Page 149 of He Loves Me Knot

He didn’t bother to towel off yet, as it made no difference in the light rain, and he walked back up towardLa Hacienda.Passing the bungalows and office, he took another path farther back, heading to the house his mum and Carmen had built here—the first structure they’d put on the land.

Mum’s house was simple with three small bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. The peach paint on the walls was peeling badly, but still the same shade he remembered from all those years before.

Callum stashed his board and then shook the water from his hair. A light was on in the kitchen, and he went toward the fern-covered area his mother called a “patio,” which had a door that led to the kitchen.

He tapped twice softly, hoping that it wouldn’t be Sophia who was awake, then opened the door.

Mum sat at the kitchen table, wearing a robe. Her eyes widened. “Callum. What are you doing here?”

The guilt that passed over him was palpable. He’d told himself he was completely justified in staying away—and maybe he was—but Mum didn’t exactly look as young right now. It could be the lack of makeup or the fact that her hair was in disarray.Or the worn, tired expression on her face.The light that had always twinkled in her eyes had faded.

He could picture her in this kitchen, singing and dancing. Carmen nearby, laughing at Mum while she chopped green beans forpicadillo. Or the two of them sitting at the table, having their afternoon coffee together while gossiping over biscuits.

Maybe I just didn’t want to see what I should have known.

“Are Isla and Sophia awake?”

Mum shook her head. “Isla is sleeping.” She sipped her coffee. “Sophia moved to a new house a few months ago. She’s not here.”

That was surprising. He’d assumed Sophia still lived with his mum.

I assumed a lot, it seems.

He stopped a few feet away from her. “Isla told me about Carmen. Who she was to you. That she was why you left Dad.”

Mum froze, a shadow crossing her face. “I didn’t know you never knew.”

“If I’d been less innocent when it happened, I might have figured it out. The adults’ bedroom and the kids’ bedrooms. It just made sense. You were friends.” He shrugged as he pulled out the chair in front of his mother. “I had no reason to question the narrative.”

“I wasn’t trying to hide it from you when you were older, I just?—”

“You were. But that’s not the point. The point is, I know now. And I also know why you didn’t bat an eyelash when Sophia cheated on me. You viewed her as your daughter. And made excuses for her behavior.” He should have grabbed a towel. His soaked bathing suit was making him shiver. Or maybe it was the nerves firing through his body. He’d known he needed to address this and approach his mum as an adult—butdoing itwas another matter altogether.

Tears filled Mum’s eyes. “No. Callum. That’s not true. I was mad at her—for a long time—for hurting you. But she also told me another side of the story. Of how cold you were to her. How angry you were all the time. How you treated her. And it reminded me of why?—”

“Why you cheated?” Callum raised a brow. “Yes, exactly, Mum. You saw yourself in Sophia. And you know, maybe I was insufferable, but I was also suffering. And rather than talk to me, she crushed the only piece of my heart left. Betrayal isn’t a solution to being miserable. It only makes the misery worse for everyone involved.”

Tears escaped her eyes. “Carmen begged me on her deathbed—she made me promise I would always take care of Sophia. I couldn’t break that promise.”

“I was your son, Mum. What about the promise you made to me when you decided to have a child in the first place?”

“Youaremy son, Callum. You can’t stop being my son just because you decide. You will always be my son, and I will always keep hoping you forgive me.”

“Then start by admitting what you did. What you continue to do by choosing Sophia every day.”

Mum wiped her cheeks and sank back in her chair. “What was I supposed to do, Callum? She owns this just as much as I do. And just like now, when she’s insisting we have to sell, I don’t have a choice because I don’t ownLa Haciendaoutright.”

That’s . . . not how Sophia had put it.

He tried to rack through his brain for the precise words Sophia had used when telling him Mum was thinking of sellingLa Hacienda,but he couldn’t remember outright. “Wait. She’s insisting you sell?”

Mum nodded tearfully. “She doesn’t want to keep running the business. She says it’s too much work, and we’re barely surviving—but I never cared about making a big profit. As long as I was paying my bills, I was happy. She says it’s not worth it.”

Wait.

Sergio had said he’d talked to an American who wanted to buy the land.

And yesterday when I found her talking to an American man in the office, she behaved nervously.

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