Page 81 of Other Side Of Never
Lachlan narrowed his gaze.“What’s COD?”
Neve smiled sweetly.“Cock-on-demand.”
“Argh,” he growled, twisting away.“Too much.”
Teagan fist-bumped her older sister and winked at me broadly.“You’re welcome.”
I laughed, I couldn’t help it.Where Kian’s family was large, mine was small.But the laughter that bounced off their walls?It made me miss my parents because that was the same.
It wasn’t until we were on our way home after being stuffed to the gills with brunch that I learned how much of his family had been missing from this weekend.
Isaiah stared out the window, his small mouth drawn down into a frown.By the time we made it to the highway, he conked out.
Kian glanced at him through the rearview mirror.“He misses his big family.”
“He was so quiet.I think he’s got a lot of emotions to process, poor little guy,” I mused.“I thought he had cousins?”
“Finn has a little girl, but she was with her mom this week.”
My eyebrows flew up.“They have shared custody?”
He nodded.“They live side-by-side and have committed to raising her together.Neve has two kids, but they stayed home with their dad.Her son is on the spectrum.This weekend, with so many of us there, would be too hard for them on short notice.”
I thought of Wren’s Audrey and the challenges she faced.“Do they ever participate in large family gatherings?”
“With a lot of preparation.”He paused.“It was good for Neve to get a few hours to herself.Whenever they go anywhere, her sole focus is understandably on her son.She rarely gets to relax her guard and enjoy herself.”He smiled.“She was like the old Neve this weekend.”
“I admire her.”
“So do I.She makes being a mother look easy even though it’s more challenging for her than it is for most.”He chuckled.“Her daughter is pretty intense, too, but in a different way.Funny like Teagan, she constantly pushes the envelope.”
“Keeps mom on her toes,” I murmured.
Had I been a good mom?A good stepmom?
My heart twisted in my chest.Just a few days ago, I would have sworn I knew the answer to that question.Now, I wasn’t sure.
I tried not to think back to the years I had Jakey to myself.Those memories led to murderous inclinations and a grief so deep and wide I might never find my way across it.
“Gary said I abandoned his children by not spending enough time with them.”I laughed bitterly.“He also said he didn’t want me to have them unsupervised as I ‘lacked judgment’ and was a ‘poor influence’ for supporting their goals.”
“Did you have anybody on your side?”
“No.”I shook my head and looked out the window.“But that was my fault.I allowed him to cut me off from my friends.By the time he kicked me out, all of our friends were his friends.He wasted no time inciting them against me.”
“I’m sorry.You know it’s not your fault, right?”
“I came from a good home, Kian.”Disappointment weighed heavy on my chest.“I should have known better.”
“You came from a good home, Bridget,” he echoed.“Nothing in your experience prepared you to recognize or understand that type of abuse.”
My gaze dropped to the floorboards; my eyes wide as his words sunk in.Once again, Kian pinpointed the fatal flaw in my reasoning.
And released me from its prison.
“Thank you,” I breathed.
“Nothing, baby,” he murmured.
