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Chapter Twenty-One
Jensen
I drive my truck down the street and pull into the driveway. I feel like I’ve just run a race, my heart is pounding and my breathing labored. Can this really be happening? There’s only one way to find out. Taking my keys from the ignition, I climb out of my truck and head for the front door.
My knock is loud and insistent, and it only takes a few seconds for the door to open.
“Jensen?”
My dad stands there, his hair almost completely gray and with his faded T-shirt stretched tightly over his paunch belly. “I need to talk to you,” I reply in way of greeting, not even waiting for him to open the screen door for me. I pull it open and slip inside.
“Uh, okay,” he says as he closes the door behind me. “Can I get you something to drink? Water? Soda? I think Baylee has some of that fancy flavored tea crap that tastes like garbage,” he replies, rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous manner.
“Did you have an affair with Kate’s mom?” I blurt out, unable to hold it in any longer.
Dad’s eyes widen, almost comically, before he takes a seat on the couch. “Sit down,” he says, sounding defeated.
“I’d rather stand,” I bite.
He exhales. “Please, Jensen. If we’re going to have this conversation, I’d rather you sit.”
Not wanting to give in, I go ahead and take a seat. Something tells me I won’t like what he has to say anyway. “Fine. I’m sitting. Now, did you have an affair with Annabelle Elliott?”
“Yes.”
I close my eyes, hating the confirmation. Hating the man for putting me in this situation. Hating the carnage he always seems to leave in his wake. “Why? When?” I reply, my voice barely audible.
“It was after I left your mother, if that’s what you’re asking.” It was what I was asking, but that only makes me feel marginally better. “I met Annabelle when I did some custom building work at their house.”
“When?” I demand, needing to piece together the timeline.
He seems to think about it for just a moment before answering, “Your senior year of high school.”
I shake my head, my heart dropping into my boots. “My senior year? While I was dating Kate?”
Dad nods his head once to confirm. “These things just happen,” he says with the wave of his hand, like there’s no big deal.
“Just happen? Buying the wrong spaghetti sauce just happens. Forgetting to stop for milk after work just happens. Your dick falling into my girlfriend’s mother doesn’t just happen!” I realize I’m standing up, pacing in front of the worn couch.
“Jensen, settle down. It’s not like I was looking for an affair. I was happy with Tasha,” he says, referring to the much younger woman he cheated on my mom with.
“Obviously,” I retort, sarcasm very evident in my bite.
Dad exhales and sits forward, resting his hands on his knees. “Listen, I don’t have to explain my personal life to you, but I’m going to in this case.”
“This case? This case? You were screwing my girlfriend’s very married mother, Dad.”
“I know, Jensen. We met when she hired me to build a desk for her husband’s office,” he says, and my stomach falls to the floor. The desk in the office was built by my dad? Seriously? Can this shit get any worse? “I went over to meet with her and one thing led to another.”
Not wanting to hear any of the details, I interrupt. “Letters. You wrote her letters.”
Dad seems surprised by my statement. “How did you know that?”
“Kate found them about an hour ago.”
“Oh,” was his only reply. Clearing his throat, he continues. “Well, yes, we wrote each other letters. We couldn’t exactly call each other or risk Tasha and Hans finding out about our times together.”
“How long? How long did you screw a married woman behind everyone’s back?” I demand.
