It was eating at me. Neither Addy nor Hayes should ever have been hurt. Yes, horses could sustain injuries in different ways without a human being the cause of it, but my gut was telling me that wasn’t the case. If I found out someone was responsible, I wanted the police involved, and for them to be charged.
I was also paranoid about Addy’s safety, which was why I’d asked Santana to shadow her and stick near her. Neither of them knew, though, that Brody was also doing the same, but he was doing it discreetly.
“I didn’t realize you had such a thing for Mrs. V,” I chuckled, hoping it’d pull him out of his introspective mood. “Is it the tomato juggling thing?”
Instead, he just grunted.
Giving him the time he obviously needed to brood and stew over whatever was going on inside his head, I focused on the dirt road, making a mental note of the areas that were going to need to be filled in soon.
“We look like a fucking couple taking our kid out for a walk,” Remy finally sighed.
Now that he mentioned it, he wasn’t wrong.
“Want me to hold your hand or put mine in your back pocket? I need to think of a pet name for you, one that just screams I can’t wait to get you into our bed.”
“You’re sick and twisted.”
Looking into the buggy at a sleeping Toby, I had to smile. He was a cute little guy, and he’d brought his dad to his knees in a matter of days.
“Want me to push and give you a break?”
“I can be a fucking dad, Marcus. I know what I’m doing.”
Putting my hand on the bars he was gripping fiercely, I stopped us. “This is where you’re going wrong. You’ve been an asshole to Santana, you’re barking at me, and you won’t let anyone help. It’s not wrong to say okay when we offer or to ask for our advice. Parents do it every damn day. Jesus, look at Elijah and Sadie—I babysat Bronte so they could have some time together.”
Remy stared off into the distance, his eyes unfocused. “When they handed him to me, they looked at me with pity. I feel like that’s what everyone’s doing right now, like they pity me for even trying to do this.”
“Maybe they looked like that because you’d just found out you had a kid? Or maybe it was because they know you’re a good guy and would take this hard?” When he didn’t say anything, I asked, “Was it Carrie’s parents who looked at you like that?”
“Hers. Mine. The fucking lawyers.”
“In that case, I’m almost positive it was because of all of the reasons I gave you. I get Carrie’s reasons for not telling you, but that doesn’t mean I agree with them or think she was right. Who knows how you’d have reacted if she’d have reached out and said something—you were never given the chance.
“But here you are, taking responsibility for your son after all of that, even after reading that letter she wrote you, and I figure her parents and yours all feel bad for you for finding out the way you did. They definitely would have known how much of a blow it was by your reaction when the news was broken to you. That doesn’t mean you can’t accept help, though, man.”
He was silent for a moment, but when his lower jaw moved to the side, I knew he was thinking of a way to argue his piece. Finally, it came.
“I let Santana help me.”
“When it suits you, yes. But from what I hear, you fucked up today.”
His eyes cut to me, and if I hadn’t had years of experience with him, I’d have shit my pants at the glare he shot me. “I’m his dad.”
“If you’re not going to listen to the advice I’m giving you, I can’t help you sort the shit you’ve made for yourself out. Just think about what I’ve said.” I shrugged and resumed walking.
It was as we got near Mrs. V and Addy’s place that I heard it—laughter and music. Not music from a radio or anything, live music.
“Is that Bohemian Rhapsody?” Remy muttered as we got closer to the fence to their backyard.
It was but without Brian Mayes’s outstanding guitar skills. It was weird hearing it without the drums and guitars, but no less beautiful given that Addy was playing the piano and Mrs. V was singing the operatic version of the song like she belonged on stage.
As we watched, something occurred to me. “Why isn’t this hitting me as weird?”
“Because your family’s made you immune to it?”
He had a point, but it wasn’t the answer to the question.
Finally, I had the answer. Addy had brought in something to my life that I didn’t know was missing, but going back to Jackson’s puzzle pieces, it’d just slotted into the gap without me realizing it. Before Addy, I’d have either laughed or been grateful there was a weirder family out there than mine. Now, though, I could appreciate what I was seeing.