Page 72 of Masquerade Mistake
“What’s going on?” I ask. “Did he do something bad?”
“No,” he says. His eyes shift from my face, focusing on the space between us instead. “He knows, Claire.”
Chapter 29
It takes a moment for his words to sink in. But then, they hit me full force.
“He knows? What do you mean he knows?” The rage washes over me like a tsunami, and I grip the handle of my bag, tempted to swing it at him.
“It was a mistake,” he starts, but I’m already heading for the door. “Claire!”
I stomp inside, dropping my bag before bursting into the kitchen. One look at Finn’s wide eyes, and I take a deep breath to compose myself.
“Mom?” The food is still in bags on the table, and it’s obvious he’s been watching from the window. I realize I don’t know what to say in this moment. Ethan comes in, moving around me to stand next to Finn. My son looks up at him, and Ethan pats him on the shoulder in reassurance.
I’m an outsider in my own home.
“Well, I guess you know everything, don’t you?”
It’s my mother’s voice. I hear it coming out of my mouth, and I feel the shame coursing through me when I see Finn’s face fall. But I’m so angry, I can’t stop myself.
“And you just had to tell him, didn’t you? Well, I hope you’re happy. Congratulations. You have a son, and I’m just the nobody who’s done everything for the past six years of his life.”
I turn around and leave, heading to my bedroom where I lock myself inside. I expect Ethan will follow, and I brace myself for what I’ll say. What I’ll yell. But no one comes. They stay in their area of the house, and I stay in mine. I can hear them talk over burritos, and it’s obvious it’s already started—Ethan is the hero in Finn’s story, and I’m no longer needed.
Hot tears form in my eyes, but I swipe them away. I will not cry over this. Further, I should not be locked away in my bedroom when this is my house, not Ethan’s.
I storm out of the room, glaring at Ethan as I approach the table.
“Finn, Ethan and I have a few things to discuss, and then he’s leaving. You can eat your dinner in front of the TV if you’d like, but I need you to leave the table.”
“Claire, can we just sit and discuss this?” Ethan looks at me, then nods his head toward Finn, as if he’s more concerned about my son than I am.
“That’s what we’re about to do,” I say through clenched teeth.
“Mom.”
I look at Finn, my eyes blazing until I see the way his eyebrows are furled, how torn he appears. It puts me in my place, softening my resolve as I loosen my fists and sink into a chair at the table.
“I’m just…” I don’t know what to say.
“I know what you’re feeling,” Ethan says, and I narrow my eyes at him.
“What could you possibly know?” I ask. I glance at Finn, biting the words I want to say. How Finn is mine and not Ethan’s, and he’s just stolen my whole world in a matter of a weekend. “You just couldn’t wait for me to leave so you could spill the truth,” I finally spit out. “Well, now it’s out. It doesn’t even matter that I’ve been the one to pick up the pieces all these years while you…”
“Mom,” Finn cuts in, and I shut my mouth, “it wasn’t his fault. I figured it out on my own.”
I tilt my head at Ethan, shooting him a look of disbelief.
“Mom, listen!”
Then Finn tells me how they’d stopped at Ethan’s house and his photo albums were out.
“I’d been looking at them beforehand, trying to see the similarities between Finn and me, and forgot I’d left them on my coffee table,” Ethan explains.
“And I thought they were pictures of me,” Finn continues. “When Da…” He stops himself, glancing at Ethan before looking back at me, “Ethan said it was him as a kid, I thought it was weird that he looked like me.”
“And you just asked him if he was your dad?” I shook my head, still not buying it.