Page 85 of Shine: Sins of the Father
“Come on. Let’s go out back.” He climbs off his stool and drains his mug.
“What’s out back?”
“We’ve got a place we use for target practice.” He shrugs. “It’s basically just some beer bottles set up on a two by four, but it works.”
“You want to target practice now?”
“Yeah. I’ve got a feeling you’re going to want to get some aggression out in a minute.”
I huff a laugh. “Really? Then maybe you should step in that cage and let me beat the shit out of you.”
“You may want to after I tell you what I’ve got to tell you.”
“Goddamn it, Reckless. Just tell me.”
He shakes his head. “I’d rather do it outside.”
I roll my eyes and follow him to the shooting area. There’s a ton of broken bottles under the board where more sit waiting. The shattered pieces on the ground sparkle in the sunlight.
Reckless pulls his weapon from under his cut and checks the clip, then aims and fires. He’s good, taking out three bottles before missing the fourth.
“Your turn.”
I aim and fire, clearing the other half-dozen away. “So, tell me already.”
“Remember when I told you to go outside and look at the sky, and to remember the day?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you remember it?”
“February 20th. You gonna tell me what it means?”
Reckless holsters his weapon and digs out his phone, then turns it to face me. I half expect him to have a photo of the night sky. “We gonna compare photos of the moon?”
He shakes his head, his expression serious.
I lean and look at his phone. It’s a baby. A newborn. My eyes immediately flick to his, and my stomach drops.
“That’s the night your son was born, Shine.”
“My son? I have a son?”
He nods, while I feel the world spinning around me.
“Fiona gave birth that night. She named the boy Dylan.” He swipes to another photo. “This is more recent. He’s almost six months old now.”
I swallow. I have a son, and not only did I miss his birth, I missed the first six months of his life.
Fury flashes through me, quickly followed by shock.
I squat, feeling like I can’t breathe. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She was scared, I think.”
I pin him with a look. “Why didn’t you?”
I surge to my feet and plant two fists in his chest and shove him to his ass.
