Circle of Family by Mia Ross

Author:Mia Ross
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2012-11-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“I don’t wanna get to know my father,” Kyle protested, his normally calm demeanor rigid and determined. As he sat at the picnic table under a tree, his attitude was at odds with the peaceful setting. “He was mean to you and Emily the other day, and I don’t ever wanna see him again.”

He completely ignored the snack Marianne had prepared to help ease what she’d known would be a tense conversation. Sitting back on the picnic table bench, he glowered at her, folding his arms to prove he meant business. She had never seen him do that, and it brought home just how quickly he was growing up. In that pose, he reminded her of someone, and it took less than a second to recognize who.

Ridge.

Thinking of the fun-loving pilot stirred up emotions she’d rather not acknowledge while her belligerent son sat across from her, glaring for all he was worth. Marianne pushed Ridge from her mind and focused on the problem at hand.

“You have every right to feel that way,” she began, stopping abruptly when he let out an impatient sigh. “What?”

“You sound like the school psychologist. I’m not crazy.”

“Of course not, honey.”

His look darkened at what he considered a babyish endearment, and she hurried on. “Kyle, I’ll be honest with you. I don’t know how to handle this. The law says your father has a right to see you, and I have to abide by that.”

“Don’t I have a right not to see him?”

“Sure you do,” Ridge chimed in from behind her. “But if you do that, he’ll blame your mom for interfering. Is that what you want?”

Marianne angled an irritated look at Ridge. “This is a private discussion.”

Clearly unfazed, he plunked himself down in a lawn chair at the head of the table, folding his arms on the weathered planks in front of him. Focused entirely on Kyle, he said, “I’m gonna tell you a story I don’t tell many people. I want you to listen, and when I’m done, I’ll leave you alone. Deal?”

Without a flicker of hesitation, Kyle nodded. That unthinking gesture told Marianne just how much her son had come to trust this man.

“I know a little something about father trouble,” Ridge began.

“You never talk about your dad,” Kyle commented. “How come?”

Ridge’s jaw tightened, and he made an obvious effort to relax. “My father was a mean drunk, and he drank every day.”

His voice sounded flat and dead. This part of his life was long ago, but she could see that talking about it still made him furious. She suspected that his only defense was to keep a firm grip on those memories so they couldn’t get loose and hurt him anymore. Unfortunately, she’d handled the demise of her marriage the same way, so she understood all too well.

“The night of my fourteenth birthday,” Ridge continued, “he started in on me, and my mom stepped in to protect me. When he went after her, I put him in the hospital for a week.

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