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He scoffed. “Don’t even try! She’s not his aunt. She’s not at my house. And we only now just got together. You’re just being vindictive because it’s her. None of this is for Max’s sake. I’m not buying this, and neither will the court. Why don’t we ask Max what he wants?”
“Go ahead. He can’t address the court until he turns fourteen.”
He had never needed this much self-restraint to not punch his fist into a wall.
“Do you really want to drag him through this? What for? Are you threatening me with all this just so I’d break it up with her?”
“You’re choosing her over your son?”
“No, I don’t have to choose. It’s you who—”
“Then break it up with her, Finn. Find someone else to date, or fuck, or whatever it is you do with her.”
“You’re using Max to …? What’s wrong with you?” He took a step forward, his voice rising. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I won’t have her flaunt this in my face,” she said.
“Who’s flaunting?” He had no idea what she was even on about. She was viewing the world through a straw, filtering everything through that narrow view of her own narcissistic needs. What had he done to his son? He regretted he didn’t have the mental capacity to press record on his phone before he had pounded on her door.
He took a deep breath. “Avery, let’s talk about this. Just you and I, quietly, calmly. I understand that it’s difficult for you. None of this is against you. None of this says anything about you. It has nothing to do with you. But it has everything to do with Max, if that’s how you’re going about it. And you shouldn’t. He’s not in harm’s way at all unless you do this to him.”
“I’m doing this to him? Suits you to turn this on me. You, Noah, Jill, your precious Jane. You’re all the same. I’m trying to do what’s right. Now I want you to leave. This is my house, and I don’t want you here.”
“Avery, please, let’s be reasonable.”
“And, by the way, I’m not threatening you; it’s you who’s threatening me!” She slammed the door in his face.
He took a step back and turned toward his car. A neighbor stood next to the bin of the house next door with a trash bag in hand and looked at him.
He gave him a tight-lipped, quick smile and got into his car.
Everything in him begged him to drive further into town, to Jane. To normalcy. He needed to hold her, to inhale her. Maybe he shouldn’t, but he had to. The courts wouldn’t buy Avery’s lies. He just didn’t want Max to go through all that until the truth came out.
He drove toward the town’s exit, then U-turned the car and drove back in. He hadn’t seen her since Friday. They had lost the weekend. They had lost fourteen years.
He parked on the back street behind Ocean Avenue and went to the back door that was used for delivery trucks and taking the trash out of the bakery. Jane’s car was parked next to it. He pulled the door. It was open.
He found himself in the room where the baked goods were prepared before they went into the ovens in the next room. She was there alone. In a short-sleeved blouse, a pair of jeans, and sneakers, she stood with her back to the door, busy decorating a two-tier cake. Her hair was tied up, her nape exposed, except for the white ribbon of the apron that she had on. Finn wanted his lips on that delicate neck. He looked at the way the apron cinched her waist.
“Jane,” he said, not wanting to startle her by suddenly touching her from behind.
She pivoted, her gloved hands covered with pink icing. She expelled a surprised breath and smiled. “Finn.”
He closed the distance between them, enveloped her in his arms, and inhaled her deeply. “My love,” he whispered into her hair.
“Something happened. What are you doing here?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his shoulders but holding her icing-covered palms in the air.
“I’ll tell you later. I’ll solve it. I just had to see you,” he said, placing a kiss on her neck. He pulled his head back to look at her face then kissed her lips. “I love you, baby, so fucking much. You have no idea.” He leaned his forehead against hers.
“I do, and I love you, too. You’re scaring me, though.” She recoiled her head. “Where’s Max?”
“At home. He’s fine. It’ll be fine. I have to go. I’ll tell you later. Don’t worry.”
She nodded, and they kissed again before he left his heart with her and went to his car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Finn Brennen?”
