“I am their father. This is my family, too. Just because I’m not yours doesn’t mean I’m not part of the family. Someday, Lena, you will get over your anger. It’s not attractive.”

Colleen stared at him, her stomach lurching, and her grief a stone in her chest, her wrist throbbing. She lifted her other hand, the one without the cast, and slapped him hard and fast across the face. The sound, skin on skin, reverberated as Walter let out a strained grunt and raised his fists in automatic defense.

Colleen stepped back, unsure of what he was capable of doing in anger. “What you did to me—it might have been the best thing you could have done, but if I’d seen then what I know now, if I’d really known, I would never have left my sister with you but instead continued to love her, which might have allowed her to leave you a long time ago.”

Hallie burst from her chair and stood between Walter and Colleen. “Stop. Follow me now.” She motioned for Walter and Colleen to leave the living room, to follow her into the kitchen. Which they both did.

Hallie’s cheeks were as red as the sunburn on Colleen’s shoulders. “Walter, she’s right. It’s best that you’re not here right now. We can discuss this another time, but you need to leave. Okay?”

Walter spun around to face Colleen, his lips almost drawn back from his teeth in rage. My God, had she really wasted all these years wanting and missing this man? What a waste of time and energy.

“It would have never worked with us, Lena. You know that.” He glanced at Hallie, weighing the words he might not want her to hear. “She is a better fit. We get each other. You would have wanted more than I could ever give to you. Look at you traveling the world, always doing something new. You wouldn’t have been happy here with me. Couldn’t you have just left us to be happy?”

“That should have been my choice, Walter. Mine.” She glanced at Hallie, who had tears running down her face, her hand held over her chest in a protective move.

“What?” Hallie asked. “You chose me because I don’t want as much as Lena does? You think I’m . . . easier to handle, to deal with? What the hell, Walter?”

“No. No.” He took a step toward Hallie as she took two back. “I love you. You know that.”

Colleen slammed her hand on the kitchen table. “Look what you’ve done to her. What you’ve done to us. Now leave.”

Walter looked at Hallie, holding his hand on the growing red mark on his cheek. “Hallie, I’m their father. I’m your husband. I will not just disappear.”