Page 45 of Bang

I'd known this, but it still made me angry. And yet, there was something I didn't quite get. "For good? What do you mean?"

"Apparently, he was always leaving and coming back. But the way Brody talks, he was gone a lot more than he was around."

I frowned. "What a lunk-blaster."

"Yeah. No kidding," she said. "And then, he dies in a car crash when Willow's barely a year old, right after the mom takes off, too."

Even though I knew the story, it still made me sad to think of everything those kids had gone through – and yes, even Mason.

At the table, Arden continued. "So the way Brody tells it, Willow came home crying in preschool, saying thatshewanted a dad, too. And she asked Mason ifhe'dbe her dad."

The thought nearly broke my heart. "And what'd he tell her?"

"What he tells her is that he's her brother, not her dad, but he loves her like his own daughter, and if she ever wants to call him Dad, that's fine by him."

Hearing this, my heart warmed for both of them. Still, I had to say, "But she doesn't – call him Dad, I mean."

"Well not to him directly," Arden said. "But when she's talking to other people, especially people she doesn't know very well, she calls him that as sort of a shortcut."

I saw what she meant. "Oh. So she doesn't have to explain her family history?"

"That'smyguess," Arden said.

The theory made sense. And later that night, when I'd almost decided that I had their family dynamics all figured out, Willow herself told me something that opened up a whole new line of thought.

And I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it.

Chapter 17

Cami

Willow gave me a crooked grin. "Guess what I got for mylastbirthday."

We'd finished dinner maybe an hour ago, and the two of us were lounging side-by-side out on the back patio, overlooking the river.

It was almost November, and the air was cool and brisk. But the patio had become one of our favorite spots, so here we were, bundled up in sweaters and blankets, drinking hot cocoa and enjoying the view.

We'd been talking about our favorite holidays, which had led to the subject of birthdays and favorite presents.

Before I had the chance to guess Willow's latest birthday gift, she added, "And just so you know, it was one of my favorites."

"A favorite gift, huh?" I pretended to think. "Was it a…. giant squid?"

She giggled. "No. I don't want a squid, Silly."

I smiled. "Can you give me a hint?"

"What kind of hint?" she asked.

"Okay, how about this?" I pulled out my best horror-show voice. "Is it alive?"

She nodded. "Yup."

Huh.Now that was unexpected. She had no pets, so I couldn't imagine what she meant. But we both loved guessing games, especially when they turned ridiculous, so I asked, "Was it a dinosaur?"

She giggled again. "Dinosaurs aren't real."

I furrowed my eyebrows in mock concentration. "Hmmm…Then I guess a unicorn is out of the question."