His words hit me like a punch to the gut. Four years ago, I’d been the one calling Jack out on his bullshit. I’d confronted him repeatedly while Harper was in the last few weeks of her pregnancy with Emma, forced him to see that Madison was manipulating him, told him that either he was having an affair or she was lying about everything. I’d watched him nearly lose everything because he’d let the viper manipulate him instead of being where he should have been - with Harper.
And here I was, doing the exact same thing. Not exactly the same thing. But I was keeping secrets from Chloe.
“I know,” I said quietly. “I know it’s the same mistake you made. I keep telling myself it’s different – that I’m just buying a few more days to figure out the right way to tell her, that Leo’s situation is more complicated. But it’s not different, is it?”
Jack’s expression was sympathetic but firm. “No, man. It’s not.”
“I just panicked. I wanted to have a plan. Wanted to present Chloe with solutions instead of just problems.” I dropped my head into my hands, elbows on my knees.
“Why?”
“Because she deserves better than being blindsided by my past showing up in the form of a kid I didn’t know existed!” The words came out more forcefully than I’d intended, and I looked up to see both of them watching me. “Because she’s been through shit before with her ex, and I didn’t want to put her through that trauma again. I wanted to protect her from the mess while I cleaned it up.”
“Sam.” Jack leaned forward, his beer forgotten on the table. “You can’t protect someone from reality. And trying to do it just makes them feel shut out. I know, because that’s exactly what I did to Harper. I treated her like she wasn’t strong enough to be my partner in everything.”
The words hit harder than I expected. “I’m not treating Chloe like she’s not strong—”
“Aren’t you? If you trusted her strength, you’d have told her the moment Jenna showed up. You’d have brought her into the process instead of managing everything yourself.” Jack’s voice was gentle but firm. “The biggest thing I learned from almost losing Harper is that partnership means sharing the hard stuff. Not just the solutions, but the process of figuring it out.”
“But she’s been exhausted. Mentally. Physically.” Even as I said it, I knew it was an excuse.
“So tomorrow, you tell her. Tell her everything and let her be part of figuring out what comes next.” Jack paused, his eyes searching my face. “Do you want to be with Chloe?”
“Yes. God, yes.” The answer came without hesitation, from somewhere deep in my chest.
“Then treat her like someone you want to spend your life with. That means trusting her with the ugly, complicated parts, not just the resolved ones.”
Harper shifted closer to Jack, her hand finding his. “Sam, when the person you love is keeping secrets, every day that passes makes it harder to forgive. Not because the secret gets worse, but because the choice to keep lying gets harder to understand.” There was something in her voice — old pain, remembered hurt from when Jack had shut her out.
“What if she can’t handle it? What if Leo is too much?” My voice came out quieter than I intended, the fear finally spoken aloud.
“You have to give her the chance to decide for herself,” Jack said, his voice firm. “Anything else is you making unilateral decisions about your relationship.”
I thought about the past five days. The way I’d been trying to control every variable instead of trusting the woman I loved to face this challenge with me. My throat felt tight. I had been doing exactly what Jack did. And I’d watched him nearly lose everything because of it.
“Thank you,” I said to Jack and Harper, my voice rough. “Both of you. For everything you’ve taught me. Including the lessons I should have learned sooner.”
Jack stood and pulled me into a hug, the kind that said more than words could. “You know, for the past four years, you’ve been there for us. Helping me figure out how to be a better husband. Showing up when Harper needed a friend. Being Uncle Sam to Emma. You helped us get back to each other, Sam. More than you probably realize.”
“You two did the work—” I started, but Jack squeezed my shoulder, cutting me off.
“We did. But we couldn’t have done it without you.” He stepped back, his hand still on my shoulder. “Now let us returnthe favor. Go fix this. If you need help – with Chloe, Leo, anything – we’re here. That’s what family does.”
Harper stood and hugged me too, quick and fierce. When she pulled back, her eyes were bright. “Chloe’s strong, Sam. Stronger than you’re giving her credit for. Trust her.”
As I drove home, I thought about Emma’s birthday party. Four years old. Four years since Jack’s crisis. Four years of him and Harper rebuilding what secrets had nearly destroyed. They’d made it. They were proof that couples could survive catastrophic mistakes if they faced them together.
It was time to face up to my mistakes.
Chapter 10
Sam - Six Days After Chloe’s Birthday
I’d come into The Copper Fox early this morning to handle a few things before heading home at lunchtime. Chloe was finishing up at the Jenkins farm and then catching up with a few appointments at the clinic. We both had the afternoon off — time blocked out specifically to sit down and have the conversation we’d been circling around for days.
For the first time in nearly a week, I felt like I could finally breathe. The phone call with Chloe yesterday had lifted something off my chest, even if it hadn’t been the conversation I’d hoped for. She knew about Leo and Jenna. She’d seen them. And yes, she was angry — she’d made that crystal clear. Angry that I hadn’t just talked to her. Angry about the secrets and lies, and being shut out.
I’dtriedto talk to her. Multiple times. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? I’d tried at all the wrong moments — when she was exhausted from that horrific cattle emergency, when she was emotionally drained and needed space to process her own trauma. And instead of waiting for the right time or just pushing through anyway, I’d let my panic win. I’d convinced myself Ineeded all the answers first, that I could protect her from the uncertainty by handling everything alone.
