“He exists. That’s enough for me.”

Jim sighed. “Blame Dad, not Spencer.” Spencer was the only bright spot in his fucked-up family.

“What did I tell you? Leave that skanky ho’s brat alone! Why couldn’t you just leave him in Chicago?” As usual, his mother wasn’t listening to him. Ever since she’d discovered that not only had his father cheated on her, but had a child with the other woman, she’d lost her damn mind. The ongoing divorce proceedings were vicious on both sides as each one of his parents tried to get the upper hand over the other.

He might have felt more sympathy for his mother if he hadn’t been on the receiving end of her rages. This wasn’t the first time she’d called him to bitch him out over something he had little control over. “It’s not my fault Dad cheated, and it’s not Spencer’s fault either.”

“But it’s your fault for shoving it in my face!”

“I can’t ignore him, Mom.” He doubted he’d be able to get through to her, but he tried. God knew, he tried. “He’s my brother.”

“And I’m your mother.” The chill that came into her voice made him sigh. “By bringing him to Halle you’ve told everyone you side with your father.”

“I’m not siding with anyone, and you know it.” His parents’ divorce was going to be the death of him. “I love you both equally.”

“If you did you would have left Spencer where you found him. Not even Arthur wants him in Halle.”

That, at least, was true. Jim’s dad wanted less to do with Spencer than his mother did. The man couldn’t even be bothered to call Jim to bitch about it. The silence from Arthur Woods was as hurtful as the shrill diatribes Wanda shot his way.

The family he’d known and loved was gone, burned away in betrayal and rage, and Jim was left to deal with the shattered lives left behind. An only child, he’d been forced to listen to both of his parents disparage the other as their marriage disintegrated. He’d had to act as not only their therapist but their mediator as each dumped their accusations and misery on his shoulders.

When Jim found out about Spencer it had only gotten worse. If he hadn’t listened to his father’s drunken rants about Spence he might never have found his half brother, never have known the strong spirit of the man who’d grown up without a father in his life. While Jim bitterly mourned the loss of his parents, he couldn’t help but be grateful for finding Spencer when he had. Spencer was the only one who seemed to give a shit about what Jim was going through. Even his friends told him to suck it up, that he was an adult. Just because Jim was an adult didn’t mean he didn’t need his parents, didn’t wish things hadn’t become what they were.

But nothing could bring back the bright, loving parents he’d thought he once had. Maybe once the divorce was finalized they’d realize what they’d done to him, but Jim wasn’t about to hold his breath. No child should have to go through what Jim was, no matter what their age.

So he fought the only battle he could, knowing he wouldn’t win no matter which way he went. “Spencer is my family, Mother, and that’s the end of it.”

He should have been surprised when she hung up on him, but sadly it was an all-too-common occurrence these days. Both of them expected him to pick sides. When he tried to be fair, to treat each of them equally, he got crap like this in return.

Some days he wished he could bring himself to ignore the ringing phone, or stop wishing that it was his father instead of his mother. Just once, he wished they’d tell him that everything would be all right rather than leaving him to deal with all of this shit on his own.

At least Spencer seemed to be getting through to Chloe. His brother was holding Chloe’s hand, and she was nodding sympathetically.

Perhaps, just perhaps, instead of trying to cling to the old, he needed to get started on the new. It was time to make his own damn family, and to hell with his parents. Let them deal with their own shit-storm. He was going to concentrate on Chloe and Spencer and the rest of the people he loved. They’d be the family he’d been missing for so long.

Jim stepped into Wallflowers, fully expecting to be greeted with smiles. What he got was—

“Oof.” Jim laughed as Emma practically jumped him. “Hey, pretty girl.”

A pissed-off yip came from the couch.

“You are such a good boy, Jimbo.” Emma pinched his cheeks. “Yes you are. Oh, yes you are.”

Jim laughed and shoved her off of him. “Knock it off.”

Becky shook her head at them while Sheri simply smiled serenely, well used to Emma’s madness by now.

Their reactions weren’t the ones that interested him, though. It was Chloe, who still sat holding on to Spencer, whose opinion truly mattered. “Chloe?”

“Tell me.” She stared at him, her eyes reddish-brown, her tone clipped.

He maneuvered past Emma, kneeling next to Chloe’s chair until they were eye-to-eye. Her Fox was close to the surface, driving his Wolf to respond. His vision blurred, Chloe’s brilliant red hair becoming a muted yellowish-brown. He’d known that canines were unable to see reds or greens, but until his eyes first changed he hadn’t realized how it could impact his world.

He loved Chloe’s red hair.

“Spencer filled you in on what’s wrong with him?”

She nodded. “And I’m sorry about that, but I’m not sure what this has to do with you and me.”

He ran his fingers nervously through his hair. Here was the rough part, the part where he worried she wouldn’t be able to forgive him. “We thought he was dying.”

“And?” Her eyes went wide. “Oh. This happened right around the time—”

“When you were in the hospital, yes.” Even worse, at the time he’d still believed her not only too young for him, but pining for another man. That was a discussion for another day, though. “I’d just found him, and we thought he was dying. Everything I heard was that you were here, you were unconscious but stable, and the best of the best was working on you.”

“While I had no one.” Spencer’s tone was soft, but even now he didn’t sound sorry for himself. Spencer was far too comfortable in his skin to ever display sorrow over his situation. “Jim stepped in when no one else wanted anything to do with me, including my sperm donor.”