Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 57201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
These are questions that I need to sit down and talk with Jake about. Questions that need answers, but they are answers I’m afraid to hear. I can be honest, though.
I’m scared.
I’d rather not know.
I stand by the door and watch father and son, and for the first time, I feel like an outsider in my son’s room. At the same time, I feel something click into place. Lennon needs a relationship with his father, and there’s a bond forming between them. That’s good for my son, and that’s all that matters.
I walk out of the room, taking a deep breath to settle my nerves. I start throwing the paper plates and things in the garbage, picking up from dinner. Callie offered to do all that, but I waved her off. It’s late, and they don’t need to be out on the road at this time of night. She acts like it doesn’t, but I know that riding in a car makes her nervous even now. Her accident changed her—hell everything Mitch put her though altered who she is. She still thinks she’s weak, but if I’d been through everything she has, I don’t know if I’d still be standing—let alone risking my heart again.
“It’s been a good night,” Jake says, coming into the kitchen.
“It has. Thank you for dinner. You really should let me pay for at least half of it.”
“No way. I told you it was my treat.”
I watch as he walks over and sits on a barstool across from me. I finish cleaning off the counter, refocusing my gaze on the counter. I can feel the weight of his stare on me, though.
“Something on your mind?” I ask because the air around us is heavy. There’s a tension that makes me uneasy.
“I was hoping to talk to you, but today has been so good that I don’t want to ruin it,” he says, setting off a million butterflies in my stomach.
“Well that sounds ominous.”
“I think it’s past time the two of us talked, honey.”
There goes that endearment again. Why is it after all this time having Jake call me honey still makes my heart speed up?
“We’re talking,” I mumble, scrubbing the counter harder—even though it’s not dirty.
Jake puts his hand over mine to stop me and murmurs, “Look at me, Katie.”
I force myself to raise my gaze. He’s smiling at me, but even I can see he’s worried.
“You’re leaving Macon, aren’t you?”
“What?”
“Jake, I never expected you to stay here, but you can’t let my son—”
“Our son.”
“You can’t let our son get attached to you and then just leave,” I finish.
“Katie,” he says with a sigh.
“I mean it. Lennon needs for you to stay in touch with him, even after you go back to Wyoming.”
“I don’t live there anymore. Didn’t Jeff tell you?”
“No. I just assumed, I guess. He asked to be the one to talk to you about the wedding, and to be honest, it sounds stupid, but I was relieved.”
“You should have been the one to tell me about Lennon, Katie.”
“I tried. Things were tense between Jeff and me. Does it even matter anymore? This is water under the bridge.”
“Katie—”
“Jake, I was just trying to navigate through everything. Jeff thought it would be better if he talked to you first. He said you would be angry, and you had every right. I should have told you sooner, but you were living your dream, and I knew you didn’t want kids. I just, I needed to protect Lennon.”
“Please tell me you know me well enough to know I wouldn’t hurt him.”
“There are different ways to hurt people, Jake. It doesn’t have to be physical,” I respond.
“You should have been the one to tell me, Katie. You should have told me from the beginning. I should have never had to find out from my brother.”
“Fine. I should have. I know that. I knew it then. Jeff asked, and I didn’t want to see you. It was too much.”
“It was too much? Is that all you have to say? I lost years with my son because you didn’t tell me—years that I will never get back.”
“Don’t you think I feel guilty about that?”
“I don’t know what you feel. We’ve never talked!” Jake growls.
“You don’t get to act like the injured party here, Jake. Not now. You’ve had years to be a part of Lennon’s life, and you didn’t try. In fact, you treated him like you couldn’t stand him. So, don’t come at me now like this is all my fault. You are to blame, too.”
“I treated him like that because I thought he was proof that you moved on from me and didn’t look back!”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, wondering what in the hell Jake’s trying to pull. There’s no way he’s going to blame all of this on me. I know I made mistakes, but that doesn’t negate his own. “You had years to get to know Lennon, Jake—four years to be exact. You didn’t, and instead you could barely spare him the time of day.”