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If the flowers were the cause, the scent of plain old java beans would make it go away. Mitch was sweet in that respect, but I was still mad, even if the pounding was causing me to squint. I gave the container a sniff.
“Better?”
It wasn’t going to be an instant fix, but still I answered. “Yes.” Even if it was a total lie. “So back to Jasmine. Is the child yours?” I held my breath.
“Yes.” He stared into my eyes. “Jackson is my biological son.”
Every molecule in my body screamed at the top of my lungs and the struggle to keep it all contained was one of the hardest things I’d done in my life. “When?”
I’d broken the law by peering into his birthdate, so I could work back the timing all on my own but this time, it needed to come from Mitch.
“A few weeks after we started going out.”
The lid to my anger was no longer contained, and I picked up a nearby pillow and threw it with all my strength. “You bastard.” I missed my target and grabbed another to toss.
“I can explain.”
“You are a jerk of the highest order. How could you?”
Mitch ran to the door ahead of me and blocked me from leaving.
“Get out of my way!”
“NO!” In my years with Mitch, there were only a handful of times he ever raised his voice. I’d add this time to that list. “You are going to sit down and listen to what I’m going to tell you. Then you can leave. I’ll even help you pack.”
Well, that wasn’t promising. “Fine.”
I stormed back over to the living room and waited. As soon as Mitch’s behind hit the couch, I was leaving. But Mitch hadn’t moved. He leaned against the door and inhaled, the expressions morphing across his face as if he were conflicted. Good. He deserved it.
“Yes, it happened back a few years ago. I’m not proud of it.”
“You shouldn’t be. You’ve ruined us.”
A painful sigh breathed out. “You’re probably right.”
“Iamright.” My words were clipped and punctuated with venom. I was angry enough to spit nails, if that was even a thing. “Why now? Why is she showing up to ruin our lives? Why couldn’t she have shown up when she was pregnant, and at least prevented us from having some really great years together?”
There was a sheen to Mitch’s eyes, and from the way his shoulders rolled forward and the small of his back pressed into the door, he was defeated. About damn time.
“She came now because I need to sign some documents allowing her to move our son to Seattle. Permanently.”
“So, you knew she had him?”
“Not until she arrived here. No.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Sit, please, and I’ll tell you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Then neither am I.” Mitch sighed.
I tapped my foot and waited for him to give in first, even though there wasn’t a prayer of him doing so. He was a fiercely determined man and when he put his mind to it, there was no going back. It was a quality I’d always enjoyed about him, until now. Bastard.
“So, years ago, you and I were freshly dating, and you had recently started working at the airport.”
Yeah, back when I was a fresh twenty-two, and I’d just finished a couple of college-level courses. I’d only received my GED diploma a year before since the commune wasn’t the best at making sure we were educated. After I moved here and joined the staff at the airport, Mitch had been one of the first people I’d met, and he was a sweetheart, always making my day, chatting with me while we waited for inbound flights. I loved how he was the kind of guy who liked to get his hands dirty, and his knowledge on planes was so vast, it made him trustworthy - he’d rather proactively treat issues on a plane, than react to them and was so on top of things. His planes were always the safest to fly in, and everyone knew it.
