Just One Kiss (Whisper Lake #4) - Barbara Freethy Page 0,27

looks just like Tyler did when he was small."

"Kelly has a son?" her mom murmured in bemusement. "But she left him alone? That doesn't make sense. But then, Kelly did a lot of things that didn't make sense. It sounds like she's still irresponsible and impulsive."

"I can't argue with that. I brought Brett home. He's taking a nap upstairs."

"He's here?" her mom asked in surprise.

"Yes. He's my nephew. He's your grandson. I couldn't let him go to anyone else. I did call Adam Cole. He's going to try to find Kelly. If we don't hear from her or he hasn't located her by Monday, then child welfare services may need to get involved. But I have no intention of giving Brett up. He's ours. He's family."

"Your sister left our family a long time ago."

"Brett didn't. He's an innocent child. He's very sweet—a little angel."

Her mother stared back at her with pain in her eyes. "Kelly was a sweet child, too. But then she got older, and she lost that angelic quality. She was sassy, always talking back and thinking she knew better. She was reckless, impulsive, and very self-centered. By the time she was a teenager, it was all about her, all the time. Never mind that I had two other kids to raise, Kelly seemed to need more and more and more. Whatever I gave her was never enough. And your father felt the same way."

"Really?" She couldn't help but interrupt her mother's rant. "I always thought Kelly was Dad's favorite. Even when she was getting into trouble, she could make him laugh. They'd be fighting and then suddenly they were smiling at each other, and he couldn't remember what she'd done wrong."

"She did have the ability to get her way with him." Her mom drew in a shaky breath. "He adored her; that's why he went out to find her that night."

"But it was an accident, Mom. It was raining hard. Visibility was low. I know you blame Kelly because he went to look for her, but the car crash wasn't her fault. I just don't understand why you had to pin it all on her."

"I know it was an accident, but she was the reason he was in that storm, and that's a fact," her mother argued. "If she'd come home on time, we wouldn't have lost him."

She gave her mom a long, pointed look. "You have to find a way to forgive her. Not just for her sake, but for yours. It's important for your recovery."

Pain filled her mother's eyes. "You're right."

"I am?"

"Yes. It's difficult for me to admit that I took my grief out on Kelly. But I didn't kick her out of the house. She left. I tried to find her, and I couldn't."

She was glad to see her mom taking some responsibility, but there was still a lot of defensiveness in her answer. "You didn't try that hard to find her. You couldn't, because you were drinking all the time. You fell apart after she left. You were wasted by four in the afternoon. I know you think you tried, but you didn't."

Hurt filled her mom's eyes. "You can be so harsh, Hannah."

The criticism stung. Maybe she was harsh when it came to her mom's alcoholism, but there was a part of her that hadn't yet been able to forgive her mother for everything that had happened to her. And she knew she had to follow her own advice and find a way, but today wasn't about them.

"Let's focus on what's happening now. Have you ever heard from Kelly? Has she ever sent a postcard, dropped you a text? Have any of her friends' mothers told you they know something about her life?"

"She has never reached out to me or my friends. I'm sure if she was going to contact someone in the family, it would be you or Tyler."

She'd tried calling her brother earlier, but she hadn't reached him yet. Hopefully, he'd call soon. "I've never heard from her. I don't think Tyler has, either."

"Well, there you go. Kelly doesn't give a damn about any of us until she needs something."

In this instance, it was difficult to argue with her mother, although she could tell her mom that the apple didn't fall far from the tree, because her mom tended to take a lot more than she gave.

"I have to go," her mom said, getting to her feet.

She stood up, surprised by her mom's words. "Go? Just like that? I need your