“They seem to care about you.”
“They do. More than I deserve.” He smiled sadly. “And having you here... it’s given us something to focus on besides the past. A future. Something good that came out of all those years.”
I picked at a loose thread on my jeans. “I’m nervous about tonight. About fitting in.”
“I can see that.” His voice was gentle. “But Leigh, they already want you there. The hard part’s over. You’ve met them. They like you. Now it’s just about spending time together.”
“What if I say the wrong thing? What if I remind them that their dad had an affair and I’m the evidence of that?”
Jasper was quiet for a long moment. “You want to know what Trace said when I told him about you? He said, ‘We have a sister. When can we meet her?’ Not anger. Not judgment. Just... happiness. They all felt that way.”
Something in my chest loosened slightly.
“They’ve been through hell with Regina,” Jasper continued. “They understand complicated family situations better than most people. You’re not a reminder of my failures to them. You’re family they didn’t know they had. Family that doesn’t have any connection to the one person who tried to destroy everything about them. If anything, you’re a kind of hope they didn’t know they needed.”
“I met Delaney and Blake for lunch this week,” I said. “They were really kind.”
“They’re good women. All the boys chose well.” He paused. “Caroline seems lighter here. Happier. Have you noticed?”
“Yeah. I have.”
“She’s a remarkable woman. Always was. I think about the choice she made, raising you alone, protecting you from all this mess...” He gestured vaguely at the house, the town, everything that had been his life. “She’s stronger than I ever was. At first I wanted to be angry with her, but I can see now how incredibly brave she was.”
“She did what she thought was right.”
“She did.” He looked at me again. “What was it like? Growing up in Blue Point Bay. Just the two of you.”
I told him about our small apartment, about Mom working double shifts, about learning to be independent early. But also about the good things. The closeness we’d developed. The tight-knit community. My cousins who were more like siblings. Some people might have seen them as sad stories, a childhood where we’d struggled. But I’d never seen it that way. There was nothing about back then that I’d have changed. Well, maybe that it hadn’t been as hard for my mom. But for me? She gave me an amazing childhood filled with love and family. We might not have had the money, but what we did have was a lot more than what my brothers had.
Jasper listened intently, asking questions, genuinely wanting to know. And slowly, the awkwardness between us began to ease.
“I saw you with your camera the other day,” he said. “Walking through town. You looked like you belonged there. Behind the lens.”
“Photography’s always been my escape. My way of making sense of things.”
“Your mother mentioned you’re quite talented. Blake and Delaney certainly think so.”
“Blake wants to feature some of my work in her gallery.”
“You should do it. Put down roots here, if you want to. This can be home too, Leigh. Not instead of Blue Point Bay, but in addition to it. You don’t have to choose.”
The simple acceptance in his words made my throat tight.
“There’s something else,” he said carefully. “I noticed some tension. With Dex. And I’m not going to pry, but I want you to know... you don’t have to be perfect tonight. None of us are. We’re all just trying to figure this out as we go.”
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
“He’s a good man,” Jasper added. “Been through a lot. The boys consider him family, and so do I. But whatever’s between you two, you’ll figure it out. Or you won’t. Either way, it doesn’t change that you belong here.”
Before I could respond, the French doors opened and Mom appeared.
“Sorry, sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t decide what to wear.”
“You look beautiful, Caroline,” Jasper said, standing. There was something soft in his voice, something warm that made me look at him differently.
Mom blushed slightly. “Should we go? We don’t want to be late.”
Jasper moved toward the door, then paused and turned back to me. He put a hand on my shoulder, brief but genuine.
