Chapter 37
CHAPTER 37
S tark groaned, blinking blearily as the shrill ring of the phone permeated the room. He was the little spoon to Rayna’s big spoon, and he patted her hand resting against his stomach. “Baby, your phone is ringing.”
“Not mine,” she mumbled before turning away from him and burying her head under the covers. He groaned and leaned out of the bed, snagging his pants from the floor and fumbling his phone out of his pocket.
He squinted at the screen and sighed loudly before hitting the answer button and collapsing on his back on the bed. “What?”
“Hello to you, too,” Jasper said.
Anger washed over Stark just hearing his cousin’s voice. He hadn’t spoken to or seen Jasper since his cousin’s disastrous date with Rayna. He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “It’s seven o’clock on a Saturday morning. What the fuck do you want?”
Rayna rolled over at his tone, giving him a worried look. He shook his head, rubbing her smooth thigh as Jasper said, “It’s your father.”
“What about him?”
“I told you - he wants to meet with you,” Jasper said. “In person. He’s willing to come to Harmony Falls this week.”
“And I told you that I won’t meet with him. If my father wants to talk to me, he can call the office and book a phone meeting.”
“You’re being an asshole about this, Isaac.”
“You’re one to talk,” Stark snapped.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jasper asked.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Stark said. “You think I wouldn’t find out what you did to her?”
“I didn’t do jackshit to that bitch,” Jasper said. “Whatever she told you is a fucking lie.”
Stark glanced at Rayna. She sat up, the worry on her face returning.
Another surge of anger washed over him, deep enough to make him wish he could throttle Jasper through the phone. “Lose my fucking number, Jasper.”
He ended the call before Jasper could reply, and Rayna immediately said, “I’m sorry.”
He scrubbed his hand through his hair. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You’re fighting with your cousin because of me,” she said.
He leaned over and pressed a hard kiss against her mouth. “I’m fighting with my cousin because of what he did to you. Big difference.”
“How do you know what happened?”
He hesitated. “I overheard Emma telling Lucas about it at the office.”
“Oh.” She chewed at her bottom lip. “Isaac, I don’t want you to destroy a family relationship because of me. It’s no big deal and -”
“It is a big deal,” he said fiercely. “What he said and what he did to you was wrong, Rayna, and I don’t care if he’s my fucking cousin. I don’t want someone like that in my life. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said.
He sighed. “Shit. Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”
“I know.” She studied him carefully. “It was you who paid off the rescue’s bill to Harmony Falls Vet Clinic after Jasper demanded his donation be returned.”
He looked away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She cupped his face and turned him to face her, giving him a quick kiss before resting her forehead against his. “Thank you, Isaac.”
He rubbed her quilt-covered thigh. “Sorry to wake you so early.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “I have to be at the house of horrors at eight thirty to check on the dogs anyway.”
She leaned back and took his hand. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“About what?” he asked.
“About why you don’t want to meet with your father.”
He swallowed hard, his stomach churning acid until he tasted bile in the back of his throat. “Not really.”
“Okay,” she said, raising his hand to her mouth and kissing his knuckles. “But I’m happy to listen if you change your mind.”
He opened his mouth to say there was nothing to talk about and instead said, “He wants to meet with me and just expects me to do it, like he hasn’t ignored me for the last fucking eight years.”
She scooted closer, her warm, firm body pressing against his as she took his hand. “Do you know why he wants to meet?”
“No, and I don’t care. He’ll want something from me, and I’m not interested in giving it to him, no matter what it is.”
“What if it’s your forgiveness he wants?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“What if he wants to say sorry for how he treated you?”
He laughed bitterly. “My father does not say sorry. Ever.”
“People change,” she said. “Eight years is a long time.”
He thought it over, Rayna sitting quietly next to him as she let him work it out in his head. Finally, he shook his head. “No, that isn’t it, Rayna. You don’t know him like I do. Feeling remorse or guilt for something he’s done is impossible for him. He’s a narcissistic sociopath who is incapable of loving anyone, including me and my mother.”
She squeezed his hand before resting her head against his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Isaac.”
“I can’t meet with him,” he said, hating the slight waver in his voice. “I’ll talk to him on the phone, but to see him, after everything he put my mom and me through… I just can’t. When I told him I was starting my own company, do you know what he said to me?”
“What?” she asked gently.
“He told me that I would fail. That I was a stupid, naive idiot who didn’t have a clue about running a business or how to succeed. He said if I left, he’d disown me as a son because it would be too embarrassing to have people know I was his son when I failed.”
“Wow. I hate him,” she said.
He studied her, his voice hoarse when he said, “Me too.”
She kissed him, resting her forehead against his again. “It’s okay that you do, honey.”
“Is it?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes. Take it from someone who has a lot of parental trauma - your feelings are valid and absolutely normal. Why did you move to Harmony Falls? Was it to get away from your father?”
“No, it was easy enough to avoid him in New Cassel once I was an adult. I spent a few summers in Harmony Falls as a kid. My maternal grandparents had a cabin here, and my mother would send me to live with them during summer holidays.”
He stared off into space. “It was one of the best times of my life. I missed my mother, but not being around my father, not listening to him tell me how every single thing I did was wrong… it was a fucking relief. I could be myself here. I could breathe here.”
“I’m glad, honey,” she said.
“Will you tell me about your parents?” he asked.
She hesitated. “I didn’t bring them up to make this about me. I just wanted you to know that I understand and support you.”
“I know,” he said. “I’d still like you to tell me about them.”
She sighed. “There isn’t much to say. They were both raging alcoholics. My mother was mostly sober when I was in elementary school, but by the time I started high school, she was as addicted as my father. Neither of them could keep a job, and we spent most of my childhood being kicked out of rental after rental on the south side.”
He squeezed her hand as Freddie jumped up on the bed and sat at the end of it, staring at them with his bright green eyes.
“There were plenty of times when I went hungry because they spent their money on booze instead of food.”
He could feel useless anger filling him up and could hear it in his voice when he said, “Were they abusive?”
“Not physically or emotionally, but they were neglectful. I was six when they first left me alone to drink at the bars.”
“Jesus Christ,” he said, “why didn’t anyone call Child Protective Services on them?”
“When I was younger, they were better at covering their alcoholism and acting normal around other adults. Eventually, however, their luck ran out. We’d been homeless off and on all growing up, but we’d always managed to at least stay in gross motels until my father and mother could earn enough money to rent another place. At least, that was the case until my last year of high school. The alcohol had a pretty strong hold over both of them at that point, and neither was capable of holding down a job. We got evicted from our rental, and there wasn’t enough money for a motel. We had to live in the car.”
“I’m so sorry, baby,” he said.
“It was bad,” she said. “I couldn’t shower or wash my clothes, and we had barely any food. My dad worked part-time at a convenience store, but he and my mom used most of the money to buy more booze.”
She studied their clasped hands. “I never found out who called Child Protective Services, but I suspect it was the guidance counselor, Mrs. Wilding.”
“Why do you think it was her?” he asked.
“She was kind to me.” She laughed a little bitterly. “That’s understating it. She used to bring an extra lunch for me to school every day, and sometimes I’d find an envelope with twenty dollars in my locker that I’m pretty sure was from her. After they took me away from my parents, she…”
He rubbed his thumb soothingly on her hand. “She what?”
“I turned eighteen only a week after Child Protective Services took me, which meant I aged out of the foster system. So, I could either try my luck with the homeless shelter in Harmony Falls or live with my parents in their car again.”
He put his arm around her and tucked her up against him. “That’s not much of a choice.”
“I decided the homeless shelter was the better option, but as soon as Emma’s parents found out what was happening, they insisted I stay with them.”
He kissed her forehead, and she snuggled in closer, resting one hand on his chest. “It was unbelievably kind of them, and I appreciated it so much, but they had a pretty small house, and I was basically sleeping on Emma’s bedroom floor. I didn’t care. It was way better than anything I’d had in a long time, but I worried that it would affect my friendship with Emma. She was - is - my best friend, and the thought of losing her…”
She swallowed hard, the bright shine of tears in her eyes, and he tugged her toward him. “Sit in my lap, baby.”
She did what he asked with zero protest, resting her head on his chest as he rubbed her back with long, slow strokes.
“Mrs. Wilding came to Emma’s house two days after they took me in. She offered to let me stay with her. She was widowed young, and her kids were grown, and she said I would be doing her a favour, that she was lonely living by herself. She had an extra bedroom I could use, and she wouldn’t kick me out after graduation. I could stay with her for as long as I needed.”
She sat up, a soft smile on her face as she stared at him. “She told me I would have to get used to the pets, though. She had four dogs and five cats, and she was forever finding stray animals to care for, she said.”
He laughed. “So, that’s why you went into the animal rescue business.”
“It definitely played a part,” Rayna said. “I had always loved animals and knew I wanted to be a vet from a pretty young age. I’d desperately wanted a pet as a kid but obviously never had one. My parents could barely afford to feed me. Mrs. Wilding’s numerous pets made the idea of living with her more enticing, not less.”
She toyed with his chest hair, her fingers moving restlessly against his skin. “I moved in with Mrs. Wilding, and I stayed with her after I graduated high school and went to trade school. I didn’t move out until I got my first job. Who I am and what I have today are because of Mrs. Wilding. I owe her so much, and I will never be able to thank her enough.”
“She sounds like an incredible person,” he said.
“She is. She moved to Willington a few years ago. Her daughter married someone from Willington, and she’d just had a baby. Mrs. Wilding wanted to be closer to her and her grandchild.”
“How often do you see her?” he asked.
“We have a monthly dinner,” Rayna said. She looked around the room, her eyes going hazy with memories. “She was nearly as proud as I was when I bought this place. She bought a bottle of champagne, and on the day I took possession, she, Emma, and I drank champagne from plastic cups in the living room. It was one of the happiest days of my life.”
She lapsed into silence, and they sat quietly. The only sound in the room was the soft rasp of his hand sliding up and down her back. She blinked rapidly, her gaze clearing before she smiled at him. “Anyway, now you know the sad details of my childhood, which I’m sure doesn’t at all make you find me pathetic.”
His hands slid to frame her face, his gaze true and steady. “It makes me believe you’re one of the strongest people I know, Rayna Abrams.”
“Isaac,” she whispered.
He bent his head and kissed her, a gentle brush of his mouth against hers. She moaned and leaned into him, her body going soft against his, her tongue already seeking entrance inside his mouth. Before they could deepen the kiss, her phone alarm went off, a harsh bray that made them both jump.
She sighed before smiling at him. “Sorry, I need to go to the house of horrors to feed the dogs.”
She slid out of the bed, giving him a look of surprise when he said, “I’ll go with you.”
“Trust me, you don’t want to do that,” she said. “The smell is horrendous. Also, I have, like, two hundred errands to run for the rescue today.”
“I don’t care,” he said. “I’m going with you, Rayna.”
Her smile turned warm and soft. “Thank you, Isaac.”