Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Jase
Of course, when I step out, my mother is nowhere to be seen.
Jake’s truck fades into the distance, kicking up dirt as it speeds down the gravel road back to the main house.
I contemplate heading back in to check on Monroe, but I know I won't be able to get any sleep tonight if I don’t get some things off my chest. My sisters, Nash and Billie, are still here, and they’ll keep Monroe company until I return.
I climb in my truck and follow them to the main house, finding my mama walking up the front steps of the house as I pull into the long driveway.
Shifting the gear into park, I hop out of the truck, not bothering to shut off the engine, and straight-line toward her.
“You made Monroe feel like hell,” I say, not bothering with pleasantries.
She doesn’t bother turning my way and keeps walking as she speaks. “I only said what needed to be said. You don’t listen otherwise.”
I reach for her, grabbing her arm to force her to look my way.
The look of horror on her face is almost amusing, but I let her go before she claims I’ve hurt her or attacked her.
“She’s carrying my baby, Mama,” I shoot back.
“She’s my girlfriend. More than that, she’s the woman I plan to spend the rest of my life with, and you sit there praising Indigo, acting like Monroe’s not good enough.
You need to let it go, Mama. Indigo’s in the past, and she’s going to stay there. ”
Fury burns in her blue eyes, stronger than I’ve ever witnessed.
My mother is a saintly Southern woman who’s always cool and composed, even if she’s raging inside.
Her anger is released through insults and backhanded comments that make you feel horrible about yourself, but she never loses it in public.
I can see the moment she inhales sharply, trying her best to swallow back whatever insult is on the tip of her tongue.
“You think you’re in love,” she says coolly, almost amused by my response.
“But you’re young, impulsive. You’ve always thrown yourself into the wrong arms, Jameson.
I’ve seen young ladies come in and out of your life, heard rumors of how you spend your nights, the promises you don’t make to them.
But I won’t let you throw your future away like your sister.
Monroe won’t be different. She’s not one of us.
Worse, she’s one of them, and they are—”
I stop her, unable to continue hearing her so blatantly insulting the people who mean most to me.
“The best group of people I know. We’re half the people the Bishops strive to be.
They are compassionate, accepting, and united, something the King Family is not.
They’re not to blame for what he did to you. ”
Her breath hitches as I imply what she’s so angry about. My father's infidelity, however long it lasted, was with Delia Bishop. My father had a son with her, and if what I’ve heard around is true, it wasn’t a one-time thing. Probably the reason Delia left so long ago and has stayed gone.”
“Don’t bring your father into this. That woman seduced him, put him under her spell and trapped him into sin. Her daughter has done the same to you.”
“How can you not see that he’s the only one to blame in this?
Is that the fate you want for me? An unhappy marriage and future like yours?
Because that’s what it will be with her.
Indigo and I spent three years fighting, throwing our differences at each other like that was somehow going to solve our problems. If we were to be together, we’d turn into you and him.
It wasn’t healthy, and frankly, I was miserable.
Monroe is not like that. Things with us are better than they’ve ever been. She makes me better.”
Mama scoffs, “She’s not worthy of you. She’s her mother’s daughter. She’ll cheat and abandon you with her child. Monroe Bishop is not worthy of being in my family.”
I’m angry, fucking furious at her for what she’s saying, but most of all, I’m angry at myself for never seeing the type of woman my mama could be.
“Then we won’t be,” I say, once and for all done with this family and the hate they bring.
“I will take her and my child and stay as far away from you and your toxic mind.”
“How dare you! I’m your—”
I grab her hand as she tries to slap me across my face. My fingers tighten around her wrist, but I take a deep breath and let her go. “You’re nothing to me if you can’t accept that this is what I want. I saw you do it to Bailey and Brynn and did nothing. I won’t stand for it any longer.”
“Jase,” Indigo says, exiting the house and joining us on the front porch.
The fucking nerve of this woman to keep showing up where she’s not welcome or wanted.
How pathetic can she be to try so hard when I clearly want nothing to do with her?
“Don’t be mad at your mama, she’s just trying to protect you,” she says smoothly, alligator tears in her eyes.
“You’re being unfair to her, and to me. You know what we had. What we could still have.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose, my blood running hot as I try to breathe, but everything burns. “Indigo, enough,” I shout, making them both flinch in response. “I don’t want you, and frankly it’s so incredibly sad that you don’t get that. I’m with Monroe. End of fucking story.”
Mama’s mouth pinches into a tight line while Indigo’s eyes narrow, but it isn’t until I hear the deep, rough voice of my father that I understand why. Fucking perfect.
My father stands by the door, arms folded, his gaze shadowed by the large garland hanging above the archway. He and I haven't had a decent conversation in months. He’s been absent when I needed him, and when he was present, he was nothing but cold and demanding.
Still, he jerks his chin, looking from the two women and then back to me. “Walk with me.”
Every instinct screams at me to ignore him. But I follow, if only to get away from Mama and Indigo’s twin stares I can’t fucking stand to look at any longer.
We stop by the old oak tree at the edge of the yard, one my sisters and I attached an old tire swing to when we were kids that still hangs today, and turns to me. He hands me the flask he’s tucked into his coat pocket, but I shake my head in refusal, so he opens it and takes a swig himself.
“You’re right to be angry at your mama,” he says quietly. “She’s scheming with Indigo, and it’s so pathetic how that girl is using her. You have every right to be mad at me too. I gave your mama reasons not to trust. To doubt, to hate the Bishop family as much as I did.”
I cross my arms. “You mean the affair, or your love child? Or maybe both?”
His jaw tightens. “It went on too long. I thought I could have both—my family, and the woman I thought I loved. The Bishop women are dangerous—addictive even. I lost more than I gained, and if there’s one thing I regret, it’s that I didn’t stop before I broke everything.”
I stare at him, unsure if this is supposed to be an apology or a warning.
My father is powerful, wealthy and influential.
He’s been the long-standing mayor of Crossroads, re-elected countless times because of the good he’s done for this town, but half of its residents fear him more than they respect him.
I’ll be the first to admit he’s been involved in some illegal dealings over the years, it’s why I distanced myself from his business.
Though it wasn’t until I discovered what he’d done to Nash and Bailey that I distanced myself completely.
When I found out about his affair and the child he had with Delia Bishop, my mind immediately thought of Monroe.
It was a week after we’d spent the night together, and I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of what that could have meant.
When I don’t answer, he continues, placing a hand on my shoulder as he speaks.
“Don’t make my mistake, son,” he says. “If you love Monroe, you fight for her. You choose her every time. I ruined things for your sisters, and I’m paying for it.
My little girls won’t even look at me.” He laughs it off, but I know it’s killing him inside to have lost them.
For once, I don’t have a smart remark, because for all his flaws, my father’s right about one thing. I’m not him, and I won’t lose Monroe by acting like him.