door. “How about you just stop talking crap and go to sleep?”
“But I worked it out! I learned from my mistakes! I’m the perfect person to give you advice.”
“Bullshit.” Kaiden swung around. “Mom came to find you. You did nothing but keep her away from us and blame her for it.” Kaiden knew at some level that he was the one who should be shutting up, but somehow his mouth just kept moving. “If she hadn’t contacted Rae you’d still be sitting here making everyone’s lives as miserable as your own!”
“Kaiden.”
He started when his mother spoke from behind him and touched his shoulder.
“Honey, this isn’t helpful, okay?” She ran her fingers down his arm and gripped his elbow hard. “How about you come into the kitchen, and I’ll make you some hot chocolate?”
“Sure.” Kaiden cast one last look at his father’s furious face. He couldn’t find it in himself to apologize so he said nothing and walked away.
By the time his mom came into the kitchen, he’d taken a seat at the table and had his head in his hands. She set a pan of milk to boil on the range and walked over to sit opposite him.
“I’m sorry.” Kaiden stared down at the table. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“It’s okay, Kaiden.” She patted the top of his head like he was five again. “You had cause.”
“But I’m not like that. I don’t get mad, I—”
“Then maybe you should.”
He finally looked up at her. “And give my old man another heart attack?”
She smiled. “He’s way too tough for that little skirmish to upset him. And, maybe this will teach him to keep his nose out of your business.” She glanced back at the stove. “Hold on while I check the milk. I don’t want it boiling over.”
He stayed where he was because the spat with his father had somehow exhausted him. He listened to his mother stirring in the chocolate powder, the spoon clinking against the side of the mugs. She brought the cocoa over to the table and placed one in front of him.
“Here you go, sweetheart.”
“Thanks.” Kaiden took a dutiful sip and found she’d made it just how he liked it. “It’s great.”
She let him drink in silence as the house creaked and settled around them. Kaiden had a weird sense that the calmness flowing into him was coming directly from her.
“I heard what you said to your father about me.”
Kaiden grimaced. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I have no idea where it all came from.”
“From your heart.” She set her mug down on the table. “It can’t have been easy for any of you growing up without a mother.”
“I don’t blame you, Mom.” He looked her in the eye. “Dad caused all of this.”
She sighed. “I wish I had your confidence that was true. I still beat myself up regularly, like, how hard did I try to get back? What kind of mother walks out on her own kids? Maybe I should’ve just knuckled down and let him win?”
“But you did try,” Kaiden pointed out. “I remember Dad and Rae having a terrible fight once because you were in Bridgeport, and she was trying to sneak us all out to see you. Dad took her car keys and kept us in the house for the whole day, and no one else knew why.”
“You remember that?” his mother asked. “I had no idea.”
“I never told anyone what I overheard. I wasn’t that stupid.” Kaiden wrapped both hands around his mug. “I cried myself to sleep that night.”
“I still could’ve tried harder,” Leanne said. “At one point, Declan asked if I’d like him to set his lawyers onto Jeff to insist I had visitation rights. That he’d be happy to pay to fly you all out to New York if it put a smile back on my face. I thought about it, but I was terrified that it would make things even worse, and that taking you away from the ranch you all loved would just confuse you more, and cause resentment.”
“I don’t think Dad would’ve cared if the courts had ordered him to do something. He would’ve just ignored them anyway,” Kaiden reminded her.
“That’s probably true.” She bit her lip. “Also, by the time I saw Ben again, he was so angry with me that I was afraid I’d left it too long, and that you all hated me.”
“We never did that,” Kaiden said. “Most of us thought you were dead because Dad just wouldn’t even