Page 156 of Forever Flames: Padraig & Stevie
“Aye, well.” I gesture more forcefully. “Nevertheless, let’s go.Please.”
For a beat, she studies me to see if I’m being serious. Which I am. Deadly. A moment later, she stands and shoves her phone into her hoodie pocket. Rather than following me, Isla pushes past me and heads for the bedroom. I follow, feeling every ounce of her stubbornness.
When we close the door behind us, Stevie stands. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”
Isla doesn’t answer. She hovers by the dresser, arms folded, chin tilted up like armor.
I take a breath. “We don’t want to overwhelm you. The New Year is around the corner, and it’s time to start finding a way through this. Together.”
“Together?” she scoffs. “You didn’t even know I was yours until a few weeks ago.”
The words sting because they’re meant to. “You’re right. I didn’t. We all found out the same moment you did. It’s been tough for all of us to wrap our minds around for different reasons. We’ve spent the last couple of months focused on what it means for you. What it takes from you.”
She doesn’t look at me.
Stevie steps closer. “Honey, I swear to you. I never knew. If I had, everything would’ve been different. I would’ve told Cooper. I would’ve told Padraig.”
“You expect me to believe you?” Isla snaps, tears flashing.
“Listen to me, Isla.” I wrap my arm around her stiff shoulders. “Your mom didn’t mean to keep this from you or from any of us. Cooper never knew either. He died believing he was your biological dad. This situation wasn’t some scheme.”
She shrugs me off her. “Wait, you’re suddenly fine with all of this? She let another man raise me. You don’t care you missed out on my whole life? She must have a golden pussy.”
Stevie cries out in anguish.
“Isla Mae,” I admonish, though the anger in her voice twists deep in my gut. “No, I’m not fine with it. I hate it. I wish more than anything I’d had those years with you. None of us can change the past. What I need you to know is this. I’ve loved you as if you were mine from the second I met you. I never wanted to take Cooper’s place. He was your dad, and I respected your relationship with him. Me being your biological dad doesn’t erase him. It never could.”
Her lip trembles, and for the first time she lets her arms fall.
“I get you’re going through it.” I turn her so she’s facing me and tip her chin up to look me in the eyes. “Let me be clear about one thing. Do not speak to your mother disrespectfully ever again. What you said to her was abhorrent.”
Stevie quietly sobs behind us. “I don’t know how to fix this. I don’t.”
The room goes quiet as I release my daughter and turn to the woman I love. Isla drags her sleeve over her cheek, sniffing hard. I can see the storm in her. Anger, grief, confusion. She’s sixteen, and the ground beneath her keeps shifting.
We all turn to the door when a soft, hesitant “tat tat tat” echoes in the room.
“Come in,” I rasp.
The door cracks. Da peeks in first, Liam close behind him. Stevie starts to shake her head, but I hold my hand up. “Let them in.”
My twin and father step inside carefully, as if approaching three wounded animals, which I suppose we are.
Rory’s eyes land on Isla, and he softens in a way I rarely see. “Lass. I’m not here to meddle. I only want you to knowsomething. I was a terrible father for a long time. Made mistakes that’ll haunt me till the day I die. And the worst part of mistakes is how they fester, how they make everything rot from the inside. Don’t let this do the same to you. Your mum—” he gestures at Stevie “—I’ve known her since she was a wee girl. She’s kind, strong, fierce when it comes to protecting the ones she loves. She would never hurt you on purpose. Not ever.”
Isla’s eyes widen a fraction.
Liam steps forward then. “As for him,” he gestures toward me, “Padraig’s my twin. He’s my soul. He’s the best of us. Selfless to a fault. He’ll give everything he has away and think nothing of it. But what he deserves, what he’salwaysdeserved, is for his family to be whole. All of it. Not just you, your brothers and sister too. You’re what keeps him breathing. I hope you can forgive both of them, because I can’t watch him break.”
His voice cracks on the last word.
I’m speechless. Stevie and I aren’t alone in helping to mend Isla’s trust. The McGloughlins are stitching ourselves back together, too.
Isla swallows hard. “You make it sound so easy.”
“No, love. It won’t be easy.” Stevie shakes her head. “It’ll take time. Patience. Forgiveness. But we’ll walk through it with you every step. You don’t have to figure it out alone.”
For the first time all night, Isla doesn’t argue.
