CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Connor
I staredout the window at my brother’s rental, wondering why he was still sitting there. A half hour had passed since he pulled up to the curb. He looked ready to punch the steering wheel.
He said earlier that he’d had business in Mahone Bay—business in the form of Harper Morrison—and it was clear that business hadn’t gone well.
Mom and Dad were in the kitchen cooking dinner. I’d been in the living room, working on a song I’d named “Flightless” when Cal pulled up. I proceeded to watch his internal struggle for the next half hour. The frustration and anguish were evident on his face. No longer able to handle it, I stood from the window seat, leaving my lyric journal resting on the bench seat.
I grabbed my jacket off the coat rack, slipping into it and my shoes as quietly as I could before leaving the house. I approached the car, but Cal didn’t notice me—he was so caught up in his own thoughts.
Opening the passenger door, I slid inside, startling Calum. “You’ve been sitting out here for thirty minutes, Cal. Are you gonna come inside?”
“I don’t know yet,” he replied, his jaw tense.
“I take it the visit didn’t go very well?” I asked gently.
“Right back into my business,” Calum laughed, shaking his head with irritation. He hated when I pushed him to talk about his feelings, yet I did it anyway.
I smiled. “What else are little sisters for?”
“Nosey little things,” he sighed, falling silent and closing his eyes. I waited him out, assuming he would offer me a minuscule excuse before changing the subject. “I, uh, have a son.”
“What?” I wasn’t sure that I heard him right. “With Harper?”
“Yeah,” he answered, sounding stunned. “He’s almost eight, Connor. His birthday is on April twenty-first.”
“Wow,” I said, flabbergasted. I shook my head, trying to process this latest bit of information. I looked at the house, still shaking my head. “Wow, wow, wow. That’s…intense.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“Yeah,” Calum said, following it with a deep exhale.
“So, what now?” I demanded, looking directly at him. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, looking torn. He pulled his gaze forward, staring blankly ahead. I could tell his mind was whirling; he was beating himself up for staying gone even more now. I watched him, remaining quiet for as long as I possibly could before speaking.
“Why didn’t she tell you sooner?”
Cal quirked a brow, sending me a sidelong glance. “Because I’m a colossal asshole who left without saying goodbye or leaving a forwarding number?”
I winced, my nose wrinkling.Touché. “Still, she could have come to us. Mom would have—”
“And I could have done a lot of things differently too,” Cal snapped. He winced, sending me an apologetic look. “Look, I’m sorry. It’s a lot to digest, you know? And I can’t get pissed at her for not tracking me down. She shouldn’t have had to.”
“You’re right. She shouldn’t have had to. You should have come home sooner, but you didn’t.” I raised a brow pointedly. “Are you going to leave still?” I pressed. Calum shook his head and I sighed with relief.
“Leaving now would be the absolute worst thing I could do, and I’d like to think I’m smart enough to learn from past mistakes,” Cal said, the disgust he felt at himself evident in his tone.
“You are,” I said softly. Cal turned his head to look at me. “Stop punishing yourself. You have an opportunity to get to know your son, don’t squander it because you’re too focused on beating yourself up about the past. Move forward, Cal…not backward.”
Calum chuckled ruefully, his lips twitching in a reluctant smile. “You’re right.” Sighing, he rested his head against the back of the headrest. “I’m not going to squander it. I can’t walk away again—and I won’t. I just have no fucking clue how to fix it.”
I paused, rolling it over in my mind. “You fix it by being here, now,” I replied. Calum nodded, absorbing my words, hopefully soaking them up. My hand moved to the door, knowing that dinner was almost ready. “Are you going to come inside?”
Calum hesitated, and I knew he wasn’t ready yet. “There’s something I have to do. Tell Ma I’ll be home later, but don’t say anything about me having a son, ‘k? I’ll tell them myself soon.”
“Okay,” I said softly, slipping out of the Porsche. I paused before closing the door, worrying, then I walked back up to the house. I heard the Porsche take off with a squeal of tires. Calum had a lot to process, and I knew he couldn’t do it under the same roof as Dad.
My mind was reeling with the information Calum had just shared with me. He was a father. I was an aunt. I couldn’t believe Harper had managed to keep a child a secret for so long, especially living so close.
