40. Jones
40
JONES
“Take me home!”
Crash. There goes the cup I just had refilled.
“Mom, it’s okay. I’m right here,” I reach for her carefully.
“I don’t know you. Don’t touch me.”
She raises her bed, swinging her feet over before shoving the bedside table away and standing, on a mission.
“Get my things. I’m leaving.”
She can’t walk out. I have to distract her. But how?
I halt her steps. “Your nurse told me you planted tomatoes in the garden. Will you show me?” I urge her.
“What garden? I’ve never seen a garden.” She looks at me with disgust, like she can’t figure out why I haven’t left yet. Like she wants me to leave her alone.
Sorry, can’t do that, Mom.
The morning started out great. We had breakfast together. She painted a little on her art easel. It’s been good—calm.
Until now. The sun-down is here and there’s no shaking it.
I’ve been able to redirect her for the past few hours but she’s getting more and more irritable by the second.
“I’m leaving. I hate this place. I hate that man who hurts me every damn day.”
My stomach drops. That’s not the first time she’s made a comment like that. I’m just unsure where it comes from.
I wrap my arm around her shoulders. “Why don’t we watch a movie? I heard Pearl Harbor will be on again in an hour. Come on, let’s watch it together.”
Mom jerks her arm out from under me. “I’m not staying here! I need to go home. Where is my suitcase?” she yells.
Beverly, Mom’s nurse for today, walks in to check on what the commotion is all about. “Everything okay in here, Mrs. Archer?”
“Archer?” Mom scoffs. “Over my dead body would I marry that man. It’s like signing my own death wish.”
She means my father.
“You loved Dad. Remember?”
She groans like it’s painful for her to even think about. “Worst mistake of my life. Bastard had it comin’ for him.”
Beverly stands by the door while I hold still, waiting for what’s next. “There a reason you’re still standing there?” she asks.
I take a seat far enough away so she feels comfortable. “I figured we could watch a movie together. Pearl Harbor is on.”
“Do I look like I want to watch a movie?” Her eyes roll. “As soon as my ride gets here, I’m gone.”
A knock sounds on the door and Beverly opens it, revealing Capri with a big smile on her face. “Hi.” I don’t have time to prepare her before she rounds the corner, coming into view. “Hi, Dolly. How ya doin’ today?”
“Look who it is,” Mom snaps, growing more hostile by the second.
Capri looks my way before approaching her head on. “Yep, it’s me again.”
She’s going along with her.
“Which one are you?” Mom asks. “Whore number one or whore number two?”
What. The. Fuck.
“Mom—” I jump to speak, but Capri stops me.
She crosses her arms on her chest and meets Mom head-on. “Now, what makes you think I’m a whore? You can do better than that.” I sit back and watch their conversation play out.
I can tell Mom doesn’t recognize Capri. She’s still caught up in her earlier riot. Capri is helping defuse it.
“You slept with my husband.” Her angry stare penetrates the sweetness of Capri’s. But Capri doesn’t back down, sitting on the bed by Mom’s feet.
“Did I?” Capri asks her. “I guess I am a whore then.”
Mom sits tall and does something even I never imagined her doing. She takes a lock of Capri’s hair and pulls it, a frustrated growl leaving her lips as she yanks Capri’s face to hers. Capri accepts it with grace. “If I ever catch you in his bed again, I’ll ruin you. I have his last name, honey. You can believe it won’t take much to destroy your pretty little life.”
Capri gulps, letting herself be a punching bag for my sick mother’s verbal abuse. I try to catch her eyes, begging her to forgive me.
Not to leave me because of this.
I can’t imagine what she must be thinking.
Please don’t end this. Fuck. It would destroy me.
But it seems Capri is a more incredible woman than I gave her credit for because she grabs my mother’s hand and says, “Dolly, I am so very sorry.” There’s tears in her eyes and my immediate thought is that she’s a damn good actor, but I see the sympathy in them. Capri is seeing this disease firsthand and the heartache it can bring.
My gut tells me it’s also because she’s been there. She’s been the woman cheated on by her husband, and the pain is familiar.
She can relate.
Capri continues, “I was young and didn’t know. Had I known he had a wife and family, I never would have done it. I’ll leave town and never bother you again. You have my word. Please forgive me.”
It’s as if the skies clear and the sun beams with pride.
I love this woman.
I love her with every fiber of my being, and I’m confident I’ll never stop.
Not only did Capri come to visit my mother after working all day, but she got on her level, not taking anything personal and doing more for me than she could ever understand.
She’s giving my mother peace.
Peace to move on. Peace to heal her broken heart after all the years my father wronged her. Peace to find her own happiness again, however that may look.
It doesn’t take long before Mom’s in tears, Capri sliding toward her and pulling her into her arms. “Oh, Tucker. Why? What did I do?” Mom wails through emotional pain. “I loved you.”
My eyes lock with Capri’s, finding hers revealing the same. The gravity of my mother’s hurt is heartbreaking. I knew she went through hell with my father, but I never knew the extent. She stayed faithful to him through death.
The sorry bastard couldn’t do the same himself.
Capri runs soft circles along her back as she weeps in her arms. “It’s okay. You’re not alone, Dolly. I’ve got you.”
“My husband. My love. You left me alone,” Mom cries.
I’ve never seen her cry like this. She’s releasing years upon years of pain buried inside of her.
This feels like the breaking point for both of us.
“We’re right here, Mom,” I say, reaching for her hand and soaking in the beauty of the woman holding her.
“Jones?” Mom calls for me.
“Right here. I love you,” I tell her.
A smile full of love and pride shines through her. “Oh, my sweet boy. Promise me you’ll never let him control you again.”
Overwhelmed by emotion, I nod. “Promise.”
I know she means the company. Underneath it all, she knew I did it for him. Archer Chartering wasn’t my dream, it was his.
I realize I never owed him anything. Being his son should have been enough for him to love me.
Mom settles, her breathing slowing down as Capri slides out from under her. She closes her eyes before she asks, “When are we leaving? I need to pack my things.”
Capri smiles at me compassionately, and I want to frame it. Stick it on our fridge and look at it every morning. The love I have for her is rare. Although founded on lust, we now have something sustainable—worth keeping.
Something to rest in. Something to contribute to our full life.
Together.
“Soon. We’re leaving soon.”
* * *
“Fuck, baby.”
My hand lands above Capri’s head, caging her to the wall just outside of Paloma. “No words.” I kiss her feverishly.
“Of course,” she pants, losing herself in the kiss.
She’s so fucking humble and kind. I’m constantly seeing new sides of Capri, making me more and more in love with her.
I’m not sure when it happened, but I’m glad it did.
“It gets to be a lot. Sometimes, I get so overwhelmed…I just freeze…”
I breathe heavily against her neck, covering every inch of her soft skin with my touch. I can’t get close enough. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” She holds my face and kisses me again, whispering promises to never leave.
My chest is tight but it feels fucking whole for the first time in as long as I can remember.
I never imagined I’d find someone who would treat my family as their own. Most of my adult life has been nothing but hard times, and I never expected to experience something this good.
I mean, I’m almost forty for fuck’s sake.
Then, Capri happened.
“I know how hard that must have been for you, given everything you’ve been through,” I tell her.
She shrugs. “I remember the feeling. I would have wanted to say my piece, something I never got to do, and be reassured I’d never have to see her again. It was the least I could do for your mom.”
The fact that Capri’s best friend betrayed her the way she did likely only added to her pain. Two people she cared about had betrayed her for years.
It’s inexcusable.
“I would never hurt you.”
She smiles at me. “I believe that. I trust you,” she says, eyes full of so much love. “I never thought I’d be able to trust again, you know? At least not so soon. My whole life, I was naive to the people I loved hurting me with bad intentions.”
“You never thought it would happen?” I ask her curiously.
Capri shakes her head. “No, and it was foolish. Foolish of me to assume the best in someone who thought so little of me. I promised myself I wouldn’t be so stupid. Until you. I trust you, Jones.”
“Nothing about you is stupid.” I kiss her lips softly, hoping she feels my adoration for her. “You have my word. I’m grateful for your trust.”
“I’m giving my heart to you, Jones. Please take care of it.”
I know the role I play in being the man to help her heal from heartbreak. I’ll gladly accept it. I’ll tend to those scarred spots in her heart as best I can, planning to protect them with everything I’ve got.
“It’s safe with me, sweetheart.”