Chapter 12

By the time Caleb, Jax, and Savi were brought up to speed, the sky was turning gray. After an extended crying jag in the shower, Beckett collapsed into bed next to Murphy and dropped immediately into sleep, curled up against his back with one arm under her pillow and the other around him.

Discovering merely three hours later that she’d forgotten to shut off the alarm for church, she leaned over Murphy and slapped at the clock. She laughed despite her headache when he rolled onto his back and lifted her on top of him.

“Morning.” Sleepy, Murphy drew her down for a kiss. She returned it, grateful neither of them had been asleep long enough for morning breath.

Beckett slid up to straddle his hips and sat up, her hands on his chest and her hair an explosion of red curls around her face. “Morning. I’m not going to go today. I don’t really feel like sitting in church and praising God right now, truthfully.”

“Don’t blame you. Can’t say as I much feel like it, either. We could take the kids down to the pancake place and have breakfast. My treat.”

Smiling, Beckett leaned down for another kiss. “If I don’t wake them, they won’t get up for at least another hour. We could take each other’s minds off everything.”

Murphy sat up, bringing their chests flush together and lifted her tank enough to slide his hands up her back. “I’m very okay with that plan.”

****

The door opened and Rhys ran in, already wearing his church clothes. “Mom, I heard the alarm! We’ll be late!” The eight-year old stopped in his tracks and stared at his mother in bed with his uncle.

Angry tears welled in his eyes at the sight of Beckett in her pajamas, hair mussed, and Murphy wearing only jeans.

“How could you? Why’d you have to go and ruin everything?”

The little boy bolted from the room, his footsteps descending the steps. Murphy shifted Beckett and yanked on his shirt, grabbing his socks and boots on his way out of the room.

“Don’t worry. I got this one. Get Harlow ready.” He followed Rhys down the stairs, yelling at Caleb when he saw his brother in the living room. “Caleb! Grab him!”

Stepping in front of Rhys, Caleb laid a hand on his shoulder and stopped him before he could get to the front door.

“Sorry. Under orders.” He lifted his brows when Murphy came down the stairs looking rumpled. “Was it bad?”

“No.” Murphy grabbed his coat and handed Rhys his. “Put this on. Rhys and I just need to have a little man-to-man talk is all. Get the girls and meet us at the pancake place down on Elm in an hour.”

Rhys struggled when Murphy nudged him toward the door. “I don’t want to go with you. You’re not my dad!”

Ignoring the pang of hurt, Murphy placed his hand between Rhys’s shoulder blades and pushed him out the door. “You don’t have a choice, short stuff.” He glanced back at Caleb. “Try to calm Beckett down, would you? She looked about ready to cry.”

Sighing, Caleb nodded, muttering under his breath just loud enough for Murphy to hear what he said. “Now I’m the one with all the responsibilities and none of the benefits.”

Murphy loaded his nephew into his truck and slid behind the wheel, driving the short distance to the beach. When Rhys resisted getting out, Murphy lifted him and sat him on the ground, marching the boy onto the pier. Sitting down, he patted the planks next to him.

“You’ll hear me out, and then you’ll have your say.”

Looking miserable and hurt, Rhys crossed his arms. “You were kissing my mom. Like really kissing her. Like a dad kisses a mom. Not like you kiss Mom.”

“You’re right. I was kissing her.”

Rhys sat down and glared at Murphy. “Why?”

“Because I like her.”

“Like girls and boys, or like you used to?”

“Both.”

“Have you always liked my mom like that?”

“Nope.” Murphy pulled a pack of gum from his pocket and took a stick, offering the other to Rhys. “We haven’t been hiding anything from you, Rhys. I’m not messing with your mom.”

“Do Uncle Caleb and Uncle Jax kiss her like that, too?”

Only if they wanted to die.

Murphy shook his head. “No son, they don’t.”

“Are you going to keep kissing her?”

“I am.” He dared putting his hand on Rhys’s shoulder. “Do you remember your dad?”

“No.” Shaking his head, Rhys dragged his hand across his eyes to banish tears. “Mom has pictures. I know he was your bother, like I’m Harlow’s. And I know Caleb and Jax are your brothers, too.”

“You know a lot.”

“I know my dad was a bad man.”

Taken aback, Murphy stared out at the ocean thoughtfully. “How do you know that?”

Looking pleased Murphy wasn’t correcting him, Rhys chewed the gum thoughtfully. “I heard the man at the house last night. I heard Mom cry, and you, Uncle Caleb, and Uncle Jax got mad and made him go. I know it was about my dad. And I know Lyla is older than Harlow, so I know Dad had another kid with someone else when he was supposed to be married to my mom. That makes him a bad man.”

Damn. The kid did know a lot.

“It’s complicated, kiddo. Your dad did some bad things. Mom’s upset because she didn’t know, and we’re upset both because we didn’t know and because we don’t like to see your mom upset.”

Rhys turned to face his uncle. “You promise you aren’t messing with her?”

“I promise.”

“And you promise you aren’t spending time with me and Harlow just so Mom’ll kiss you?”

“I promise that, too. I love you and your sister. I love your mom. We’re all family.”

“What happens if Mom doesn’t want you kissing her anymore?”

“Then I won’t kiss her anymore, but I’ll still hang out with you and Harlow.” A tight knot formed in Murphy’s chest at the thought of things going back to how they were. “Rhys, I know it’s been hard on you since your dad died. You’ve always tried to do too much and be too grown up. I’ve watched you try to take care of your mom and sister even though it’s not your job, and I know you’ve thought of yourself as the man of the house for a long time. I respect you for what you’ve done. You’re a great kid and you’re going to grow into a good man. I don’t want to stop or change it.” Leaning in and draping an arm around Rhys’s shoulder, he whispered, “Can I tell you a secret?”

Swelling with pride, Rhys nodded. “I don’t ever tell secrets.”

“I love your mom. In the way moms and dads love each other. I love you and Harlow in the way moms and dads love their kids. I don’t plan to ever stop kissing your mom. In a while, once I’ve brought her around to the idea, I intend to ask her to marry me, and I intend to ask you and Harlow to be my kids, all legal-like. If the three of you want me, that is.”

Rhys launched himself at his uncle and wrapped his skinny arms around Murphy’s neck, hot tears scalding Murphy’s skin.

“I thought you wouldn’t want us anymore if she didn’t want you to keep kissing her!”

“Son, I will always want you and love you, no matter what happens.”

“Are you moving in and gonna sleep in Mom’s room every night?”

“Not right now. Right now Mom and I are still figuring some things out. But I might sleep over sometimes, and you might see me kiss her. I don’t want it to be weird for you.”

Pulling back, Rhys looked Murphy in the eye. “Does Mom know? That you love her like that? That you want to marry her? And you want me and Harlow, too? All legal-like and everything?”

“Not yet, buddy. I’ve got to give her some time to come around to seeing it our way. Is it okay with you if it happens?”

Seriously, Rhys nodded. “I think it is. I wouldn’t have to change my name ’cause we all have the same one already. I won’t tell Mom. It’s like when I wanted to go sleepover at Chris’s house. I had to let her think it was her idea. Is it kinda like that?”

Laughing, Murphy climbed to his feet. “It’s exactly like that. We good?”

Following suit, Rhys stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Promise you won’t hurt her.”

“I promise.”

“Then we’re good. Can we have pancakes now?”

****

Beckett raced down the stairs wearing sweatpants and tennis shoes, dragging on a hoodie as she went. Glancing at Caleb, she grabbed her car keys from the bowl near the door.

“Will you get Harlow up and ready? I need to get to Rhys.”

Caleb crossed the room and laid his hands on her shoulders. “Honey, calm down. Murphy took him for some guy talk. He’ll smooth things over. You were planning to tell the kids eventually anyway, weren’t you?”

“After Harlow’s birthday party. We wanted to wait in case your parents freaked out.” Tears welling in her eyes, she reached for the door. “I need to go do something. Can you handle her?”

“I got it. Meet you at breakfast in a bit?”

“Maybe. I’ll try.”

“Be careful, Beck. If you see Jason call one of us or the police immediately.”

“I will. Thanks.”

Dashing to her car, Beckett started the engine and pulled out of the driveway, trying to think about where Murphy would have taken Rhys, her need to comfort her son overwhelming. Not finding the truck at his house or at Cassie and Alan’s, she parked the car and laid her head dejectedly on the steering wheel, fighting the urge to cry.

When someone tapped on her window, she jerked up, expecting to see Jason. Instead, Alan was standing outside the car, a cup of coffee in his hand and a newspaper tucked under his arm. Embarrassed, she rolled down the window.

“Planning to come in?”

“Not really.” Miserable, she tried to muster a smile for her father-in-law, but found she couldn’t. “I’m looking for Murphy and Rhys.”

“Far as I know, they should be on their way to have pancakes with the rest of you. Murph texted his mother not two minutes ago and asked if we wanted to join. Come on in, Beckett. Seems to me you could use a cup of coffee. Maybe a hairbrush, too, come to think of it.”

Rolling the window up, she turned off the engine and walked with Alan up to the house. He held the door for her, following her inside.

“Cassandra Anne? Beckett’s here. I believe she’s in need of some mothering.”

Cassie came to the top of the stairs wearing a robe over her pajamas with her hair up in curlers. “Beckett? What’s wrong, honey? Has something happened?”

Looking between the two people who had been more parents to her than her own, she took a trembling breath, opened her mouth to speak, and burst into tears.

“I’ve done something horrible!”

Cassie ran down the stairs and wrapped an arm around Beckett, leading her into the living room. “You couldn’t have done anything as bad as all that. What’s happened?”

In the middle of a full-on panic attack, Beckett had no control over what spilled out of her mouth. “Rhys is so hurt and upset, and I don’t know where they are. I feel like such an idiot. Ryan might be alive. He was involved in a drug cartel in Colombia and I had no idea, but last night I found all his other passports and identities. I don’t know what’s happening to my life. All I want is to run Vive and raise the kids and somehow figure out a way you won’t hate me when you find out I’ve slept with your son!”

Alan cleared his throat. “Honey, given that you gave us two grandkids, I think we all know you and Ryan were involved that way. He was your husband, after all. Now about this other bit…”

Before he could finish, Beckett continued. “No, not Ryan! Murphy!”

Cassie’s mouth quirked in a smile. “She’ll tell us the rest soon enough, Alan, but this part needs a woman’s touch. Go fix yourself some coffee and let the pastor know we won’t be attending services this morning. I expect this will take some time.” She reached up and began to unwind her curlers, one after the other. “I was wondering when you were going to tell us you and Murphy had been seeing one another. Goodness, I figured it out near two and a half months ago.”

Gaping, Beckett forced herself to take a deep breath. “You knew? How?”

“Well, Hattie Plunkett called me and told me Murphy marched right up to your door dressed up nicer than on Sunday morning—her words, not mine—carrying a bouquet of your favorite flowers. Then she said you came out wearing a lovely dress and it looked pretty near to a date in her expert opinion. Oh yeah, and after he brought you home, neither of you emerged until the next morning.” Cassie grinned knowingly and wiggled her eyebrows at Beckett. “I chalked it up to Hattie being Hattie and not knowing her head from a hole in the wall—bless her heart—but the very next day I saw the way the two of you were with each other, all nervous and shy and not at all yourselves, so I figured out maybe Hattie Plunkett isn’t quite as bat blind as I’d thought.”

“I’m sorry.” Beckett stared down at her hands. “I swear to you I never meant to let this happen. It never has before. It kind of hit us both unexpectedly. Alcohol may have been involved.”

“It often is.” Cassie finished taking out her curlers and crossed her legs. “What do you expect from me here? You had to have some reason for coming clean now.”

Tears rolling down her face, Beckett wrung her hands together. “I couldn’t keep everything in anymore. You and Alan have been so kind to me, and I couldn’t have made it as far as I have without you.”

Reaching out, she grasped Cassie’s hands and held them tightly. Taking several deep breaths to calm herself, she allowed herself a moment to gather her thoughts before continuing to speak.

“You helped me buy Vive, and there I was hiding this from you. It made me feel like some sort of fraud. And with everything else going on with the stuff about Ryan and now this morning with Rhys seeing me and Murphy together and freaking out, I didn’t know what else to do. We were going to tell you after Harlow’s party, because I wanted to wait in case you were going to hate me.”

“Do you think I should? Hate you?”

Miserable, she stared at the wall, releasing Cassie’s hands to fold them in her own lap. “I married Ryan before you’d even met me. I know you were hurt. Then you didn’t get to be there when Rhys was born, and I know that hurt you, too. After all that, you were still nice enough to let me live with you when there wasn’t housing for us in Georgia.”

“And the thanks both of us got was my jackass son shacking up with a woman who wasn’t his wife.”

Smiling despite the tears, Beckett nodded. “Point is, you and Alan have been good to me no matter what. You’ve treated me as one of your own, and it felt like a betrayal to sneak around with another of your sons.”

Cassie laid her hands on her knees. “Truth be told, Beckett, I never could figure out why you and Ryan were together. You were so young and vibrant and lively, while he was structured and neat. I know now he was also a liar, a cheat, and a cad, but that’s neither here nor there. I’ll answer for raising such a man one day, but that day is not today, so it doesn’t bother talking about.”

Cassie leaned forward and stared at Beckett intently, love and anger shining in her eyes. She slowly reached out and gripped both of Beckett’s hands in her own, holding them tightly before speaking.

“When Ryan died and you came here, I told Alan we’d take you in as one of our own. Mother of our grandchildren, I said to him. We’d do anything we could to make sure you were okay. Well, you showed us both. Climbed right back up on your feet and then kept climbing. You work hard, don’t lie, cheat, or steal, and I know you want a family, a home, and stability. So tell me, Beckett McKenzie, why I shouldn’t want just that for my son?”

Recognizing the sharp tone as a warning, Beckett looked up and met Cassie’s eyes. “It’s not that, Cassie, not at all. Murphy and I have always been so close. I’ve been close with all of them. It felt like you might view it as something next to incest for me and him to go there. Or if not, then you’d be worried about what would happen if it didn’t take. Hell, I’m worried about that part of it.”

“And is it? Taking?”

“I almost wish I could tell you it wasn’t, but the truth is Murphy makes me happy. Part of it is that I’m not some girl with stars in her eyes but a full-grown woman now, but I look at him and I see everything. He’s always treated Harlow and Rhys like more than a niece and nephew. You’ve got good sons. They stepped in when my kids didn’t have a dad and have raised them just as much as I have. So have you and Alan. I can’t take all of the credit for Harlow and Rhys. It’s been a family undertaking.”

“As it should be. Do you love him? Murphy, I mean.”

“With all my heart. Which is what makes it so scary. I don’t want to lose him, but now I’ve seen what it can be between us I don’t think I can ever go back.”

“Then don’t. Go forward. Relationships sometimes work, sometimes they don’t, but as long as the two people involved are careful with the heart of the other, there’s no reason there has to be collateral damage. He’s a good man, my boy. Murphy wouldn’t have let anything happen with you if he wasn’t ready to look toward the future. The man’s thirty-two years old. It’s time he looked in that direction.” Smiling, Cassie leaned back and released Beckett’s hands. “Now, do you feel better?”

Beckett wiped her face on her hands. “I’m sorry to come here like this. I didn’t intend to.”

“Where else would you come besides to your parents’ house? Goodness, Beckett, you’re as much mine as they are in all the ways that matter. You’re a part of this family regardless of what happens.”

Her voice little more than a whisper, Beckett forced herself to speak. “Ryan was a monster. He was into bad things, Cassie. Really bad things. Worse than Elaina and Lyla. He wasn’t just a cheater and a liar, he was a criminal. He had passports with different names and his picture on them and money, more money than I could have dreamed up back then. There were more women than just the one. A lot more. I don’t even know how many.”

Alan cleared his throat from the doorway. “What kind of horrible things?”

“He was running drugs for some group named the Malatoa cartel. He was using his position in the Army as a way to get stuff back into the United States undetected. And when he was home, he was receiving packages and selling it. He was a drug-dealer. Worse, he was a thief. He stole from the cartel. The man who was doing it with him showed up here last night and claimed Ryan stole millions. The cartel wants it back, and they think I have it or know where it is. I don’t.” She took a deep, trembling breath and tried to keep more tears from falling. Failing, she angrily brushed them away.

Alan ran his hands over his hair. “You’re sure you didn’t know anything? If you ever did, or suspected, now’s the time to tell us.”

Beckett shook her head. “I’d never have gone along with anything like that. Ever. They want it back, all of it. I don’t even know how much it is, but they want it. I don’t know what to do. Caleb said we’d call the police and report it, give them all the stuff we found in the storage unit. God, this can’t be my life. It feels like a movie of the week or something.” Rubbing her hands on her knees, she told them the worst of it. “This man thinks Ryan is still alive. He apparently knew he was under investigation and was going to be arrested. They think he faked his own death.”

Alan stared at his wife, grief and anger in his gaze. “There’s one easy way to find out.”

Cassie’s eyes widened. “Alan, no.”

“There’s no other choice, Cassandra Anne. We’ll have his body exhumed.”