Page 13 of Agony of Our Regret

I smiled, trying to ignore the tears threatening to reappear. “I love you both so much.”

“I lov––”

A knock sounded, and before I could call for whoever it was to give me a second, the door opened. The parental squad stepped in, Tessa, Daniel, Wes, Chris, and Renae.

“Mom?” Luca stood, blocking me. “I didn’t know you were in the office today.”

“I had a meeting with Tessa this afternoon. I was on my way to her office when I caught them all storming this direction and waved me to join.” She leaned over slightly and waved at me. “Hi, Avalon.”

“Hi.” I gave her a small smile.

She glanced around, clearly confused.

“Do you have anything you want to share with us?” Tessa asked.

Gavin narrowed his eyes and stood. “No.”

Watching him stand up to his parents was something entirely new, probably because it had never been necessary.

“We know there’s something going on.” Wes’s voice remained calm.

“Ifthat’s true,” Luca paused, “we’ll let you know if and when we need to.”

Chris cocked his head, looking as confused as Renae. “What is this all about?” he asked Wes.

“Clearly, there was a miscommunication.” Daniel stepped back toward the door. “You two made it seem like something terrible happened, and the kids needed help.”

Wes sighed. “Just tell me if my son is involved.”

A laugh burst from me before I even realized it was going to happen. All eyes swung to me as I continued to lose it with a room full of witnesses.

“Ave?” Gavin’s brows drew tight as he faced me.

I waved him off. At least I wasn’t crying this time.

“I don’t know,” I told Wes.

His eyes dropped.

“What’s Noah got to do with anything? He’s been gone for years.” Chris looked at Gavin and then at me.

That was an excellent question, and his blunt reminder didn’t help the nervous laughing.

“She went to visit him with Sky,” Wes reminded him. “Then Sky stayed.”

Chris began nodding. “Right, a few months back.”

Renae tilted her head, looking at Luca. “What’s going on, dear?”

“Nothing,” Gavin ground out.

“If they don’t want to tell us, they don’t have to,” Daniel tried again.

“You’ve been sick, running out of meetings,” Wes repeated.

“She was in an accident,” Renae reminded him, as if any of them had forgotten.

Tessa sidestepped and locked in on me. “If you have nothing to tell us, we’ll drop it.”

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