The Brightest Sunset (The Darkest Sunrise #2)

“Hi,” he said softly.

My mouth dried and everything slowed, tears I should have long since run out of filling my eyes.

It wasn’t Porter. But he looked close enough to cause my heart to splinter.

“Oh, honey,” Rita said, gliding past Tanner and wrapping me in a hug. “You should have called.”

“I…uh…” I stammered, my eyes still locked on Tanner.

Secretly, I flashed my gaze over his shoulder, searching—and hoping—for any sign of Porter. There was none.

And, when Brady’s presence hit my back, I was suddenly relieved.

“You are not here right now,” he growled at Tanner.

Tanner kept staring at me. His handsome smile, which matched his brother’s, never faltered as he stated, “I brought some of Travis’s things.”

Brady cut around me and snatched the bag from his hands. “Leave.”

“Oh, give it a rest,” Rita snapped at Brady. Then her tone became sweet as she asked me, “How are you doing, honey?”

I kept staring at Tanner as I bit my lip and shook my head.

“You overwhelmed?” she whispered.

I sucked in a sharp breath and nodded.

She palmed either side of my face. “Well, don’t you worry. I’m here now.” Then she was gone.

Or, more accurately, she was now gone from my face and up in Brady’s.

“All right. Listen up. Tanner was just leaving. I, however—”

She didn’t get to finish what was probably going to be an amazing speech because she was interrupted by the sound of a little boy’s glee-filled shriek.

“Uncle Tan!”

“Fuck,” Brady growled and started to turn toward him.

Snaking a hand out, I caught his elbow. “Don’t you dare!”

“Charlotte,” he warned.

“His world has been flipped upside down. Let him have these few minutes of comfort. I’ll toe the line about Porter after this. But he’s already seen Tanner. You are not taking this away from him.”

For several beats, he scowled at me, but he finally tipped his chin and stepped to the side, allowing Lucas room to get to the man he’d grown up thinking was his uncle.

Our boy didn’t slow until he crashed into Tanner’s front.

I’d only met Tanner Reese once. So I wasn’t exactly an expert on his repertoire of expressions. But there was no mistaking the tangible pain that flickered through his features before he was able to conceal them with a smile.

“Hey, Trav,” he murmured.

God. I was so sick of my heart hurting all the time. But it did. At every turn.

And it seemed I wasn’t the only one. Porter would be destroyed. But his whole family had been affected too.

“What are you doing here?” Lucas asked, craning his head back, his eyes sparkling with tears. “Did Dad come with you?”

Tanner squatted low and wrapped him into a hug. One so deep that even I felt the love packed inside it. “No. I’m sorry.” He lowered his voice. “He told me to tell you that he loves you so much and that he’ll see you as soon as he can.”

Brady scoffed beside me, and I swung a scathing glare his way.

He shrugged, completely unfazed.

“Can you stay?” Lucas asked, his excitement palpable.

Tanner’s gaze flicked to mine in question.

Covering my mouth, I shook my head, guilt churning my stomach.

“Sorry, bud. I can’t. I need to get to work,” he lied.

My nose started stinging, and I cut my eyes away so no one would be able to see if any tears actually escaped.

“Okay,” Lucas breathed, his disappointment palpable. “Will you tell Dad I love him? And Hannah. Oh, and make sure she’s not messing with my Legos.”

Tanner’s face once again crumbled, his smile unable to mask it. “Sure thing.”

“Oh! And Nana. Will you tell her that Charlotte’s good at the nebulizer? She’s, like, a doctor and stuff. Oh, and Grandpa. Tell him he’s not allowed to go fishing until I get home. He’ll catch all the good ones without me.”

My lungs burned as the air became toxic.

He truly believed he was going home.

“Yeah!” Tanner exclaimed, rising to his full height at the same time a tear finally made it out of his eye. He wiped it on his shoulder and kept right on smiling. “Dude, I won’t let him anywhere near the pond. I promise.”

“Okay, good,” he whispered.

Tanner tucked him against his legs, patting his back as he whispered, “Love you, Trav.”

“Love you, too,” he mumbled, releasing his uncle. The devastation on my son’s face was staggering.

“Come on, my man,” Brady said, taking his hand, leading him into the house, and then shutting the door behind them.

The minute it clicked, Tanner lost it.

“Jesus,” he hissed. He rested his hands on his head and paced a small circle. “This is so fucked up. Tell me you know this is fucked up, Charlotte.”

“Tanner, it’s not her fault,” Rita soothed.

“What do you expect me to do?” I asked.

Tanner stopped, planted a hand on his hip, and aimed a pointed finger at the door. “I want you to remember what it felt like the day he was taken from you. Because that is exactly what you are doing to Porter right now.”

“I can’t worry about Porter!” I cried. “He’s my son.”

Tanner scoffed and stared at me in disbelief. “Okay. Then I want you to think about your son. Remember the day he was taken from you? Now, I want you to imagine you are an eleven—or as it turns out ten—year-old boy and your entire family has been snatched from you. Because that is what you have done to him.”

I sucked in a ragged breath. “This is an impossible situation. I don’t have the answers.”

“His name is Travis. Or Lucas. Or whatever the hell you want to call him. But he is the answer. This isn’t about my family or yours. Nor is it about you or Porter. It is about that little boy who is now caught in the middle of all of us.”

Words. More fucking words.

All of them the truth.

“I don’t know what to do!”

“Do what’s right!” he exclaimed. Turning his gaze on Rita, he softened his voice. “I’m sorry. But you know it’s true.”

“Go!” she ordered, wrapping her arms around me. “Shit. Charlotte. I’m so sorry. I did not know he was going to unload on you like that or I never would have brought him.”

“He’s right,” I mumbled.

“No, he’s not. He’s your son, honey. You deserve some time to figure all of this out without him acting like a prick.”

My stomach rolled as I watched Tanner walk away, his gait a little too similar to his brother’s.

“I need to confess something, and you can’t tell anyone else,” I whispered.

“Okay, yeah. Anything.”

“I miss Porter,” I choked out.

“Oh, honey. It’s not wrong to miss him.”

“But everyone keeps telling me it is. They’re convinced he knew about Lucas. Brady won’t let up. And Tom somehow even managed to get Mom on the bandwagon.”

“Charlotte, look at me.” Using my shoulders, she forced me away until she caught my gaze. “Brady just needs somebody to blame. He’s been doing that to you for ten years. Now, he’s doing it to Porter. He’s an asshole. Assholes do that.”

I half laughed, half sobbed.

“And Tom,” she continued. “He’s basically your father. Hell, he’s even sleeping with your mom.”