AllFreeNovel
Share Us
How do I get Hunter Montgomery to see all this as well?
CHAPTER 38
Secrets
Hunter
“You should eat something, honey,” Mom pushes the plate of healthy snacks closer to me, but I push it back.
“Later.” My foot is bouncing on the floor from my seat on the couch in my parents’ living room.
I have always loved this room, but now I am annoyed by how bright the sun is through their windows which are also ridiculously large.
And my mother hovers. I can’t stand that either. She has been hovering from the second I stepped off the plane last night. Chloe called her to let her know I was flying back home, and that I was alone. I have no idea what else she may have told her, but it was enough for Mom not to give me space at all.
“Evie,” Dad’s tone lets her know that he’s noticing what she’s been doing, and that she needs to pull back a tad. “Hunter told you about ten times now since I got home that she’s not hungry. Drop it.”
“Jack, stop picking on me!” She puts her hands on her hips and gives him a look that’s been known to make lesser men cry. Not my father though. That’s why they’re so perfect for each other. He can take anything she dishes out, and then some.
“She said she is not hungry, woman!” he raises his voice at her.
“Jack, look at her. She’s skin and bones.”
They continue talking over my head like I am not even in the room. My foot bounces faster on the floor, and I am about to blow a fuse here pretty quick.
“Baby, when is Zach coming home?” Mom asks, which means that Chloe didn’t break my confidence, so my parents don’t know much.
“I have no idea,” I mutter in a low, barely audible voice, but she hears it.
“Is everything okay between you two?”
“I have no idea,” I repeat, my voice sounding a bit more distressed this time.
“Honey,” Mom drops on the couch next to me just as Dad gives her a warning, “Evie…” That would be the signal for her not to get involved. However, Mom has never been good at not sticking her nose where it shouldn’t be.
“It’s complicated, Mom,” I finally confess. Maybe talking to her will help alleviate the constant pain my heart’s been in.
“Maybe I can make it simple for you…” She touches my hand and I squeeze her fingers, which in turn lights her eyes up. This is how we used to be before Zach. I could come to my mom with everything and anything. Maybe I was wrong to cut her off like I did all those years ago. I am ready to let her back in now.
“Things between me and Zach have not been good,” I admit in defeat. “When we first got together in Las Vegas, I felt like it was our second chance at love. But as soon as I told him about the baby, something changed in him, and I… He was never the same after that, Mom.”
There’s a long pause, then I hear my dad clearing his voice impatiently.
“I’m sorry, but what am I missing? What baby? Are you pregnant?”
To my horror, I realize that I only told my mom about the miscarriage from seven years ago. I look at her and she is crying, shaking her head. She never told him.
“I was pregnant seven years ago,” I whisper.
Mom pulls her hand out of mine and covers her face. She leans down until her head is against her knees, and her body is shaking with sobs. I wish I had never told her any of this, not now, not ever. I know the guilt will eat at her forever. I am shocked though that she never told my dad about it.
“Slayer,” Dad’s voice shakes when he calls for me. “I am so sorry, baby.”
We both wait for a couple of minutes for Mom to regroup.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to break like this. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Jack. I only found out recently myself,” she looks at Dad with worry and shame in her eyes. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“We’ll talk about it later, Evie,” Dad gently pats at her back. He then pulls both of us in a huge bearhug.
