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“I didn’t use that word.”
I groaned. “She has to come willingly but I’m not leaving without her. Collin and I will make great lawn ornaments if Ada refuses to forgive us.”
“You already look like shit. How much longer can the rich boy suffer?” She grinned and there was something in her gaze that told me she wanted me to win. She also wanted me to suffer a little first.
“For as long as it takes.” I pulled out my dying phone and held it up. “Mind if I use your power? I’ll pay you.”
“Do whatever you have to. I’m expensive, though.” She looked up at the house and wagged her eyebrows. “She’s not going to be easy. You boys did a number on her. She’s been a basketcase since she got here. Honestly, I’m tired to it.”
“Aunt Maxine!” Ada called from her hiding spot behind the front door. “Phone’s for you.”
“That phone didn’t ring, Ada! I’m an old woman. I have that ringer turned up so loud that Jesus in the sky could hear it. Lie better or don’t lie.” The old woman shook her head and patted my arm. “Her daddy was never a good liar, either. Those are the ones you have to find and keep. So maybe try harder next time, huh?”
I stood there, dumbfounded, as I watched Maxine make her way inside. I tried to catch a glimpse of Ada but she stayed hidden, of course. Sighing, I tried to ease the ache in my back before sinking onto the sandy grass of Maxine’s front yard.
Collin didn’t come back for over an hour and when he did, it was a dark scowl on his face. “That woman… Two Early Birds is a pregnancy store. A pregnancy store that I waited in front of for so long the cops showed up to ask me what I was doing. Thankfully, they gave me a ride to a real breakfast place and if she comes out here to ask for anything I’m going to be sorely tempted to drop kick her.”
I snorted and took the donut he handed me. “Look at what we’ve come to.”
“Drop kicking old ladies and eating donuts in sweat-stained suits. We’re doing great.” He sat next to me and once again the chair threw him backwards. The coffee he’d been holding tipped with him and he came up sputtering as it spilled all over his face. “Thank fuck the coffee was cold since I had such a nice long walk back here! How does coffee get cold when the air here is a fucking oven?”
I let out a small laugh at first but as I watched Collin wipe coffee from his face while struggling to stay upright in the law chair, I just caved. I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt and my eyes leaked tears. I laughed harder than I had since before Ada left and it eased something in my chest. Sighing, I laid back in the grass and tore off a piece of donut with my teeth. “Maxine suggested we just kidnap Ada.”
“I don’t hate the idea.”
I smiled and turned my head to look at him. “You remember that time Mom and Dad took us to the beach?”
He frowned. “No. That never happened.”
“Exactly.” I ate more of the sickeningly sweet donut. “We’ve never taken the kids to a real beach. We have all the money in the world and we’ve never made time for a real vacation. That’s pretty sad.”
“Shit. You’re right.” He used his discarded jacket to wipe his face clean. “We have been shitty parents. How did that happen? After the way we were raised I swore my kids were never going to know sadness. I swore they would never suffer the way we did. And maybe they haven’t suffered in the exact same way we did but they’ve still suffered. The twins mom left them the same as ours and I’ve been just as absent as Dad was.”
“I think we’ve been shitty people in general. Maybe the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.” I sat up and groaned. “This fucking heat is killing me.”
Collin watched as I ripped the sleeves off my dress shirt and tossed them down beside me. He considered his shirt for a second and then did the same. “It’s definitely making you sentimental.”
“When we get back to Lake Dun, I want to take everyone on a vacation. I’m going to step back from the company, too. I don’t need to work. I’ve been so fucking afraid that we’d end up as piss poor as we were growing up but we would’ve been okay if our parents were worth anything.” I ripped my pants off at the knee and grabbed another donut from Collin. “My kid has a girlfriend. She didn’t even come out to me.”
“My kids have a Leanne. I still haven’t figured that one out but I can’t even get them to talk to me now. They don’t want anything to do with me after the way we ran Ada off.”
“We’re going to fix it. We came here to bring Ada home and we’re going to.” I looked back at the house and stood up. “Give me another one of those donuts. I’m gaining access to her, one way or another.”
67
***Ada***
“Oh!Ijustlove apple fritters. Aren’t you a doll? Come on in.” Aunt Maxine turned a smirk my way and opened the door wider for Joe to come inside. “And I love what you’ve done with your outfit.”
I covered my mouth with my hand as I looked at him. In a sleeveless dress shirt and knee-length slacks, he didn’t exactly look like the same put together Joe I was used to. He also had sweat stains and smelled. His hair was a mess and his nose was already peeling from being in the sun and burning. He looked like he needed to get in line at the food bank and I didn’t know what to make of seeing him so…messy. Joe was normally in control and put together but the man in front of me was anything but.
“When we get back home I want to take everyone on a big vacation. Wherever you and the kids want. I don’t care. It can be however long you want. I mean, the kids have to be back in time for school, but that’s the only parameter I’m setting. Maybe no cruises, though. Kendall gets motion sickness, or at least she used to.” He took a deep breath and laughed. “I don’t know if she still does because I don’t know my daughter. You were right. I’m a shitty father. As soon as I thought you’d betrayed us I forgot everything I’d learned while you were there with us. I buried myself in work and ignored Kendall. I don’t want to be that way, though, Ada. I want to be better but I want you there with me.”
My heart pounded against my rib cage so hard that it didn’t feel natural. “Are you delirious?”
He scowled and Aunt Maxine giggled. “I’m not fucking delirious, Ada. I’m sorry for the way I treated you. I should’ve known better than to think you were some evil spy for Mayhew. You were nothing but pure and honest with me from the moment you showed up. Except about the nanny thing, but it turns out that you were the best nanny we ever could’ve hoped for and for what you did for our family, we way underpaid you. I’ve been burned by every woman before you but you’re nothing like them. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, Ada. I know I don’t. I was nothing but cantankerous and hard-headed the whole time you were with us. I need it, though. I need you to forgive me and come back because I miss you. The kids miss you. We’re not okay without you. I want a chance to show you how I can love you when I’m not holding back.”
I looked down at the floor and let his words wash over me. I wanted so badly to rush into his arms and let go of everything bad. I wanted to hear him use the word ‘love’ and I wanted to be his family. Maybe I wanted it too much, though. I couldn’t forgive him and let it go just because I was desperate to feel his love, not when I wasn’t sure he would ever truly give it.
