This decision he was about to make scared the crap out of him. It was such a huge move, and he’d not discussed it with any of his friends. He imagined they would think him crazy to share a woman who gave birth to his kid, and deep down, he really did think it was a little whacky for him to be sharing anyone.
Taking a deep breath, he was about to knock at the door, but Liam opened it.
“You’re early.”
“I’ve made my final decision.”
“And you’re here.”
“I think we should all talk about this. I’m getting mixed messages inside my head, and I need to clarify them”
Liam moved out of the way, and Easton crossed over the threshold.
Scar stood behind her husband. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair bound up on her head. She wore a white dress, and she looked stunning.
“Easton,” she said.
“Scar.”
“Why don’t we take this in the dining room? You two, sit, relax, have some fun, and I’ll go and make us all a hot drink.” Liam didn’t give them a chance to argue.
Scar sat down, and Easton took the seat he usually did at dinner.
Silence fell between them. She stared at the table, and he couldn’t take his gaze away from her. In the past eleven years, if it was even possible, she’d gotten more beautiful.
To him, Scar had always been a stunner, but there was something more to her now, a womanliness that had been missing years ago.
“It’s a nice week we’re having,” he said.
Silences of late always seemed to annoy him.
“It is.” She had a smile to her lips. “You’ve made a decision?”
“Yes. I’ll wait for Liam to be present. He seems to know what he’s doing more than us. It must be his age.”
“He’s a man used to getting what he wants.” She rested her elbows on the table, arms crossed. “How are you coping with everything? I imagine it has been a really huge adjustment for you. Finding out about Easton, I mean Junior, you mentioned going to rehab. We’ve not really talked about it.”
“I’m handling everything great. I have no desire to drink. Finding out about Junior, he was the best thing to ever happen to me. I only wish I could have been there when you gave birth. Was it a hard birth?”
“Not so much. All births are difficult and come with complications. Compared to most I had a good birth, you know. I did whatever I could to take care of our son. Please know that. I would never allow any harm to come to him.”
He reached across the table, which required him to stand up so he could touch her hand. “I know you’d never harm Junior, or allow anything to happen to him. I’ve seen you with him, and I stand by my earlier judgment. You’re an amazing mom.”
Her cheeks went a darker shade of red. “You’re just trying to charm me now.”
“No. I believe it. Besides, if I was trying to charm you, I’d mention how pretty your hair is. I miss the length I remember, but I can’t do anything about the length, now can I?”
She teased a strand around her finger. “Do you remember brushing it for me? You’d spend hours, and I think in a strange way, it always calmed you while you brushed my hair.”
“Is it weird, it did?”
“No, not at all.” She chuckled. “This is nice. We’re talking about it, and I’ve missed this. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too. So much. I wanted to find you,” he said. Liam had told him the only way a relationship of any kind worked was by telling the truth. He didn’t want there to be any secrets between them.
“You did.”
“I did. I didn’t know your last name, and my PI had a hard time tracking you down.”
Scar smiled. “Liam takes care of all kinds of things like that. He knows if someone is tracking me. I’ve got family who didn’t care how I got pregnant or my love of my unborn child. They wanted me to get rid of it.”
“You’ve not spoken to your family?” he asked.
“Not since the day they kicked me out.” She shrugged. “I was pregnant, scared, alone, and it was the most terrifying moment of my life. I survived though.”
Easton squeezed her hand a little harder. “I’d have been there.”
“You broke my heart, Easton.”
“It was all lies. Every single word of it. I couldn’t take you home with me. Hearing you say you loved me and you saw your hopes and dreams with me, it meant the world to me.”
“Not enough to stop you from leaving though. We could have been together,” she said.
“I didn’t want to leave you. I told you why I had to.”
“Let’s not talk about what you did or didn’t do,” Liam said. “This is the chance for both of you to have a fresh start, and the only way to do that is to be open and honest with each other.” Liam put down three cups of steaming coffee in front of each of them.