Page 16 of Serenity
Whoa.“Itdoes?”
“Yes, my baby boy. It certainly does. From the very start, it seemed to me like you two were destined to be together. And I was right. You’ve built a life with Faith. One that’s filled with the kind of love most people dream about having and never find for themselves. Isn’t having a future with her something that’s worthfightingfor?”
I felt like a weight had lifted, and I could finally breathe for the first time since Faith shared her bombshell with me. “It is. But I wish she’d never written that goddamn letter in the first place and opened this can ofworms.”
“This letter that had you so scared and angry? It’s a godsend to me,”shesaid.
“Why?”
“Every time I look at the grandbabies you and Faith give me some day, I’ll know they’re here because ofDeclan.”
“A day far in the future,” my dad added. “Since you two are young and have plenty of time to think about kids. For now, you need to focus on your career while Faith works on her master’sdegree.”
My mom elbowed my dad in the side. “It’s never too early to think about giving megrandbabies.”
I wasn’t willing to go there with her. Not now, and God only knew how far in the future. Plus, there was something else I needed to confirm before I figured out what I was going to do next. “What about when you look atFaith?”
“I’ll see the same thing I’ve always seen,” she reassured me. “The woman who loves my son as much as he loves her. I just wish I’d known that was what you guys were fighting about so I could have reassured her about that. I figured it was something small, and you two would move past it. I never expected it to bethisbig.”
My dad nodded in agreement and asked, “I think the better question to ask is what do you see when you look athernow?”
“I’d actually have to be near her to do that,” Imumbled.
My mom jumped off the couch and stared down at me. “What do you mean by that? You live together for goodnesssakes!”
I hated admitting it because I knew I hadn’t handled the news well, but I wasn’t going to lie to them. There had been enough of that between us already. “I haven’t been home since shetoldme.”
“Ever since you sent me the text?” my dadasked.
“Dillon Montgomery! Tell me you haven’t left that poor girl all alone to deal with news like this for that long,” my momdemanded.
“Hey! I thought she’d have you two, and it’s less time than it took for her to tell me about the letter in the first place.” It was a weak defense, but it was all thatIhad.
“Honestly, I thought I taught you better than that,” she scolded me. “When you fell in love with Faith, you accepted her the way she is—flaws and all. The same way your dad didwithme.”
Dad snorted, and she glared at him before continuing, “It might have taken her a week to come to you, but you need to think about how hard it must have been for her too. She didn’t have the same type of support you did growing up. There were no loving parents to show her what unconditional love is all about. She must have been scared to death to tell you because it was the first test of your loveforher.”
Fuck.
If so, I’d failed her.Bigtime.
“This isn’t how Montgomery men treat the women we love,” my dad added. “It’s your job to give her the love and acceptance she needs. Not to punish her for taking longer than you think she should have to share news that was probably just as earth shattering to her as it wastoyou.”
“Even though I understand how you would be hurt that she put the conversation off for a week, doing something like this to get even isn’t going to accomplish anything other than to further damage yourrelationship.”
“I wasn’t doing it to get even,” I insisted, getting up and pacing the floor. “My intent was the opposite. I didn’t want to say something that would destroy us. I didn’t want tohurther.”
“But does Faith know that?” my dad asked. “Because judging by how distant she was when we reached out to her, I’d have to say she hasnoidea.”
“No.” I pulled my cell from my pocket and powered it on for the first time since I walked out of our house. The beeping from the notifications didn’t stop for at least a few minutes. My voicemail was full of messages from Faith and my parents. I had about a hundred texts too, most of them from her. “She couldn’t know because I haven’t talked to her since theneither.”
“We talked to her the night you texted, but she was so stiff. Distant. I thought we were only making things worse for her,” my dadexplained.
“And she didn’t answer the door when I went over to your house to check on her after we hadn’t heard anything more from either of you by Sunday,” my mom added. “You never gave me a key, so I couldn’t go in tocheck—”
“We can argue about the key later, Mom,” I promised. “But right now I need to get home and make sureshe’sokay.”
They called out to me as I ran out the front door, but I didn’t pay attention to what they said because my entire focus was on getting to Faith as quickly as I could. I raced through town, going at least fifteen over the speed limit, and made it to our house in record time. All of the lights were off, and the silk blue metallic Beetle I’d told the salesman to deliver before we’d walked out of the dealership was sitting in the driveway. I parked behind it and jumped out of my SUV. Running up the front steps, I noticed that the mail box was jammed full. I quickly unlocked the door, flung it open, and walkedinside.
