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Now…
Trent paced the living room of his family home, where his entire family was gathered for dinner. The kids played ball in the yard, but he felt too nauseous to join in the fun. Conversations and laughter drifted from the kitchen, but he couldn’t bring himself to participate when his mind was preoccupied.
Angel had told Eddie the truth the day before when he’d come back from L.A., and she was supposed to text to let him know whether they were coming to dinner with his family that evening or not. They thought it might be the next logical step. Let Eddie meet everyone. Let everyone meet Eddie…his son. Trent still couldn’t quite get the news to settle. He was happy about it but sad about the lost time. Lost opportunity.
Apparently, the teen had taken the news okay. He’d always known that Brad wasn’t his biological father, so it hadn’t been a huge shock. But Angel had said that he’d voiced his disappointment at her not telling him sooner. Especially since they moved here and he’d gotten to know Trent under somewhat false pretenses.
Trent shared that sentiment with the kid, so maybe that was one thing they could connect on. That and their passion and skill for football. It wasn’t a lot, but at least it was a starting point. He wasn’t sure what he expected from the relationship, but he was keeping the bar low and being open to Eddie’s pace, Eddie’s boundaries. He’d follow the kid’s lead. With Angel’s help, maybe they could form a deeper connection in time.
He wanted that.
His sister Kara approached and wrapped an arm around his waist as he stared outside the window, hoping to see her car approaching. “Either way, things will be okay,” she said.
He squeezed her tight, appreciating the strength from his tiny baby sister. “Thank you for being here.” She was taking the weekend away from school to be here, and that meant a lot. This was important to all of them.
“Look, the kid is family now. So is Angel. We’ll figure it out. Families come in all shapes and sizes, right?” she said.
The words registered with him more than she could possibly know.
“Speaking of family, have you spoken to Whitney?” Kara asked, sounding pained. He knew his sister was missing Whitney almost as much as he was. She’d texted him nonstop while Whitney was recovering, and he knew she’d been hoping to see her here today.
That would have been far too much to expect. He needed to sort these things out separately first, then maybe someday find a way to merge the important aspects of his life together. He was holding on to faith that he could.
“Not yet. I’m respecting her wishes for space.”
“I respect that. But remember that sometimes there’s such a thing as too much space.”
He nodded, considering her words. He knew she was right. He needed to make his next move soon or risk letting too much time come between them. One more play to get her back into his life…then, if she still rejected him, he’d find a way to move on.
His phone chimed, and he jumped. His mother entered the room, a hopeful expression on her face. “Read it,” she said when he stood there slightly frozen.
He took a deep breath and, with a shaky hand, opened the text from Angel:
Sorry, Trent, he says it’s too soon.
His heart fell as he shook his head and showed Kara the text.
“Well, maybe it is. Finding out about you was one thing. Meeting the entire family is another. Give him time,” Kara said supportively.
Then dots that Angel was typing….
But he said he will be at football practice tonight.
He released a sigh of relief. That was something, at least. “He’s still coming to football,” he told them.
Baby steps, he texted back.
Baby steps, she agreed.
Trent tucked the phone into his pocket and, feeling slightly more hopeful than he had in weeks, he joined his family in the kitchen for dinner.
…
In her office the next day, before anyone else had arrived, Whitney packed up her personal items. During her leave, Scott was going to hire a temporary assistant to take over and keep things running until she was ready to come back. She picked up the picture of her and Trent at the pumpkin patch the night they’d met and hesitated. What did she do with it? The memory of that day still hurt, and despite the weeks that had passed since she last saw him, her heart still hadn’t started to heal.
Would it ever?
She still loved him as much as she ever did, but he had some life-changing things going on, and as much as she wanted to be there for him, his silence the last few weeks made her think that maybe he didn’t want or need her support. She’d asked for space and he’d given it…but now she realized maybe that had been a mistake.
