Chapter 29
Jackson
With my arm around Ellie’s shoulder, and our families spread in front of us in our backyard after a very successful garage sale, I say, “We’re giving our marriage another go.”
Lila rolls her eyes. “Worst kept secret ever.”
“Lila,” her mom hisses.
“I am not being difficult,” Lila says to her mom. “I promised I wouldn’t stab Jackson in the neck with a butter knife, and I meant it.”
“Butter knife?” I lift my brow.
She takes a sip of white wine. “Would have been more painful, and you’d take longer to die.”
Wade chuckles.
I glare at my best friend. “Really?”
He claps me on the shoulder. “You’re safe, bro. She promised she wouldn’t do it.”
“Unless you hurt Ellie again,” Lila adds, her eyes narrowing a touch. “Prison or no prison, I won’t hold back.”
Ellie wraps her arm around my waist and squeezes slightly, drawing my gaze.
“He won’t hurt me again, Lila,” she says softly, eyes locked on me. “We’ll argue about other things like the dishes or raking leaves or other stuff, but we’ll talk about the big things before they become a problem.”
I dip my head to touch my lips to hers, and I feel so weightless I could fly when she leans against me, returning the kiss.
“Nope, not this again,” Wade says, nudging us apart.
“What do you mean, again?” I grumble, keeping my arm around Ellie so no one tries to separate us.
We threw a family BBQ after a very successful garage sale that cleared out crap we’ve been carting around for years, wanting to thank our friends and family for their help and let them know that Ellie and I were officially back together.
We made over three thousand dollars, enough to cover the cost of decorating the nursery.
Our consultation with the marriage counselor that my therapist recommended went well, and we’re going to be seeing her once a week. Miranda, our marriage counselor, also recommended that Ellie see her own therapist, something I agreed with and couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought to suggest before.
Ellie went through hell because of me, and she should have had someone to talk through all the pain of my betrayal other than her parents and sister. Someone who could have given her the tools to help her heal and recover.
“I had to pry them apart in the kitchen earlier,” Dennis, my godfather, says from the table we loaded down with more food than the twenty of us could ever eat.
But today is a celebration, and Ellie and I didn’t expect everyone to bring so much food to add to the meat I bought. My dad has been grilling for the last couple of hours while Ellie and I pass out drinks and make sure everyone has a plate.
“We were getting the potato salad,” Ellie claims.
Dennis’s voice is dry and his eyes sparkle with amusement when he says, “That would have been a more successful endeavor if my godson hadn’t been feeling you up beside the refrigerator.”
“Dennis!” Ellie presses her palms against her red cheeks.
Our family and friends laugh, and I chuckle along with them.
“Well, I—we—want to say thanks for all your help with the garage and for being there for both of us over the last few months,” I say once the laughter has died down.
I give Ellie’s shoulder a squeeze as I smile fondly down at her.
“No more talk of me feeling up my wife. I love her very much, and I will continue to do so every chance I get. Now go eat all this delicious food because we have way, way too much of it.”
Ellie grins up at me, her cheeks still pink but her happiness plain to see.
Everyone is laughing as they move to the food we set out on the long folding table we forgot we had; we had buried it in the back of the garage.
Despite my grumbling belly, I kiss Ellie again, conscious that I should give her some space to talk to her friends, but I’m finding it so damn hard to take my hands off her and keep them off.
“Like teenagers all over again,” Ellie’s mom says with a fond smile.
Ellie’s dad is glaring at me, so he must be remembering when he caught me kissing Ellie on his front porch after I brought her home from our first date.
“Hmm,” Leonard grumbles.
“How about we get started eating all this food?” Ellie suggests, darting a wary glance between her dad and me, then steers me to the barbecue that my dad is manning.
Between us, we dig into hot dogs, burgers, chicken, ribs, steak, and salads. And we talk. There’s laughter and conversation along with brief visits up to the finished nursery to show it off to whoever hasn’t seen it yet.
Over the last couple of days, Ellie and I have kept adding to it. Diapers and a small wooden rocking horse, blinds, and a nice cushion to support Ellie’s lower back when she nurses.
We’ve held off on buying clothes so far.
Ellie is convinced we’re having a boy, but I don’t know what to think.
All I know for sure is that I don’t care what we have as long as they’re healthy.
We’ve decided to get a scan to find out the sex so our families can spoil us—and the baby—like they keep saying they’re eager to do.
Knowing the sex gives us something else to look forward to and means whatever clothes our parents and friends gift us will actually be used.
I’m in the kitchen, grabbing more beer and soda to add to the bucket of ice, when the door closes behind me.
I peer over my shoulder, release a soundless sigh, and shut the refrigerator. “I was wondering when this conversation was coming.”
I’d expected him to pay me a visit months ago. Ellie must have told him not to give me the black eye I sorely deserved for hurting her, because he loves his daughters something fierce.
“I never expected it from you,” Phillip says quietly, his voice soft with disappointment as he leans his hip against the kitchen island. “That was the worst of it. For Ellie and for me. She never saw it coming.”
Shit. I wish he’d punched me instead.
Crossing over to the other side of the island, I lean against it too. “I know.”
His eyes fix on me briefly before drifting away to a point just over my right shoulder.
“Jackson Olsen loves my daughter. That was clear back when I threatened to box your ears if I ever caught you kissing my daughter on my front porch, the way I kept catching you.” His gaze returns to me, showing both disappointment and anger.
Needing him to see the sincerity of my words and my willingness to face the consequences, I meet his gaze.
“I know what I did, Phillip. I hurt Ellie so badly, and I don’t deserve a second chance, but she’s given me one anyway, and I will never hurt her again.
She’s my world. I can’t lose her, and I don’t want to imagine a future where she’s not a part of my life. ”
He hums. “I’ve been watching you, and I’ve been listening to Ellie and hearing what Dennis has to say, waiting for a sign you were going through the motions of convincing my daughter you were sorry, only to break her heart again.”
A lump lodges in my throat.
I’d known what I did, but hearing someone else say it out loud hurts in the most gut-wrenching way.
I broke my sweet wife’s heart. Ellary, who I have never stopped loving, who gave up her dreams to follow mine, and who always put me first.
“I know what I did, sir,” I say hoarsely.
“To Ellie. To your family and mine. I can’t take it back or turn back time, but I can, and I will do everything in my power to be a better man, husband to Ellie, and father to our child.
I don’t like what I became, and I will never be that person again. My word on that.”
He gives me a long, appraising look and straightens. His expression is indecipherable.
Sensing danger, I tense, bracing myself as he walks around the island toward me. And I grunt when he draws me into a hug.
“You messed up,” he says gruffly. “And I believe you’ve learned from it. Do it again, and I’ll take you into the woods and skin you alive.”
I believe him.
Lila gets her bloodthirstiness from somewhere, and it isn’t her mom.
“We’ll argue in the future,” I tell him, looking him dead in the eye. “But we’ll talk, and we’ll deal with our problems together. I was looking for something more when I didn’t realize I already had the world.”
His serious expression breaks for the first time, and he steps around me to pick up the bucket of drinks he’d sent me in here for, likely so he would have a reason to corner me away from Ellie. “Ellie said you were coaching field hockey.”
I follow him out of the kitchen. “Yeah. On Saturdays. You should come watch. Those kids are hilarious without even trying.”
“I’ll do that. Maybe I’ll help out. You’re going to have your hands full soon enough.”
As first-time parents, I can’t help but agree.
“True.” Wade offered to help, though I asked him if he wasn’t fed up with kids as a teacher Monday through Friday, then playing with his own kids on weekends.
He said, “Surprisingly, no.”
We return to the backyard. Ellie, chatting with her mom, walks over to me when she sees me. She takes my hand and leans in to whisper, “He didn’t hurt you too badly, did he? I wanted to come after you, but my mom said he’s been itching to talk to you and I shouldn’t get in the way.”
I drop a kiss on the top of her head. “It was a necessary conversation, baby. And no, he didn’t hurt me. I got off pretty light for hurting you so badly. I’m lucky he’s not burying my body in his backyard.”
“Backyard?” Lila snorts, passing by with a burger. “Mom would be burying him in the backyard if he messed with her roses.” She hands the burger to her dad and brushes a kiss over his jaw. “Here, Dad.”
Her dad gives her a warm smile. “Thanks, sweetie.”
With all threats and warnings given and received, we return to the reason we’re here: enjoying good food and spending time with family and friends.