Page 63 of A Montana Secret Admirer
Besides, if he had to bet, he’d say that Serenity would bring up her plans in her own time when she was ready. She was a private person, after all. Anything that would include him—well, she’d tell him.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Have you taken him to a therapist?”
Serenity gave Jane a flat look. “You can pretend we haven’t had this conversation before, but it won’t make it true. You know very well that I haven’t taken Tegan to a therapist.”
“Yeah,” Jane sighed, “but that was before… when you thought he might be coping. Didn’t you say yourself that it’s getting worse?”
Turning her attention back to the application in front of her, Serenity let out a heavy, frustrated breath. Jane was absolutely right. Day after day, Tegan got worse. He snapped at his brother. He argued with his mother. And lately, he’d been irritable when he had to do his riding lesson. He didn’t speak to Reese anymore, and he’d practically retreated into himself when he was around more than a couple people.
Right now, he’d insisted he didn’t feel well enough to come down and put together puzzles with Noah and Jessi.
“Serenity?”
“Yeah, okay? He’s getting worse.”
“And you still think it’s best for him to decide if he wants to talk to a therapist?”
Serenity groaned, digging her hair into her scalp. How many times did she have to have this conversation in a different way for her sister to finally drop it? She didn’t even have kids. She didn’t know what she was talking about. “I’m not going to force him to do something that will inevitably make him hate me. I’m the only parent he has left.”
She’d hoped that Reese had gotten through to him. But that little talk had backfired. Apparently, Tegan didn’t take kindly to someone—even someone he knew—telling him what to feel. And honestly, who would be okay with that?
And Serenity couldn’t say she blamed him. Grief was something that was different for everyone.
“Maybe this isn’t about losing Finn.”
Serenity tensed. Her vision blurred before she lifted her eyes to her sister. “What?”
Jane shrugged and absentmindedly stirred her lemonade with her straw. “Has he…” She cleared her throat, and her cheeks flushed slightly. Then she moved closer to the table and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Does he know about you and Reese?”
“What? No. We’ve been careful.”
Her sister’s eyes narrowed. They stared each other down, like the first person blinking would lose whatever argument was about to start. Serenity’s muscles tightened, and her stomach swooped angrily. Jane murmured, “Are you positive?”
“I—yes—no?” Then she sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. Like I said, we’ve been careful.”
“Tegan is a smart kid, Serenity. You’ve been spending a lot of time with Reese. Picnics. Riding lessons. I don’t think anyone on the premises hasn’t noticed that Reese has feelings for you.”
That tightness in Serenity’s belly went feral. She glanced over her shoulder toward the entrance to the kitchen. Then she shot a concerned look to her sister. “So… what are you saying? That this is Tegan’s way of acting out because he doesn’t want me to… date?”
Jane shrugged again, and it irritated Serenity to the point she wanted to give her sister a little pinch.
“He would have said something, don’t you think?” This time, she closed her eyes to prevent herself from seeing that shrug again. Then she shook her head. “No. He liked Reese. He was fine being taught, and we went on picnics, and he was fine. I think this has more to do with the summer coming to an end and getting ready to go back to school. Finn used to always go on one last camping trip in the summer and then take Tegan school shopping. He’s probably regressing because he’s not going to do that with his dad this year.” When she glanced up at Jane, she was disappointed to note that her sister didn’t look convinced.
Dang it!
Serenity groaned again, covering her face with her hands. “Maybe moving here is a bad idea.” She said it more to herself than anyone else.
“It’s not a bad idea if it’s what you want.” Her sister’s voice was just as quiet, just as hushed—as if speaking it aloud would negate the truth of it. “Don’t change your mind just because of Tegan.”
Great, now she was starting to sound like everyone else. What was it with people and their thinking that they knew what her kid needed? She was his mother.
His mother!
She was the one who needed to make sure he was cared for and doing okay.
“For what it’s worth, I think you should tell them.”
