“We’d been keeping in touch about the girls while he lived with Brenda. Then one day, Rob stood on my doorstep with all his bags packed. He said he was done with Brenda and that he was going to file for a divorce. I couldn’t believe it at first. But he promised me that this was what he’d wanted. He wanted to be with us girls.”
Joan searched for Cait’s eyes again, but Cait stared at her fingers tracing the tablecloth. Bree looked from Cait over to Kera, who seemed shell-shocked with her mother’s story.
“I let him back into my home, into your lives and into my heart,” Joan said.
“That’s why I don’t have a lot of memories of Dad when I was younger,” Cait mumbled.
“Yes, you were seven when Rob came back, and Kera was almost four years old.”
“And then you got pregnant with me,” Fianna said.
Joan nodded.
“Yes, two years later we had Bree and Gwenn made our family complete two years after that.”
“Really mother?” Gwenn said. “I completed this family? He had a complete other family on the side, didn’t he? Oh wait, we were the ones on the side. The bastards. Not them.”
Bree winced at Gwenn’s words. But they were true, weren’t they? Rob hadn’t married their mother. So they were the bastards and not his other children.
Gwenn shoved her chair from the table. “I’m going for a smoke.”
“Are you still doing that? Think of—” Joan said.
“You are in no position to tell me what I should or shouldn’t do, Mom,” Gwenn spat. Bree cleared her throat theatrically, trying to diffuse the situation. But Gwenn waved her hand around the room.
“I think that’s the moral of this story today. You always held us to such high standards. Pushing us to reach further and to make something of our lives. I always wanted to make you so proud. I hated to let you down if I failed at something. You’re such a hypocrite!”
Joan stood from her chair and leaned on the table with both hands flat.
“Young lady, I am still your mother. I can still call you out on smoking if I please to do so. My mistakes of the past made me into the woman that I am today. I know that I’ve hurt Brenda by sneaking around her back with her husband. But I’ve hurt you girls the most. I was lost after Rob told me he was going back to her. He told me she was having twins, and he needed to be with her. I know I checked out on you girls for a long time after that.”
Bree tried to get out of her chair to hug her mother. But Declan clasped his hand on her thigh. He lightly shook his head. He probably was worried for her. Her mother had acted like a crazy person, throwing dishes around. Or maybe he realized Joan needed to get this all of her chest first.
“And you know what? I picked myself up. I got a degree online. I crawled out of the darkness that surrounded me and made something of myself as a PA to a billionaire. I can proudly say that I can support not only myself but also any of my five girls if you need me to. You’d rather sleep on your sister’s couch instead of staying with me. But that’s not the point.”
A soft smile ghosted Gwenn’s lips as she looked over at Bree. Bree smiled back at her sister, knowing they both felt their powerful connection. No matter what Joan had done in the past, or would tell them now. As sisters and best friends, they would forever have each other’s back.
“I’ll never want or need another man. Never again. And I made damn sure that my girls didn’t make my mistakes. I got on your nerves to get you girls independent. You are so strong. And I am so proud of you. Of all of you…” Joan said while looking at every one of her daughters.
Bree swallowed the lump in her throat. She nodded when her eyes met her mother’s eyes.
Gwenn sat back down in her chair. “I don’t get it. Why would he do this to us?”
Her shoulders shook as she cried. Fianna placed her hand on Gwenn’s shoulder and hugged her.
Declan kissed Bree on her cheek. “I’m getting the desserts ready for you girls. Leave you some time to talk without me.”
“There’s chocolate in the fridge, Dec. And…. Thank you…” Joan said. Declan nodded before he gave Bree’s mother a soft smile.
Bree watched this handsome, caring man walk out of the dining room to get her and her family chocolate. It was at that moment she realized he didn’t need to tell her. His actions spoke louder than words. Declan Mills is in love with Bree Ryan.
Rob may have said he’d loved her mother, but his actions told a completely different story.
After this night, she was going for Declan without playing it safe. No need to guard her heart, like her mother would have advised her. No. She was no longer listening to people warning her about how one sided her love for him is.
What the hell did her mother know about love, anyway? She had this sick relationship with an egomaniac. How dare she compare Declan to that man?
She willed her breathing to slow down. There was still one thing she needed to know. After taking a couple of sips of water, Bree joined the side of the table where Joan sat on her own. She fixed her mother a glass of wine.