Here’s the thing, Hurst loved everyone, and the second he gave you that love, you were part of the family. If there was such a thing as fate for couples, him and Linda were proof of that because they suited each other perfectly.
After Mom had died, it was the Townsends who’d held my brother and me and helped us through it while Dad acted like the self-centered and oblivious dick that he was. Then, when he’d remarried, it was Hurst who’d told me to come to him if we had any problems. I hadn’t, but he’d known something was up when the shit with my stepmom started and I’d become more protective of Dale. The quieter and more withdrawn I became, the more protective the Townsends became over us, too. They’d given us the sanctuary we’d needed and helped me keep my brother safe.
And when I’d started having nightmares, it was Hurst who’d been the one to help me through them, even when I didn’t tell him what they were about. I’d been struggling to understand what was happening and if it was as wrong as it felt, so having someone there to catch me without me having to say any of that out loud—I can’t describe what that did for me.
People think you can’t have been helped if they didn’t solve the problem, but sometimes the support alleviates enough pressure to give you space to breathe. Some kids go through it with no one, and that’s part of why I became a doctor. I want to help them if they come into the hospital, and I have. The world is a dark place, but some people give it light. I had that light with this family and the Montgomerys, and I want to give it to someone who doesn’t have it.
As if he knew what I was thinking about, Hurst whispered, “It took me a long time to figure out what was going on with you at home, son, and I’ll never forgive myself for failing you like that. If I’d figured it out when it started, I could have stopped anything happening to you.” I sat frozen in shock as the words sank in, but I heard the way his breath shuddered slightly. “I’m so fucking sorry, Parker. The only thing that brings me peace about it all is knowing that she’ll rot in hell eventually, while my grandbaby gives you the beauty of life you deserve.”
Swallowing harshly, I was quiet for a moment, fighting the need to jump up and move away from him.
Finally, I got my shit together enough to ask, “How did you figure it out?”
There was a long silence, but finally he answered the question. “You changed. I don’t just mean a small change like kids normally have, but a huge one. After you lost your mom,” he cleared his throat at the memory. “After you lost your mom, you became more serious and protective of Dale. After your dad married... her,” he choked, avoiding saying her name, “you were just so sad all the time. You walked around like you had the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
Because I had, I’d lost my mom, and then I’d lost my dad emotionally and mentally. I was a kid trying to figure out how to be a parent to Dale.
“Then, about a year after he married her, you became a brick. You looked like you were analyzing every movement and every word had a thousand different meanings for you.” There was a long pause. “And then I heard you have a nightmare when you and Dale were sleeping over at my son’s house.”
By son, he meant Ren’s dad, Jack.
Thinking how to explain it, especially in a public place with ears all around us, I cleared my throat and looked at Ariana standing behind the bar, laughing at something Beau was saying to her. She was my everything good and clean, and right now I needed that.
“I didn’t know how to tell people what she was doing. I was scared they’d just assume I was trying to cause shit because Dad had gotten remarried, so I figured protecting Dale was the only thing I could do.”
“And you did that, Parker. I’ve never known a boy as young as you who could take on the duties of a dad the way you did. I just wished you’d have let us take on the other shit for you.”
Those words struck me somewhere raw. I’d needed to hear those words, needed that support, but in their own way, the Townsends and Montgomerys had taken on the other shit for me without even knowing it.
They’d given us an escape from the house so I could sleep without worrying I was going to wake up with her standing over me, her hands touching me.