Love, Tussles, and Takedowns (Cactus Creek #3)(36)

“Why didn’t you guys ground us or something? Put an end to the feuding?”

“I’m certain no punishment we came up with would’ve been half as effective as the ones you were doling out for each other,” assured Jack.

“And it was nice to see you two being so creative,” added Grace.

Meanwhile Caine was off to the side, shaking his head the entire time. “Do you see what I put up with before you came along, Lia? You were my only sane family member.”

“You thought of me as part of your family back then, too?” Lia glanced at him in surprise. “But you were hardly home.”

“He’d have been home even less had it not been for you,” stated Jack matter-of-factly. “You two were always watching those MacGyver reruns together.”

“And teaching the dogs to do those goofy tricks.” Grace tilted her head affectionately. “It’s like you were the missing piece to make our family whole. I’ve always thought so.”

Hudson saw Lia’s eyes turn into rounded pools of emotion, her utter astonishment making her look like Alice on the other end of the rabbit hole…before a war between hope and hurt flashed across her expression.

He recognized that expression. Though it was rare and fleeting, he’d seen her with it a few times when she’d talk about her family.

And though none of them probably realized it, it was an expression he’d seen flit across every one of their faces throughout the night. So he took a stab in the dark and asked the one question no one at the table seemed willing to address.

“Then why didn’t you adopt Lia?”



*



LIA FLINCHED AND SANK her nails into Hudson’s thigh in panic. She couldn’t believe he just did that.

“You guys don’t have to answer that,” she assured them quickly.

Meanwhile, every cell in her body was screaming at her to shut up and let them reply.

Grace exchanged a look with Jack and at his nod, she leaned forward and took Lia’s hands in hers. “My dear, practically from the first day Caine brought you home, you’ve always been a part of our family.”

Foster family, Lia heard her mind respond automatically—in self-preservation—as it always did. She didn’t realize, however, that she’d whispered her little self-preservation tactic aloud until she heard Caine sigh.

“Lia,” he said patiently, using his ‘cop’ voice, “I don’t know if you had noticed, but within a few months of you moving in with us, all of us stopped using the word ‘foster’ when it came to you.”

She’d noticed.

“You’re the only one who ever still says it,” pointed out Max.

Yeah, she’d noticed that, too.

“But only when you talk about mom and dad,” finished Gabe gently.

That reminder, she could’ve done without hearing. Especially when she saw the flicker of hurt cross the faces of the two people who’d been parents to her for nearly half her life now.

Jack and Grace Spencer always called her their daughter, no preceding ‘foster’ before the term, while she never referenced them without it.

And she didn’t need Grace’s many psych degrees to explain why she only did it with Grace and Jack, but not the guys. It was simple. She’d never had any biological siblings before she met the Spencers.

But she’d had biological parents.

“I…” she began, unsure of how to begin. They were right. She was the one who’d cemented them as foster family members in her head, regardless of what her heart felt.

Out of loyalty to the parents who were taken from her.

However, in her efforts to honor her biological parents, to keep remembering them especially when the images she’d held of them in her head started fading, she’d unintentionally hurt the two parents she’d come to love just as fiercely without any blood ties or official legal papers.

Tears flooded her eyes in regret.

“Don’t you cry over this, young lady,” ordered Grace sternly. “We understand. We always did. That’s why we never pushed. You went through a terrible loss that none of us could even begin to imagine, let alone overcome the way you have.”

“Of course, the guys and I totally disagreed with how they were handling it,” reported Caine in an I-still-think-we-were-right sort of way.

“Yeah,” chimed in Max. “We kept telling mom and dad that they should’ve at least shown you the adoption papers.”

Hold on. What?

Oxygen, her brain needed oxygen. Gulping a huge breath, she stared at her three brothers to see if they were just teasing.

Nope, they weren’t kidding at all.

This was perhaps the most serious she’d seen the three of them behave.

“Adoption papers?”

For me?

No way.

That automatic teen response by her brain was just a reminder of how long she’d wanted this.

Jack was now studying her more intently than them all. “Lia, the only reason we never pushed the issue was because you very clearly told us you didn’t need or want anything from us.”

Yes. She’d remembered the day like it was yesterday. “I was only trying to help,” she revealed softly.

“What do you mean, sweetie?” Grace looked utterly confused.