Page 58 of Making the Save

He shook his head, like the weight of the world was resting on him.

“Her ex was abusive. She was young, just eighteen, and struggled with undiagnosed mental health problems. She couldn’t figure out how to leave him and take the baby with her. She had no family to help her out and he had a sister she thought would step in. In the end, she thought her only option was to run. She did and she didn’t look back.”

“That’s awful.”

He shifted in his seat. “Yeah, Liam and I are struggling with the idea of how our mom, the mom we knew, could do that. Leave a child like that.”

“I didn’t mean what she did was awful,” I said, reaching out to touch his forearm. “You can’t judge something like that, because you can’t know her situation. Not truly. For her to make the decision to leave… that’s what had to be so awful. Did you ever meet him? Your half-brother?”

An abrupt nod. “We hired a private investigator. Met him at a bar in Boston. Me and Liam. Right before I flew out to Vegas, actually.”

“It didn’t go well. I can tell by your expression.”

“Nick doesn’t want anything to do with us. That’s his name. Nick. He was raised by the asshole until his teens, ended up stealing a car and going to juvie. Eventually he just ran away. But he met up with a good family who found him and took him in. Some famous chef. RunsThe Robin’s Eggin Northern California.”

“Antony Renard is your half-brother’s adopted father?” Everyone in California knew the reputation ofThe Robin’s Egg. “Well, if he eats like you and Liam, then he got very lucky.”

“Yeah,” Wyatt smiled. “I know it worked out okay for him in the end, but not until he was a teenager. Everything he suffered up until then…it eats me up inside.”

“Because you weren’t there to protect him,” I said nodding. “Even though he would have been your older brother.”

“Can’t help it,” Wyatt said. “He’s family. And like I said-”

“You stick together,” I finished for him. I couldn’t help that I sounded doubtful.

“That wasn’t your experience,” he said.

“So far from it. I don’t regret emancipating myself from my mom. She was toxic and manipulative and if I wanted to survive I needed to cut myself free.”

“That must have been hard.”

I shrugged. “Lots of things are hard. Finding out you have a secret brother is hard. But it would have been nice, you know? To have a mom who cared about me. But sometimes family isn’t the one you’re born into,” I said. “Sometimes it’s the one you choose.”

“Who have you chosen?”

“Beatrice,” I said.

It was a little embarrassing to admit that. Beatrice knew me best. I trusted her the most. Those things were true, only I paid her, which maybe just made her really good at her job and me a total loser.

“It’s obvious she treats you like she would a daughter,” he said.

“You think?” I asked, pleased it wasn’t all in my head. He nodded.

“I chose you,” I said with a cheeky grin. “I just happened to be a little drunk when I did it.”

“We should get you a ring,” he said abruptly. “I know we’re going to be out of sight for a while, but when you do show up at the ACAs, you should have a ring on your finger.”

“I don’t know how I feel about that,” I said honestly.

“What’s to feel? It’s a ring.”

I shook my head. “It’s an engagement ring or a wedding ring. Whenever I thought about wearing one, it would have meant…”

“What?”

I sighed. “It would have meant I found my person. My forever person. I know what it looks like, all my ex boyfriends and stuff, but I promise you, when I thought about getting married it was supposed to be forever. Obviously, I screwed that up.”

“Wescrewed that up,” Wyatt insisted.