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“Not yet.”
“She know it’s coming?”
I nod. “Yes.”
He lets out a breath. “You take care of my girl, Jacob, so help me, God.”
I smile, and he narrows his eyes.
“Do not look at me like that. I still do not approve but… I want to walk my only daughter down the aisle.”
“She would love that.”
“And I promised you a long time ago to be your best man whenever you got married.”
I had asked both him and my brother to be my best men when I was going to get married before. “And I still want you to be. I still want you and Michelle to be my people.”
A few weeks have gone by since Thanksgiving and while things aren’t perfect, we’re moving in the right direction.It’s the Saturday before Christmas and we are all going to Kevin and Michelle’s like usual for dinner.
I’m cradling my phone between my ear and my shoulder as I’m moving the cartons around trying to find what I’m looking for. “Baby, does it really matter which eggnog ice cream brand I get?”
“Yes, of course it does! It has to be Turkey Hill; you know my dad is so picky about it! You are barely back in his good graces!” I sigh, knowing that Kevin was in fact very picky about how he made his strong as fuck egg nog. I’m standing in the freezer section of the grocery store staring at every other brandbutTurkey Hill knowing this means I have to go to another store.
I sigh. “Alright, I have to go to another store.”
“Okay, hurry pleaseeee, I miss your face. I need some time with it before we go to my parents’ house and I have to behave.” She giggles. Much to Whitney’s annoyance, I did actually go back to work a week ago and have been super busy at the hospital while I get re-acclimated which has meant that Whitney and I have really only had late nights and very early mornings together. I move toward the end of the aisle when I spot someone I recognize coming toward me. He’s dressed like he might be going to a Christmas party in black slacks and a black button-down under an overcoat with a bottle of wine tucked under his arm.
“I’ll call you right back, beautiful,” I say into the phone before I press the end button.
He must recognize me as well because his face turns to anger. “I always wondered what I would say if I ever saw you again,” he starts.
I’ve always known what exactly I would say, so I do. “You tried to destroy her family, Parker.My fucking family.You cheated on her and then you refused to trust her…”
“Because she was fucking you!” He points at me, and I am definitely not about to allow him to fucking yell in my face.
I glower at him. “Not the whole time, Parker.”
“I knew about you the whole time.” He lowers his voice.
I do not think Whitney knew that.“What?”
“I didn’t know who you were exactly but, in the beginning, when I met Whitney, she talked in her sleep sometimes.” I frown, never knowing Whitney to talk in her sleep, and I’ve stayed awake at night watching her for hours. “She would talk about you. ‘JP.’”
“What did she say?”
“‘Don’t go,’ usually.”Well shit.Unease washes over me thinking about how heartbroken Whitney must have been to be talking about me subconsciously. “When I was in New York and you showed up at her house she said your name and… I just started thinking that the J in JP could be for Jacob. The timeline matched. You’d been gone. When she broke up with me, she told me it was because of you. At the time, I didn’t know you were the same person…” He narrows his eyes judgmentally. “You were really sleeping with your goddaughter?”
“That’s none of your goddamn business,” I snap. I was already being judged on some level by over half of the people in my life, I didn’t need it from this asshole who didn’t even matter.
“Except it was, because she was my fucking fiancée.”
I let out a sigh. “It was a shitty thing that we both did and I’m sorry that we hurt you but what you did in retaliation was unforgivable. Dropping that bomb to her parents? That was ugly and vengeful.”
“So is cheating, so as far as I’m concerned, we’re even.”
I take a step closer to him. “I ought to put my fist through your face for causing Whitney the amount of pain you did. For sticking your—what I assume to be a tiny—dick in another woman, for trying to control her and then for trying to destroy her family. I ought to kick your ass.” I growl at him. “But it’s the holidays, and I’m feeling generous, so consider this a Christmas present.” I take a step back. “But if you ever so much as breathe the same air as her again, you will regret it.” I don’t wait for his response before I turn around again. “And if you ever find yourself in the need of medical attention? Do not come to my hospital.”
Two Years Later
