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Chase gave a thoughtful nod. “I’ll probably stay with Matt for a couple of days. That’ll give us time to figure things out.”
“Yeah.” My gaze drifted off the side of the boat. “It’s going to be kind of weird to say goodbye, huh? After all these nights spent together.”
“I know,” Chase agreed, reaching across the table to take my hand. “We won’t have to be apart for long, but you’ll have a lot going on, and I don’t know if your family and friends will appreciate me hanging around the whole time.”
I nodded. He was right but the idea of facing it all alone overwhelmed me. I’d come to rely on his quiet strength and all the help he’d provided with taking care of Jackson. “Not that I care what my family and friends think, but maybe we can still do dinner together or something?”
“Sure.”
“Jackson wants you to come live with us.”
“He does?”
I smiled sadly. “Yeah. He asked me about it when we were packing the other morning. He wants you to come live with us and asked if…he asked if it was bad that he wanted you to be his dad.”
“Wow.” I glanced at Chase and saw the surprise in his eyes. “What did you tell him?”
“I told him it wasn’t a bad thing to think that way and that you would be a part of our life even though we’d be home again. But I also reminded him that Henry would always be his dad.”
“That’s good.”
“Henry was a bad guy, but he was a good dad, at least when he was around. I don’t want to put the weight of my feelings toward him onto Jackson’s shoulders. I’ll tell him the full story when he’s older. I’m sure he’ll hear the rumors at some point. God knows, Henry’s parents will probably blame it all on me. We’ve never really gotten along. They’ll probably tell their friends I pushed Henry to work harder and make more money so I could have a nicer car or second beach home,” I paused and shook my head, imagining just how it would play out. “Luckily, they live on the other side of the country so I won’t have to deal with them all that much.”
Chase nodded. “What about Jackson? Won’t they expect to see him?”
I shook my head. “Not likely. They’re not ‘kid people’ to put it in their words. They’ve seen him twice since he was born. Both times at family weddings they had to attend. And even then, they barely spent ten minutes with him. But they’ll circulate the rumors to the rest of the family and so there’s no avoiding it. I can’t keep Jackson away from all of them.”
“You’ll see where people’s feelings truly lie once all this shakes out. I can’t imagine anyone could blame you for Henry’s crimes.”
I shrugged. “Maybe not. I guess it’s one way of figuring out who your friends really are.”
“What about your friends?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really have any. At least not really close friends. I have friends who like to shop, or go to the theater, and sometimes I get together with other moms from Jackson’s preschool, but that’s about it. I was never the splashy LA wife.”
Chase chuckled. “It is hard to picture you that way.”
“Thanks. That’s a compliment, actually.” I shook my head thinking of all the ridiculous people I knew. I’d never really belonged with them. The month spent with Chase had only proved that point further.
I couldn’t go back to my old life because it had never really been mine to begin with.
44
Melissa
“Land ho!” Jackson bellowed, racing out of the bridge where he had spent the afternoon helping Chase steer the boat.
I glanced up from the paperback I’d borrowed from Chase and saw we were lined up and ready to cruise into the harbor where Matt’s boat was docked when we first met. It felt like years ago. So much had changed and so many things had happened. My reference for time was beyond screwy.
I stashed the book in my tote bag and jumped up to join Jackson at the railing. He was used to the boat, but he still made my heart jump when he leaned over the edge.
Chase got us up to the dock and Jackson raced after him as he secured the boat. When we walked down the gangplank, a familiar face was there to greet us. “Melissa! Hey, brother!” Matt called to us. “And you must be Jackson. Hey, buddy.”
He offered Jackson a high five and Jackson returned it before glancing over at Chase. I hadn’t realized it before, having only seen them separately, but together the resemblance was striking. There was no doubt they were brothers. “Matt!” Chase came forward and the two brothers locked in a tight embrace.
In that moment, I realized how worried Chase had been for his brother. He hadn’t said anything about it, but I remember Matt saying he had guys following after him.
