Page 44 of The Last Goodbye

“I can’t. My mom passed away from cancer when I was in college. It was the most alone I’ve ever felt. It was always just me and her and my granny, who passed away six months after my mother.” I took another sip, and he refilled our glasses again. He didn’t speak, as if he knew I wasn’t done sharing but understood that I needed a minute before continuing. “Long story short, I was gifted one of those genetic tests after losing both my mom and my grandmother, and I found my father and my half brother, Denton, that way.”

His eyes looked a little glassy, which caught me off guard. He looked incredibly sad, as if he felt my pain. But the champagne was hitting me now, and I might’ve been imagining it.

But Bass Bennett didn’t feel like the enemy at the moment.

And that shocked the hell out of me.

eleven

​. . .​

Bass

I was a dick. No question about it. I’d completely misread this woman.

She hadn’t grown up with a silver spoon. She wasn’t some spoiled rich girl who’d had an easy life.

She’d been through a lot of shit, and I could see that in her gaze.

Losing her mom and her grandmother so close together had to have been brutal. And I understood feeling alone. I’d always had Jovi, so I’d never been truly alone, but I had been lonely many times in my life.

“So, tell me, was finding your brother and your father a good thing?” I asked.

“Yes, in many ways it’s been positive. Denton and I have grown close over the last few years, but his mother, Tabitha, she’s not a fan of mine, so it makes the entire situation stressful, because she doesn’t hide her feelings. She’s made it clear that she feels her reasons for despising me are valid.” She shrugged.

“What are her valid reasons?”

“My father had an affair with my mother, and I’m a reminder of that.”

“That’s not your fucking fault. She should be angry at your father, not at you.”

“I mean, logically that makes sense, but that’s not the reality.” She took another sip of her mimosa.

“And how about your relationship with your father?”

“It’s—a work in progress.” She exhaled. “He’s not a warm person by nature. And I hate that I want his approval so badly, but at the end of the day, I find myself trying to impress him, which is no easy task. I mean, my mother was my biggest cheerleader. She was the person who was on her feet cheering for me if I got fifth place at a science fair. So I’m sure if I spent hours in therapy, I’d uncover how deeply I miss having a parent who thought I set the sun, you know?”

Fuck. She was so honest, and I felt a tight pinch in my chest as she spoke.

“Which is why you wanted to pull off this project so badly?”

“Not the only reason.” She raised an eyebrow, as if to remind me of all the reasons she’d already shared. “But sure, he’s dangled me being partner over my head, and this is the type of project that would get my name on the door. Denton’s name is on the door, and maybe I think it will somehow make me feel like part of the family. I don’t know why I want it so badly.”

“I get that,” I admitted.

“Thank you.”

“I’m really sorry about your mom and your grandmother, Briar.” I held up the bottle to ask if she wanted another refill, and she nodded. “What was your mother like?”

“Wow. No one ever asks that.” A small smile broke free on her gorgeous face. “Everyone is far more interested in my father, or they’re too awkward to ask about my mom because she’s gone. Anyway, she’s my favorite person to talk about.”

“Tell me,” I said, because the way her eyes lit up when she mentioned the woman had me interested.

“She was strong and fiercely protective. But my favorite thing about her was her sense of humor. She would have these one-liners that were hilarious. We were extremely close, and we truly just loved being together. She was much younger than my father, and I do think that he really broke her heart. She didn’t know he was married; she was naive and trusting back then. But she never made me feel like a mistake. She made me feel like her greatest gift.”

A tear streaked down her cheek, and I wasn’t sure if it was the champagne or just the fact that she was sharing something so personal, but my fucking chest felt like it was cracking in half at the sight of her being in obvious pain.

I leaned forward and wiped away the tear with my thumb. She startled and pulled back, then reached for her napkin and dabbed at her face. “I’m sorry. I’m not big on public tears. I’ve probably had too much champagne.”