AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jake sighed and then settled his eyes on me. “I don’t know the details about what happened between you two when you were kids, but whatever it was, I know it had to hurt like hell.”
I nodded because the emotion clogging up my throat prevented me from speaking. Despite putting the past behind us, the memory of that night was still raw. I suspected it would be a good long while before that sensation disappeared altogether.
“Not everyone is as strong as you guys, Bennett. Not everyone is willing to risk their heart again… not even when the perfect opportunity presents itself.”
His eyes drifted to our cabin again before shifting back to the view in front of him.
“You lost someone,” I said as understanding dawned. He didn’t answer and I didn’t expect him to. But I did see his body stiffen just a little bit.
An awkward silence fell between us and I knew I should go. I began walking down the steps, but stopped when I reached the bottom. I didn’t look at him when I said, “He misses you, Jake.”
When he didn’t respond, I said to Bear, “Come on, boy.” The dog jumped up, grabbed his stick and trotted ahead of me.
“Bennett.”
I stopped and looked over my shoulder at Jake.
“Can I bring anything to the party?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Some of that weird homemade beer crap that Xander likes so much. He says it’s your secret recipe.”
Jake chuckled and nodded. “You got it.”
I hid my smile long enough so he wouldn’t see it and hurried back to the cabin. Just as I reached the bottom step, Lucky came tearing out the front door, clothes askew. “Oh thank god!” he said when he saw me. “I thought I missed you.”
I chuckled and climbed the stairs. I slapped him on the back and said, “Go get the keys. You’re driving.”
“Yes!” he shouted just before he turned and ran back into the house. Lucky still only had his learner’s permit, but in a matter of weeks, he’d be taking the test to get his license. Another sign he was growing up too damned fast.
As I followed him into the cabin, I glanced at Jake’s cabin one more time. His eyes met mine across the expanse between the two buildings, and I saw him nod before he went back inside.
It wasn’t much.
But it was a start.
Only a few guests had arrived at the party by the time Xander showed up with Lolly. She had her arm through Xander’s as they walked and she was speaking softly to him. After the accident, Xander had spent several weeks in Colorado caring for his aunt until she’d practically ordered him to go home. Lucky and I had flown out once over a weekend, but with Lucky being in school, we hadn’t had the option of staying with Xander to help him take care of Lolly.
It had turned out that Lolly had found her very own knight in shining armor in Steve, the director of the nudist colony. He’d been the one to call Xander after the accident, and had been a regular visitor to the hospital, as well as after she’d arrived home. He’d also been the bare-assed guy showing Lolly a good time when Xander had walked into Lolly’s apartment the weekend before.
As expected, Lolly had completely healed after a lot of rest and some physical therapy. She’d even made the trip out to New York to spend Christmas with us. I watched her approach for any signs she was favoring the leg she’d broken, but she looked perfectly fit. Better yet, Xander looked completely at peace.
It was something I’d been waiting a long time to see.
I’d known how hard it was for Xander to spend so much time in New York. But he’d done it without complaint.
The adoption had gone off without a hitch within three months of me filing the application, so in theory we could have moved to Colorado shortly after Christmas. But we’d been reluctant to have Lucky start at a new school in the middle of the year. I’d also needed the time to get the new foundation up and running so I could hand it off to the husband and wife team I’d selected to run it. I’d decided to make a clean break from the foundation, since I wanted my sole focus to be on Xander, Lucky and our new business. It had been tough to say goodbye to the kids, but Xander and I had a lot of plans to help kids from all over the country experience the world in a way they wouldn’t have the opportunity to otherwise.
It had been much easier to cut ties with my parents. I’d given notice at my father’s company, but he’d informed me via a memo that a month’s notice wasn’t necessary— I was welcome to leave that very day. He’d sent security guards along with the directive to “help me with my things.” I hadn’t seen him again after that. He hadn’t gone through with his threat to encourage potential sponsors to steer clear of my foundation, but I’d suspected that’d had more to do with how that would have made him look rather than doing it for my benefit.
