Rekindled Read Online Free

cool against the pads of my feet during the warm summer months when I’d open up the windows and let the breeze seep inside. I loved the way Jonah’s voice carried through each of the rooms when he was a toddler singing along to his favorite songs. And I loved the comfort the house held when my brother Caleb visited, and we’d order greasy Chinese takeout and watch horror films on the couch in the living room.
    Looking at it now, knowing the façade of a life it represents, I wonder how it’s possible to hate something that I once loved so much.
    “I just don’t see how he could do that to you. To Jonah! I mean, I know you said things weren’t good between you guys, but this? This just doesn’t sound like the Zach that we know. This is just vindictive,” Patty says.
    “There was a lot about him that you guys didn’t know.” I try to hide the bitterness to my voice. There’s a lot about both of us you don’t know.
    “Earth to Lee,” Caleb says, waving his hand in front of my face. “You okay?”
    Staring at my brother, I’m struck by how much he is the culmination of our parents. With corn-husk blond hair and watery blue eyes, a strong nose, high forehead and square jaw, he was on the receiving end of the good genes lottery. He used to joke that I must be adopted because I look nothing like either of our parents. My thick auburn hair comes from my grandma on my mom’s side, and while I have the same blue eyes as the rest of our family, I have a heart shaped face with practically non-existent cheekbones and a tiny nose that sits high and tilts upwards.
    “Hey, Bud, why don’t you take Spider-Man upstairs and show him your new bedroom? I need to talk to Uncle Caleb. Your room is the one painted blue.”
    “Okay, mom.” Jonah dashes up the stairs and disappears from view.
    Caleb and I head into the kitchen and I slide onto a bar stool that sits in front of the large island fixture. Grabbing two beers from the fridge, Caleb pops the top off and hands one to me.
    “Thanks,” I say. “And thanks for letting us stay here. I promise we won’t be in your hair too much.”
    “C’mon Lee, you know I love you both. It’ll be great having Jonah around. Plus, this house is as much yours as it is mine. Just because Mom and Dad gave me this house doesn’t make it any less yours.”
    I scoff. “Yeah, sure it is. This house stopped being mine in any way when Mom and Dad decided they wanted nothing to do with me or Jonah. Do they even know I’m staying here?”
    Caleb leans forward, resting his weight on his forearms as he stares at his beer bottle. “Yeah, they know.”
    When he doesn’t say anything else, I nod my head, knowing my parents haven’t changed one bit. Too stubborn and proud to push past their anger from seven years ago to reach out and have even the slightest contact with their grandson. Resentment begins to uncoil in my stomach with the reminder of their selfishness, and I take another sip of my beer to try to shove it back down.
    My parents cut me out of their lives when I made the choice to keep my baby, and the loss of that relationship was what I imagined a phantom-limb would feel like. Your brain is well aware that a piece of you is gone, and yet, your body still acts like it’s not. Like a knee-jerk reaction, I picked up the phone to call my parents when Jonah first learned to walk, and when he said his first word, “bye”, wanting to share my excitement, only remembering their choice of pushing me out of their lives after the first ring. They’d taken away my college money, my trust fund, and their love, but if anything, that only made me love my son more, knowing I would do what my parents couldn’t: love my child unconditionally. As much as their actions have hurt me, I can’t afford to think about them right now when I have larger issues to deal with.
    “We might need to stay for the whole summer,” I say quietly. “Possibly longer depending on how quickly I can find