Wide Open Spaces (Shooting Stars #2) - Aurora Rose Reynolds Page 0,13

yet another step away from him. I can’t believe he didn’t warn me, not only about Tina, but about the fact his kids know about our son.

“I know Tina, and knew she’d tell them. I didn’t want her twisting shit in their heads, so I talked to them first.”

“Oh, God.”

“I’m guessing Hunter doesn’t know about the adoption,” he whispers, moving toward me once more.

“No, he doesn’t know about it!” I cry, shaking my head. “Or he didn’t,” I feel a sob climb up my throat and I cover my face. “I was waiting until the right time to tell him.”

“You guys had a kid?” Hunter asks, and I turn to find him standing near the bottom of the stairs, looking between Zach and I “And you gave him away?”

“Honey.” I pull in a ragged breath and take a step in his direction, but he shakes his head and holds my gaze.

“You gave your kid away?”

“Please come sit down.”

“Tell me now!” he yells, making my heartbreak and my hands clench into fists.

“Yes, Zach and I had a son, but no, we didn’t just give him away. We chose a family to raise him, because we were too young to take care of him, and we wanted him to have the best life possible,” I explain quietly, Sensing Zach move closer then feel his hand on my back.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Hunter blinks, trying to fight back tears as his lip wobbles.

“I…” I close my eyes, praying to get this out right. “I was waiting for the right time, waiting until you were old enough to understand.”

“You said you two were only friends. You lied to me.”

“I know, honey. But I haven’t seen Zach in a very long time and you’re young. So young. I wasn’t sure you would understand.”

“I’m not a baby. You always treat me like a baby.” Tears trek down his cheeks while his chin wobbles again.

“You’ll always be my baby.” I shake my head, taking a step toward him. “No matter how big you get, you will always be my baby, and I will always do everything within my power to protect you.”

His hands fist at his sides and his eyes narrow. “Does Dad know?”

“Yes.” I nod. Max knew about Samuel and Zach. I told him about them when we first started dating. When I believed he had the power to heal me. When he wanted to heal me.

“Dad never told me.”

“No, he didn’t,” I agree. “He was waiting until the time was right, too.”

“I want to go home,” he repeats his earlier statement, and I blink back a rush of tears, because he is home, but he’s talking about wanting to go back home to his dad.

“Come sit down, kid,” Zach instructs quietly, and Hunter’s eyes swing to him and narrow. “I want to talk to you, and then I’m going to leave you and your mom to talk.”

“Za—” I begin, but am cut off when Hunter stomps down the last two steps and walks past us into the living room, where he takes a seat on the couch, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What?” he asks snootily, holding Zach’s gaze. If it weren’t for the situation, I would reprimand him for being rude, but I know now is not the time for that. Instead, I take a seat on the couch next to him, but still far away enough to give him his space.

“I want to tell you a story,” Zach begins, taking a seat on the coffee table in front of Hunter.

“Zach,” I try again, only to stop when his eyes slice to me.

“Let me talk then I’ll go.”

“Okay,” I agree, giving in when I see the deeply rooted pain in his eyes.

“I want to tell you a story about a boy who grew up with nothing. He lived with his mom and dad in a one-room apartment. Neither of his parents had jobs most of the time. He didn’t have a bed to sleep on, or food to eat on most days, and in the winter, he didn’t even have a coat to wear to school until he was old enough to work and buy one for himself. Do you understand that?” he asks, and Hunter nods. “Good,” he says quietly.

“That boy with nothing fell in love with a beautiful girl when he was sixteen.” He continues softly, “He knew that girl would be the love of his life from the moment he laid eyes on her. He knew he wanted to