CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Five Years Later
Thatcher
“Look, Daddy, there’s Jon,” Theo said from the back seat.
He was tucked safely into his car seat, and I was bringing him back to Carrie after the end of my custody week.
Theo being five and in kindergarten this year had me flummoxed.
There was always something going on. It felt like I was always missing something, and I hated it.
It had started the previous year when he was in pre-K.
He had started fall soccer and spring baseball.
There were teacher meetings and art shows and Thanksgiving plays.
And I had tons of meetings and worked in Atlanta.
I’d known mid-way through the year that I’d needed to make a change.
Slowly, I’d moved towards a solution, but it had taken until now to make all the pieces fall into place.
I was planning to talk to Carrie about it today, but I sure as hell didn’t want to do it in front of her boyfriend.
Fucking Jon. I watched them as they laughed and held hands on the front porch swing of Carrie’s house. They looked like a Hallmark movie. The trees were just beginning to turn colors, the sky was extra blue, and the sun was casting golden shadows over the lawn on the breezy, late afternoon.
“Ew!” Theo cried. “They’re kissing!”
I gripped the steering wheel extra tight, my knuckles turning white as I watched this man kissing my wife.
No matter how long we’d been divorced, that was still how I thought of her.
She might’ve moved on, but I hadn’t been able to.
Bryce thought if we didn’t have a child together, I would have by now. But he was wrong. I knew it.
As soon as I’d realized how badly I’d fucked up, I knew I’d never be able to move on from Carrie.
I figured out way too late that she was never second best. She was first, the star of the show, the leading lady, and the only woman I’d ever truly loved.
She was the only person in my heart. Besides Theo, of course.
I honked the horn and was immature enough to grin when they startled and moved apart. Jon glared at me where Carrie couldn’t see him, but Carrie gave a wide smile and jogged down the stairs to greet us.
She looked perfect, her golden curls bouncing. She had a big smile on her beautiful face. Her perfect body was showcased in a loose sweater that hung off one shoulder and tight jeans. I sighed.
And I’d thrown her away for a conniving gold digger.
I’d heard from Olive that Madison was a catalog model for a department store and wasn’t married to the guy she’d had a child with.
Instead, she’d married a semi-wealthy banker who was a total asshole.
He’d pretended to be rich while they’d dated, thinking she was wealthy.
To keep up the illusion, he’d made her sign a pre-nup.
If she divorced him, she’d have next to nothing.
If he divorced her, he’d lose the trophy wife who’d gotten him moved to a higher rung on Atlanta’s social ladder.
They spent money like crazy trying to keep up with their rich friends.
They’d ended up unhappy and mired in money troubles from the first day of their marriage.
Karma.
I parked and got out. Theo was old enough to unbuckle and get out of his car seat now. He was out of the car almost before I’d put it in park, and he leapt into his mother’s outstretched arms. I smiled. How could I not? He adored her, and the feeling was mutual.
I knew Theo and I had a good, solid relationship. But Carrie was his person. I was fine with that. I wasn’t jealous; I was thrilled they were so close.
Theo was less impressed with Jon. He’d never disliked him, but he’d never really warmed to him, either. I could relate. “Hey,” he said, and waved to his mother’s boyfriend.
“Hey, buddy,” Jon said loudly. I wanted to cringe. He never sounded natural when he talked to Theo. It was always as if he was trying too hard.
I’d had to be careful not to flip out with jealousy in front of Carrie.
She’d dated and had boyfriends before. Patrick, Aaron, Frank, and a couple of others.
But none had ever been around as long as Jon.
He was the head football coach at Indigo Falls High where Carrie taught history.
Sadie and Melinda were also on the faculty, and the three of them, plus Blair, were as close as ever.
Carrie didn’t have to work; she had plenty of money.
But she’d finished her master’s and was excited to teach now that Theo was in school.
This was her first full year as a teacher, and she loved it.
Jon stared me down behind Carrie’s back. I gave him a big smile. “Hey, Joe.”
He rolled his eyes. “It’s Jon.”
“That’s right. Sorry. It’s just such a common name I can never remember which it is. I get it mixed up with the other basic ‘J’ names. You know, Jeff, Joe, Jason, Josh, Jeremy… you get the drift.”
Carrie was too wrapped up in Theo to get mad at me for calling her boyfriend’s name common and basic.
“Yeah, whatever, man. At least I don’t have a rich douche name like Thatcher.”
Theo gasped. “My name is Thatcher, too,” he said, his lower lip trembling.
The color drained from Jon’s face. I gave him a self-satisfied smile.
Carrie turned and glared at Jon. “That’s Theo’s middle name, Jon,” she said in an offended voice.
“Jeez. I’m sorry, buddy. I didn’t know.” He looked upset to have caused my child any pain.
“Mommy, what’s a douche?” Theo asked.
Carrie and I both stared at Jon.
“Um… it’s a very bad word to call someone. You should never say it,” Jon said sheepishly.
Theo frowned. “But that’s what you called my daddy.”
“You know, I think I’m going to head out. I’ll see you tomorrow, Care Bear.” I tried not to gag at the nickname as he bent to kiss her cheek. “Sorry,” he whispered in her ear.
“See you at school,” she said. She had a look on her face that made him very aware he had some making up to do.
“Can Daddy stay for dinner?” Theo asked. Carrie set him down, and he started running around the yard trying to catch falling leaves before they hit the ground.
“Of course, if he has time.”
Hell, yeah, I had time. “Sure,” I said. Did I have to drive back to Atlanta and work on an important presentation for tomorrow morning? Yes. Yes, I did. But I didn’t care. Time with Carrie and my son was precious, and I wanted to soak up every bit of it.
“He’s staying for dinner?” Jon had one foot in his massive truck.
Carrie’s forehead furrowed. “Is that a problem?”
Jon grinned, but it looked more like a grimace. “No. Of course not.” He waved, got in his truck, and pulled out. He caught my eye and gave me what was supposed to be a threatening stare when Carrie turned away. I waved cheerily.
“Dinner sounds perfect, actually,” I said after he’d driven off.
“Oh, yeah?” she said absentmindedly as she watched Theo running around.
I stared at her for a minute, loving the way the sun brought out all the different colors of blonde in her hair. “Yeah. I’ve been planning something for a while now and wanted to run it by you.”
She glanced up at me, recognizing the seriousness in my voice. “Is everything okay?”
“It will be.” I stood just a little too close to her on purpose.
There had been several times over the years that we’d almost kissed, and I was hoping this might turn into something like that.
Her eyes dropped to my mouth, but then quickly circled back to Theo when he screamed and started running from a bee.
“He doesn’t want to hurt you,” she called for the thousandth time, and I couldn’t help thinking about how Theo would take this in the future.
I could just picture him being a huge, tough teenager and not believing that he used to freak out when he saw any flying thing, including moths and butterflies.
I chuckled under my breath as Carrie comforted him.
“Come on in,” she said over her shoulder as she held his hand and walked up the stairs.
I followed behind her thinking of all the changes she’d made in her life after she divorced me. She’d embraced her true nature, pushing back against her mother’s desire for her to become just like her. She had a good relationship with Diane now, but it was very different from when we were married.
Instead of chairing a bunch of committees, Carrie ran half-marathons.
She founded the local kayaking club instead of becoming president of the Women of the Church.
Instead of joining her mother’s knitting club, she joined a cycling club and spent one weekend a month biking the Silver Comet Trail with them.
The only club she’d kept was the Indigo Falls Garden Club.
That was because she liked to garden and loved the annual Orchid Ball, which I’d never missed again.
It had nothing to do with the fact her mother was in the club.
And she was happy. I’d never seen her so happy, in fact.
I was thrilled for her and hated that I’d contributed to making her feel forced into a society-wife role that hadn’t really suited her.
She was comfortable in her own skin now, and it showed.
She was an excellent mother to our son, and she’d already had plenty of success as a teacher.
The principal had asked her to get an extra certification to teach gifted students, and Sadie had begged her to be co-sponsor of the cheerleading squad.
I was thrilled for her, proud of her, and still so in love with her that it hurt.
“Do I smell lasagna?” I asked when the aroma of Italian food greeted me as I walked in. Carrie had taken up cooking while being a stay-at-home mom to Theo. Over the years, she’d become very good at it. I was lucky that I got invited to dinner often.
“My favorite,” Theo grinned, showing a missing tooth. It was his first one and a painful reminder that he was growing up fast.
Carrie ruffled his hair. “You’re such a good eater. Everything I make is your favorite.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Not tuna salad.”