Easy to Love You (18 page)

Brittany stood; hand cupped over her nose and mouth, blood dripping down her chin and through her fingers. She didn’t say a word; she just looked in Jason’s direction and then took off running the opposite way from where we’d come in, with Jason close on her heels.

“Mase, we have to tell Kenz. I can’t keep this shit a secret anymore; she needs to know all of it.” She shook her right hand, the one she’d punched Brittany with. “I know you guys want to protect her from all this crazy stuff but you can’t, she has to know.”

I looked around, for the first time noticing a crowd that had gathered around us, watching the scene that had just unfolded. I grabbed Hailey by the elbow and guided her back toward the car. We saw Jackson coming toward us down the hallway.

“I pulled the car around; I’m going to get Hunter and Kenz.” He said as he ran past us.

Right before I opened the doors I stopped Hailey, lifted her chin and stared into her eyes. “Just give me a little more time. I think she needs to know too, but Hunter needs to know about Brittany first.” I kissed her hard, knowing this was probably the last time for a while. She’s been pissed at me since she’d found out that my dad was an FBI agent and we’d never told MacKenzie. Then she’d been even more pissed off and distant when she’d overheard a conversation with my dad about Hunter having a sister he’d never known about.

This situation was just getting more and more out of control, but it wasn’t my place to say anything to MacKenzie, it was Hunter’s. I made a promise to myself that I’d talk to Hunter alone and tell him about Brittany, but first I needed to talk to my dad. It was time for MacKenzie to find out that he was FBI. That blow alone was going to tear her apart, and I’m not sure she’d be able to handle the situation with Hunter, let alone Brittany. Why couldn’t things be easy, like they used to be when we were kids?

While it bothered the shit out of me to keep a secret from MacKenzie, I understood why my dad had done it. We believed she was strong enough to handle it, but he wanted MacKenzie to grow up in a safe world; a world where fairy tales really do come true. What a fucking joke that was. This world can be fucking cruel at times. My relationship with Hailey, or lack thereof lately, was a fucking disaster. Drama that had nothing to do with Hailey was affecting us. There were times I just wanted to pack up all my shit and hit the road, just the two of us, and not stop until we were across the country. I knew I could easily do that with my baseball career but I knew Hailey would hate it. Was that being selfish? Yeah it was.

Once all this shit blows over and we survive it, I’m making her mine. I’m not letting her push me away again. She gets under my skin like no one else could, and loved me with everything she has. Every day with her is like a rollercoaster and I never want to get off.

CC and I drove to her mom’s with Mason and Hailey while Jaylinn, Cooper, Chloe and Jackson took Mason’s car. When we arrived, I got CC in the house and Mason asked to talk to me outside. We got about halfway down the driveway when Andrew, Jackson and Cooper came out the front door. Cooper had his glove, Jackson had two gloves and a ball and Andrew had another two gloves.

“Baseball, boys.” Andrew announced when they caught up with us.

Mason spoke up when we were out of the house, “I think we need to tell Kenz. After that shit at the mall today,” he shook his head, “she needs to know.”

“Agreed.” Jackson said.

“Yeah it’s about time. Jaylinn’s freaked out about running into her dad like that.” Cooper chimed in. I noticed that she was hanging onto Cooper, always by his side.

“Hang on a second. What happened at the mall?” Andrew asked.

“Jason showed up. Yeah, that was a close call today. I don’t know if Jason knows about my relationship with CC, but if he’s living here or whatever now, I have to tell her. I don’t want her to find out from anyone but me.”

Mason and his dad shared a look, “Hunter there’s something else you need to know, son.” Andrew didn’t speak for a long moment, “Your father has another daughter.”

I had to process that, my dickbag of a dad had fathered another child but couldn’t be a father to the two he already had? Damn, that poor girl has to be messed up. While I’m glad that Mom got Jaylinn and me out of the situation we were in, a part of me always wished I’d had a father in my life. What normal boy growing up doesn’t want his dad to play catch in the backyard or watch football together on Sundays? I’d never gotten those things, and it fucking stings to know that he’d had a daughter in his life.

Before I could say anything Andrew continued, “He’s moved into the area, about forty minutes from here.” We all stopped walking, “And so has his daughter.”
He’s living here? Out of all the places in the world why would he pick New Jersey?

Then something clicked. According to what Dominic said, Brittany had just moved here a little while ago. “It’s Brittany.” I stated.
Oh shit!
Holy shit, Brittany was my half-sister? No, no fucking way!

“I’m afraid so. I’ve known for a while that Jason had another daughter. Now, knowing who it is and what everyone thinks she did, it’s time that everyone knows.” He looked off into the distance, “I made your mom a promise, years ago, that I’d always look out for your family and I’ve kept that promise. I’ve kept tabs on your dad all this time. He’s been staying out of trouble since that last time things went down. I believe he was cheating on your mom though, since Brittany is a year younger than Jaylinn.” I wondered if Mom knew about this. “Brittany’s mom passed away from breast cancer when she was three and it’s just been the two of them ever since. I knew that he’d lived in Virginia but didn’t realize that Brittany was going to school with you and MacKenzie.” He looked disgusted, “I didn’t see a need to keep an eye on her too,” he huffed, “guess I was wrong.” I could see the disappointment on Andrew’s face; he was probably feeling awful that he hadn’t been more thorough in his investigation.

Fuck! This is a lot to process.
I kicked a rock that was by my feet and walked to where it landed and did it again and again until the sidewalk stopped at the end of the block. The guys were hanging back a few feet. I continued, walking the same path to the ball field that I’d made hundreds of times, and mentally checked out.

So not only was my piece of shit dad around, but I had a half-sister as well and she’s bat shit crazy. This bitch tried to run my fiancé, my son, my whole world, off the road and then left them there to die. Did Mom know about Brittany? She couldn’t have; she would have told me, surely. How would I ever explain this to CC? She’d never forgive Brittany for what she’d done. Would I ever be able to forgive her? After all, it was her nephew that she’d almost killed. Did she even know about Jaylinn and me? Was this all part of a plan to hurt my family again?

CC and I never discussed the accident. I’d known who hit CC the second the detectives gave the car description. She talked to the detective a few days after she’d gotten home, but after she told him what happened and that she didn’t know who it was, that was the end of it. She’d never brought it up and it was a chapter in our book that I wanted in the past. I knew that in the end, Brittany would get what was coming to her. I knew, just by protocol, that I wasn’t allowed to be involved in the case. It’s a matter that involved my family and it affected me personally, I’d put my feelings before the law. Because of that, and everything that had happened, I was ordered to take time off due to the Family Medical Leave Act, for at least six weeks. This actually worked out well for me, there’s no way that CC could manage herself, let alone a newborn — she needed care twenty-four hours a day. Plus, with everything going on it was exactly what I needed. I also knew it was their way of making sure I stayed out of the investigation and let the law do its job.

I had too many questions that remained unanswered; and there were only two people that had those answers. I made my decision, it might not be the best one, but it was the best one for now.

I stopped walking and turned to face the guys, “I can’t tell her yet. I need a little more time.”

Mason cursed under his breath, Jackson sighed loudly and Cooper hung his head. I knew this was going to be hardest on Mason. Hailey knew about everything and was putting the pressure on him to tell CC. I couldn’t blame her, they were best friends.

Andrew walked over and placed his hand on my shoulder, “Your family and mine will all stand behind you,” He gave my shoulder a squeeze, “but I need to talk to MacKenzie. I’ve kept my involvement in the FBI from her for long enough.”

And that was the start of the can of worms. In a matter of time CC would know everything that everyone she loved had been trying to protect her from. My only fear was that she wasn’t going to handle being betrayed by her family, all of her family, very well. She’s strong, confident and has the patience of a saint, especially when dealing with her brothers, but there is only so much one person can take.

When the boys got back from playing baseball at the field behind our house, all of their moods were shitty. I was sitting at the kitchen table feeding Ryder his bottle when they walked in, Hunter came over and ran his fingers over Ryder’s face and his eyes fluttered closed.

“You have the magic touch, you know that?” I was amazed. Every time Hunter did that to Ryder he’d have him asleep in no time at all.

He winked at me, “It only works if you’re holding him though.”

Hmm, I’d never thought about it that way. He was right though, most of the time we were cuddled with Ryder. I’d tried a few times when Hunter was sleeping or ran out to the store but he never fell asleep for me.

“I’m going to go wash up.” He kissed my head, letting his lips linger a little longer than normal.

Since we’d gotten back from the mall, the girls and I had been talking about the wedding. Mom kept trying to get the date out of me but I’d told her she had to wait for Hunter to get back. We were talking about different venues. After I’d told them I wanted a Winter Wonderland wedding, everyone started voicing their ideas about what this should look like and how that should look. The girls wanted to go out and see what kind of dresses would look good for the theme; I told them I wanted to wait until my casts were off so I could enjoy it properly. They agreed and we set the date that we’d start as the weekend after Thanksgiving. I was due to have my cast removed the week of Thanksgiving, providing everything healed the way it’s supposed to.

Mason had walked up behind Hailey and put his hands on either side of her hips. He whispered something into her ear and they left the room. Just a few minutes later, Hailey walked into the kitchen, face all red, “Hey Kenz, I’m going to head out. I have a killer headache. I’ll call you tomorrow, ok?” She rubbed her hand over Ryder’s curly dark hair and smiled down at him all snuggled up in my arms.

“Hails, look at me.” She looked up, “What’s going on?”

She just shook her head, “You’ll find out soon enough.” She said it just loudly enough so only I could hear her, but walked away before I could ask her what that meant.

“Dinner’s done.” Mom yelled out towards the living room where I assumed everyone else had disappeared to.

Each person started piling their plates with Mom’s ziti, my favorite. Hunter came over and took Ryder from me to place him in his bouncy seat.

Mom placed a plate of ziti, salad and a can of soda in front of me. “Here you go baby girl.”

Smiling, I said, “Thanks Mom.” Something’s going on and I needed to know. Hailey’s being cryptic, Mom’s cooking my favorite food, and Hunter’s been a little distant since the mall. After we’d all gotten together last night I’d thought things were going great, but clearly I was missing something.

Dad walked up behind Mom, who was about to sit down next to me, “Elle dear, can I talk to you in the other room for a second?”

That’s it! I can’t take this anymore.

Jackson, Chloe and Alex were sitting across from me at my parents’ huge square dining room table; Cooper, Jaylinn and Mason were to my right. Ms. McCormick was sitting by herself on my left. Everyone was digging in. I looked from one person to the next. No-one, not one single person, looked at me. Not even Hunter when he sat next to me.