Page 107 of Hound Dog
I blinked at my brother, shock numbing my limbs.
Even though logically, I thought one of them must have known, it didn’t feel real until this moment that my brother would keep something this big from us.
“And you didn’t think any of the rest of us should know this?” I hissed.
“What the hell, Liam!” Addy rushed forward, but Neil stepped in front of her. He knew our sister well enough to know that she wasn’t above throwing a cupcake or two in Liam’s face for something like this.
Liam slowly crossed the room toward the door and flipped the sign to sayclosed. “I wanted to. I typed out about thirty texts to all of you and every time I just deleted them.”
“Why?” Neil asked, his voice a hell of a lot calmer than mine.
“Because,” Liam paused to scratch the back of his neck. “Dad’s a piece of shit! He left us, never bothered to check in or call, left Mom in the worst depression I’d ever seen, and then he just gets to go off and get married again?Fuckthat guy. He doesn’t deserve us. And he definitely doesn’t deserve our fuckingcakes.”
“Mom wasn’t depressed,” I said. “She was up every morning, baking as usual.”
Neil shook his head. “You were younger than us, Finn. You didn’t see what we saw. Sure, she was going through the motions and making sure we were cared for, but every night after dinner, she’d put on a movie for us and go to her room and sob.”
“I didn’t know that,” I whispered.
Addy crossed her arms and sank into one of the chairs. “Dad didn’tjustabandon all of us. He left Mom with thousands in credit card debt.”
Liam scrubbed his hands over his eyes. “Took her years to pay that shit off.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that you still should have told us,” I said. Even though I was sticking to my guns, my tone softened. “You don’t get to make decisions for the rest of us.”
Neil grabbed the cash from the register and spread it out on the counter. “He’s right, you know?”
Liam sighed. “I know. I’m sorry.”
With a deep inhale, I grabbed the broom and started sweeping the floors. Since I was here, I might as well lend a helping hand, too.
“I’ve been calling his number for years and hanging up,” I admitted.
Addy tilted her head, brows creasing. “You have?”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Neil asked.
“It was kind of embarrassing, I guess,” I admitted. “And none of you seemed to want anything to do with him. But the thing is, this most recent time when I called him, a woman answered. I was so startled by that, I started talking to her. And…” I paused, clearing my throat of the little catch, “Dad has another daughter. Her name is Hope.”
Addy looked up at me slowly. “I have a sister?”
Addy and I locked eyes as I slowly nodded at her.
Neil blinked, and I was shocked to see moisture brim in his eyes. “Do we have other siblings, too?”
“I don’t know,” I said, shrugging. “There’s only the one that I know of.”
Liam dropped himself into the chair beside Addy. “I didn’t know any of that. I swear. If I’d known we had a sister, I would have told you all immediately.”
We sat in silence for a couple of agonizingly long breaths before Neil rolled his shoulders back. “So now what do we do?”
“We tell Mom,” I said.
Liam nodded. “Right. But after that, what do we do?”
I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “I think we all have to do what feels right for us… individually. It’s understandable if you don’t want to see Dad. Or meet Hope. But I do. One course of action isn’t going to work across the board for all of us.”
Neil crossed over to where I was standing beside Liam and Addy, and one by one, gave us each a hug. “You’re right, Finn. We each do what we need to do to heal. And we give each other space without judgment. Deal?”
