The Better Man (Chicago Sisters) Read online

  Joanna wiped her eyes, her lips falling into a straight line. “I don’t think it’s a question of can you change, more so do you want to?”

  “I want to. I want to be a good father. I want to be someone Aidan can look up to and trust.” Trust being the most important. Aidan needed to believe Max was always going to be there for him.

  “Then, you will be,” she said simply.

  He wanted to believe it could be that easy. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to let his guard down. That he wouldn’t let Aidan in all the way and that would lead to real resentment. Or worse.

  “What if I let people in and they’re disappointed?”

  “I’ve never been disappointed in who you are,” she said, throwing her arm around his shoulders. “Nobody’s perfect. We all make mistakes. If I’ve taught you anything in this life, it should be that.”

  It was Max’s turn to laugh. She was right, but he’d been too hard on her lately. “You did the best you could, Mom.”

  “You have a good heart, Max. If you let people see it, really see it, there’s no way they’ll be disappointed.”

  A knock on the door brought their conversation to an end. Confusion creased Max’s forehead. No one in the building had any kids who’d be trick-or-treating. Maybe someone snuck in. Max peered through the peephole and was greeted to a distorted view of Charlie’s big head. It wasn’t until he swung the door open that he could see Charlie wasn’t alone.

  “Hey, Floor Three. Speed Racer here was standing outside when I was heading out. He didn’t say anything, but I got the sense he was looking for you.”

  Simon stood silently next to Charlie. His black sweatshirt was decorated with various NASCAR sponsors. His cheeks were red and so were his eyes.

  “Hey, Simon. Does your mom know you’re here?” Simon shook his head. That wasn’t good. Max thanked Charlie and let Simon inside.

  “Hi, there,” Joanna said to Simon, who raised his hand and waved. “What’s your name?”

  “This is Simon, Mom. He’s not the talkative type.” He looked around for his phone. “I need my phone so we can call your mom and let her know you’re here.”

  “No!” Simon shouted, startling both of them for different reasons.

  “Buddy, your mom is going to be worried sick. We need to call her so she knows you’re okay.”

  Simon looked at Joanna and bit his lip.

  “You know what? I need to freshen up a bit before I go find the Wizard. Do you mind if I use your bathroom, Maxie?” she asked, somehow knowing exactly what Simon needed.

  As soon as she was out of sight, Simon opened up. “Why don’t you want to be my friend?”

  Max’s blood boiled. It was one thing for Kendall to tell him not to come around. It was another to blame the decision on him. “Is that what your mom told you?”

  “No. She said she told you not to come with me trick-or-treating. She’s mean.”

  That was a relief. He couldn’t imagine Kendall throwing him under the bus. She took all the blame because that was who she was. Selfless, unlike him. He regretted his flash of anger. He would not put this child in the middle as he had with Aidan. “She’s not mean. She loves you and wants to keep you safe, which is why we have to go back to your house.”

  “No!” the little boy pleaded and clung to Max’s legs. “I promise I’ll be good. I’ll go to school. I’ll talk to my teacher. I won’t be bad.”

  Max pried the little guy loose and knelt down in front of him. This poor kid had been through so much. The last thing Max wanted was to add to his pain. “Listen to me. You are a great kid. You are not bad.”

  “Then why don’t you like us anymore?”

  “I do like you.”

  “Daddy left because he didn’t like us anymore. I thought you were different.”

  Max felt completely unequipped to handle this. Explaining life and death to a kid was not something he’d learned in restaurant management. “Your dad dying doesn’t mean he didn’t love you guys. I’m sure he loved you so, so much.”

  “I heard him yelling,” Simon whispered like it was a secret, tears welling in his eyes. “He told Mommy he didn’t love her anymore. He made her cry and cry. She wanted him to stay here and be with us, but he said no. I heard him. He didn’t love us and Mommy wasn’t even mean to him.”

  Not knowing what to say, Max simply put his arms around Simon and hugged him tight. There was obviously much more going on than anyone, other than Kendall and Simon, knew. Perhaps Trevor hadn’t been the perfect husband after all.

  * * *

  MAX TRIED KENDALL’S cell phone twice with no luck. It rang and went to voice mail the first time and was busy the second. Joanna had rented a car at the airport and offered to let Max drive them to Kendall’s house. Max figured the faster he got Simon home, the better. He threw on some jeans and a clean shirt and convinced Simon they would talk to his mom together about all this.

  Kendall’s street was lined with cars on both sides. They had to make a few passes before a spot opened up nearby. Kendall’s sisters stood on the front porch passing out candy to neighborhood kids. Instead of smiling, they looked quite anxious. Three other people stood out front, appearing equally distressed. Joanna and Max got out of the car, and Max opened the back door for Simon.

  “Come on, buddy. I think you’ve got some worried people waiting for you to come home.” He took Simon’s hand and led him toward the house.

  “Simon!” Lucy spotted them first. She came barreling down the sidewalk and scooped him up in her arms. “Don’t you ever, ever, ever do that again. Do you have any idea how scared we were when we couldn’t find you?”

  Emma was next and basically said the same thing. They both looked at Max like he’d kidnapped the boy. “Where’s Kendall?” Emma asked, as if he would know.

  “What do you mean where’s Kendall?”

  “She went to your place to get him,” Lucy explained.

  Max patted his pockets. No phone. He’d forgotten it in his rush to get Simon home. “I never saw her. Can you call her and let her know he’s okay?”

  Lucy pulled out her phone and sent off a text.

  “Simon, honey.” A woman with short gray hair and a gentle voice joined them on the sidewalk. Max assumed she was Kendall’s mother. They had similar smiles. “Thank you for bringing him home, Max.”

  “No problem,” he said. He always felt a bit like a freak show around people who knew Trevor. Every time he met someone from Kendall’s life, he had to remember they had to get over the initial shock of him looking like her husband. The two men on the porch were definitely gawking.

  One of them appeared to be Kendall’s father. He was the taller of the two. His round face and balding head were a dead giveaway. The other man had a death grip on the porch railing. He was staring at Max as if he had seen a ghost.

  Kendall’s dad steadied the other man and sat him down on the porch steps.

  “How?” the man croaked, overwhelmed with emotion.

  Simon wiggled out of Lucy’s arms and ran over. He gave the man a hug before sitting next to him. With a reassuring hand on the old man’s knee, Simon smiled up at Max. “It’s okay, Grandpa. That’s Max. He’s not Daddy. Don’t be sad.”

  Simon’s grandfather became completely overcome. His eyes glistened with tears and his hands were shaking something fierce. Max figured this guy had to be Trevor’s dad. This was more than awkward, it was downright depressing.

  “Simon!” Max turned to see Kendall sprinting toward them, dodging the trick-or-treaters. He could only imagine the panic she’d been feeling all this time. She didn’t stop running until she had her arms wrapped around her son. Out of breath, she hugged him and told him over and over that she loved him and that he couldn’t run away ever again.

  Max heard his own mother, her ruby sl
ippers click-clacking on the sidewalk pavement behind him. As he watched Kendall and Simon reunite, he realized how grateful he was for her presence today. She came when he needed her, without even being asked.

  Joanna stopped cold. “Monty?”

  Monty? But that... Max’s head swung around to see his mom bug-eyed and slack-jawed. He looked back at Mr. Montgomery, sitting on the steps. He was much older than the man in the photo Max had hiding inside the Pearl Jam album back at home, but there was a definite resemblance, now that he thought about it.

  “Joanna? Is that really you?” he asked, rising to his feet. Kendall’s dad offered his hand again for support. Max wasn’t confident in his own legs’ ability to hold him up. He suddenly felt like the Cowardly Lion standing next to Dorothy when they faced the Great and Powerful Oz.

  Joanna put her hand on his shoulder. “Max, this is Monty. Monty, meet Max.” There was an eerie silence, then, “Our son.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  THERE ARE MOMENTS in your life that seem surreal. Moments that make you believe that if you closed your eyes tight enough, they would simply unravel and be exposed as nothing more than a dream. Kendall had experienced a few of those in her lifetime. The last one being the day she found out Trevor was dead. Today, she watched as Max had one of those moments.

  “Our son? Max.” Paul said his name the same way it sounded in Kendall’s head when she’d first met him. It took a minute for it to feel right.

  Max’s mother stepped forward in her Dorothy costume. She had Max’s eyes, big and brown. “What are you doing here?”

  “What am I doing here? What in the world are you doing here?” Paul asked.

  In Kendall’s mind, this made perfect sense and no sense at all. Max was Paul’s son. That was why he looked like Trevor. On the other hand, how was it possible? Paul and Nancy had been married for over thirty years when she died. He was also the most overinvolved parent she knew. If he had another son out there in the world, wouldn’t he be just as possessive?

  “I guess Max knows your grandson. Is this your daughter?” Max’s mom nodded her head at Kendall.

  “Daughter-in-law,” Kendall clarified for him.

  Max’s mom smiled, the sad kind that didn’t reach her eyes. “You had a son. I always wondered.”

  Kendall’s attention was drawn back to Max, whose blank stare was beginning to become worrisome. On the run back home, she was planning to strangle him for not calling her or answering her frantic calls while she stood outside his building, imagining the worst. Now she wanted to go to him, offer him some comfort. Whatever was going on here was blowing his mind, and not in a good way.

  Paul moved in Max’s direction and that did the trick. Max took a step back, his eyes widening with alarm. Paul stopped. “You look exactly like your brother.”

  “My brother?” Max scoffed. “Trevor wasn’t my brother and you...you are nothing to me.”

  Sensing the increased tension, Kendall’s mother took Simon’s hand. “Why don’t we go inside and get you ready for trick-or-treating. Everyone with the last name Everhart should probably join us,” she said pointedly to Lucy and Emma who were watching this awkward family reunion with rapt interest.

  As her family retreated into the house, Kendall sought some answers. “I don’t understand, Paul. Did you know Max existed?”

  “This is none of your business, Kendall. Go inside with your family,” Paul snapped at her, earning him more of Max’s ire.

  “Don’t you dare talk to her like that. Answer her question. Better yet, Paul, tell her how you cheated on your wife and got my mom pregnant. Tell her how you lied about who you were and not being ready to be a father, when apparently you did just fine being Trevor’s. Go on, tell her.”

  Paul said nothing, shaking his head and wringing his hands.

  “Your name isn’t Monty?” Max’s mother seemed baffled.

  “His last name is Montgomery, Mom. He’s nothing but a liar. I don’t have time for this. Not now. Not ever.” With that, Max took off for the car.

  Max’s mom didn’t move. She looked at Paul with new eyes. Her sad smile was gone. “I knew you were married,” she said. “We both made so many mistakes back then. But I believed you loved me. Was I wrong?”

  Paul shook his head. “My life was never the same after I met you, Joanna. I’ve thought about you every day since.”

  She reached up and touched his cheek. “In another life,” she said wistfully. His hand covered hers, holding it against his face.

  Kendall had to look away from such a private moment. This was not the Paul she knew. Her father-in-law never showed much affection toward his wife unless Kendall counted Paul buying his wife things. He saved all his care and concern for Trevor. Now she wondered what part guilt had played in all the things Paul ever said and did with regards to his son.

  Max had pulled the car out of its spot and honked the horn for his mom.

  “He’s a good man, my Maxie. Give him some time. He doesn’t let people in very easily, but he wants to be loved, just like the rest of us.”

  The words were meant for Paul, but Kendall felt them obliterate all of her defenses. She glanced up as Joanna walked away and Lucy came outside with Simon.

  Joanna got in the car and Simon yelled, “Bye, Max!”

  Max gave a wave but drove away as soon as his mom closed the car door.

  “We’re going trick-or-treating. You coming, K?” Lucy asked.

  Kendall nodded and touched Paul’s shoulder to get his attention. “We need to talk when I get back.”

  Ever since Trevor’s passing, this man had made her doubt herself. He questioned her decisions and made her feel like the only one who ever stumbled through life. Truth was, he was far from perfect.

  * * *

  SIMON LOOKED SO adorable in his race-car costume. He had Lucy hold his bag so he could “drive” the car. He got enough candy to keep his sugar levels high for the next few days.

  Candy wasn’t the first thing on Simon’s mind, however. He wanted to know why Grandpa said Max was his dad’s brother and why Max was so mad about it. In fact, he chattered on and on about it the entire time, oblivious to the other people around who might hear him talking.

  Kendall had to tread carefully. She didn’t know how to explain this situation to a six-year-old. She tried to steer the conversation in another direction, but Simon kept returning to it.

  “How come Max didn’t know Daddy if they were brothers?” he asked as they headed home.

  “It’s complicated, Simon.”

  “Do I have a brother?”

  Kendall didn’t answer immediately. She looked over his head at Lucy, who narrowed her eyes as if to ask why she’d paused. “Not that I know of,” Kendall answered. Lucy’s right eyebrow quirked up.

  “We’re going to talk about that answer later,” Lucy warned.

  Simon’s questions rolled on. “If Max is Daddy’s brother, is he my brother?”

  “I guess he’d be your uncle.” She hadn’t thought about that until he mentioned it. It really didn’t matter if Max acknowledged Paul as his father or not; he was Simon’s family. She couldn’t be sure how this connection would impact Max’s desire to be in Simon’s life. It changed everything for Kendall.

  “I never had an uncle before!” Simon bounced excitedly.

  “Uncles smell,” Lucy deadpanned.

  “Smell like what?” Simon asked innocently.

  “Never mind.” Kendall ruffled his hair. “Don’t listen to Aunt Lucy.”

  Without missing a beat, Simon changed the subject back. “Now you have to let me be friends with Max, Mommy. He’s my uncle.”

  She couldn’t argue with that. Family was one thing Kendall would never keep from Simon.

  Back at home, Paul was noticeably missing. Emma informed
them he left but promised to talk to Kendall soon. Coward, Kendall thought. Apparently he wasn’t going to give her any answers tonight.

  The family ate dinner and avoided all conversation about what had happened until Simon was in bed. Kendall’s dad offered to tuck his grandson in so the women could start their discussion in the kitchen while they cleaned up.

  “At least that explains why he looks so much like Trevor,” Emma said to get things rolling.

  “I feel bad Max had to find out that way. The poor man looked like he was coming undone.” Maureen handed Kendall a dry dish to put away.

  “I was more worried about Paul,” Emma said, her hands deep in the soapy dishwater. “I thought I was going to have to give him CPR when he heard that woman say, ‘our son.’”

  Lucy didn’t say anything as she leaned against the counter on the other side of Emma; she just eyed Kendall. Her gaze made Kendall’s face warm and her stomach uneasy. She could tell her older sister was waiting to see if she would talk or would need to be confronted. She didn’t want Lucy to confront her, nor did she want to open any more cans of worms tonight.

  “I wonder how many affairs he had. You know it had to be more than one,” Emma continued. “His wife always seemed so cold to me. I bet that’s why he cheated. Men will go looking for affection when they don’t get it at home.”

  “Is that what you think?” Kendall’s temper suddenly flared. “His cheating was somehow Nancy’s fault? If he had issues in his marriage, he should have been man enough to say something before he cheated.”

  “You sound like someone who’s speaking from experience,” Lucy said like a challenge.

  Maureen and Emma’s eyes shifted from Lucy to Kendall and back again. “Why would you say that?” their mother asked.

  “I don’t know.” Lucy pushed off the counter she was leaning against. “I just get a feeling that Kendall has been keeping something from all of us for a long time now. Something that’s been eating her up inside, but that she’s been too afraid to bring up because it’s about Trevor. Trevor’s dead, K. What are you so afraid of?”