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Jaxon sniffed, looking at him in abject horror. “No? No. I couldn’t… I just need… I need to leave. Go back to Pine for a while, maybe? I just need money for a bus ticket.”
“Back to Pine? Fuck no, Jaxon. You hate it there. Your father’s a bigger prick than you are.”
Jaxon huffed out a laugh. He deserved that. He was a right prick lately.
“You’ll be miserable there. Let’s talk to Dad.”
“I can’t… Brad…”
“Nonsense. Just wait on the porch. I’ll go get him.”
“Brad, it’s three in the morning.” Maybe tossing his argument back at him would work.
“And it’s you. Dad’s always there for us.”
“He’s there for you. You’re his son.”
Brad rounded on him. “Just because you’ve found some asshole new friends doesn’t make you any less one of Dad’s kids than you ever were. He thinks of you like a son. And he wouldn’t hesitate to help you. Even if you never see us again.”
Jaxon knew if he spoke right then, he’d start sobbing again, and he’d cried in front of Brad once too many times already. So he just nodded.
Owen was there moments later. With messy hair and a flannel dressing gown. Brad explained what was going on, and Owen nodded. “How much do you need?”
“With uh… interest, about fifteen...hundred.”
He didn’t even bat an eye, just reached into his wallet and handed it over.
From the second the money had touched his hands, Jaxon knew he had to wash them of this life. And he had.
But he owed everything to the man now praising him. Praising him like he was some kind of prodigal son, but he was just a loser who got out of trouble before he succumbed to meth mouth.
He shook his head. “No, no, I… I keep my head down. That’s all.”
“You’re a respectable man, Jaxon. Everyone has nothing but nice things to say about you.”
Except for Cassandra, he thought bitterly. And to be honest, as much as her words had cut deeply, he couldn’t find fault with them. She spoke the truth.
“And that’s part of the reason I’m here. To apologize on behalf of my wife…”
Oh God, why?
“No, no…” Jaxon began. “No, it’s al-”
“It’s not alright,” Owen replied. “I’m not here to make excuses for her, just to reassure you that no one else agrees with her.”
They should.
He reached out to clap his hand on Jaxon’s shoulder, squeezing.
Jaxon wanted to vomit, but instead, he managed a weak smile. “Thank you. For saying that.”
Owen nodded and then left the master bedroom. “How many bedrooms upstairs?”
“Just one,” Jaxon replied. “The stairs open up into one big room. Just got finished replacing all the drywall up there, and I need to paint it now.”
Owen was already halfway up the stairs before he could warn him about the banister, which wobbled when he touched it.
“Yeah, I’m going to fix that. It’s on the agenda for today,” Jaxon said with a laugh.
