Code of Love

by Sharon Cummin

  “You mean your business. I came home during the summers to work for you,” she said, stretching out the word for, “but that didn't matter. It was all about Gavin. Even when he wasn't home, it was still about him. When he came back and decided to work with you, you were thrilled. Your boy had finally chosen the path you wanted for him. There was only one problem. He didn't care about the business. He never had. If you'd ever once looked at him for who he was, you would have known, but you didn't. He was always the one that was going to take over your business. There I was, left behind. Oh, I could work for you. You'd said it a million times, but that wasn't what I wanted. What I wanted was to work with you. That was my dream, but no matter what I did, you never saw me, not in that way.”

  Her dad opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

  “It doesn't matter,” she said, as her phone dinged in her hand again.

  “Why not?” he asked. “Is that him?”

  “Because I've decided to work for myself,” she answered, ignoring his other question.

  “Doing that job you outbid me on?” he growled out. “Did he help you get it?”

  “No, he didn't. So don't go getting all pissy and start blaming him. I did it myself,” she said, with pride and a little bit of an in your face attitude in her tone.

  “You did it yourself?” he asked, sounding as if he didn't believe that she could.

  “I most certainly did,” she said, as she smiled up at him. “I outbid you both.”

  Julie looked at her phone again, and her dad snapped.

  “What's with the damn phone? Is he on his way over here? You need to knock this shit off. I get it, Julie. I know how good you are.”

  “Not good enough,” she said, with a smirk.

  “That's not it,” he said, as he reached forward and took her shoulders in his hands.

  Julie's phone rang in her hand, but she didn't answer it. When it rang again, he narrowed his eyes at her.

  “Can't he leave you alone for one fucking second?” he snapped, looking as if his head was about to blow right off of his shoulders.

  “I can't believe you,” she yelled out. “I don't need either of you. I can make it on my own. I'm done with you both.”

  “It wasn't that Gavin was better,” her dad said, as he looked into her eyes.

  “It doesn't matter,” she said.

  “It does,” he replied. “Come and work with me, Julie.”

  “You don't think I can do it, do you?” she asked, as she pulled her eyes from his and looked down at her phone again.

  “Are you trying to get rid of us?” he asked. “Is that him? What the fuck is going on, Julie?”

  “It has nothing to do with him,” she yelled out, unable to take the million and one things going through her mind one second longer.

  Just as Julie opened her mouth to speak again, she heard the front door open. Pulling her attention away from her dad, she looked over at her mom and mouthed the words I'm sorry as tears came to her own eyes.

  Chapter 25

  Julie

  “Julie,” her dad snapped.

  “Hey, baby girl,” Julie heard Jessie say loud and clear from the next room. “Mommy missed you. Did you sleep well?”

  Julie watched her dad freeze and heard her mom gasp, and she couldn't stop the tears that were rushing to the surface.

  “I got what we needed,” Jessie said, as she got closer to the kitchen. “We're going to have a great dinner. You'll forget all about going home.”

  The word home wasn't even completely out yet when Jessie stepped into the kitchen, looked over, and stopped moving, as the bags she'd carried in dropped from her hands. Julie watched as shock took over her sister's face. There was no way anyone could have missed it.

  “Did you just say mommy?” their dad asked, with his jaw clenched tight.

  Julie watched the shock leave Jessie's face as it was replaced by fear.

  “It'll be okay,” Julie mouthed, but Jessie shook her head.

  “Answer me, Jessie,” their dad growled out.

  Jessie turned back toward the living room. Then she walked over to the swing, unstrapped her little girl, and cuddled her close, as she walked back toward their very pissed off looking father and extremely shocked mother.

  “Tell them,” Julie whispered.

  “Did you call them?” Jessie asked, as she narrowed her eyes at Julie.

  “No,” her mom said, in the quietest voice Julie had ever heard her use before. “You were both blowing us off, so we thought we would surprise you and try to get you to come home for dinner. Is she yours?”

  Julie watched Jessie's eyes connect with their mothers, as Jessie nodded.

  “Why didn't you tell me?” their mom asked.

  “I was afraid,” Jessie answered, with tears of her own fighting to break free. “I didn't want you to be disappointed. I didn't mean to be irresponsible. That's not me. I wouldn't change it for anything though. I love this little girl more than you will ever know. Her name is Jackie.”

  As soon as the word Jackie left Jessie's mouth, their mother lost it, and between the three women, there were tears everywhere.

  “That's so sweet,” their mom said. “Lisa and Gracie would be so happy. Do they know? Does anyone know?”

  “No,” Jessie said, as she shook her head. “Julie is the only one that knows.”

  “Can I hold her?” their mother asked, and Jessie nodded as she handed her the baby. “I can't believe I'm a grandma. We're grandparents.”

  Their mom took the baby and walked over to their dad. The second his eyes landed on the precious little girl, all anger left them, and sadness replaced it.

  “We would have been here,” their dad mumbled, as he looked away from the baby and over at Julie and Jessie. “When was she born?”

  “She's almost two months old,” Jessie answered.

  “Shit!” their dad spat out, as he walked over to their table and sat down, putting his head in his hands. “You should have told us. I can't believe you kept this from us.”

  “You're not disappointed?” both Julie and Jessie asked at the same time.

  “Oh, I'm disappointed,” he answered, and they both looked at each other nervously,” but not at you two. I'm disappointed in myself.”

  He looked away from them and over at their mom and the baby.

  “Where did I go wrong?” he asked her, as she gave him a look Julie didn't understand. “Neither of my girls think they can count on me.”

  “Dad,” both Julie and Jessie said at the same time, Julie instantly feeling bad for every bit of shit she'd ever given him, and it had been a lot.

  “No,” he said, stopping them from talking. “One of my little girls thinks she's of no value to me, and the other hides an entire pregnancy and two months after from me.”

  He looked over at Jessie.

  “We would have been here. We would have done anything and everything you needed. Whether you're with the dad of your child or not doesn't matter to me. I'd like to kick his ass, but that's not what matters at the moment.”

  “He's gone,” Jessie said, before Julie heard her whisper from next to her. “I don't think he even knew.”

  When Julie's elbow nudged her sister, Jessie pulled away.

  “It doesn't matter,” their dad said. “We would have helped you buy things and get them put together. We would have been here when you had her. Who was there with you?”

  “Julie was there when I had her, and both her and Cody helped me get everything ready,” Jessie answered.

  “Cody,” their dad said roughly.

  “Gavin,” their mom blurted out in warning.

  “He knew?” he asked, as he looked at Julie.

  “He did,” she answered, as she wiped away a fresh tear that had come at the mention of Cody's name.

  “He helped you with things for the baby?” he asked, as his eyes locked on Julie's.

  “He's helped us with more than that,” Jessie answered for her. “He's not w
ho you've all made him out to be.”

  “Jessie,” Julie said, as she looked at her sister.

  “Just speaking the truth,” Jessie said.

  “It wasn't about Gavin,” Julie heard her dad say, and she quickly looked back his way.

  “What?” she asked.

  “It wasn't all because of Gavin,” her dad said. “He's a man.”

  Julie felt anger fill her body from his words, and even more tears broke free from her eyes.

  “Let me explain,” he quickly said, just as she was about to rip him a new ass. “The business isn't easy. It takes up every moment of your time. I didn't want that for you. I know how you are, and you would have put every single waking moment into that place. You would put aside love and family just to keep it going, and I didn't want you to do that. Your brother would have kept it going, but he wouldn't have given up everything else for it. He didn't have that passion for it. You did. That's amazing, but I didn't want you to let that company become your entire life like I did. Sure, I was home a lot, but I worked way more than I ever should have. You're all grown. Even your little brother is too old to want to hang out with his old man. I let it all pass me by, and it was because of the company.”

  “I could have had a family and the company,” Julie said, crying even more than she was before.

  “Maybe you could,” he said, “but that wasn't how I'd been looking at it while you were growing up. Kids need their mothers so much. I was never going to be the reason yours wouldn't have theirs. If your brother had a family, his kids would have their mom all the time, yours wouldn't.”

  He let out a sigh.

  “I was wrong,” he said. “I see that now. Please don't think I wasn't proud. I was, Julie. I've always been proud. Every single time you showed me your work, I was proud. Seeing you in your room working for hours at a time made me proud. And, as pissed as I am that you outbid me, I'm so damn proud of you. I love you. I'm so sorry I ever made you feel like you were less than your brother. You weren't, not for one second.”

  “I love you too,” Julie said. “I'm sorry too. I know I've been hard on you.”

  “Yeah, you have,” he said. “Harder than any of your siblings.”

  “Somehow I doubt that,” she said, as she laughed and wiped away the tears still lingering on her face.

  Jessie walked over to their mom and the baby just as Julie heard a knock at the door.

  “It's not for me,” Jessie said, as Julie let out a loud rush of air.

  Julie couldn't take one more ounce of stress and hoped with everything in her that it wasn't the one person she truly wanted to see.

  Chapter 26

  Cody

  Cody stood in front of Julie's door, more nervous than he'd ever been before, and he'd been pretty fucking nervous in the past. She wouldn't turn him away. He wouldn't let her. If she tried, he was seriously prepared to camp outside of her door until she finally gave in and talked to him. Before he left that doorstep, she was going to hear him out. He didn't care what he had to do to make that happen.

  Letting out a loud breath, Cody lifted his hand and knocked.

  When the door in front of him opened not even two feet, it immediately swung back toward him, and he quickly thrust his foot out to stop it.

  “Julie,” he snapped out, as he slowly pushed the door forward toward her.

  When she came into view and their eyes connected, anger instantly filled him.

  “Shit!” he barked out. “Are you okay? What's wrong? Who the fuck made you cry?”

  By the time he was done, his words were coming out with a deep growl.

  “Cody,” she said, as sadness filled her eyes. “You have to go. I can't do this right now.”

  “Bullshit!” he snapped, as he pushed the door open the rest of the way and stepped into her apartment. “What's going on?”

  “Nothing,” she said, barely loud enough for him to hear her. “You need to go. I'll call you later.”

  “I don't think so,” he said sternly. “I've given you time, but I can't take one more second of you ignoring me. I need to talk to you, and I need you to listen. I will sit right outside this door all day and all night if that's what it takes.”

  “Cody,” she said, as she looked over her shoulder toward the kitchen before looking back at him. “Please. I promise I'll call you.”

  Cody could hear Jessie talking in the kitchen, but he wasn't sure exactly who she was talking to, and Julie's reaction to seeing him was pissing him off more and more by the second. She wasn't pissed. She wasn't telling him to leave her alone. Instead, she was quietly trying to get rid of him. There was only one person he could think of that would have her acting the way she was, and he couldn't stop his next words from flying roughly out of his mouth.

  “Is he here? Is Jason here? Is he the reason you're crying?”

  “What?” she let out quickly. “No. Why would you ask me that?”

  “He was here,” Cody snapped out. “I know he was.”

  “How the fuck would you know that?” she snapped back at him even louder.

  “I just do,” he growled out.

  “How, Cody?” she yelled.

  Before Cody even had a moment to answer, he saw someone in the doorway of the kitchen, and he looked over to see Julie's dad staring back at him.

  “Cody,” her dad said, in a stern tone.

  “Gavin,” Cody replied, just as sternly.

  Cody wasn't afraid of Julie's dad, and he was not about to turn and walk away, so instead, he looked him in the eye. Neither of the men spoke for a moment, and when Julie's dad broke the silence, Cody was shocked.

  “She pissed at you too?” her dad asked.

  “She is,” Cody answered, “and I deserve every single bit of it. I was a real asshole, and I did something stupid.”

  “You like my girl?” Gavin asked, with a deep rumble in his tone.

  “No,” Julie said.

  “She's right,” Cody said, and he heard her gasp. “I don't like your girl. I love her.”

  “What?” Cody heard Julie, her dad, her mom, and her sister all say at the same time.

  “I said that I love her,” he said, as he looked back at her, took her hands in his, and continued. “I do. I love you so damn much, Julie. Everything I sent you through text is true. You're an amazing woman. I knew it the first time we actually spent time together, and I haven't been able to get you out of my mind since, not for one second. You have awesome ideas, and when we talk, the hours fly by. You're freaking brilliant, but I think you already know that. When I'm with you, there is nowhere I'd rather be. When I'm not, I can't wait to see you again. You wanted to take me to see your family. I couldn't believe it. That was a huge risk, but you didn't care. When we were there, you stood up for me, and you will never know how much that meant to me. That was the moment I knew that I loved you. You were mine, and I knew I would do anything to protect you. I didn't give two shits about it impacting me or my company. That didn't matter, and it never will. You're what matters. You're it for me, Julie. You're mine, and you always will be. I'm going to marry you one day. It might not be today, tomorrow, next month, or even next year, but it will happen. I won't give up until it does, and I don't care who tries to stand in the way. I will work hard every single day proving my love to you, and I will never stop. I don't care if I'm a hundred years old and barely moving, I will still tell you how much I love you. You're my everything.”

  “Cody,” Julie said, as tears began pouring from her eyes.

  “I mean it, Julie,” he said, as he took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. “You're mine.”

  Julie began to slowly lean toward Cody, and he couldn't help the excitement running through him. She was so close he could feel her breath on his face, but just before their lips connected, the look in her eyes changed, and she pulled away.

  “Julie,” he whispered.

  “I will not work for you,” she said sternly.

  “I would never expect you to,”
he replied.

  “I will not work with you either,” she said.

  “That's fine, as long as you're doing what it is you really want to do,” he said.

  “I will bid against you,” she said, and Cody heard her dad mumble under his breath from behind her.

  “I don't doubt that,” Cody replied.

  “I will one day be your biggest competition,” she said, as she pointed over her shoulder. “He's nothing compared to what I'll be.”

  “I would expect nothing less,” he said, trying with everything in him not to laugh at her tough girl attitude.

  “I mean it,” she said. “I don't need a man. I will make it in this business on my own.”

  “I know you will, baby,” he said, as he took a step toward her.

  “One more thing,” she said.

  “Anything,” he said. “I will do anything for you.”

  “The two of you better figure out how to get along,” she said, as she looked back at her dad and then at Cody again. “I've missed you so damn bad, and I've missed my family too. I don't care if it's totally fake, but you need to be civil to each other. I will not ruin another family function because someone's ego is fucking huge. Besides, you might need each other one day.”

  “How's that?” her dad asked from behind her.

  “You might need to console each other when I beat both your asses,” she said.

  “Do you know what she did?” her dad asked Cody.

  “Oh, I do,” Cody answered, “and I'm so damn proud of her too.”

  “You are?” her dad asked, in a shocked tone.

  “Hell yeah I am,” Cody answered. “She underbid us both, and neither of us saw it coming. How could I not be proud?”

  “You're right about that,” her dad answered, with a grumble behind his words. “You really like my little girl?”

  “More than you will ever know,” Cody answered. “You still planning to give me shit?”

  “No,” Julie's dad answered.

  “What?” both Cody and Julie asked at the same time.

  “I'm not,” her dad answered. “You're not the man I thought you were, Cody. You knew something about my family, and you didn't use it to get to me. I respect that. You also took care of my family when I wasn't there. I respect you more than you'll ever know for that. You were here for my girls. They're all that really matters.”