“I love you, baby,” he said as he slid it inside me. God, he was so handsome with his sparkling green eyes, his smile and his blond curly hair. I must’ve looked like a dork with the silly grin on my face, but I didn’t care. He was amazing—sex with him was amazing, and I knew I’d never let him go.
We made love all morning and I’d called in sick to work, which is something I’d never done—not even when I was sick.
We lay there, breathless, until Jack finally spoke. “Molls, can I ask you a favor?”
I was a little surprised, because Jack wasn’t the kind of guy who asked for help. “Sure, baby. What do you need?”
“Well…I’m supposed to meet this dude tonight, the guy who says he’s my dad, and I was wondering…” He hesitated, and I thought it must be hard for him, so I stayed quiet and let him think. He took a deep breath and continued, “…I don’t even know how this douche bag could know he’s my dad. I mean—where the hell has he been all these years?”
“I really don’t know, baby. Are you okay about meeting him?” I stroked his arm and tried to ease his apprehension.
“Will you, uhm…will you go with me?”
I knew that must’ve been really hard for him to ask. “Sure will, baby cakes! What time are you going?”
“I’m supposed to meet him at six.” I looked over at the digital clock and it was shining a bright, ‘1:38 PM’. I was shocked to see that we’d been in bed all morning.
“God, it’s late. Let me make you some breakfast and I’ll make myself presentable.”
He leaned over, pulled me closer to him and said, “Mmm…this is my breakfast. You are what I’m hungry for.” I felt his cock nudge against my thigh and couldn’t believe he was hard again. Didn’t guys have to wait a while before they could have sex again? Guess not. He slid his hand under me, grabbed my hip and rolled me on top of him, then he lifted me up to straddle his face. When his hot tongue hit my now-tender lips, I let out a squeak and had to steady myself with the headboard. With the flat of his tongue slurping me like that, I could barely hold on. It wasn’t long before his expert licking, sucking and his hands roaming all over my breasts had my legs shaking and finally, my thighs gripped his face. The electric shocks ran through my body as I moaned his name and came on his face, grinding my wetness onto his mouth. If this is what life with Jack would be like…I’m all in.
After Jack had left to get ready for the meeting with the man who’d said he was his father, I straightened up the bed and showered. I couldn’t meet my potential future father-in-law with wet panties! I decided to wear jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt as I was comfortable dressing casually for Jack. He liked me for who I was and didn’t treat me like some sort of fashion-plate heiress—even though I was. I still had my job at the hospital, but I didn’t need to work—not after I’d finally received my trust—but Jack didn’t care, anyway. He was happy to let me do my thing.
As I straightened my hair, I thought about the meeting and what might happen. This Jeffrey Carter apparently knew all about Jack, but Jack had no idea who this man was. What if he was a scammer? I hoped it wouldn’t throw Jack back into his life of drinking and drugs if he turned out to be a fake. Poor Jack had no one but me and the guys at Redemption Road—and they were competing against him! Guess it was just me and Jack…and Natalie, if she’d ever come around to liking him.
At about a quarter to five, Jack tapped on my door and I welcomed him in. Spontaneously, I hugged him and from there, naturally, we kissed. “Hi,” I whispered and looked up into his sexy eyes.
“Hi, back,” he laughed, and handed me a bouquet of daisies. “These are for you. I wanted to say thank you for going with me tonight.”
“They are beautiful! No need to thank me, baby. Come in.” I walked to the kitchen to find a vase for my flowers. He was quiet—I guess I’d be, too, if I was about to meet my dad for the first time. “This won’t take but a second.”
“You look hot, baby. I’ve never seen you wear blue jeans before. Can we just stay here and fuck?” he grinned, playfully.
“Jack!”
“Can’t blame a guy for trying!” he laughed.
I poured fresh water into the vase and slid the bouquet into the container. I put the daisies on the counter, walked over to him and curled my arms around his waist. “You look hot, too.”
“So, fuckin’ it is then!”
I smacked his arm playfully, and giggled. “No, silly. We have to go meet with Jeffrey.” He gave me a sideways look and agreed.
“You’re right. We do.”
I smiled at him and grabbed my purse. I didn’t want to linger just to arrange flowers.
“I’m ready if you are. My car or yours?”
“Mine, of course. You should see what I’m driving now.” I raised my eyebrows curiously, anxious to see what vehicle awaited me. It was a sleek, white 2015 Challenger with all the extras. He looked pleased with himself and I was impressed—Jack was really coming up in the world— he deserved a break. He opened the door and I slid into the seat and admired everything inside. I loved it! I’d just bought a new car, another BMW, but this was definitely a much hotter ride.
“Everything but the number on it!”
“I love it. Wow, those guys are giving you tons of perks. So happy for you, Jack.”
“It feels like a dream, sometimes. One minute I’m lying on the pavement, thinking I’m dead—and the next, I’m driving this.”
I reached across the console between us and gave his hand a squeeze. He kept his eyes on the road and squeezed back. The diner was only about five minutes away, maybe a little more in traffic. I wondered how Jack felt right now, but I didn’t want to be nosy. I figured he’d talk about feelings when he was ready. “Have you talked to this man before? You mentioned a letter. Is that all the correspondence you’ve had?”
“I haven’t talked to him at all. Mr. Jernigan has been my go-between in all this, and by the way, that guy has been awesome. The letter said that he’s been looking for me and that when he saw my picture on television, he knew I was his kid. I’m not willing to call him ‘Dad’ just because he got a few dates right and probably slept with Nellie. If that was the only standard, half the county could be my biological father.”
I didn’t know how to answer that, so I kept quiet, then I asked, “You sure you want to do this? I mean, you don’t have to meet him at all. Sounds like you have good reasons to wait.”
Jack shook his head. “I guess now is the time to tell you. I’m not good at waiting. I don’t like uncertainty—I’ve had too much of it in my life. I think if I meet him, I’ll know if he’s who he says he is and, if he turns out to be my father, then I’ll have to deal with it. If he’s not…well—” he turned and smiled that wicked smile, “—that’s one of the reasons why you’re coming with me. That, and Dixie said I had to stay out of trouble, and who is better to keep me in line than the beautiful baby girl I love? You know her, the one with the great ass?” He chuckled. “You know you are really fucking hot in those jeans. You should stay out of those scrubs.”
“Oh, I’m not hot in my scrubs?” I laughed. I could barely find scrubs that fit, much less be ‘hot’ in them. He pulled into the diner parking lot and left the car running. He looked at me. “I’m going to tell you something, Mollie. Something I’ve never told anyone before.”
I turned in my seat a little to hear what he had to say. “What is it?”
“I love you, Mollie Dubois, and I’m fucking scared to death to do this, but I’m glad you’re here.” Jack’s green eyes were intense and his tone was serious, more serious than I’d ever heard him.
“I love you, too, Jack. I always have.” He pulled me into his arms and hugged me. We didn’t kiss, just stayed that like that for a minute. It was heaven, and when we pulled away, we were both smiling. “Are you ready to do this?” I asked.
“Nope, but let’s do it.” We climbed out of the car and I suddenly wished I’d worn a jacket. It was getting cool out and when h
e saw me shiver, Jack slid off his jacket and handed it to me. I couldn’t believe how all this had happened, or how quickly it had happened.
“Thanks.” I put it on as we walked up the steps into the restaurant. I’d never been here before, but honestly, I never came to this part of town—at least not until now. Sitting in the booth furthest from the door was a man with curly, blond hair and tanned skin. I knew right away he was Jack’s father. No doubt about it. How could Jack deny it? I studied the man as we walked up to him and tried not to look too friendly, or too rude. I didn’t know what to do and I could only imagine what Jack felt.
The man stood up as we approached and stretched out his hand to Jack who shook it awkwardly.
“Jackson! Hi, I’m Jeffrey Carter.” Jack didn’t answer. He just gave a sharp nod and slid into the booth. Jeffrey’s eyes locked on to Jack and then he smiled at me as I slid in beside Jack. “I didn’t know you were bringing a friend.”
Since Jack didn’t introduce me, I offered my hand and said, “I’m Mollie. I’m Jack’s fiancée.” I thought fiancée sounded proper and I didn’t know what else I should’ve called myself anyway. Friend? Girlfriend? “Nice to meet you, Jeffrey.”
“Jeff is fine. Nice to meet you too, Mollie.”
Nobody talked for a few minutes and I could feel Jack’s nervousness, so I put my hand on his thigh and patted it lightly. It took everything I had not to jump in and try to nudge the conversation along, but this wasn’t my father sitting across from me. This was all about Jack. He had to do this, not me. Finally, he spoke. “Interesting letter you sent me. I’m wondering why you sent it now.” He slapped the menu down on the table as the server walked up to take our drinks order and the tension couldn’t have got any thicker. We all ordered our drinks and burgers and fries, though I wasn’t sure if any of us were going to eat.
“Did you read it?”
“Yeah, I did. That’s why I’m asking why you sent it?”
“Because I wanted to see my son. It’s that simple, Jackson.”
“Really? After all these years you want to see me? You’ll pardon me if I seem a bit suspicious about the whole thing. I mean, I’ve got relatives coming out of the woodwork now—people claiming to be cousins, uncles—one girl even said I’m her brother.” Hmm…that was surprising. He didn’t tell me about a sister.
“Angelina? Is that her name? She is your sister, Jack. She’s my daughter. She’s ten.” He reached for his wallet and with shaking hands, produced a picture of a young girl with wild, blonde hair. “I have a picture of her.” Oh, crap. They even look like each other!
“She’s the real reason why I’m here. She’s just a kid and she doesn’t understand why she can’t see her brother.”
Jack’s hands spread out across the table. “What? Now you want me to believe that I have a sister, too?”
Jeff leaned forward a little and said with a soft voice, “Listen, I didn’t expect this meeting would do either one of us much good, but it’s a good place to start. I don’t expect you to love me, or even Angelina, but if you’d do me the courtesy of listening, I think I can shed some light on our situation. I know there’s no way you will leave here calling me Dad, or Pops, but I’d like to at least be someone you’d acknowledge on the street.”
Again, the server with the bad timing came by and dropped off our drinks. She looked from Jack to Jeffrey to me and then walked away. I figured she’d recognized Jack and wanted to maybe get his autograph or something, but he was too involved in the current situation to realize that she was a fan.
Some of the tension seemed to fade, then Jack looked up at the man and said, “Okay, talk.” I reached for his hand under the table and squeezed it gently, as if to say, “I’m here. You aren’t alone.”
“When I met your mother, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Her parents owned a flower shop and she was their delivery girl. She drove that delivery truck like it was a Toyota. She was reckless and exciting—I bet you are a lot like her.” He smiled at Jack and then looked away, as if he were remembering a fond memory. “My folks owned a grocery store, a small one, not much bigger than this place, and every week, she brought bouquets of flowers for us to sell. I’d ask her out and she’d turn me down, so I’d ask her out again. Every week it was like that until one week, she said yes. I couldn’t even believe it when she did.”
Our food came and the server interrupted us. “Here’s your burger, Mr. Fitzgerald.” We all looked up, but it was obvious she knew who she was talking to. “I’m a big fan. Do you think you could sign something for me? A napkin maybe?”
Jack’s surprise was apparent, but he didn’t embarrass her. “Sure, I could. Do you have a pen?”
“Right here!” She handed him a pen from her apron. “I can’t believe number twenty-seven, Jack Fitzgerald, is in my section,” she gushed. I sat a little straighter and felt proud knowing he was mine. All mine. “Thank you for stopping by.”
Jack asked her, “What’s your name?”
“It’s Eva,” she giggled. No, she couldn’t have been more than sixteen or seventeen. She just wore a lot of makeup.
“Here you go, Eva. Thanks for being a fan.” She clutched the napkin to her chest and smiled as she walked away.
Mr. Carter seemed amused by the whole thing. “Does that happen a lot?”
“Not as much as you might think, but please continue with your story.”
“Well, I don’t want to speak ill of your mother, but Nellie had always been a wild child— more than I’d realized. I’d lived a sheltered life compared to Nellie.” He took a long swallow of his soda and continued. “Her parents had spoiled her rotten. They never set curfews, and if they did try to tell her what to do—well, she’d tell them where to go and they always forgave her. She had a pile of blonde hair that was always out of control—kind of like yours.” He smiled. “You may not believe me. I loved your mother, but it was a wild, passionate, immature love. Not one you could build a marriage on.”
“But you started a family, you had a kid with her—me. Please get to the part where you walked away.”
“I loved Nellie, but she was a broken girl and she wouldn’t let me help her. We lived together for a while and my folks were furious about that. Back in those days, it was a sin to shack up, but she was insistent. She wanted to get out of there, get away from home—that’s all she talked about. We found a crappy apartment, but it was ours. And then she started drinking—and I mean really drinking. Not just playing quarters or drinking with friends. She was drunk every day. She cried all the time and one day, she told me that one of her uncle’s had been messing with her. I begged her to get some help, but that only made her madder.”
He looked thoughtfully at his glass and stirred the straw in his drink. “She lost job after job and then she told me she was pregnant. Again, I begged her to stop drinking, but she wouldn’t do it. I moved out and soon after, she moved another guy in. When you were born, you were pretty sick and the doctors that worked on you blamed it on the booze and they took you away from us. I was young, angry at her for being so reckless and my parents were pressuring me to get rid of her, and you, so I left you both alone until she finally got you back from social services. Back then, kids always went with the mother. They wouldn’t even talk to me.”
“When your mother eventually straightened up enough to get you back, your grandparents were still alive and you and your mom went to live with them. You weren’t even a year old and they were practically raising you.” He hesitated, and I could see Jack listening intently. “…Ah, I see you didn’t know that. By the time I found out they’d passed, Nellie was gone and she’d taken you with her.”
None of us touched our food but I sipped my soda as I listened. I wanted to ask a thousand questions, but I kept my mouth shut.
“So why didn’t you look for us? Didn’t you give a fuck about your kid?” I patted his leg again. I needed to keep Jack calm. We didn’t need a scene right there in the diner—not with swooning g
irls watching his every move.
“Yes, Jackson, I did look for you. I spent thousands looking for you, but Nellie had changed your last name to hers and for the first few years of your life, she moved across country and back again. I’m sorry, Jackson. I did the wrong thing. I should have kept looking. I guess I made the wrong choice. I shouldn’t have given up, but I swear to you, I don’t want a thing from you— only to get to know you. I don’t need your money, I don’t care about you being famous, but I want to know you. So does your sist—I mean, Angelina.” The man took a deep breath and leaned back in the booth. “I know you must have a lot of questions. What would you like to ask me?”
Jack’s hands folded and he rested his chin on his thumbs as he studied his father intently. I looked from one to the other. Wow, the resemblance was weird. Both men had chiseled features, slightly slanted, green eyes. However, Jack was in better shape and had smoother skin. To be honest, I thought he favored his father more than his mother but who knew what Nellie really looked like. Alcohol had erased her looks completely.
“I’d like to think a while before I ask you anything. What you’ve told me sounds reasonable, but I can’t help but be pissed off that you left me.” He leaned in closer across the table and I touched his arm. I didn’t want him to jump across the table and beat the crap out of this man. He spoke in a low voice, his jaw clenched. “Every day with Nellie was like a living hell I couldn’t escape from. I had nowhere to go, no one to help me. I couldn’t even get the fucking state to help me. Like I said, your story sounds good, but it doesn’t change how I feel about the fucked up hell I went through.”
Jeffrey’s eyes widened, then he nodded. “I understand. I didn’t expect it to be any other way.” After a moment of silence, Jack let out a long sigh then he took another deep breath and I knew he was practicing what Dr. Grey had taught him about staying calm. He finally looked up and asked Jeffrey, “Have you ever been to a race?”
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