AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A mistake? Every cell in Finn’s body seethed. A mistake, she’d called him and Jane. He stifled the urge to yell that the only mistake he’d made was fourteen years ago. But his son was there, and Jane had lied for his sake. Finn pushed his chair back and got up. “Yes, pack the leftovers for me. Thanks, Darian. Max, I’ll pick you up the day after tomorrow from this house.”
“Dad, I wanna go with you.”
He put his hand on Max’s shoulder. “Day after tomorrow.”
Max got out of his chair so fast that it fell back in a loud thud. “It’s all your fault!” he yelled, looking at Avery. “No one wants to come here. Uncle Noah, Aunt Jill, and Grandma Linda and Bert, and Anne. I don’t want to come here anymore either. And I don’t want to go to your house! You ruin everything!”
“Max!” Avery called, her face flushing.
“Maxi,” Darian whimpered.
Finn tried to catch him, but Max turned back and bolted out of the room. They heard the back door slamming. He had gone out to the backyard.
“Avery, really, you have to be careful in front of the child,” Fernando said. “Any issue you have with his father—”
“Thanks for the invitation, Darian. I have to go talk to Max,” Finn said.
Avery stood up. “You’re not taking him anywhere.”
“Let him stay here, in this house, then,” he said.
“I decide what I do with him when I have him.”
He looked at her. Pity and contempt. She didn’t need a restraining order. He didn’t want to be anywhere near her anyway.
“Is it worth it, Avery?” He watched her. “Look around you. Look at your parents, at your son. Are you trying to have a one-up on me? On your cousin? On your brother? Who?”
“This,” she said, pointing back in the general direction of the backyard. “Don’t put this on me. You think you can have your cake and eat it, too.” She gestured with her chin toward the half-cut cake on the table, as if anyone could miss the irony. “It doesn’t work like that.”
“We’ll see about that,” he said, nodded to her parents, and left the dining room.
“Max.” He thumped himself down next to his son on the porch swing. “It’s cold out here. Let’s go back inside. Your grandma and grandpa want to see you’re okay, and I’m sure your mom does, too.” If it wasn’t for his lawyer’s warning, he’d take his kid and fly to Florida right now, only stopping to pick up Jane on the way.
Max looked at him. His blue eyes and light brown hair were so much like his own.
“And I promise that this will all be okay. I’m doing everything to make sure of it. You hear me?” He had given up Jane for this. He couldn’t see what more he could give up on.“Grandma Marie will come after the holiday, and we’ll spend time with her. Disneyland, Six Flags—you choose. And … I’m working on fixing everything else.”
“Can I come to the airport with you to pick Grandma up?”
“Sure.” He leaned over and kissed his son’s head.
