Page 84 of The Only Goal

What does he need?

Sucking in a breath, I turn for the door and hear him jumping off the bed. When we step into the hallway, he grabs my hand, and we walk down the stairs together.

My stomach drops the second Hudson comes into view. Part of me is relieved it’s not my mother, a small part of me skitters at the sight of him—he’ll always be handsome—and the last part of me seizes up in mild panic. Shit. This is the moment I’ve been trying to avoid, but it’s here now, and there’s nothing I can do but face it.

“Hey, family.” Hudson smiles up at us, as if nothing has even been wrong. As if I didn’t ask him to call and arrange a time with me first.

Anger splashes through me, another emotion to throw into this Molotov cocktail I’m trying to deal with.

I gave him too much information yesterday. Why didn’t I just say Nolan? Why’d I talk about this being a bed-and-breakfast? In my attempt to cajole him, I spilled way too much and now he’s here and?—

“My two best people.” Hudson’s voice rings with that upbeat quality I first fell in love with. He was always so enthusiastic about life, so charismatic. Then we moved to the city and he became a stressed-out workaholic trying to provide for his family. We had to grow up way too fast.

Kai squeezes my hand, leaning against my leg as he peers down at his father. “Hi, Daddy.”

Hudson grins. “I got you a present.” He holds up a large wrapped box, and Kai lets out a delighted gasp, nearly tripping down the stairs trying to get to it.

Hudson is always buying him stuff.

I guess it’s a way to make up for when he’s not around. Working late nights in town or going to sales conferences on the weekends means he doesn’t get to spend much quality time with Kai. Whenever he’s away, he always brings back gifts, and he’s gone extra big this time around.

“What is it?” Kai takes the box.

“Open it and see.” Hudson musses his hair, then kisses his forehead and glances up at me. His smile is broad and proud—Look at me being dad of the year. Aren’t I doing great?

I can’t smile back. Instead, I stay on the stairwell, gripping the railing and watching my son’s delight as he unwraps a remote-controlled car. “Wow!” He gives his dad a shy smile, then turns to me and beams.

“That’s very cool.” I nod.

“Why don’t you go outside and play with it?” Hudson points at the door, and for some reason, my hackles go up. Once again, Kai gets dismissed.

“You can play in here,” I tell him. “It’s a little cold outside. Why don’t you set it up and drive it around the entryway?”

“Or a different room,” Hudson suggests with a bright smile. I frown down at him, and he meets my glare with a pointed look. “We need to talk.”

I know we do, but that doesn’t mean I want to.

With a soft sigh, I walk down the rest of the stairs and tip my head toward the parlor.

Kai’s too busy unboxing his new toy to really notice the tension, and I try to keep my voice low as I walk to the parlor window and stare out of it.

“What do you want?” I murmur.

Hudson huffs, scraping his hand through his hair. “Gimme a break, Tam. I drove through the night to get here, okay? The least you can do is listen.”

He drove through the night. For me. I wish I could ignore that fact, but I can’t, because it’s kind of huge.

It says a lot.

And that probably means I should listen.

Closing my eyes, I rest my head against the window and wish I could disappear. I get why Baxter shuts down sometimes. It’s safer that way, right? You can just block out the world and pretend the bad stuff doesn’t exist.

If only it’d take away the problems at the same time.

But life is not that simple. And unlike Baxter, I don’t have the luxury of just turning my back on the things I don’t want to deal with.

Hudson’s here.

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