Page 77 of When Stars Fall

“You know how I feel about my sister.” My anger rushes out of me like water through a crumbling dam. I don’t even want that lifestyle for my nephew, but there isn’t much I can do other than be there.

“You love her. Consider yourself responsible. I understand. But you have a daughter now. You have to protect her. Even when that means you’re protecting her from Anna.”

“Who’s Anna?” Haven is in the doorway, sipping from her cup.

“I’m sorry, honey.” Ellie flushes when she realizes Haven heard her. “I shouldn’t be talking to your dad about this stuff right now.”

“Who is she, Dad?” She cocks her head.

“Anna’s my sister.” Watching her try to best her mother is a little amusing. Ellie shakes her head and gives me an annoyed look. “She was going to find out at some point. I think there have probably been enough secrets, don’t you?”

“Anna has the same sickness as your dad.”

“Except worse,” I chime in.

“Wyatt,” she hisses a warning. “She’s nine. She doesn’t need all the honest details.”

“I get to make some of those decisions now, right?”

Ellie’s eyes widen, and there’s a chance she might start levitating. Haven recognizes her mood.

“I’m going to talk to Aunt Nikki for a minute. When you’re done fighting, Dad, do you want to go swimming?”

“Sure.” Her careless use of the wordDadechoes in the room. My anger has subsided for now, and I’m sort of enjoying winding Ellie up.

“No. No swimming.” Ellie slashes her hand through the air. “There will be people taking photos.”

“Let them take photos. They might as well use their lenses and get shots from far away than pursue us when we try to leave.”

“It’s never an either-or situation. It’ll be both.”

Haven is gone from the doorway. She got Ellie’s sense of what’s appropriate. I would have stayed for this conversation as a kid. My parents’ verbal fireworks made them seem as though they cared about something.

Parents. We’re her parents. I’m the one Haven is looking at and wondering about.

“This isn’t going to work. We need to present a united front on things.” Ellie sighs.

“I won’t cave to whatever you think is best. I get a say now.” She won’t railroad me into towing an invisible, arbitrary line she’s created. “You can’t pretend I don’t.”

“A say is fine.” She searches my face, frustration and sadness mingling. “But she’s impressionable. She’s looking at us to make good choices and decisions. What’s easy isn’t always what’s best.”

“Sometimes they’re the same. Why do you think hiding out is what’s best? The storm is at the door. It’s out there. We control the spin. This is PR 101. Haven and I go swimming. Hell, you can come too, if you want. We appear to be a happy, functional unit. If there doesn’t appear to be drama, there’s less drama. They get their photos and their made-up stories.”

She crosses her arms.

“She won’t even know they’re taking the photos. We understand what the crush of the press is like.” Even though I’m pissed at her, my unwavering desire to shield her from anything bad keeps my anger in check. Sadness coats her, and I want to figure out how to fix it, even if she caused her own misery.

“I never wanted this level of attention for her. It’s why we live here.”

“Come outside with Haven and me. Let them get their photos. Maybe they’ll think their scoop isn’t a scoop at all. Maybe they’ll think they were the ones who were duped for ten years.”

“Wyatt, I’m—”

“Get changed, Ellie. Let’s go put on a show. We need to protect our daughter, and this is the best way I know how.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ellie

---