Wes chewed the bite slowly. Was he also wondering why he was sharing all of this? “It was. If it hadn’t been for her showing me the ropes—how to get extra food, how to fight dirty—I don’t know that I would have survived. It was so different from where I’d come from—I owe her everything.”
“I’m glad you had her,” Cara murmured, pieces of their relationship finally starting to make sense.
Wes speared another piece of the meal. “What about you? You’ve mentioned your brothers several times.”
“I have three half-brothers—Declan, Luke, and James.” She smiled.
“Did you all grow up in Georgia?”
Cara hesitated, taking a bite for cover. How much did she want to reveal? Where she came from everyone already knew about her father and his romantic exploits. How would it look to someone new? But… Wes had been open with her, and it only seemed fair.
“No, we all had different mothers, so we grew up in different places.”
Wes’s fork paused on the way to his mouth. “Ah.”
“We’re a family, though. Siobhan, that’s Declan’s mom, and Anne, the twins’ mom, always treated me like one of their own. They even made sure we spent most holidays together. Until Declan graduated from college, the four of us spent summers with my dad. We’re unconventional but it works. My dad stayed friendly with all of our moms.”
Wes looked skeptical, and she laughed. “I’m serious! I think in part it was because they were all brutally honest about what they expected from each other. My dad loved women.Lovedwomen. He was a confirmed bachelor for most of his life, and I know it makes him sound like a cliché, but he didn’t do long term relationships. He made that clear from the start. He loved each of them in his own way.” Cara smiled. “First of the baby mamas was Siobhan. She was married before and had a young son, Seamus. They met while Dad was working in Dublin. Her family owns several bars and restaurants there, and they met at a party. Then, there was Anne. She was a professor at Brown University. They met when my father was invited to give a talk at the business school. They were together the longest, even after the twins were born. And then there’s me. I was the result of a short fling.”
“That’s… unusual.”
“It is. What about you? Have you always been into computers?” She winced, but Wes appeared to accept the abrupt topic change.
“No.” He sat up straighter in his chair. “I took a computer lab as a freshman in high school and was fortunate to have a teacher, Mr. Phelps, recognize I had an aptitude for them. He encouraged me to sign up for more challenging classes and join the computer club that met after school.” His smile was wry when he continued. “I would have done anything to get out of the Children’s Home for a few extra hours. It gave me something to focus on…”
“And the hacking?”
“There was a contest in Atlanta, though they advertised it as a cybersecurity demonstration, and I won.” His eyes brightened. “I loved it. Mr. Phelps was a great guy. He never brought it up, but he seemed to understand how much I was struggling. He’s the one who introduced me to lifting weights, too. The stronger I became the less of a target I was.”
His tone was dispassionate, but Cara looked down at her hands, her throat thick.
Cara pushed her chicken back and forth, and Wes lifted his chin at her conspicuous fidgeting. “Just say it.”
She sensed, rather than saw, his body tense up. She should keep her mouth shut, but she was dying to know. His eyebrows rose impatiently.
“What happened with you and Melody? Why didn’t you stay together?”
Wes’s body deflated with relief, and Cara wondered what he thought she was going to say.
“We weren’t together in high school. More like best friends. She’s older and always dreamed of going to New York and becoming a famous model.” His lips twitched. “My dreams were a lot less lofty. I wanted to go to college, get a steady job, and start a family of my own. Right before she turned eighteen, she ran away from the home to get started, and I still needed to finish high school. It’s not that exciting.” He chuckled. “I got a scholarship to Georgia Tech, and now I’m doing what I love.”
“Melody?” It didn’t appear as though the model’s dreams of fame and fortune had panned out.
“Mel tried really hard. She had a few big jobs, but it just didn’t work out. It’s a tough industry. She worked part-time jobs to survive, but never got her big break. I helped her when I could. Eventually she moved back to Georgia. She hoped she would have an opportunity with all the TV and movie production that’s moved here from California in the last ten years.”
It didn’t sound like a love story, Cara thought. There had to be more! “You stayed in touch though?”
Wes finished his meal and picked up his container to carry into the kitchen. “Yeah, sometimes months would go by. At one point, it was a year. But Melody always knew she could count on me if she needed to.”
Cara bit the inside of her cheek. She wanted to point out that, from what he described, the friendship was one-sided. But if he was convinced it was love,then itwasnone of herbusiness.
“This was great! Much better than the mushy veggies that I usually have delivered.”
Cara put her container in the dishwasher, and when she straightened, she saw he was watching her thoughtfully.
“You do this every week?”
“I try to do some sort of meal prep every weekend.”
