My Six-Year-Old Told Me About His Sister Before My Husband Did Chapter 06

My Six-Year-Old Told Me About His Sister Before My Husband Did Chapter 06

Half an hour later, Reeve replied.

[The owner said it’s not reopening. The pastry chef was his girlfriend. She went back to her hometown yesterday. They broke up.]

Thayer stared at the message.

A dull, unfamiliar ache settled in his chest.

He pressed his lips together and kept sending Isolde messages.

[Izzy, are you home? If your feet got frostbitten, there’s ointment in the drawer.]

[If Coralie upsets you again, yell at her. I won’t take her side anymore.]

[I’m sorry, baby. Please answer me when you see this.]

Quick footsteps sounded not far away.

For one reckless second, he thought it was Isolde.

But it was Coralie, holding Twyla.

Disappointment hit him first.

Then irritation slowly grew beneath it.

“What are you doing here?”

Coralie smiled with careful sweetness.

“Twyla woke up crying. She wanted to come keep her brother company.”

—

Twyla kissed his cheek, sweet and bright-eyed.

“Daddy, Mommy brought food. I’ll take some to Tavish.”

She took the bowl and spoon and walked into the hospital room.

Thayer nodded tiredly and let her go.

Coralie immediately wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Look at you. You’re exhausted. Thayer, eat something first.”

He looked at the food she held up and waved it away.

Just looking at it made him miss Isolde’s cooking.

Inside the room, Tavish brightened when he saw Twyla.

He forced himself to sit up.

“Twyla.”

But there was no concern in Twyla’s dark eyes.

She climbed onto the bed, pressed Tavish down, and clamped both hands over his nose and mouth.

“You already can’t breathe well,” she whispered. “Everyone will think you just got too sick.”

“If you’re gone, Daddy won’t have to choose you.”

“Then he’ll be mine.”

She looked almost sweet, except for the cold certainty in her eyes.

Tavish’s eyes flew wide.

—

Tears spilled down his face.

But he was too weak to fight her off.

In his panic, only one thought remained.

Mom.

He regretted not listening to her.

Regretted making her leave.

If Mom were here, everything would be okay.

Suddenly, a nurse doing rounds shouted, “Stop! What are you doing?”

Twyla clenched her teeth and pressed down harder.

The nurse shoved her away.

Tavish gasped for air, sobbing like he had been pulled back from the edge.

“Mom! Mom!”

He broke down, crying and calling for her.

Thayer nearly stumbled into the room, throwing himself toward Tavish to make sure he was alive.

When Isolde gave birth to Tavish, she had been in labor for a day and a night.

Isolde had almost died giving birth to him.

If anything had happened to him, Thayer could not even think it.

—

Cold sweat soaked through him.

His eyes went red.

He grabbed Twyla from the floor and roared, “Why would you do that? What did Tavish ever do to you? Haven’t I given you everything?”

Coralie rushed forward and shielded Twyla behind her.

“He’s not her real brother, Thayer. She’s scared. She’s been scared for years.”

“She thought you were going to choose Tavish and send us away again.” “She’s just a child. She panicked.”

“You know how hard it was for us in Port Aster. We finally got to be with you. She’s a child, Thayer. She panicked. She thought you were going to abandon her again.”

Twyla dropped to her knees and sobbed apologies.

Thayer stared at the scene in front of him, his temple throbbing.

For the first time, he saw the poison hidden beneath Coralie’s softness.

And maybe he had been wrong from the moment he stopped the car for her.

—

The nurse had already called security. Two guards stood at the door, watching the scene unfold.

Thayer looked at Twyla, still crying on the floor. Then at Coralie, who was already crafting her next excuse.

Then at Tavish, his son, his real son, who had nearly been killed by a child Coralie had raised.

“Do you see what you’ve done?” Thayer’s voice was low, trembling with barely contained rage. “You brought a child into my home who tried to murder my son.”

Coralie’s face twisted. “She’s just a child—”

“She’s a child you raised. A child you taught to hate. A child who thought she could kill her way into my life.”

Thayer turned to the security guards.

“Take them to the station. I’m pressing charges.”

Coralie screamed. “Thayer! You can’t do this!”

“I can. And I will.”

Tavish was still crying, reaching for Thayer with trembling hands.

“Dad. Dad, I want Mom. Please. Please call Mom.”

Thayer gathered his son into his arms, holding him close.

“I will,” he promised. “I’ll call her. I’ll bring her back.”

But even as he said it, he knew.

He had driven her away.

And he wasn’t sure she would ever come back.