Page 58 of Broken Destiny

“Why didn’t you tell me, Mama?”

He had stood in front of me with his arms crossed.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “I truly am.”

I should have expected the possibility of seeing Caleb again. I should have prepared Lucas, especially because they had once been so close. Instead, I had been so caught up in my own emotions that I forgot my son had his own history with him.

Kneeling in front of him, I met his eyes.

“I didn’t think it was important, and I didn’t think he would show up there. That was my mistake, and I am sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, Lucas. I would never do that.”

“Are you working with him now?”

“Yes,” I answered honestly. “His company bid on a project that I’ve been working on… Dad’s dream. He will be working with Uncle Liam and me.”

“Are you getting back together with him?”

Shock rippled through me.

“No. Absolutely not,” I said firmly. “He’s getting married in three months, sweetheart. He is moving on with his life, and I intend to do the same… without him. He will no longer be in our lives. I promise you.”

Lucas’s voice softened. “He hurt you, Mama, didn’t he?”

The question pierced straight through me, that he remembered things I wished he could forget.

“We no longer loved each other. That’s all,” I said gently, placing my hands on his shoulders. “You don’t have to be rude or mean to him because of me. You need to be kind, helpful, and respectful toeveryone. And remember to know the difference between being nice and someone taking advantage of that. Okay?”

“Okay, Mama.”

“We cool now? You forgive me?”

“Yes, Mama. I’m sorry, too.”

With Caleb and me now working together, I knew one thing for certain—we had to keep our relationship strictly professional. There could be no room for emotion, history, or mistakes. I would need a plan, a careful explanation for the questions he might eventually ask about Emma, about Cole, and about the life I had built without him. I needed to be prepared. Not like the day at the fair, when I had panicked on the Ferris wheel, terrified that Emma might say something that would raise suspicion.

The sight of father and daughter sitting side by side without even knowing it had tugged painfully at my heart. For a fleeting moment, I had wondered what life would have been like if things had worked out between us. He would have been an amazing father—I knew that without a doubt. He and Lucas had once been so close, like a real father and son.

But life had taken a different path.

If things had turned out the way I once imagined, I would never have met Cole—the man who had given me a second chance at love. He lived in my heart, in my home, and in my children, woven into every part of who I had become, and I was still in love with him.

My heart twisted for even allowing my thoughts to wander toward a life with Caleb, even for a second. I shook my head, pushing the thought away as I watched Emma.

I had to hide the truth.

I had to protect Emma.

And I had to make sure the truth stayed buried until I was ready to face the consequences.

Part of me had wanted to capture the moment of the two of them together on the Ferris Wheel, preserve the connection forming between father and daughter, but I forced myself to resist.

One photograph could raise questions I wasn’t prepared to answer.

One day, my daughter would want to know about her father.

What would I tell her then? Would I give her the truth? Or would I create a story to shield her from pain?

Pushing thoughts of the future aside, I focused on the present—on my mother, on building a relationship with her, on the here and now.