“I don’t even know where to begin.” Kade rubbed his hands roughly over his face. “It’s really fucked up, Mitch. I shouldn’t come and lay it at your door, but I don’t know what else to do.”
Mitch put a hand on Kade’s shoulder. “You couldn’t be more a part of my family if you’d come out of Hazel. Whatever is going on, we’re here for you, mate.”
Movement at the bar caught Kade’s attention. Annie. Even dressed in a dark blue pantsuit and white shirt, he recognized her instantly. How long had it been since he’d last seen her? A year? Two? How had that happened? Her long brown hair was neatly contained in a braid. When she turned, her blue eyes widened then narrowed. Her face didn’t light with the welcoming warmth he’d expected, and he tried to remember their last conversation . . . but couldn’t. There’d been no fight. Nothing worth committing to memory. Their friendship had been solid until he’d moved away.
Kade stood and met her halfway. “Annie.” He was about to hug her, but she put out her hand for a shake.
“Kade. Good to see you,” she said in a formal tone.
“Is it?” His hand closed over hers, and he held on rather than immediately releasing it. “You don’t look happy to see me.”
Seeing Kade again hit Annie like a sucker punch to the kidney. Their paths hadn’t crossed in years, because she had carefully arranged to be absent whenever he’d come to town. It hadn’t been difficult, as the holiday seasons were busy tourist times for both of them. His trips home had been brief and easy enough to avoid.
God, he looked good—better with every year that had passed, and considering he’d been the most lusted-after hottie in high school, that said something. Part of her wanted to throw her arms around him, as she would have when they were younger, and announce without caring who heard that she’d missed him.
It wasn’t his fault she’d fallen for him in second grade when she’d spilled her milk on her sandwich and he’d given her his. Ridiculous as it seemed now, she’d decided right then and there that she would marry him someday.
Early puppy love became painful adolescent longing during her teen years. It didn’t help that she also loved him as a friend. He fit in with Harrison and her like the missing piece to a puzzle. They learned to swim together, camped out with and without their parents, scaled and paraglided down mountainsides shoulder to shoulder. It was one wild adventure after another when they were together. Annie had loved it but it was embarrassing to calculate how much was simply because she was with him. She wondered if he knew the reason she’d originally learned to fly a helicopter was because in her innocent young delusions she’d imagined it would be the perfect skill for a wife of his to have. Who better to rescue him or one of his clients from a mountaintop accident than the woman who loved him?
Even when they’d separated for university, she’d told herself it would be good for them. They’d grow, have time to miss each other, and he’d sweep into town with a diamond ring and the realization that he couldn’t live without her.
He’d come home after he graduated, but not to propose to her. Instead, he’d excitedly shared his plans of expanding his father’s tour company in another town—without her. He’d been young, enthusiastic, and determined to earn enough to provide for his parents when they were older. Hard to hate a man like that. Even harder to love him and watch him walk away.
For a long time, she’d believed he would come back for her. Every time he’d returned and not asked her to go with him had shredded another piece of her heart. On her twenty-fifth birthday, she’d gotten drunk and handed her virginity to a man she’d met via the small helicopter charter company she’d started. He not only ended up confessing later that he was married, but he’d felt so guilty about being her first that he stuck around to talk the next morning. Before she knew it, she’d spilled the story of unrequited love to him. There weren’t many more humiliating moments than having that man tell her she was wrong about Kade.
“Don’t waste your best years on a man who doesn’t love you,” he’d warned. She could have called his wife and passed on the same advice, but he’d shown Annie photos of her and their children. They’d all looked so happy. Annie lectured him instead, first about not wearing his wedding band and then for not honoring someone he claimed to love. Neither of them enjoyed the conversation much or had the ability to understand the other person’s choices.
Her married mistake was still married two years later when she ran into him in Melbourne. When he asked if she was still waiting for the man she’d been obsessed with, she’d realized she was. Sure, she’d dated other men, even slept with a couple of them, but none had become anything serious.
None would as long as her heart belonged to Kade Thompson.
After that frightening discovery Annie decided to close him out. She poured herself into her business and put away every photo she had of him. His became the name she asked her family and friends not to utter. They understood.
Some things were not meant to be, no matter how much a person craved them. She shook off her childish idealism about what love was, and focused on appreciating what she did have: a flourishing business, good friends, and a family she adored. Life was good. Damn good. She had enough clients that she often directed the overflow to a flight school in Melbourne. In turn, several of their pilots came to work for her when they finished their training.
Although love hadn’t come, she had dated a man from the city for over a year. Things with him had been easy and comfortable, but never great. When disagreements stopped leading to make-up sex, they mutually agreed it was over. Although memories of him sometimes brought a sad smile to Annie’s lips, she didn’t actually miss him.
A year of sleeping with him hadn’t affected Annie as deeply as one handshake from Kade. He expected her to be happy to see him? Her heart ached for him. Couldn’t he feel that? Every wall she’d built around her heart was in danger of crashing down, and he had no clue. If she let him, he had the power to break her heart again without ever knowing he did. No, she wasn’t happy to see him.
She forced a smile as she tried to pry her hand out of his. “Sorry. It’s been a long day. I just got back from dropping someone in Melbourne.”
“Good, I thought it was me.” He let her hand go. Relief flooded in. Then, whoosh, her whole world went upside down again when he pulled her to his chest for a hug. “I know I’ve been wrapped up in my life for too long, but it’s so good to see you.”
The ability to breathe left Annie as she stood in shocked stillness in his embrace.
“God, I needed this,” he said into her hair. “I need you, Annie.”
Annie closed her eyes and hugged him tight for a moment, blinking back tears as she did. She’d waited for him to come home and say those very words, but something told her he wasn’t voicing them for the reason she’d craved. Be smarter this time, Annie. Be strong. She slowly pushed out of his arms.
But then concern for herself fell away when she saw the pain in his eyes. “What happened, Kade?”
He shook his head. “Harrison and your dad asked me to stay for dinner. Mind if I tell you then?”
“Of course.” Annie’s family had always adored Kade, just as his family had always fawned over Annie. It made sense he would turn to them for help. She took a deep breath and told herself if their roles were reversed he wouldn’t turn her away. He might not love her, but he was a good man and had always been a good friend.
Her father called to them, so Annie walked with Kade to where he was seated with a fresh round of beers. She could have reminded her father she drank Chardonnay now, but she didn’t. “Your mum is on her way here, then we’ll all head back to the house. What do you say, Annie? You can change out of your uniform there.”
Annie took a seat and downed half her beer. “Sounds great.”
Kade sat beside her and raised his glass. “To good friends.”
Annie and her father clinked their glasses with Kade’s, which was when she took a closer look at her old friend. There were dark
circles beneath Kade’s eyes as if he hadn’t slept the night before. What on earth had happened?
Her second guzzle of beer did nothing to alleviate the nervous churning of her stomach, especially when Kade met her gaze and winked. Her chest fluttered as it always had when he gave her that lopsided smile of his. He was genuinely happy to see her again. She finished her beer and groaned. Her torture was just beginning.
Chapter Three
‡
A couple hours later, seated at the Martin dinner table, Kade held a pan of lasagna for Annie to take some from before he served himself. She was quieter than he remembered, but perhaps that came with age. Thirty. How did that happen so fast?
As he watched her hold the pan for her brother, he was saddened by how much time had passed since he’d seen her last. He shouldn’t have accepted she was working late or out of town. With all the technology available, how had they drifted so far apart? He should have made the effort to keep up on her life—on all of their lives.
It had taken his father’s heart attack for Kade to see his time with his parents might be limited. He’d built up their touring company because he wanted to be in the financial position to make their later years comfortable, and it had shaken him to realize he might not have those years. When his father had said he was ready to retire, Kade had thought his biggest decision would be whether to continue to focus his attention on his touring company expansion too or come back and maintain their base.
None of that felt important now.
My parents.
No matter what he’d learned recently, no matter what he learned tomorrow—Pamela and Dave were his parents. But so were the two strangers in flight to meet him now. God, this is surreal.
He placed his utensils beside his plate without touching his food. A silence fell over the group as they seemed to sense he was ready to share what he’d come for. “Thank you for this. I received some news yesterday, and I’m trying to come to terms with it. There is no one outside this room I trust with this information. If it ever got out, it could prove to be dangerous for my parents.”
Mitch put his utensils on his plate. “It won’t go beyond these walls, Kade.”
“I know that.” Kade took a deep breath. “Yesterday I found out I was adopted. Well, it’s more complicated than that, but what I know is that my birth family has been looking for me for thirty years.” He swallowed hard. “And they’ll be here tomorrow.”
Harrison leaned in. “So, did your birth parents give you up and change their minds?”
“No.” He ran his hand through his hair. “There’s no easy way to say this so I’m just going to put it out there. My biological parents were on vacation in Aruba and were told I died at birth.”
“No.” Hazel’s hands went to her heart. Her deep chestnut hair was cut in a bob that swung as she looked back and forth around the table as if trying to gauge if Kade could somehow be joking. “That’s horrible.”
Annie watched Kade without speaking. He’d known her long enough to know exactly what was going on behind those calm blue eyes of her. Annie wasn’t the type to blurt out whatever she was thinking. She took information in, mulled it over, then shared it only after she’d carefully thought the subject through. He’d once jokingly asked her if she had an opinion on anything. She’d smiled and assured him she did, but censoring it for public consumption took time. Then she’d let him have it.
“Hang on,” Harrison said. “Do you know anything about these people who say they’re your parents? Weren’t you on a cover of a magazine last year? How do we know they didn’t see it and decide you’re doing well enough that they want a piece of it?”
“I doubt they’re after my money.” Kade took out his phone and pulled up one of the stories he’d found about the Barringtons at a charity event in Boston. Shaking his head, he handed the phone to Harrison who whistled as he read.
“Holy shit. One of the richest families in the US? Seriously?” He looked at Mitch. “Dad, tell me I was adopted too.”
“Idiot,” Annie said softly and took the phone from Harrison. She studied the photo and read the article below it before swiping to more of the pages he’d found on them and reading those as well. “You certainly look like them.”
Mitch waved a hand toward the phone. “Have you spoken to any of them yet?”
Kade nodded. “Earlier today I met a man who says he’s my brother. He and his fiancée located me through my mother. Mum’s been upset since they arrived. Dad says he’s fine, but he just found out Mum lied to him about me being hers.” He fisted his hands on the table. “My parents are scared.”
Annie asked, “How do you feel?”
Shaking his head, Kade said, “I don’t know. Angry mostly. I couldn’t have asked for a better childhood. My parents are good people. I don’t know what these Barringtons want from me, but I know what I want from them. They need to stay the hell away from my parents.”
Hazel looked on with compassion. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but help us understand this. Why was your biological mother told you were dead? Why would anyone do that?”
A shudder shook through him as he remembered numbly asking his mother the same thing. Her answer had only confused him more.
Annie’s hand closed around one of his fists. “Tell us when you’re ready to,” Annie said gently.
He placed his other hand over hers. “It won’t make much sense unless I share it all. Back in Aruba, my mother’s brother somehow got involved in snatching me from the hospital. They replaced me with a stillborn baby who was also born that day.” He kept his eyes on Annie’s hand, absentmindedly lacing his fingers through hers. “Mum said her brother was told to kill me, but he couldn’t, so he took me to her. He told her there was a price on my head, and if he didn’t return she should run. He didn’t come back. He was killed along with anyone who might have known I was alive. My mum didn’t know who to turn to. She thought I might be the child of a criminal or a gang. All she was sure of was I would be in danger if anyone found me. So she ran to someone she knew would take her in—my father. They’d broken up, but she knew he’d take her back. She lied and told him I was hers, a product of a relationship with an abusive man. He adopted me, or thought he did, but there’s no likelihood of that being legal, and we moved to Bright.” He sighed. “And here we are.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment. Annie said, “That’s a lot to take in all at once.”
He gave her hand a squeeze and held her gaze. “There’s more. The Barringtons arrive tomorrow. The parents, the siblings, their children.”
Hazel took a sip of her water then said, “It all seems so far-fetched. I believe you, but it doesn’t feel like it could possibly be true. I always thought it was strange that Pamela wouldn’t talk about her family in Aruba, but this? No.”
Mitch sat back, folded his arms across his chest, and took a moment to soak in what Kade had shared. “What do they want?”
Kade shrugged. “I hope just to get to know me. They seem excited to have found me. One even wants to marry his fiancée while they’re here. It’s too fucking much.”
“Who’s planning a wedding?” Hazel asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
“My brother’s fiancée is pregnant, and they said they’d take advantage of everyone being here.”
“What do you need from us?” Annie asked, and Kade was tempted to pull her into his arms and hug her for being the rock he’d known she would be.
He looked around the table instead and saw similar concerned expressions on the faces of her parents and brother then directed his request to all of them. “What the fuck am I supposed to do? I don’t know these people. I wanted to tell them not to come, but Grant told me his mother—”
“Your mother too,” Hazel clarified gently.
“My biological mother. I feel sorry for her, because she never accepted that I was gone. She and my twin have believed I was alive for thirty years.”
“You have a twin?” Harrison
interjected. “Damn, I want a twin.”
“Harry, stop,” his father admonished quietly.
Kade didn’t mind. Harrison’s humor was actually a welcome reprieve. If all was taken seriously, it was a bloody mindfuck. “Not an identical twin. Kenzi is a girl—a woman.”
“Kade.” Annie shook his hand to regain his attention. “When we were little you used to have a reoccurring dream about having a sister. Do you remember? We used to joke you were jealous that Harrison had me.”
Kade raised a hand to his mouth as flashes from those dreams came back to him. “I did. I forgot about that.”
“Now she has a name: Kenzi. You finally have a sister.” Annie said it as if it were not batshit crazy beyond comprehending. For a moment he was lost in her eyes, in her calm acceptance of the situation. He’d forgotten how good it felt to simply be with her. She handed him his phone. “If you ever wanted more family, you hit the motherlode. Five brothers. Asher, Grant, Ian, Andrew and Lance.” She smiled at Harrison. “I thought one was bad enough.”
Harrison tossed a piece of bread at her. “Very funny.”
Mitch cleared his throat. “Was Kade the name you were born with?”
Kade tore his gaze from Annie and shook his head. “No. Kent. My brother warned me they might keep accidentally calling me that name. I’m not looking forward to tomorrow. This is all new to me, but the Barringtons have both looked for me and mourned for me for thirty years. Asking for more time seems cruel.”
Annie’s voice was calm and full of empathy. “I can’t even imagine what you must be going through.”
“It doesn’t feel real yet.” Gratitude filled Kade as he met her eyes again. He’d been an absent friend for long enough that he didn’t deserve the compassion she and her family were showing him, but he would make sure he did better from this point on. Some people came into a person’s life for a season, and others were meant to be part of the whole journey. He couldn’t imagine his life without the Martins in it. “I don’t know how to handle tomorrow. Will the Barringtons be grateful my mother kept me safe or hate her for hiding me?”
Forever Now (The Barrington Billionaires Book 6) Page 2
