Page 217 of The Compass Series

HAILEE

H e had a brother.

I still hadn’t wrapped my mind around that detail, and I was certain Aiden hadn’t either.

Aiden didn’t sleep much. When he woke up, he didn’t mention the letter at all.

He simply headed to the gym to get a workout in.

I’d messaged him a few times throughout the day but didn’t get much of a reply.

I knew him well enough to know that he was in his head.

I wasn’t going to push him to express himself, though.

Sometimes people had to work things out in their heads before they were ready to talk about it.

When I was on my lunch break, I texted Laurie to see if she was at home and available for a conversation. I was relieved when she messaged me back, telling me to come over, so I headed straight to her.

“Hey, Laurie, how are you?” I asked as she opened the door. She smiled and gave me a hug. I knew it sounded odd, but I swore her son had her smile. The kind of smile that made every single heart feel loved.

“I’m doing okay, sweetheart. Did Aiden read the letter?” I nodded. She sighed. “How’s he doing? Did it give him the answers he was looking for?”

“I’m not sure. She didn’t seem interested in meeting him, but she dropped the bomb that he has an older brother.”

“A brother?”

“Yup. His name is Damian, and he lives out in California. I guess he’s a big successful real estate agent.”

“Aiden always wanted a brother.” Her eyes glassed over, but she didn’t cry. “He’s sad, isn’t he?”

“Yes. And confused.”

“I talked him into coming back home for a few months because I noticed how unhappy he’d been. I knew his mind was going to those dark places that he doesn’t speak about. Most people can’t see it, but I know you can, Hailee. So can you do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“When you see him getting lost in himself again, when you see him going down the road of darkness, I need you to help bring him back. I need you to keep my son safe.”

My eyebrows lowered. “Yes, of course. How do I do that, though?”

“The same way you brought him back these past few months…you show up. You stay. You’re his true north, Hailee. When you’re around him, he’ll always find his way back.”

That night, I stayed late at the inn, waiting for Aiden. When he did show up, his eyes were bloodshot, clear signs that he’d been emotional, but I didn’t call him out on it.

“Hey. You didn’t answer your phone today,” I mentioned.

“Yeah. Sorry. I just feel as if I needed some time alone.”

I went to hug him, and I could smell the bourbon when I got close. “Let’s go upstairs,” I offered. He didn’t decline the request as he led me to his room. Once we were inside, he closed the door behind him.

“Are you drunk?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“You’re sad.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re sad,” I repeated.

He grimaced. “It’s fine. I was about to go to sleep, so?—”

“Okay,” I replied, climbing into his bed without an invite.

“No, Hails. I don’t think you understand. I want to be alone.”

“Yeah.” I nodded as I took off my shoes.

“And you will be,” I agreed as I pulled back the blankets on his bed and climbed inside.

“I know sometimes, you’ll want to be alone, and I’ll respect that.

But not tonight, Aiden. Not after the few hard days you’ve had.

So tonight we are going to be alone together. ” I patted the spot beside me.

He sighed a little but walked over to me. He climbed into the bed, and the second he was settled, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest. My perfect puzzle piece.

He placed his forehead against mine. “I’m sad and confused.”

“You have every right to feel that way.”

“I just keep going back and forth about what to do. Am I supposed to meet this guy? What if I do, and it’s a letdown? What if I meet him, and he’s just like Jake, or worse. What if he adds more drama to my life?”

“Yeah. I get that. Or what if it’s better than you could imagine?”

He didn’t reply, but I felt his body relax from the idea of it.

“Hailee Jones?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for being alone with me.” He kissed my forehead and pulled me in closer, wrapping me in his embrace. “I really needed to be alone together.”

Aiden stayed at my place for the next few days, so I could make sure he was doing all right. The morning of Christmas Eve, I woke up expecting him to be beside me in the bed. Instead, I found a little note.

Hails, I made a rushed decision and booked a flight to Los Angeles to meet my brother. I’ll be back in the morning for Christmas. I love you. -Tom

I read his words repeatedly, feeling my heart racing faster and faster. He was meeting his brother. I wished I could’ve been on that flight with him, but perhaps it was something he had to do on his own.

I kept myself busy, but my phone near if Aiden needed to call me for reassurance in any form that everything was going to be okay.

I headed over to my parents’ house to help Mama and Laurie prep the food for this evening and for tomorrow’s big dinner. Laurie let Samuel move back into the house, but I could tell the tension between them was still there. It grew even worse when Jake showed up for Christmas Eve dinner, uninvited.

Laurie didn’t send him away even though she’d clearly wanted to. I felt bad for her. She wanted nothing to do with that man. Samuel seemed to have reached his breaking point with his cousin, too, taking him outside for a conversation.

“Hailee, can you take the trash out? It’s full,” Mama asked me after I’d finished chopping up vegetables. I agreed, grabbing the trash bag from the bin.

I headed out to the backyard to toss the trash away, and as I approached the bins, I heard yelling from next door. I paused as I hid behind the wall of my parents’ garage and listened.

“I don’t give a fuck, Jake. You can’t be here. My wife is saying she wants a divorce. I’m done giving you handouts,” Samuel told his cousin.

My heart was in my throat as I listened.

“You owe me! Or are you forgetting why you even have a wife still to this day? If Laurie knew the truth, she would’ve left your ass years ago. I just need a few hundred dollars and?—”

“No, Jake. We’re done here. I’ve more than paid you back for what you did. You can’t keep showing up like this.”

“I can, and unless you give me what I want, I’ll tell Laurie what happened. How you came out to visit me in Los Angeles—” he warned.

“Stop it, Jake,” Samuel cut in.

But he didn’t stop. The more Jake talked, the more my heart pounded in my chest.

“The way you were supposed to be auditioning, but you got so wasted that you missed the audition. The way you fucked a woman on my couch and got her knocked up. Who cleaned up that mess for you? Who came up with the plan of lying so your wife wouldn’t know you cheated?

That was me! You wouldn’t have this life if it weren’t for me pretending to be Aiden’s father, so you wouldn’t look like the bad guy.

So until I get what I want, I will keep showing up and?—”

I dropped the bag of trash, causing a loud bang.

The two men went quiet.

“What was that?” Samuel asked.

I covered my mouth with my hands and tried to be as quiet as possible, but when Samuel and Jake rounded the corner to see me, I panicked.

“Hailee,” Samuel said.

“Oh shit,” Jake muttered, running his hands through his hair. “You think she heard anything?” he asked his cousin.

“Are you fucking stupid? Of course, she did,” Samuel snapped. “Leave, Jake.”

Jake stood straight. “What about my money?”

“Leave,” Samuel barked. Jake grumbled a bit and stumbled off, leaving me there with Aiden’s father.

His father.

His biological father.

Oh my gosh.

Samuel grimaced and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Hailee, I…”

“You’re his dad,” I gasped. “You’re Aiden’s biological father.”

“You can’t tell anyone,” Samuel ordered, leaving me in shock.

“What?”

“You can’t tell Aiden this. You must keep this between you and me. Otherwise, it would ruin his life. You cannot tell a soul about what you overheard.”

Just like that, I was transported five years prior. I was that scared teenager afraid of ruining the love of my life’s world. Samuel was asking me to betray Aiden all over again, only this time, I knew better. I was smarter and wiser and wasn’t the scared little girl I’d once been.

“No,” I replied.

He stared at me, flabbergasted. “Excuse me?”

“I said no. I’m not going to keep this from him.

I love him, Samuel, and years ago, you convinced me that if I loved him, I’d lie to him and tell him I didn’t have feelings for him to convince him to go after his dreams. I lied to him and broke my own heart in the process of trying to do what I thought was right.

I was just a kid who wanted the best for him.

But I refuse to listen to you anymore. Back then, I thought your choices were being made for your son’s best interest, but now I see they were just for you.

You are a selfish, cruel man, and I will not keep this from Aiden.

The second he returns, I’m telling him.”

“I’ll tell him first,” he swore. “The moment he gets here, I’ll tell him the truth. Just let it come from me. At least give me that chance.”

I didn’t want to give him any chances. I didn’t want to be anywhere near him.

He’d used and abused his son throughout the years, shaping Aiden’s life into Samuel’s dream world.

He’d watched how his son struggled and cried over a bad relationship with Jake.

He sat through Aiden’s panic attacks as a kid about Jake not showing up for him only because he didn’t want to look like the bad guy.

He allowed his son to experience trauma because he was too selfish to tell the truth.

This time, I wouldn’t be his scapegoat.

This time, he couldn’t keep paying Jake off to keep his mouth shut.

“Please, Hailee,” Samuel begged, tears flooding his eyes.

“Aiden is possibly meeting his brother right now, which has to be hard on him. I don’t want this to mark our Christmases for the rest of our lives.

Give me until the day after Christmas. Then I’ll tell him.

My world is about to be set on fire. At least give me the respect to be the one to light the match. ”

I grimaced as I crossed my arms and stood tall. That man would never make me feel small again. Still, I didn’t want all the Christmases moving forward to be scarred with these details of Aiden’s father being his… father. That was a different kind of trauma to unpack.

“You have until the twenty-sixth. I’m not going to wait a second after that.”

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Deal.”