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But I never found out what he was going to say because the door swung open, and we both turned around to face who the person was, dropping our hands as we did. My heart fell to the floor when I saw the man’s face.
“Dad?” he asked, looking between Brad and me. “Cassie?”
What the fuck?!
CHAPTER10
BRAD
Cassie had gonefrom beautifully flushed to pale in a matter of two seconds flat. I was just as surprised to see my estranged son at my office door, but before I could say anything, Cassie fled, pushing past us both on a run, and I stepped forward to stop her, but I knew it wouldn’t look good if I did.
How would I explain it? No, don’t go! Let’s keep doing stuff in my office!
My eyes went to Jason, not believing that it was really him in front of me. He’d not spoken to me for about seven years. I never thought he’d ever forgive me and come back again.
“Jason?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”
Jason had been looking at Cassie’s departing figure, and I adjusted myself quickly. Too weird to have my son there when I had a major hard on in my office. When he faced me again, he was frowning.
“I didn’t know Cassie worked here.”
“Yeah. You know her?”
Jason nodded. “Yeah, we dated for about three years a few years back.”
Shit. I was just fingering my son’s ex.
A sudden headache burst through my brain and made me feel like my skull was going to crack.
“Oh, I see,” I said in a strange voice. “Well, come in. We were just having a meeting.”
I understood a bit better why Cassie had run out, but not entirely. I was dying to ask him, but things were already on thin ice with my son as it was. I couldn’t afford to ruin it when he was there in front of me, coming to talk to me after so long apart.
“So, Jason, it’s so good to see you. Honestly. What’s up?”
Jason sighed, and he sat down in a chair on the other side of my desk. “Look, I didn’t think I’d come here, but I thought you should know. Mom’s sick.”
I heard the catch in his voice, and I leaned forward, tempted to reach out and touch him, touch the son that had been angry with me for so long, and I didn’t know why. My boy. My boy had come home again, and he was hurting.
“I’m sorry, Jason. I didn’t know.”
Joyce and I had divorced years ago, and it was not a good marriage from the get-go. I never interacted with her and the alimony was sent automatically each month. I felt nothing for her besides the feeling of an indifferent observer, but I did care about Jason.
“Yeah.” Jason grabbed a tissue and dabbed at his nose, not looking at me. “Breast cancer. She’s been sick for about a year, and things are going south. I know you guys don’t get along, and I haven’t seen you in years, but I just wanted to come and tell you. I’ve been thinking a lot over the past year.”
Jason twisted and crushed the tissue in his hands, and I knew it would soon disintegrate into small pieces if he kept that up.
“Oh?” I asked softly, urging him to continue.
“I don’t want things to be like they were between us anymore. I’ve come back for a new start. If Mom dies, I don’t want to be an orphan. I think it would be stupid to just ignore the fact that I still have a parent alive.”
My heart swelled with hope. Tears came to my eyes as I realized what he was saying.
“Jason, you don’t know how happy that makes me. I would love that.” I smiled at him as he looked up, and I hoped that I wouldn’t make a misstep and cause him to distrust me again.
I will do everything right this time.
“Good. So, I hear you have a kid?”
