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Looking back at the picture now with the child who looks about two, I can see when he understands that the child is Reese.
“Did your parents turn their backs on you?” he asks, his voice low.
I hesitate to answer. It’s not something that I normally talk about, and especially not with someone who could never understand being abandoned by their family. But I start to talk before I can stop myself. “I come from a well-off family. My father was a stockbroker in New York before he moved to Florida. My mother didn’t grow up rich, but she had high ambitions. When she met my dad, she turned her back on her past. She got sucked in by the hoity-toity there. It was a very society driven class of people at the time. I mean, you know. Your parents have money.”
“Actually, they didn’t make their money until later in life,” he corrects. “But I’m getting what you’re saying.”
“Anyway, their teenage daughter being pregnant was a little inconvenient. They wanted to save my future. Though really it just meant their reputation. I ran away because I knew that no matter what, they wouldn’t support me. I’d always be the disappointment, pregnant or not. And I loved Reese. They wanted to take her away from me.”
“Your Aunt Jackie took you in?”
“Yup. No questions asked. I felt awful about it because Winn had a lot of surgeries around that time. She had her own kid to worry about without taking me on. But she did. She officially adopted me when I turned eighteen, so I went from being a Duransulet, to an Eberhardt.” I take the picture of my aunt and look down into the small face lovingly. “Believe it or not, we’re not even related by blood. She was my mother’s sister-in-law before she divorced Winn’s dad.”
“Do you ever see your parents?” he asks me.
I shake my head, placing the picture back on the shelf. “My dad died about ten years ago from a stroke. I went to the funeral and tried to talk to my mother. I wanted her to meet Reese. She walked away from me saying she didn’t know who that was.
“Then she was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. I took Reese to see her, though she never made an attempt to contact us. Per her orders, the staff wouldn’t allow us in the house. Even Liz stopped talking to her over that. Luckily I never told Reese who we were going to see. Liz was notified when she died because she was in the will. I was not.” I blow out a breath and turn my eyes away as I feel the tear that streams down my cheek.
“I’m sorry, Cat,” he says, taking me into his arms.
To my surprise I let him hold me. Even though I still feel gross from the workout, and even though all I’d want from Dean is physical gratification, in the moment it feels good to lean against him. He feels strong, warm.
Trembling arms circle his waist and I rest my head on his chest. “I don’t know what hurts more; that my mother didn’t love me enough, or that she shunned my kid. I hate that Reese knows that her grandmother wanted nothing to do with her.”
“What about your ex-husband? Are his parents supportive?”
“Pfft. Lenny was never my husband. His parents weren’t that bad at first. They’re the ones who made him to help me support Reese. They even watched her for me a few times. But they were always resentful. I don’t think they were ready to have Lenny grow up. Then when Reese started dating girls, they cut her off. Fuckers. Lenny tried to cut her off, too. I forced his ass to pay child support until she was eighteen.” I look up at him. “I’m sorry I totally dumped this story on you. I don’t usually share any of that, especially with…”
“With what?”
“With someone I hardly know,” I say.
“I plan on changing that,” he whispers against my lips, leaning in for a light kiss.
When he pulls away, my eyes are still closed. I open them slowly, and then as I come out of my trance, I shake my head and pull away. “This is the kind of baggage I come with, Dean. Life hasn’t always been easy for me. I’ve had to earn everything I have.”
“Why do you think I haven’t earned my achievements?” he asks, not in an angry way, but genuinely curious.
“Come on, Dean. I know your parents make good money,” I say matter of fact.
“They do. But that’s their money.”
“So you’re telling me that they don’t give you any of it?” I ask.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Well, then how did you pay for your house, and your nice car? And how did you come up with the $250,000 for the franchise. That’s a lot of money for a twenty-nine-year-old to come up with,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I could ask you the same thing,” he says, mirroring my movement.
“I saved a lot. And I got a loan. A few of them actually,” I admit.
“So did I. I’ve worked since I was ten, and saved every penny.”
“Why would you have to work at ten?” I ask, utterly confused.
“That’s the real question, isn’t it? Kitty cat, you’re going to have to get past this pre-conceived notion you have in your mind about who I am, and get to know the real me, or we’re not going to work.”
