Sean's Reckoning - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,52
long and dangerous week.
Chapter Eleven
The house in Truro was covered in soft-gray shingles that had been weathered by countless storms. The shutters were white, and window boxes full of bright flowers hung on the railing around the porch. The house was within sight of the beach dunes, and, with the windows open, a salty breeze wafted through the bright, cheerful rooms. Deanna had never seen such a lovely place. It reminded her of a house her parents had rented years ago at the Jersey shore, but this one was smaller, cozier.
“Hey, what was that look about?” Sean asked, regarding her with concern. “You looked so sad all of a sudden.”
She forced a smile. “Just thinking about a time long ago and far away.”
“Did it involve Kevin’s father?” he asked.
She heard the tension in his voice and quickly reassured him. “Absolutely not. Frankie and I never went on a vacation.”
“Your parents, then?”
She sighed at the accurate guess. “Yes.”
“You don’t say much about them. Are they dead?”
“To me,” she said softly, unable to stop the tears that welled up in her eyes. She’d told herself a thousand times that what had happened years ago didn’t matter, but there was an ache in her heart that never seemed to go away.
Sean frowned. “What does that mean?”
“They didn’t approve of me marrying Frankie. We haven’t spoken since,” she said, giving him the short, unemotional version that omitted all of the rage and accusations that had left her feeling raw and anguished on the day she had walked out of their house for the last time. The fact that their concerns had been well-grounded was something she still hated to admit.
Sean regarded her with surprise. “You never told them he’d left you?”
She shook her head. “At first I kept silent because I didn’t think I could bear to hear them gloat over having been right about him. Then it became a matter of pride. I didn’t want to go to them when I needed help.”
“Do they know about Kevin?”
“No.”
She saw the war of emotions on Sean’s face. “You realize who’s hurt most by that, don’t you?”
She refused to acknowledge that her son could be hurt by the absence of two people he’d never even known.
“Deanna, you need to contact them,” Sean said. “Give them another chance.”
She leveled a look straight into his eyes. “The same way you’ve given your parents a second chance?”
Sean winced at the comparison and his jaw set. “It’s not the same thing,” he insisted. “I don’t even know where my parents are.”
“One of these days you will. Ryan’s determined to find the whole family, isn’t he? What will you do then?”
“We’re not discussing my family,” he said tightly, “we’re talking about yours. Kevin ought to have a chance to know his grandparents and vice versa.”
“You’re setting a double standard, and you know it,” she accused, hurt that he, of all people, didn’t understand why she might never want to see her parents again. They’d made the decision to turn their backs on her. She’d asked nothing from them but their love, and they’d withheld it. How was that any better than what his parents had done?
Hurling the one comment guaranteed to infuriate him, she said, “Besides, this is none of your business.”
With that she whirled around, shouted for Kevin and headed for the beach at a brisk pace. She wasn’t surprised when Sean didn’t bother to follow. After all, she’d just slammed a door very firmly right in his face.
Sean had had no idea that he and Deanna had so much in common. Granted the break with her parents had come when she’d been an adult, and she’d made her own choice about it, choosing Frankie Blackwell over her family, but the fact was, they were both facing a future without the people who had given them life. If he wasn’t anxious to change that in his own situation, why was he so insistent that Deanna should be? Was it because he wanted for her—for Kevin—what he wasn’t willing to fight for for himself?
He heard the thump of Hank’s cane hitting the porch, but he refused to turn around. He wasn’t sure how much his friend had overheard, but knowing Hank, it had been enough to ensure that he’d have an opinion to offer. Probably one Sean had no desire to hear.
“It’s going to be a long week, if you don’t go after her and apologize,” Hank said, coming up to lean on the railing next to him.
“Why should I be