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“No, I haven’t. I’ve traveled to a few places in the country and in Europe, but I haven’t seen Oregon. What is Newport like?”
“It’s a small town on the coast. It’s a popular tourist town, but it’s beautiful, and there are plenty of things to do. There’s an aquarium, the beach, lighthouses, whale watching, and more. It’s a great town to raise a child in.”
And not one that Ellis was happy about living in. We used to live in Portland. We both grew up there. I went to school for business in New York, and Francis ended up in Miami. We both wanted to get as far from our parents as possible. After New York, I ended up moving back to Portland. It wasn’t planned, but my parents were getting older, and my mom was starting to have some health problems. I wanted to be close by in case either needed me, especially with me being their only child. No more snow was also a nice bonus.
When I discovered that Ellis was pregnant we had discussed in length whether or not we should be raising our child in a big city. She loved big cities, and she didn’t want to leave. I had tried to find a compromise. Perhaps living on the outskirts. We couldn’t find a house that we both liked, mostly Ellis. Eventually I was able to convince her to come to Newport for a visit and she agreed to move there.
I’ve always loved the idea of raising a child in a small town. Less crime and less fear of something going wrong, but also, the people were nicer. There was a different lifestyle in a small town, and I wanted that for my child. I also didn’t want Christian growing up in private schools and multiple nannies with rich friends that were all entitled. I wanted him to be a good person and to understand the value of money. To make real friends with real personalities and desires. People with morals.
I think part of the reason why Ellis and I didn’t work out was because we lived in Newport. She loved living there for about a year before the honeymoon wore off. It was a beautiful town, but I think she kept expecting for the vacation to end and once she realized that it wouldn't, it started her spiral.
“It sounds like a great place to raise a child. I can’t wait to see it and explore. How long have you lived there?”
“Three and a half years now roughly.”
“And you have no other nannies or babysitters?”
“No, it’ll just be you. There will be times when I will be away for business, but you will be notified in advance.”
“And your wife?” she hesitantly asked.
“Divorced. You don’t need to concern yourself with her.” I was not about to tell her about Ellis. It wasn’t her concern at all, and if Ellis did decide to reach out, then I would handle it.
“Okay,” she said as she turned her attention back to the window.
A quick look in my rearview mirror showed me that Jeremy was fast asleep. I felt bad for the kid. It would have already been a long day for him, and I knew it was only half over. I felt bad for the little guy. He was expecting to see his parents get married today and instead, he’s sleeping in the back of a stranger’s car with no idea that he’s going to be moving across the country.
Hopefully, Jasmine would be able to work something out with Adam. Maybe he didn’t love her either, and they could figure out how to co-parent together. Despite the fact that I didn’t know Jeremy, I didn’t want him to grow up without both of his parents in his life. I didn’t want that for any child, and that was only heightened by my current position. Maybe all Jasmine needed was a chance to get away for a little bit and clear her head. Maybe once she got away and everything started to sink in, she would realize she made a mistake. That she did love Adam, and she would come back and make it work.
It was a lot of maybes and what ifs, but sometimes all it took was time for one to realize what one had before one threw it away. If nothing else, this decision will either help her to realize she made a mistake or solidify that she didn’t love Adam and didn’t want to be with him. It wasn’t my place to tell her which one was right. Only she could do that. All I could do was offer her a safe place for her and her son to be and a job. I was just hoping it wouldn’t come back to bite me in the ass.
Jasmine
“Yousureaboutthis?”Liam asked as he pulled up to my house.
Adam’s car wasn’t in the driveway, and I knew he wasn’t home yet. He had taken it over to his friend’s place last night because the groom couldn’t see the bride before the wedding. A tradition I found to be ridiculous. We had seen each other all day two days ago, and yet yesterday everything was going to go wrong today if we saw each other. Well, surprise, it all turned to shit regardless.
I had no idea how long he would be gone for, so I knew I needed to move quickly. I had to get myself and Jeremy changed before packing up the car with valuables that I couldn’t leave behind. And then we had to get on the road. I had no idea how far we would get, but it was only three in the afternoon so I could get us through some of Florida and maybe even out of it if traffic wasn't too bad or I didn’t get too tired. It was a six-hour drive to get out of Florida, so it might be a challenge for me. If I could reach Tampa, though, I would be happy.
Was I sure about all of this? Nope, not even a little. But it was too late to be uncertain about anything. I was doing this. I was committed to it. All I could do was keep moving forward to the next step and just hope I didn’t screw up somewhere along the way.
“Absolutely,” I said with a confident smile, one I didn’t truly feel, but he didn’t need to know that.
The fact that we slept together one night and now had a son that he didn’t know about didn’t change that he was a virtual stranger and now my boss. Maybe keeping things professional and the personal stuff to a minimum would help me to not feel like a complete asshole for keeping his son from him. I highly doubted it, but hey, it was all I had.
“Thanks for the ride. I have your address, and I will text you when I am close. I truly appreciate the opportunity.”
I meant that sincerely too. I was a stranger. He didn’t need to offer me a job. Hell, he didn’t need to offer me a ride home. I appreciated that he had done both. Even if they made my stomach feel like someone was putting my intestines through a vice grip.
“It’s no problem at all. I will see you in five days or so.”
I opened the car door and managed to get my very large ass out of his car. Fuck, I could not wait until I could get out of this dress. How was I going to do that alone? I had no clue. I went and opened the back door and grabbed my purse before I went and unbuckled Jeremy and picked him up. He stirred slightly, but he relaxed fairly quickly in my arms. The poor kid was exhausted, and I suspected he didn’t get much sleep last night. Too excited for the big day.
I closed the door and made my way up the driveway to reach our front door. I hated that this special day for Jeremy had been ruined. Ruined by me. All I could do was hope that with him being three he wouldn’t remember this when he got older. Though, I suspected between my parents, Adam, and his parents, they wouldn't hesitate to make sure he remembered.
I brought Jeremy inside and made my way up to his room. I carefully placed him down on his bed for now. I needed to get him changed and obviously in the car, but right now I needed to get changed and get everything packed up for us. With some luck, the short nap would be enough for him to be more awake when we got ready to head out. He had never been on a road trip, and I knew he would enjoy some of the sights that we would drive by. I could also stop at some places along the way for him to see and take photos of.
I was hoping he would see this as an adventure and wouldn’t be too upset when we didn’t come back home. It was funny, because before having Jeremy, the thought of going away or moving to a new place never bothered me. Now though, all I could think about was what he would need. What I needed to make sure he had. If we were going to be there longer than eight months, I would need to make sure he was enrolled in school. Probably the same school that Christian was in. Though, I had to imagine there wouldn’t be that many schools in a small town.
