Read Online Patrick's Destiny by Sherryl Woods - Free Book Online

adjusted and so comfortable with each other,” Patrick said. “I thought maybe…well, that you’d lucked out.”
    “Are you saying you didn’t?” Ryan asked, his gaze sharpening. “What happened? Our folks didn’t abuse you, did they?”
    There was a protective note in his voice that stunned Patrick. “No,” he said at once, not wanting them to get the wrong idea about his disenchantment with their parents. “Far from it. Daniel and I had it okay, actually. Mom and Dad did their best for us. Dad worked hard. I guess we were a typical family until Daniel and I found out about you guys. Then things kind of fellapart, at least for me. I couldn’t believe what they’d done to you. They refused to offer one word of explanation or apology, so I took off and moved over here. I’ve seen Daniel once or twice in the past few years, but I haven’t seen or spoken to Mom or Dad since I walked out. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look them in the eyes again.”
    “You left because of us?” Sean said, sounding surprised.
    Patrick nodded. “What they did, whatever reason they thought they had for doing it, it was wrong. It made me question everything I’d ever felt for them.”
    “That must have been hard,” Michael said.
    He was regarding Patrick with that sympathetic look that was beginning to get on his nerves. Why should his brothers feel sorry for him? They’d apparently gone through hell—or at least Ryan had—while Patrick had had a comparatively normal childhood. Evidently, though, they didn’t want or expect his sympathy.
    It was all too damn confusing. He suddenly wanted nothing more than to get back to his boat, to walk away from all of the conflicting emotions roiling around inside him. As for going to Boston for the wedding of a man he’d just met—or felt as if he had—forget it. It wasn’t going to happen.
    He stood up. “Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but I honestly don’t know why you came here. It can’t be because you want another brother in your lives, especially one who got all the love and attention you should have gotten. And I sure as hell don’t want to go to Boston and pretend that we’re family.”
    “We are family,” Ryan said quietly. “There’s no escaping that. And we didn’t come here to mess up the life you’ve made for yourself. We just wanted you toknow that we’re out there and if you ever need us, all you have to do is shout.”
    They were being so nice, so reasonable, it made him want to scream. He didn’t deserve the way they were reaching out to him.
    “Look, the way I see it, we’re not family, not in any way that counts,” Patrick said.
    “We’ve got the same blood flowing through our veins,” Michael told him. “Devaney blood.”
    Patrick frowned at that. “To tell you the truth, I’ve just about had my fill of being a Devaney.”
    “Because of what our folks did to us? ” Ryan asked. “We’re the ones who got abandoned, not you. We’re the ones who have a right to be angry, not you.”
    “No, Daniel and I were just lied to our whole lives,” Patrick said bitterly. “Maybe that’s not the same as what you went through, but trust me, it makes you question just about everything—and it sure as hell doesn’t make you anxious to try the whole family thing on for size again.”
    He was out of the bar before any of them could think of a response. Then again, maybe none of them even cared enough to stop him. This visit had been all about satisfying some innate curiosity, but they’d done that now.
    All the way back to the dock, Patrick worked to convince himself that he didn’t give a damn whether they left the same way they’d come, without a word to let him know. He sank into a chair on the deck of his boat despite the chill in the air and sucked in a deep breath. If he’d expected the salt air and solitude to calm him, he was disappointed. He tried to focus on Alice, figuring a beautiful, tempting woman ought to be able to occupy