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Harper shook Charles’ hand and greeted him while Kat and I still shared a worried look.
Footsteps sounded outside the dining room and my heart literally stopped for a second.
It was Nate. He also froze in the entry and looked at me silently asking,what’s going on?
Mom immediately jumped in and introduced him to her friend, as well.
Nathan seemed a little surprised, but he shook Charles’ hand and welcomed him into our home. So far, no one had answered my question about what brought Charles to Chamonix. Was it a chance meeting, or perhaps he was here specifically to meet Mom, and if so, how long had they been seeing each other?
The tension in the air was palpable as each of us waited for Jackson to come face-to-face with Mom’s date. The way he had reacted at the restaurant earlier that day had all of us worried.
“We’re waiting for one more,” Mom said, her voice quivering just a little bit, and her smile wavered. She knew she had a right to be worried about Jackson. Why did she think surprising him would be the best way to go about this? Then again, Jackson was a grown man, maybe he could act like it for one dinner.
I helped myself to a glass of wine and offered some to Kat and Harper, before remembering that Harper didn’t drink alcohol. I asked the staff to bring her some sparkling water instead as we waited.
Finally, Jackson stepped into the room.
Instantly, the look on his face told me he had an idea that Mom was having a guest, and he wasn’t happy about it.
“Jackson, dear, finally,” Mom said with a forced laugh. “I thought maybe you had fallen asleep.”
“No, I was just debating whether or not to come down,” he said crisply.
He walked past Charles and straight to the bar, pouring himself a drink. He took a very large swallow before turning and staring at Charles.
“Charles, I’d like you to meet my oldest son, he was born a whole ten minutes before Nathan.” Mom was trying to use humor to diffuse the tension, and I felt sorry for her. She shouldn’t have to do that.
“Nice to meet you, Jackson. Your mother has—”
“Can we just get to it already?” Jackson took his seat, breaking his stare at Charles. “I’m not into small talk, Charles. I thought Mom would have warned you about that already.”
“Jackson Bishop, you will not speak to my guest that way. If you can’t be pleasant, you can take your dinner in your room.”
Mom whispered something to Charles and he nodded, taking Jackson’s attitude in stride. It was honestly impressive as hell.
Charles sat and Jackson let out a sigh of disapproval.
“Does he have to sit there?”
“It’s an empty seat, Jackson. Why wouldn’t he sit there?” Mom countered, clearly running out of patience.
“You know why.” He glared at Mom.
I was sick of it. We hadn’t even started dinner yet and already Jackson was ruining it for all of us by being a big baby.
“Maybe it’s about time you realized Dad isn’t coming back,” I said.
Jackson turned his sneering anger toward me.Better at me than at Mom, I thought to myself.
“Sorry if I’m not celebrating that our family was broken up by lies, Aiden.”
“They aren’t lies,” I laughed. “You’re just delusional.”
“Boys,” Mom said sternly.
Nathan stepped between us, always the one trying to break up the fights, even now.
“Let’s just try to eat dinner and be cordial,” he said, looking at me.
