Page 23 of One More Time

Her brows rose. “I have many questions on this topic.” She paused, pursing her lips. “Actually, I don’t. I never expected to meet Blake. But you know what I hated before I did?”

“What?”

“So many people having opinions that I must want some kind of relationship. Don’t get me wrong, I love Blake, and I’m really happy we’re together. But life isn’t all about that.”

“Thank you for getting it. Most people don’t.”

She curled her arm around my shoulders, giving me another quick squeeze. “Social expectations are exhausting.”

Just then, Wyatt circled to my other side and greeted Fiona. “The appetizers are amazing tonight.”

She smiled. “I didn’t make them tonight because I’ve been off all day.”

“It’s your menu, though,” he pointed out.

Her cheeks flushed pink. “It is, so thank you.”

The conversation moved along with my typical messy family babbling about work and other things. Rhys and Haven shared updates with Wyatt and Griffin about our nephew Jake. He was the second nephew of the family and named after our oldest brother. Before he died, Jake fathered a son that none of us had ever known about until his mom showed up, trying to claim Rhys was the father.

We had circled the wagons to welcome Matthew into the family. He didn’t live in Fireweed Harbor, much to our mother’s disappointment. We stayed in touch, and his mom brought him up sometimes while our mother visited them every few months.

Wyatt said something to my side when the conversation turned to our older brother Jake after Rhys made a teasing comment that Jake’s namesake shared Jake’s friendly nature.

“What?” I glanced at Wyatt.

He shrugged. After a long pause, he faced me fully, his gaze sobering. “Sometimes it gets old.”

Anxiety kicked up inside, and my stomach churned. “Jake being so perfect?” I kept my voice low.

“Yep. I know he used to hit you,” Wyatt said.

Chapter Fourteen

McKenna

My mouth dropped open. “You do?”

He nodded slowly. “I felt bad. Still do. I wish I’d been older back then. I didn’t know what to do. You must get tired of hearing about how perfect he was supposed to be.”

“Wyatt,” I whispered, stepping closer. “What do you know?”

“Just that. One day, I was walking down the hallway. Jake was babysitting us, or I guess you ’cause you were the youngest. He told you to shut up, and you talked back. He hit you so hard you fell against the wall. I still feel bad. I’m really sorry I didn’t do anything to stop it.”

My lips felt numb, and static hummed in my brain. “I had no idea you knew,” I finally whispered.

His throat worked as he swallowed and glanced around at our siblings. He brought his gaze back to mine. I recognized the sadness and anger held there. “I’m sorry. Griffin never saw it, but I told him what I saw, so he knows. After Jake died, we talked about it.”

“Thank you.” My voice was ragged.

“For not protecting you?” Wyatt countered.

“Wyatt, it wasn’t your job to protect me. Just thank you for knowing what happened. Everyone else talks about Jake like he never did anything wrong. I know he went through horrible things, but he was never perfect. Not even close.” I swallowed as a rush of pain rose inside, wicking tears into my throat and stinging my eyes.

Wyatt slid his arm around my shoulders, squeezing firmly. I took several deep breaths, savoring his steady, calming presence. I was starting to understand something. Wyatt kept his distance a little bit, and I thought maybe now I knew part of why.

We couldn’t say anything more because Kenan and Quinn approached, leading to another round of hugs for Wyatt and Griffin.

I felt unsettled, restless, and reckless inside. I never talked to anyone in my family about what happened with Jake. All of us had borne the brunt of our grandfather’s verbal abuse, but Jake and Rhys had been the targets of his physical abuse. We later found out that our grandfather had raped Jake. The pieces of the puzzle about why Jake drank himself to death had made sense.

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