Jack clamped his hand down gently on his son’s shoulder. “Yeah, I still love her. I’m mad as hell at her right now, and a part of me would like to wring her pretty little neck, but somehow, someway, she and I are going to work our way through this.” He squeezed Seth’s shoulder. “What about you and me? Do you think you could give me a chance to be a father to you?”

“Do you want that, to be my father?”

“I do. More than you’ll ever know.”

“Maybe. Yeah. Okay. I guess.”

“We won’t rush it,” Jack told him. “We’ll take it slow and easy. It’ll be a new experience for me, having a son.”

“I don’t really hate you,” Seth said.

Jack grinned. “I know, Son, I know. What about your mom?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You love your mother.”

“Yeah, I love her,” Seth said. “But she lied to me, and it was a big lie.”

“She made a mistake. She’s only human. We all make mistakes.”

“Dad would want me to…I mean, Mark would want me to forgive her. He taught forgiveness.”

“Look, Seth. Mark Cantrell was your father in every way that mattered, and I’d be a fool not to appreciate the fact that he was there for you when I wasn’t. Don’t ever feel guilty about loving him or thinking of him as your dad.”

“You mean that?”

“Yes, Son, I do.”

“I guess I feel the way you do.” Seth tried to smile, but the effort failed. “I love Mom, but I’m mad as hell at her.”

“I’m sure she’ll give you all the time you need to work through your feelings, but you should tell her that you don’t hate her and you’re working on forgiving her.”

“I can’t talk to her. Not yet.” Seth looked at Jack pleadingly. “Would you talk to her. Tell her how we feel. I mean, how I feel?”

Damn! He needed more time himself, so he understood how Seth felt. But at least he could call Cathy and let her know that he and Seth both still loved her. “Sure thing. I’ll call her. In the meantime, if you want to talk to me again, I’m here for you.”

When Seth stood, Jack did, too. Father and son faced each other.

“I wish Granddad and Nana didn’t have to find out,” Seth said. “This will break their hearts.”

“It’s not your place to have to tell them. Your mother should be the one to explain things to them.”

“When you talk to her, will you tell her that?”

“Yes, I will.”

“Thanks, uh, Jack. It’s okay if I call you Jack, isn’t it? I know you’re my father, but-”

“Jack’s fine.”

Seth wasn’t sure exactly how he’d wound up stopping by the Harper house, but after leaving Jack in the park, he had walked around for a while, feeling as if he had no place to go. He wasn’t ready to talk to his mother, and he couldn’t face his grandparents. He didn’t think Grandmother would tell them what she’d done. No, that wasn’t her style. She’d wait and let someone else give them the bad news. She wouldn’t take the blame for anything.

As he walked by the Harper’s, he wondered how Missy was doing and if she’d been able to hold it together during her second interrogation by the task force. He supposed he could have asked Jack about it, but he’d had other things on his mind at the time. Besides, it wasn’t likely that Jack would have told him anything.

Should he just go up to the front door, ring the doorbell and ask to speak to Missy? Would Mrs. Harper tell him to go away? Or would Missy refuse to see him? While he stood on the sidewalk thinking about what his next move should be, Felicity came dragging up the street, barely keeping out of the slow flow of midday traffic. What was wrong with her? She looked like she was sick or something. Maybe he should go help her.

He called out to her. “Hey, Felicity. What’s wrong?”

She looked up from where she’d been staring sightlessly down at the pavement. When she saw him, she broke into a run and came barreling into him.

“Oh, Seth, I’m so glad to see you.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder. “I need somebody to talk to.”

“What’s going on?” He tried to prize her away from him, but she held on tight and started crying. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“You won’t believe me when I tell you,” she sobbed.

Before he could reply, a car slowed as it passed them, and Seth recognized the driver as Charity Harper. She pulled into the driveway, killed the engine and got out.

“Maybe you should talk to your sister about whatever’s bothering you,” Seth suggested.

She lifted her head from his shoulder, nodded and then grabbed his hand. “Charity needs to know. But I want you to come with me when I tell her. Please.”

“Yeah, okay. I guess.” He had enough problems of his own without getting involved in whatever was going on with Felicity, but he could hardly tell her that, could he?

Charity waited on the sidewalk as he and Felicity walked toward her. “Hello, Seth.” When he responded with a nod, she turned her attention to her sister. “What on earth is the matter with you?”

“Let’s go to the backyard,” Felicity said. “I don’t want Mom to see us talking. She’ll ask me all sorts of questions, because I’m supposed to be with Daddy right now.”

“Don’t be so melodramatic,” Charity said. “The way you’re acting, you’d think somebody died.”

“Right now, I could kill Daddy,” Felicity admitted.

“Felicity Ann Harper! What a thing to say about Daddy.”

“When I tell you what he did…” Keeping a tight hold on Seth’s hand, she motioned for her sister to follow her the long way around to the backyard.

Grumbling under her breath, Charity went with Felicity as she all but dragged Seth around the house and straight toward the gazebo. When they neared the small enclosure, Seth noticed that someone was sitting inside. Missy! The girl he’d come to see. When they approached, she laid aside the book she’d been reading and rose to her feet.

“What’s she doing here?” Felicity complained loud enough for Missy to hear her.

“I’m sorry,” Missy said. “If you don’t want me here, I’ll go back inside.”

“You don’t have to leave,” Charity said. “This is your home and your yard, and you have as much right to use the gazebo as Felicity and I do. Isn’t that right, Felicity?” Charity nudged her sister in the ribs.

“Yes, that’s right,” Felicity said begrudgingly.

“There’s plenty of room in the gazebo for all of us,” Charity said. “Come on, let’s sit down and you can tell us why you want to kill Daddy.”

“What!” Missy’s eyes widened as she glared at Felicity.

“Oh, I don’t suppose I really want to kill him,” Felicity said, “but Mom will when she finds out what he’s been doing.”

“What are you talking about?” Charity frowned at her sister.

“I caught Daddy red-handed with his secretary. They were kissing!”

“I don’t believe you.” Charity’s face went chalk white.

“Don’t believe me then, but I’m telling you that I saw it with my own two eyes. I walked in on them in a lip-lock.”

“I thought your parents were different,” Missy said, her voice little more than a whisper. “I believed they loved each other and had a perfect marriage and were perfect parents. Oh, Felicity, I’m so sorry.”

“Uh, yeah, thanks.” Felicity hung her head and then sighed heavily. “Gee, Missy, I’m the one who’s sorry. Having a father who’s cheating on his wife isn’t anywhere near as bad as having a father who…well, who did what your father did to you.”

“Raped me, you mean.”

“Yeah.” Felicity looked to Seth as if begging him to help pull her out of the hole she had dug herself into. “I’ve about decided that there are no good parents. Except maybe your mom, Seth.”

“My mom’s a liar.” The words came out of his mouth before he knew what was happening. Damn, why had he said that?

“Huh?” Felicity said.

“What?” Charity asked.

“What did she lie about?” Missy reached out and caressed Seth’s arm.

“I found out just this morning that Mark Cantrell wasn’t my biological father. My mother was pregnant when she married him. My dad wasn’t my dad. My mom has lied to me all these years.”