Page 50 of Wild Heart

“I know,” Olivia said. “And I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. Her voice cracked.

Mason leaned forward, elbows on the table, voice low. “You robbed me of those years. I won’t pretend I’m not angry.”

She flinched.

“But” he said slowly, turning to Davey, “what we do now… that’s what matters.”

Davey looked at him, hope in his eyes.

Mason’s voice softened. “I can’t go back and changeanything. But I can be here now. I want to be. I want to make up for lost time. But for that to happen, we all have to forgive. Your mom didn’t make the right call, but she made it with love. And if we’re going to move forward, we do it clean. No bitterness. No blame. Just... honesty.”

He reached across the table, hand open. It hovered in the space between them. Davey stared at it. Then, slowly, he reached out and took it. Mason’s fingers closed around his son’s.

Then, without a word, Mason reached for Olivia’s hand and brought it into the center, laying it on top of theirs.

“We’ll figure this out,” he said. “Together.”

Olivia’s tears spilled freely now, but she nodded, her voice gone. And for a long, quiet moment, the three of them simply sat like that. Hands connected. Breathing steady. Three lives, finally aligned in truth.

The door opened behind them. They turned. Natalie stood in the doorway, her eyes darting from Olivia’s tear-streaked face to Mason’s hand over Davey’s.

Her brow furrowed. “Well, doesn’t this look cozy.”

Natalie stepped into the room, her face ashen, her world having just fallen apart. Outside a bolt of ice white lightening lit up the sky, reflected her anger better than any words could.

21

Mason rose. “Natalie…”

“I heard it all,” she said, stepping closer. “I wish I hadn’t, but it looks like my ears didn’t deceive me.”

Olivia stood too. “Natalie, please.”

“You were an item?” she asked, her voice quiet but shaking. “You and Mason?”

“No!” Olivia said quickly. “We were friends. Good friends. That’s all.”

“We were never together,” Mason added. “It was one night. We had too much to drink, and…”

“And what?” Natalie said, voice rising. “You just tripped and fell into bed together?”

“We were grieving,” Olivia said, pleading. “We were lost. It happened, and the next morning, we both agreed it had been a mistake. We never spoke of it again.”

“I don’t remember half of it,” Mason added. “I barely remember anything.”

Davey cleared his throat. “Still here, the big mistake. Just saying.”

The tension cracked a little. Natalie looked at him, looked at the boy she loved like family, now the son of the man she loved.

“I’m not angry about what happened that night,” she said slowly. “I’m hurt because you both kept it from me. You knew. You let me fall for Mason, and you never once thought I deserved to know. After what Giles did, you knew I was vulnerable.”

Olivia’s eyes welled. “I wanted to, all those years ago. And then... I didn’t know how.”

Another flash of lightening made the kitchen turn white, then back to dark like Natalie’s mood.

“You lied,” Natalie said. “For so long. And Mason, you… when we got together, you didn’t think I deserved the truth?”

“I didn’t know the truth!” he said. “I only found out minutes ago!”

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