Triple Dog Dare [Triple Trouble 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Tymber Dalton

appreciate ye raising Elain. I promise I won’t do anything to come between ye.” He wistfully looked at the sliding glass doors through which Elain had returned to the house. “Yer her mum. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there to help ye take care of her, to help support her.”
    She nodded. Unlike her daughter, she’d only had less than twenty-four hours to come to grips with the fact that shape-shifters truly existed and it wasn’t some figment of her imagination after years of denial.
    “Do ye hate me?” he asked.
    She harshly laughed. “Honestly? I spent a lot of time hating you over the years. And now I feel pretty guilty about that, considering the truth.” She sighed. “You need to give me some time to get used to all of this, Liam.”
    “I know. I’m sorry ye didn’t get a say in the matter.”
    “No, I had a say. I could have turned you two away when you showed up.”
    He reached over and touched her knee. “I always liked ye, Carla,” he softly said, his voice sounding serious. “Maureen was the love of my life, my mate. Had I met ye first…” He sat back. “I don’t want that to sound childish. I knew from the moment Maureen introduced us that ye were a special woman.” His voice choked up. “She loved ye, Carla. Ye were the closest thing to family she had who she could confide in. I cannot tell ye how thankful I am she had ye in her final days.”
    Carla choked back tears. She’d sworn she’d hold it together, at least in front of the others, for Elain’s sake. “I still don’t understand why she died,” she quietly said. “It’s like she gave up.”
    He wouldn’t look at her. With his gaze on the ground, and in a voice she could barely hear, he said, “She had soul sickness. It sometimes happens when a woman loses a mate, especially if she’s with child. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it can. I don’t know why it happens.”
    Carla stifled a flash of anger. “So if you had come back, she wouldn’t have died?”
    He shrugged, still not looking at her. “I dunno. Maybe. Don’t think there isn’t a day gone by I haven’t cursed myself for leaving. At the time, I thought it was the only way to keep Elain safe and keep those bastards from forcing her into a life no one would ever want for their child.”
    They sat in silence for a few moments. “Maureen asked me to tell you she loved you,” Carla finally said. “That if I ever saw you again to tell you that.” She took a deep breath. “She also made me promise to tell you that it was her decision, too. That she didn’t blame you.”
    Liam’s shoulders began to tremble as he silently wept. First hesitating, Carla put down her mug, stood, and walked over to him. If she couldn’t release the anger and resentment she’d held all those years, she knew it would eat her alive and only serve to drive a wedge between her and Elain. Her daughter deserved to have her father in her life.
    She stood in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders. “It’s okay,” she said. “It’ll be all right.”
    He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face against her stomach as he cried.
    Carla closed her eyes and tried to ignore the other old feelings still swirling around inside her.
     
    * * * *
     
    After lunch, which overflowed their kitchen and tested the seating capacity of their already large dining room table, Brodey made an announcement. “Elain, we’re going to take you out to the pasture and show you some things.”
    She arched an eyebrow at him. “Wouldn’t the bedroom be more convenient?”
    “I—” He groaned as he caught her meaning. “No, babe. That’s not what I’m talking about.”
    “For once,” Cail added before taking a sip of iced tea.
    Brodey shot him a glare. Ain didn’t intercede. He sat there with an amused smile and watched his brothers go at it.
    “We’re going to give you a ‘Shifters 101’ class this afternoon,” Brodey said.
    Elain wasn’t sure she was ready for more