“Thank you.” I forced a smile. I actually felt sorry for Farah after watching the way my brother dismissed what she’d justsaid, irritated that it had derailed the conversation, when I was fairly certain that everyone else at the table was relieved.
“So, I hate to change the subject, but we called you all here because we have news,” Chrissy said. “We already shared it with Wren and Axel. But we wanted you two to know that your father and I are engaged.”
“Wow,” my brother said. “The divorce isn’t even final, and you’ve moved into our mother’s home, you’re pregnant with our father’s child, and you called us here to tell us that you’re engaged? You’re moving fast, Chrissy. And Dad, how about a little respect for the woman you were married to not that long ago.”
Axel snorted beside me, and everyone turned to look at him.
“I’m sorry. I think I choked on the hypocrisy in the room,” Axel said, and I tried to cover my smile.
My father and my brother were clearly not all that different.
“That’s right, the Chadwick family members are all perfect, right?” Collin said, and Farah shot him a warning look.
“You know what, Collin?” Axel wiped his mouth with his napkin before dropping it in his lap again. “If you tried owning your shit just one time in your life, instead of attacking everyone around you, you’d have some hope of fixing things with your sister. But instead, you’re trying to make this about me and my family. The hypocrisy that I’m speaking of starts and ends here with you.”
“I was going through a hard time, and I did some things that I regret,” my brother said, looking directly at me. “I messed up when I lied to you about Axel, and I’ve owned it. I was hurting, and it was a selfish thing to do.”
“This family is so messed up.” I groaned as I looked at my brother and my dad. “You’ve both lied so many times, it’s hard to keep it all straight. And at the end of the day, you’ve bothpunished me for the mistakes you’ve made, and that’s just not okay.”
“That is not true, sweetheart. How did I punish you?” my father asked.
“Dad,” I said, shaking my head. “You begged me not to tell Mom about an affair you had years ago. You asked me to carry a secret that would hurt my relationship with my mother. You put me in the middle, when you should have been the adult and owned it. But I had to be the one to tell Mom, and fortunately she surprised me because she already knew about it. She thanked me for telling her, and she was the one who apologized on your behalf for putting me in a horrible situation. But then, you were angry with me for doing the right thing, and our entire relationship changed after that.”
“I handled it wrong. I thought you were being disloyal,” he admitted.
“You thought I was disloyal, when you were having sex with another woman while married to our mother. Take a look in the mirror, Dad. You punished me for a crime that you committed.” I turned my attention to Collin. “And then you cheated on your fiancée, with her best friend, and you decided to hurt my relationship with Axel because you didn’t want to suffer alone. Are we seeing how twisted and messed up this is?”
Farah had her hand on her chest, and she had so much empathy when she looked at me that it nearly made me cry.
But I wouldn’t cry here. Not tonight. Not in front of the two men I’d loved so much who had hurt me so badly.
“How can I fix this?” my dad asked.
“I honestly don’t know. I think moving forward, we worry less about how I perform at events and more about our relationship. I don’t want you looking at horses or talking to Coach Sharky. Just try being my father, and we’ll see if we can repair things from there.” I took a drink. “And maybe we don’tdo dinners at the home where we were raised with Mom. It feels wrong.”
“I can do that.” He nodded and glanced at Chrissy, who didn’t look pleased, but I didn’t care. This wasn’t about her right now.
“I agree. I don’t think you should be living in this house,” Collin said to her.
“But I love this house,” Chrissy said.
“Well, if you truly love my father and you actually want your future child to know his or her siblings, then I suggest you start your lives in a new home,” I said. “That would be a good start.”
“And what about us, Wren?” Collin asked.
“I honestly don’t know, Coll. I love you, you’re my brother. But I don’t trust you, and I’m not over what you did to me and Axel. It was selfish and evil, and I’m still processing it.”
“I fucked up,” he finally said as his fists came down on the table. “I’m so tired of being an asshole.”
“Then stop being an asshole,” Axel said, looking directly at my brother. “That’s how it gets better. Stop being a fucking asshole, and earn her trust back, because she loves you and this is killing her. Be a good fucking human, and do the right thing.”
I thought my brother was going to lose his shit and have a meltdown after what Axel had said to him.
But he didn’t.
He ran his hands through his hair and looked at me. “I can do that.”
“I hope that’s true.”
