Page 23 of Heatwaves

Miguel nods. “I come from a big family—lots of siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins on both sides of my family. It’s not even just whales in the family, either. My dad has three brothers, and only two of them share the same whale with him. We’re minke whales that come from my grandma’s side of the family. But grandpa, one of my uncles, and two of my cousins are blue whales—or at least my grandpa was before he passed away about fifteen years ago.”

I blink at him, panic rising in my chest. “Blue whales?”

“Oh, yeah. They’re nearly extinct. As far as we know, my uncle and cousins are the last remaining ones—at least in this realm.” He sighs. “Though, up until a few days ago, we didn’t even know if Carter was still alive. He disappeared ten years ago with the rest of his pod,and no one had any idea what happened to them. Two days ago, they just showed up at my uncle’s house out of nowhere, saying they had to go to the meet and greet. Honestly, it’s weird as fuck, but I’m glad they’re okay. They’re good people.”

Miguel continues speaking, but I’m no longer paying attention. How can I be when he just blew my world up without even knowing it?

They’re back? Why now? Where were they? Why didn’t they come to me?

I scoff, squeezing my eyes shut to fight back the tears threatening to spill. Of course, they didn’t come looking for me. Clearly, what I felt between us meant nothing to them. How else could they have disappeared for ten years and not bothered to find me?

My heart is breaking all over again, just like it did ten years ago.

“Oh! There they are now. Let me introduce you to them. They’re busy looking for a woman they met ten years ago, but I’m sure they can spare a few minutes to meet you.” Miguel calls out Carter’s name, and my knees feel weak.

I don’t want to see them. I can’t look into their stupidly handsome faces and see just how much they don’t care about me.

My feet are moving before my head even catches up.

“Lila?” Miguel calls out, confusion and worry at war in his tone. “Are you okay?”

“Lila?” My name on Carter’s lips has me freezing all over again. This time, my knees can’t hold me up as I collapse to the sand with tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Carter, what the hell is going on right now?” Miguel demands from behind me.

There’s a bit of a scuffle behind me before I hear Aidan’s voice. “Stop it, Miguel. Lila’s the woman we’ve been looking for.”

Silence falls around me as I wrap my arms around myself. I need to get out of here, but I can’t seem to get my legs to work.

“Lila’s the one you abandoned ten years ago?” Now the prevalent emotion in Miguel’s voice is anger. “She’s the daughter of the couple I’m seeing, you assholes. You’re clearly upsetting her. I think you should leave.”

“We didn’t have a choice in leaving.” Ty’s voice is quiet, but it somehow cuts deeper than the raised voices of the others. “We never would’ve left if we could’ve helped it.Iwouldn’t have left. Please, Lila.”

I shake my head, not wanting to listen to his words that cut me so deep. I can’t even bring myself to look at them—it just hurts too much.

“Lila, please. Just give us a chance to explain?” Oliver’s pleading tone pulls at my bleeding heart, but I can’t even bring myself to turn to look at them.

How can they expect me to talk to them when I can’t even look at them?

“Lila?” My shoulders hunch at the sound of my mom’s voice. “Miguel, what’s going on here?”

I flinch away when someone drops to the sand beside me. “It’s just me, honey. It’s just me.”

“Daddy,” I cry, throwing myself into his arms as sobs wrack my body. I haven’t called him daddy since I was ten years old, but right now, I need the man who made me feel better as a child. I need him to hold me together as I splinter apart.

“Oh, honey.” Dad lifts me into his arms and starts walking. I don’t know where he’s going, but it’s away from the men of my past—the ones who have haunted my life for the last ten years—and that’s all that matters.

“Please,” Oliver calls. “We just need to talk to her. We need to explain. Lila, please, just hear us out.”

Dad holds me closer as I bury my head in his neck. “Don’t worry, honey. I’ve got you. Your mom and Miguel won’t let them come after us. Just get it all out, and we can talk about it later, okay?”

I sniffle, nodding my head.

“Do you not see how upset she is?” My mom’s voice has reached an octave that it doesn’t often reach. “You’re going to stay right here and shut the fuck up. I remember the four of you, and I remember what you disappearing did to my daughter. I had to watch her fall apart and mourn what could’ve been. You don’t deserve for her to hear you out. If she decides she wants to talk to you, only then will you speak to her. I won’t allow you to hurt her any further. Do you understand me?”

We’re too far away from them now, so I don’t get to hear the rest of the conversation. Not that I want to. I don’t want to hear their excuses. I don’t want to even hear their voices.

I definitely don’t want to see their faces because I might crack apart if I do—more than I already am.

---