Page 79 of Carson

Carson scoots his chair back. “Cole told me you were never coming back. That you were a wanderer, and that you would never be mine. He …” He shakes his head in disbelief. “He didn’t bring you back.”

“I came back, Carson,” Luna says, trying to calm him.

He stands. “He was willing to let you disappear, knowing how much that would hurt me.”

She rises too, grabbing his hand. “Carson, he was hurting, is hurting.”

My son pulls away from her, storming over to his brother and punching him right in the face.

As soon as Cole catches his balance, he charges at Carson. “You fucking pussy,” he yells.

The two of them begin arguing while throwing punches.

“You were going to let her leave!”

“You fucking left me,” Cole yells back, not even hearing what his brother has to say.

“Left you? You fucking left me. You went to Texas without me!” Carson hollers back.

I stand abruptly, tipping over my chair. “Stop! Just fucking stop!” I scream, grabbing my head, and stumbling backward.

Jesse rises, waving Dirk over to us as my husband moves like a storm toward our boys.

“Come on, hon, let’s get you inside,” Jesse says, guiding me in the direction of the warehouse while I cry hysterically. Everything is falling apart. The color in my world is slowly being consumed by darkness and grief.

I knew it would happen. I knew eventually I would have to pay for the sins of my father.

It’s happening.

Everything I gained in life is being ripped away from me.

Carver holds Luna back as tears stream down her face, the pictures of their trip long forgotten. I hope she doesn’t blame herself. This isn’t her doing. The universe is punishing me.

Right before we step inside, I look over and see my husband pull apart our sons by the scruff of their necks. Thank god, I chose him to be their dad.

At least they have him.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Luna

Iwatch helplessly as the love of my life takes punch after punch. His brother too.

They’re so evenly matched, there will never be a clear winner. I fear they’ll fight to the death.

“Oh, Carver, what have we done?”

He hugs me tight from behind, speaking in my ear. “I don’t know, but we have to fix it.”

I nod as Dan grabs them each by the back of the neck and pulls them apart. For a man his age, he has surprising strength.

“Knock it off,” he yells, turning them both toward the warehouse where Jesse is ushering their hysterically crying mother inside.

“Your mom has enough shit on her plate.”

The twins visibly deflate.

“I’ve got an announcement to make and then I’ll let you little fuckers get back to beating the shit out of each other. Your mother is going deaf. Eventually she won’t be able to hear anything. Not even the two of you fighting.” He lets them go with a gruff shove and then walks away, no doubt going to tend to his wife.