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David gave a dismissive shrug. “I know I’d promised not to go after him in court, but I wasn’t going to let him just walk away from what he did to my son. So, I watched him, followed him a few times, and then the night I overheard him in the bar, talking with his friend in a Chicago Bears hoodie—”
“Jeff.”
“Jeff?”
“That was his friend’s name.”
He couldn’t help but chuckle softly at that bit of information. “Okay. So, the night I overheard him and Jeff talking, I waited for Liam to leave and called the police.”
“I knew it.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “I knew you had something to do with his DUI, even when you said you didn’t know anything about it.”
“I know. I lied about that,” he admitted. “But he treated my son like garbage and he was talking shit about him to his friend, Jeff, in the bar, and it was either beat the fuck out of him in the parking lot and maybe go to jail for assault with a deadly weapon—because I probably would’ve introduced him to my tire iron—or call the cops and have him get a DUI. Potentially get one, because I didn’t know if he was going to be over the legal limit or not, and if he wasn’t, he would’ve walked away. But he was over the legal limit, so he got what he deserved, and I’ve never once regretted doing what I did. However, I did regret that fucking Liam up had to be behind the scenes and I never got to beat the fuck out of him like I wanted to.”
Ashley digested all of that, then shook her head, an ironic smile on her lips. “It’s because of his DUI that I found out he was cheating on me. So, in a way, I should be thanking you, I guess.”
“Really?”
“When his license got suspended, I ended up driving him around a lot, sometimes to a friend’s place.” She paused for a moment. “One of those places turned out to be where his ‘other piece of ass’ lived … which I didn’t find out about for several months, unfortunately.”
“Holy shit.” David rubbed at his face. “Now I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what he was doing when I had the chance, because I did feel bad for you, but it just wasn’t bad enough. That makes me sound like such an ass, but … you’d chosen Liam over Jacob, so my sympathy hit the road. And later, you were on social media sharing how happy you were with that prick, and by then it seemed like it really didn’t matter to you what he’d done to our son, so I kept quiet.”
“It’s okay. Really,” she insisted when he seemed like he was on the verge of arguing with her. “If you had told me Liam was cheating on me, I probably wouldn’t have believed you, anyway. There were a few warning signs along the road—okay, more than a few—that I ignored, and it took seeing it with my own eyes for me to believe it. That was my come-to-Jesus moment, and it was well deserved.” Then, shifting the conversation, she asked, “So, you followed me on social media?”
“No. A friend of Paige’s did for a little while.”
It almost sounded like he was being vague on purpose, making Ashley immediately think the ‘friend’ was Jules, which catapulted the earlier assumption she was likely aware of Ashley’s transgressions solidly into fact territory. But rather than get confirmation, she said, instead, “I followed you for a little while. I saw your wedding pictures on your website. You, Paige, and Jacob all looked so happy. After that, I stopped.”
He acknowledged the compliment with a tilt of his head before turning it around to her. “What about you? Married?” He paused for a beat before wading into potentially rougher waters. “Kids?”
“I was married once, to a man named Brandon, but it didn’t work … and no kids.” Ashley looked down at her feet. “Brandon wanted them, but a huge part of me was worried I wouldn’t be a good mother to any other children I might have, so I was afraid to try. Brandon and I argued about it a lot. He knew I’d given up custody of Jacob, so he understood my reluctance, but it was my ultimate refusal to even try that ended our marriage.”
“Jesus, I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.” She was finally able to look up again. “It took me a while to get over losing Brandon because I thought we were going to have a life together, you know, but that turned out to be contingent on our having a baby. It really sucked to realize he needed more than just me to be happy, and after our divorce I decided to fly solo for a while. No men, no alcohol. It turned out to be good for me, because I used the time to work on becoming a better person, and I needed that.” Her mouth quirked with self-deprecating humor. “Better late than never, right?”
Choosing to not address her last comment directly, he side-stepped it with diplomacy, instead. “Well, it seems to have paid off, because you look great—and I don’t just mean physically. I mean you seem … content. Happy. At peace, even. It’s a good look on you.”
“Thanks,” she said again, inordinately pleased at his assessment. “I could say the same thing about you.”
As a comfortable silence settled between them, David’s expression became somewhat introspective. “You know, I wasn’t sure if your visit today was going to be a good thing or not, but I’m happy to say it was. I’m honestly glad you came.”
“I didn’t know if it would be a good thing or not, either. I was just hoping it wouldn’t be a huge mistake. But seeing Jacob today and being treated with such kindness is something I wasn’t expecting. He really is the best part of us, isn’t he?”
“He is,” David agreed.
Ashley took a deep breath, then released it in a rush. “He wasn’t an accident.”
It took him a second to understand what she was saying, and when he did, the revelation was rather anti-climactic. She must have interpreted his expression correctly, because she quickly asked, “You knew?”
“Well,” he said slowly, “let’s just say I’ve suspected for a very long time that he wasn’t, so having it confirmed isn’t very shocking to me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I mean, you can be sorry for being dishonest with me, but don’t be sorry about Jacob. I’ve always considered him to be a gift—no matter how I got him—and one I’d never give back.”
This time, the stinging behind her eyes resulted in a few actual tears that Ashley had to wipe away, but before the moment could become too heavy, it was dispelled by the sound of Paige’s voice upstairs, as she said, “A tie means a tie, Stinker. Everyone else will be wearing one.”
“Stinker?” Ashley asked, grateful for the distraction.
