I needed to get him out of here.
“Dean.” His voice was hardly a whisper as he spoke.
This was a terrible idea. I didn’t know why he listened to me. I could have come alone. After everything Maverick had done for me over the years, I shouldn’t have brought him back here. I glanced over at the house to find our mother standing on the steps, dressed in a robe that hung from her rail-thin body, her white hair flying loose in the wind. She tugged at the belt aroundher waist before she took a step down the stairs, her hand on the railing.
I was walking toward her before I even realized it, my chin raised high. How could she hide a brother from us? Tate seemed sweet, innocent, and kind. Why did he get special treatment while Maverick and I lived in fear?
“Dean?” Mom’s eyes went wide. “What are you... Is Maverick with you?”
“How dare you!” I spat. “Why? Why is he different?” I glanced behind me, where Tate continued to stand with Maverick. “He was safe while Maverick suffered. While Maverick was beaten and suffered for being himself. Maverick nearly lost the love of his life because you and Dad... You know what? This was a horrible idea. Mav, we’re leaving.”
A hand wrapped around my wrist, stopping me before I could turn away. “I’m sorry. For what he did to your brother. For what I let him do. For everything that I let happen, and for what I said to him. Your father...” Mom let out a cough that rattled deep in her chest. “That man was not your real father. He was a man who promised to take care of me, of my children, and I believed him. I know an apology isn’t going to change what happened. I regret it all the time. The day your Beau came to the house was the day I had enough. I realized that I had lost out on having a relationship with my children.”
“I loved Jackson, and you made me push him away.” Maverick was holding onto Tate with one hand as he grabbed onto me. “I nearly lost myself. Jackson was everything to me, and you just let me give him up. I turned into a horrible person and nearly lost myself. I was cruel. Something I never wanted to be.”
Mom nodded. “I know that. I never should have... Jackson Olson is a wonderful man, Maverick. The Olsons are caring people. They’ve been helping me—”
“What?” Maverick gasped. “You’ve been talking to them?” Anger flashed in his eyes as his nostrils flared. Oh no. Angry Mav was a bad thing. A bomb ready to go off at any moment.
Mom nodded. “Adele has been great. She adores Tate.”
“Mama, we should get you inside. You should be resting.” Tate moved to wrap an arm around Mom and help her back inside the house, leaving me alone with Mav.
I raised my brows. “This is crazy, right? That we have a brother?”
“She apologized,” Maverick whispered. “Did she actually say he wasn’t our father?”
I thought I had heard that, too. “Do you want to go inside? Can you handle that?”
“I don’t know.” Mav chewed on his bottom lip. “What if we could have a relationship with her, Dean? I mean, people forgave me. What if she could be a grandmother to my kids?”
I could see how badly he wanted that, despite everything. “Come on.” I grabbed his hand again. “We can leave any time. Just say the word.”
