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I placed my hand over his. “I love you, too, Rafe. Thank you for your forgiveness.”
“There’s nothing to forgive. Go live your life before you’re too damn old to enjoy it.”
“Thanks a lot.” I laughed. “You’ve given me a gift.”
His eyes met mine, this time with a different expression—a look of warning from a protective brother. “Don’t waste it.”
Dax
After the weekend, I took some rare personal time off from work to clear my head and think about my next steps. I knew I needed to close things out with Morgan more appropriately, as uncomfortable as that was going to be. But when I showed up at her house a few days after my conversation with Rafe, she refused to talk to me. I’d apparently hurt her far more than I realized. However, after her reaction at the law firm party, I’d become more certain that even if Wren didn’t exist, Morgan was not the right person for me.
She was understandably angry, but there was no excuse for threatening to tell Rafe. No one should find joy in the idea of traumatizing someone. It was like a switch had flipped inside her that night that showed her true colors—a side of her that perhaps I’d intentionally turned a blind eye to, the same side that wanted to take down the picture of Maren with no regard for the impact on Rafe. Aside from all that, I wasn’t in love with her. I never had been. That was clear to me now.
Morgan placed a bag of stuff I’d had at her apartment in front of her door and told me to leave. She said she never wanted to see me again. And maybe that was for the best. It was easier to be on the receiving end of her anger than her sadness.
So now that I wasn’t having a conversation with Morgan, I knew my next stop. I hadn’t spoken to Wren since the night of the party, but there was someone else I needed to speak to first. My gut told me I needed to start with him.
Wren worked most mornings until sometime later in the day. On Wednesday afternoon, I drove by her house to make sure her car wasn’t there. Her father, on the other hand, worked nights and was home.
I knocked on the door.
When Chuck answered, he didn’t look all that surprised to see me. “Hello, Dax. Wren is at work.”
“I know. I came to speak to you.”
“Oh?” He stepped aside. “Well, come in.”
I wiped my feet before entering the house. “I know you know about Wren and me. I know she tells you everything.”
He turned away. “Do you mind waiting here while I get my shotgun?”
My jaw dropped for a second, even though he had to be fucking with me. Wren must have also told him we’d joked about him wanting to shoot me.
Chuck looked back and pointed at me. “The look on your face…”
I shook my head. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did get a gun.”
“I don’t wish you ill, son.” He pointed to the couch. “You want a seat?”
I had way too much nervous energy to sit my ass down right now. “No, I prefer to stand.”
“Okay.”
I looked down at the ground before facing him again. “Look, I need to apologize for the way I’ve treated your daughter. I’ve toyed with her emotions because I couldn’t control my feelings for her, despite the fact that I believed we couldn’t be together. I made poor decisions and hurt her as a result. I would never want someone treating my daughter the way I treated her.”
He nodded. “You had your reasons. This wasn’t exactly a clear-cut situation. I get that.”
“Well, I’m still sorry for the way I handled it. But I’m not sorry for falling in love with her. I’ve tried to stop…but I can’t. That was never something I could control. I came here to assure you I won’t be hurting her anymore.”
He raised a brow. “How do you plan to prevent that?”
“I plan to just…love her. If she’ll let me.”
“She told me Rafe told you he knows, and he gave you his blessing.” Chuck cracked a slight smile. “I’m sure that was a gamechanger.”
“I guess I underestimated his level of maturity.”
“He’s a remarkable kid, in part because of you, you know. You should try to take some credit for that. You’ve raised him. He’s been with you longer than he was with his mother.”
My eyes widened. I’d never thought of it that way, but it was true. Maren had only had Rafe for three years. He’d been with me more than five.
“That’s pretty unbelievable to realize,” I said.
“We have a lot in common, you and I,” Chuck said. “We both lost our wives prematurely. We both were left to raise a child. We’ve both made mistakes, even though we tried our best.”
