Dare to Take (Dare to Love 6)

He continued to clean up, carrying boxes to the garbage in the kitchen and taking the plates to the sink, all the while hoping she continued to open up. “And your father remarried, because that’s how you met Avery at the hospital.”

“He did, but Janice wasn’t all that interested in being my mother.”

Considering how quickly and easily the Dares had pulled Ella into their family, especially his mother, Tyler couldn’t understand how a woman could marry a guy with a kid and not care for her. “That sucks,” he said, unable to come up with something more insightful.

She laughed, the sound lifting the mood caused by the subject matter. “It did suck. But I was young and I did what I had to do, donating bone marrow, because when your father begs, what else can you do? Besides, even if I’d been an adult, could I really have said no?”

He glanced over from the kitchen and caught her lifting her shoulder in a small shrug. “I don’t know. There are definitely people who would have said no for lesser reasons than the fact that the woman didn’t treat you well.”

“Like being scared of hospitals and needles? Or only being ten? Yeah, none of that mattered.”

He strode back into the other room, joining her on the sofa and edging in close. He picked up her hand and held it tight. “You know it didn’t matter to my father, either, when he had all his kids tested for Sienna, or when the youngest came up the match.”

A smile edged her lips. “Why do you think Avery and I bonded so fast and so well? We had a lot in common.” She paused in thought before continuing. “And we had a lot of differences too.”

“Like what?” he asked.

“Like, I came from a two-bedroom apartment and Avery … didn’t.”

Knowing she was involved in her story and not paying attention, he lifted his free hand and curled a strand of her hair around his finger, feeling the silken strands with his thumb while watching her expressions as she spoke.

“Why does the money make such a difference to you?”

“Asks the person who never had to worry,” she said in a teasing tone. “It’s not that money differences matter. It’s that I saw a whole different world, and it made me aspire to having more.”

That much he understood. “Nothing wrong with wanting more. Besides, you achieved your goals, and that’s an amazing thing.”

She blushed at his obvious appreciation. “Avery’s life exposed me to so many more ideas than I ever would have had for a career.” She wrapped her hands around her knees and met his gaze. “I’ll be forever grateful.”

“Well, your friendship did a lot for her when she was suffering from anxiety, so I’d say you’re even.”

Avery’s anxiety issues had alienated her from friends and sometimes even from family, not that the Dares allowed her to pull away. Having Ella, someone who’d shared such a traumatic experience, had definitely helped her through.

“If you say so,” Ella said.

“Why do you do that?” he asked, jumping on her self-deprecation.

“Do what?” She bit into her lower lip and met his gaze.

He shouldn’t ask such a harsh question, but he couldn’t hold back either. Not if he wanted to get to know what made Ella tick. And he did.

“Why don’t you believe in yourself and what you bring to the table?”

She studied him intently, her gaze so serious he thought she could see beneath his skin, and a sense of unease rose to the surface. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like her answer—should she choose to share it—and he waited in silence.

“I didn’t realize I do that,” she finally admitted. “It must just slip out.”

“Fair enough. But that doesn’t change the fact that you feel it.” And he wanted to know why.

She let out a sigh. “How old were you when you found out about your father’s other kids?”

He stiffened as he always did when having this discussion, but he might as well be honest about his feelings if he was asking her to reveal hers. “Fifteen,” he said, reciting the standard lie. The age he’d been when the rest of the family had found out. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to confide in her about discovering his father with his mistress. He did. But tonight was about getting past her issues, not his. “Old enough to understand and get really fucking angry and resentful,” he said, which was nothing short of the truth.

She nodded in understanding. “I was five when Mom died and eight when my father remarried. I had eight years with my dad, then my world changed. Another woman moved into our apartment with her son, so my father immediately bought a house because Janice wanted it. That meant Dad had to take a second job to pay the mortgage. He wasn’t around anymore, only she was. And she had no patience for a needy little girl.”

He curled his hands into fists, sorry he’d asked her to dig deeply into something that was going to cause her immeasurable pain. After all, he knew her father was in jail now. He’d never meant to hurt her by asking her to let him in, but he’d begun the discussion, so he had to listen to the rest.

“When Janice got sick, there was nothing he wouldn’t do to help make her better, and I got pushed aside again, except this time I felt guilty for my thoughts because his wife was so sick.”