Page 57 of Come Back for Me
“And it seems she’s smitten with Connor.”
I nod. “The two of them have formed an instant bond.”
Sydney’s shoulders go back, and she fidgets a bit. I know she’s thinking it, based on her comment about her eyes. If Sydney dated his oldest brother, surely, she saw the resemblance. “Connor is a good man.”
“He is.”
“He’s been through a lot. They all have been, and . . . did you and Connor know each other before?”
I stop her right there. “Connor and I slept together eight years ago, and yes, I know that Hadley has his eyes . . . and his smile.”
She exhales. “I didn’t want to pry, but it was . . . impossible not to see. At least for me because, well, I fell in love with those eyes when I was a little girl.”
If it was so easy for Sydney to see, I can’t help but wonder if Connor’s father ever noticed. He used to look at Hadley with a wash of confusion, but he never said anything or even so much as hinted at it. Maybe he knew? Maybe that was why he was always so nice to us. I figured it was because he was lonely, but what if he saw the similarity?
“Would you like to sit?” I offer. “It’s a long story.”
Sydney and I walk up to the porch, and I can see the unease in her. “This house, it has a lot of memories for me. I haven’t been here since the night Declan left.” She lets out a half-laugh. “I thought if I could avoid it for long enough, it wouldn’t hurt, but . . .”
“Houses have truths that don’t ever die.”
She looks up at me and shrugs. “I guess so, but love sure as hell does.”
Isn’t that the truth?
We sit, and I relay the story of how Connor and I met and all that happened after. It feels easier this time, telling Sydney. I’m able to go through it, and she just listens.
“Wow,” she says once I’m done.
“Yeah.”
“And he knows that you have doubts?”
“He does,” I reply with a bit of hesitancy.
He hasn’t really brought it up. I keep waiting for him to ask for a paternity test, but it has yet to come. I would think that would’ve been the first thing he wanted. Unless, he doesn’t want to know.
Which doesn’t make sense given his personality.
Connor is fiercely protective of his family. He’s made that clear when he speaks of his brothers or his mother. I would think that Hadley would be no different, especially since he already seems to care for her.
“Well, this is a bit of a revelation.”
“Will it change things for the divorce?”
Sydney shakes her head. “Nope. If anything, it’ll make it easier for you since we won’t have to fight about any kind of child support or visitation. Did you guys get a test yet?”
“No, we sort of . . . it hasn’t really . . . I’ve been waiting for him to . . . ask for one. I don’t want to push him. It’s a lot to take in, especially when that night was supposed to just be that. I didn’t even know his name until a few weeks ago.”
She laughs and her eyes are filled with disbelief. “You’re kidding me.”
“Nope.”
“I don’t know whether to be in awe or be in shock. It’s like those stories that you hear about when people find their way back together after fifty years, but this is so much more amazing.”
I don’t know if it’s anything other than happening. Connor has saved me, and not only from the situation that happened with Kevin. If I had never had that one night with him, if I hadn’t known that there was more than what I had, I would have given up a long time ago.
“Well, that’s all of it.”
