“No, he didn’t. He wouldn’t. He would have done anything for me… he did, actually. He gave up his career, stayed silent about what we were to one another when I asked him to… all I did was make promises that started with, ‘As soon as my term ends.’ He made sacrifices, I made excuses.”
Before I could say anything, Everett turned and began heading back to the car. I’d expected the visit to last longer, but I suspected he was eager to return to Seattle. He’d rushed through the various meetings regarding the handling of Vincent’s estate the day before, while this morning had been spent preparing for the funeral, so there was no reason for him to stay. We hadn’t even gone to his home, since the drive back and forth to D.C. would have wasted too much precious time.
As we reached the car, Everett’s phone rang. I’d given up on trying to tune out his conversations in recent days, but I didn’t garner much from this one as he mumbled a couple of yeses, nos, and okays. It wasn’t until he’d hung up the phone that he turned to me and said, “That was Gage. Reese is being discharged today.”
“That’s great news.”
Everett nodded. “He’s agreed to stay at Gage’s house.”
I nodded in understanding and leaned past Everett to open the door for him. “Then let’s get you home to see your son, Mr. President.”
Chapter 15
GAGE
“You need to do something.”
I glanced up from where I was sitting on the steps leading off the back porch. Nash was looming over me, his gray eyes bright with anger. It was the first time the man had spoken to me since he and Everett had returned from D.C. a week earlier.
A day I was referring to as doomsday in my head.
Because it was the same day I’d gotten Reese home.
And it was the same day I’d had to break Everett’s heart all over again when I’d been forced to tell him that Reese had threatened to leave if Everett even tried to speak to him. The older man had been completely devastated, and I’d been helpless to do anything as Nash had urged Everett to go back with him to the guest house so they could get some rest. I’d heard Nash tell Everett that things would look better in the morning.
But they hadn’t.
Nor in any of the days that had followed.
We were on day seven of Reese’s embargo. There’d been a few close calls when Everett and Reese had crossed paths, like when I’d been taking Reese to the car to drive him to his therapy appointments or Reese had wheeled himself to the kitchen to get somethingto drink. But Everett had heeded Reese’s warning and hadn’t said a word to him.
Though I could tell it had practically killed him to do it.
The tension between the two men was bleeding into the rest of the family dynamics, and I was starting to wonder if I hadn’t bitten off more than I could chew. My daughter was confused by why father and son weren’t speaking, but she’d followed my direction to not bring it up with either man. Our normal family nights watching television together or playing games had taken a back seat to the awkwardness and we often escaped to our own rooms for the evenings instead. Charlie had recently started school, so she used the excuse that she had homework to do, while my father spent more time than he probably needed to on the lesson plans he prepared for the two weekly online college courses he taught on Greek mythology. I’d tried a few times to spend time with Reese in the evenings, but he’d claimed that he just wanted to sleep. But worst of all, Everett, who’d spent the first few nights after he and Nash had initially arrived interacting with me and my family, disappeared to the guest house each night. He didn’t even join us for dinner anymore, since he’d rather Reese join us.
Of course, Reese hadn’t either.
I’d wanted to show both men what they were missing out on by not being part of a family, but so far, I was failing miserably.
Not to mention, I still hadn’t been able to make things right with Nash.
But mostly because he’d avoided me like the plague.
Until now.
“About what?” I asked, though I already had a pretty good idea. Nash had managed to hold his tongue about it around Reese and presumably Everett, but I could tell the tension between father and son was bothering him as much as it bothered me – more so, even, since he was the one who had to watch Everett suffer when they were in the privacy of the guest house. Outside of it, Everett remained stoic and he interacted with my father and Charlie as he always had, but the enthusiasm wasn’t there.
“That assho—” Nash began, then stiffened and snapped hismouth shut. “Reese needs to fucking man up and get over it,” he finally bit out.
I turned my gaze to study Everett, who was working in the garden. He’d long since moved on to the flower garden. It was late afternoon, so Charlie was helping him pull weeds. Everett was answering my daughter’s endless questions, but I suspected his heart wasn’t in it. His eyes kept straying to the window of the guest room Reese was staying in. It was the only bedroom on the first floor and had a nice view of the back yard, a fact that I’d hoped might help remind Reese that his father was still very much human and suffered from human emotions like the rest of us. He’d have to be blind not to notice the toll things were taking on Everett. The older man looked like he’d lost some weight, his skin was perpetually pale despite spending most of his time in the sun each day, and there were dark circles under his eyes.
I looked back at Nash, who hadn’t moved. Tired of craning my neck up at him, I said, “You mind telling me what I should be doing while you’re sitting down, Nash? Don’t really need a crick in my neck, you know?”
Nash harrumphed, but did as I said and sat down.
Next to me, amazingly enough.
I’d been working all day on trying to get the ramp for the back deck built so Reese could get his wheelchair into the back yard if he wanted to explore.
