I thought about going to ask. Offering even a simpleAre you okay?
But then those green eyes lifted to mine, and every thought left my damn head. Bryce looked away quickly, her shoulders drawing in, her arms wrapping around her torso.What is that about?
“Who are you?” I looked down to find the little girl peering up at me. She was missing one of her baby teeth in thefront, just past her middle two teeth. It was endearing, and I crouched down to her level. I wasn’t a guy who had any paternal instincts, but there was something about her that made me want to give her a smile and make sure she was safe.
Maybe it was a misplaced desire to do that for Bryce, knowing I hadn’t.
“I’m Mason,” I told her. “I used to know—” I stopped, swallowing. “I’m a friend of your uncle’s.”
Yeah. It was safer to go the Jackson route to tell her the link.
“Oh, cool,” she said. “You’re really big. Liketall.”
“There’s a secret reason for that.” I gave her a casual grin before standing up. “All right, Cassie, you want to sit up front with your uncle Jackson or in the back with your mom?”
“Her name’s Cassandra,” Bryce snapped, approaching us. “Don’t get informal with my daughter. You’re a stranger to her. Make sure it remains that way. Cassie, you’re in the back with me.”
Together, the two of them climbed in, but as Cassie moved, I noticed her scent. It was strangely familiar, and I looked after her as she got settled. Jackson nudged me.
“Let’s get out of here,” he muttered, glancing back at the cottage again.
***
Nobody spoke during the drive home. As we passed through White Bay, a sandy coastal town, I couldn’t help but wonder what Bryce had been doing all these years. In the prickling silence of the drive, I almost asked her just to chase away the silence.
But I held my tongue. I couldn’t help my discomfort, and it seemed not even Jackson knew how to resolve the tension.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see how Cassie gripped her mother’s hand tightly. Bryce had assured her before they’d only be gone for a few days, and I hadn’t protested how wrong that estimate was. She had nothing to return to and everything to come back to in Honeycreek.
Seven years…
God. I hadn’t seen Bryce since…
Since that night.
I’d barely let myself think about it ever since, and had let seven years pass while I buried Bryce’s name in everything I could. My pack, my town, and my career. I had filled my thoughts until her name had become a spot on the horizon.
And yet, despite all that trying, she was so close, in the backseat of the car.
Hadalwaysbeen close, with Honeycreek only a short drive away. How could I not have known? When Bryce had left town, I’d assumed she’d gone out of state, but no. She’d gone barely an hour away. I’d never asked, hadn’t wanted to, in my bid to forget her entirely.
But Jackson had known, and had never mentioned it. When he had claimed to visit his sister, packing a duffel bag for overnight stays, I hadn’t questioned it. I hadn’t wanted to be involved with any of Bryce’s business, and definitely not come between two siblings.
Why had he never mentioned how close Bryce’s home had been to us?
And then I stopped thinking.
Why would he have mentioned anything? It wasn’t like Jackson had known about anything
between Bryce and me—certainly not that night we’d spent together. I’d never told him, and I knew Bryce hadn’t, or Jackson would have come after me. But he clearly knew enough to tell me not to be an asshole. Had she watered down the whole thing?
Something wasn’t adding up.
Did Jackson know who Cassie’s father was and why he was absent? Why wasn’t he in that cottage, protecting the mother of his child and his daughter until his last breath? The thought angered me. Hell, if that had been my child, I wouldn’t have ever left her unprotected.
“So,” Jackson spoke up, breaking me out of my thoughts. “Honeycreek, huh, Cassie. It’s where your mom grew up, and where I’ve told you about. Are you excited?”
“Sure,” Cassie answered, her focus clearly on other things.
