Page 97 of Mistletoe and Malice
Colton leaned forward. “Estranged? As in, not on good terms with?”
“More like no terms at all.”
“Explain.”
“I haven’t seen him in over ten years. I was home for Thanksgiving my first year of college. So, I was eighteen, I guess. Thirteen years ago. He came to my dad looking for money.”
“And you haven’t seen him since?” John asked.
“I haven’t. I know my dad’s seen him a time or two.” He sighed. “Warren hasn’t had it easy. My dad divorced his mother, and Warren went with her. I was almost two when my mom married his dad. My dad. He adopted me. My biological father was killed in a car accident a month after I was born.”
“And Warren’s how much older than you?”
“Five years. He was about seven, I guess, when we came into the picture. Apparently, the divorce was big-time ugly, with Warren’s mom using him as a pawn to get more money or flat-out revenge. I didn’t know all of this as a kid. My dad explained it to me a few years ago when I got curious about his first family.I think it hurt him that Warren’s mom kept him away so much. But every time he tried to get custody, the court sided with her.”
Colton sat back in his chair. “So, you weren’t raised together. As brothers.”
He shook his head. “The few times Warren was there, things were tense. He didn’t like me at all, and I never understood it. Not as a kid. I always hoped we could be more like brothers, but Warren wasn’t having it.
“His last visit—I was ten—he beat me to a pulp. Dad had to pull him off me and never had him back over again. If he met with Warren at all, it was away from the house. And me. But those visits were few and far between, especially once Warren was out of high school.”
“He was fifteen when that incident took place?”
“Yes. I had no idea what set him off.”
John glanced at Colton and back at Shane. “And no contact with him after he showed up thirteen years ago?”
“None. I didn’t even talk to him that day. He came to the door, and Dad went outside. All I could hear was the shouting. Something about how Dad owed him for not being there. For choosing another son who wasn’t his over the one who was. A bunch of stuff. It really hurt my dad, because he wanted Warren after the divorce. I can’t help but think Warren’s life would’ve been much different had he been able to stay with Dad.”
He gave his head a shake. “Boy, his mom was some kind of scary. I hated it when she’d pick up Warren the few times she let him come for a visit. I was little, but that woman—I could tell even then there was something off about her. Called me … illegitimate, to put it nicely, to my face when I was about six. I didn’t even know what the word meant until much later. But who says that to a little kid? Evil, I tell you.”
Riley’s head spun. A man bitter about his father raising a son of his choosing rather than the son of his own blood. Could thatbitterness have grown so deep, he would commit such a heinous act to put the favored son in his place? A place where he lost his freedom? His identity?
“If you haven’t seen Warren since you were eighteen,” she said, “then there’s no way he would’ve met Caitlyn, right? Assuming she was ever at your parents’ home?”
“Oh, she was there. Several times over those four months. Had dinner with us, went to church with us. My mother adored her. But, no. Warren never met her.”
“Hmm.”
“Unless …”
She cocked her head, waiting for him to finish.
His brow furrowed again. “I guess it’s possible they could’ve met at the club.”
Riley sat up. “The country club?”
“Yeah. I guess about a year before I met Cait, he had a job there. I remember my dad saying he hoped Warren finally found a decent one. I guess it didn’t stick, though.”
“He was fired?” John asked.
“Not sure. Dad never said.”
Colton leaned forward in his chair. “Do you know what other jobs he might’ve had? Or where?”
“I don’t. Dad might, though.” Shane paused before regarding Riley again. “But I can’t see how my relationship with Warren would have anything to do with either of our situations. He’s been out of my life for years.”
Riley’s gaze met Colton’s, and she saw the same question there that swirled in her own mind. Maybe Warren was out of Shane’s life.
