by S. J. McCoy
She nodded. “I can see that, but I don’t think it’s really what you’re doing. You still hurt, that’s all, and part of you wants him to hurt too. You want him to feel some of the pain that you felt all those years.” She smiled. “You’re not using us. We are your family now, and this is how it is. Your dad should see that. He should see that you’re happy. And honestly, I think if it does hurt him, it will only strengthen what the two of you have now.”
Eddie stared at her for a long moment. She was right.
She smiled sweetly. “I’m more than just a pretty face, you know.”
“You’re so much more than that,” he said as he hugged her to him. And she became more with every day that passed. She meant more to him, and she grew stronger and stronger in her own right.
Eddie let go of her when his phone rang in his pocket. He gave her an apologetic smile as he answered it.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Eddie, are you still coming?”
“Yeah, we won’t get there until late tonight. It’s a long drive.”
“I know, I thought about that this afternoon. It doesn’t make sense for you to do all that driving tonight especially when you’re on stage tomorrow night.”
Eddie frowned. He’d been nervous about going, but he didn’t want his dad telling them not come. “So, what are you saying?”
His dad laughed. “I hope one day you’ll reach the point where you don’t immediately think the worst of me. I’m going to send the plane to get you.”
“Oh.” He knew his dad had a plane. A company jet like the one Smoke flew for the guys, but still. It was weird. That wasn’t his life.
“Is that okay?”
“Umm, yeah. Sure. I mean, thanks.”
His dad laughed again. “Great. David said he can be at the Summer Lake airport by five thirty.”
“Wow! Okay.”
“Great, I’ll see you all in a couple of hours. I’m looking forward to it, son.”
“Me too. See you later.” Eddie hung up and shook his head.
“Is everything okay?” asked April.
He nodded. “He’s sending the plane to get us.”
“Oh, wow!”
Marcus had come in and was standing in the doorway. “We get to ride in a plane again? That’s awesome!”
Eddie nodded. He guessed it was.
~ ~ ~
April sipped her drink and stared out at the ocean. Whatever she’d been expecting of this trip, it certainly hadn’t been this. They’d flown here in a private jet. A car had met them at the airport and whisked them here to this palatial home overlooking the ocean. It was a shock, to say the least. But it was a pleasant shock. Everyone had been so warm and friendly. The pilot, David, had greeted Eddie like an old friend. The driver who’d brought them here had been more like a jovial tour guide, pointing out places of interest, particularly to Marcus, on the drive from the airport. And Eddie’s dad, Ted, was wonderful. He was older than she’d expected and he had such kind eyes. And such a kind manner to go with them. He didn’t fit the image she’d built in her mind of a man who’d walked out on his family to find success in the world, and who was now trying to win his son back over, twenty-some years later.
He smiled at her and gestured to where Marcus and Eddie were splashing in the pool. “He’s a good boy.”
She smiled. “Which one? They both are.”
Ted laughed. “I’d have to agree with you there, but I meant Marcus. He’s smart, but he’s scared. What’s he scared of?”
April stared at him. She didn’t know how to answer such a forthright question. “I…hasn’t Eddie told you?”
Ted shook his head sadly. “He doesn’t trust me yet. I’m not sure he ever will. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t blame him. I deserve it.”
She nodded. “He doesn’t hate you, you know.”
“I know, but he doesn’t understand why I did what I did.”
“Why did you?” she couldn’t stop the words as they came out of her mouth. It wasn’t her place to ask, but she wanted to know. “I’m sorry. I…”
Ted smiled. “It’s okay. It’s understandable that you want to know, but if I tell you, you can’t tell Eddie.”
“Oh.” She didn’t like the sound of that. “Why?”
“Because it would hurt him.”
“How?”
“I can’t tell you that without telling you the whole story. Do you want to know? Do you want to share a secret with me that you can’t tell him?”
She shook her head. “What if I think it’s a secret he should know?”
Ted stared at her for a long time. “Maybe that’s what I need your help deciding.”
“Okay, so tell me.”
He nodded. “Irene, Eddie’s mom.” He stopped. “Have you met her?”
“No. He talks about you sometimes. He talks about his stepdad, or at least the way his stepdad treated him, but I don’t think he’s ever mentioned his mom.”
“Hmm.” Ted seemed surprised at that. “He was close to his mom when he was young; I didn’t want to hurt him. He loved her. He never seemed to like me much. I caught Irene having an affair, and I knew I couldn’t stay married to her. Things had been horrible between us for a long time before that. She told me that Eddie knew her boyfriend and loved him. I’m not proud of what I did, but I simply walked away. It was bad enough that my wife wanted another man. When she told me that my son preferred him, too, I took my tattered pride and left. And I never looked back.”
“I wish you had looked back,” April said. “If you had, you would have seen one brokenhearted little boy who only wanted his father to love him. He hated his stepdad, you know. He still does.”
Ted nodded sadly. “I know that now, but at the time I believed her lies. And now you understand why I can’t tell him.”
April nodded. “In order to redeem yourself in his eyes, you’d have to tell him what his mother did. Tell him that she lied.”
“Yes.”
April sighed. “I think you should. I don’t think he idolizes his mother by any means, and I think he deserves to know the truth.”
Ted took a swig of his drink and stared out at the ocean. “And what’s your boy scared of?”
April sighed. “He’s scared of his own shadow most of the time. Or at least he was until we met Eddie.”
“So he’s scared of his father?”
She nodded, not quite sure how Ted had deduced that. “His father is not a good man. He…” She didn’t know how to say it out loud. She’d never actually spoken the words. He used to hit us. She met Ted’s gaze. “We both have the scars to prove it.”
“I thought so.” He understood what she was saying. “And is he out of the picture now?”
“I hope so. He’s divorcing me.”
Ted raised an eyebrow. “I thought that’d be the other way around.”
“So did I, but he surprised me by finding out where Marcus and I were living, breaking into the house and leaving the papers for me to sign. Along with a note telling me to sign them—and sign away Marcus’s and my claims to any financial support from him, or else.” Why on earth had she told him that? She bit her lip and shook her head. “Sorry, that was probably too much information.” She gave an embarrassed little laugh. “I only sent the papers back to him at the beginning of the week, and I haven’t heard a thing back from him. I guess I’m a little more on edge than I thought. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Evidently you needed to get it off your chest. Just like I did.” He raised his glass to her.
She raised hers with a smile. “Here’s to sharing your darkest secrets with total strangers, huh?”
Ted laughed. “We may have been strangers when you arrived here, but my gut tells me we’ll be family someday.”
April smiled. She’d love that, and not just because she liked Ted so much.
~ ~ ~
The next morning, Eddie stood in the doorway that led out to the pool, watching Marcus with his dad. He couldn’t help but
smile. The two of them were sitting at the big table out on the patio eating scrambled eggs and drinking orange juice. Marcus was chattering away. Eddie had never seen him talk so much. He’d taken a shine to his father straight away, and it seemed to be mutual. His dad was listening and laughing and peppering the little dude with questions every now and again.
April came to stand beside him and leaned her head against his shoulder. “How does that make you feel?”
He turned to look down at her. “It makes me happy. Really, really happy. Which surprises me. I keep waiting for the anger, or maybe even a touch of jealousy to sneak in, but it’s not there. The past is gone. We can’t change what was, but we can enjoy what is. Seeing those two like that, it’s good for both of them. I know it is. I might have missed out on it, but if Marcus can have my share, then it’s all worth it.”
April looked up at him. “You’re a good man, Eddie. I know you missed out as a kid, but I think your dad would love to make it up to you as much as he can now.”
He nodded. He knew it too, but didn’t want his dad to make anything up to him. He couldn’t. And he didn’t mean that in a bad way, it was just reality. The boy he’d been no longer existed, that kid hadn’t received the love he’d wanted from his dad, but that had made him into the man he was today.
April was studying his face.
“You like him, don’t you?”
She nodded. “I do. I think he’s a decent person who made mistakes in the past.”
“He is. Come on, let’s go eat with them.”
When they reached the table, Marcus smiled up at them. “Can we stay for the whole weekend?”
April shook her head. “No, we have to leave this afternoon.”
“Can we come back soon then?”
Eddie looked at his dad, had he put him up to asking? Yep, judging by the look on his face, he certainly had. Eddie smiled. He didn’t mind. He raised an eyebrow at April.
She nodded. He knew she’d like it.
“I guess we can, if my dad wants us to.”
His dad grinned. “You know I’d love it.”
Marcus smiled, but he looked puzzled.
“What’s up, little dude?”
“I’m just thinking. I wish you were my dad, but you’re kind of my stepdad. And so that makes you,” he turned to look at Eddie’s dad, “my stepgrandad? Is that right?”
Eddie guessed so. He didn’t want to say that there wouldn’t be any step-anythings unless April wanted to marry him someday.
His dad smiled. “I’ll be whatever you want me to be, little fella. I just hope you’ll keep coming back to see me.”
“I will,” said Marcus with a grin. He turned to April. “Can we go fishing?”
April looked at Eddie who in turn shot a look at his dad, who nodded sheepishly.
“We can if you say it’s okay, Mom. Stepgrandad said we could.” He smiled at Eddie. “He taught Eddie to fish, and Eddie used to love going when he was little.”
Eddie’s heart raced. He wished he hadn’t told the little guy about that now. His dad held his gaze and said. “Some of the happiest memories of my life are of taking Eddie fishing when he was even smaller than you are now.”
Eddie blinked and tried to swallow the lump that filled his throat. He’d have put money on his dad not even remembering their fishing trips.
“I’d love to be able to make some new memories, with all of you. What do you say, son?”
Eddie nodded. His dad was asking about much more than whether he wanted to take a trip out on the boat today. He was asking for a new beginning, and Eddie was happy to make one.
~ ~ ~
“I wish you didn’t have to work tonight.” Marcus wrapped his arms around Eddie’s waist and smiled up at him.
“I do, too, but we had a good time today, didn’t we?”
“It was amazing! Can we go back and see him next weekend?”
Eddie looked at April. She smiled. She’d be happy to, but as far as she was concerned, it was up to him. She felt as though he and his dad had turned a corner in their relationship today, but she didn’t want to push him into anything he wasn’t ready for.
“Maybe,” said Eddie. “It’s hard since I have to be back for work.”
“That’s okay. It doesn’t take long to fly.”
April smiled to herself. It seemed her son had already adapted to flying around in a private jet! On the way back here, he’d sat up front with David for a little while and decided that he might be a pilot when he grew up.
“We’ll see,” said Eddie. “But right now, I’ve got to go.” He hugged Marcus and then came to kiss her. “I’ll be home as early as I can.”
“I’ll be waiting,” she said. She didn’t want to fall asleep before he got back; she figured he might want to talk about their visit with his dad.
“Okay. See you later.”
Once she’d gotten Marcus to bed, she settled down in the living room. She wanted to watch a movie and just zone out tonight. There’d been so much going on for so long that she just wanted to let her mind shut down with a fluffy romantic comedy.
She was about half an hour into the movie when her phone rang. She picked it up, but there was no caller ID.
“Hello?”
There was no one there.
“Hello?”
Still nothing. So she hung up. As soon as she did, it rang again.
“Hello?”
She sighed. Whoever it was either couldn’t get a signal or wanted to spook her; if it was the latter, it was working! She got a grip. “I can’t hear you. If you can hear me, try texting me.” She hung up and waited. A couple of seconds later, the phone buzzed with an incoming message. There was still no caller ID, which was weird with a text. She opened it up to see one word. Bitch. She shuddered. Her first thought was that it was Guy. It had to be. But why would it be? She’d done what he wanted. He’d told her she’d be okay if she did. Maybe it was a wrong number? She doubted that. She got up and went to make sure that all the doors were locked. It was going to be a long night waiting for Eddie to come home.
Chapter Twenty
The next morning April seemed on edge. She’d waited up for him last night, but they’d both been tired and gone straight to bed. Eddie couldn’t figure out what was bothering her.
“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?”
She shrugged. “Hopefully nothing. I was going to try to forget all about it, but…”
“About what?”
“Last night, after you left. I got a phone call, but there was no one there. And then I got a text.”
“Who from? What did it say?”
“That’s the thing. I don’t know who it was from. It was weird there was no number. And all it said was Bitch.”
“Guy?” It had to be. “Who else would do something like that?”
“That was my first thought, too. But why would he? I did what he wanted. He can just get on with divorcing me now. It’s not going to cost him a penny.”
Eddie nodded. “I’d think he’d leave you alone now, but who else could it be?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I hope it was nothing. I hope that’s the end of it, but it’s got me on edge.”
Eddie went to her and closed his arms around her. “It’s all going to be okay.”
She nodded.
“Maybe you should call him?”
She blew out a sigh. “I was thinking that, too. I haven’t heard a thing from him since I sent the papers back. The tracking said it got there on Wednesday, but I thought he might have called or something.”
“I think you should call him and make sure he got them. The last thing you need is him thinking you’re holding out on him.”
“Okay.” She tightened her arms around him. “I’ll do it now. Will you go and check on Marcus?”
Eddie nodded. He wasn’t sure if she wanted him out of the way while she talked to her ex, or whether she wanted to make sure that Marcus didn’t come in and hear. Either way, it didn
’t matter. She just needed to talk to him. Get him off her back once and for all.
~ ~ ~
Once he’d gone out, April picked up her phone. How she hoped that Guy had the papers—and that he hadn’t been the one who’d called last night.
She dialed his cell and waited.
“What?”
She pursed her lips. He was as charming as ever. “Did you get the papers?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” She hesitated.
“Did you get my message?”
Her heart sank. “Which one?”
“Last night.”
“That was you? Why? I did what you wanted.”
He had such a cruel sounding laugh. “You did what you had to.”
“But, Guy, you said you’d leave us alone if I signed the papers like you said.”
“So maybe I changed my mind.”
“Why? What do you want?”
“I want you to suffer, you little bitch.”
She felt the tears sting her eyes. So it wasn’t over at all.
“I want you to suffer like I did.”
“You did?” What did he mean?
“How do you think it felt to come home and find my wife and child gone?”
She couldn’t believe she was hearing this. He didn’t care; he didn’t care about either of them!
“How do you think it felt to find out that those bastard Remingtons had taken away something that was mine, yet again.”
That was more like it. He didn’t care about her or Marcus. He cared that Mason and Chance had got one over on him.
“So, what do you want from me?” She knew there’d be something. She needed to know what it was so that she could figure out how to deal with it.
“I haven’t decided yet. I don’t like you living with that loser, though.”
“What loser?” How did he know she was living with anyone?
There went that laugh again. “Your musician. I don’t think I want my son growing up in that environment. You might have to remove him from it, or if you don’t, I will.”
“But you said…”
