Blood & Bones: Whip (Blood Fury MC 11)

“A little more than curious,” she finally repeated, realizing he was waiting for an answer.

If he only knew where her thoughts had gone…

That panty-dampening grin widened. “Gonna turn twenty-nine in a coupla weeks.”

“Oh, well… Happy birthday.” Seven years. That was the difference between them.

He was at that age where he knew where he was going but was still discovering himself along the way.

Not that his age or their age difference mattered since it wasn’t a real date. The dinner was supposed to only be a thank you for his help along with some companionship while they ate. She shouldn’t have let her thoughts run wild.

He might not even be interested since she was seven years older than him.

“I don’t make a big deal outta it. My birthday ain’t different than any other day,” he continued.

“I’m sure your mom makes a big deal out of it.”

“She’d like to.” He shoved away the plate that still held a few loaded fries. She was sure they were cold by now. “I don’t let her. I ain’t twelve anymore.”

“But she’s still your mom,” Fallon reminded him.

“Your mom still throw you a party for your birthday?”

She wished. “No, she stopped once I turned eighteen.”

He tipped his head. “There you go.”

“But if she was still alive, I’d be thrilled to attend a birthday party just to see her again.”

Whip’s lips flattened as he sat back and stared at her. “Mom’s dead?”

Fallon nodded. “Yes, she…” She sucked in a breath. “She was diagnosed with early onset dementia while in her forties.”

“Damn, sorry,” he murmured.

“It progressed to where her body didn’t even know how to breathe or swallow. Even though it took ten years to get to that point, it was not an easy ten years.” Fallon was lucky she could afford quality care for her mother. Even if she hadn’t been busy with her career, it would have been difficult to deal with her mother on her own.

Watching a woman go from being her mother to someone she hardly recognized was painful. Seeing her mother disappear like that was devastating, especially when she no longer recognized her own child. Fallon spent a decade of drowning in frustration and heartbreak.

One of Fallon’s greatest fears was, because it could be genetic, she could end up the same way or pass it on to her future children, if she had any.

“You should appreciate any time you have with your mother.”

He ignored that and asked, “Your pop take care of her?”

“No. He wasn’t around.”

“He ghosted? Before or after she got sick?”

“A couple of years after she was diagnosed, I caught him having an affair.”

Whip’s brow dropped low. “Damn.”

“Well, that wasn’t the worst part. The woman he was having an affair with was supposed to be my mom’s caregiver. She was definitely a giver and my father was the taker, if you get what I’m saying.”

“Damn,” he repeated.

“That give and take was happening in my parents’ bed.”

He whistled softly. “That’s fucked up.”

“Yes, it is. He forgot the part in his wedding vows where he promised to remain loyal in sickness and in health and all the rest of those uttered words, too.”

“What’d you do?”

“I moved her in with me and hired another caregiver for a while until she got to the point where she had to be moved into an around-the-clock care facility.”

“What about your pop?”

Fallon shrugged. “Hopefully he’s happy with his choices. The last time I saw his ass was when it was bare and he was railing the home health aide while my mother was in the next room.”

Fallon tamped down the fury at the memory. She not only was pissed that her father was cheating, but was doing it in the same house, only feet from her vulnerable and confused mother.

Fallon never spoke to him again. She refused to answer his calls or return his messages. She refused to hear his excuses or even an apology. An apology he would spew only because he got caught.

Did she allow him to visit her mother during her last couple of years while in a home? Yes. Fallon decided not to block him from the visitor list. She hoped by him visiting, he would suffer remorse from his decision to mess up their family. She was glad her mother wasn’t aware of her father’s cheating.

Would Fallon ever forgive him? Probably not.

Was that selfish? No more than her father had been.

Just because someone was related didn’t mean you had to blindly accept all their mistakes and faults. You didn’t have to forgive them for the pain they put you and others through.

What he did wasn’t a mistake because he knew it was wrong before he did it. It wasn’t an unavoidable accident, it was done with specific intent.

After catching him in the act, it made her wonder if he had cheated on her mother while she was still healthy. All those business trips and late nights at the office became suspect.