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This was supposed to be a little break from life and now I’ve dug the hole even deeper…
“This isn’t real life, Henry,” I said. “All of this. And don’t tell me you’re going to buy this place. You’re not. You can’t live here. This is a vacation home. That’s it.”
“Are you asking to talk about the future then? Do you want to make plans?”
I looked at him. “I don’t know what to say or do. I have a house. The front room is still full of… his stuff…” I swallowed hard. “Travis plays football. He has friends. He has his life.”
“I don’t recall asking you to pack up and leave where you live,” Henry said.
“And I’m not having you move back to that small town. Hell no, Henry. You left for a reason.”
“I left to chase a dream and I got it, honey,” he said. “Your grandfather wanted me to stay to work on my skills. He had a bigger vision for me too. And you want to know something? When I got to Puckford University I acted like my you know what didn’t smell. Guess what happened? The first few practices, I got my ass handed to me. It took me a minute to settle in. Because Leon was right. But I stuck it out. Everything did work out. But leaving? That was the hardest thing I ever did. I knew I was crushing that old man’s heart. I knew I was leaving it all behind for you to deal with. I was eighteen. I was stupid. I was selfish.”
“Which is part of being eighteen.”
“Not for you, Sage. You stayed and handled it all.”
I swallowed hard.
I can’t argue that part.
“So flip it around now, honey. Let me make it all up to you. Let me deal with whatever comes our way. Yeah, this place isn’t ours. I’m not going to buy it. But you know what? I can buy anything I want. For the most part. You want to stay where you’re at? Stay. You want to move? Move. We can work out everything.”
“Just like that? We meet up after all these years and it’s just…”
“Yeah,” he said. “Because that’s how it was with us. From the second we met. You can’t deny it.”
“We were teenagers.”
“You’re telling me you don’t have the same feelings right now?”
I looked away, blushing and smiling. “Shut up.”
Henry laughed.
We then sat in silence for a little while. Just listening to the ocean.
My stomach ached with regret.
Did I really need a paternity test? What did it matter? Why can’t things just work out the way they want to?
Of course… I don’t know… maybe for medical reasons, right?
I mean…
No.
Still doesn’t matter.
Travis is strong, healthy, extremely athletic.
Did you see him on the ice? The way he just put on skates and started going? Are you kidding me? Nobody does that. I mean… come on… is it any more obvious that Henry is Travis’s father?
I thought so much I started to doze off.
The air was soothing.
I felt safe, hidden and just…
