Faux Vows, True Desires novel Chapter 506

Janice noticed her daughter, Lucy, giving her a curious look. Feeling a bit guilty, she internally cursed Nathan for the millionth time. She recalled their spat earlier when Nathan suddenly pulled her into a heated kiss, quite literally shutting her up mid-argument. It was shameless of him, really. Since he couldn’t win an argument with her, he resorted to... well, that. She'd been so mad she bit him hard enough to draw blood. Serves him right!

"Lucy, Stefan, why don’t you head inside? The nights here in Skywatch are much colder than in Pinehurst," Janice suggested, trying to mask her embarrassment and avoid any more scrutiny from her daughter and son-in-law. She turned to walk back inside herself. Lucy had a nagging feeling that her mother was hiding something. Could it be her imagination, or had something really happened between her parents earlier?

Lucy was curious, but as someone who dabbled in writing novels on the side, she knew better than to pry into her own family’s drama, especially when her parents' relationship was on the rocks. Her dad, despite his flaws, was still the head of the family with his own brand of charisma. She figured it was best just to facilitate moments for her parents to be alone together. The more they were together, the more her mom might understand her dad, hopefully easing the tension between them. Misunderstandings and conflicts could be resolved, but the real tragedy was seeing them act like enemies despite still having feelings for each other.

"Mom, where's my brother?" Lucy asked as she and Stefan caught up with Janice. Stefan kindly let go of Lucy’s hand so she could link arms with her mom. "He went back to the office after lunch. Not everyone can be like your dad, you know, sleeping the day away while your brother works himself to the bone. If Nathan doesn’t care about his son, I do," Janice replied, biting back harsher words about Nathan out of consideration for the kids. Despite her determination to end her marriage with Nathan and distance herself from his philandering ways, she didn’t want to ruin her children’s relationship with their father.

"Is he coming back for dinner?" Lucy asked, concerned for her brother. "He’ll be here," Janice assured her. "Your brother wouldn’t miss your first night back, no matter how busy he is." Lucy was relieved. She knew her brother was under a lot of pressure, unlike Stefan, who had the luxury of leaving his company in capable hands and staying with her in Skywatch without worry.

Just as they were about to enter, they ran into Nathan, who was heading out, a white jacket slung over his arm. "Hey, Dad," Lucy greeted him. "Dad." As soon as Lucinda and her husband spotted her father, she called out to him. Nathan grunted a response, stepping forward to drape a white jacket over Janice's shoulders. “It’s getting dark, and the temperature’s dropping. You should’ve grabbed a jacket before heading out—this wind makes it even colder.” Janice shrugged him off, pulling the jacket away and tossing it back at him with a blank expression. “I know if I'm cold or not, Nathan. I don't need you to tell me.”