Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Uncle Shawn was staring at his Reuben as if it held the answers to the universe. “Have you talked to Rory about this yet? The story getting out?”
Solomon rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. “We talked on the phone a little. If it comes out, it won’t be fun, but he’s got a good support system in place now.” He’d even gone to a few therapy sessions after Elder died.
Hell, maybe they all needed a visit.
Shawn pushed his plate away and stared at Solomon with Elder’s face. There were differences. There always had been. Shawn looked younger, more content, like he smiled more than he scowled, because he had. But they’d still been nearly identical.
“I’m ready now,” Shawn said, his knuckles white from clenching the edge of the table.
“Ready?”
“For the whole story. That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? You’ve all given me small pieces of it. What I overheard at the hospital and after. But you want to prepare me in case this leaks to the news, so you’re going to tell me everything.”
Solomon reached for his uncle’s hand and gripped it tight. “It’s not going to leak. We’re making sure of that. In a few days I’m going to share it with the press myself.”
Shawn’s blue eyes were wide with surprise. “Why?”
“Because I’m tired of holding on to the past. It isn’t mine to regret. I won’t clean up after him or punish myself for his crimes anymore. And Rory deserves to know this family will stand with him. Fight for him.”
“Of course we will. Does he doubt it?”
“It happened on my watch, and I didn’t see it. I’d rather come out swinging for him now then hunkering down and hoping to avoid the news cycle. I want to make sure that other kids, kids like him, know that it’s okay to come forward, that I won’t shirk my responsibilities or transfer my problems away because they’re personally inconvenient.”
Uncle Shawn’s smile was genuine, if a little sad. “You have a lot more to say than you used to.”
“Maybe it’s the hair.”
“Maybe it is.” He chuckled. “But Samson or Solomon, you’ve always been stronger and wiser than you’ve given yourself credit for.”
He shrugged self-consciously. “Yeah, well, we all know we got that from you.”
“If I’d known how bad it was, I would have taken all of you away from him and damn the consequences. I hope all of you know that. It took me a long time to stop feeling guilty that my happiness with Ellen came at his expense, and I let that blind me. I’ll never be able to apologize enough.”
They squeezed each other’s hands so tightly they cut off blood flow, then Solomon pulled away before he got emotional. “None of us ever blamed you. We might have envied our cousins from time to time, but you always made us feel welcome.”
“You always have been. I’m proud of you, Younger. And when you tell me what you’re planning, your aunt and I will make sure to be there, front and center so you won’t doubt it for a minute.”
Solomon shook his head. “I’d never ask—”
“Luckily you never have to.” Shawn nodded as if coming to some sort of resolution in his head. “We’ll make sure to stand next to your Hugo, so you won’t miss us.”
“He’s not my Hugo. Not anymore.” It hurt to say it. Like an open wound in his chest. “I screwed up, more than once. I’m not sure I’m as good at the relationship thing as you and my cousins.”
“Do you know your family?” Shawn shook his head. “None of us are good at it, not at the start. Owen had spoiled, jealous fits all the time. Stephen was so repressed I was worried he’d implode and Seamus was too busy doing for others, and too scared to trust when something good came along.” He smiled. “You two are a lot alike that way.”
He noticed he left his daughter out of his critique. Jen would always be Daddy’s girl, and rightfully so. “What about you and Ellen?”
Shawn sent him a baleful look. Everyone in the family knew how they started. Twin brothers Shawn and Sol seducing Ellen into a threesome and both men falling in love. Her choosing his brother instead of him had set Sol on his path to multiple marriages, multiple sons and decades of bitter regret.
“How did you move on from that?” he asked softly. “How did you make it last?”
“Love is the reason,” Shawn said with a shrug. “Sounds simple, but it’s true. We make sure to tell each other every day. To show each other every day. You can’t take something like love for granted. You can’t horde it and dole it out on holidays or when you’re in trouble for forgetting an anniversary. It’s every day, for the rest of your days. That’s the commitment. So my most important job is to make sure each one of them counts, and she never has to wonder how I feel.”