Sweet Temptation (Sweet #4)(53)

Micah frowned. “Wonder if it was someone at the university.”

“Could be. I didn’t date that many guys in school. I mean I kept it casual. Friends, movies, group dates, that sort of thing, so I doubt anyone could have gotten the wrong idea from me.”

“So what did you study? Last I knew you were wanting to be an art major. David was less than enthused.”

He felt her smile against his chest.

“I made him crazy with my hippie notions as he called it. Said I was too much like our flighty mother. He was always so sensitive about her. He was afraid I was too much like her.”

“He never talked about her. Just your dad,” Micah said.

“Yeah, I know.”

She sounded a little sad, and he squeezed her a little tighter to him.

“She’s not dead, you know.”

Micah stiffened in surprise. “I was certain David said they were both dead. Your mom first and then your dad right after David graduated high school.”

She sighed against him. “Mom left when I was really young. I don’t remember her. I just get glimpses, you know? And even then I’m not sure I’m remembering her. It could be someone else. David never forgave her for breaking Dad’s heart. According to David, she was flighty and irresponsible. An artist with no ambition other than wanting to travel to en vogue places and paint the clichéd scenes.”

“Ah, so that explains the aversion to you being an art major.”

She shrugged. “It was a passing fancy. I mean how many high school kids really know what they want to be the minute they graduate ? I took general studies my freshman year and then declared a major my sophomore year.”

“And? Dare I ask what you grew up to be?” he teased.

“A teacher,” she said softly. “But I had to leave before I could go to work.”

“David always loved children. You share that with him.”

She smiled. “I always saw David with an entire house full of kids. One clinging to each leg, one in each arm and at least two running behind him screaming ‘Daddy’ at the top of their lungs.”

His stomach knotted. He’d wanted kids too. Hannah would have been the perfect mother. He and David had worked out that Hannah would stay at home with any children they had. They’d even had plans drawn up to add on to the house when the time came.

“I’m sorry,” Angelina said as she reached up to touch his face. “I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. I forget sometimes just how tied you were to him and Hannah.”

Micah shook his head. “You should be able to talk about your brother without worrying what it’s going to do to me. He was your family. He loved you.”

“Do you ever wonder why them and not us?”

His brows furrowed and he looked sharply at her. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. I just wonder why some people die when they do. Why wasn’t it me? I wasn’t married. No connections to anyone. It would have been easier for it to be me. David would have mourned, but he would have had you and Hannah. Or do you wonder why not you instead of David? Or am I the only crazy one who asks those kinds of questions?”

“I think you can make yourself crazy going around in circles like that. Who knows why anyone dies? I’ve never believed in all that ‘it’s their time’ bullshit. I believe in bad luck and even worse decisions. I’ve seen enough in my time as a cop to know that things are rarely as random as they appear. There’s always a series of events that lead up to that one moment where all is lost.”

“You sound so cynical,” she said sadly. “I can’t say I blame you. I lost a lot of my belief in good when they died. It was such a senseless tragedy. As you said, bad choices. A driver not paying attention and David and Hannah paid the price. We paid the price.”

“How about we move on to happier things,” Micah said as he touched her nose.

She smiled, though her face still looked sad.

“I wish I could go back and do things different, Angel girl,” he said in a low voice. “You have no idea how much I wish it.”

She cupped his cheeks in both hands and pulled him down in a kiss.

“You’re here now. That’s all that counts.”

“So let me ask you something.”

“Shoot,” she said as she adjusted herself so she faced the ocean again.

“Do you ever think about trying to find your mom?”

She went still. “No. She left. She made her choice pretty clear. She didn’t want me or David. Why would I want her now?”

“Because she’s your only family,” he said gently.

She glanced sharply at him. “Just like your parents are your only family.”

He held up his hands in surrender. “You’ve made your point. Okay, both our parents are off-limits. I won’t talk about yours and you don’t remind me of mine.”

“Deal,” she muttered.

They sat not talking, the sounds of the sea in front of them, the traffic along the seawall boulevard behind them. It surprised him how content he was just to hold her. To feel her, to listen to her soft breathing.

They stayed until the sun slipped below the horizon and the sky was bathed in pink and golden hues. She stirred against him, and it was then he realized she’d fallen asleep.