Claiming Felicity (Ace Security #4)(26)

“Regardless, who hid it back in all of Dad’s papers, and why?” Logan mused, still rocking and pacing with his restless son.

“I should’ve looked through his stuff earlier,” Blake lamented.

Ryder’s head spun. He hated seeing the men he’d come to respect so confused and heartsick. “Does it matter?” he asked in a lull in the conversation. “I mean, what happened is done. We can’t change it. I wish my mom didn’t write the letter, then maybe you guys would still have your dad.”

“If she didn’t write the letter, we wouldn’t have come back to Castle Rock,” Nathan said matter-of-factly. “Grace would possibly still be under the thumb of her parents; Blake, you and Alexis wouldn’t have met; and Bailey could’ve been hurt badly by Donovan.” His eyes dropped to Joel, making his point without actually saying a word. Then he looked back up at Ryder. “And we wouldn’t have met our half brother. I’m sorry it happened. I hate that Dad never got to meet our women or his grandkids. But we can’t change the past.”

“Nathan, you have always had a way with words,” Logan said softly, sitting on the arm of the couch. Grace reached over and put a hand on his knee in silent support.

Blake sighed huge and looked over to Ryder. “I’m sorry I’ve been a dick.”

Ryder stared at his brother in shock. His words seemed to come out of left field.

“I was so disappointed in Dad and the fact that he’d broken his marriage vows, I didn’t think about much else. But really, Mom broke them first. There was no love, honoring, or cherishing in her relationship with Dad. It’s stupid that I was upset with him when Mom was the one who constantly hurt us growing up. Not to mention she murdered him, for God’s sake. But Dad was honoring his vows by giving up your mom, and ultimately died as a result. Yeah, he cheated, but with three babies, and a wife who didn’t treat him as she should, it’s no wonder he looked elsewhere for affection. But when push came to shove, he sacrificed his own happiness to come home. To come back to where he was denigrated, yelled at, and beaten. But he did it for us. He sacrificed his happiness for us.”

“He protected us as best he could,” Logan mused.

“I never thought he did that good a job of it,” Blake admitted.

“Remember that time when we were little and wanted to go trick-or-treating? Mom didn’t want us to go, saying it was a stupid holiday, but he hurried us out of the house and told us to have fun,” Nathan added.

“We came back, and he had a black eye and was limping badly, but he still sat on the floor with us and watched as we went through all our candy,” Blake said. “I’ve been bitter that he didn’t do more to protect us, but when I really stop and think about it, he was always standing between us and Mom. Yeah, there were lots of times when she still got to us, but Dad did what he could to take the brunt of her anger.”

Ryder sent a silent prayer up to his mom, thanking her for being loving and generous. They’d been poor, but he’d never known anything but tenderness from her. “When my mom told me about the affair, and about our dad, she wasn’t bitter at all. I couldn’t understand it at the time. I asked why she let him go so easily. She told me that it wasn’t easy, but that he went back to your mom because of you guys.” Ryder looked each of his brothers in the eye.

“He left my mom, and a life free of abuse for you guys. He had to protect you. My mother said he flat out told her that. And that was why she never attempted to talk to him again. She understood. It hurt, but she understood. She didn’t tell me about the letter, but I know she thought that since you guys were older, and no longer in need of protection, it would be okay to write him.”

Ryder heard Felicity sniff. Her head was resting on his shoulder, and she had a death grip around his waist. The other women were also crying, and the men looked more sad than pissed.

The emotions in the room were high, but there also seemed to be an air of relief.

“This sucks,” Blake said. “But, I’m glad we know. I’ve always wondered what happened. I mean, Mom was always a bitch, but I couldn’t figure out why she went from simply being abusive to murder.”

“Should we bring this to the cops?” Alexis asked. “I mean, Rose did kill Ace, after all.”

“No,” Blake said immediately. “It won’t change anything. They’re both dead; we need to let Dad rest in peace once and for all. He made mistakes, I don’t think any of us can deny that, but what’s done is done.”

At that moment, baby Ace let out a loud fart.

The room was silent for a moment, then Joel blurted, “Nothing like a baby fart to break the tension.”

Everyone laughed, and just as Joel stated, the tension in the room was broken.

Grace got up to change her baby’s diaper, and Alexis and Bailey wandered into the kitchen to refill drinks.

Logan, Blake, and Nathan went into the office to look at the letter once more, and Joel got up and started working on his homework at the kitchen table.

Felicity went to get out of Ryder’s arms, but he tightened his hold on her. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Why wouldn’t I be? I should be asking you that.”

“I’m good.”

Felicity put her hand on his cheek. Ryder had never seen her look so mellow. “It’s not your fault,” she told him.