“This is really my issue, Dad.”
“Your issue? The minute you came back to my farm, this became my problem. And let me make one thing clear: you still have my last name, and whether you think that binds us together or not, I do, because that name plus you and your sister are what I’ve got in this life. What you do reflects on me. I don’t care how old you think you are or how independent. That last name was given to you by me. And a person’s last name means something. You took that away from Max. You took his last name and his father and his opportunity to know half of his family. An entire side of his family. And for what, Aubrey Lynn? Why? What in the hell did you think you were doing?”
Aubrey’s knees wobbled, and she sank to the highboy chair beside the workbench. What had she thought? “Dad.” She took a deep breath. “At the time, this decision seemed like the only decision to make.”
Dad’s eyes softened. His voice was gentler, lower. “And I can understand that. I can. Coming home in the family way and unmarried. I’m not a woman, but I can imagine how hard that must have been. And to a small town like Hudson? After you made a run in the big city? And you did good. You and Nina have done better than good, especially with Rockwater Farms and seeing the future of farm-to-table and making this whole damn thing work when all anyone ever did was laugh at your ideas.” Dad reached out and grasped Aubrey’s hand. The calluses on his palm were rough against her fingers. “But Aubrey, it’s been nearly fifteen years. You’ve had fifteen years to tell this man about his son, to tell your son about his father. It’s too long. It’s not right.”
Aubrey closed her eyes. She wanted to spew all the reasons why she’d not told Max. All the things she was fearful would happen. How she’d wanted Max to be fully formed as an adult before the influence of the Travati family came into his life. But the sad thing was Dad was right. He was absolutely right. And if she was completely honest with herself, every reason that she’d told herself for the past fifteen years came down to one thing—fear. Fear that once Max knew his other family, who his father was, what kind of money and power and glamorous life that Justin Travati could provide to his son, that Max would choose Justin over her.
Aubrey took another long breath. She opened her eyes and looked at Dad. The anger was gone. His temper was always a quick burst, and once he got out his piece then the heat dissipated fast.
“You’re right, Dad. I was afraid. I was afraid that Max would leave me, that he’d pick Justin and New York and”—her voice wobbled in her throat and tears bit the backs of her eyes—“and that he wouldn’t ever come back to me. That he’d forget about me and us and who we are.”
“Oh, Aubrey.” Dad shook his head, and a warm, knowing look took over his face. “I understand. I can’t tell you how well I understand. You weren’t leaving your mother and me for another parent, but you were leaving us for another type of life. A real glamorous life with jet planes and champagne and fancy parties.”
Tears dripped down her cheeks, and Aubrey met her father’s eyes.
“But Aubrey, did you ever forget about us? Did you ever forget where you were from? Or did you take me and Mom wherever you went?”
“I took you, Dad. I took you both with me everywhere I went.” The lump in her throat was big, and she could barely speak around it. “But Dad, it’s his father. It’s Max’s dad. How angry will Max be?”
“Sweetheart, he’s already angry. He wants to know his dad. How the hell do you think that Travati fellow found out about Max?”
Aubrey wiped her hands under her eyes and cleared the tears from her face with her fingertips. “Max?”
“Wasn’t me, wasn’t you, and it wasn’t Nina. Leaves only one other person to find Justin Travati.”
Aubrey nodded. She hadn’t wanted to admit it, but yes, it had to be Max who had sought out his father, called him or e-mailed him. Aubrey sniffled.
“The past is the past, Aubrey, but it seems to me that how you handle this moving forward is going to have a big say in your future with Max and with Max’s dad. And that fella in the Rockwater Suite, whether you like him or not, is Max’s dad, and he’s now a part of your life for the rest of yours and Max’s.”
Aubrey took a long, cleansing breath. That was part of her problem too. She’d hoped that by pretending there was no Justin that not only would Max not leave her for his father, but she’d never have to confront her lingering feelings for Justin. The strong attraction that still hovered between them. The desire that grew between them while she worked with Justin that had finally exploded in a night of passion. A night that still caused her body to quiver with desire. A passion and desire that had been evidenced the night before.