Chapter 45 Two Weeks Later
The last couple of weeks had been a drastic change from the weeks prior.
Everything was finally getting back to normal again.
Except for the fact that with everything that had happened, it only brought me and Avery closer.
There weren’t any elephants left in the room.
We were forced to talk about hard topics and confide in each other.
And we both knew damn well that things may be weird at first, that the entire situation wasn’t normal, but we would confront all the awkwardness together until it changed into the new norm for us.
It was all a blessing in disguise.
Avery leaned against the elevator, her red swimsuit peeking out from underneath a pair of dangerously short denim shorts, and a white tank top. With worry etched between her brows, she asked, “You sure you don’t want me to stay?”
“I’m sure, Bella. Plus, you have to get to work.” I kissed her forehead, and at the same time, I reached behind her back, pressing the button to call the elevator.
“I can stay if you need me, though,” she offered one last time.
“It’s the last pool party of the season. We have weeks ahead of us with nothing but time. And I think it’s important that I have this first conversation with Jackson by myself.”
The elevator doors dinged, and she turned on her heel with an understanding smile.
“One more kiss.” She waved me into the elevator.
As I walked a few steps closer, she gathered my shirt in her fist, pulling me until I stood right in front of her, towering over her small frame.
Instead of a quick brush of the lips, her intoxicating scent drew me in, tangling our tongues and ignoring everything else around us. When the elevator doors shut with us both locked inside, our lips parted with laughter on our breath.
“Might as well see my girl off.” I chuckled against her lips as the elevator took us both down.
The ride wasn’t nearly long enough. All it accomplished was a burning ache to push the emergency button and fuck Avery against the wall, sending her off to work with me between her legs.
When the doors opened and Avery walked out, her eyes were focused on me as she looked over her shoulder. But mine were caught on the person waiting to come up the elevator.
Standing with a tight lip and his eyes toward the ceiling was my son.
He cleared his throat, catching her attention.
“Oh, hi.” Avery waved, her cheeks tinting the same color as her swimsuit.
“You guys headed somewhere? We can reschedule if you want,” Jackson offered.
“No! I was just headed to work, and Spencer was riding down with me. You two have a good time!”
She sauntered off and Jackson took her place in the elevator. Normally, I would tell her I love her, but she ran off before any other words could be exchanged.
“So fucking weird.” Jackson laughed under his breath when he stepped inside and the doors closed.
“Pretty fucking weird is right.” I shook my head.
I had no idea when things would end up feeling normal between us three, but I knew it would get there eventually. And this was the first step—facing it. Talking about it.
When we got up to my penthouse, I headed for the kitchen.
“Thirsty?” I sifted through the fridge, my hand wrapping around an ice-cold beer, tempted to chug it in order to talk about how happily in love I was with my son’s ex-girlfriend.
“Water is fine.”
I don’t think he’d ever turned down a drink from me before.
Switching it up the last second, I traded the beer for two bottles of water instead. If Jackson wasn’t going to have a drink for this conversation, I needed to be clear-headed just the same. It was time we both talked without liquid courage anyway.
“Let’s sit out on the patio. Get some fresh air.” I tossed the bottle of water to him, and he nodded for me to lead the way.
“So, how’s everything going with you and Avery?” He jumped right into it.
“Good. Great. Everything has been good.” I gripped the back of my neck.
“We really have to get this shit figured out so it stops being weird.” Jackson chuckled, uncapping his water and taking a swig.
“What the fuck are we supposed to do in this situation?” I shook my head, matching his laughter.
“This. Right here. I ask how you two are and you answer without stuttering. I think the more we’re around each other it will get easier.
Plus, she loves you way more than she ever loved me.
” He leaned back with his arms crossed, his body language telling me that he wasn’t jealous. Instead, he was just stating a fact.
“What makes you say that?” My eyes narrowed.
“She looks at you in a way she never looked at me. Like she treasures you.”
I knew exactly which look he was talking about.
It was the look she gave me when I opened the door for her any place we went.
The look on her face when she woke up each morning and I was the first thing she saw.
The same look she gave me when I came to her rescue that day Jackson had her in the bathroom.
Her eyes had a way of softening, and each worry would melt away when I was within reach.
It was a look that I’d be heartbroken if I never got to see it again.
“I … I don’t know what to say to that.” I rubbed my fingers through my scruff.
“I’m not mad about it. I’m just pointing out the obvious. Don’t fuck it up like I did.” Jackson shrugged.
“Oh, is this the one where the kid gives the parent advice now?” I chuckled sarcastically.
“Nah. You both just seem happy. It’d be nice if it could stay that way. Might as well make all this worth it.”
I really hoped he felt that way.
“I’m glad you said that. Because I won’t be letting her out of my sight. I do love her, Jackson.” It felt nice to admit it to him, to finally get those words off my chest.
“Good.” He nodded, uncrossing his arms and wrapping them around the couch.
A blanket of silence fell between us in understanding.
“I’ve been talking to someone, actually. If things work out between us, maybe I’ll introduce you one day.” He broke the silence with a bomb.
My eyes widened.
“Yeah? How long have you been talking to her?”
“It’s new. Nothing to get excited over. Just doing my best to surround myself with other people, and it kind of just happened.” The corner of his lips started to lift.
“Maybe one of these days we can get a family dinner on the agenda. You, me, Avery, her friends, and mine. Maybe even this girl you’re seeing, if things end up working out,” I suggested, in hopes that we could find a way to begin mending all that had been broken over the years.
“That’d be nice. If Avery is okay with it, of course.”
“I can definitely talk to her about it. Growing up, my family was big on having dinner all together once a week. I never realized just how much I missed it until I got older and moved away from my family.”
“Something tells me she would enjoy that. She didn’t have much of it growing up.” Jackson adjusted his position, getting more comfortable. “I think the only thing in question would be if I could attend or not.”
Jackson would always know Avery’s history better than I could.
They lived through it together. He knew her as a kid, a teenager, and a young adult.
While he was blessed to know that part of her, I was happy that I had the rest of my life to get to know who she’d become all because of the past that formed her.
“You are family. No matter how dysfunctional this is, I know she would understand.” I nodded.
“Talk about it with her and let me know then.”
“Of course.”
It felt as if we were moving in the right direction. Jackson dropped his hostility, trading it for a calm and considerate demeanor. Now that he was dropping his facade, and letting out all of his bottled-up emotions, I was seeing a side of him that felt truer to who he really was.
“I’m sure you and Avery have had plenty of time to catch up. She tell you about my conversation with Mom at all?”
“She did.” I nodded. “But feel free to tell me yourself. She gave me the shortened version. Knew we would end up talking at some point. How’s everything between you and your mother currently?”
“It’s alright. She’s still disappointed in me for stealing from you guys. Said that’s not how she raised me to be. Even after I paid that big lump sum back last week, she was still disappointed that I had to do that at all.” He winced and his shoulders slumped.
He still owed Avery the money she’d paid him from the start of their breakup—money that was now long gone. But his gesture last week was a good start to a long road.
“Thank you for that, by the way.” I dipped my chin, looking him in the eye.
“Yeah. I know it all sounds bad and looks even worse. And without Mom here, she doesn’t really understand it all.
She’s listening to me tell her these bad things that I did and forming her own opinion—which I guess is warranted.
” He took a deep breath. “But I’m just taking all this one day at a time. One relationship at a time.”
“You know, Avery told me your mom finally confirmed that she never told me about you. I’m really sorry that happened.” I rubbed my fingers along my facial hair.
“You don’t need to be the sorry one, Dad.” He shook his head.
“I know. But it feels right to apologize. I just hope you know that I wish I was there for it all.” My voice suddenly felt stuck in my throat, like the emotion of the situation was hitting me when I least expected it to.
“I’ve actually been going to therapy for the last few weeks.
I still have a lot of work to do—a lot to talk about—but one thing I’ve been able to take away from it so far is that there isn’t anything good that can come from harboring old feelings from the past. There isn’t anything you or I can do about it all.
But we can work on our relationship now, and you can still be my dad. ”
My eyes filled with tears, and I tipped my head back, willing the tears to stop.
Once I gathered my emotions and felt like I could talk again, I leaned forward with my elbows resting on my knees.
“I’m really proud of you, Jackson.” My words trembled.
“HA. Are you shitting me?” Jackson’s eyes widened and an unexpected laugh escaped his mouth. “You have nothing to be proud of me for, Dad. Not yet.”
It was clear he had remorse for the mistakes he’d made. That he didn’t see what I saw—his willingness to take accountability.
“I do. You’ve come a long way in a short time.
You know what you did wrong. You returned a lot of the money.
You’re going to therapy. You’ve heard everyone out and have taken fault for your mistakes.
You’ve done it all on your own without anyone having to push you in that direction.
” I stood up and moved to the couch across from mine where he was sitting.
As I took a seat next to him, I rested my hand on his back, and added, “It may have been one hell of a rollercoaster to get here the last twenty-four years, but you’re here now.
Just like you said, there isn’t anything you can do about the past. It’s all up from here. ” I patted his back reassuringly.
He turned his head to look at me, our misty eyes connecting.
And as I pulled Jackson in for a hug, for the very first time, I felt like a goddamn father.
After years of missing out on times when I could comfort my son, right his wrongs, teach him a lesson, or give him sound advice, I’d finally felt like it wasn’t too late for us.
It may have taken a hell of a lot of money, a crime or two, and his loss becoming my gain, to get to this point. But the important part was that we were here. We made it.