Page 21 of Finding Kyler
Now, that’ll teach him.
The look in his eyes shifts, and he scrambles out of his seat as if there’s a nuclear-charged rocket up his ass. “Uh, bathroom.” He dashes from the room as I clamp a hand over my mouth to stop myself from exploding.
Kyler faces away but not before I see a slight smile tug up the corners of his mouth.
Kalvin may have won round one, but I’ve nailed this one.
“Can I talk to you?” I ask James the next morning after we’ve all finished eating breakfast.
“Of course. Join me in my study.”
His study is located on the mezzanine level accessed by the staircase in the lobby. The master suite, which he shares with Alex, is also up here along with their private living area. He steers me into the study, and my jaw hangs open. It’s exactly like one of those libraries you see in old stately homes in the movies but without the high ceilings. It’s all dark wood and dim lighting. Row upon row of shelves is filled with thousands of books. An elegant mahogany desk and chair lies to one side while two huge grandfather chairs, covered in red velvet cushioning, rest in front of an old-fashioned open fireplace. It’s a million miles away from the modern interiors of the rest of the property. There’s a certain old-world charm about the room that is instantly inviting.
“Take a seat,” he says, and I plop down. He walks to his desk and retrieves two large leather-bound photo albums. “I presume you want to ask me about your mum?”
“Yeah.” It’s barely been out of my thoughts since I found out about my secret relatives in America. “Why were you two no longer in contact?”
He sighs deeply as he pours himself a drink from a crystal decanter. Noticing my skeptical look, he says, “I know it’s early in the day, but I need a drink for this.”
Sitting in the chair beside me, he looks lost in thought. His chin lifts and his piercing blue eyes stare into mine. He looks far too young to be a father to so many children. I guess it must be all the good living.
“I was nineteen when your mum ran away,” he starts explaining, swirling the amber liquid in his glass. “We were as close as any two siblings could be. Closer, perhaps.” He looks away as the ghosts of the past resurrect to taunt him. His Adam’s apple jumps in his throat. “Our parents died when she was fourteen and I was sixteen. Did she even mention that?”
“She told me her parents died in a house fire and that she had to fend for herself after that.”
He shakes his head sadly. “She wasn’t alone. She had me. In a lot of ways, we were better off. Our parents were…neglectful at the best of times. Saoirse and me were always close but never more so than when we were on our own. I got a job in the local factory so I could take care of her. I insisted she stayed in school so she could complete her education.”
He clamps his hands around his nose and mouth. When he speaks again, he’s all choked up. “I was happy to do it. I loved her, and I only wanted the very best for her.”
James genuinely loved my mum. That is as obvious as the nose on my face. So what happened that Mum relegated him to the back of her mind? So much so that she acted as if he didn’t even exist? “Why did she run away? She must’ve been young.”
“She had only turned seventeen three months previously.” He averts his eyes. “We’d had a terrible argument, and she hadn’t spoken to me in days. I came home from work one day, and she was gone. All her stuff was gone.” He lifts the glass and takes a drink while I wait patiently for him to continue. My nerves are hanging by a thread. I chew on the corner of my fingernail, and my heart is thudding in my chest.
“I’d no idea where she went, and no one had seen anything. I was working a full-time job, so I couldn’t just take off to find her. And at first, I thought she’d come back. When she didn’t, I spent every weekend searching for her. I trailed the length and breadth of Ireland. I posted notices in all the main papers. I canvassed her friends continuously. But no one had heard from her. It was as if she’d vanished into thin air.”
I lean forward in my seat. “So, that was it? You never saw her again?”
He tilts his head back and drains the remainder of his drink in one go. Briefly, he closes his eyes. “Oh, I found her all right. Years later, when you were living in County Waterford.”
My spine goes rigid at the mere mention of our former home, but James doesn’t notice.
His eyes glisten with unshed emotion. “She gave me no explanation. She barely gave me five minutes of her time. God, she was so cold.” He shakes his head at the memory, and his breath rattles in his chest. “She told me, in no uncertain terms, to stay away from her. That she never wanted to see me again.”
“Why? Why would she say that? It makes no sense.” I implore him with my eyes. He must know the reason. Your only sibling, your only family, doesn’t cut you out of her life without justifiable cause.
“I don’t know what you want me to say, Faye. She never explained herself. All she told me was that she was happily married, and she had put her past behind her. She never even mentioned you.” He stares at the empty fireplace as he speaks.
I slouch in my chair as a wave of rejection washes over me.
James leans forward and touches my knee. “It’s not what you are thinking. She was protecting you.” I click my tongue. “From me.” My forehead furrows in confusion. “I told her I’d a wife and children, and she could see how devoted I was to my family. The triplets hadn’t been born yet, and Alex had only returned to work after Kalvin’s birth—the business had taken off by then—and I was a stay-at-home dad. We had more room here than we knew what to do with. I offered her the chance to move here, to be a family again, but she turned me down flat.”
He clamps a hand over his mouth again and hangs his head. I’m sensing how difficult it is for him to relive this, but my thirst for information outweighs any guilt. James regains his composure after a bit. “Alex is an only child, and although she has plenty of distant relatives, you were my boys’ only real cousin. Saoirse knew I wouldn’t let it drop if I was aware of your existence, and I think that’s why she didn’t tell me.”
He gets up and pours himself another drink.
“Yet she requested you as my guardian?” Something about this whole scenario doesn’t add up.
“I’m guessing she felt I was the lesser of two evils.”
