Page 89 of Second Shot

“He’s a good-looking boy,” hesays.

I nod, swallowing past the lump in mythroat.

Noah’s little fist wraps around one of my dad’s fingers and he continues to gurgle andcoo.

“Thank you for bringing him.” He doesn’t look up at me when he says it, just continues to watch Noah, affection filling his dark eyes, and for a second I swear I see tearsthere.

My breath is shaky when I suck it in. “I know I should have told yousooner.”

“We’ve both done things…Mademistakes.”

“Yeah.” I lick my lips, shifting uneasily beside thebed.

He looks up at me, holding my gaze. “I know why you blame me forSam.”

“Dad.I-”

“Let me finish. I need to say this.” His brows draw down, his expression serious. “I wasn’t there for either of you when you were young. Not the way I should have been. I can give you excuses, but Iwon’t.”

I sit down on the chair beside the bed. “I know it must have been hard after Momdied.”

“I’ll admit I didn’t know what I was doing. And I was…” He motions for me to take Noah, who’s starting to squirm in hisarms.

I pick him up, then place him back in his stroller, turning it so that my dad can still seehim.

We sit in silence for a few longmoments.

“I was gutted after your mother died.” He holds my gaze with the same hard eyes that I’d never understood. My eyes. Soft, brown, rimmed with flecks of gold. But it’s the soul behind them that I recognize now. Filled with pain. Loss.Sorrow.

Maybe Kane is right, and I’m not so different from him as Ithought.

“You never talked abouther.”

“I should have.” He rests his head back on the pillow, his eyes closing for a brief moment. When he opens them again, they’re misted over. “You look like her. Except your eyes. You always had myeyes.”

“And your stubbornness,” Iadd.

He chuckles. “Yes. And that.” His smile quickly fades, and he says, “Maybe if your mother had a bit of yourspirit…”

I frown at him. “You always said I was likeher.”

He shakes his head. “I was worried youwere.”

“I don’t understand. You lovedher.”

His lips tug down and he wipes his palm across his face. “More than anything in the world. I would have done anything for her. Would have given up my career if she’d asked. Done anything to still have her here with me. I blame myself everyday…”

“She was in a car accident. It was no one’sfault.”

He shakes his head. “It wasn’t anaccident.”

“But yousaid-”

“I tried to protect you and Sam. It was hard enough losing your mother. You didn’t need to know that she…” He glances away,grimacing.

“That she what?” Goosebumps prickle myarms.

He lets out a long, quivering breath. “She was passionate. So full of life. Then there were times…” His eyes close briefly, the lines in his face becoming more pronounced. “She was pulled into a darkness. A place I couldn’t reach her. It got worse after she had you and Sam. The sadness. It ate away at her.Until…”

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