“How much time?”

“I don’t know.”

His face darkened. “What do you know?”

That I love you. That I hate this. That I’m confused and overwhelmed and every choice feels like a mistake, I thought.

But I said, “That right now, Wendy needs you more than I do.”

I turned and rushed out of the shop. Because if I’d stayed a second longer, I would have kissed him. I would have promised him everything was going to be okay, not knowing if it would be, and I held on to the mantra that I refused to hurt us even more.

Even if that was its own lie.

22

Rainbow Road

LUKE

I trudged through the door to my parents’ house with the intent to talk to Mom shadowed by the hope that she was already asleep and I wouldn’t have to.

It was a day of reckoning, of making things right, and I’d already failed once.

Wendy will always manipulate you, and you’ll always let her.

Tess’s words, a truth so plain, so blatant. And I’d never seen it, not in those terms.

I just had to decide what to do about it. But first, I had to get through this doctor’s appointment, figure out how to determine if this baby was mine. Because if it was, Tess was right. There would be no escaping Wendy.

My life had careened away from me with those two words. And I was no longer in control of anything.

I strode through the first floor, checking the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, finally finding Mom in the library, tucked into the big armchair with a romance novel.

Her eyes were sad when they met mine, but she smiled small, closing her book and resting it in her lap. “Hello, Lucas.”

“Hi, Mom.” I glanced at my feet, feeling like I was six again. “I … I’m glad you’re up.”

“Well, I figured you’d come home eventually, and I owe you an apology.”

My gaze snapped up to meet hers.

“Come here,” she coaxed, waving me toward her as she shifted to move her feet from the footrest.

I took a seat, and she took my hand.

“I shouldn’t have said such terrible things, and I shouldn’t have lost my temper like I did. I was just so shocked, Lucas. I thought … well, I thought when you separated, you wouldn’t see her again. I should have known she wouldn’t let you go so easy. And I should have known you wouldn’t abandon her. It’s a testament to your character, to the fabric of who you are. When you love, you love fiercely. And for that, I’m proud.”

“But it was stupid and reckless. I didn’t think … didn’t realize the stakes.”

“No, it’s just that the stakes changed when you fell in love with Tess.”

I blinked back my surprise. “How did you—”

But she laughed. “I might be old, but I’m not blind. And my children are too easy to fool into believing I’m unaware. Do you really think I haven’t seen you two together? You can barely keep your hands off each other.”