Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 134830 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134830 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
“Oh, good for them!” Mom exclaims, then she hums, listening. “Yes, it was like that for us after the twins were born too. Charles was the same way. I think he saw them as two more mouths to feed and panicked a bit. It was like he had this instinctive urge to go out and conquer the world, no matter that he’d already done that several times over.” Mom sighs, and I can almost sense her rolling her eyes.
Cole and Kayla are twins, though you’d never know it. From what I’ve gathered, Cole was always chasing after his older brothers and Kayla was the princess everyone always wanted.
It’s interesting to hear about my family before I was even a glint in Mom’s eye, though, especially since by all reports, Dad was a doting father when the oldest boys were little. I guess somewhere along the way, he became a workaholic and morphed into the father he was to Cole, Kayla, and me in the process.
“I didn’t need more money in the bank, you know? We were more than fine there. What I needed was help at home. I had the twins, plus the older boys, who were essentially running wild, and just needed someone to run defense with me. That’s when we hired Anders. He was a godsend.”
Anders. I’ve heard the name. He was the family ‘manny’ for a while before I was born, from Iceland or Norway or one of those Scandinavian countries, and left to go back home while Mom was pregnant with me. I don’t think my brothers remember him much, and I’ve never seen pictures of him, but I’ve heard some of the long-time house staff mention him, so he must’ve been well-liked.
“Maybe they could hire someone too,” Mom suggests to whoever she’s talking to, but then she laughs. “Just tell them to be alert because as soon as we had help, even with Charles being in and out of the country seemingly every other week, fate had one more surprise in store for us. Boom, here came Kyle!” She laughs again, not at me exactly, or about me, but there’s something…
‘Boom’ was one of my favorite words as a kid. I was a bit of a linebacker type to my brothers’ taller, leaner body types, and even as a toddler, I could take Cameron down and he’s years older than I am.
But that’s not what’s wiggling in my mind, trying to come together into a fully-formed thought.
Dad was gone a lot. Mom had help with Anders. Here I came, an unexpected addition.
“No way,” I hiss to myself. I freeze, thoughts hitting me from every direction.
I mean, it’d make sense.
This could be why I’m the only kid who doesn’t look like a Harrington. It’s not like I’m brunette, but my hair is shades darker than any of my siblings, and my eyes are several hues lighter. My jawline looks nothing like my brothers’ or Dad’s, and I’m the only boy built like a brick shithouse.
Could it be because I only share half my DNA with the rest of my siblings?
Is Dad not my dad?
Holy fuck, he knows. Or at least suspects. Maybe he tried to do right by me, not blowing up the rest of the family over it, but he’s got to have that little doubt in the back of his mind, that little prick of the thorn that makes him wonder every time he looks at me.
That’s why he’s always been distant with me. That’s why I can never live up to his expectations. Because from the beginning, I’m proof of a bigger failure.
I have to go. Now.
I admittedly have more parental issues than Batman, but this is a lot to take in, and as much as I’d like to burst in and demand some answers from Mom, I need to think about this before I do something stupid. All I have is half a conversation and some suspicions.
And a lifetime of feeling like an outsider.
CHAPTER 17
DANI
“Mama, are you sure?” I ask, the phone cradled on my shoulder while I scrub dishes.
“Si, mija. You can come tonight?”
I sigh, glancing at the clock, but I already know my answer. If Mama wants me to come over and is asking me to bring them dinner, I’m going. There’s no other option.
“Yes, I’ll be by around six after I get the kitchen cleaned up.”
She tuts and adds, “Clean yourself up too. Don’t come over smelling like you’ve been working all day. It makes your father worry.”
I roll my eyes. “Six thirty, then.”
We hang up, and I dry my hands for the next thing I have to do. I pull up the new contact in my phone for Kyle and start a text, my thumbs hovering as I try to figure out what to say.
“We’re friends,” I remind myself. “This is no big deal. Friends have to cancel sometimes. Especially me. I warned him.”