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Cade presses his lips together, moving off to embrace Sutton, who’s appeared from one of the bedrooms. I bury my nose in my boy's neck, inhaling his comforting, familiar scent as he holds me tightly to him.
“I missed you, Jess.”
“I missed you too, Mom. I’m sorry for what I said.” His breath hitches, and every part of me can feel the sincerity in his warm embrace. “I didn’t mean it.”
I squeeze more tightly, and he reciprocates. “I know, baby. We’ve all said and done things we don’t mean. I never meant to hurt anyone, but here we are.” I pull back slightly to palm my boy’s flushed cheeks.
“If there’s one thing I teach you in this life, it’s that it’s okay not to be perfect. It’s okay to make mistakes. The important thing is that welearnfrom them and try to dobetter.”
Caden catches my eye, mouthing,“I love you.”
“You know you’re my world, baby.” My eyes are firmly on our boy as I choke out the words. “Nothing you can say or do wouldevermake me love you any less than I do right now, at this moment.”
He gifts me with a lopsided, watery grin. “I’ll get to learn from my mistakes, Mom. It’s all going to be okay. Dad’s my match.”
Tears fill my eyes as disbelief flows through my body.
“I know, my sweet boy. I can’t quite believe it.”
The anxiety gnawing away in the depths of my stomach is surely nerves and nothing else.
Having spent so long feeling like an axe would drop on my head at any given moment, I push that uneasiness deep down inside, forcing myself to forget all about it, and just behappy.
CHAPTER34
SUMMER
The next morning,we leave Tribeca behind, venturing to a small airport in New Jersey.
Caden and Ford converse quietly at the front of the private plane as Sutton, Jesse, and I get settled. I quickly shoot both Anna and Vaughn a text, telling them I’ll be out of town for a while. Noting that my battery is definitely on the low side, I put my cell on silent without waiting for their replies.
“The jet is Henry’s. He’s nice.” Jesse sits opposite his grandfather, who’s setting up a card game over a small desk. “He told me tonnes of stories of when you guys were kids.”
I laugh indulgently as I raise a disbelieving brow. “He hardly had many of me, baby. I kept myself to myself.” I narrow my eyes in remembrance of just how quiet I was back then, snorting a laugh. “I suppose that was mostly because I was afraid of my own shadow back then.”
Cade moves past us to occupy the seat opposite mine. He reaches forward, grasping my hand with his, and I watch as he brings our joined hands up to press a kiss to my knuckles. “You’re fearless now, Bam.”
He lifts a brow while smiling softly into my eyes. The brush of his soft lips across the back of my hand sends a wave of goosebumps across every inch of my skin. “You’re not afraid of a damn thing!”
I smile almost shyly, glancing away when the love in his eyes gives me butterflies. My eyes land on Jesse, who’s watching our interaction intently.
He looks up, meeting my gaze as a beautiful smile lights up his face.
My heart fills almost to bursting, and emotion clogs my throat as I mirror his happiness with a smile of my own.
How is this my life?
Once the jet is in the air, Sutton begins to teach his grandson the fine art of poker. Laughter ensues between both of them for the next couple of hours as Cade holds my hand in comfortable silence.
His gaze flickers between my face and watching the game to his left. He looks completely and utterly relaxed, and I find myself unwinding more and more just by being in his soothing presence.
“Your poker face is worse than your old man’s.” Sutton’s words draw our combined attention when he laughs, and Caden reaches across the aisle to push him playfully.
“Yours isn’t much better,grandad.”
Sutton narrows his eyes at his laughing son, but it’s Jesse who answers for him. “He prefers Pops, Dad.”
My chest tightens, and my heart takes flight at the everyday normalcy with which our son refers to his father. My nostrils flare as my emotions threaten to get the best of me, and Cade rubs his thumb across the back of my hand, lending me his quiet strength.
