The Better Man (Chicago Sisters) (16 page)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

T
HERE
ARE
MOMENTS
in your life that seem surreal. Moments that make you believe that if you closed your eyes tight enough, they would simply unravel and be exposed as nothing more than a dream. Kendall had experienced a few of those in her lifetime. The last one being the day she found out Trevor was dead. Today, she watched as Max had one of those moments.

“Our son? Max.” Paul said his name the same way it sounded in Kendall’s head when she’d first met him. It took a minute for it to feel right.

Max’s mother stepped forward in her Dorothy costume. She had Max’s eyes, big and brown. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What in the world are
you
doing here?” Paul asked.

In Kendall’s mind, this made perfect sense and no sense at all. Max was Paul’s son. That was why he looked like Trevor. On the other hand, how was it possible? Paul and Nancy had been married for over thirty years when she died. He was also the most overinvolved parent she knew. If he had another son out there in the world, wouldn’t he be just as possessive?

“I guess Max knows your grandson. Is this your daughter?” Max’s mom nodded her head at Kendall.

“Daughter-in-law,” Kendall clarified for him.

Max’s mom smiled, the sad kind that didn’t reach her eyes. “You had a son. I always wondered.”

Kendall’s attention was drawn back to Max, whose blank stare was beginning to become worrisome. On the run back home, she was planning to strangle him for not calling her or answering her frantic calls while she stood outside his building, imagining the worst. Now she wanted to go to him, offer him some comfort. Whatever was going on here was blowing his mind, and not in a good way.

Paul moved in Max’s direction and that did the trick. Max took a step back, his eyes widening with alarm. Paul stopped. “You look exactly like your brother.”

“My brother?” Max scoffed. “Trevor wasn’t my brother and you...you are nothing to me.”

Sensing the increased tension, Kendall’s mother took Simon’s hand. “Why don’t we go inside and get you ready for trick-or-treating. Everyone with the last name Everhart should probably join us,” she said pointedly to Lucy and Emma who were watching this awkward family reunion with rapt interest.

As her family retreated into the house, Kendall sought some answers. “I don’t understand, Paul. Did you know Max existed?”

“This is none of your business, Kendall. Go inside with your family,” Paul snapped at her, earning him more of Max’s ire.

“Don’t you dare talk to her like that. Answer her question. Better yet,
Paul,
tell her how you cheated on your wife and got my mom pregnant. Tell her how you lied about who you were and not being ready to be a father, when apparently you did just fine being Trevor’s. Go on, tell her.”

Paul said nothing, shaking his head and wringing his hands.

“Your name isn’t Monty?” Max’s mother seemed baffled.

“His last name is Montgomery, Mom. He’s nothing but a liar. I don’t have time for this. Not now. Not ever.” With that, Max took off for the car.

Max’s mom didn’t move. She looked at Paul with new eyes. Her sad smile was gone. “I knew you were married,” she said. “We both made so many mistakes back then. But I believed you loved me. Was I wrong?”

Paul shook his head. “My life was never the same after I met you, Joanna. I’ve thought about you every day since.”

She reached up and touched his cheek. “In another life,” she said wistfully. His hand covered hers, holding it against his face.

Kendall had to look away from such a private moment. This was not the Paul she knew. Her father-in-law never showed much affection toward his wife unless Kendall counted Paul buying his wife things. He saved all his care and concern for Trevor. Now she wondered what part guilt had played in all the things Paul ever said and did with regards to his son.

Max had pulled the car out of its spot and honked the horn for his mom.

“He’s a good man, my Maxie. Give him some time. He doesn’t let people in very easily, but he wants to be loved, just like the rest of us.”

The words were meant for Paul, but Kendall felt them obliterate all of her defenses. She glanced up as Joanna walked away and Lucy came outside with Simon.

Joanna got in the car and Simon yelled, “Bye, Max!”

Max gave a wave but drove away as soon as his mom closed the car door.

“We’re going trick-or-treating. You coming, K?” Lucy asked.

Kendall nodded and touched Paul’s shoulder to get his attention. “We need to talk when I get back.”

Ever since Trevor’s passing, this man had made her doubt herself. He questioned her decisions and made her feel like the only one who ever stumbled through life. Truth was, he was far from perfect.

* * *

S
IMON
LOOKED
SO
adorable in his race-car costume. He had Lucy hold his bag so he could “drive” the car. He got enough candy to keep his sugar levels high for the next few days.

Candy wasn’t the first thing on Simon’s mind, however. He wanted to know why Grandpa said Max was his dad’s brother and why Max was so mad about it. In fact, he chattered on and on about it the entire time, oblivious to the other people around who might hear him talking.

Kendall had to tread carefully. She didn’t know how to explain this situation to a six-year-old. She tried to steer the conversation in another direction, but Simon kept returning to it.

“How come Max didn’t know Daddy if they were brothers?” he asked as they headed home.

“It’s complicated, Simon.”

“Do I have a brother?”

Kendall didn’t answer immediately. She looked over his head at Lucy, who narrowed her eyes as if to ask why she’d paused. “Not that I know of,” Kendall answered. Lucy’s right eyebrow quirked up.

“We’re going to talk about that answer later,” Lucy warned.

Simon’s questions rolled on. “If Max is Daddy’s brother, is he my brother?”

“I guess he’d be your uncle.” She hadn’t thought about that until he mentioned it. It really didn’t matter if Max acknowledged Paul as his father or not; he was Simon’s family. She couldn’t be sure how this connection would impact Max’s desire to be in Simon’s life. It changed everything for Kendall.

“I never had an uncle before!” Simon bounced excitedly.

“Uncles smell,” Lucy deadpanned.

“Smell like what?” Simon asked innocently.

“Never mind.” Kendall ruffled his hair. “Don’t listen to Aunt Lucy.”

Without missing a beat, Simon changed the subject back. “Now you have to let me be friends with Max, Mommy. He’s my uncle.”

She couldn’t argue with that. Family was one thing Kendall would never keep from Simon.

Back at home, Paul was noticeably missing. Emma informed them he left but promised to talk to Kendall soon.
Coward,
Kendall thought. Apparently he wasn’t going to give her any answers tonight.

The family ate dinner and avoided all conversation about what had happened until Simon was in bed. Kendall’s dad offered to tuck his grandson in so the women could start their discussion in the kitchen while they cleaned up.

“At least that explains why he looks so much like Trevor,” Emma said to get things rolling.

“I feel bad Max had to find out that way. The poor man looked like he was coming undone.” Maureen handed Kendall a dry dish to put away.

“I was more worried about Paul,” Emma said, her hands deep in the soapy dishwater. “I thought I was going to have to give him CPR when he heard that woman say, ‘our son.’”

Lucy didn’t say anything as she leaned against the counter on the other side of Emma; she just eyed Kendall. Her gaze made Kendall’s face warm and her stomach uneasy. She could tell her older sister was waiting to see if she would talk or would need to be confronted. She didn’t want Lucy to confront her, nor did she want to open any more cans of worms tonight.

“I wonder how many affairs he had. You know it had to be more than one,” Emma continued. “His wife always seemed so cold to me. I bet that’s why he cheated. Men will go looking for affection when they don’t get it at home.”

“Is that what you think?” Kendall’s temper suddenly flared. “His cheating was somehow Nancy’s fault? If he had issues in his marriage, he should have been man enough to say something before he cheated.”

“You sound like someone who’s speaking from experience,” Lucy said like a challenge.

Maureen and Emma’s eyes shifted from Lucy to Kendall and back again. “Why would you say that?” their mother asked.

“I don’t know.” Lucy pushed off the counter she was leaning against. “I just get a feeling that Kendall has been keeping something from all of us for a long time now. Something that’s been eating her up inside, but that she’s been too afraid to bring up because it’s about Trevor. Trevor’s dead, K. What are you so afraid of?”

She wasn’t afraid. It simply didn’t seem right to speak ill of the dead. Plus, the truth made her feel like a failure.

“What are you talking about? What is she talking about?” Maureen asked her daughters.

Kendall shut her eyes and pressed the heels of her hands over them to keep from crying. She’d cried too many tears over this. She dropped her hands and focused on the concerned and confused faces of her mom and sisters.

“I guess you can say Trevor and his father had more in common than we knew.”

“What does that mean?” her mom asked. Lucy nodded like she’d known it all along. Emma’s eyes bulged from her head.

“He was cheating on you?” Emma asked, shaking her hands off and casting around for a towel.

Kendall sat down at the kitchen table. She’d held on to this secret for so long she didn’t know where to begin telling it. “When he came back from Afghanistan after the second tour, I could tell something was different. I chalked it up to him being at war. He’d had a hard time adjusting after his first deployment, but after a couple of months, he went back to normal. But this time, it didn’t get better, it got worse. He would start fights with me for no reason. He’d pick on every little thing I did wrong. He was just plain mean.”

Her sisters and mother joined her at the table. Her mom took hold of Kendall’s hand. “I had no idea.”

“I didn’t want anyone to know, Mom. I mean, it was embarrassing. I felt like it was my fault. Then he told me he was going back, he
had
to go back.” Kendall remembered that day so clearly. She’d actually been relieved. “Part of me wanted him to go, but Simon was so happy to have his dad around, I begged him not to. That’s when he told me he wasn’t in love with me anymore.”

“Did he tell you there was someone else?” Emma asked.

“No, he didn’t mention anyone else, so I thought I could fix things. I thought maybe if he went away and we had a little space, we could work on things when he came back. He didn’t come back, though.”

“So how do you know he was cheating?” Emma pressed.

“She came to the funeral, didn’t she?” Lucy was always more perceptive than anyone other than Kendall gave her credit for.

Kendall nodded, unable to answer with words.

“What? How do you know this?” Emma asked Lucy. “How do I not know this?”

“She was the only other woman crying her eyes out. I saw her approach Kendall. I also noticed when Kendall ran after her and pulled her aside for a private chat.”

“She worked with him as a translator,” Kendall said. “I knew the moment she offered her condolences and told me all the amazing things she was going to miss about him that she was the reason he didn’t love me anymore.” Kendall shook her head. “I confronted her like a fool. I shouldn’t have. She didn’t come to cause drama. She came to say goodbye to someone she loved. But I had to know if I was right. And I was.”

“Kendall Marie, how could you keep all this from us?” Her mother’s arms folded around her. Now that Kendall knew how good telling the truth felt, she, too, questioned why she hadn’t done it sooner.

“Oh, my gosh, what do you do when you want to kill someone who’s already dead?” Emma asked, holding her head in her hands.

“This is why I am never getting married,” Lucy said, causing her mother to sigh.

“Can you two keep the focus where it belongs?” their mother scolded. She placed her hands on Kendall’s shoulders and looked her in the eye. “Do you have any idea how hard it was for me, as your mother, to call you up and tell you I needed your help when I got sick? The last thing I ever wanted to do was burden you girls. But I did it because I needed you. You came home and you held my hand and sat through treatments with me. You were there for Lucy, too. She needed all of us when she got sick. And should things ever not go as planned for Emma, I know you’ll be there for her. That’s what our family does. Don’t deny us the chance to do the same for you. No matter what it is that knocks you down, we’ll be there to pick you up and dust you off.”

Deep down, Kendall had always known that. She wouldn’t forget again.

“I don’t want to interrupt mother-daughter bonding, but there’s a little boy who wants his mom to give him one more kiss good-night,” her dad said, returning from bedtime duty.

Kendall gave her mom a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered before going upstairs.

She found Simon in his bed, buried under every blanket they owned. Her father had even pulled out the baby blankets from his closet.

“Did you tell Papa you were cold?”

He giggled and nodded. Kendall smiled at her own memory of being tucked in by her dad when she was little. He’d ask if she was cold and she’d say yes just so he’d go hunting for another blanket. It was a game they’d play until she was covered in dozens of quilts, blankets and even oversized beach towels from the linen closet.

She kissed Simon’s forehead, the only part of him uncovered. He’d scared her half to death today. She needed him as much as he needed her. They were going to have a very long talk in the morning about not leaving the house without permission. Right now, she was going to enjoy this moment and focus on how Simon spent the evening talking and playing as if his selective mutism didn’t exist.