Mason bolted out of the chair. “What? He doesn’t know?”
Leilani sniffled, like she was holding back tears. “No, and I don’t want to tell him either, but Nate is threatening to tell him if I don’t…or if you don’t.”
“Jesus, Leilani. Why are you springing this on me? I don’t need this right now! I don’t even know the kid. Thanks to you, I’ve never even met him!”
“He’s a good boy, Mason. Smart, dedicated. He’ll be a great addition to your team.”
“This isn’t about giving him a job, Leilani.” Mason sat down again, heavily, like the weight of the world was suddenly on his shoulders. “The job is his if he wants it, but I can’t tell him. That’s not something that should come from me.”
Leilani started to cry, and Mason was startled at the emotion that pulled out of him. He could easily picture the beautiful, exotic woman he’d spent countless hours wrapped around. He found himself lost in the past, in all the good times they’d shared. There was a time where he would have done anything for this woman. “Please, Mason…he’ll hate me if I tell him, and he’ll hate me even more if Nate tells him. I can’t have him hating me. He’s all I have…”
Mason sighed, once again moved to irrationality by her. Even after all this time, was there anything he wouldn’t do for her? “Don’t cry, Leilani.” He sighed again, exhausted already. “Fine, I’ll tell him. Somehow, I’ll tell him…if that’s what you really want.”
Her tone immediately brightened. “Oh, please, Mason. I know I’m putting a lot on you, and I know you don’t deserve this, but it has to come from you. If I tell him, it will destroy what we have.”
“But if I do…it doesn’t matter, because we don’t have anything to destroy. Because you never let me have anything with him. You took his entire childhood away from me, Leilani.” Loneliness swept over him in a rush, nearly crushing him. “How could you do that to me?”
Leilani sobbed again. Quietly, she answered with, “I’m so sorry. I was young, foolish, hurt…confused. I thought you were better off being left in the dark. I didn’t want to make things difficult for you…or for Kai.”
“Then maybe you should just let him keep believing Nate is his father. Does it really matter now?” Mason wearily rested his elbows on the table. He felt like the solid oak could barely hold his mammoth weight at the moment.
Leilani sighed. “I completely agree with you, but Nate doesn’t. He’s done with the lies. He feels it’s time.” Her tone turned a little sour. “Personally, I think he’s hoping Kai will turn against me. We’re very close…” Her voice cracked, and she sobbed again.
“Leilani,” Mason breathed, his own emotion bubbling up. “Don’t cry, sweetheart.” He was startled that he’d called her that, after all this time. She seemed surprised as well, and her tears eventually stopped. Mason cleared his throat. He needed to process this conversation, needed to get away from what her voice immediately brought back in him. “It’s late, I should go, Leilani.”
“Okay, Mason. Thank you,” she whispered.
He swallowed that lump again. “Yeah,” was all he could get out.
Just as he was about to say goodbye, she quietly said, “I never stopped loving you, by the way.”
Mason closed his eyes. “I never stopped loving you either, Leilani.” Then he hung up the phone before she could respond.
Returning to the present, Mason looked down at his table of pinned-in-place bees. He suddenly felt exactly like those bees, trapped in a position he didn’t want to be in. Leilani had effectively cornered him into a spot that neither he nor Kai could get out of now. He was positive Kai had no idea what was coming, Mason certainly hadn’t seen it.
Closing his eyes, he blocked out the sight of those trapped insects, and prayed that he and Kai survived this more intact than the dying insects he was studying.
(Cut scene #4. This is at the end of chapter 8, when Jessie visits Millie at home.)
As Millie was settled into her favorite chair, she thought about her visit with Kai this morning. It had sure been sweet of the boy to bring her breakfast. She’d been too queasy to eat it, but the thought was all that mattered. Even if Kai had the unfortunate fate of being that woman’s son, her own had raised him right. He was a thoughtful gentleman.