“Jayce,” his mother said. “You said you were sticking and you didn’t. You walked out when you were supposed to spend the week with her. You know better.”
“The drive home was brutal. Last night I slept on the couch, heard her tossing and turning. The tension then and again this morning was rough for both of us. She didn’t want to talk. Going into the house and forcing her wasn’t going to make it better and might have only made it worse. I’m lucky I got her to stay in our room last night. She wanted to get a second one.”
“I told you to tell her everything,” his father said. “That is on you. Do I think she’s being harsh about everything? Not completely.”
“So I’m going to get my ass handed to me from you too?”
Maybe he should have just gone home to wallow alone.
But he didn’t want to be alone. He wanted advice. He had hoped his parents would help, but they were making him feel worse.
“No,” his mother said. “But you came here to talk and we’ll be honest with you. Which you should have been with Farrah.”
“I made a judgment call,” he argued.
“A poor one,” his father said. “I do think maybe her reaction to McKayla is over the top but understand her reason. But I think she’s justified in being upset that she was more open than you. You told us she was opening up with you. She was clear from the beginning what happened with Tucker. How he ended up being not the person she’d thought.”
Jayce flopped on the couch. “I’m the same person I’ve always been.”
“No,” his mother said. “You’re not. You’re the person you used to be, but for years you were someone else. And maybe that is what you should have said to her. That those people never saw the real you, but she was.”
“I didn’t think to say that. But then she’ll wonder if I’m telling the truth. Admitting I wasn’t myself there would make her believe I’m still doing it now.”
“That’s for you to figure out,” his father said. “After your last fight you got her to believe and I’m sure you can again.”
“I’m not walking away from her. That’s what she expects.”
Which just proved his parents’ point and had his head going to the back of the couch as he shut his eyes. He gave her what she feared rather than sticking.
But there was also the side she said where it wasn’t always best to say something if the outcome would be the same or worse.
If he didn’t say something he wouldn’t know. He’d wonder.
And he’d feel like shit just alongside her without having answers.
He stood up.
“Are you going back to talk to her?”
“I have to. I don’t like this feeling and that I left her alone to deal with it by herself. Not that I was sure she’d even want me to come in when I dropped her off, but I should have suggested it or at least asked so she knew I wasn’t quitting on her.”
He knew she’d struggle to leave Archer for the week, even though they both got an excited text and call last night and this morning.
Archer had reminded him to look after his mother and he’d promised he would.
Yet here he was sulking over another fight. One that he was to blame for and had to acknowledge that. He still thought she overreacted, but if he could be the bigger man for someone like Levi, he sure as hell could toss his ego aside for the woman he loved.
“Doyou think he can fix this?” Stacy asked Jim when her son slammed out the door.
“I’m sure he can. I know he wants to,” Jim said. “But he dug himself a hole here.”
“It’s not that bad,” she said. “We’ve had worse.”
“After we were married. This is still new for them. Some people just walk away and feel that it’s a sign.”
She wasn’t sure how she’d be if she were in Farrah’s shoes and what she’d gone through.
“She’s justified in her feelings, just like Jayce is. I want them to work this out.”
