her lips.
“You’re not going to tell Dad, are you?”
“Nope. He’ll like the surprise.”
“HOOOOWW!”
I shoved my finger in my ear and shook my head at my nephew’s shriek. “Is somebody else here?”
I pointed my chin in the direction of the kitchen at the muffled voice.
“Umm . . .”
I grinned. “Patrick hiding in there? I know you like him.” I tugged on her hair and took off.
She grabbed my arm. “Holt. Wait.”
I glanced back at her over my shoulder. “You don’t have to hide it from me.” I winked.
“Holt.”
I ignored her urgency. “Patrick. You dog—” I stopped dead in the doorway to the kitchen.
Patrick wasn’t the one holding my nephew.
I looked back at my sister.
“Holt . . .” Remorse filled her eyes, though I wasn’t sure if it was only because she’d gotten caught.
“How could you?”
I stared in disbelief at our mother sitting in a chair like she was right at home.
“It’s not what you think.”
I spun on Marlow. “No? Then what exactly is this? Because it sure as hell looks like you’ve been hiding something from your family.”
Her face turned red.
I steamed ahead. “What does Dad think?” And then I turned back around. “What are you up to? Nearly forty years of radio silence and now you’re everywhere.” I glared at the woman who gave me life.
She looked at me with the confidence of a person who held all the cards.
“I’ve been here the whole time.”
My mouth gaped open as I stared at my sister. “What does she mean?”
Marlow fumbled as she tried to speak and came up short.
“Answer me.”
“If you want answers, ask me.” My mother was a different woman than the one who had showed up at the shop only a few days ago. This one was less demure, more in command. Like placating me was no longer important. Like . . . she’d won the battle to tear us apart, just in a different way. What was Marlow doing?
I pointed at her. “Stay out of this.”
My sister placed a hand on my shoulder. “Holt. Please.”
My head was literally about to explode. “Please what? I know I’ve been a stranger, but I have no idea who you are. You’ve been lying to all of us.” I sniffed and looked away in disgust. “Except on Sunday. Guess you knew what you were talking about after all.”
I marched over to my nephew and kissed the top of his head, careful to avoid touching my mother. “Love you, little man.”
“HOLT.”
I blinked at him in surprise. “That’s right, buddy.”
“Holt. Holt. Holt.”
I gently pinched his chubby cheek. “Blake. Blake. Blake.”
Reluctantly, I pulled away from him. I ignored my mother and frowned at my sister as I moved toward the door.
Without a word, I brushed past her. She grabbed my shirt as I stormed down her hallway.
“Wait. Holt.”
“I don’t know how you can do this to Dad. He’s been a rock for you. For Blake. But this? I can’t hide this from him. It’s not right,” I said without stopping.
She pulled harder and followed me out the front door. “Don’t. It’ll kill him.”
I spun on the front stoop. “You should have thought about that before you betrayed him.”
“We shouldn’t have to choose between them.”
“We don’t,” I said, my voice rising. “She chose. Or have you forgotten she walked out on us. All of us.”
“Please don’t tell him. I’ll find a way. Just let me do it in my own time.”
I crossed my arms. “I can’t do that. I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
She clutched the sleeve of my shirt. “I can’t lose him.”
“Do you have that little faith in the man who raised us? All on his own?” I stared at her. “What’s happened to you?”
I stomped down the sidewalk without waiting for an answer. She’d betrayed all of us and put me in the terrible position of having to keep her secret or hurt our father. I didn’t want to do either. And I didn’t want to lose my nephew. But right now, I could hardly stand to think of Marlow, let alone consider being in the same space with her.
How long has this been going on? Why had she kept it from all of us?
My brother would have never condoned the relationship, but he wouldn’t have tried to stop her if this was what she wanted. Dad wouldn’t either.
Dad.
How was I going to tell him Marlow had been seeing our mother? I didn’t know, but there wasn’t a choice. He deserved the truth.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Baker
“Where’s the little lady?”
Trish was empty-handed when she opened her door.
“Andrew