But that’s not what I’m going to do because I need to vent, and I need someone to validate my feelings.

I’m just so pissed off. I want to punch someone. I want to break things. How dare Kane and Cameron go behind my back and hire an investigator after I specifically told them not to?

It’s not their decision to make!

I come to a screeching stop at the pub and march inside, seeing red.

But I come up short when I see my parents sitting at the bar.

I blink, rubbing my eyes.

“Am I hallucinating?”

“There’s my wee lass,” Da says, and just like that, all of the anger leaves me, and I start to cry.

I didn’t realize how badly I needed to see my parents until just this second.

“Well, what’s the matter?” Ma croons as she hurries over to me and pulls me in for a hug. “There there, darlin’. It can’t be that bad now.”

I can’t reply. I can only cling to her and cry into her shoulder. She leads me to one of the booths, and Ma and I get cozy, snuggled up together. She strokes my hair and whispers soothing words until my sobs subside into soft whimpers.

“I never cry like this,” I manage.

“That might be why you needed it,” she replies and wipes my face with a napkin. “There, now, tell me what has you in such a state.”

“I’m mad.”

“About what, exactly?”

“Your eldest son is a pain in my ass, that’s what.”

Her hand pauses in my hair and then keeps moving again. “And what did Kane do?”

Why do I feel like I’m five again and tattling on my brother?

I sit up and reach for more napkins to wipe at my face and blow my nose. “You know I did my best to move on after Joey died. After everything that I learned about him, and how horrible he was. And just when I thought that everything had calmed down, and I was through the worst of it, something happens to smack me right in the face. It’s like he’s dead, but he just won’t die, you know?”

Ma narrows her eyes and nods slowly, continuing to brush her fingers through my long, red hair.

“What did the no-good bastard do now?”

“Which one, Kane or Joey?”

Her lips twitch. “Either one.”

“Kane called me this morning and asked if I could come over for coffee. The jerk made it sound as if we could just enjoy a quiet morning together. And we don’t do that very often anymore, so I jumped at the chance. But he tricked me.”

Ma raises her eyebrows. “It’s a trick, is it?”