7
“Titillating the neighbors is nothing new for me.”
“No? But I thought you didn’t have any close neighbors, just Callie’s uncle on one side.”
“I meant . . .” As they headed inside, he wanted to kick his own ass. Now was not the time to delve into the past.
She flipped on a few lights as he relocked the door.
“Meant what?” She waited, then realization dawned in her eyes. “Or it’s something you don’t want to talk about?” Hand to her
forehead, she apologized again. “I’m sorry. I keep pushing when I don’t mean to.”
When she started to turn away, Kam caught her hand. Here, where they’d gotten carried away earlier that day, seemed like as
good a place as any to bare his soul. “It’s not that. My past . . . It’s an ugly memory.”
“I’m sorry.” As if to shield him, she slipped her arms around him. “I knew that, or at least I’ve assumed, since Addie adopted
you.”
“My parents died, but it wasn’t a big loss to anyone.
” Though it had still crushed him. With his nose against her hair, breathing in her gentle fragrance, he confessed, “I used to think of paybacks. Like one day I’d be big enough to beat the shit out of my dad, or when my mom picked up a belt, I’d turn it on her.
” Her arms tightened, and though she didn’t make a sound, he felt her distress.
He needed to shut up, but the words kept coming.
“Neighbors were forever spying on my dysfunctional family. I’d stick out my tongue or flip them the bird.”
“Trying to prove you didn’t care.”
Her quiet whisper felt like an understanding stroke, making it impossible for him to deny. “Something like that.”
Often he got a harsh punishment from his mother for doing it. Not that it stopped him.
He’d gotten tough because he’d had no choice. It was either fight back or break, because his folks had enjoyed a wicked game
that always put him in the middle. His dad would smack him around, saying he had to toughen up, which doubled his mother’s
determination to beat out all resemblance to his father.
He’d found following his father’s advice easier. If he was going to get hit, he might as well swing back. Didn’t do him much
good, but it felt better than just taking it.
All along, he’d told himself that one day he’d run away, that he’d go where no one would find him: A place where he could
make his own rules.
A place where what he wanted mattered.
“So many times, I’d wished my parents dead—and then one day, they were.” And he’d been so fucking lost he’d wished for death,
too. “Sometimes they’d lock me in my room.”
Glory squeezed him tighter.
“For my own good, they’d say.” Many times, Kam wondered why they’d even kept him around. “Occasionally, they’d be gone so long I’d have to crawl out the window to use the bathroom.”
“Where did they go?”
“Dad liked to hang out with his friends, usually at a bar. Mom would go to my grandmother’s house.” Continued anger and hurt
put a cruel smile on his mouth. “The night they died, I thought they’d forgotten all about me and I’d considered just running
away. I figured I could get pretty far before they ever returned. I was hungry, pissed off . . . and a little afraid.” Afraid to stay—and afraid to go. “I went out the window again and a neighbor saw me. He tried to talk to me, but I told him to fuck off.”
“Kam.”
Prim Glory. If she stuck around long enough, she’d hear worse from him. He’d been cursing since he was five years old—encouraged
by dad, beaten by his mother. Then again, he could usually curb it for Addie, so he should probably curb it for Glory, too.
“He called the police, concerned because he hadn’t seen any signs of life from my parents for a day and a half. The next thing
I knew, cops were talking to me through my window, then they broke down the door, and I was being hauled off to someplace
new.”
Sympathy showed in her furrowed brows and the trembling of her lips. “Your parents?”
“Bizarre tale, really.” For the first time, talking about it wasn’t devastating. Other than telling Addie and Tanner once,
skimmed-over versions at best, he’d refused to talk about it. With Glory, he felt like a man, not that overwhelmed boy with
no control of his life. Stepping back, he lifted Glory’s face and pressed a kiss to her mouth. “You pack some powerful juju,
lady.”
A sad smile teased her lips. “What do you mean?”
Powerful, and she didn’t even know it. “You make things easier.”
Complimented by that idea, her eyes brightened. “I do?” Then she teased, “Or are you just hoping to get busy against the wall again?”
“A guy can always hope, right?” Bending his knees, he looked into her eyes. “But hey, I know you have preferences, so no pressure
from me.”
“Come on.” She took his hand and led him toward the kitchen. “You’re leaving me in suspense, you know.”
“About sex? Rest assured, it’s guaranteed.”
With a laugh, she slid her sexy rump up onto a barstool. “No, I meant about your parents.” In a gentler tone, she added, “Or
would you rather not share?”
“It’s weird, but I don’t mind.” He, too, took a stool, angling toward her so that their knees touched. “How about I keep it
brief?” Then they could move on to better things. “I guess Dad had run out of cash, so he tried to rob my grandmother. He
grabbed some cash she had hidden, but she must have busted him because he tore out of the driveway in a rush.” Deadpan, he
explained, “My granny carried a revolver in her housecoat pocket. She’d have shot him if she could.”
Incredulous, Glory stared without blinking.
“Anyway, she and my mother chased after him. That was all on the door cam, him hightailing it out of there, the two women
jumping in my mom’s car and screeching after him. Neighbors watched them racing up the road. Dad was going too fast when he
tried to take the turn, almost hit a big garbage truck and rolled. Since he wasn’t buckled in, he ended up in the roadway,
his head and neck mangled. Granny and Mom hit the truck. They weren’t buckled in, either. Mom was crushed inside the car.
Granny was half in, half out of the vehicle. She died from internal bleeding. Fortunately, the truck driver was okay.”
“Do you miss them?”
“Addie asked me that once, too.” Maybe Glory had more in common with Addie than she realized. “Tanner answered for me, because he already knew.”
Looking into his eyes, she guessed, “No?”
“I’ll never forget Tanner’s exact words.” Affecting Tanner’s bossy tone, he said, “No, and if he did, he’d deny it, same as I would.”
She grinned with him. “He can be autocratic—but was he right?”
“Yeah, and that was the day I decided to lighten up on him, to maybe be his brother instead of his adversary.”
Just above his knee, she lightly touched his thigh. “I think, even when things are awful, our parents manage to find a little
place to live in our hearts.”
He shrugged. “Like a cancer or something.” At least, that’s how he felt about his parents. He wondered how she felt about
hers.
“Maybe. I guess not everyone is cut out to be a parent.”
“Truth. That’s why Tanner does so much to help kids now.”
“You help as well.”
How could he not? If it hadn’t been for Addie, he’d have never known what family should be. Even when he was a jerk, she loved
him. When he got into trouble, she protected him, but she also lectured him.
And not once, even while giving him guidance, did she insult him.
Ever.
She taught him and Tanner about loyalty and honor, but she’d taught them about family, too.
She brought into his life things he’d never dared to hope for, like birthday celebrations, a Christmas tree with presents under it, fun outings .
. . Jokes over dinner, the ability to discuss anything, ask questions without being ridiculed, reprimands that weren’t demeaning, praise he never expected .
. . All things that he’d come to cherish. “Every kid deserves to feel valued.”
“Even when they screw up,” Glory agreed.
That made him even more curious, especially with the way Glory withdrew. “How Addie treated me had a lot to do with it, but
it helped that she knew how to make a house a home. Not that it was big or fancy or anything. Before Tanner and I helped expand
and remodel parts, it was just a midsize farmhouse.”
“It’s a home in a way few places ever can be.”
Very true. “Even when it was run-down, the place had warmth and love.” He grinned. “And Addie cooking. Most of the time, I’d wake in
the morning to the smell of something good coming from the kitchen.”
“That sounds really nice.”
To an underfed kid, it had been heaven. “Tanner said he’ll never leave it, so I’m really glad Callie agreed to move in.”
“And yet, you wanted to leave.”
It would have been easy to stay on at Addie’s home with her always pampering him, to get comfortable with Tanner sharing his
workload and his worries. “One day, I might go back.” After he’d proven that it was a choice, not a need.
It wasn’t until that very moment that it hit him: Was it a need, not for him, but possibly for Addie and Tanner? Did they
need him to help pay the bills? From the time they’d gotten jobs, he and Tanner had always pitched in, financially and with
the upkeep of the house. Christ, had he been a selfish ass?
“What?” Concern brought her closer. “You don’t like the idea of going back?”
He shook his head, unwilling to share all that right now when he’d rather focus on getting her to bed. That meant lightening things up a little. “I doubt I’ll ever take Percy from there. Addie and I both give it lip service, but . . .”
“It’s his home, too.”
“Percy was a scruffy little thing when I got him. All fluff with a nonstop meow that about drove me crazy.” He watched her
lips curve in a tempting smile. That made his lips curve, too. “He showed up in the woods one day, skinny, hissing, covered
in burrs. Tanner and I got him inside, but man, he was a pissed-off kitty, at least until I fed him. He growled the whole
time he ate.”
“I bet that was sweet.”
“Sweet, and a little threatening. Kittens have super-sharp claws. Luckily, he settled down after that. Addie kept an eye on