Not even his siblings knew how terrible their childhood had been for him. He hadn’t talked about it with Cian or Gareth, or Mallory, Alec, or Allie. Rachel, on the other hand, had taken one look at him and just known. As if he needed another reason to stay away from her. Damn psychologists!
Because, yes, he was the eldest; he'd had to take care of everything. Naturally, he had protected his siblings from how bad things had been for the family at times, that their father had been so obsessed with his artistic career that their mother had had to work herself to death to keep them afloat. That it still had been barely enough. That their parents had argued constantly, but their mother had ignored every one of Connor’s pleas to leave or give their father an ultimatum. And, yes, eventually, his father had become famous, but with his daughter’s damned art, not his own. Connor should have seen it coming. He should haveknown. He hadn’t been able to protect Allie the way he'd wanted. Mallory had gotten pregnant as a teenager, and Alec…he had left Alec to his own devices as soon as he had the chance.
Yes, his siblings lived on the other side of the country. He could have stayed on the East Coast after Harvard. He didn’t have to move to L.A., since dozens of good law firms had wanted him back then, where his siblings still lived. But…he had longed so much for freedom, for less responsibility. He'dstill been angry at his mother; he hadn’t truly grieved when his father died — and he hadn’t wanted to justify that to his siblings. Then he would have had to explain that he had spent his youth secretly slipping money to his mother and doing housework in the middle of the night so that Alec, Allie, and Mallory would have clean dishes for breakfast the next morning, when his mother couldn’t manage anymore in terms of time and energy. Even when they suddenly became rich from selling sculpture, everything still fell on their mother. Suddenly, their father was too important to drive Alec to his baking class and too busy to do the laundry.
So, yes, Connor had seized the first opportunity to get as far away as possible from his family and his responsibilities. And it had worked out. They were all happy now. But he wasn’t contributing much anymore. Rachel had been right about that too…he didn’t know if he could make people happy or if he had the stamina and the strength for it. Nevertheless, he should at least make the effort to give his siblings what he could still give.
“Connor, are you still there?” Alec asked.
“Yes, I’m still here. Sorry.” He slumped back in his chair. “Alec, of course you can come. I have a guest room, so stay as long as you want. I’ll be happy to see you. I just asked why because…” He sighed heavily. “Is everything okay? Are you and the family okay?”
There was a moment of thoughtful silence on the other side. Then Alec murmured, “Mallory is happily busy with her two kids and her husband. Allie is happily busy with her art and her ex-Navy SEAL. My friends are busy proposing and fulfilling their dreams. And me? I’m making one wedding cake after another.” He clicked his tongue, sounding oddly exhausted. “I love Eden Bay, the town is magical, but…it’s a bit crowded here. Too many people in love. I need a change of scenery and thought you’d understand that better than anyone.”
Connor’s throat tightened. “I do.”
“Besides, I have a few…appointments in town.”
“Pastry chefs have appointments?” His brother was a baker, not a businessman.
“Oh, sure, a lot of them.”
“What kind of appointments?”
“None of your business. I just thought I’d try something new. Develop myself.”
“With what?”
“None of your business,” he repeated.
Connor snorted, but he felt a smile coming on. It had to be something embarrassing. Alec was usually an open book. “Come whenever you want.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear! But just be warned, Mallory expects a daily report from me on your physical and mental state.”
“I wouldn't expect anything less.” His sister thought he was sleeping with too many women and it wasn’t making him happy. His sister was a smart woman.
“Yeah, just wanted to let you know so you could give me some bullshit about finding yourself and having the time of your life.”
“Will do. See you soon.”
“Yep.” The next moment, Alec hung up.
Connor lowered the phone and caught himself with that smile that had crept up on him. Mallory and Allie were fine. He would help Alec be fine. As far as he knew, his siblings weren’t even mad at him for living so far away. And he was working on sleeping with fewer women and finding the right one.
His thoughts immediately flew to Rachel.
Well, everyone takes a step back before they move forward, right? He would?—
“—Not want to physically attack her, Maddie! I just want an explanation.”
“But you demand explanations with hellfire in your eyes, Lucy!”
“Dax thinks it’s cute.”
“Dax also thinks it’s cute to fight on the ice!”
Connor blinked. Where the hell were the voices coming from?
“Lucy, I’m begging you.” It was Maddie’s pleading voice, and then Lucy’s…Rachel’s other sister? “Don’t start a fight! She’s finally here. I honestly didn’t expect to see Rachel more than once a year at Christmas for the rest of my life.”
