Summer Secrets - Barbara Freethy [44]
Tyler's chest tightened at the thought of Mark waiting on the porch for him, hoping to play catch or throw a football or follow his big brother around. With their dad gone and their mother interested in dating, Mark had only had him. And, that day, Tyler hadn't come home to take care of his younger brother. Damn.
"Oh, my God," Kate breathed. "That's awful."
He hated her look of pity. Hated himself even more for sharing something with her that he hadn't shared with anyone else. He didn't know why he had told her. He could have told her anything. She wouldn't have known if it was the truth or not.
"Your mother must have tried to find you," Kate said. "Where did you and your dad go?"
"All over the country." Endless motel rooms, dive apartments, cities that looked the same. "It took me awhile to figure out that we were hiding. My father had these letters, you see, from my mom and my brother. They told me how much they loved me and how someday we'd be together, but for now it was better if we were apart. I stupidly believed the letters were genuine. And more letters and postcards followed those, including a note that told me they had moved to a new house. There was even a goddamn description of the new house. I was completely taken in."
"Oh, Tyler. How could you have known? Your father sounds like he was very clever. And you were just a kid. How could you not believe him?"
"By being smarter. I should have found a way to call home. In the beginning I was angry. I didn't want to call. If they didn't want me, then I didn't want them. But I started to waver with time, started to talk about a visit. That's when my dad pulled out his ace."
"What was that?"
"He told me there was a fire. The house was gone. My mother and brother were killed. We only had each other. And you know what else he did? He made up an obituary. That's how sick and twisted he was. And I bought it," he said in self-disgust. "I was an idiot. I look back now and see that I had countless opportunities to figure things out." He doubted he'd ever be able to forgive himself for being so trusting. "At any rate, by the time my mom caught up with us, six years had passed. I was eighteen years old. I didn't need a mother anymore, and even though she was happy to see me, she didn't really need another kid. She'd gotten remarried. My brother had been officially adopted by his stepfather. My mother had another child, a girl. Life had moved on for all of us."
"That's a terrible story." She gave him a searching look. "You're not lying, are you?"
"I'm telling you the truth."
"About this."
"About this," he agreed.
Kate sat back in her chair. "Well, I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything. I only told you because I know what it's like to live with a father who's willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants."
"My dad looks like a saint in comparison."
"It's all in the perspective, isn't it?"
"Where is your mother today?"
"Dallas."
"And your father?"
"He died a couple years ago." Tyler picked up his coffee cup, regretting his confession. "I wonder what they put in this coffee. I don't usually spill my guts like that."
"It's truth serum. That's why I brought you here."
He appreciated the light tease in her voice. She was letting him off the hook instead of going after him when he was down. She wouldn't make a very good reporter, but she might just make a good friend. Not that they were going to be friends, he reminded himself. That wasn't possible.
"It's interesting to me that you picked a career that would take you on the road," she said. "Seems like you would have wanted to settle in one place, put down roots, reconnect with your family, your mother and your brother."
"Is that what you wanted?" he asked, countering her question with one of his own. "Did those years at sea make you yearn for the hard ground under your feet?"
"Absolutely. When I first got back, I'd lie in my bed at night and feel the boat rocking beneath me. It took weeks to