Page 28 of Here With You

Em stood. “I’ll leave you so you can have family time.”

She turned away, but Miles wasn’t letting her go so easily. He grasped her wrist. “Oh, no, you don’t. This whole situation includes you. This whole mess is because of you.”

“Me?” Her jaw dropped. “I’m not the one who dropped the bomb. You were a one-man laser-guided missile.”

“Sit.” May’s voice was weak but stern.

“Yes, ma’am.” She did as she was told because that’s how she was raised.

“Good,” Miles said. “Because there’s a lot of air clearing that needs to be done between you and me.”

“That’s private.”

He chuckled. “Nothing in this town is private. We both know that.”

“A lady doesn’t air her dirty laundry in public.”

“Are we talking about the same lady who stared at my—”

“Don’t say it.”

Miles loved getting under Emmaline’s skin. When she was angry, she was fun, and by the look on her face, things were about to get exciting.

“What was she staring at?” Cormac asked.

Tilly arrived at the table. “Hello, y’all. Since this is a special family reunion dinner, I’ll be your server today. The special is steak Oscar, and the day’s veggie is zucchini because it’s Em’s favorite.”

“It’s not,” Em said.

Tilly gave her a questioning look. “No? Weren’t you just admiring the zucchini?”

Miles looked between them and knew something was up.

Emmaline opened and closed her mouth several times before her shoulders rolled forward. “I was.”

Tilly cleared her throat before continuing with her recommended choices. They all ordered the steak Oscar. Who could pass up a tender filet covered in crab meat and creamy white sauce? Emmaline passed on the meal since she’d already eaten or said she had.

Tilly left, and Cormac took his knife and tapped his water glass to grab everyone’s attention. “Since I brought Grandma, and I seem to be the one taking the brunt of the punishment for being the middleman, I get to speak first.” He picked up his glass. “My dad’s furious that Uncle Miles is back and has threatened to kick me off the ranch. Someone has to offer me a bed if he does.”

May sighed. “It’s all my fault. I should have asserted myself years ago, but I grew up in a time where what the husband says goes, so I defaulted to his idiotic sense of justice. If we are having a round of confessions, I’ll start. I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to stand up to your father. He was a mean cuss, and I was afraid to speak my mind. Because of that, I’ve lost decades with my child, and now I’m on borrowed time, and I realize how stupid I was.”

Miles took his mom’s hand in his. “It’s been said that hindsight is 20/20. If we’re confessing, I could have come back five years ago when Dad died, and Cormac looked me up to tell me, but I was bitter and didn’t want to deal with it. I figured I didn’t owe anything to the people who’d turned their backs on me.” He stared directly at Emmaline when he said the words because he got why his parents were furious at him. He’d destroyed their livelihood by telling the truth. But she had wounded him to his marrow with her abandonment. “Now that I’m back, I realize everyone has a different truth, and you aren’t wrong in defending yours. We only know what we know, but when we know better, we can do better. I left my job and came back here to make things right. I’m not proud of being the son who ruined his family’s life and legacy or the fiancé who destroyed the love of his life’s future. If there’s a way I can make things better, then tell me.” This was no longer about money but character. A person could be richer than Midas, but none of the money mattered if he was a bad person. He planned to redeem his character in the eyes of those who counted, and then he could use his money for good.

All eyes went to Emmaline, who seemed to shrink under their stares. “I will admit to being young, naïve, and fearful of stepping out of my comfort zone.” She looked at him. “We had our lives all planned, and our plans got trampled.” She sat silently for a moment as if collecting her thoughts. “We were supposed to open a dude ranch where we could use our talents.” She pointed to him. “I could have managed the lodging, and you could have run the ranch. That’s what you always wanted, but you weren’t considered an asset as the second son.” She turned to May. “No disrespect, but you treated your sons like Darryl was the heir and Miles was the spare. Do you have any idea how hurtful that is?”

“It’s just how it goes. The pressure always falls on the firstborn.”

Emmaline shook her head so hard that Miles wondered if she’d need to be seen for a concussion. “Not true. I know this because I suffered the same. Tilly made me see the truth of my life today. I was also the spare. It was my sister who was raised to inherit the resort. I was raised to be her helper. All my life, that pressure to prove myself worthy of a first glance is what motivated me. It also drove me insane. On the outside, I look like a strong and capable woman, but inside I know exactly what I am because it’s what everyone has told me my entire life. I’m second rate because I was never their first choice.”

Miles’s gut twisted. He sat there and replayed her words in his head. He’d never been able to verbalize how he felt, but that was it. He always felt second-rate, and when they tossed him out like he was trash, it confirmed those feelings. He was expendable, whereas Darryl was needed.

Cormac grinned. “That was awesome. Do you feel better?”

“I feel lighter,” Miles said. Carrying that around was a heavy burden to bear for years.

“I feel guilty,” May said. “There isn’t enough time to make up for the hurt I’ve caused.”

Miles squeezed her hand. “Mom, you being here is all I need. To know that you love me and wanted me back is enough.”

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