Breaking up roots (One Night Stand, Book 3)

Chapter 10: Thank you for hearing me out

Ray Smith brought the cigarette to his lips and took an extended drag. The blend of herbs that filled his mouth brought him a short-lived feeling of peace.

Theoretically, he had quit smoking years ago, when Maya got pregnant with their firstborn. In practice, Ray returned to this questionable habit now and then, especially when he was under a lot of stress. He'd been smoking on and off over the last few years whenever things became too much to handle, but at this rate, his addiction would come back full force.

That last fight with his son had left him in a miserable state. His mind hadn't gotten a single minute of rest since that day. He was in a turmoil of emotions; he was angry, sad; he felt guilty and a victim all at the same time.

His excuses to scold his son were more than reasonable. The boy turns him and his family into the laughingstock of the village, abandons the house to live his "true love story", —that everyone knew couldn't happen— then comes back to rub all over Ray's face that he's doing whatever the hell he wants in the city, proving how weak his own promises were.

Ray had all the right to be offended! Who knew the perverted demon his son might have turned into without his guidance?

Yet... A feeling of emptiness trapped him whenever he remembered the boy fleeing the house, on the verge of tears. He supposed it had something to do with Nya's departure too.

Without the girl, the house was like a graveyard, just silence everywhere. Ray had barely exchanged a word with his wife since that fateful day. A part of him preferred it that way; he didn't need the woman on his back crying all day because, apparently, 'he was no longer the man she had fallen in love with during their youth'.

Nonsense! Ray was the same! Just... a bit more tired, perhaps, but that was normal. It came with aging.

He closed his eyes with a long groan when a voice called for him. The man turned around. Maya stood by the threshold of the backyard door.

"You've got a visitor," she said.

Ray furrowed his eyebrows. "Who is it?"

His wife walked back into the house without answering the question. It didn't take Ray by surprise. He blew the remaining smoke and put out the cigarette, then followed her inside. Ray hadn't even had time to wonder which nosy neighbor must have come to their house when he froze by the living room entrance.

His wife waited there with another person; a young blond man Ray had only seen once before, but which he remembered as clear as daylight.

Zane locked eyes with him, and both men stared at each other in silence for a long beat.

"What the...?" Ray gaped.

"Good morning, Mr. Smith. I would like to have a word with you if you allow me some of your time."

Of all the people in the world, Ray would have never imagined for this boy to come back to his house.

The Smith patriarch was trying to come up with a reply when he locked gazes with Maya. Her eyes, although defiant, had that soft red veil around the edges that hinted at incoming tears —a look that broke Ray's heart.

She walked past him and whispered, "I'll be in the back, hanging laundry." Then left the two men alone in the quiet room.

The shock hadn't disappeared from his face when Ray turned back to the blond individual. Zane's appearance was as clean and exquisite as the last time he saw the boy. He looked like he'd been taken out of one of those movies about modern handsome princes that went undercover to find a genuine wife.