AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She nodded. “This is my son, Patrick.”
He blinked at me with eyes the same colors as his mother’s. I stood up and held out my hand to him. “It’s nice to meet you, Patrick. I heard that you were a great soccer player.”
He looked at his mom for a second before looking back at me. “I’m team captain at school, ma’am.”
“Honey, will you please get me a cappuccino, and get yourself whatever you like,” Jackie said, handing him a twenty-dollar bill before looking at me. “Do you want anything?”
“Thanks, but I already ordered,” I said, gesturing at the cup on my table.
She looked at me for a second. “Why don’t you get some chocolate chip cookies for all of us?”
He nodded before smiling at me and turning to walk up to the counter.
Jackie and I turned to look at each other, and I felt the tears in my eyes mirroring the ones in hers. “I’m so, so happy that you called,” she said, walking forward to hug me. I wrapped my arms around her and accepted the embrace, smelling lavender and a powdery, soapy scent as she hugged me.
“How far along are you?” she whispered in my ear. I pulled back, shocked, and moved my hands to my belly. It still felt flat.
“How did you—”
“You’ve got that glow that all expectant mothers have,” she said, smiling at me before her face fell. “It is a happy occurrence, right?”
I swallowed hard before nodding. “It is, as much as it was a surprise.”
“Is Dillon the father?”
I nodded again.
“Good,” she said, smiling even wider. “You’d be hard-pressed to find a better one.”
We took seats next to each other, holding hands tightly. “How do you feel about him now, given how everything happened with Neil?”
She swallowed, a tear coming to her eye. “It hurts that he’s felt so guilty for so long. I know exactly how my husband died, and I’ve never once blamed him. I also know that the only reason why he would’ve walked away the way he did is because he feels like he did something wrong, and he didn’t.”
I held her hand tighter. “Do you know what he’s been doing?”
She blinked at me. “What do you mean?”
Patrick walked up just as I finished telling her about Dillon’s financial support, and the tears were running steadily down her face as he sat down and took her other hand. “Mom—”
“I always wondered if he was the one sending that money,” she said, her voice thin. “Things have been—very different from how they might’ve been because of him and his generosity.”
I turned to Patrick. “Do you remember Dillon, Patrick?” He was so young. I wouldn’t blame him if he’d forgotten.
He nodded, though. “I remember that we watched a ton of movies together and that he always used to sneak me cookies when Mom wasn’t looking. And Mom still talks about him a lot when she tells me about my dad.”
My throat tightened a little, but I smiled at him. “Would you like to see him?”
* * *
I pulled up to the cabin a little while later, and I heard Bucky start barking as soon as I parked my car. Jackie pulled up behind me, and I motioned at her to stay put for a few minutes as I walked into the house. Dillon was lying on his couch, holding a book there without reading it, but he sat up straight when I walked in, keeping himself deliberately still.
“You have to promise me that you won’t freak out,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
His face went from impassive to suspicious. “Why does that make me automatically want to freak out?”
“Just promise me.”
“Fine,” he said, “I promise.”
