Maddie and Wyn (39 page)

Right then a whoosh of warmth surrounded Maddie and then went straight through her body.
Oh my goodness.
For a split second a hint of dark hair surrounding a softly rounded face and white flowing lines appeared before Maddie, floating in the air. The specter disappeared fast, but just as it did Maddie swore she the felt the imprint of lips against her forehead.

“You’re welcome,” Maddie answered, the warm glow of the phantom kiss surrounding her heart.

A long moment of silence stretched ahead of Maddie, and she wondered, “Are you able to move on now?”

When Maddie didn’t get any taps or knocks she continued to study every inch of the room, searching for clues. “Does your spirit have to remain here forever?”

As had happened many times before, Maddie’s questions remained unanswered. It appeared as though, at least for the moment, once again Mrs. Corsini’s spirit had gone.

Oh well.
Bummed out, but not truly sad, Maddie added, “I hope if you needed this secret revealed in order to go forward, that this gave it to you. But if you’re stuck here, don’t feel like you have to be a stranger. My house is yours.” A bubble of laughter filtered through Maddie, and she looked toward heaven. “Literally.”

Maddie sat in the parlor for a long stretch of minutes, waiting, not sure if she was hoping for Mrs. Corsini to show herself again. When she didn’t, Maddie could only figure she’d finally been able to move on, or she’d depleted her energy to the point where she could not communicate any further this afternoon.

Kissing her fingertips, Maddie sent the salutation out into the atmosphere. “I hope you are at peace now, Mrs. Corsini, whether that is here or somewhere in the great beyond.”

A car door slamming nearby sounded through the house, and Maddie jumped up and raced to the door.
That was fast.
Wyn would want to know Mrs. Corsini had approved of Wyn’s detective skills and that her mystery was indeed solved.

Maddie yanked open the front door, prepared to throw herself into Wyn’s strong arms, but pulled back fast at the sight that greeted her on her porch.
Oh my heavens
. Maddie’s stomach lurched into her throat. So much like Wyn in almost every physical way, only with more gray running through his hair and without the mischievous sparkle so full of light that kept Wyn’s gaze from ever being truly frightening, before her stood Wyn’s father.
Graham Ashworth.
This was Wyn’s dad. There could be no mistaking the resemblance. Yet for all that Wyn looked so much like him, this man left Maddie cold.

No wonder.
Every hint of story Wyn had shared or Maddie had pulled out of him about this man gurgled up in Maddie’s system, and she charged forward, slammed with righteous strength and life.

Maddie jammed her finger into this stranger who wasn’t a stranger, pushing him backward across her porch with every poke. “You get off this property right now, and you do it before your son ever sets eyes on you. You are not wanted here, not by me, not by Ethan, and most definitely not by Wyn.”

At the steps, Graham finally stiffened his frame and became an unmovable force. “I drove out here to see him. I think I’d like for him to tell me that himself.”

“Why?” On her toes, Maddie barked the question in his face. “So you can try to manipulate him and guilt him and ultimately hurt him again? No way.” She sliced her hand through the air, drawing an invisible line between this absentee man and those she loved. “You’ve jerked with that good man’s emotions way too much in this lifetime, and I will not let it happen again.”

Shifting his legs to a military stance, Graham crossed his arms against his barrel chest. “That’s not your choice.”

“But this is my land,” Maddie pointed out hotly. “And you are trespassing. I want you gone.” She felt around her deep coverall pockets for her cell phone, ready to call the police on Graham if necessary—as Wyn had threatened to do. “Wyn already told you to get out of Redemption; I heard him with my own ears. It’s time for you to listen and do what’s best for your sons once in your life.”

Red mottled Graham’s face, and his mouth twisted to a thin line. “Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that?”

Before Maddie could open her mouth to tell this man exactly who she was to Wyn, a car screeched to a stop at the foot of the drive and Wyn leaped out of the vehicle.

Leaving the driver’s side door open, Wyn sprinted across the lawn, up the stairs, and threw himself between Maddie and Graham. “What the fuck is going on here?” Maddie heard the scratch under the thunder in Wyn’s tone.

Oh no
. When Maddie had seen Graham, instinct had kicked in and all she’d wanted to do was get him out of here and protect Wyn. Now all she could do was watch Wyn get his heart broken all over again, powerless to stop it. She’d failed, and her heart split down the middle for him. All she could do was take his hand and pray.

*

Maddie closed her smaller hand around Wyn’s, and he spun to face her, scrutinizing her features. “Are you all right?” He cupped her cheek with his rough hand and noted the heat burning through her skin.

Smiling softly up at him, Maddie covered the back of his hand with hers. “I’m fine.” She shifted her focus over his shoulder and glared. “I just wish you hadn’t gotten back so fast. I was hoping to take care of…this…before you returned.”

Wyn’s heart clenched with love for this woman, but right on top of that sweet need, Graham said, “Son, I just wanted to talk to you. This young woman was blocking my attempt,” and dumped another barrel of cold water over Wyn’s system.

Turning, Wyn looked at his father, and his gut twisted at the sight of the person looking back at him, so closely aligned in appearance, a likeness no amount of wishing or denying would ever make anyone believe Wyn wasn’t this man’s son.

His entire body taut as a drum, Wyn slid his arm around Maddie’s waist and tucked her at his side. “This young woman has every right to speak for me. And she did so correctly. You need to go.”

Graham slid his dark gaze to Maddie, swallowing visibly before coming back to look at Wyn. “If you would just give me five minutes to plead my case; if I can’t convince you to let me back into your life then I will leave it forever. That’s all I ask.” Graham clasped his hands in front of him, and for the first time the slight hunch of his shoulders and paleness around his mouth stood out in contrast to his muscular shape. “Please.”

Wyn parted his lips to spit, “No” out at this person who was never in his life yet constantly lived in his head, an absent parent, yet metaphorically always attached to his back. But, in addition to the slope of Graham’s shoulders and paleness, Wyn couldn’t help noting liver spots on the man’s hands and that his shoes while meant to look rugged were clearly orthopedic, and the sight nicked a little cut at Wyn’s heart and began trickling blood. A bone-deep tug to guide Graham to one of the chairs on the porch battled against years of working so damned hard to harden himself to any lures of this person.

The shell around Wyn’s soul was still so weak in places, so the knife pierced a corner of the foundation, and he finally bit off, “You have a minute.” The words scratched up his throat on the way out, but still he finished, “After sixty seconds I’ll decide if you get more.” With a squeeze to Maddie’s waist, Wyn avoided looking in her eyes as he told her, “I need to do this alone.”

She growled, kind of like him, lifting his heart a bit, and dragged his head down until they were nose to nose. “Yell if you need me,” she told him and then flashed the fire in her gaze Graham’s way. “I won’t be far.” With that, she kissed Wyn’s cheek, holding gently for a moment, the connection sinking into his flesh, and then went inside the house.

Left alone with his father, Wyn studied the man, and he couldn’t help but wonder if things had been a little bit different, if his mother hadn’t gotten sick and his dad hadn’t run away, how much different a man Wyn would have been, versus the man he was today. Once upon a time, Wyn had worshipped his father. The sun had risen and set with Graham Ashworth; unwittingly today, old wishes for their family tugged at Wyn’s heart.

Clearing his throat, Graham leaned his hip against the railing, and offered a tight smile. “Should I get us started?”

A little trill of excitement ran through Wyn, even as the pit in his stomach remained. “Knock yourself out. Wait.” He reached into his back pocket for his phone. “Should I call Ethan and have him come over to listen to this? That way you only have to say whatever you want to say once.”

Graham put his hand on Wyn’s, stopping him from entering the password on his cell. “That’s not necessary.”

Some of the fizziness in Wyn evaporated, and he narrowed his stare. “Why not?”

Pressing against the back of Wyn’s hand, Graham said, “Right now I would just like to focus on my relationship with you.”

A chill went through Wyn and he yanked his hand away from his father’s. “What do you mean? Do you think I’m going to do this…forgive you…whatever you’re gonna ask for…without Ethan?”

Sighing, Graham took a step toward Wyn. “Son, I don’t think I can help Ethan and reestablish a bond with him the way I can with you.”

Just as fast as Graham stepped closer to Wyn, Wyn moved back, the opening in his gut widening into a sucking spiral. “First, don’t call me son. And second, why the hell not?”

A tick started next to Graham’s left eye; he gripped the railing hard but finally said, “I cannot get in line with his lifestyle, but I would never ask him to change, therefore it is for the best that I don’t begin a communication with him again.”

Erupting in a flash, Wyn spit fire. “Ethan doesn’t have a lifestyle, asshole. He’s gay. That’s simply who he is, and he’s living honestly. That’s all. Nothing more and nothing less.”

“That is fine,” Graham charged, “but it is not something I can support.”

“Then you can’t support me, and I sure as hell won’t have anything to do with you.”

“Wyn—”

Whipping his hand up like a shield, Wyn shut Graham down. “For years I’ve kept this kernel of hope alive for you, always at the edge of my mind, thinking that if I could just let go of a little bit of my anger, if I could embrace you again, that it would be amazing. I hurt for that. I dreamed about it.” Wyn sucked in a gulp of air, volatile emotions cycloning through him. “Today you’ve cured me of those last specks of secret wishes. So thank you for coming. Sincerely,” not an ounce of sarcasm dripped from Wyn’s voice, “because if I hadn’t heard from your own mouth just now the dismissal of one of your sons, while at the same time having the audacity to think your other would be okay with it—and you seem to have done enough research about me to know how close Ethan and I are,” everything poured out of Wyn in a fast, emotion-filled jumble, “I would still be clinging to this pathetic little morsel of hope that Ethan and I might somehow, miraculously, find a way to forgive what you did to our mother in order to get our dad back. But no more. That’s gone now forever. You can leave now.” Wyn swept his hand toward the steps. “Goodbye.”

Backing down the stairs, Graham sputtered, “You said I could have five minutes.”

“I gave you one.”
Christ
. Wyn could barely speak without a snarl. “With that, you erased any desire in me to hear a second.”

“But—”

“No more. We’re done.” Rage on Ethan’s behalf coursed through Wyn, coarsening his voice to sandpaper. “Don’t ever contact me again. You won’t like what happens if you do.”

Graham Ashworth stumbled backward down the steps quickly. Wyn could only assume that the death knell in Wyn’s voice, hell, vibrating through his entire being, finally penetrated Graham’s stubborn skull. The man strode across the front lawn to his car, calling, “You’ll regret this one day! You could have had a hefty inheritance!” and drove away without looking back at his son.

Shaking on the inside, Wyn, only when he could no longer see the car, exhaled. His legs went to jelly, and he dropped to sit on the top porch step.

It’s over. It’s finally done for good.

He expelled another shaky breath and looked down at the tremors in his hands.
Fuck.

The door clicked behind Wyn, and a moment later Maddie plopped down at his side. She nudged her shoulder to his and curled her hand around his knee. “Are you all right?”

Wyn chuckled; the sound coughing through the rust inside him felt good. “Should we even bother to pretend that you didn’t listen in on every word of that exchange?”

Head tilted to look at him, her hair in a fall over her shoulder, Maddie beamed from within, highlighting the silver in her eyes. “We could try, but we both know I was right behind that door. I had your back,” she rubbed his leg, “but you did good all on your own.”

“Did I?” Wyn scrubbed his face, knowing the hardness he’d laid on his father must still be visible, while at the same time bubbles of new anxiety popped in him left and right. “I don’t know if I feel like I did.”

“Yeah, you do. But you’re still mourning a loss. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Too many threads of uncertainty dangled loose inside him, made him feel like he was on display, under a magnifying glass. “Anyway, how did it go with our resident ghost?” He needed to focus on something he knew he’d actually done right.

“It went well,” Maddie confirmed. “I was able to communicate with her for long enough to learn that everything you figured out was exactly what she wanted us to know.”

“Good. Maybe she’ll have some peace now.”

“That’s what I said to her too. What about over at Jayden’s house?” Maddie asked. “How did that go?”

Wyn sighed again, his heart too heavy today for too many different reasons. “Janet Carson let Nico into her home. She was willing to talk to him. I didn’t get into any of the theft stuff; it didn’t feel like the right time.”

Maddie moved from squeezing Wyn’s leg to petting his upper arm. “I agree. How was Jayden?”

“His mom had his hand in a tight hold.” A twist of pain for Jayden’s impending loss, something Wyn could understand all too well, swelled in him for the boy, no matter the wrong he’d done to Maddie. “I imagine she’ll hold onto him and keep him steady as the three of them talk and begin to work out their future.”