Brendan, who has been sitting with his own branch of our misshapen family tree, lifts a glass in a toast to his financial advisor. “Thanks, Lynne. Do you charge by the hour for comments like those?”
“For you, it’s free,” she calls back.
The room bursts into laughter. My temper rises even as the family’s lost in the moment of goodnatured teasing. Finally, I boom, “Enough!”
Silence descends all around. I snap, “We’re not doing this at the table.”
Rhoswen leans over and rests her head on my shoulder. “It’s okay. They’re curious because they love you.”
But it’s not. Not because of the questions—hell, I’m shocked they haven’t asked them long before now. They’re my family—blunt, nosy, and filled with chaotic love that saved me on more than one occasion.
I just don’t want anything to make Rhoswen uncomfortable and I know my family. Once I open up this door, nothing’s going to be off limits. Pushing back my chair, I hold out my hand. “Come with me for a minute?”
She places her napkin by her plate before laying her hand in mine. Standing, we head for the hall. As we make our way there, my keen hearing picks up the hum of the low voices—the stage whispers that pierce the air like they’re waking the dead.
“Are we finally going to hear Charlie’s story?” Corinna’s wonders in awe.
“Bet he won’t share everything.” If I don’t strangle Keene by night’s end, Ali should be grateful.
“I bet one of them threw something at him. He has that scar on his shoulder,” Jon surmises. I shake my head. Kid’s too smart for his own good. Not surprising considering who his parents are. Still, I wonder what he’s going to think when he realizes it was actually a slice from a knife?
Then Mitch joins in and his calm voice settles some of the nerves inside of me. “All I know is he and my aunt are still on decent terms. What broke them up didn’t ruin that.”
There’s so much more to it than you think.But I keep that to myself.
For now.
Instead, I shoot them all a look over my shoulder that has them freezing like raccoons caught in headlights before I lead Rhoswen back out the front door. Closing it firmly behind us with a click, I let the cool air hit my face hoping it will ease some of the tension in my chest.
It doesn’t. Nothing does until she lays her hand over my heart. That’s when I can let out the ragged moan I’ve been holding in. Without a word, she steps forward and wraps her arms around me.
I’m not certain how long we stay there, just me and the woman I’d give my life to protect. Scrubbing my head against the top of her hair, I agonize, “I should have known this would come up.”
“You don’t have to?—“
I cut her off gently. “I do. You’ve studied them, but you don’t know them yet. Once they have the bit between their teeth, they won’t let something go. It’s how we saved the girls. It’s how Phil…”
Her eyes soften. Damn if that doesn’t make what I’m going to share with the room both easier and harder because of who’s in attendance. “So, break it down, Charlie. Your first marriage…”
“The truth is simple and straightforward.” Pulling back, I pace back and forth.
Rhoswen rubs her arms up and down to ward off the chill as she waits patiently. I don’t have to tell her that two and three are going to emotionally slaughter me. She already knows. Still, I remind her, “Number four is Mitch’s aunt.”
“You were married to her for ten years.”
“He knows about why it ended—the cheating. Just not the rest of it.” I shove a hand through my hair.
Her lips part, surprise flickering—but not judgment. Never judgment. “He’s a grown man. With a family, Charlie. Don’t you think it’s time he does?”
That’s when it hits me. Maybe they all deserve the whole story. Not the rumors that grew over the years. Not the family gossip, but the real version of me who fell in love. Who fell out of it. Who was too young, dumb, and too married to his job to be a good husband.
I reach for Rhoswen. “Will you stay close by?”
She nods once, steady and sure.
Thank God. If I’m going to tear open old wounds in front of the people I love, I need the woman I love beside me when I do it. Because when I do, it’s going to rewrite everything this family thinks they know about me.
CHAPTER FIVE
