Summer Breeze Kisses - Addison Moore Page 0,111

I was just about to join them.”

“Maybe I will.” I swallow hard as I spot them splashing at one another in the water, having a good time, and I want them to. Knox and Trixie clung to our father during that hellish era of our lives. My mother seemed so isolated and alone that I seemed to favor her in that time, trying to help her navigate her downfall from being a socialite to social parasite back in Bel Terra. Even at home, the three of us were forced to favor one parent over the other. It felt like battle lines were drawn, sides were being taken, and now that the nightmare is in the rearview mirror, relations are still strained. We never fully recovered. We may never do so. I’m not sure if that’s entirely Bradley Kent’s fault, but I damn well know he isn’t helping us heal.

“So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?” He smiles over the rim of his glasses while holding up his coffee. “Would you like a cup?”

“No thanks.” We take a seat at the kitchen barstools and watch as Knox and Trixie slow their playful game of trying to drown one another. I can hear them speaking between themselves, trying to make out where we might have gone in the house. Scarlett was right when she said they were so close it’s creepy, but I like it, and I’m glad they’re close. In fact, one of my goals this summer is to mend the bridges I might have burned down in an attempt to support my mother.

“How’s school? Are you still on target to graduate on time?”

“Yes. Finals went well. I just got my grades back—straight A’s this time. Next semester should be a breeze. Law school should be happening for me before we know it.”

“Sounds like you have it all figured out.” He smiles so hard his eyes disappear in half moons. That’s the great thing about my father. It takes so little to get that genuine response out of him. He’s always been happy-go-lucky, rolling with the punches no matter how hard the beatdown. “So, how’s your mother?”

No matter where our conversations start off they always end up at the same maternal destination.

“She’s great. Perhaps a little too great,” I grunt.

“The kids told me about the engagement. Can’t say I didn’t see it coming.” His forehead wrinkles into a million lines, his eyes gloss over, and the pain in them is just as undeniable as it was with Scarlett last night. “She’s happy, though. That’s the most important thing.” His left eye twitches as if calling out the lie. Of course, at the end of the day, it most likely isn’t a lie, but my father and mother were in love. They were the perfect couple until they weren’t. They enjoyed each other. That’s the one truth I know. Then, in a span of six weeks, the news went from bad to worse, and my mother cursed up a storm at my father whom she blamed for taking her down with him. The horror of what came next is exactly the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. She openly declared their marriage a sham, but we all knew she was speaking from her pain—at least that’s what we chose to believe. She hasn’t spoken to him since, outside of a few words regarding my siblings and me.

“She seems to be content. How about you? You happy about this?” My voice pitches with frustration without meaning to. Our eyes catch on one another as my percolating rage meets up with that forever look of sorrow embedded in him. I wish I could shake him. I wish I could make him tell me exactly at what point he gave up on the woman he once vowed to cherish and decided she wasn’t worth it anymore.

“I’m not happy about how any of this worked out, and you know it.” His voice is tense, his expression hard, but those watery blue eyes of his show a far more delicate side.

“Then why are you letting this happen?” I swipe the newspaper off the counter in an adolescent fit of frustration. “Crap!” I slam my palm down onto the granite just as Knox and Trixie scuttle in, wrapped in towels, dripping over the hardwood floors until they reach us.

“What’s happening?” Knox steps between Dad and me as if to contain the situation. I once threw a punch at my father and landed it square