Read mystic caravan mystery 02 - freaky lies Online

Authors: amanda m lee

mystic caravan mystery 02 - freaky lies (35 page)

“No way,” Luke said, shaking his head. “I’ll paint your toenails or something. That will be my favor.”

That didn’t sound remotely fair. “I … .”

The sound of a man clearing his throat at the end of the table caught my attention, causing me to forget what I was about to say. When I realized Max was standing there my heart dropped to my stomach. I was certain I was about to throw up all over Luke’s breakfast.

“Hey, Max,” Luke said, completely missing my newfound distress. “You missed all the excitement last night. You usually do, though. Do you want to hear all about it over breakfast?”

Max glanced at me, our gazes momentarily locking. “I would love to hear the story at some time,” he said. “I’m actually here for another reason.”

My stomach, which only seconds before had been growling in anticipation of breakfast, felt as if it was going to explode from the burning tension roiling it.

“What’s going on?” Kade asked, confused as he glanced between Max and me. “Is something wrong?”

“I guess that depends on the way you look at things,” Max said, licking his lips. “I have something I need to tell you, and I don’t believe you’re going to like it.”

Kade stilled, his shoulders stiffening. “Okay.”

Max shifted his eyes to Luke. “Perhaps you should find someone else to cook you breakfast this morning,” he suggested. “I don’t think this breakfast is going to be digestible when I’m done.”

“That sounds ominous,” Luke said. “I … do I really have to go?”

Luke loves gossip. He didn’t want to miss out on what was about to happen.

“That’s up to Kade,” Max said. “What I have to tell him is … his story.”

“He can stay,” Kade said, shifting on the bench and leaning back so there was more distance between Max and himself. He didn’t know what was coming, but he sensed it was bad. “Just spit it out, Max. You’re making it worse by prolonging it.”

“I understand that,” Max said, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just … I never envisioned telling you this. Well, that’s not entirely true. I wanted you to know the whole story from the beginning, but your mother didn’t think that was a good idea.”

“What’s going on?” Kade asked, his voice taking on a hard edge. “I know you’ve been keeping something from me since I got here. At first I thought it was just the magic stuff, but then I realized more was going on. Just … tell me.” He was almost begging Max to do the right thing. I would do anything to save him from the hurt he was about to feel, but it was out of my hands.

“I did not know your father,” Max said, twisting his fingers together. “We were not friends and I didn’t make a promise to him as he lay dying that I would look out for you and your mother. I know that’s the story you were told, but it isn’t true.”

“Okay, what’s the truth?” Kade asked, his eyes glued on Max’s face.

“The truth is … .” Max broke off, flashing me a helpless look as he floundered. He’s the strongest man I know, but I didn’t think he was capable of doing this.

“The truth is Max is your father,” I volunteered, causing Max to widen his eyes and Luke to suck in a breath. “He wanted to be a part of your life, but your mother didn’t think that was a good idea because he was always on the road. They came to an … understanding.”

“What?” Kade’s face was a mottled shade of red as he glared at me.

“I’m your father,” Max gritted out. “I’m sorry for not telling you the truth sooner. I wanted to, but I feared you wouldn’t take it well. Your mother made up such wonderful stories about your father, and I didn’t think I could live up to the manufactured hype.”

“You’re my father?” Kade’s voice climbed an octave as he pushed himself to a standing position. Max wasn’t a large man, but he wasn’t small either. He looked positively tiny in the face of Kade’s fury.

“I am your father,” Max confirmed. “I’m so sorry for springing it on you this way, but … I thought you should know the truth.”

Instead of yelling or screaming … instead of throwing his arms around Max and saying they could work things out … Kade turned his accusatory eyes on me. “You knew!”

“Not for long,” I said, my cheeks burning. “I figured it out about a week after you arrived, and confronted Max with my suspicions.”

“Don’t be angry with Poet,” Max said. “She demanded I tell you the truth right away, but I was afraid to do it. This isn’t her fault.”

“Well, you’ve got half of that right,” Kade said, tossing his unused napkin on the table and taking a step back. “She’s not the one who told the initial lie, but she allowed you to keep telling it for the past two weeks.”

“I told him he had to tell you the truth,” I protested, my eyes filling with tears. “I threatened to quit if he didn’t.”

“She did,” Max said, bobbing his head. “She also gave me an ultimatum that I tell you today or she would. I would like to think I would’ve told you the truth without her push, but fear is a funny thing. I don’t know that I would have done it. She insisted, though.”

“This is what’s been bothering you,” Luke said, his eyes wide. “I couldn’t figure it out. You tell me everything, but I knew you were hiding something.”

“This wasn’t my secret to tell,” I explained. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you sorry for not telling him or lying to me?” Kade spat, his venom taking me by surprise.

“Both.”

“Well, that’s just great,” Kade hissed, briefly pressing his eyes shut as he rubbed his hand over his hair. “I just … I can’t believe this.”

“You need time to absorb it,” I said. “I understand you’re angry … .”

“You don’t understand anything,” Kade seethed, gesturing wildly to shut me up. “I told you how I felt at loose ends after my mother died and that’s why I ended up here. I told you I wanted to feel I was part of a family and you knew all along that I had real family here.”

“That’s my fault,” Max said. “I told her I needed time to prepare myself. I wanted you to get comfortable here before I sprang this on you.”

“I’m not talking to you,” Kade barked, causing Max to take an inadvertent step back. “What you’ve done is bad enough, but I wasn’t sleeping in the same bed with you. I wasn’t forging a relationship with you. She lied to me! She said she wouldn’t do it again after the first big lie, and now I find she’s been doing nothing but lying for weeks.”

“I’m so sorry,” I offered, tears spilling down my cheeks. I knew it would come to this. I felt it in my bones and now it was even worse than I had imagined. “I didn’t want to lie to you, but I thought the truth would be better coming from Max.”

“That doesn’t make it better,” Kade said.

“I care about you,” I said, trying a different tactic. “I wanted you to know the truth, but I didn’t know how to tell you. It didn’t seem as if it was my place.”

“That doesn’t help either,” Kade said, his jaw clenching and unclenching as his chest heaved. “That makes it worse. You don’t lie to someone you care about.”

“But … .”

“No!” Kade vehemently shook his head. “I just … no. Stop talking. I need time to think.”

I took a step in his direction, holding my hands up to signal my surrender. “Just let me talk to you. I want to explain why I did what I did.”

“I do, too,” Max said, his voice low.

“Well, I don’t want to hear anything either of you have to say,” Kade said. “I just … can’t. I need to think.”

Kade turned on his heel and stalked away, not even bothering to cast a backward glance in my direction as he fled. I had no idea where he was going, but my first instinct was to follow. Luke stilled me with a hand on my arm when I made a move to chase after Kade. I hadn’t even noticed him get up from the table.

“Let him go, Poet,” Luke said, his eyes sympathetic. “You just blew up his world. He’s going to need more than five minutes to wrap his head around it.”

“But … I need him to know how sorry I am.”

“That will make you feel better, not him,” Luke said. “I understand why you did what you did, but you had to know it wouldn’t end well. You had to know it would crush him.”

I did know that. Somehow I convinced myself it would all work out in the end, though. “I don’t know what to do.”

“All you can do is give him time,” Luke said, his gaze bouncing between Max and me. “That’s all either of you can do.”

In my head I knew he spoke the truth. My heart was another matter. I was sure my heart was breaking.

“There’s nothing else we can do, Poet,” Max said. “If it’s any consolation, you were right. I should’ve told him from the beginning.”

That wasn’t any consolation at all.

“Give it time,” Luke said, his voice gentle. “He’ll forgive you. Have a little faith.”

The fact that he echoed Kade’s words from a few hours earlier bolstered me, but just barely. “I guess there’s nothing else to do but wait.”

“No,” Luke agreed. “That’s all you can do.”

So that’s what I did. After all, it’s a circus and we have a full day of work ahead of us. The show must go on.

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