by Taylor Hart
She hedged, sizing him up.
He made the decision right there. “I want to be part of the kid’s life if you’ll let me. I could come for visits.”
For a long moment, she didn’t speak, clearly deciding his relationship with the nephew he’d never cared to know before now. Eventually, she said, “I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.” She pushed past him. “I need to get some work done.”
He followed her to her station. “Asp, it’s going to be fine.”
She whirled back. “The name?”
“Sorry,” he said, not really feeling sorry.
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Let’s focus. Your father’s doctor is here right now, and I wanted to introduce you to him.”
“Okay, great. Yeah.” That’s what he should do, right? Be involved with his father’s care?
“Okay.” She sucked in a breath, steadying herself.
Then he remembered what he’d wanted to ask her twice now. “Oh, also, I just want to know why my dad’s house went into foreclosure in the first place.” He put his hands up. “I’m not blaming you; I just want to know.”
“Because he had bills, DJ.”
“What bills? He has a pension from the military. And I paid for this place.” He pointed at the care facility.
She averted her eyes. “He gambled.”
“Oh.” All the energy rushed out of him.
“And he put his house up for leverage.”
It annoyed DJ that he hadn’t known this, but it wasn’t a surprise. “Right. It’s my dad.” Of course he’d done something idiotic.
She looked sad. “I’m not sure where they are in the process. You heard Bill say it was a done deal.”
He shrugged. He should have been the one dealing with it all anyway. “It’s my fault. I should have come at Thanksgiving.”
She hesitated, looking him up and down.
“What?”
“Nothing, I just never thought you’d really come home at all.”
The way she looked so vulnerable touched him, and he put his hand on hers. “You were right last night. You were left to do everything, and that wasn’t fair to you.”
Again, she gave him a strange look.
“Why are you looking at me like I’m an alien?” he grunted, pulling his hand back.
A small smile formed on her lips. “Because I honestly don’t know who you are.”
He huffed. “What does that mean? You knew me every day of my life for eighteen years.”
“Exactly. And then you were gone.”
“You married my brother.” He shrugged, feeling a shadow of that pain. “You didn’t need me anymore.”
Her eyes widened like she’d been sucker punched. “Really? You cared that I married your brother? ’Cause you didn’t return a single call.”
DJ growled and turned away from her. “Let’s just go meet the doctor.”
When they arrived at his dad’s room, she gave a light knock before walking inside. “Dr. Henly, this is DJ.” All business, she looked back and forth between his father and the doctor.
“Have we met before?” his father asked.
DJ smiled at his father. “I’m just visiting.”
The doctor had been writing in a file. Now, he stood. “Mr. Madden, I’m going to go talk to this man. I’ll be back.”
His father nodded frowning at DJ. “Will I see you in a little bit?”
DJ felt a twinge of concern. “Yes.”
He and the doctor both walked out.
Aspen had followed them out, and she told the doctor, “I’ll be with Mrs. Jones, if you could stop in when you’re done.”
“You bet.” The doctor turned to DJ and grinned. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I want you to know we’re giving your father excellent care, and he is doing well here. After the accident and coma at Thanksgiving, Aspen and I worried he would need more of a lockdown facility, but it seems he’s coherent enough to be here. He’s never wandered off or had other problems.”
DJ thought about all the texts from Aspen when everything had happened. Even though he’d only done one thing—call and give them his credit card number—he had read her texts. “Thank you for all you’ve done.”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
DJ put a finger up. “Doctor, will he recover? I mean, I know he has Alzheimer’s, but does he have a chance?”
The doctor sighed. “I suspect this runs in his family. Do you know your family history?”
Worry trickled through him. “I don’t.”
The doctor sighed. “The medications we have your father on will slow the progress of Alzheimer’s, but the truth is, there’s no cure. Nothing to stop this disease.”
DJ knew this, but it hurt to hear it again. It hurt to realize how complacent he’d been about his father’s care. “Okay. Thank you.”
The doctor hesitated. “Do you want to relocate him closer to where you live? There’s a great facility in San Antonio.”
“No,” he said quickly. How would he ever deal with this?
“It’s fine,” the doctor said, putting a gentle hand on DJ’s shoulder. “Southport is a great place. He receives great care here.”
“I know. Thank you.”
“Nice to meet you. Please call me if you have questions. That Aspen is pretty amazing. I hope you’re paying her well.”
DJ shook the doctor’s hand. “Thanks.” He was right. DJ should be paying Aspen.
The doctor took off down the hallway, making a left and disappearing.
DJ thought about how much he’d failed his father and Aspen. Pain shot through his chest, and he steadied himself with a hand on the wall. How could he have been such an idiot? Why did he think he could come back here and make anything better?
He squeezed his eyes shut. His father was confused all the time. Aspen was trying hard to raise her son. Both of them needed help.
Determination coursed through him. He would make this right. He had to.
After a few moments, DJ pushed the door open and went in, finding his father sleeping. He didn’t want to wake him, so he let his gaze wander the room until he noticed the picture of his mother on the little coffee table next to the small couch. He wandered over to it. “I miss you, Mom. I miss you so much.” Gently, he reached out and traced her face. His mother had passed when they were too young. They needed her. But he wouldn’t let the old sorrow about his mother touch his heart. No. He had to focus on what to do right now.
After a bit, he decided he had to go talk to Bill about the house. He left his father’s room, not planning on stopping at Aspen’s nurse station.
“Uncle DJ!” Little Travis was barreling toward him.
DJ laughed, picking him up and grunting. “Man, you’re heavy.” He put his nephew down and couldn’t help the happiness that surged through him.
Travis giggled. “Not to you! You’re like a giant.”
They walked to the nurses’ station. Aspen was staring at him, a curious expression on her face. She’d been talking with Harrison, who looked up and scowled.
Aspen lifted her eyebrows at Travis. “Bud, you’re not supposed to run in the halls, remember?”
“But my favorite uncle’s only here for…how long?” He turned to DJ for an answer.
Cheeky kid. DJ grunted and shrugged. “Until the Miami Surf game, right?” He put out his fist. “Because we’re going to destroy them.”
Travis let out a rippling laugh and fist-bumped him. “Rebels rule!”
“Yeah, they do!” DJ laughed, too.
Harrison cleared his throat. “DJ,” he said, giving him a patronizing look.
So they were acknowledging each other today? DJ returned that look and evaluated Harrison’s suit. The guy was a pure stiff, not Aspen’s type at all. “Harrison.”
Aspen looked between the two men, and DJ picked up on her discomfort.
DJ grinned at Travis. “See you later, kid.”
“Wait. Uncle DJ, can I hang out with you the rest o
f the day?” Travis grabbed DJ’s hand.
A bit surprised, DJ looked at Aspen, who was now coming around the counter. “Travis, uh, no,” she said. “You still need to do your reading.”
“Why can’t I just hang out with Uncle DJ?”
DJ looked at the two of them. “What is going on?”
Aspen sighed. “My babysitter, Lauren, is sick, and she called me. I had Harrison bring Travis to me on his way out of town.”
DJ’s heart thrummed in his chest. The boyfriend was leaving. Good to know.
Harrison looked uncomfortable. “Don’t you have another sitter I could take him to?”
Travis moved back to DJ’s side. “I want to be with Uncle DJ.”
“I’ll take him,” DJ offered quickly.
Aspen met his gaze, and then let out a long breath. “No, I…he can just stay with me until my shift ends.”
Harrison nodded. “That’s probably best.”
DJ wanted to punch the guy out. He looked at his phone. It was almost two p.m. “What time does your shift end?”
“Seven.”
“Please, Mom!” Travis begged. He stuck his lip out. “I want to hang out with my uncle. He can teach me more football stuff.”
“No,” she said curtly.
Travis sighed and gave DJ the saddest look he’d ever seen. He picked up his book and dragged his feet as he moved behind the nurses’ station. “I’ll get to see you again, right, Uncle DJ?”
DJ didn’t know how to respond, but every part of him wanted to fix this situation. “You bet.”
Harrison turned to Aspen. “I have to get to Charlottesville to catch my plane. I’ll see you Christmas Eve, right?”
Aspen glanced at DJ, looking uncomfortable.
DJ knew he should leave right now, to give her privacy as she sent Harrison off, but he didn’t want to.
Aspen turned to Harrison. “Okay, sweetie.” She leaned into him, kissing his cheek.
Harrison didn’t take the cheek kiss, though; he grabbed her shoulders and moved his head quickly so their lips met. Then he went down on one knee.
DJ wanted to laugh at the blatant way the guy was making a point.
Aspen tugged back, wrenching herself away. She scowled at him. “Stop, Harrison.”
The man actually laughed, which made his stern face look weird. “How do you know this wasn’t the official proposal, right now?”
She batted him away, turning from him. “Bye, Harrison.”
Harrison headed toward the entrance, but hesitated and turned back. “Um, I probably won’t see you again, DJ.”
Wanting to play with the guy, DJ tried to look bored. “Never know.”
Aspen jerked her head to look at him. “You’ll be gone by the time Harrison gets back.”
DJ shrugged. “But I’ll be back.”
Harrison frowned. “You will?”
“I recently realized that I need to take more of an active role in a lot of family stuff.”
An annoyed grimace stretched across Harrison’s face. “Really?”
DJ stared him down. “Have a nice trip.”
Aspen lifted her eyebrows as she moved around the counter, ushering Harrison toward the door. “You can’t be late, sweetie.”
Harrison kissed her one more time, then she gave him a push toward the parking lot.
“Uncle DJ, can I please come with you?” Travis was at his side again.
“Working on it, bud.” DJ smiled as Aspen returned.
She went back to her computer. “Travis, it’s reading time.”
Travis sighed and walked back to his chair.
Aspen glanced at DJ. “Um, did you need something?”
DJ moved to the counter, leaning in. “Can we talk?” He glanced at Travis, trying to keep his voice down. “Two things. First, if it’s cool with you, I’d be happy to take Travis.”
“You know I’m not comfortable with that.”
“Please, Mama,” Travis begged.
She glared at DJ, who put his hands up. “I’m just running some errands, working on the boat,” he said. “Let the kid come.”
“You guys barely know each other.”
“You know me,” he replied, slightly offended. “I’m his uncle.”
She sighed. “I just don’t think it’s—”
“Please, Mama!” Travis called out.
She squeezed her eyes shut. Her frustration would have been funny if she weren’t being so stubborn.
“Aspen, you kind of hung out with me for eighteen straight years.”
Surprising him, she grabbed his hand and yanked him down the hallway. She glanced back. “Travis, stay there. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay, Mama.”
DJ didn’t know what was happening, but considering the angry look she’d given him, he didn’t expect it was good.
She pulled him into a side room and shut the door. “Why are you doing this?” she demanded.
“Doing what? Travis wants to come with me. He’s the one who asked.”
She crossed her arms. “And you have never cared about being his uncle before, so why now?”
He didn’t like being put on the spot. He cursed and raked a hand through his hair. “Maybe I was stupid before, and I didn’t realize I would like the kid.”
“The kid? The kid?” She let out a harsh laugh. “You like the kid?” She moved into his personal space and pushed a finger into his chest, hard enough to hurt. “He’s Travis’s kid. He’s the son of the brother you wrote off ten years ago.”
DJ recovered quickly from his surprise. “You married my brother, and I was angry.”
Looking even more enraged, she threw up her hands. “The truth comes out.”
“Was it ever hidden?”
“You never talked to me about it.”
“I couldn’t.”
For a moment, they just stood there.
He decided to move back to the issue at hand. “Let me take Travis. I can handle watching a kid…I mean him, for an afternoon.”
“Oh no, don’t go acting like I’m in the wrong here.”
His adrenaline was doing all kinds of crazy things to him. “What is going on? You’re giving me whiplash, woman. You cry in my arms last night, and then you tell me I’m not good enough for your son today.”
Aspen scowled at him fiercely. She put her hand to her head. “I don’t know.”
“What’s going on with Harrison?”
She jolted. “What do you mean?”
He jerked a thumb back to the door. “A minute ago, the guy fake proposed or something.”
“It’s just what he does.” She rolled her eyes.
“The guy’s a joker, and all he wants is to have you as a trophy on his arm while he runs for mayor.”
Aspen seldom got really mad while they’d been growing up, but when she did, her face went red. Just like now. “Don’t walk back in here and tell me what my boyfriend is. And,” she said, pointing at him, “don’t act like you should be able to take my son anytime you want. You haven’t earned that right.”
It was crazy how upset he got about Travis. “Don’t you act like I’m not his uncle.”
“So that’s it? You want to come home and claim your rights to being his uncle? Is that what this is all about?”
Without thinking, he closed the gap between them and took her by the shoulders. “I don’t know what this is about. You tell me.”
“Stop it, DJ.” She shrugged away from him.
Part of him just wanted to press his lips to hers and claim them. The tension between them was astronomical. But that was stupid, and he was done doing the stupid thing. “Aspen, listen. I never should have left graduation night without telling you how I felt about you.”
Tears filled her eyes. “No, we’re not doing this right now.”
Determination pulsed through him. He wanted to push, he needed to push, but he opted to play the long game. “Fine, but we will do this. Can I take Travis for the afternoon?” His tone was soft. “Pleas
e.”
She sucked in a breath and pushed past him to open the door.
He followed her. “Please? I’m just going to go get stuff to fix the boat.”
She stopped before they turned the corner back to the nurses’ station. “And you’ll make sure he buckles his seat belt when he rides with you.”
DJ perked up. “Yes,” he said quickly.
They reached the station. Travis jumped to his feet, waving at him and grinning brightly. DJ winked back, careful not to let Aspen see.
“And you won’t let him eat junk food all day.” Aspen looked at her watch. “I get off at seven, and I’ll feed him dinner after that.”
DJ nodded, though he’d rather have dinner with them. Wait, what was he thinking? “Right. One snack.” He felt like he was almost at the first down line. “I’ve got this.”
She switched her attention to her son. “Travis, get your things. You’re going with Uncle DJ for a couple of hours.”
“Okay.” The boy picked up all his stuff, and then he hugged her hard. “Thanks, Mama.”
At the door, DJ waved to her. “Thank you.”
Her eyes were fixed on the screen as she tapped at the keyboard. “Don’t blow it,” she said to DJ, her lip curving up. “Have fun. If anyone falls off the boat, I’ll know whose fault it was.”
DJ smiled. At the age of sixteen, she’d fallen off the boat when they were taking it for a spin. She’d always teased that he’d meant to take the turn too fast and flip her out. “We’ll have fun. Don’t worry.”
Chapter 10
Aspen pulled up to DJ’s old house as thoughts jumbled in her head. He’d been back in town since yesterday, and he had already consoled her after some Christmas present stalker, taken Travis to the park to play catch, and watched Travis for the afternoon. It was more time than Harrison had spent with her son over the past year they’d been dating. But, she reminded herself, Harrison worked so hard he was only free in the evenings.
Not that it was a tally board between DJ and Harrison. It wasn’t.
To top it off, DJ had texted her that he’d picked up dinner for all of them, if that was okay. She hadn’t known what to say, so she’d just not responded.
Now, as she got out of her car, she saw they were out on the dock, holding fishing poles. It really wasn’t fishing weather, but her son was always up for it. She quietly took the path down to the dock. They hadn’t noticed her yet.