I’d seen it in his eyes. He wasn’t going to walk away. He wasn’t going to be an uninvolved father. No one could be that angry if they didn’t want a relationship with their children.
He wanted to know his kids.
I’d opened Pandora’s box.
I’d let this man back into my life and into my kids’ lives.
I was the worst kind of fool to think he meant nothing to me. He did, he always had, and he always would. One look at him, and I was ready to fall into bed with him. Even worse, fall for him.
How would the kids react when they found out they had another father? It didn’t matter that I hadn’t known until recently, they’d blame me, because they were angry at the world for taking Mark from them.
I deserved their anger. I deserved Easton’s anger.
How had I not figured this out sooner?
I was a horrible person, and soon everyone would know it.
Wiping my face on my sleeve, I called Fran.
“How did it go?” she asked before even saying hello.
“He hates me. He’s livid.” I’d thought I was done crying, but I wasn’t. The sobs came unbidden from somewhere so deep inside me they were physically painful.
“He’ll calm down. This has to come as a shock to him.”
“He was so angry, a concerned couple intervened. I got the hell out of there.”
“You ran away from him again?” I heard the chastising tone in Fran’s voice.
“Yes,” I sniffled. I was such a sniveling idiot.
“You have to stop doing that. Running isn’t getting you anywhere. It’s only prolonging the agony. Rip off the bandage and get on with it.”
“I think he’s going to want a relationship with the kids.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“It could be. How are they going to feel about this? About me?”
“They’ll be angry, but they already are angry. You’ll get beyond this and be stronger for it.”
I fished a tissue from my purse and blew my nose in a very unladylike way. I sounded like the Canadian geese that hung around by the lake back home every night.
“How long ago did you leave him?”
“Several minutes.”
“Go back there. Now.”
I shook my head, even though she couldn’t see me. “Not yet. He needs time to cool off.”
“Perhaps, but you need to finish what you started instead of scampering away like a scared rabbit.”
“I know,” I admitted with resignation. “Just not now.”
“Then when? Do you really think he won’t get angry again tomorrow or next week or next month? Tell him everything, then he can get angry and get over it one final time, but doling it out a little at a time isn’t doing either of you any favors.”
Fran was right, of course.
“Okay, wish me luck.”
“Good luck, honey. Everything will be fine. You must have faith.”
I gathered my tattered courage, started the car, and backed carefully out of the alley.
Easton point of view
I didn’t need this shit. She’d run out on me again.
What the fuck?
Instead of leaving, I walked along the shoreline in an attempt to get my head on straight and calm myself down. If I drove home now, I’d have a major case of road rage, and I wouldn’t unleash that anger on anyone.
And I was angry, but I worked to rein in my previously nonexistent temper.
The couple who’d intrvened had left finally after sticking around long enough to make sure I didn’t follow Caro.
I was the guy who never showed anger, but this situation went beyond what I seemed able to control, yet control it I must. I had so many questions, and she was the only one with the answers. I was ashamed of losing it, but I doubted anyone would be much better under my circumstances.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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