Page 97 of Broken Strings

Nate presses a kiss to her temple, and I can feel my brows draw together in bewilderment, but before I can question what she means, movement down the hallway indicates Jesse’s return.

“Mom wants to speak to you, Caden.”

I stiffen at his insistence on using my first name, but plaster a smile on my face as I stand, plucking the phone from my son’s outstretched hand.

“I’ll be right back.”

Jesse takes his seat at the table with my found family, as my long strides take me in the direction of the roof garden outside. I can hear when they engulf him with tales of our youth, and the thought that they’ve taken him to their hearts so quickly puts a smile on my weary face.

Once I’ve closed the glass door behind me, I hold the phone to my ear.

“Yes?”

Summer doesn’t preamble. “I’m so terribly sorry for Bella’s loss.”

I make a noncommittal grunt, unsure how to answer. I still don’t know how I feel about Layla’s death.

“Umm…also…I know that you’ve had Jesse’s medical records transferred to the UK. I…I was hoping you’d keep me in the loop. Umm…please?”

“Like you kept me in the loop?”

There’s a long silence while I berate myself for my newfound asshole status.

“I deserve that.” She huffs a dark laugh, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I deserve worse.”

“Once I know details, you’ll know, yeah?” My words are clipped, and she murmurs her assent.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry, Cade.”

“For what part, Summer?” My words are a snarl that sounds foreign even to my own ears, yet I can’t help the emotions bubbling inside of me from spewing over. “For keeping my son from me? For not coming to me when he got cancer the first time? Thesecondfucking time? For making mehopethat we could find our way back to one another, despite every obstacle? For making my daughter fall in love with you?”

I break off, breathing heavily as though I’ve just run a marathon. “Or perhaps you’re only sorry now because your lies caught up to you. Is that it, hmm?”

Silence ensues. It’s long and tense. My temple throbs painfully.

“Ihatewhat you’ve done to us, Summer.”

My words are a bare whisper, and her sharp intake of breath pierces my heart.

“Are you ready or what, sweetheart?”

A male voice on the other end of the line breaks the silence between us.

“I need to go, Cade. I—I agree with everything you’ve said. I know I’ve hurt you beyond all hope of redemption, and for that, I am more sorry than you can ever know, but I do hope that we can at least stay on the same page…for our son.”

Her understanding in the face of my uncharacteristic contempt irks me even more than the strange fucker who’s with her.

“I’ll text you.”

I hang up without another word and turn to go back inside, only to find Jesse in the doorway, sad eyes fixed on his phone in my hand.

“Do you hate my mom?”

He raises eyes identical to my own to my weary gaze. For a moment, I contemplate saying yes, that I do hate her.

But I don’t want to lie to my kid.

Partly because I’m not a liar, but mostly because Idon’thate her. God fucking help me. The rational part of me knows that she did the best she could with what she had.

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