“Adam? Nah, he’s cool. Him and Papa get on really well, and he’s been pretty nice to me too. Said I can come over here anytime I like so long as I’m quiet around the deer. They get pretty spooked easy, he reckons. Doesn’t want them running into the fences and getting hurt.” He took her hand as she jumped off the step down onto the rich green grass that was still damp and spongy at the base.
Fair enough. “Thanks. So,” she chose her words, “how do you feel about what’s happened?” Please don’t be hurt as much as me over this. Can’t bear seeing you in pain.
Kyle glanced up at her and shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not like I wasn’t half expecting it, Mum. I mean, Cole could be nice when he wanted to and all, but even I could see he was lapping up the press and shutting us out bit by bit. He was all for the glory, you know?” He stopped and swung the bucket around his arm, pushing it to go again and again with his other hand, sending it spinning out of control.
How come you saw it but not me? Some mother I’m turning out to be. “Someone had to be the face of the restaurant.” Lena didn’t know why she was sticking up for him. Perhaps she still didn’t want her son thinking badly of his adoptive father.
“Yeah, I know. It just sucked since you were the one who did all the work in the first place.” He stop flinging the bucket around and stared at her. “Why did you let him have it all?”
Why indeed. Lena looked away and bit her lip. How much of this should she tell him and how much should she keep a secret. Being traded for a business might not go down so well, but neither would knowing you weren’t that special to your adoptive father.
“You can tell me the truth, you know.” His dark gaze was pinned on her and she made a snap decision.
“I gave him the restaurant because I didn’t want to go to court and fight over you or anything else. When we got married you remember he adopted you? Well, I didn’t want you to have to stand before a judge and go through all the custody crap that goes with a divorce. If you want to see him you can, your choice, I won’t fight it. But damned if I was going to put you in that position to start with. You and your peace of mind are worth way more than any business I can think of, Kyle.” And I’d do it again too. It would be easier in the long run telling him the truth. Lena hated keeping secrets from him. Ever since he was little, they’d been honest with each other, but neither of them had faced anything like this before.
“Are you kidding me? You gave him everything because of that?” He dropped the bucket to the ground.
Lena nodded her head. Shit, here we go. Dummy spit this way comes.
“So what’s coming on the truck then?” He slid his hands in the back pockets of his jeans and looked away from her, his lips set in a stubborn line—both habits she recognized from herself. She had already started this conversation with the truth, there was no reason not to continue with it.
“Our personal stuff. Clothes and my kitchen utensils from upstairs. Your bedroom furniture and computer. In fact everything from your room.” She tensed when he turned dark eyes her way.
“And he gets the whole deal? You take nothing from the restaurant, not even the award you won?” His lips twitched, his mouth going white at the corners.
“Yep.” Please don’t lose it, please.
“Did he even want to share custody of me?”
You weren’t supposed to ask that one. Lena noticed the shake in his voice and wished she could take it back. “He would have taken me to court and fought for you if I didn’t agree to give him what he wanted, so I’m guessing so. I didn’t think you needed to go through that.” I didn’t need either of us to go through that. This was easier in the long run. She sighed. “Look, honey, I don’t think it’s that he didn’t want you as much as I wanted to spare you the pain.”
“Don’t even try and stick up for him, Mum. The bastard didn’t want me and you know it. He used me as a freaking pawn to get what he wanted and it’s obvious it was neither of us in the running.” A mix of emotions washed over his eyes and her heart ached for him. Even though Cole and Kyle had never had the loving relationship she would have hoped for, they still got on okay, at least on the surface.
“Kyle, I’m sorry but you’ll always come first with me, you know that.” She looked over his head to the slope of bush that led down to the river. “Let’s not get derailed over this, okay? We still have each other, and Nona and Papa. We’ll survive if we stick together, honestly we will.” She walked over to him, dropped her bucket down on the ground by his, and wrapped her arms over his shoulders. She rested her forehead on his and looked him in the eye the way she did when they were having a heart to heart or a tell me the truth kind of conversation. The pain was there. Rejection always hurt no matter how old you were.
He dropped his head so she couldn’t see anymore, but the tremor of his shoulders under her arms hurt in a way she wasn’t expecting. Kyle was everything to her and his pain was her pain. Growing up without a father because the guy who impregnated her didn’t want to know was hard enough for any kid to take. Being pushed aside for financial gain
