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Candi came into the room without Wyatt and stood next to my chair.“I told you, Mason.She’s upsetting Wyatt.Poor kid cried half the day, yesterday.You can’t let her in and out of his life like this.It isn’t good for him.”
In and out of his life?That was an unfair assessment.Candace was going through hell, but I just didn’t want her doing it in front of Wyatt.I knew she would want the same thing if she were in a better mental space.“Candace, I have this under control,” I said, dismissively.
“No, you don’t.Look at her.She can’t be trusted with him.She’s out of her damn mind.”
Sergio stood, his chair slamming back.“Who the hell do you think you are?”he bellowed.
I also stood and moved between the two, confident that Sergio wouldn’t lay hands on Candace, but I wasn’t as confident that Candace wouldn’t put up a physical fight.“Candace, I appreciate you looking out for Wyatt, but this is between me and his mother.”
“You are considering letting this woman spend time with your son?”She looked at me incredulously.“Don’t you care about his well-being?She shows up here tonight, still strung out on whatever it is she does, and you’re justokaywith it?”I could see tears forming in her eyes.
“What the hell are you talking about?”Sergio asked.
Candace held her head high.“Go back to your life of drugs and touring.Take her with you.”
But as we all looked in the direction her chin was pointing, we noticed Catherine wasn’t there anymore.
“Fuck.”Sergio ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
“Candace, shut up!”I yelled.Candace flinched, and I felt bad, but I was worried about Catherine.“Where the hell is she?”
“Once again, Mason, someone else will clean up your mess.She’s grieving.Yeah, she’s not herself, but she’s perfectly capable of spending time with Wyatt, and you know it,” Sergio said, racing to the door.
“She can be destructive,” I countered.
“Self-destructive.She would never hurt Wyatt.She’s been a mess without him.And now you bring in this girl who makes her feel like Wyatt doesn’t need her anymore.What the actual fuck?She doesn’t need this shit right now.”
My instinct was to defend my employee.“Candace said she showed up high yesterday.”
“Well,Candacewas fucking wrong.Things went sideways when Wyatt wanted to see Eli.Instead of letting Cee and Wy be upset together,Candacethrew herself in the middle.She’s going to cry for a while.She just spent months watching her boyfriend die.Youknowhow much he meant to her—and to Wyatt.”
“I do.”I nodded.I felt horrible.This made so much more sense.I should have known better.“Shit.I think Candace jumped to some conclusions.”
“Youthink?”
“I’ll set things straight,” I promised.
“I need to go find her.Fix this.”Sergio stormed past me and out the door.
I turned to go track down Candace.This is all my fault.I should’ve asked more questions when she talked to me last night.
I found her in her room, face down on her bed.“I think we need to talk,” I said, leaning in her doorway.She lifted her head, revealing red, watery eyes.Shit.I made her cry.“Hey.Look, I’m sorry.I handled that poorly.I never should’ve told you to shut up.That was uncalled for and unprofessional.But you can’t just insert yourself like that.”
She huffed, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.“I can’t believe you are taking her side.”
“Candace.What do you think is happening here?”I asked.I needed to know how much clarification was needed.
“What does that even mean, Mason?There’s a reason Wyatt lives with you and not with her.I thought you were just giving her space since her boyfriend died, but it’s so much worse.”
“That is the only reason.She’s a great mom, Candace.She’s not on drugs, she’s just… grieving.I know it looks bad.Fuck, she looks bad.But that woman raised our son alone for the first three years of his life.She wouldn’t come around him if she thought she was hurting him.”
She squinted her eyes.“Three years?He’s only three.”
I sighed.I didn’t want to get into this with her.When I came out as Wyatt’s dad, we let the press believe I had always been there, so if Candace had read any of that she’d think the same.“I’m not proud of what happened between Catherine and I.We let our fathers talk us into keeping it all a big secret.I missed out on three years with my kid.I regret every minute.”
Thinking about all the time I lost with Wyatt had tears forming in my eyes.He was awesome.Entering her room, I sat on the corner of the bed, ready to unload my guilt.“I missed everything, Candace.I didn’t see his first steps, words, hell I didn’t even know what his favorite food was until six months ago.That’s why he calls me ‘Mason’ and ‘the Senator’ instead of dad.Every time he does it, it’s like a knife to my heart, reminding me I’m a piece of shit.”
She sat up next to me and put a hand on my shoulder.“You’re a wonderful dad now.And I think he calls you that because it gets you bent out of shape.”She smirked.“He isn’t trying to hurt you.”
