“Is he the reason you disappeared?” I ask after a moment of hesitation.
“Who? My father?” She appears taken aback.
“No, Gunner—your son,” I bite out.
She blinks at me once, twice, before breaking out into a fit of laughter. She’s full-on belly laughing at me right now—bent over, choking on her chuckles as she slaps her leg. “Oh-ho my god, that’s some good shit!” Once she’s able to stand again, she bites her lip to stifle her laughter when she sees my less-than-enthused expression. “Before you ask, no, Gunner is not your son. He’s my little brother!”
My body stiffens even further as her words sink in. Her little brother. Meaning he’s not mine. Well, thank fuck. After seeing how much Griffin missed from the first year and a half he didn’t know Cadence existed, I couldn’t stomach missing out on five years of my child’s life.
“Now that we’ve cleared that up, do you have anything else you’d like to discuss, or can I get back to my siblings so we can enjoy the family skate?” Her haughty tone now matches the one I’d used with her. Scarlett shoulders past me, but pauses when she gets to the double doors of the locker room. “And to answer your question, yes, Gunner and Gemma are why I ‘disappeared’ as you put it. Becoming the sole guardian to two orphaned children at the ripe old age of twenty-two left me reeling. I think it’s pretty understandable that we took some time to ourselves to adjust to our new normal.”
My apology is on the tip of my tongue, but I don’t manage to get it out before she shoves through the doors. Now I’m the one left reeling from her confession.
I’ve gotten it all wrong for far too long when it comes to Scarlett. For years, I’ve been under the impression that she knew exactly who I was that night. That she hooked up with me to get a rise out of her father. When, in reality, she didn’t have a clue as to who I was. And then, if that wasn’t bad enough, I just accused her of having a secret baby and disappearing from the face of the earth to keep him from me. Essentially eliminating what little progress we’d made the past few weeks.
What has gotten into me? When it comes to Scarlett, I can’t stop myself from acting like a complete fucking ass.
I decide right then and there to do anything and everything I can to make it up to her.
4
September
“Bennett Wilson is so cool!” Gunner squeals as he climbs into his booster seat, and I can’t help the sigh that slips out. “Did you know he didn’t start skating until he was five?”
“I didn’t know that. How did you find that out?”
“And now he’s the captain, Scar,” Gunner continues in amazement without answering my question.
“I know he’s the captain, Gun. But how did you know he didn’t start skating until he was five?”
“He told me. Duh!” I’m having a hard time buckling Gunner into his seat with how excited he is.
“Really? And when did he do that?” I’ve barely asked the question when there’s a knock on the rear window of my vehicle. I step back, surprised to find Bennett standing a few steps away.
“Hey, Cap!” Gunner yelps, popping his head out the door.
“Hey there, Champ,” Bennett greets him as if they’re longtime buddies. He holds up a teal, bedazzled cell phone and says, “I think this might belong to Gemma. I wasn’t trying to be nosy, but there was a Dexcom notification going off about a low sugar reading.”
Panic flares to life inside my chest until I look over and see Gemma opening up a packet of gummy bears she keeps in her crossbody bag. “Don’t worry, I’m on it, Scar,” Gemma assures me, but it’s not enough to override my anxiety.
I place my hand on my chest, close my eyes, and take a deep, calming breath.
She’s okay. She’s in tune with her body. She isn’t having an episode. She doesn’t need to go to the hospital. You didn’t fail her . . . at least, not this time.
I’m pulled from my spiral when I feel the warmth of Bennett’s hand clasp my own. “Hey, it’s okay. She’s got it handled, don’t you Gems?”
Gems?How does he know her? And since when are they on a nickname basis?
“Sure do, Benny,” she replies, her mouth still full of gummy bears.
“Look, like I said, I wasn’t trying to be nosy, I was just concerned. My little cousin has type 1 diabetes too, so I know how important glucose monitoring is,” Bennett says in a soothing voice that is so polar opposite to the tone he’d used with me in the locker room only hours ago.
Instead of acknowledging what he just said, I turn to Gemma. “Why are your sugars low right now? Did you have anything to eat while we were at the event?”
She looks sheepish when she shakes her head. She doesn’t meet my eye as she confesses, “No, I kind of got caught up in being on the ice again. It felt . . . good. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed it.”
I bite my lower lip, taking time to weigh my response. “I’m so happy you were able to skate again today, Gems. Next time, just be sure to take breaks to nourish and hydrate as you need them.”
