21. Easton
Chapter 21
Easton
It’s been two months since Taylor had her fainting episode. Two months of blissful happiness with my girl. Of living our lives the way we want and not worrying about what people think.
We go out on weekly dates and I bring Taylor home flowers at least once a week. When I get to work from home, Taylor and I will settle into my home office and work side by side.
We were able to clean out a lot of Jack’s room, but we decided to leave a decent amount of his things in there. I don’t plan on leaving his room like that forever, eventually I’ll need to empty it out and do something else with it, but I don’t need to yet.
Every night, I still write in my journal and jot down my thoughts from the day. Taylor loves it and every morning she snatches the notebook out of my end table and reads it with a smile on her face.
This morning, she’ll find an extra special entry and I can't wait to see how she responds .
“I wonder what the latest entry says.” She grins at me as she gets comfortable in her chair at the dining room table. She acts like my journal is her morning newspaper and I love it. She’s adorable.
I flip another pancake as Taylor begins to read the entry out loud. Some days she reads them to herself, but most of the time she reads them aloud as I cook. It was a little weird in the beginning, but honestly, I love seeing her response to what I wrote.
"Taylor,
Some mornings when I wake up, I swear this all has to be a dream. There’s no way I'm actually lucky enough to find you sleeping next to me each day. It can't be real that I get to hold you all night and kiss you whenever I want to. But then I see your beautiful smile aimed at me and I listen to your sweet voice read my journal entries every morning, I know I really am the luckiest man in the world.
I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I'm happy I did it. I’ll spend the rest of my life putting you before anything else. I’ll spend it showering you with attention and loving you the best way I know how to.
I want you to be my wife, Taylor. I want to create the future we’ve always dreamed of with you and live happily ever after. Will you marry me?
-E"
I drop down on one knee in front of Taylor. When she lowers the notebook, there are tears in her eyes.
“Easton…” She whispers softly.
“Will you marry me, baby?”
“Yes!”
I slip the ring on her left hand. She jumps out of her chair and as soon as I'm standing to my full height, she throws herself into my arms.
I press my lips to hers and our kiss turns hungry and needy almost immediately. I'm about to sweep her into my arms when the doorbell rings.
We frown at each other and glance towards the door. Who could possibly be here?
“I guess I’ll see who that is, but then you’re mine.” I boop her on the nose and head towards the door. I glance over my shoulder right before I reach it and chuckle when I find her staring at her ring. She’s turning her hand one way and then the other, letting the diamond sparkle as the lights hit it.
I tug the door open and come face to face with Mom. I haven’t spoken to her since that horrible evening we told her Taylor and I were dating.
“What are you doing here?” My good mood from a few moments ago is completely gone.
She knows she isn't welcome here. I don’t want Taylor to have another episode and stress her heart any more.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“I'm not sure it’s a good idea for you to be here.” I fight to keep all emotion out of my tone, but it hurts to see her. It hurts to know how little she thinks of me and how she loved Jack so much more.
“Please, Easton. Give me five minutes, then I’ll leave. If you don’t want to speak to me after that, I’ll respect your wishes.”
I stare at her for several long seconds and tears gather in her eyes. She’s not sure if I'll allow her to speak.
“Fine, but if you say one negative thing to Taylor, you’re gone,” I growl, making her eyes widen. “Do you understand me? I won't allow your behavior to affect her health.”
“I understand.”
She slips past me and moves straight towards the living room. I follow closely behind. I don’t trust her to keep her comments friendly .
“Mrs. Maxwell, I didn’t expect you.” Taylor sits up a little straighter and smooths down the skirt she’s wearing.
The light catches on her diamond, making it sparkle and catch Mom’s attention. She lets out a soft gasp and her eyes move from the ring to me and back again.
“You’re engaged?” She whispers.
“I proposed this morning.” My tone is firm and steady. There’s no room for her antics or objections. She has no say and she knows it.
“I'm so happy for the two of you.” She moves over to a chair and slowly lowers herself onto the cushion, never taking her eyes off of us.
“Thank you. We’re very happy.” I settle onto the couch next to Taylor and wrap my arm around her waist. Pressing a soft kiss on her temple, she places her hand on my chest and cuddles into me.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so happy, Easton. Both of you really.” She pulls a tissue out of her purse and dabs at her eyes. “I'm so sorry for the things I said when you were last over. I was out of line and living in a made-up world. I didn’t know Jack at all. Everything I thought I knew was a lie.”
“He was good at hiding things,” I say simply.
“Taylor, I owe you an apology. I know how hard Jack’s death was on you. It was difficult to see you moving on, but I see now, you and Easton belong together.”
“Thank you. ”
“He was cheating on you. A woman stopped by my house. Her name is Cassy and she…” Mom squeezes her eyes shut as a few tears trickle down her cheek. “She introduced me to Jack Maxwell Junior.”
She holds a picture out to us and I take it quickly. I examine the image, surprised at how much the little boy looks like Jack.
“I thought she lost the baby or gave it up,” Taylor says softly, running her fingers over the photo.
“What?” Mom sits a little straighter and stares at Taylor.
“Jack wrote about the baby in his journal. He was going to break up with me because of the pregnancy. He found out Cassy was pregnant only a few days before he died. When I saw Cassy at the funeral, I hadn’t read the journal yet, but she clearly wasn’t pregnant. I found out he cheated because I overheard her talking to her friend.”
“I'm so sorry! I didn’t want to believe Jack could do something so different from the way he was raised. I was wrong to take out everything on the two of you. You weren’t the ones doing anything wrong, Jack was. I’ve spent a lot of time in therapy over the last few weeks. My therapist is helping me see things for the way they really are. I'm realizing Jack isn't this perfect son just because he died. His death doesn’t erase his faults and I need to remember that.”
“I'm glad you’re seeing someone who is helping you.” Taylor smiles, but I'm still having a hard time processing all of this. It’s a complete turn around from just a few weeks ago .
“Easton, I'm so sorry for the things I said to you. Even as they came out of my mouth, I knew they weren’t true. I never wanted to lose a son and I definitely don’t wish it was you instead of Jack. I couldn’t wish to lose either one of you over the other. I love you both with my entire being. Losing Jack broke something inside of me and I'm working hard to fix it, but I'm not sure I’ll ever be fixed. How do you keep living when you’re missing half your heart?”
“I forgive you, Mom. But that crap won't fly in the future. Not in my house. Taylor and any future children we have, that’s where my focus will be.”
“I understand.” She nods her head, embarrassment heating her cheeks. I'm sure her behavior is something she’s ashamed of now, but that doesn’t make up for the hurtful things she said and did.
Taylor slowly stands from the couch and disappears down the hallway. I frown after her, wondering what she’s doing. She comes back a few minutes later with a stack of journals in her hands.
“Mrs. Maxwell, I think you should have these.” She holds them out and Mom eyes them with curiosity.
“What are they?” She takes them gently in her hands.
“They’re Jack’s journals. Remember how you used to make us write in journals to improve our handwriting? Well, it seems we both developed the habit of journaling and we both still did it.” I lift my shoulder in a half shrug.
“These are Jack’s?” She peeks up at us and I can see the tears brimming in her eyes .
“Yes. They go back to middle school, I believe. The last one was from the day he died.”
“Don’t you want them?” Mom asks Taylor.
“No, I think you should have them. I’ve read every entry and I understand Jack so much better than I did before. I think it would be good for you to get a chance to know your son a little better too.” Taylor smiles tightly at Mom.
I’m sure there will be a little bit of tension between them,at least for a while, but I’m hoping one day Mom can love Taylor the way she did when Jack was alive.
“I'm very proud of you, Easton. You’ve become an amazing man and you deserve to have a woman who loves you so much. I don’t know how I didn’t see it before. Dad keeps telling me he saw it all along and isn't surprised the two of you finally gave in and started dating.”
“I loved him long before I loved Jack.” Taylor smiles up at me.
“Jack ruined my chance of claiming her, but now nothing will stop me from making her my wife.”