by Nita Brooks
“Do you believe him? That he didn’t know about the payout.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he provided me proof,” she said.
Rochelle raised a brow. Her lips twisted in a skeptical scowl. “What kind of proof?”
“Does it matter? Just know he provided proof and I believe him. He didn’t know about the payoff. He didn’t know about Jacob. He’s honestly only here because he wants to know his son.”
I should have listened to your message. The words of Richard’s text to her flashed across her brain. He wished the past had been different, but that didn’t mean he wished they would have stayed together. He’d already made the choice to be with Natalie. She couldn’t assume he would have come back to her if he’d known she was pregnant. Or that she would have wanted him back after he’d made his choice. No, she would operate under the assumption that he would have been a presence in Jacob’s life if he would have known. Nothing else.
“You just be careful. Quit meeting with him without Nathan. The more you keep Nathan in the loop of what’s happening between you and Richard the better everything will be,” Rochelle lectured.
“First you say keep Nathan separate from my situation with Richard, now you’re telling me to bring Nathan along. What gives?” She was pretty sure whatever talk her mother had with Nathan was part of the reason.
Rochelle shrugged and looked back out of the window. “Nothing gives. I agree a child needs their father, but I don’t want you to make a mistake. You’re marrying a fantastic man who for some reason thinks you’re the best thing next to the sun. Don’t screw that up.”
“Gee thanks, Mom.” Yvonne didn’t bother to hide her sarcasm. It wasn’t as if she was a terrible catch herself. She loved Nathan and appreciated his love, but she also wasn’t defined by or beholden to him because of it. Something her mom wouldn’t understand or accept.
Ignoring Yvonne’s tone of voice, Rochelle smiled and patted her daughter’s cheek. “You’re welcome, dear. Now, let’s finish cleaning up and then we can go out back and watch our fellas.”
Chapter 11
Yvonne got out of the car Saturday morning at the park and pulled a pair of shades from the top of her head down over her eyes to block the bright morning sunlight. She turned back to the car and grinned as Jacob jumped out of the back seat after Nathan opened the door. Jacob’s arms pumped as he ran toward her. His dark eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Come on, Nathan!” Jacob waved his hand in a hurry-up fashion.
Nathan hurried forward. No outward sign he was bothered by Jacob’s joy. The reason for Jacob’s high spirits: They were meeting Richard.
Jacob grabbed her hand in one of his and Nathan’s hand in the other then pulled them both away from the parking area and toward the park. Yvonne’s pulse rushed faster with each step they took. Dozens of questions and concerns ran through her mind. Was she exposing her son to eventual heartbreak? Should she have shielded Jacob from Richard longer? Spent more time uncovering if Richard had ulterior motives?
But the excitement on Jacob’s face chipped away her immediate concerns. Now that Richard and Jacob knew about each other, nothing short of an alien invasion would serve as an excuse for her to keep them apart without feeling guilty. She spotted Richard sitting on a bench near the park entrance. Richard pulled off his shades and stood. His gaze focused on Jacob. His eyes widened, a smile crept across his lips, and he placed his hand over his heart. He took one step forward, blinked several times, then stopped as if he was holding back from rushing forward.
Yvonne’s eyes burned, and her steps faltered. The love and awe in Richard’s gaze made her breath lodge in her chest. Richard’s dark eyes left Jacob and met hers. The smile on his face softened. The look he gave her was disbelieving, joyous, overwhelmed. Her pulse jumped and the rush of pleasure that used to always creep up her spine when she saw him took over as if six years hadn’t separated them.
“Yvonne?” Nathan’s questioning voice.
She’d stopped walking. She tore her gaze from Richard’s. Looked first at Jacob, who watched her curiously, then at Nathan, whose lips formed a tight line.
“I’m good. Just . . .” she trailed off. She looked back at Jacob. “I just want everything to be okay.”
“It will be, Mommy,” Jacob said.
Oh, the optimism of youth. She really hoped everything would be okay. Her gut feeling, however, was that after today, things would be drastically different.
The trio stopped feet away from Richard. He met her eye, nodded and smiled. There was no hint of the demanding businessman she’d seen in their previous meetings as he stood there under the sunshine wearing cargo shorts and a dark collared shirt. Her shoulders relaxed, and her lips lifted in an answering lets-see-how-this-goes grin.
She took a heavy breath then looked down. “Jacob, this is your father. Richard Barrington.”
Richard lowered to his knee. Jacob watched him with guarded, wary eyes. “Hello, Jacob, I’m so happy to meet you.”
Jacob looked up at Yvonne. Her hand squeezed his. She smiled her encouragement. Then he looked at Nathan who nodded.
Jacob focused back on Richard. “Nice meeting you, too,” he said in a quiet voice.
His little body eased closer to hers. She placed a hand on his small shoulders. Hoped and prayed Richard never did anything to break her baby’s heart.
Nathan held his hand out to Richard. “I’m Nathan Lange. Yvonne’s fiancé.”
Richard stood and shook his hand. “Richard Barrington.”
Richard glanced at her after releasing Nathan’s hand. A million things passed between them. Words they should have said. Words that needed to be said. The past and other people’s arrogance that delayed this meeting by years.
“Thank you for bringing him.” The pleasure in his voice made her heart squeeze.
“It’s time to move forward,” she said.
The happiness on Richard’s face when he looked back at Jacob made him look just as young and carefree as his son. “Well, Jacob, how about we get to know each other?”
Jacob eased away from Yvonne’s side. “Mommy said circumstances kept you from coming around before.”
The plainly spoken statement nearly broke Yvonne’s heart. Richard’s responding flinch made her guess the words hit him just as hard.
“Yes,” Richard said, his voice serious and solemn. He kneeled again and looked Jacob in the eye. “Circumstances did, but they won’t keep me from you anymore. I can’t say I’m sorry enough for not being around these past few years, but I promise you I won’t go away again.”
“You promise?” A glimmer of hope flashed across Jacob’s face. A face that was so much like Richard’s.
“I promise.”
Yvonne shifted from one foot to the other. “Before we make promises—”
Richard straightened. Met her eyes. The determined, don’t you dare doubt me businessman was back. “I promise.” His voice challenged her to argue.
She pressed her lips together. Held back the “you’ve broken promises” comment that wanted to pop up. No arguing with Richard in front of Jacob. This conversation could wait until later.
He focused on Jacob. “Ask me anything or tell me if you want to play in the park. I’m up for whatever you feel like doing.”
Jacob looked at Nathan and Yvonne again. Yvonne gave him a small smile and head nod. Then he grinned up at his father. “Can we go on the swings?”
Richard smiled. “The swings it is.”
* * *
Yvonne tried to give Richard and Jacob some space. She didn’t hover over them as they went from the swings to the slide. She also didn’t go far away. She tried to stay in earshot, so she could hear everything Richard said.
“Are you okay?” Nathan asked. He ran his hand up and down her back.
This was the third time he’d asked her that. His concern didn’t irritate her. Nathan was only doing what he was good at. Taking care of h
er. Making sure she got through this first meeting unscathed. The thing is, she wasn’t sure how she felt. So far, Richard kept the conversation light. Learning about the cartoons, food, and games Jacob liked. The unmasked pleasure on his face from spending time with Jacob made her want to simultaneously clasp her hands together and twirl with delight and grab Jacob in her arms and hold him close. To relish in the reunion and fret over what would happen next.
“I’m fine,” she said to Nathan. They sat on a bench not too far from where Jacob and Richard played on the slide. Despite the awkwardness of the entire situation, Nathan was being very chill about the entire thing. This family reunion couldn’t be easy for him, but he was supportive for Jacob’s sake.
“Are you sure?”
“I am. Jacob is happy. Richard seems happy.”
“He does, doesn’t he?” Nathan sounded surprised and slightly disappointed by the observation.
“You didn’t think he’d be happy?”
He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, messing up the light strands. “I don’t know what I expected.”
Yvonne leaned closer and followed the same trail his fingers had taken and brought back order to his hair. She smiled at him. “You expected something. You just don’t want to tell me what.”
He leaned into her caress, closed his eyes for a second, before the corner of his lip raised. “Okay, I’ll admit I expected him to try and spend more time getting close to you and less time getting to know Jacob.”
Yvonne dropped her hand and pulled back. “I really hope you’re joking because if you aren’t then I’m going to be really pissed.”
Why couldn’t anyone understand this entire reunion was about Jacob and his father? Just because Richard was back didn’t automatically mean he was out to win her back. How could she get over her own concerns if she had to deal with everyone else’s doubts?
Nathan tilted his head and looked just as surprised by her annoyance as she’d been by his admission. “Why?”
“Because, I thought we already went over this. Richard’s interest is in his son. Not in rekindling anything from me.”
“Then why does he want to buy our show?” Nathan tossed back.
“Because it’s a damn good show premise and he’s the owner of a successful network. Judy mentioned W.E.W. before any other network. He told me he was already looking into purchasing our show based on what he’d heard about it before realizing I was connected to it.”
She tried to keep her voice down. Being within earshot of Richard worked both ways. Richard didn’t need any hint of problems between her and Nathan.
“I don’t trust him.” Nathan held up a hand before she could say anything. “I know you believe him when he says he didn’t know about Jacob, but he hasn’t convinced me.”
“Don’t you trust me? Do you really think I’m that gullible?”
He took her hand in his and squeezed. “Of course not, but I do think you want to make Jacob happy. You’d regret it if you tried to keep his father away especially now that you know Richard wants to know him. Until I know he isn’t going to play games with you or Jacob, I’m going to be skeptical. I love you too much to sit by and let someone hurt you. Even him.”
His cell phone rang before she could respond. She bit her tongue as he pulled it from his pocket and checked the screen.
“It’s one of my construction managers,” he said. “I need to take this call.”
She nodded and watched as he stood and walked a few feet away. She looked away from him to focus on Richard and their son. Nathan’s concerns were valid, but that didn’t make her feel less like lashing out in defense. She wasn’t being blinded by her need to save Jacob from the same daddy issues she had. Was she?
“You can call me Dad if you’re comfortable with it.”
Richard’s words drifted over to Yvonne. That snatched her attention immediately away from Nathan and their conversation. Call him Dad? Was he serious? He’d only been around for a few hours. Her son wasn’t ready to call him Dad.
“Oh,” Jacob said with a big grin that rivaled the sun for brightness. “Umm . . . Dad, can I ask you a question?” He skipped around to the back of the slide.
Yvonne’s jaw dropped. Jacob was really okay with that? Too soon. He was getting comfortable with Richard way too soon. Maybe Nathan was right. Maybe she was being too hopeful and naive about this.
“Ask me anything,” Richard answered.
Richard glanced over at Yvonne. She snapped her mouth closed but crossed her arms and legs as she watched them. No need to hide that she was actively listening to everything they said. Not after that big jump.
Jacob stopped at the bottom of the slide’s ladder and looked up at Richard. “What are circumstances?”
The words punched Yvonne in the stomach. Jacob had thrown in his own get-to-know-you questions at Richard about his favorite things. This one was the first direct question about why Richard had been absent most of his life.
“Circumstances are random things that happen. Sometimes they’re good. Other times they’re bad. Bad circumstances kept me from knowing about you. Otherwise, I would have been here much sooner.”
Jacob’s dark eyes studied Richard for a few seconds before he nodded and hurried up the ladder to the top of the slide. Richard strolled to the other side and waited for Jacob to come down. He glanced at Yvonne again. A multitude of sentiments passed in that look. His lips quirked up. Not quite a smile, but also reflecting how difficult this was for him even though he was being great with Jacob.
Richard broke eye contact first. Jacob laughed as he glided down. His bright happy expression brought a smile to both her and Richard’s faces.
“Can we do the swings again?” Jacob asked after he jumped off the slide again.
“Sure thing,” Richard said. “You really like the swings, huh?”
“I do. It’s my favorite thing. I feel like I’m flying when I go high, but Mommy won’t always let me go too high. Sometimes Nathan will push me high.”
“Nathan sounds like a cool guy.”
The sincerity in Richard’s voice surprised Yvonne. Her shoulders relaxed. She’d expected Richard to get weird whenever Jacob brought up Nathan. If he felt weird, he hid it better than Nathan did.
Nathan walked over. He slid his cell into his back pocket. “We’re having a problem at the hospital expansion we’re doing in Savannah. I need to get there and straighten things out before OSHA shuts us down.”
Yvonne stood. “Are things that bad?”
“Not yet. It’s the first crisis my new construction manager has had to deal with. I wanted to let him work things out, but I can’t afford to have this job screwed up. Not so close to us getting the show picked up.” He looked at Richard and Jacob jogging over to the swings. “I don’t want to leave you.”
She shook her head and placed a hand on his chest. “Don’t even worry about it. I can handle whatever goes on with Richard.”
Nathan placed his hands on her hips. His hands were warm, solid, grounding. “About earlier.”
“You think I’m going to fall for some game Richard is playing.”
He shook his head. “I know you’re smarter than that. I don’t trust him, but I do trust you. Don’t forget that. I don’t want you to think I don’t believe in you or us.”
“Good. Because you should trust me. In everything I do concerning us and Jacob.”
Nathan looked over her shoulder. His body stilled. Beneath her hand his heartbeat increased. She turned and followed his gaze. Richard looked away from them and back at Jacob.
“Hey,” Nathan said.
She pulled her attention back to him. “What?”
“I don’t know how long I’ll be in Savannah, but I’ll call you every day. I love you. Just remember that.”
She sighed and leaned into him. As always, reassured by his love. “I know you love me.”
“Good.” His gaze darted over her shoulder again before his head lowered and he kissed her.
She pulled back slowly. The simmer of desire in Nathan’s hazel eyes cranked up her own heat. He may have kissed her to make a statement, but he’d forgotten about making a statement after putting that much effort into the kiss.
Good. All too often she’d fought with the idea she desired Nathan a little more than he desired her. Not love; she was pretty sure he loved her more. After Richard, she made sure to hold back a part of her heart to avoid any kind of similar heartbreak. But desire was a different thing. Nathan seemed completely okay with stopping before things got too hot. Whenever she caught a sign that saying no wasn’t easy for him, she secretly hoped he’d break his vow to wait. She might be a terrible person for wanting him to break his promise, but what the hell, she was ready to finally make love to her boyfriend. No, fiancé.
“Drive safe and call me when you get there, okay,” she said.
“I will.” He kissed her again quickly.
Nathan walked over and said bye to Richard and Jacob. He picked Jacob up and gave him a big hug and promised to bring him something when he got back in town. Yvonne felt Richard’s gaze on her the entire time Nathan spoke with Jacob. Yeah, she understood the subtext. Nathan was showing Richard how integral he’d made himself to Jacob’s life.
How were they going to make this work? Nathan and Richard didn’t know each other. Richard hadn’t been around long enough to really claim any type of fatherly influence on Jacob. No matter how much she wanted to make this transition smooth, at the end of the day someone was bound to get hurt.