“I know Jake, and so do you. He’s not going to do that.”
“He has the money.”
“He’s always had money. Don’t use that as an excuse. He’s never once cared about the size of his bank account, and I didn’t think you did either.” The disappointment in Mom’s voice almost broke me.
“I don’t.”
“Doesn’t sound like it.”
“I just don’t want to lose her. Cass is all I have,” I spluttered through a sob that was torn from my hurting heart.
“You won’t lose her.”
Wiping my nose on my sleeve, I tried to pull myself together before giving voice to the one thought that haunted me more than the idea Jake would try and take Cass. “What if he hates me?”
“He might. He might not. You won’t know, though, unless you give him a chance. And, sweetheart, you have to give him a chance. Cass deserves a chance to know her father, and as much as you don’t want to hear it, Jake deserves to know he has a daughter.”
Fuck, I hated it when she was right.
ChapterTwo
Jake
“Are you still out here moping?” Mom questioned as she strode across the yard, her tan leather boots crunching on the gavel.
“I’m not moping,” I countered as I swung the axe over my shoulder before hearing the deafening crack of the wood as it split in two.
“Jake…”
The tone of Mom’s voice told me everything I needed to know. A lecture was coming my way, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Setting the axe down, I picked up my shirt and wiped the sweat and dirt from my face. Chopping wood was hard work, and my muscles burned, but it was a burn I needed.
“I heard you the other day,” I told her, trying to ward off what was coming, but it was no use.
“Well, you may have heard me, but you obviously didn’t listen.”
“I didn’t come back for Kellie,” I stated, firmly cutting to the chase and dropping down on the stone garden edge before stretching my legs out in front of me.
“Sweetheart, I know you didn’t. But you're here now, don’t you think…”
“No. I don’t. She doesn’t want to hear from me.”
“You don’t know that?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“How?” Mom counted, and for the first time since my father died, I saw the sassy woman I’d always known her to be standing in front of me.
“Because I fucked up, Mom.”
“Jake!” She scolded me, and I remembered my manners. I’d spent too many hours at the fire station, surrounded by guys just like me to remember that swearing was still offensive to some people, people that included my mother. Even though she’d spent the better part of her adult life surrounded by ranch hands and cowboys, swearing from her only child was still not tolerated. In her eyes, no matter how old I got, I’d still be her sweet and innocent little boy. Something I’d have to remember now I was back.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” I apologized quickly, hating that I was responsible for putting the disappointed look on her face. “But it’s the truth. I fuc… screwed up,” I told her, managing to catch myself before I dropped another f-bomb. “When I left…”
“You were young,” Mom defended, something I knew she’d do until her last breath. I was Mommy’s baby boy, the love of her life, and now Dad was gone, all she had left. Sure, she was surrounded by her friends, and the ranch hands who worked our property had been here since I was in diapers and were more like family these days, but I was still her only child. An only child who’d done nothing but disappoint her and was now trying desperately to make amends.
“Mom, I love you, but me and Kellie, we’re old news,” I confirmed sadly, hating how bitter the words tasted on my tongue.
“You don’t know that. Things change, Jake. People change. You and Kellie were inseparable since you were kids. I refuse to believe that connection has just gone.”
