“Why do you want to know? What good will it do?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.
Did I want to know the secrets? I knew enough that whatever the secrets were, it wouldn’t be good. Deep in thought, I startled when Ava suddenly kneeled in front of me, her hands on my thighs.
“Henry, you know that nothing good ever came out of this family.” Smiling, Ava reached out and gently stroked my cheek. “Well, one good thing came from there. You. When they called me to tell me that they brought you to New York and I saw you for the first time…I wondered how such an adorable, perfect child could have been born there. For years I thought that it was the Hell on earth, but then you arrived—the sweetest boy. You’re your sweetness, Henry. For both of us.”
“You came from that place, too.”
“Yes. But you don’t know what I know. I kept the secrets for far too long. I lost my sweetness years ago.”
“That’s not true.” Ava was the best person in the world, and I loved her so much. Without hesitating, she just took me in. She gave me a home and gave me all I needed: a home, a family, love, acceptance. My tears finally fell when I saw the pain in her eyes. Crying, I threw myself in her arms. “It’s not true. You are the best Auntie ever.”
For a long moment, she just held me, rocking me gently. Then she pulled away, wiped away my tears, and smiled at me.
“I always tried to be the best Auntie for you. But I wasn’t a good person. I should have gone to the FBI years ago. It’s time to make up for that. That’s all you need to know, okay?”
“Okay.”
It was not a happy thought, but in my heart, I knew she needed to do this for herself. She genuinely wanted to protect me. Whatever secrets Ava had, they had tortured her for years. Maybe she was right, and it was better if she never told me.
“I love you, Auntie.”
“I love you, too, Henry. You’re going to be okay. We’re all going to be okay; I promise.”
Her words played over and over in my head. Rising off my spot on the sofa, I started to pace. After Caden had finished his phone call last night, Ava and Miles had left in a hurry. She’d promised to call me today after she finished what she needed to do. It was shortly after eleven and still no phone call. Not from Ava. Not from Ian, who was supposed to be at Robert's parole hearing. Biting at my thumbnail, I stared out of the window.
After Miles and Ava left last night, Caden had made me dinner and brought me to bed shortly after. He held me until I fell asleep, and he was there when a nightmare woke me. Caden did everything to help me get back to sleep. In the end, we both didn’t sleep very well. And yet, Caden made me breakfast this morning. He even took the day off from work.
I almost had a heart attack when Caden suddenly stepped up behind me. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back against his chest.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he signed.
Turning in his arms, I looked up at him. “I was just thinking. Has Ava called yet?”
“No, Cupcake.” Smiling at me, Caden lowered his head and kissed me gently before he pulled back. “Come on, let me take your mind off it for a while.”
“I don’t want to miss Ava’s call.”
“You won’t. I promise.” Taking my hand, Caden led me into my nursery and to the changing table. Helping me hop on it, he reached out and stroked my face. “Let me take care of you, my sweet, Little Roo. Let Daddy make it all better.”
Sighing, I lay back, staring up at my farm animal mobile, and let Caden undress me. I wasn’t really in a Little mindset, but it was still lovely to have him take care of me.
“Caden?” As soon as I said his name, his face appeared in my view.
“Yes?”
“Do you think Ava was right? Are we going to be okay?”
“Yes, Baby.” Smiling, Caden opened and peeled back the tapes of my diaper, slipped it off, then threw it in the bin. Then he leaned over me again. “Not only do I believe her, but I also trust her judgment. She knows what she’s doing.”
“I can’t stop thinking about the secrets she talked about.”
“I know. But I agree with her. Even though you write those horrible books, you still have a sweet soul. You don’t need to know all the nasty details about your family.”
Yeah, that thought had occurred to me as well as I wondered what secrets Ava knew. I wasn’t naive. My family was evil and did whatever they thought would continue their beliefs. But keeping the secrets from me just didn’t make sense. What was so horrible that Ava didn’t want me to know? A gentle pat on my hip had me looking at Caden again.
“Stop thinking about it, Henry. Trust in Ava and that she’s doing what’s best for you.”
“Like you.”
“Yes, like your Daddy.” Caden bent down and gave me the one thing he knew I loved the most. A nose kiss. From the very beginning, it was the most precious thing—a real nose kiss from my Daddy. So much had happened since I walked into the Rainbow Room and bumped into Caden. “What are you thinking about now? You’re smiling for the first time today.”
“I was just thinking about the night we met.”
“Ah.” Caden laughed before he bent down to blow a raspberry on my stomach. That was something he liked to do, and it always made me giggle. Confident in himself, he raised his head again, still smiling. “Do you regret it? I mean going to the Rainbow Room?”
“Only when you blow raspberries.”
“Come on. You love it when I do it.”
“Nope.” Yeah, okay, maybe
