Bonus Kisses - Freya Barker Page 0,77
wrong.”
Tears burn my eyes as every word she says slices like the crack of a whip, but I swallow them down.
“I came back because I love my sister and she wanted me here. I came back because I hoped, maybe, I could make up for time lost with you and Dad. With the kids. I never intended to…to…”
“Take her family? I can’t even stand to look at you.”
“That’s enough, Sarah.”
Her head whips around at the sound of my dad’s voice. “How did you get here?”
“Hitched a ride with Kathleen after church. After you took off like a bat out of hell when Cynthia Myers did what she does best; stir the pot. Dammit, Sarah.”
“Do you know what your precious Baby Girl did, Ed?” I flinch at the way she spits out his nickname for me, like it’s something dirty. “She finally got her claws into Rafe. Her sister’s husband. The love of Nicky’s life.”
I sink back down in my chair and drop my head in my hands. There’s no way I’ll ever be able to change her perception, and I will not betray my sister by speaking ill of her in an effort to clear my own name. I won’t do it.
“Bullshit,” Dad barks, surprising me. “He was no more the love of her life as she was his. You’d have to be blind not to see that, Sarah.”
“You knew about this?” she snaps incredulously. “This…” she agitatedly waves her hand, “…sordid affair? Oh my God, those poor children.”
I keep my head down so I don’t see Rafe coming in, but I hear him.
“The only reason the kids are upset is because you came in here making a scene,” he says sharply. “As for Taz and me, we were coming over to talk to you after we dropped the kids off at Kathleen’s. Luckily she drove up with Dad so I was able to send the kids with her. They shouldn’t have to witness their grandmother tearing apart their aunt.”
“You’re blaming this on me?”
“This scene? Hell yes,” Rafe says in a surprisingly controlled voice. “The past nine years? No. We are all to blame for those.”
“Amen.” I almost start giggling at Dad’s solemn voice. I feel like I’ve landed in the middle of a horrible daytime soap opera.
“Now sit down, I’ll get us some drinks, and maybe we can have a normal conversation.”
I look up to find Mom doing as instructed, I imagine a little stunned at Rafe’s uncharacteristic confrontation. Dad sits down beside her on the duct-taped couch and winks at me. I bite off a smile.
Rafe walks in with the Glenfiddich, the bottle of port, and four tumblers. Mom doesn’t say a word when he hands her a generous glass of port. When the rest of us have a glass of whiskey, Rafe sits back down on my armrest, his warm hand resting in my neck.
“It’s not right,” Mom mutters, shaking her head at Rafe as tears well up in her eyes. “You belong to Nicky.”
“Mom, I love you like the mother I never had, but I never belonged to Nicky. I loved her, but not the way I should’ve. What’s more, she didn’t love me like that either.”
“Don’t you dare say that about my daughter!”
“Hush, Sarah, let the man speak.”
I stay silent; knowing anything I say will only inflame the situation like it always did in the past when Mom and I had a disagreement. Maybe it’s a sign I’ve grown up.
Rafe takes a deep breath in as he gives my neck a little squeeze. “Nicky wanted this for us. I never told her how I felt about Taz, even nine years ago, but somehow she knew. We both thought we were doing the right thing, getting married, and we tried. Both of us did. This is something I never intended to share with either of you, but given the circumstances I think I should. We were filing for divorce right before Nicky had her heart attack.”
“Convenient. You say that now.” Mom is desperately hanging on to her vision of Rafe and Nicky’s marriage and part of me understands. She’s already lost a daughter. I recognize it’s pain that has her lashing out. At Rafe this time.
“Mom,” he responds gently. “I can show you the paperwork. It was by mutual agreement. We’d been living in separate bedrooms for nearly a year.”
She sniffles and Dad fishes out his linen handkerchief, handing it to her. “Can you blame her? You may as well have cheated on her.”
I can take