Page 38 of Ebbing Tides (The Lighthouse Duology #2)

We decided to take separate cars after determining that there wasn’t much room for all of us and an eighty-pound black Lab in Melanie’s SUV.

Now at Sid’s place, I was heading up the driveway with Melanie, her boys, and Lido when Sid made his presence boisterously known by throwing the front door open and stepping onto the porch with a loud whoop that carried through the night.

My chest tightened at the sight of him. It had been two, maybe three months since we'd seen each other, due to my schedule with my father and his schedule as a stay-at-home dad.

But, man, seeing him now, grinning at the sight of me like it'd been two years and not two months …

I realized just how much I'd missed him, just how much my life depended on the stability of our friendship, our brotherhood.

At the sound of Sid's excited shouts, Lido took off running up the porch steps as the three boys stopped short and huddled around their mother, startled by the loud and raucous man in the doorway, who was, for some ungodly reason, wearing a T-shirt and gym shorts in the middle of winter.

“Sergeant Max Tailor, as I live and breathe!” Sid cried in the worst Southern accent I'd ever heard.

“You're scaring them, you psychopath,” I scolded, despite the laughter in my tone.

“Come on, guys,” I encouraged the boys, unable to contain my smile at the sight of my friend. “He's not gonna bite.”

Sid was already jogging down the porch steps when CJ whispered, “Mommy, his leg weird.”

“CJ,” Melanie gently reprimanded. “It’s not nice—”

All chatter came to a halt when Sid reached me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and hoisted me up effortlessly.

“Oh my God,” I uttered breathlessly, the wind knocked out of me as he squeezed me tightly.

He dropped me unceremoniously, and I steadied my feet before I could topple over.

He reached out to pat my stomach with a loving grin. “Are we expecting, or are you just getting pudgy?”

I brushed his hand away. “Asshole.”

“Gotta hit the gym, Serg. Don't want you getting soft in your old age.”

“Max isn't fat,” Luke commented, unamused.

At the sound of the young kid's voice, Sid turned to him with a scowl. “Who says?”

“I do,” Luke replied, glaring.

“Oh, yeah?” Sid crouched, resting his elbows on his knees—real and artificial. “And who are you ?”

“Luke Corbin,” the boy answered, acting every bit the tough guy, and I glanced at Melanie's smile with a smile of my own.

“He's my brother,” Danny chimed in, standing beside Luke with his arms crossed over his chest.

Sid nodded as he peeked around Luke to find CJ standing between his mother's feet. “Are you his brother too?”

CJ just nodded, keeping his wide eyes on Sid's mechanical leg.

“Hmm,” Sid grunted, steering his gaze back to Luke. “Well, Luke Corbin, since your brothers are here to back you up, I'll let you off easy. But the next time I catch you defending this guy at my house, I might not be so nice.”

He smiled to show them he was kidding and extended his hand to the oldest boy. “Corporal Sidney Sprague, young sir. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

He shook each of their hands before rising to his full height to finally address Melanie with a bow of his head. “Miss Melanie, I presume.”

She extended her hand to him. “Corporal.”

“Lovely to meet you in person,” he responded, accepting her gesture with a light shake.

His eyes met mine with a wink. “Lucky bastard.”

I shoved playfully against his shoulder. “You're married to my sister, asshole,” I chided as I brushed past him to head up the walkway with a hand on Luke's shoulder to guide him toward the porch.

“Doesn't mean I can't appreciate a beautiful woman,” Sid protested.

“That's exactly what it means,” I threw over my shoulder.

Sid snorted, then asked Melanie, “Accompany me up the stairs, m'lady?”

She was giggling, absolutely delighted by his charm, as she replied, “I would love to.”

Luke and Danny walked ahead of me while CJ held back with Melanie, simply to ask Sid, “Where did your leg go?”

“CJ, honey,” Melanie said gently, though the exasperation in her tone was clear. “It isn’t polite—”

“What? What do you mean, where did my leg go?” Sid interjected, horrified, and a chuckle began in my chest, low and steady. “Are you telling me my leg is gone?”

CJ’s giggles were immediate. “Yeah! You leg looks like a Transformer.”

Sid feigned a gasp. “A what ?!”

I glanced over my shoulder in time to watch my friend look down at his new prosthesis—a robotic limb that did, in fact, resemble something a Transformer might use.

“Oh my God,” he cried in terror. “Serg, did you see this?! What the hell did they do to my leg?!”

“Can’t believe you haven’t won your Oscar yet,” I muttered as I headed up the porch steps, where Grace was poking her head out the door.

She looked up at me and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Your husband is auditioning for the remake of Saving Private Ryan ,” I replied before kissing her forehead. “Hi, by the way.”

“ Grace ! Oh my God, Grace, where’s my leg?!” Sid continued to cry, and CJ continued to laugh, his giggles now silent and breathless as he held a hand to his belly.

Melanie met me at the top of the porch steps, her cheeks pink with laughter. The boys wandered inside on their own, already acquainting themselves with my nieces and nephews. My eyes met hers, her grin so infectious that I couldn’t help but smile with her.

“I love your family already,” she said quietly.

“You’ve only met my father and my best friend,” I said. “And since my father is an absolute piece of shit, I can only assume you’re referring to the best friend. Save the declarations for later, after you’ve spent time with all of them, and then we’ll talk.”

She slowly shook her head. “No. I can already tell. I love them. I love it here. I—”

I placed a finger over her lips. “Don’t get ahead of yourself,” I warned softly, even as my mind wondered what she would’ve said next if I’d let her.

I lowered my finger from her lips, and she pressed them together with a slow exhale. And I realized, as I looked deeply into her eyes, I didn’t have to wonder at all.

I knew.

I knew without the words uttered aloud because her soul whispered to mine and my soul whispered back.

I love you.

I love you too.

But that confession between souls, passed between an endless stare, was as far as I could let this go. Because she was leaving, dammit, and how cruel would it be to hear her voice say those words, only to rip them away hours later?

Finally, I turned away from her stare, suddenly aware of where we were and what we were doing, and there was Sid. Leaning against his open doorway, his hands tucked into his shorts pockets and a soft look in his eyes to accompany the smile he wore on his lips.

And I knew he knew too.

***

It should come as no surprise that my sisters fell in love with Melanie and her boys almost as quickly as she had fallen for them.

Ricky and Sid were also smitten, impressed with her sense of humor, carefree attitude, and knowledge of cars.

There wasn’t even a moment of awkward silence during dinner, and when it was time to clear the table, Grace, Lucy, and Melanie all collectively shooed us men and children away to let them work in the kitchen.

The kids fled to the basement, leaving Ricky, Sid, and me to take to the living room couch, where a hockey game was airing on Sid’s enormous flat screen. None of us had any interest in what was happening on the ice though.

“So, uh, I guess I’ll be the one to address the elephant in the room,” Sid began, shifting his weight to turn in my direction. “You’re seriously not letting her leave, right?”

With a glance at Ricky, I found his expectant eyes trained directly on me, and I guessed everyone had been thinking the same thing.

What are my sisters saying right now to Melanie?

“She has to leave,” I insisted. “She has a life. I’ve known her for a fucking week. Less than.”

Sid’s chuckle was short and brusque. “You’ve known her for decades .”

I grunted. “You know what I mean.”

Ricky sighed, drawing my attention to him. “You can’t just let her go, Max. You’ve been waiting too long to be happy.”

I lifted a hand, only to drop it unceremoniously onto my thigh. “I didn’t say I would let her go. We just haven’t exactly explored the options,” I muttered, although I wasn’t entirely sure what those other options might be … if they were there at all. “And I’ve kinda had other things on my mind.”

“Such as?” Ricky asked as Sid’s gaze slid from the TV toward mine.

This wasn’t exactly how I had planned to bring up the findings of my father’s affair or the true story of my origin.

But now, sitting here between my two closest friends, I couldn’t think of a better time to admit the news that had the power to blow everything apart.

Because at least I’d have them to hold me up.

“I found a letter in my dad’s desk,” I explained. “It was from my mom.”

“A letter for you?” Sid asked, brow furrowing.

“No, it was addressed to Dad. He hadn’t read it. I figured it was some kind of suicide note or something, and, um …” I exhaled and turned my gaze upward to stare at the ceiling. “I read it.”

“Okay, so what did it say?” Sid asked, clearly impatient.

I sucked at my teeth and begged the words to pass my rigid lips, but admitting the sins of my father felt an awful lot like admitting my own. After all, I had been the consequence of one of them—maybe even the worst.

“What did she write, Max?” Ricky asked, shifting to lean forward, trying to find my gaze.

“I’m not her son,” I found myself saying. “She, uh … she wasn’t my mother.”