“Actually, it does,” Gemma snaps back at him, regaining a little of her spirit. “Though if I’d known I was related to such a dick, maybe I wouldn’t have been so eager to meet you.”
“You have no idea, do you?” he volleys back. “The damage you and your mother did to our lives? Otherwise you’d have left us the hell alone.”
Her spine straightens. “You can try to blame me, but it’s not my fault Milo had an affair. I’m sorry if I’ve tarnished your view of your lifelong hero—”
“Is that what you think?” Parker laughs coldly. “That Milo West is a hero? That he’s going to be the daddy you never had?”
“Watch it,” Chase growls in warning.
Nate steps purposely into the space between them.
Parker holds his hands up in surrender. “I’m just being honest, here. She wants to be part of this family, she should know what she’s getting into.”
“Parker,” I murmur.
He’s too pissed to listen. His eyes are locked on Gemma. “I know all about you. I’ve made it my business to know about you.” He swallows hard. “You may not have had a father, but you had a mother. That’s more than me or Phoebe ever had.”
My heart clenches.
Parker’s voice cracks but he keeps going. “Because when dear old dad had an affair with your mother… Do you know what happened to ours? Do you have any idea?”
I go still.
Nate’s suddenly standing in Parker’s face. I didn’t even see him move — he’s just there, out of nowhere. “Let it go. Walk away. You’re not doing this here.”
Parker glares at his best friend in the world and, for a split second, I actually think he’s going to take a swing at him — that’s how far gone Parker is, in this moment.
“Get out of my face,” my brother says flatly. “This isn’t your family. It isn’t you fight.”
“It is, actually,” Nate corrects. “Phoebe is my family. You’re my family. Don’t tell me this isn’t my business.”
Their eyes lock and the air between them grows so tense, I clench my hands to keep from stepping between them.
Gemma appears at my side, Chase trailing close behind her. Her face is twisted in pain and regret.
“Phoebe…” Her voice is a whisper. “What happened to your mother?”
I swallow, tears still in my eyes as I stare at her. I sense Nate and Parker fall silent, but I don’t shift my eyes off my friend.
Off my sister.
That’s going to take some getting used to.
I take a deep breath and force out the words. Words I’ve made a habit of burying deep down inside my soul, because they’re too painful to say aloud. I make myself say them now.
“She killed herself.”
My words are barely above a whisper, but she hears them. Her whole body flinches back.
“What?” she asks, horrified.
I swallow. “She was always fragile. She had a depressive personality disorder. A lot of times she wouldn’t get out of bed, would go days without coming out of her bedroom. She was on medication, but more often than not she couldn’t be counted on to take it.” My eyes go unfocused as I retreat into memories. “When she found out about the women, the affairs… something just seemed to break inside her. Something that couldn’t be fixed. I was young. I didn’t know how to make her better. Neither did the doctors or the specialists or any of the psychiatrists my father paraded into our house. For years, we watched helplessly as she retreated into herself more and more each day…”
Parker’s eyes are red. Even Nate and Chase, ever stoic, look a bit shaken. Gemma doesn’t say anything, but there are silent tears tracking down her face. When she reaches out to take my hand, I don’t pull away. I lace my fingers through hers and hold tight.
“We think she went in the middle of the night. Took some sleeping pills, waded into the ocean in her nightgown and…” I trail off. “It was me, who found her the next day. Covered in sand and surf. I remember thinking she was like some kind of mermaid washed ashore.”