Page 95 of In Hiding

Jake pushed the Great Dane’s shoulder. “What are you waiting for?” Erik grinned and left.

Damien squeezed Jake’s shoulder. “Save your strength and get some rest tonight. I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”

~

Sarah knocked on the closed door. “William, please. Unlock the door and let me in.”

“Go away.”

She closed her eyes and sighed. The only thing worse than an upset teenage boy was a teenage boy mad at her for sending away someone they’d both come to care for. “Sweetheart, I wish you could understand. Come downstairs when you’re ready to talk.”

Certain she wouldn’t coax him out any time soon, Sarah turned and started down the stairs. Halfway to the bottom, she heard the latch give and the door open. Sarah paused and looked back over her shoulder.

William appeared, his hair all mussed, his cheeks red and hot. “Are you gonna send me away, too?”

Sarah frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You made him leave because he knew about Uncle Erik. I knew, too. That’s where I went when I skipped school. I heard about some new guy in town and decided to go check it out. I didn’t know it would be him.”

The hurt inflicted by Jake throbbed, made worse by William’s confession. She didn’t want to be angry at him, but she was. It was only fair, seeing she turfed Jake out for withholding the same information.

“I suppose Jake knew about it?”

William shook his head as he came out of his room and started down the stairs. When he reached the step she stood on, he stopped and faced her. Tears hovered at the edges of his bloodshot eyes.

“No. I couldn’t tell him. I promised Uncle Erik I wouldn’t tell anyone. He was worried that if he came here, he might lead my...” he faltered, swallowed, and tried again. “He thought it would put us in danger.”

Sarah touched his cheek. “You don’t want to call him your father?”

Her son shied away. “I don’t want him to be my father.”

The revelation took her breath away. She’d never considered it like that before. Her son despised his father so much he wanted to disown him. Ryan had raised William alone after the death of his mother and though he was cruel to many, she knew he’d never raised a hand to his son.

The first time he’d hit William was the night he almost killed her but as she studied her son now, it became clear his eyes were open to the kind of man he had for a father. Dwelling on why it had never occurred to her to question William’s perspective seemed an exercise in futility. The truth was, he hadn’t just questioned his father’s character, he feared he’d inherited it or its legacy.

“Come here.”

She dragged him into her arms and held him tight. Brushing his hair with her fingers, she apologized for her thoughtlessness and begged him to forgive her.

“You’re a good son,” she whispered at his ear. “And you’re going to be an even better man. You’ve seen too much horror to be anything but.”

He sobbed at her shoulder. “I should’ve told you, Mama. I’m sorry.”

“Shh.” She kissed the scar on his temple, suddenly aware he’d grown taller. “You do not need to apologize and no, I’m not going to send you away.”

“You shouldn’t have sent Jake away.”

“He promised to be honest, William. He broke his word.”

Straightening, William wiped at his tears. “Uncle Erik made me promise. I bet he made Jake do the same.”

Sarah touched his cheek and smiled at her son’s reasoning. “Your uncle can be persuasive when he wants to be.”

“He’s selling cars.”

“In Wills Crossing?”

William nodded. “He’s big. Like a wrestler.”

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