Chad meant well, but his anxiousness and growing pessimism rivaled hers, and she didn’t need to be trying to calm him down along with everything else. His wheelchair and imbalance were the only things keeping him from outright attacking Jay, and even then, Katie wasn’t completely convinced he wouldn’t try. Which was why she’d been so relieved when he had been herded into a physiotherapy session by his strict, determined physiotherapist.
“If you need me, you call my cell. The ringer is on, and it’ll be beside me the whole time.” Chad had cast a glare toward his physiotherapist, Janice, daring her to tell him he couldn’t.
“I’ll be fine. I promise.” Katie had kissed him swiftly, letting her fingertips linger a moment too long on his jaw before she stepped away and headed through the doorway into the hall.
“I don’t trust him,” she heard him mumble as she left. “You’re giving him the benefit of the doubt, and it’s scaring the hell out of me.”
Katie hadn’t turned around when his words met her ears, but she’d whispered, “Me too,” before turning into the hallway.
Now, though, she was beginning to think that the ounce of faith she’d put in Jay had been terribly misguided. He was almost half an hour late, and she couldn’t bring herself to dial his number for fear that the phone may be turned off or the call ignored.
Katie sighed loudly, fogging up the window only inches from her face. She should’ve called the police. She should have freaked out more, and been less accommodating. Only a horrible mother would allow her son’s father to steal him away from her without repercussions or consequences.
“Damn it, Jay, don’t make me do this,” she hissed, watching a red car pull up to the entrance. She gasped. But it was a Hyundai carrying an elderly couple, and Katie let her breath out slowly.
Chad’s words rang loudly in her ears. You’re giving him the benefit of the doubt.
She was, and she was wasting precious time because of it.
Her gaze never left the scene beyond the glass pane of the door as she pulled her phone out. This time, she didn’t bother to check the time. It was too late, no matter where the hands were on the clock. She dialed Jay’s number and it rang twice. On the third ring, he answered, and the mere sound of his voice caused a strangled “Oh!” to come from her throat, relieved. She hadn’t expected him to answer, she realized.
“Jay?”
A shuffling sound met her ears. “Katie...” He sounded so distant like his thoughts had pulled him so far into his own mind that he could barely get close enough to the surface to let the words out.
“Katie, I’m so sorry.”
She inhaled a sharp breath, and alarm bells clanged violently against the walls of her brain.
“No...” She tried to plead with him, to beg for him to listen to her, but the words were coming out in sporadic bursts. The only thing her mind was screaming, in a cyclical, maniacal loop, was, He’s not coming.
“Please, don’t do this.” The plea took every ounce of effort she had within her, and she reached forward desperately, gripping the glass door’s handle for support.
Silently, she willed herself to scream at him, to demand to know where he was and what he’d told their son, but the words wouldn’t come. Emotion overtook every synapse in her brain, and they fired single-mindedly with the sole purpose of unleashing the hysteria she’d been trying so hard to keep at bay.
Katie opened her mouth to say his name. One syllable. She could build on that. At the same time, however, she heard her name being said out loud, and she realized, confused, that it wasn’t coming from the phone.
“Katie,” the voice said again, this time more urgent.
She whirled around, her eyes adjusting to the sight before her. Chad’s lips were still parted, but he didn’t speak, and he stared back at her with an expression she couldn’t decipher. Whatever it meant, it didn’t matter...
Because Mason was standing beside him, wide-eyed and grinning from ear to ear.
“Mason,” she whispered, as though testing his name on her lips, unsure if he was real. Her synapses suddenly began to fire at full capacity again, and she gasped. “Mason!”
Her son ran to her, his backpack bouncing wildly against his back as he crashed into her, giggling happily. “Mom!”
“Katie...”
She’d almost forgotten she was still holding the phone to her ear, and Jay’s voice caught her by surprise. Her initial reaction was to thank him, but it was an act of gratitude he didn’t deserve. He spoke again before she had the chance to decide what to say.
“Katie, I’m sorry.” His voice chilled her; she’d never heard him sound so empty. “For everything.”
She was still holding the cell phone to her ear a minute after the line went dead, wondering what her ex-fiancé was thinking right now.
***
Mason had already begun to ramble about his trip—one long string of words and syllables with no audible space between them—when Katie tucked her phone back into her pocket and realized for the first time that there was someone else standing near Chad, just as silent as he was.
“What are you doing here?” Katie didn’t ask with the intention of being rude, but the question came out with a force she hadn’t meant to convey. Her defenses were up against almost everyone, and trusting Liz’s sudden appearance at a time like this was something she wasn’t prepared to do.
Liz stepped forward. “Honestly, I wish I knew. Jay showed up at my place. He seemed...off. So when he asked me to drop Mason off here, I didn’t ask questions. I just did it. What’s going on?”
“More than you know,” Katie muttered, bending down to hug Mason again. “More than I know, I think.”
Liz sighed, sending a frustrated glance at Chad. “Ugh, you’re all talking so dang cryptic. I’ll never figure out what the hell I—” she stole a glance at Mason, and coughed, continuing. “—what the heck I’m in the middle of here.”
Katie ignored Liz’s obvious annoyance, turning her full attention to her son. “Are you okay? You’re going to have to tell me all about your trip once I’m a little less scatterbrained. Sorry, I want to hear about it. I really do.” Just not for the reasons you think, she thought to herself. “Do you know where Dad is now?”
Mason shrugged, but out of the corner of her eye, Katie saw Chad’s expression turn wary.
“I might have an idea—” he began.
The glass doors to the emergency department opened behind her, and the commotion was enough to pull her attention toward it. Katie watched as two uniformed police officers, a man and a woman, pulled Jay through the doors, struggling with each step. Her eyebrows rose high on her forehead, and she hauled herself to her feet.
“Jesus Christ, Katie! Tell them there’s been a misunderstanding!” Jay was irate, but it was the fear clouding his eyes that she noticed first. Jay was a lot of things, but he’d never, even in his younger days, been one to have trouble with any aspect of the law. Being rough-armed by two officers, who clearly had more control over the situation than he did, was having an alarming effect on him. Once the initial shock of seeing him brought in by police had subsided, Katie had to admit, it was slightly amusing.
“Um, I’m not sure I understand this myself, to be honest.” And she was being honest. “I didn’t call the police, so can I ask what I’m supposed to be misunderstanding?”
“Well, if you didn’t, who the hell did?” Jay spat. He didn’t believe her, and the realization left a bitter taste in Katie’s mouth.
“I did.”
Everyone turned toward the deep, gruff voice that had spoken, and the sight of Hayden made her breath catch in her throat again.
“Okay, now I really don’t understand what’s going on,” she admitted.
“Ma’am, we got a call from an anonymous caller—who I’m guessing is no longer so anonymous,” the male police officer stated dryly. “We were advised this man was loitering in the parking lot of Nashville General, and that he was harassing the caller’s daughter-in-law, whi
ch from what I’m assuming now, is you, ma’am.”
Katie couldn’t bring herself to meet Hayden’s eyes. Now was not the time to address his use of such a familial label, however. Instead, she focused on the only pair of strong, steady eyes she knew she could rely on. “How did your dad know Jay was in the parking lot?”
Chad’s stare was anything but steady now, and his jitteriness made her uneasy. “Dad called me while I was in physiotherapy. He said he’d just come in from parking their car and he recognized Jay’s car in the parking lot. Jay was sitting in it, and when he told me Mason wasn’t in it with him, I panicked. I told him to call the police.”
Katie stared at him, wide-eyed. He was silently pleading with her not to be angry, and she wasn’t. She wasn’t sure she was completely okay with it, either, but she could understand his motives. She turned to Hayden. His gaze was just the opposite of his son’s. There was no plea or apology in those eyes; he’d done what he felt was right, and he would do it again if given the chance.
“I advised the police about him, Katie. About the...harassment.”
The way Hayden said it, Katie knew he was aware that Jay had taken Mason. Citing a vague case of harassment, rather than blatantly accusing Jay of kidnapping, was his way of giving her the choice to deal with everything as she sought fit. She had the option; she could admit that Jay had taken Mason, procure charges related to verbal harassment and slander—there had to be grounds for something to be done regarding that picture in the paper and its false sources—or choose to do nothing and let Jay get away with everything he’d put her, Chad, and Mason through over the past few months.
The choice was hers to make.
One glance in Jay’s direction proved that he knew it, too. Katie had complete control of what happened to him in the next few minutes, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He attempted to pull his arm out of the female police officer’s grasp, but the gesture was half-hearted at best.
“Ma’am?” The male police officer stared blankly at her, waiting. “Has this man been harassing you, ma’am?”
There were so many things she should have been focused on, but instead, she was thinking that if he called her ma’am once more...
“Mom?”
Mason’s voice pulled her from her thoughts, and she tilted her chin down to look at him. Wide, confused eyes stared back at her. “Is Dad in trouble?” he whispered, despite the fact that everyone could hear him.
Katie stole a quick glance at Jay, who’d heard Mason loud and clear.
“Katie, please,” he pleaded.
All eyes were on her, but she only let her own gaze linger on two sets, Mason’s first, then Chad’s. As she searched Chad’s expression for some kind of answer as to what to do, his advice was clear with only a small nod of his head: It’s your choice, babe. Go on. I’ll stand by you either way.
She turned back to the police officers, hesitant. When she met Jay’s eyes and held his stare, a moment too long, she paused, unmoving, and let him stir.
When she spoke, she sounded far more confident than she felt.
“I’m sorry, officers. It seems there has been a misunderstanding.”
A collaborative breath sounded throughout the group of people, Jay’s being the most prominent. As the police grudgingly released him from their grasp, he shook his arms with a slight shiver, as though to remove any remnant of their firm grip from his skin, and took an exaggerated step away from them. The police officers seemed uncertain in their actions, still eyeing him suspiciously.
Katie was just as unsure. No matter how she looked at it, though, nothing good could come from letting the officers haul him away. Laying charges against him would only further ignite the bitter fire that propelled Jay’s actions, not douse it.
The female officer pulled a business card from inside her jacket and held it out to Katie. “If you need us, you know how to reach us, ma’am.” She left through the same doors they’d come in, leaving her partner in the midst of the unusual family dynamic.
“I apologize for the inconvenience,” Hayden piped up, shrugging apologetically.
The remaining officer gave him a hollow smile. “No need, sir. Misunderstandings are easily rectified. We don’t mind those kinds of calls as much as you might think.” He turned to Katie. “But as Officer Phillips stated, if you need us, please call us, ma’am.” He gave her a curt nod, let his gaze fall to the business card in her hand to confirm it was there, and left, following in his partner’s wake.
When the officer had disappeared out into the afternoon sun, Katie bent down, tilting Mason’s head up to meet her eyes. “Mase, can you go with Hayden for a few minutes? He’ll show you where you can put your backpack until we’re ready to go back to Chad’s apartment.”
“Can we go get one of those cinnamon buns from the vending machine?” He was asking Hayden—probably because, by now, he knew he had a better chance at convincing him than his own mother—and his eyes were wide with hopefulness.
Hayden dug into his pocket, pulling out a handful of coins. “It looks to me like I may have just enough money to get one of those.” He sent a wink in Katie’s direction, and placed a guiding hand on the young boy’s back as he led him down the hall toward the cafeteria.
“I’ll be back. Y’all obviously need some time to...talk.” Liz held up her hands, surrendering to her own confusion, and followed Hayden and Mason without another word.
Katie rounded on Jay. “I should have told them everything, everything, and then let them haul you out of here in cuffs. You do realize that, right?”
“I’m actually curious why you didn’t,” Jay admitted, rubbing the back of his neck apprehensively.
“That makes two of us.” Chad had pushed his walker closer to Katie, his stiff-jointed movements seeming more fluid than they had only days before. He’d definitely made progress. His stance was tall and, despite his walker, he emanated strength as he stood beside Katie, offering support the only way he could.
“I didn’t do it for you, Jay,” Katie said. “I did it for Mason.” She held up the business card from the police officer as though it were a weapon. “But this ends now. You have to stop it with the passive-aggressive actions and manipulating ways. You are Mason’s father, and there is nothing that will ever change that. I don’t want to change that, and Chad doesn’t want to change that. We’re not trying to, and you need to realize that.” She stole a sideways glance at Chad, and his features had softened slightly. “We all just need to accept what happened between us, accept that we’ve both made mistakes, and move on.”
Jay looked abashed, much to her surprise. “I’m sorry, Katie,” he mumbled. “I just...I thought...”
“You lost track of the big picture,” she finished for him. “Of what really mattered.”
“You’re right,” he nodded.
She crossed her arms, feeling the weight lifting as she blurted out everything she’d been wanting to say for the past weeks. She realized she couldn’t solely blame Jay for the fact that she hadn’t said it all before now. Maybe Jay wasn’t the only one who had lost sight of the big picture. “Too many things have happened, and too many people have been hurt. We can’t keep doing this anymore.” She met his gaze and held it.
“So, where does this leave us?” she added. “We all know what we need to do, but what’s the first step?”
“I’ve already apologized to you, Katie. I could do it again and again until I’m blue in the face, but it won’t change what I’ve done, or what we’ve been through.” For the first time, Jay turned to Chad, and Katie worried an argument was about to break out. Instead, he lowered his head slightly, sighing. “And I’m sorry to you, too, Chad. Things have been said and been done between us, and I hope we can move past it as well. For Mason, at least.”
Chad measured his words carefully. “For Mason,” he said finally.
“I’m not proposing we’ll ever be friends, Kirkwood. I just understand now that you’re going to be in my son’s
life, and, well, I guess it could be a lot worse.”
Katie held her breath. She didn’t think Jay meant the comment as anything but a compliment—as awkward as it was—but the not-so-subtle dig at him was clear. Chad, however, wore a faint smirk on his face. He’d caught it, and he found it amusing.
“You’re Mason’s father, and I guess I could think of someone a lot worse than you for that role as well.” With a wry grin, he pushed all his weight onto his left hand that clutched the walker handle, and he held his hand out. Chad watched him expectantly, daring him to shake it—or not to.
To say Jay was conflicted was putting it mildly. He obviously didn’t like that Chad had turned his own words back around on him, and his jaw clenched in response, but he did take his hand and shake it tersely. “I’m sorry,” he said again.
“That makes two of us,” Chad replied, and Katie wondered idly what exactly the two of them were, in fact, apologizing for. She wasn’t sure she was in any position to question it, being the first time Chad and Jay had been anything resembling civil toward each other since they’d met a matter of months before.
“I should go,” Jay said suddenly, making Katie turn sharply.
“That’s it?” Her mind was swirling. “Let me get this straight. You sent Mason back in here with Liz, yet you were camped out in the parking lot? If you had no intention of bringing him in yourself, why are you here?”
Jay seemed reluctant to speak, as though he may choke on the words as they came out. “Everything you said on the phone yesterday; I thought about it all. You brought up some valid points,” he explained, staring at the floor. “I wasn’t ready to face you about this. Not yet.” He tilted his head stiffly toward Chad. “Or him. I’m still not. Not yet.”
She wouldn’t admit it, but Katie knew where he was coming from. The man standing in front of her had just returned her son after stealing him out from under her nose, after threatening not to bring him back if he didn’t get his own way, and after doing manipulative and downright cruel things to both her and Chad. She knew she had to, but she wasn’t quite prepared to forgive and forget yet, either.
When Worlds Collide (My Kind Of Country Book 3) Page 15
