“Fourteen,” Nathan whispered. He looked back to Faith, the shock on his face almost as hurtful as his denial all those years ago. “I didn’t believe you,” he said. “I thought you were trying to get back at me because Carla and I...”
He shook his head, and for the first time, Faith saw a hint of regret in Nathan’s eyes. “And then you left. All these years I let myself believe... I heard rumors, of course...” His eyes widened. “Jesus Christ, Faith. Your family really kicked you out, didn’t they?”
She didn’t have to answer. The look on her face said it all.
“Mom?” Matt asked, and now she felt her son’s eyes on her, too. She had never told Matt the full truth of it, of exactly what her decision to keep him had cost her.
“Yes,” she said, drawing courage from somewhere way deep inside.
“Jesus.”
For some unfathomable reason, Faith actually felt sorry for Nathan in that moment. It hadn’t always been easy, but she had her son. “It wasn’t all bad. Your dad helped us find a place to live. He’d come and visit sometimes, spend some time with Matt, but never told him who he was.”
“I’m sorry, Faith. Forgive me.”
Faith inclined her head. “Thank you.” She looked into Nathan’s eyes, saw real torment there. “And I forgave you a long time ago, Nathan.” She didn’t realize the truth of those words until they came out of her mouth. All these years she’d blamed him, but it was herself she’d needed to forgive, not Nathan.
She slipped her purse over her shoulder and turned to her son. “Okay?” Faith asked Matt.
“Yeah,” he said, exhaling. “I’ve heard enough. Thanks, Mom.”
“Wait!” Nathan said. “You’re not leaving are you? You just got here. And I don’t know anything about you.”
Matt turned calm, thoughtful eyes to him. “No,” he said. “You don’t.” There was not a trace of the hurt or anger she had feared this meeting would bring, just acceptance and a sense of closure.
“Can you stay? Just for a little while? Please?”
Matt looked to Faith. “It’s up to you,” she said, so proud of him in that moment.
“Nah,” Matt said finally. “I’m good.” He stood and offered his hand to Nathan. “It was nice meeting you.”
Stunned, Nathan took his hand. “You’ve got a good, strong grip,” he murmured.
One side of Matt’s mouth curved upward in a grin, so like Kieran’s that Faith stilled for a moment as yet another realization hit: Matt was as attached to Kieran as she was.
“Thanks, Nathan,” she said, grabbing her check, leaving Nathan’s. “We won’t bother you again.”
“Oh,” she said, reaching into her bag and extracting a familiar looking envelope. “Here. Your papers. Burn them, shred them, do whatever you want with them. We’ve gotten what we came for.” Matt draped an arm around his mother’s shoulders as they walked away from the table, leaving Nathan Longstreet in a mild case of shock.
Chapter Nineteen
“You okay, Mom?” Matt asked once they had walked out of view.
No, she thought inwardly. She was not alright. Her head was throbbing with the potential for a full-blown migraine, probably brought on by the stress of the last few hours and Nathan’s heavy cologne. And her stomach felt like there were a bunch of miniature leprechauns doing a jig in there.
But that was nothing compared to the ache in her heart.
The events of the last hour or so had made a lot of things crystal clear. Not the least of which was that she was hopelessly, desperately in love with one big, blue-eyed Irishman. Sitting there across from a man she thought she had once loved, Faith couldn’t help but compare everything about him to Kieran, and there just was no comparison. Kieran was everything she’d ever wanted in a man and more.
And it had absolutely nothing to do with his money or his family or his success.
Despite being worlds apart on the socio-economic scale, he had always treated her as an equal. With kindness. Generosity. Respect. Love. She’d been the only one to allow things like wealth and status to cloud her judgment.
And in a few short months Kieran had been more of a father to Matt than his real father – or anyone else for that matter – ever had.
God, she was such an idiot.
“Yeah,” she finally answered, blowing out a breath. No sense laying any more burdens at her son’s feet. He’d had enough drama to last him a while. “How about you?”
He grinned. “Yeah. Wouldn’t have picked him for my dad, though. The guy’s a complete tool.”
After a brief moment of surprise, Faith couldn’t help but laugh. She wound her way through Matt’s arm; thankfully he was not the type to be overly embarrassed by the show of affection. “That he is,” she agreed.
“What did you ever see in him?”
Wasn’t that the million-dollar question, literally? “He was very good-looking,” Faith said, smiling when Matt rolled his eyes. “He was smart, athletic, and popular. But I think what really did it was that he was nice to me.”