* * *
They lay together in semi-darkness, her head on his shoulder, her hair spread out across his chest. Hayley luxuriated in the sensation of her cheek on his chest, the sexy scent of him.
“What are you thinking?” he asked after a while.
“That lying here like this is wonderful. I feel so close to you.”
“The same for me, love.”
Had he ever called her that? Hayley didn’t know. So, she sat up and propped her arms on his chest. “How are we going to get past this stalemate, Paul? Because I want to.”
“So do I.” He paused. Dramatically. “I’m ready to talk about my background.” His tone was grave.
Just the notion warmed her. “I’m glad.”
“Lie back on the pillow and face me.”
She did.
He took her hands in his. Kissed her knuckles. The action was meant for comfort, but her heart was beating at a clip over what was to come.
“I have to go back to boyhood.”
She gave him an encouraging nod.
“I was bullied and picked on because I’m Polish. So were my brothers and sisters. We never told anybody, and when the guys and I came home with bruised knuckles and split lips, we lied about them. We didn’t want to hurt our parents. They never knew because things like that weren’t supposed to happen at Catholic schools.”
She kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry you went through that.”
“I was good at academics and got a scholarship to Yale. From there, I borrowed money for law school at UCLA, did well and was picked up easily by a reputable firm in California.”
A new question hit her and she frowned. “Covington isn’t Polish. Your mother said it wasn’t her name.”
He drew in a breath. “My legal name is Covington, because I changed it. I started out as Covitz.”
She stiffened. Suddenly, she knew why he concealed all this from her. “You denied your roots because you were bullied in high school?”
“No. I wanted an unencumbered college experience.”
“By rejecting who you were?”
“I didn’t see it that way.”
She edged away from him.
“I know what you’re thinking. Your mother changed your names from Casella to Sullivan and you hated it. She abandoned your dad’s roots and made you two do it.”
“Yes.”
“This isn’t the same thing.”
“Isn’t it?” A lump formed in her throat.
“I don’t think so but there’s more.” He had to go for broke. He couldn’t keep anything from her, now.
Taking in a heavy breath, she asked, “What?”
“My father disowned me. Literally. He kicked me out and told me not to come back.”
“I’m sorry, Paul…”
“Let me finish. I cut off all ties with my family.”
“What?”
“I had no choice.”
“You just said in the courtroom there’s always a choice.” Her tone was sharper than she meant it to be.
“Not when it meant my hurting them even more. I spoke to Jakub, the oldest brother, a couple of times. He said Matka and Pa fought all the time over what Pa did. He forbade her to see me. Then he did the same with my brothers and sisters.”
“Surely they tried to contact you when they got to be adults. Out on their own.”
“They didn’t know how. Nobody but my parents knew my new last name. And I went thousands of miles away from them.”
Oh, dear God in heaven. “This isn’t just about Bridget’s actions. You did to your family exactly what Ronan did to mine.”
“Again, I didn’t see another way and maybe he didn’t either. I was full of adolescent rage at what Pa did. And the rage kept up. I hated staying in the dorms over holidays, though sometimes one of the guys asked me home. When I got my own place, it was better.”
“How long did you stay away?”
“Until Saturday night.”
She clapped one hand over her mouth. “W-what happened?”
He explained how he went to see his father. “He disowned me all over again.”
She felt bad for him, and put her hands on his chest. “What about your mother?”
“She wasn’t home. And he didn’t seem to know she came to see me, so I didn’t tell him. I just left.”
“Paul…That must have been horrid.”
He waited.
She didn’t say anything more.
“Hayley, I have to know where your head’s at. I know this is parallel to your own family.”
“I can’t help it, Paul, I’m sorry. This story, your background, changes things for me.”
After a long while, he said, “I was afraid it might.”
* * *
Immobilized when Hayley left the hotel room, Paul turned over and went to sleep. He couldn’t face the world. After a few hours, he was able to get up and take a shower to revive himself. He made his way home like a zombie, steeling himself against the emotions of being disowned again by his father and rejected by Hayley. He got off at the subway stop, and walked two blocks to his complex. As he reached the door to his condo, he heard, “Pawel.” His name in Polish.
Turning, he saw two men standing on the sidewalk, staring at him. It took him a few seconds to recognize them. Please don’t let his happen. I can’t take any more rejection.
Paul lifted his chin as his two brothers, Jakub and Aleksander, crossed the street and walked to the front of his house. “Did you come to tell me off, too?”
Instead of answering, Jakub leaned forward and hugged Paul. Always the most sensitive, his older brother eked out, “Witaj w domu.” Welcome home.
And Paul’s eyes filled.
Alek, too, hugged him. Then they moved inside.
Paul took off his suitcoat and rolled up his sleeves. The guys wore nice jeans and T-shirts. “You want anything? I have beer.”
Jakub said, “I’ll take one of those.”
“I don’t drink,” Aleksander told him. “I’ll have a soda.”
“Let’s sit at the table.”
Once they were served and seated, Paul took a long pull on his Heineken and looked over at them. “So.”
Aleksander smiled. “Yeah, so. Here we are.”
Jakub leaned over. “We came to see you because Matka called us. Pa told her what he did, and all hell broke loose.”
Alek grinned, making Paul remember how the girls used to love him. “She’s not as demure as she used to be.”
“Why did she call you?”
“She wanted us to come get her. She still doesn’t drive. She’s staying with Zofia.”
“She left Pa?”
“For now.”
“We’re pissed, Paul,” Alek said. “We were hoping you’d come home and right things with Pa. When we found out you tried, and he did the same fucking thing all over again, we were both furious.”
“So, after we dropped Matka off, we came here.”
Jakub smiled. “We’ve been waiting an hour in that café where we could see your condo.”
“I-I don’t know what to say.”