Chapter 55
fifty-five
Jeremy
You seriously aren’t coming to the banquet?” Zeke frowns as he flops down on the couch. “We’ve gone through this torture together for the past three years, and you’re just going to ditch us on our last one?”
“Yep.” I don’t even look at him; I just change the conversation. “Hey, I forgot to ask you the other day, how was your first Thanksgiving without your mom? It didn’t hit me until this morning that it was your first big holiday without her.”
“Yeah.” He rubs the back of his neck. “In some ways it feels like she’s been gone for years, and in other ways I feel like it was just yesterday.”
A soft smile grows on his face.
“And all things considered, it was amazing. Avalon and Jay stayed at our house for a couple of days, and my dad and I made Thanksgiving dinner together.” He rubs his hands against his sweats.
“Jax,” he motions toward Jax sitting on the opposite end of the couch, “and his mom came over for dinner too. It was nice.”
“You mean you invited Jax and his mom, but not Declan, Brin, and their mom?” I raise an eyebrow, but I don’t miss the way Jax tenses at the mention of her name. “You let them just do a movie and call it a night?”
“We invited them,” Zeke says at the same time Declan says, “We were invited.”
“Brin and I actually ended up at Ember’s for Thanksgiving.” Declan clarifies.
My eyes widen, and I turn toward him.
“Okay, intrigued. How the hell did that happen?”
“The morning of Thanksgiving, Ember texted Brin and me, and said her dad found out we weren’t doing a family dinner, and we haven’t all been together, you know? Her parents hadn’t met my mom yet, and I guess it was the perfect time to do it.”
“And it went well?”
“Everything Ember has ever told you about her mom,” he begins, “about fifty times worse.”
“Really?” My brows furrow.
“Yeah. You would think with everything that happened since Junior year that she would’ve changed a bit, but she’s a lot. She made several small comments about me being able to do better.”
“You’re dating her daughter?” Fletcher’s face scrunches.
“Exactly.” Declan shakes his head. “It was weird. And every time she said something like that, I wanted to say her husband is actually the one who could do better, but I know Ember would’ve killed me.”
“How was your Thanksgiving?” Brooks asks. “First one with Tristyn and Henry. How did your parents feel about you not going home for the holiday this year?”
“They were fine with it.” I force a smile. “And it was good.”
Because it was. Until everything came crashing down.
“Alright, now back to our initial conversation.” Zeke points at me. “You aren’t getting out of the banquet that easily. Think about it, it might be fun this year because a lot of us are in relationships—”
“Thanks for bringing up the fact that I’ll be attending my first banquet solo.” Brooks flips Zeke off.
“I didn’t mention your relationship status.” Zeke waves Brooks off. “And you don’t have to kiss up to the donors this year, so we can focus on us just having fun. It’ll be like a triple date night and then whoever Jax is bringing this year. The single losers will sit at their own table.”
“I guess I’ll be joining them.” Jax stands up and adjusts his sweatpants. “Anyone need another beer?”
“Wait, you’re not bringing anyone?” Zeke looks over his shoulder.
“Nah.” Jax grabs a beer from the fridge, but doesn’t join us back in the living room; he just lingers by the kitchen.
“If I go, that’s the table I’d be joining too.” I don’t look at any of the guys as I say it.
“Tristyn wouldn’t want to go?” Zeke’s head falls to the side.
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “We, uh, we broke up.”
“What?” The word echoes off the walls, and I’m honestly not sure who actually said it.
“You spent Thanksgiving together last week and then broke up?” Jax comes back into the living room and sits on the coffee table directly across from me. “What the fuck happened?”
“A lot,” I whisper.
“Elaborate, please?” Declan says.
Even though I’m not looking at any of them, I can feel all their eyes on me.
“Um, it was O’Connell who ran me off the road that night.”
“What?”
“You’re fucking lying?”
“You’re just now telling us?”
“Why isn’t the fucker in jail?”
“And he’s Henry’s dad,” I mumble.
“Andrew fucking O’Connell is Henry’s dad?!” Zeke yells.
I look up to exactly what I was expecting. Their faces carry a mixture of anger and confusion.
“That’s almost as bad as him running you off the road,” Zeke continues, and all of our heads snap in his direction. He holds his hands up in a defensive manner. “Okay, maybe they aren’t close to being on the same level. My bad.”
“When did you find this out?” Declan scoots toward me.
“Thanksgiving.”
“You’ve known this whole time and didn’t say anything?” Declan’s hand drops on my shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“More importantly, why didn’t you turn this asshole in?” Fletcher’s eyes narrow.
“Tristyn.” I scratch the back of my neck. “She was in the car with him. I don’t know what happens if I go to the cops. I don’t know what’ll happen to her… or Henry.”
“So, you’re just going to let him get away with it?” Brooks leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees.
“I know the truth now.” I shrug. “What good is justice if it costs a little boy his mom?” I pat my legs and stand up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got somewhere I need to be.”
“You’re just going to drop something like that and walk out the door?” Zeke stands up, but he doesn’t follow me as I walk to the front door.
“Yup.” I wave at them, but I don’t turn around. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
What do you want?”
I exit the rec center to see Vince leaning against one of the pillars, and by the look on his face, I know he’s waiting for me.
Tristyn’s his best friend, there’s no way he thinks she’s working today. He probably knows her schedule better than she does, just like I do. It’s the reason I chose today to figure out my schedule for our winter hockey camp, so I can avoid running into her.
“I need to talk to you.”
“I don’t think we do.” I walk past him, but it’s not hard for him to catch up to me. I’m still not very fast.
“She wanted to tell you.”
I don’t know why, but those five words stop me dead in my tracks. I turn to look at him.
“I told her not to.”
“So, you knew about that night.”
“Not initially.”
“Look, I don’t know—”
“When she realized that it was you that night, that you were the one in the other car, she was ready to tell you. I told her that it wasn’t going to do you any good to find out the truth now.
” Vince crosses his arms. “Maybe that wasn’t the right choice, maybe it was bad advice, but that’s on me, not her.
And it killed her, for weeks, Jeremy. And when she was finally going to tell you, you told her you got closure and—”
“So, she was just going to lie to me for the rest of our lives?”
“I don’t know.” Vince sighs, rocking back on his heels. “If she told you, would you have forgiven her? Or would you have walked out like you did on Thanksgiving?”
“I guess we’ll never know, Vince. She didn’t give me the chance.” My lips tighten together as I walk past him again.
“I should’ve let her tell you.”
“If she really wanted to tell me, she would’ve gone against your advice and told me anyway.”
“I think she would’ve, but she was scared.”
I stop and turn around.
“If she thought I was going to let her lose Henry over this, then I guess she didn’t know me at all.”
“I don’t think it was Henry she was scared to lose,” he whispers.
“I mean, she has been scared to lose him for so long, but I think when she found out the truth about that night, she was scared to lose you. She didn’t know if she’d ever find that kind of love again, and I think she didn’t want to let go of it. ”
“Yeah, well, how did that work out for her?”
“Jeremy.”
“Look, if you’re here because she’s worried I’m going to go to the cops and tell them what happened, I’m not.
” I rub my chin. “I wouldn’t do that to her, and I especially wouldn’t do that to Henry.
As much as I wish I didn’t, I love both of them a lot, and she’s a great mom.
He deserves to have a great mom, and I’m not going to be responsible for him losing that. ”
“That’s not why I’m here.”
“You’re a good friend, Vince. I’m happy she has you, but I have an appointment with Dr. Nelson, and I’m already running late.”
I look down at my phone to see that my Uber is around the corner.
“Dr. Nelson?” Vince raises an eyebrow, and there’s a hint of concern in his voice. “What happened to Dr. Franklin? Is everything okay?”
“Dr. Nelson isn’t that kind of doctor.”
Vince’s face softens. “You’re in therapy.”
I shrug. “After the year I’ve had, it seemed like the logical next step.”
A car pulls up, and I don’t look at Vince as I walk toward it.
“I hope she finds it again.” I finally meet his gaze. “The kind of love she ran from for so long. Even if it’s not with me. She deserves it.”
“Yeah, she does.” He steps forward, and as I shut the door, he says something else—
“You both do.”