Chapter Ten
Samantha
Seriously, these two were going to drive me insane. It felt like I was caught between two children fighting over their favorite toy. Though, I wasn’t sure if the toy was Charlie or me. Maybe it was both of us.
“Sammy, can I steal you two away so we can take Charlie somewhere?” Jack asked.
“Where are you taking her?” Carrie questioned.
“It’s a surprise,” Jack snapped.
“Well, I think maybe Charlie—”
“Carrie,” I interrupted. “I am so glad you came over for coffee this morning. We will talk soon and make plans to take Charlie to lunch or something. Ok?”
“What about while you’re working? Do you want me to come to the clubhouse to watch her? Or I can pick her up and take her back to our place?”
“We won’t need you to watch Charlie. She’ll be staying with me if Sammy continues working.”
Jack’s words caught me off guard. I turned my head to him, confused.
“What do you mean, if she continues working?” Carrie asked before I could.
“Exactly what I said.” Jack turned to me. “You don’t have to work, Sammy, unless you want. I can support you and Charlie. And any more babies we might have,” he added with a wink.
Shit.
“How can you support them? You don’t even have a suitable place for them to live!” Carrie gaped at me. “Sammy, you aren’t having more children, are you? ”
I closed my eyes. I couldn’t do this right now. The two of them had my head spinning.
“Jack, Carrie, you both need to stop.”
Oh my God, I forgot Beck was even here.
I looked over and mouthed thank you.
“But—”
“No, Carrie. Samantha has been through a lot the last few days, and she will not, nor should she be expected to make all her life decisions right here in this moment.”
At that moment, I wanted to be Beck when I grew up.
“Carrie, it was nice getting to know you. Now it’s time you headed home. Jack, Sammy, and Charlie are going to spend some time together as a family,” Beck said. “Oh, and Jack?”
“Yes, ma’am?” Jack answered with a smirk.
“Don’t you ma’am me, asshole. No making plans for the future today! Let Sammy and Charlie have fun and see the less angry you that we all love.”
Beck ushered Carrie out the door while I picked up the coffee and snack remnants left on the coffee table. I wasn’t leaving her to clean up the mess Charlie made.
Walking into the kitchen, I left Jack and Charlie whispering in the living room. Beck came back inside after seeing Carrie out to her car.
“Thank you, Beck.”
“My pleasure. It was getting a little tense in there for me. I can’t imagine how you were feeling,” Beck said as she rinsed the dishes and placed them in the dishwasher.
“I don’t know what has gotten into Carrie. I’ve never seen her act that way.” Where had my sweet, helpful friend gone?
“She’s probably just feeling the upheaval as much as you are. Charlie, however, seems to have settled right in with Jack and the rest of the guys,” Beck marveled.
“I think she might have a little crush on King. She informed me there were no bad words, only grown-up words, thanks to King,” I said, shaking my head.
“I mean, who doesn’t?” Beck chuckled. “I did myself until I found out he was my uncle.” There was a noticeable shiver when she said that, then she added with a smile, “I am still in awe of him, though.”
“I don’t know. He’s always seemed scary to me. Though Grace isn’t the least bit afraid of him.” I laughed. “She gets right up in his face. The other day, she flat out challenged him when he tried to intimidate her.”
“I love Grace. I want to be her when I grow up,” Beck stated. “I have a bit of clout with the guys because of my dad and my uncle, but there are still a few that make me nervous. And don’t get me started on the guys from the mother chapter.”
“Beck, can I ask you something?” I asked, looking toward the living room.
“Samantha, you can ask me anything,” she assured me.
Turning back to look at my friend—we had only known each other for a few months, but I definitely counted her as a friend, and one who might have answers for me.
“How did you feel when you found out the sheriff was your father?”
Beck’s eyes softened when I asked the question. I could tell she knew exactly what I was asking.
“It was a shock. And of course, the way it all came out was a bit traumatizing.” She chuckled. “My mother’s reasons for keeping us apart were driven by pure selfishness. She didn’t have a valid reason other than she just didn’t want to share me. She also didn’t really want me. My mother was not a good mom. I was so thankful to have my Grams fill in for parents that weren’t really interested or involved in my life.”
She paused for a moment, and we both looked back at Charlie and Jack cuddled on the couch, talking. He lifted his eyes to mine and winked. Beck smiled and turned back to me.
“Do I wish I’d had my dad my whole life? Absolutely. But he said something to me the day I found out that stuck. He said, ‘if I had to give up the first twenty-five years to ensure you got to be born, then I would do it again to have you in my life for the rest of it .’”
She must have seen the confusion on my face because her next words explained what I didn’t understand.
“My father knew my mother was pregnant. She told him when she found out. Right before she told him she was having an abortion.”
“Oh my God.” My hand covered my mouth. “So she lied to him?”
“She did. I will be honest with you, Samantha.” She placed a hand on my arm before continuing, “I don’t love what you did, but I believe your heart was in the right place. I don’t believe for a second that you made any of your decisions for selfish reasons.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
My eyes filled with tears I didn’t want to shed. However, I couldn’t stop them when Beck reached over and pulled me into a hug.
“Mommy!”
I pulled away from Beck and quickly swiped at the tears.
“What, baby?”
“Daddy said we can go to the zoo. He said they has animals!”
I looked up at Jack, and there was concern in his eyes. Are you ok? he mouthed. I nodded and smiled reassuringly, then turned back to my daughter.
“Animals? That is exciting.”
“It is a little bit of a drive. Denver is two hours away, but if we get going, we should still make it back by dinner,” Jack explained.
“Well, I guess we should get going then. Beck, thank you for everything this morning,” I said, giving her another hug.
“You’re welcome.” Beck squatted down to Charlie’s level and hugged her too. “Charlie, I hope you had fun. We will do another sleepover soon.”
“Yes! Next time Uncle Blade said he would play spa with me, and I could paint his nails to match mine,” Charlie said.
Her excitement was contagious, I couldn’t help but smile.
“I bet you could talk Uncle King into a spa day too, Shortcake,” Jack suggested. Beck and I both laughed. I didn’t think that would ever happen.
“Uncle King wouldn’t like this color,” Charlie mused. She tapped her finger on her bottom lip, like she was thinking and plotting. “I think green would be better for him.”
Jack barked out a laugh. “I think you’re right, Shortcake. We can go to the store and get some new colors before we come home.”
Beck and I both shook our heads, chuckling at Jack. He was asking for a beating if King found out he’d coerced Charlie into this.
The drive to Denver was quiet. Charlie fell asleep not long after we got started. She had been up early, and she was still young enough that I could usually convince her to take a nap.
The two-hour drive would recharge her battery and keep her from getting cranky walking around the zoo.
“Can you tell me about Charlie?” Jack asked quietly.
I turned to look at him. He was so handsome. He looked enough like Derek that I could have passed Charlie off as his, if he hadn’t had a vasectomy, but not enough to confuse them as the same person.
What is it they say? Everyone has a doppelg?nger.
Jack was definitely Derek’s.
“What would you like to know?” I asked, biting my lip, uncertain about what he was going to ask.
“What’s her full name?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the road in front of us.
“Charlotte Jacqueline Reynolds,” I breathed.
Jack turned to look at me, but I couldn’t meet his eyes. I sat quietly, waiting for him to ask.
“Did you—?”
“Yes. I gave her the middle name Jacqueline for you. I wanted her to have a part of you with her always,” I said, turning to look out the window, so he didn’t see the tears building.
“Do you know what my first name is?”
I turned to Jack, confused.
“It’s not Jack?” I asked, and he shook his head.
“Jack is my road name. Short for Jackass. I thought you knew that.”
“No, I’ve heard people call you Jackass, but I just thought it was a play on your name.”
Now I was curious what his real name was.
Jack looked in the rearview mirror. I wasn’t sure if he was watching the cars behind us or looking at Charlie. When I saw his smile materialize, I knew he was looking at his daughter.
“When I was a prospect, the guys started calling me Jackass whenever I did something they didn’t like. Which was pretty much all the time.” He laughed. “When I patched in, it got shortened to Jack.”
“What is your real name?” I asked. I felt almost like I was meeting him for the first time.
“When I was born, my parents didn’t want me. They left me at a firehouse. There was no information, no note. Nothing.”
I reached over to take his hand in mine. Suddenly, I understood why what I’d done hurt him so much. He felt unwanted.
“The hospital named me after the firefighter that found me. The name never felt like it was mine.” He peered over at me and smiled. “Until now.”
He had a beautiful smile. I waited for him to tell me his name.
“Charles Williams.”
My hand flew to my mouth, trying to contain my gasp. Tears fell freely down my cheeks. Somehow, fate had stepped in and led me to name our daughter after her father. Despite thinking his name was Jack, I had given my daughter a first and middle name to honor both names her father went by.
“I had no idea. I chose Jacqueline first because I wanted her to have a piece of you. The plan was for that to be her first name. It was Carrie that suggested Charlotte. Jacqueline Charlotte just didn’t flow, but Charlotte felt perfect as soon as I heard it, so I flipped them. ”
Jack squeezed my hand.
“Matlock suggested petitioning for a divorce. He can have the papers drawn up and sent to your husband. Once you’re divorced, we can get married and have her name changed to Williams.” Jack looked at me. “I want you both to have my name.”
“Jack. I don’t—”
“Sammy, don’t tell me no.”
“Jack, if I send him papers, he’ll know where I am. Charlie would be in danger,” I pleaded.
“We already talked about that. The guys had a valid point. He’ll find you eventually, like he has before. This way, we would know to expect him and you and Charlie would be safe. There will be a brother sitting in The Diner every shift you work. And Charlie will always have a brother with her.”
I didn’t know what to say. My mind was still stuck on the part where he said we would get married.
“You want to get married?” I asked.
“Yeah, baby, I do. If you aren’t ready for that, we can get a DNA test done proving Charlie is mine, and I can petition to have her birth certificate changed. But I think you will still need to be divorced, unless you think he wouldn’t sign off on it?”
I sat there, staring at Jack. Just a few days ago, he was so angry at me, he wouldn’t stay in the same room with me.
Now he was talking about getting married.
“You want to marry me?” I needed to be clear about what I was hearing. He wasn’t making sense. Jack pulled the hand he held in his to his mouth and kissed it. Never taking his eyes from the road, he confirmed what he said.
“Yes, baby, I want to marry you. I want you, me, and Charlie to be a family. And I want to have more babies with you.”
“Jack, I don’t know if…”
“Hey, this wasn’t a proposal.”
Now I was more confused. He must have noticed my brows draw together.
“I meant this wasn’t the proposal. Beck would kill me if I proposed like this. No, baby, once you’re divorced, I’ll propose in a way that you won’t be able to refuse.”
I just stared at him. He seemed so sure of himself. Sitting back in my seat, I kept the rest of my thoughts to myself. We were almost at the zoo. Charlie would be awake soon, and this was definitely not a conversation to have in front of her.