46. Chapter 46
Chapter forty-six
Parker
When the door to my truck closes, I can visibly see the stress release from Laiken’s shoulders as we leave the station.
I’m so proud of her for taking action. Starting up the truck, the radio comes on, a low melody about his woman being a firefly.
It’s fitting for my girl. I reach across the console, offering my palm.
She takes it, never pulling her eyes away from the windshield.
The drive back to the ranch is quiet but calm. She hasn’t said much. When we roll to a stop outside the barn, she clears her throat.
“Parker, there’s something that has been bothering me.”
I shift the truck into park. “Okay, let’s talk about it.”
I can tell she’s nervous, so I brush my thumb along the back of her hand.
“It’s something Rhodes said. The night he came to the house.”
There’s no telling what came out of his mouth at this point.
“He made a comment.” She turns to look at me. “He said that you and him have more in common than you think. That those secrets run deep.”
I frown. “What the hell does that mean?”
“I don’t know.” She looks down at her lap. “He…”
“Did he say anything else?”
“His exact words were, ‘Take a good look next time he’s on top of you. Remind you of anyone?’” She keeps her eyes on her free hand, fingers plucking at a loose thread on her jeans.
What the fuck is he playing at?
Those secrets run deep?
Something doesn’t sit right, a swirl of unease working through my veins.
There’s always been a reason he hated me.
Just could never figure out why. It starts to make sense.
Laiken. I had taken what he wanted all those years ago.
But this is more. I can feel it. His resentment isn’t just competition over a woman.
Or over an eight-second ride. My mind travels back to the night in Houston.
To our conversation that was the beginning of the end.
I sort through everything he said. Searching for anything that stands out.
You really think that sweet piece of ass is saving herself for you?
Enjoy my sloppy seconds, Stillwater?
Well, at least she keeps it in the family.
The family.
Releasing her hand, I kill the ignition. I know exactly what we need.
“Will Dr. Whitaker let you take a couple of days?” I ask.
She shrugs. “She wasn’t exactly thrilled I came into work today. She had suggested I take the week off after what happened.”
“How about a couple days in Wimberly Cove? Mom would love to see you.”
Her blue eyes blink, a small smile gracing her lips. “Trace has never seen the beach.”
Leaning in, I brush my lips across hers. “Then let’s show him.”
She presses a soft kiss against me. “All I need to do is pack.”
As she climbs out of the truck, I fish out my phone. We could use a change of scenery, and I could use some answers. Answers I know that only one person can give me.
“He’s adorable.”
I sit next to my mom at the edge of the beach.
We were able to get her wheelchair down to a spot just before the sand starts. A thin shawl wraps around her sunken shoulders, her graying hair blowing in the breeze as we watch Laiken and Trace chase each other along the shoreline.
“He’s the best.” I smile.
She keeps her eyes on them. “I hate what’s happened to them.”
“Yeah. Me too.” I sit up from the dune, bending my knees before I drape my arms across them. “I need to ask you something.” I pause. “It’s about Rhodes.”
Her frail hands intertwine with each other, a clear signal she’s nervous.
She sighs, deep and heavy. “I knew this day would come.”
Her tone has me whipping my head in her direction. “What do you mean?”
“That boy never had a chance.”
Her eyes crinkle, perplexity written all over her face.
“There’s a reason we left Mayson Ridge, isn’t there?”
I can tell she’s hesitant to give me the truth.
“Just be honest, Mom.”
I keep holding onto those words Rhodes said to Laiken.
Remind you of anyone?
“Your father was an addict, Parker,” she says quietly. “I tried to shield you from that as much as I could. I tried to shield us both. But I made a vow. In sickness and in health.”
I clench my jaw, willing myself to stay quiet.
“He was sick. He had a problem, and I stood by him. I stood by him when he came home reeking of alcohol, so high he could barely walk, and cloaked in another woman’s perfume.”
“Mom.”
She holds up a hand. “Let me get this out. It’s the last time we will discuss this.”
I nod, letting my gaze land on Laiken as she drops to the sand with Trace.
“You were eight years old when Nadene, Rhodes’s mother showed up at our house. Your father didn’t think I knew, but I knew he’d slept with her on and off for years. She shared his habits, which made them both toxic.”
Bastard.
“I was standing at the kitchen window when she told him.” She blows out a slow breath. “That Rhodes was his son.”
Her confession baffles me. “What?”
“Her husband had taken off. Left her with nothing. She needed help, and your father stood in that yard and told her it wasn’t his problem. That she was just a whore looking for a meal ticket.”
I swallow down the urge to lash out. At him. At every adult in this situation. The ones who were supposed to protect us.
“But you’ve seen him.” She looks over at me. “He has your father’s eyes.”
Thinking back to the times I’d been close enough to see them, they did seem familiar. A muddy brown. Dark and haunting.
“That means…”
“That he’s your half-brother.”
Fuck.
Nausea swirls in my stomach. The fact I share DNA with someone who could be that hateful. Someone who hurt the people I love.
“We moved the next week. As angry as I was at him for being the way he was, I was angry at myself. Maybe if I forced him to get better, he wouldn’t have stepped out to any other women.”
“His actions are not on you, Mom. Those are his choices.”
“I know that now. But then, I was young and scared.” She shrugs a shoulder. “Deep down, I felt bad for Nadene. She fell for the false charm just as I did. But my son wasn’t getting left behind.”
The pieces start falling into place. Rhodes must have found out at some point.
“It wasn’t much, but I sent checks to her for the next eleven years,” she admits. “Your father might be a monster, but I wasn’t.”
Damn this woman’s heart. So big. So full of love. Even to people who wronged her.
“Is that why you never came back?”
She wipes a tear that escapes her eye. “Here I’m free. Free of judgment. Free of your father’s bad decisions.” She watches the waves roll in. “Here I have peace.”
Her confession sits heavy. The connection to Rhodes. His connection to Laiken. To Trace.
A part of me understands how he turned out the way he did. That sometimes, the odds are stacked against us. But the other part, the protective part, wants him to suffer for his actions. Brother or not, Rhodes McDowell’s days are numbered.