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Jess bumps her shoulder against my arm, her voice softening. “You what?”
I do look at her now, fully uncomfortable with the vulnerability I feel. I would rather be in the middle of an armed standoff than let my emotions show. “I don’t know if I can let Jake in when I know there’s a chance of…”
Of him not making it.
Though their family has moved on, I know how the loss of Gemma affected Sam and her parents and siblings. Even Braeden, who used to have a very similar stance on emotions and allowing people in as me. Then he went and got married, but still. I try my best to be strong, but I know Jake is innocent. And if he came into our lives now for only a short time, I just don’t if I’m strong enough for that.
“Seth, loving anybody—romantic or otherwise—is a risk,” my sister says softly, her gaze tender. “Believe me, I know that. I was terrified to fall for Marshall because I didn’t want to lose our friendship. You were resistant to allowing Jenna in because of how you were hurt in the past. I get it. Love hurts sometimes. But guess what? Love also heals. At what point do we have to decide we’re gonna have to be okay with the risk because the reward could be infinitely better? I don’t have a crystal ball. I don’t know how to navigate the whole Dad and Jake situation. But I do know that it would be wholly selfish to deprive Jake of the siblings he has, even if only for a short time. I guess it’s up to you of how much you’re willing to give to receive.”
Words seem to be stuck somewhere inaccessible to me, so I don’t say anything at all. I pull my sister into my arms, adjusting to accommodate her baby bump, and rest my chin on her head. Jess’s arms circle around me with that surprising strength of hers, and I realize, for the first time, that maybe this was how it was meant to be.
My father found this Teri, who gave him a son who needed him and gave him a second chance at what we didn’t have. My sister and I found the Bryants, who gave us a chance to have our own version of a family.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to have a relationship with my father like Marshall and Wynn have with John. I don’t know if Jess will ever have that. I don’t know if my niece or nephew will ever have their grandfather on our side of the family in their life. I don’t know if Ella and Eli or any other children Jenna and I have will, either.
But if the roles were reversed and it was up to Jake to say if he wanted Jess and I to know about him, I’d want the chance. That said…
“I need a little time,” I say quietly, easing back slightly. “It’s not a no, but I need time to process.”
Jess nods. “I think that’s a good idea. I love you, Seth. I hope you know that.”
I give her another hug, inhaling as tears press at my eyes. “I love you too. Please let me know if your husband goes berserk in the wake of everything that, uh, our father had to say. I’ll try to help.”
“Oh, believe me, he probably will.” Jess smiles and slides her arm through my elbow, head resting on my bicep, as we head back inside. “We’ll be okay, Seth. It might come in a roundabout way, but good will come of this. I promise you of that.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Jenna
The email comes through at the exact time Mazzy and Colin step back from the house and yell“Done!”Typically, I wouldn’t have my phone out while we’re working at Marie’s house, but I was elected to time the teens while they finished the window trim.
Hence the reason I know an email popped up in my notification bar.
“We did it,” Mazzy shouts, pumping her fists in the air. One of which holds a paintbrush dripping with yellow paint. She’s fortunate it didn’t splatter onto the siding. “The house is—say it with me, people—DONE!”
I’m the only one who didn’t join in. Because of that, Seth eyes me quizzically as I shove my phone into the rear pocket of my jean shorts, trying to smile. It’s not the easiest feat, considering my whole body feels like Jell-O, but he buys it (read: goes along with it until he can interrogate me later) because he gestures the group into a circle.
“First of all, I want to say great job to all of you,” Seth says, undeniable pride lacing both his words and his smile. “The house is, like we just established, finished. Everyone needs to give themselves a pat on the back because that is no small feat. Especially in the timeframe we did it in.”
I can’t help but feel warm fuzzies as Ella mirrors the way Mazzy and Alessia jump up and down a couple times at and when Colin swings Eli up into a celebratory airplane spin, Luka topping it off by giving my son a high five. Though it doesn’t turn into a game of Five-Fives like Eli probably intended, Luka makes up for it by promising to play later.
“Secondly, that means the mayor and a few other city officials are ready to see it,” Seth continues once the whoops have died down. “They’re on their way right now and should be arriving in approximately—” he glances at his watch “—three minutes.”
“What?” Mazzy squeaks, glancing down at her paint splattered shorts and tee. “They’re comingnow?You couldn’t have told us that, like, before we met here today?”
Colin snorts. “Why, because you would’ve worn something fancy to finish painting in?”
“No,” Mazzy retorts with a scowl. “But I would’ve brought clean clothes to change into. Look at us. We look like we’ve been working.”
Luka bites his lip, but his eyes are sparkling. “Maybe, I don’t know, because wehavebeen working?”
Alessia laughs, nudging her glasses up on her nose. She’s wearing a tank-top today, which is a far cry from her baggy T-shirts and oversized sweatshirts, and something about her is lighter. I don’t know what it is, but I think Seth realized it too, and I’m happy to see her enjoying herself.
Mazzy sighs. “All I’m saying is that a little heads up would’ve been nice.”
“So, three minutes wasn’t enough, I take it?” Seth teases as he gives Mazzy a side hug, and it makes my heart do a little two-step. The bond Seth has with these kids tells me two things: he’s going to be an amazing dad to kids at any age, and though it wasn’t his responsibility to help them discover their place in life, he’s done that. Maybe not fully, but he told me about something he has planned that the teens have no idea about. I can safely say they probably won’t care what they’re wearing here in about thirty minutes. “Sorry, Maz. I’ll try to do better next time.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she says, probably going for annoyance. But the way she grins and hugs him like he’s the big brother she doesn’t have tells me plenty. “I hope they like it.”
