“That’s your brother?” Milo asked, shock evident even in his soft tone.
“He got married and they didn’t tell me,” I said slowly, my voice coming out strangled and rasping. “And then he had a child and didn’t tell me that, either. Even when he called me a few years ago, he didn’t mention any of it…”
Silence stretched around me as I studied the photo, focusing mostly on the little girl. Maybe I was projecting, but I thought there was a spark of defiance in her eyes despite the expressionless façade.
After all, I’d perfected that mask of compliance myself, back when I was her age.
“Addie,” I whispered.
She moved in, wrapping her arms around me even when I couldn’t tear my eyes off my niece. “I know. I’m still digging. I’ll find out everything I can.”
Of course she understood exactly what I wanted to know—was my brother a good man? A good father? Was his daughter loved and cared for? Or was this a new generation of the same old thing?
No matter how much Addie joked about my sleuthing skills, I’d never dug into my own family—never wanted to. I slammed the door on that part of my life long ago.
And maybe I was afraid that opening it again would lead to the same heartache that a lifetime of being an utter disappointment, an outsider among those who should’ve loved me best, had wrought.
“I’m sorry about your parents,” Milo murmured.
His comment snapped me out of my panic over history repeating itself with my niece. Finally shoving the phone onto the countertop, I lifted my gaze to the two of them. “I’m not.”
“Eden,” Addie said slowly. “They left the country without a word to you.”
I tidied up the wrappers from my lunch and shrugged. “How would they tell me? I made sure they didn’t know where I was living. They haven’t tried to make contact once since I left home.”
“They could have reached out to my parents,” Addie replied, still frowning.
“They could have, but they didn’t. Have you told your mom yet? I hope she’s not too hurt by it.”
“No, not yet. I’ll go over there now. Eden, babe, areyou sure you’re okay?”
Milo set a hand to the small of my back, a silent act of support, and Addie caught his eyes, still looking confused by my lack of reaction. Between Milo’s concern about family dinner and Addie acting like the world was going to fall apart because my parents had proven once again to not give a shit about me, I lost it.
“Will you both stop asking me that? I’m fine!” I snapped, jerking away from both of them. “I have work to do, if you don’t mind. Milo, thank you for lunch. Addie, thanks for the update. Now please, just let me get back to work.”
There was no missing the flash of hurt across Adelaide’s face or the quiet shock in Milo’s gray eyes, but I couldn’t deal with either of those things right then. A heavy weight settled in my chest, pressing inward until I felt like I would be crushed by it.
With one last glance at Milo, Addie mumbled a farewell and left the store. Milo caught my chin in his hand and stared hard into my eyes before dropping a light kiss on my lips.
“You know where I am if you need me,” he said gently, then he left, too.
Alone with my thoughts and the invisible boulder pressing the air from my lungs, I sank back down into my chair, dropped my face into my hands, and breathed deep as I tried to quell the rising wave of emotion that threatened to burst out of that heaviness in my chest.
As I blinked to clear my stinging eyes, I told myself it was only the upcoming dinner with Milo’s parents, the prospect ofbelonging to a family like his, that made me feel like this news was anything more than confirmation of what I already knew.
I’d been on my own for a very long time. Nothing had changed.
Overthefewdaysbetween my outburst and the upcoming dinner at his parents’ house, Milo treated me like I was made of glass. Inside the bedroom, he was as meticulously attentive as ever, but outside of it, he acted like I was one second away from losing my cool or completely falling apart.
Even if I couldn’t really blame him, it was getting on my nerves.
Fortunately, dinner with his parents proved to be a distraction and a balm toward settling both of us back into our previous state.
“Eden, it is an absolute pleasure to meet you,” Milo’s mom said as she opened the door for us. She was tall and statuesque, with laugh lines around the same gray eyes she’d given to her sons and the warmest, sweetest smile I’d ever seen.
“Thank you, Mrs. Davies. It’s great to meet you, too.”
She laughed, ushering us inside. “Please, call me Terry, and this is Tucker.”
