Page 30 of Loving You

“Because we’re twins. He thought it might make me resent him or something.”

My heart squeezed a little at that. What must it have been like to have William Walker for a dad and not the one I was telling a shitty story about? The man sounded so damn caring it was no wonder all four of his sons were as amazing as they were.

“That’s really sweet,” I managed.

“Yeah, but of course, Will gave me other reasons to resent him. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but he can be a bit of an ass. That’s water under the bridge, though. Please, continue.”

I gave him a short laugh, then got back to it. “From what I’ve heard, Jenna basically melted into a puddle at your dad’s feet from day one.”

Eric shuddered, like the thought of his mother as some young, hormonal teen severely grossed him out. But he recovered quickly and shot me a wicked grin. “Walker men seem to have that effect on women.”

I reached out and pushed his shoulder. “Ew, fuck. Don’t even.”

His eyes sparkled. “Then what? I assume your dad wasn’t too happy with that turn of events? Did he try to kick my dad’s ass?”

“Try? What makes you think he didn’t succeed?”

He gave me a flat look.

Okay, yeah… Eric didn’t know the man, but even if he weren’t just being all “Walker men don’t get their asses kicked,” my dad wasn’t built like a Walker man.

He was kind of a pussy, to be honest.

But whatever. The sight of that lightness in Eric’s eyes mademefeel light again, and I wasn’t pretending to relax and have fun with him.

I just… was.

“Fine, yes. Hetried,” I admitted. “But your dad wouldn’t fight him. From what my mom said, he apparently hadn’t wanted to hurt him, which I’m sure you can imagine didn’t go over well.”

He let his head drop back with a knowing laugh, full-bodied and rich. “Probably not.”

“So, whatever, my dad hated your dad, still loved your mom—from a distance, of course—and then, fast-forward a few years, and Jenna Walker was happily married and starting a family with her hottie bad boy and my mom and dad moved from friends to more.”

Eric had smirked a little at my description of his dad, then nodded slowly as he processed the rest. Finally, he shrugged. “Okay, clearly we’ve been correct in making fun of the Walker-Carrigan feud all this time. Are you telling me your mom has been rude to my mom all these years because her husband lost his high school crush to another man?”

I dropped my gaze to my lap and fidgeted with the ring on my right thumb. “Not exactly. Things were tense around town while we were growing up, like it’d get awkward if we were at the grocery store and ran into your mom, but it wasn’t like… well, all this feud stuff wasn’t a thing. But after your dad passed away, things got weird.”

At this, all humor left Eric’s face and his posture went rigid. “Weird how?”

“Apparently, my dad never stopped loving your mom, and he only married my mom because he couldn’t have Jenna, and well… because she wasthereand he knew she loved him. He settled for her.”

“Dick.”

I snorted. “Yeah.”

“What’d he do when my dad died?” His voice was fierce and laced with anger, but I trusted that it wasn’t aimed at me.

“He went to your mom. He said he’d leave my mom for her and they could have the life together that William Walker got in the way of.”

Eric’s mouth dropped open, then he snapped it shut and swallowed so hard I thought his Adam’s apple would ring a bell under his chin. “What’d she say?”

“She said no. She was grieving. She clearly loved your dad.”

“Hell yes she did.”

I closed my eyes at the pain in his voice, then reached out to close my hand over his. “I’m sure she did, Eric. She wouldn’t have been unfaithful to your dad—or to his memory.”

He let out a ragged breath and pulled his hand away, then leaned back in his chair, looking wearier than I’d ever seen him. “She was sobrokenafter he died. It took everything I had to take care of the rest of the family while also taking care of her. I had to make her eat, sleep… fuck, get out of bed. She couldn’t do any of it.”

---