Page 116 of Take This Heart
He moves closer, hands out like he’s approaching a wild animal. “No, Goldie.”
“I actually let myself believe you might be a man who wouldn’t lie to me again.”
His face caves. “I didn’t, Goldie. I wouldn’t…I won’t.”
“I opened up to you. I let you in.”
“I know.” His voice is desperate now. “And I don’t take that lightly. Listen to me, please. I had nothing to do with the Granger vendetta, and I had no idea who Ava was until today. I swear. I was just as stunned as you.”
Tully steps in with our snacks and looks at me. “Are you okay?”
“You should go, Milo,” I say. “I need time to process all of this.”
He clears his throat and nods. “I understand. Take your time. You know where to find me. And I’m willing to talk things out whenever you’re ready, day or night.”
I swallow and nod.
He looks at me one more time before leaving the room.
Tully brings the big container of sea salt chocolate caramels and holds it out like a present.
I gasp. “I didn’t know we had those!”
He grins and opens the container, holding it out for me totake. I put my hand inside and grab two, humming with my first bite.
“I brought them with me,” Tully says. “Thought you might be missing them in your life.”
“So much,” I say around a mouthful. “You’re the best brother who ever lived.”
He grins. “What have I been telling you? How did it go with Milo?”
“He says he didn’t know. Not until right before we all showed up.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know. Maybe? I think so?” I groan. “Ugh. It just feels really far-fetched that he wouldn’t know. Bruce loves to one-up Dad and shame him. It’s hard to believe that once he knew about Ava, he wouldn’t at least try to rub it in Dad’s face that he’d had a baby with Mom.”
“Well, if it went down the way Dad alluded it did, Bruce probably wasn’t in any hurry for Ava to learn that he was an asshole. My guess is he saw someone eager to get back at us and capitalized on that.”
I sigh. And then jump when Camden, Dylan, and Noah all cram into my room. Kevin trots in and jumps on the bed.
“You guys okay?” Noah asks.
“Just trying to process this,” I say. “You?”
“Same,” Camden says.
“Where’s Dad?” Tully asks.
“Right here,” Dad says, coming into the room. “I’m so sorry, guys. I let you down. I wanted you to hear all of this from me.”
“How were you guys able to keep this a secret all this time?” Tully asks.
Dad shakes his head. “It wasn’t easy. Your mom nearly told you every year around Valentine’s Day…that’s when Ava was born. It weighed heavily on her. When she heard about these new DNA tests, she wanted to see if she could find her daughter, but she died before she was able to.”
“I think maybe I know where she kept the letters,” Dylan says. “That little chest she kept locked. I always wanted to know what was in there.”
“Me too!” I say.
