And it had all come out. The family secrets, the pain Rake held in and only let loose in the ring. The reason he didn’t want anything to do with any of them again. Which was why she was so surprised when he bought the Lake Hotel and wanted her to bring Noah back to raise him in Cherry Lake. It was where everything her husband ran from existed.
The next week dragged for Mari. Noah couldn’t understand not seeing Ethan around anymore. “He doesn’t work here now that the job’s finished. You have to understand, his company takes him all over the place and we might not see him as much.”
“But I thought you liked him. He kissed you, Mom.”
“When did you see that, Noah?”
He shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe here after work.”
The feel of his lips on hers taunted her at night. She didn’t need her son reminding her of what she was missing out on. This time of evening was particularly hard for her. In the short time they’d been around each other, she’d grown used to seeing him. Now it was her and Noah, alone. Again.
“You liked it. I know you did.”
Her young man was way too observant. “Yes, I did. But things change, honey. Ethan is busy and I have so much to do here with the hotel, getting it ready for the business. It’s been ages since I did a wedding and I need to get back to it.”
“It’s not fair. I don’t have a dad to talk to anymore.”
Mari gathered her son into her arms and stroked her hand over his head. “Oh, honey. I know and I’m sorry. I miss him too.” Noah leaned with his head on her shoulder, snuggled in like he used to do when he was tiny. She leaned her head back on the couch and cuddled her son wondering if they were doomed to be alone forever. Rake would be devastated if he could see how his well-laid plans had turned out.
Chapter Twenty
“Did you ask her what her plans are with the boy, Son?” Jeff stood with his cap in hand as Ethan got out of his truck after work one night. The last thing he wanted was to have this conversation with his father and he’d been avoiding him on purpose.
“Yeah.” He slammed the door, clomped up the steps to his front porch.
“What did she say?”
“Kicked me out. Said something about trust, how I shouldn’t even have to ask that question. Do you know anything about that, Dad, or is it a foreign feeling for you?”
“I trust your mom. That’s the only person I needed to worry about.” He looked over his cherry trees and signed. “Didn’t work out as well as I thought it would.”
“You think?”
“Your mom and me, we go way back.” He put his hat on and leaned on the railing. “She was the love of my life. Shame she didn’t see me the same way to begin with.”
Ethan decided to sit and listen. His father wasn’t one for talking normally. He might learn something, figure out why he was the way he was.
“She didn’t think I was worthy. I was the quiet type. Worked hard, didn’t hang around with the popular kids but I always knew she was there. At school, we talked a bit but on weekends we hung out with different people.” He sniffed, cleared his throat. “She fell for this guy, his name don’t matter none. I could see it was going to end badly. The guy had a reputation around town but your mom wouldn’t listen to anyone, least of all me.”
Ethan held up his hand. “Dad, you don’t have to tell me all this.” It was getting way too personal quicker than he thought it would.
“Yeah, I do. I need to explain to you what happened. Maybe if I’d told Rake, he’d still be here. Anyway, my worst fears materialized and he dumped her. She was heartbroken. I found her walking down the road toward the cherry farm one day, all upset and crying. I gave her a lift back here when she said she didn’t want to go home. She was too embarrassed.”
That sounded like a typical teenage falling out but he kept quiet and let his father talk.
“She admitted that she was scared. They’d slept together and she was terrified she was pregnant. Wasn’t quite so easy in those days to find out. Not like it is now. I offered to marry her.”
“You what?” This wasn’t the impression he had of his father, a hero to the rescue of a scorned woman.
“I liked your mom. A lot. Always had. So I offered to marry her and make a life with her if she was willing to take a chance on me.”
“But, I thought you were in love with Mari’s mother.” Things were getting far too complicated for him.
Jeff shrugged his shoulders. “I thought I was too but she didn’t even see me. We were sixteen, Ethan. Kids fall in and out of love all the time at that age. She had her eyes firmly focused on Bill Moore. I wasn’t even in the picture.” He chuckled, remembering. “Nope. Nothing was ever going to come of that pipe dream. It was a story that got embellished over the years when Betty wanted something from me. Money most likely and she’d make up stuff as she went trying to pass herself off as my one great love. We ignored her, wasn’t worth the conversation according to your mom, because we knew the real story.” He sighed and adjusted his cap. “Your mom needed me and I was in a position to help her out and truth be told, I wasn’t above using that as an excuse to get her either. I can’t think of anyone I wanted to be with more than Pearl. Your mom and I had something between us. Call it
