Page 26 of Wild Hearts

Ivy sighs, shoulders slumped. “I told him you’d say that, but he said it’s really important.” She pauses. “He told me to do anything I can to get you to go.”

I crack my knuckles. It’s a bad habit that I know gets on my sister’s nerves, but it’s kind of satisfying to watch her wince at the sound. “He expects us to just drop everything and drive forty-five minutes to go see him? Tonight?”

“Please?” Her voice is small, and she brushes away a stray tear. “I don’t want to see him on my own.”

Ivy may be on speaking terms with our father, but neither of us has seen him face-to-face since he walked out on us – not even when our half-brother, Theo, was born last August. August twentieth: the same day Wren turned eighteen. As if that day wasn’t hard enough for me.

“Brady, it’s been long enough. We don’t have to forgive him, but... but we have a little brother. He hasn’t done anything wrong. We can’t blame him for Dad’s mistakes.”

I know Ivy has been struggling with the fact that she hasn’t been to see Theo. She does so out of respect for our mother, but she’s right. It’s not his fault that our father is an asshole. Squeezing my eyes shut, I try to push down all the anger I feel toward the man I used to look up to. I can’t believe I ever wanted to be like him.

“Fine,” I mutter.

ISHOVE THE CLOTHESoff my bed, dropping onto it with a groan. I have to pick Ivy up from work at five. That means I have two hours to stress over whatever it is our father thinks is so important that he summoned us after nine months. Nine months. The same amount of time a pregnancy lasts. I found out about the affair at the end of January. Theo was born in August. Nine months earlier, in December, Dad was in Hawaii for the Haleiwa Challenger. He came home and spent Christmas with his family knowing he’d slept with someone else.

I stare up at the surfing posters that cover my roof wondering how long the affair was going on. I wonder if there were more women. Do I have any other half brothers or sisters out there somewhere?Fuck. That thought absolutely guts me. How could he do this to Mum? How could he do this to Ivy and me? Tarshia’s twenty-five-years-old... It’s messed up.

As much as it tore our family apart when the truth came out and he left us, it was a huge relief not to have his secret eating me up from the inside. I never told Mum and Ivy that I already knew. They were hurt enough. I didn’t need to add to it.

My phone pings with a text message and I ignore it. It’s probably Jordan, telling me about some party or some girl. I’m not in the mood. It pings again and I don’t want to risk seeing my father’s name on my screen, so I ignore it again. I groan when it pings a third time. Whoever it is, they’re persistent. I lift my arse off the bed, slipping my phone out of the back pocket of my cargo shorts.

Wren: Are you okay?

Wren: I know how hard this must be for you.

Wren: I’m here if you need to talk.

I stare at the screen. After everything that went down between us, I know it isn’t easy for her to reach out. Especially with the distance she’s tried to keep between us since her return to Blue Haven.

Brady: Thanks. I’ll be okay.

Wren: Don’t do that.

Brady: Do what?

Wren: Act like you’re not hurt.

Brady: ...

I type a flippant response about how I really am fine, then delete it. I type an essay about how pissed off I am at everything our father has put us through, then delete that too. I’m halfway through typing yet another message when my phone starts ringing. A photo of Wren in a pink sundress flashes up on my screen. I took it when I went to visit her in Newcastle. Memories of that night hit me like a Mack truck.

Fuck.

“Hey, Rookie.”

“Are you going to tell me how you’re really feeling?” Her voice is soft, full of worry. “And no bullshit about not caring, because I know you do.”

How does she do that? A feeling of calm has washed over my whole body just from the sound of her voice. The same thing happened that night in the kitchen thirteen months ago. It was the night I realised I was in love with her.

I blow out a deep breath as I roll onto my side, looking at a photo of Mum, me, and Ivy on my bedside table. I’ve erased my father from my life, but now he’s forcing his way back in.

“What’s he playing at?” I ask, shame flooding me as my voice cracks.Fuck, I wish she was here. I need her so bad.“Why now? I don’t like not knowing what I’m walking into with him.”

There’s silence on the other end and I imagine the way Wren chews on her bottom lip when she’s deep in thought. I know she’s trying to think of what to say to make this right. But it’s not right. It’s not going to be right. No matter how you look at it, Dad fucked up. I can’t get over that.

“I don’t know,” she finally says. “But what I do know is that you can do this. If not for yourself then for Ivy. She needs you. She–” Wren sighs. “She needsthis. She’s been feeling... guilty, I guess, about not seeing Theo. Ivy doesn’t want to hurt you or your mum, but she’s really struggling.”

Her words give voice to the thoughts that were already swimming around my head, and it slices through me like a hot knife through butter. “I know. It’s not fair.”

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