CHAPTER 2
The moment Ali opened the front door, Kade knew that déjà vu was real. He was transported back in time. It was fifteen years earlier, and he was standing at the same front door. Ali had wild hairs falling around her face and her large honey-colored eyes were staring up at him like she was looking at a ghost.
Kade’s youth had been spent—or more accurately misspent—doing very reckless, very stupid things. He could’ve easily killed himself or others on any given night. On one particular balmy summer evening up at the lake, he’d gotten shitfaced and then decided to get on his motorcycle and go for a joyride. It hadn’t ended well. He’d made it about ten miles outside of Whisper Lake before he’d gone over a steep embankment off Highway 6 that ran along Whisper River and totaled his bike. Miraculously, he was able to walk away from it.
In his inebriated state, he started down a road that he thought led back to town. Spoiler: it didn’t. He’d walked along it for hours before sobering up enough to realize that he’d been walking away from Whisper Lake. During the time he was on his drunken pilgrimage, unbeknownst to him, his bike had been discovered and news spread fast in the small town. From the condition and location of the bike, the general consensus was there was no way he would’ve survived the crash and it was assumed that he’d ended up in the river.
By the time he got back to town, it was in the early hours of the morning. Not wanting to face his dad who he knew would berate him, or worse, for the wreck, he’d gone directly to the Walsh’s house to tell Patrick what a dumbass he’d been and that his bike was totaled. But instead of his best friend opening the door, it was Ali. Her hair was piled up on her head and her cheeks were tear stained. When she’d seen him she’d gone white as a sheet. It had taken her a few beats to process him standing in front of her, alive, but once she did, she threw her arms around him and held onto him for dear life. She sobbed against his shoulder for a few minutes then socked him in his chest—repeatedly—and made him promise never to die and scare her like that again.
That was a memory that he’d carry with him and treasure until he finally did take his last breath. He was seventeen at the time and it was the first time in his life he’d truly felt loved and valued. His father certainly never engendered either of those emotions and he barely remembered his mom who left when he was five.
Today, Kade knew Ali’s dumbstruck expression was not because she’d thought she’d seen a ghost, it was because he’d ghosted from her life. And his for that matter, for the past eighteen months. Other than setting up financial support for the boys he’d been completely MIA. It hadn’t been fair to her or the twins, but it had been necessary. He had to put the oxygen mask on himself before he could save anyone else.
This time there were no hugs or tears. Just a cold and impersonal, “What are you doing here?”
Ali was obviously not happy to see him but the feeling was not mutual. The sound of her voice, even if it conveyed a not-so-friendly tone, put a smile on his face. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled. The past year and a half had been the worst of his life and considering his childhood that was quite a fucking achievement.
“Can I come in?” His throat was dry, due both to the hours he’d just spent riding and the woman standing before him.
“No.” Her response was weak and came out in a whisper.
The Allison Walsh he knew was a force of nature. A spitfire. A wild child.
The woman that he saw standing in front of him now looked like a shell of that person. Her sunken cheeks, the hauntingly dark circles beneath her eyes, and her skeleton-like frame told him that she hadn’t been sleeping or eating.
Guilt punched him simultaneously in the gut and the chest with the same impact as hitting the ground when he’d fallen off the roof of the Walsh’s house after attempting to walk the roofline drunk.
He couldn’t catch his breath.
He’d had the wind knocked out of him more times than he could count but those had all been due to a physical blow. This was the first time he’d experienced it due to an emotional blow. This was his fault.
“Uncle Kade?”
Ali cursed beneath her breath as her shoulders dropped in defeat and she hung her head.
Kade’s eyes found Ricky’s and once again he was struck by déjà vu. Ricky had always favored Patrick but now he was the spitting image of his dad. He felt like his mind was playing tricks on him. Logically, he knew that he was looking at Ricky, not Patrick at age thirteen, but his emotions weren’t convinced.
A large lump lodged in his throat as he tried to pull himself together. He missed the man that might not have been his brother but was more family to him than anyone he shared DNA with.
Ali sighed as she stepped back, opened the door and extended her arm in a reluctant invitation. He knew that her change of heart to grant him entry had to do with her nephew and not him, but hey, beggars couldn’t be choosers. As much as he would’ve loved to have had a warm welcome, he knew that’s not what he deserved.
He set his bag down just inside the entry. It landed with a soft thud on the tiled floor and he stepped into the living room and pulled Ricky into a hug. “Damn, you got tall.”
Kade was six-three so Ricky had to be pushing six feet. Since the last time he’d seen him he had to have grown at least four inches. He remembered that he and Patrick had both hit growth spurts around his age, too.
“What are you doing here?” The question sounded much friendlier coming from Ricky than it had from Allison.
“I’m here to see you and your brother.” And your aunt.
He kept the last part to himself. It was the last thing that she’d want to hear and he hadn’t been hit since he stepped out of the cage after his last and final fight over a year ago, he didn’t want to break one of the largest streaks of non-violence that he’d ever had in his life and if he’d finished his thought, he was fairly certain he would’ve got a right jab to the jaw.
He knew that Ali could land a punch…because he’d taught her.
“How have you been?” Kade ruffled Ricky’s hair.
“Good.” Ricky grinned.
“Uncle Kade?!” KJ shouted as he ran down the stairs. “I didn’t know you were coming!”