Chapter 7
It was almost ten thirty, the humidity after the storm hanging in the air like fog, the scent of ozone heavy as Davina stood in the doorway to her house, Piggy in her arm and one hand on her hip, angrier than she could remember being in her life.
She pointed her finger at Zach. “This isn’t how this is going to be.
You’re not going to walk into my son’s life just to let him down.
You’re not going to be that guy who forgets shit that’s important to him or bails on him at the last minute or is supposed to show up for dinner and finds something better to do. You got that?”
“I’m sorry. I lost track of time.”
“Do you have any idea how nervous he was? He was sick to his stomach for hours. Then we sat here while the food got cold, the minutes ticking by until it was perfectly clear you had no intention of coming or even picking up the goddamn phone to tell us you were running late.” The teenage Davina never would have spoken to him like this, never would have yelled at anybody, and she swore she saw surprise in the depths of his deep brown eyes.
“I can explain. Let me come in.”
She crossed her arms. It had broken her heart to see her son disappointed.
He’d been so anxious for Zach’s visit tonight, she could only imagine what was going on in his head.
Desperately wanting his father to like him, terrified he would not.
Then to watch those hopes be dashed. Wyatt had all but caved in on himself, the emotional toll of rejection weighing him down.
“No. Go away, Zach Sato. Go back and crawl under your rock. Just leave me and my family alone.” She moved to close the door, but Moto stopped it with his hand.
“I can’t do that. Ben’s in serious trouble. These people he’s working with are big-time criminals, Davina. We’re talking on an international scale.”
Two things struck her at once—her own concern for Ben and the lack of concern Zach had for Wyatt.
A creak from the staircase behind her let her know Wyatt was behind her, and she wished she had slammed the door in Zach’s face after all.
But how could she do that when Ben was in trouble, believing only his brother could save him?
“Besides, I want to see Wyatt,” he said. “I’m sorry about dinner. I screwed up, but I still want to get to know him. Please.”
Damn him for begging with those sincere brown eyes, and damn this whole situation for making her oblige.
Begrudgingly, she took a step back for him to enter, glancing over her shoulder at the staircase.
Wyatt was gone, and her shoulders relaxed a little.
She put the dog down. “I made your favorite—zuppa toscana and crusty bread.”
“That sounds fantastic. I’m starving.”
“There was a bunch left, so I put it down the garbage disposal.”
His face fell. “Oh.”
She grinned, the smile not reaching her eyes.
She led the way to the kitchen, taking a seat at the island.
“There’s peanut butter in the pantry.” She watched as he got himself a plate and knife, then correctly selected the bread drawer.
She’d never bothered to reorganize anything when she began renting the house from Ben.
She’d been eating in this kitchen for years before she lived here.
He moved to the opposite side of the island and made his sandwich, the light illuminating his bruised face, and she frowned. “You got in a fistfight with your brother.”
“He deserved it.”
She couldn’t argue with that, though it bothered her this was how the Sato brothers settled their disagreements. “Physical violence will get you nowhere. How did it go?”
“He blamed me like he always does. Said I wouldn’t have been a good father, that I would have ruined everything. That I was too selfish and egotistical to raise a family.”
“You were driven. You knew what you wanted out of life, and you got it. That doesn’t automatically make you a bad father.”
He cocked his head. “Thank you.” He took a bite of his sandwich.
“Ditching your kid for dinner does.”
He sighed, lifting guilty eyes to hers. “I know. It won’t happen again.”
Was she making a mistake letting him into their lives, even a little bit?
Did she have a choice? Fear told her to stay away from this man, to give him the smallest glimpse into their lives that would satisfy him, then send him on his way.
But Wyatt deserved more than that. He deserved a father who would know him and love him for the man he would become, and that was something only Zach could provide. “It had better not.”
Before he’d blown them off for dinner, she’d been intending to offer Zach the guest room so he could spend more time with Wyatt. Now that felt like leaving an open cash register in front of a robber—the epitome of vulnerability.
She’d once trusted this man completely. She’d been sure of his love, of his faith in her, that they would be together through thick and thin. Then the accident had shattered his world, and he’d found her with Ben, and in the time it took to snap her fingers, everything that mattered was gone.
The dog whined at Zach’s feet. “He wants part of your sandwich,” she said.
Zach obliged. “What’s his name?”
“Piggy. Wyatt named him when he was three. He was going through a pig phase.” It seemed like eons ago, and she was acutely aware of how much Zach had missed.
From the look on his face, he was thinking the same thing. “I was hoping I could stay here.” She opened her mouth to object, but he held up his hand. “I know it’s awkward, and it’s an intrusion, and it’s rude of me to ask. But I really want to spend as much time with Wyatt as possible.”
It was exactly what she’d been thinking earlier, but now it seemed like a terrible idea.
He wouldn’t just be spending more time with their son, he’d be spending more time with her.
It was inevitable. She barely knew how to get through this conversation.
Could she really open up her home to this man right now?
She braced herself on the island. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. ”
You chicken. You absolute coward.
His stare fell to her neck, unfocused, before returning to lock with hers. “Please?”
Oh, Jesus, she couldn’t say no to that look. Damn him for being so good-looking, so sincere when he wanted to be. Especially when she knew he was right about this one, how could she possibly refuse? She crossed her arms and sighed shakily. “Just so you can get to know Wyatt.”
Not so you can break my heart again.
“Thank you.” He took her hand and squeezed it, releasing it before she could react. “What’s he like?”
“Smart. Talented. Great sense of humor, occasionally used for evil purposes.”
“What’s it been like?”
“What?”
He shrugged. “All of it. I missed so much. How much was Ben around here?”
She rolled her eyes and stood. “Ah, that’s what you want to know.
Not how was it raising our kid without me, Davina, but how much was Ben around here?
” She shook her head, putting away the peanut butter.
“That’s all you care about, this age-old war between the two of you.
Well, I’m not getting involved. You want to know how much Ben was a part of Wyatt’s life, then ask them yourself. I’m going to bed.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll try to stop asking about Ben.”
“Don’t try, do.”
He nodded. “Think Wyatt’s still awake?”
“I don’t know.” She gestured toward the stairs. “Why don’t you go see?”
He turned toward them, his purposeful strides all too familiar. From this angle, it was virtually impossible to tell one Sato brother from another, though it occurred to her she might be one of the only people who could.
She frowned. How two brothers could be so much alike yet so different was beyond her.
The amount of animosity between them was brutal, everything a competition, with Zach always winning.
There’d been a time in her life when she’d been blinded by young love, seeing only that Zach had been perfect and Ben highly flawed.
But she’d had ten years of watching Ben work hard to overcome his difficulties and had gotten a solid appreciation for the man.
She rubbed her temple. Fatigue crested over her like an ocean wave, the stress of the last few days weighing her down.
Her eyes flashed to the ceiling, beyond which her son was talking to his dad for the first time, and she said a silent prayer it was going well.
“Come on, Piggy. Time for bed.” She turned off the kitchen light and made her way upstairs.