Perfect Bastard (Mason Creek Book 16), page 15
When I opened it, Avery stood drawing circles with her foot before looking up at me. And fuck me sideways. I was still struck stupid by her presence.
“Can I have a word with you?” she asked.
I said nothing because I was still mad as hell. But then Dad had to put his two cents in.
“Is that the woman you’ve been whining about these last few days?”
It didn’t matter that I hadn’t whined. Hell, I hadn’t been home. So I stepped out the door, shutting the old man out of the conversation. Then I held her gaze, hoping she’d get on with it.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Avery
When the door opened, the coldness in Nate’s eyes made me shiver.
“Can I have a word with you?”
He said nothing, though I didn’t blame him. His father came into view. There was no denying they were father and son. They resembled each other too well.
“Is that the woman you’ve been whining about these last few days?” his father asked. Nate didn’t react, but I could have sworn his dad winked at me.
I had to press my lips together to fight a grin. Once I met Nate’s frosty gaze, I didn’t have to try.
“I need to apologize,” I began. “I jumped to conclusions when Sunshine answered the door. I made assumptions because of things that have been said about you in the past and my own insecurities. I should have asked before making judgments.”
He barely blinked an eye as far as I could tell. I pushed on. “I never intended to publish that article. I brought it over to come clean about the things my dad had said growing up. I was going to tell you I sold a series of articles, not that one. I was so excited. When I saw her, it just fell out of my hands. But it’s never going to see the light of day, I swear.”
Nothing. His expression didn’t change.
“And you were right. My dad exaggerated events and that should have never been in the article anyway.” Worry forced the next words out of my mouth. “Can you say something?”
He complied, though I wished he hadn’t. “Are you done?”
I fingered the stick in my pocket, but ultimately said, “Yes.” It was more of a whisper as the back of my eyes burned with unshed tears. I fled to my car. I didn’t outright run, but I didn’t waste time getting the hell out of there.
It was over. He wasn’t going to forgive me. When I circled the drive, he wasn’t standing in the doorway like times past. The door was closed and so were whatever feelings he’d had for me.
My nose was red and raw by the time my father got home. I was curled in bed, having called out sick. I hadn’t felt well for days, and Dad was worried about me. That was why I didn’t answer when he came knocking. The door wasn’t locked, and he came in. What I didn’t expect was for him to be holding in his hand the Ziplock bag that had been in my pocket when I saw Nate.
“Avery,” he said. It wasn’t quite disappointment, more like he felt sorry for me.
“Do you always search the trash?” I snapped.
Our house wasn’t big like Aiden’s ranch. There were two bedrooms and one bath we shared.
“I had a headache and accidentally knocked the bottle of Advil in there. When I reached for it, I saw this.” Dad paused. “Is it his?”
I’d been throwing up far too much for it to be grief or depression. I’d ordered the test online and paid for next-day shipping so I could avoid the shame of someone in town knowing my business.
“Yes. It doesn’t matter now. I messed up. You were right. That woman was there to take care of his dad. She didn’t say for what. But since I saw him walking around just fine, my guess is dementia, maybe.”
“Oh, fuck.”
“What?” I asked, and he just shook his head.
“That’s for later. Did you tell him?” Dad asked, and there was a hell of a lot of judgment in his eyes.
“I’m not keeping it,” I said. That I’d put a lot of thought into.
“You have to tell him,” he urged.
“It’s my body, Dad, and trust me when I tell you he doesn’t want to have a thing to do with me. I won’t force him into fatherhood. He hates me enough as it is.”
I’d planned to tell Nate, but he’d been so distant. He hadn’t responded to my apologies. I feared if I told him, he’d think I was trying to trap him.
“Avery, honey, I know this is your choice. But give him a chance to be a part of the decision.”
“He doesn’t want to talk to me.”
Dad came and sat on the bed next to me. He stroked a hand down my hair. “Then I’ll go with you. You’ll need someone after.”
“I’ll think about it.”
He coaxed the appointment place and time out of me, warning someone should know where I’d be in case. With Haley gone and Mom still in Florida, I gave him the information he requested, though I made him promise not to tell Mom. Given she’d had me and married Dad, I didn’t think she’d agree with my decision.
I curled up in a ball on my bed. My heart was way too heavy. I didn’t want to do it. At the same time, I thought it was for the best. I’d done enough harm to Nate. I could do this for his sake.
And that was how I stayed until it was time to leave for my appointment.
TWENTY-NINE
Nate
Since I recognized the truck, I ignored the knock at the front door until Sunshine came and got me. “There’s someone here for you.”
“Tell her I’m not here,” I said.
“It’s not a her, and he says it’s urgent.”
I took my time getting to the door, knowing who was there. I held onto the frame as I opened the door. Sure enough, Avery’s father stood on the other side.
“I’m really not interested in anything you have to say.”
“I think you might be.” He held up a Ziplock bag with the unmistakable pregnancy test stick inside, the word ‘pregnant’ very visible on the display.
There was not a hint of amusement in my dark chuckle. “What, she couldn’t blackmail me with the article, and now suddenly she’s pregnant? And you’re here as the concerned father to sell this pack of lies to me?”
“You have every right to be angry. But not with her. This is all my fault—for my jealousy of your father. And my own insecurities in my marriage and other things. But—I’m not here for that. The other can wait. Right now, I’m here because you deserve to know.”
I slow-clapped. “You guys make a great team.”
“She didn’t tell you. She doesn’t plan to tell you because,”—he looked at his watch—“she’s on her way to get rid of it. I didn’t think she’d go through with it. But when I woke up this morning, she was gone. She says she’s doing it for you. That you hate her enough. And maybe that’s true, but I’d be short an amazing daughter if her mom hadn’t told me. I did a lot of things wrong—a lot of things—but she is the very best of me. I don’t think she wants to do this. She’s doing it to spare you. There are other things I need to say, but I woke up late. And it doesn’t leave you a lot of time to stop her.” He rattled off the name of the place and the time of her appointment. “Do with that information as you please. Again, I thought you should know.”
He left, and I stood there with the door in my hand, fighting for breath. Had everything she said been true? Was what her father was saying true? Was she killing our child because I’d been a straight asshole to her? I wasn’t sure what I felt, but if she was only reacting to me and not making her own choice, I had to stop her.
I called out to Sunshine and Dad, letting them know I was leaving. My brother called when I was in the car. “I have the contract. I’ve reviewed it. It’s ready for you to sign.”
“Later,” I said.
“Nate, what the fuck, man? You’re sitting on your ass all day—”
I hung up on him as I flew down the highway. I kept checking the time, wondering if I’d make it.
THIRTY
Avery
How was it possible to still have tears? I hadn’t stopped crying. Could you dehydrate yourself from crying? I’d pulled over twice, wondering if I was doing the right thing.
By the time I made it, I was firm in my decision. The tears had dried up, and I parked. My earlier indecision made me nearly late, so I was running to the clinic that provided all types of care for mothers to be when I spotted Nate.
I tried to walk by him, but he stepped in my way. “Please, move aside,” I said.
“We need to talk.” His statement brooked no argument.
“I’m going to be late.”
“You can get another appointment after we talk.”
“I don’t know what my father told you,” I began because Dad was the only one who knew, as Haley was still out of town, “but I’ve decided to keep it. And I’ll sign whatever you want. You don’t have to pay child support or see me and my child. My mom gave me a little money and we’ll be fine.”
Mom had transferred the money dad had given her to me. It wouldn’t make me rich, but I’d be able to not work for a few months after the baby was born and still have a little left over to start a college fund for my son or daughter.
“Do I have a say in this?”
I lifted my chin. “I don’t want you to think I’m trying to trap you. I’m not. I was going to get rid of it, but I can’t. I won’t do it just to save your precious feelings.”
“Fine. Let’s go.”
I shook the arm he’d taken hold of. “No. You let go.”
He did, but crowded my personal space. His words weren’t spoken loudly, but I heard them all the same. “You want to go in there after your name has been linked to me and give some underpaid workers a chance to make some cash by violating your HIPAA rights?”
Crap. I hadn’t thought about that.
“Exactly,” he said. “You’ll come with me. We’ll fly to Chicago and have a doctor make a house call.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
He held out a hand toward the door that was fifty feet away. “Then, by all means, go in there and let the world know you’re pregnant. I’ve dealt with worse said by people who don’t know me. But I remember a woman who didn’t like being stalked. What do you think will happen if anyone finds out you’re having my kid?”
He had a point. “Fine.” The word left my tongue as sharp as a knife. “But my car…”
“Fine,” he repeated. “I’ll follow you back to my place.”
“Fine,” I said for again. I marched away, grumbling about bossy men.
When we arrived, he parked behind me in the front of his house. He was there to help me out of the Jeep. I slapped his hand away. “I’m pregnant, not an invalid.”
He chuckled, breaking the tension. “Funny, my dad didn’t want me helping him out of the car either when I brought him home.”
I stopped and asked, “Will you tell me what’s wrong with him?”
“I didn’t tell you for several reasons. Part of it was not wanting to admit that he has early dementia. Part of it was not wanting you to have to deal with his memory loss if he failed to recognize you later. And honestly, a part of it was because you’d refused to introduce me to your father, so I didn’t want to put pressure on you by introducing you to mine.”
“No. It’s fine. I was afraid to fall in love with you. I haven’t exactly grown up in a household with a shining example of what a loving couple looks like.”
“It seems we both made mistakes,” he said.
When I thought he might kiss me, he straightened. “So let’s meet Dad.”
Nate called for him when we went into the house. His father was spry for a man who needed twenty-four-hour care as he popped around the corner. “Oh, there she is.”
Nate stopped whatever he might have said next. “Dad, this is Avery. Avery, this is my father, James Bowmen.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
“Nicer to meet you. Nate wasn’t one to bring girls around. His mother worried he’d end up alone. I never had any doubts. It was just a matter of time before he succumbed to the pull of a beautiful woman like yourself.”
There was that wink again. I didn’t get it. His dad seemed fine to me, but what did I know?
“Dad, we’re going upstairs to talk, alone.”
His dad only chuckled. “Talk. Is that a code word for—”
“Don’t say it,” Nate warned and waved me toward the stairs.
I’d been in Nate’s room before and went directly to it. He closed us in. “I’ll see when we can get a flight and have Jean work on getting us a doc.”
I didn’t know who Jean was, but didn’t ask. “Can’t we do it here?”
He gave me the ‘are you kidding me?’ glare. “Mason Creek rumors are quicker than social media.”
That was true of my town as well.
“Give me a minute to make a call.” He got on the phone and moved further into the room. I spotted the shirts I’d returned to him. He hadn’t opened the bag.
Then my attention turned to his conversation, the one side of it I could hear with Nate’s back to me across the room.
“Jean.” Pause. “Yes, I’m back in Mason Creek.” Pause. “No. What I need is to get back to Chicago.” Silence. “Just make arrangements with the pilot who brought me home. See if he can do a quick return.” Pause. “Eight hours’ downtime? Are you sure? I just need to get back. And I’ll need a doc at my place. An obstetrician and one of the scan machines.” More silence. “Yes. Sonogram, and I’ll explain later. Just get it done.”
When he ended the call, he turned to face me. “It might not be until tomorrow morning before we can leave.”
We’d found shaky common ground, but nothing felt settled between us.
“I should go home and pack a bag,” I said.
“I can buy you whatever you need.”
Slowly, I moved my head from side to side. “I don’t want you buying me things, especially when I don’t need them. My house is twenty minutes away.”
“Fine. I’ll go with you.”
“I can go by myself.”
“But will you come back?”
And there it was. We’d lost something so fundamental. Trust.
My phone rang, and it was Dad.
“Hey, traitor,” I answered.
“Sweetheart—”
“Don’t sweetheart me. I get what you were trying to do, but—”
“So you’re with him?”
“Yes. And for your information, I’d already decided not to go through with it.”
He sighed. “Good. But I need to talk to you both. Put me on speaker.”
Reluctantly, I did. “Dad wants to tell us something,” I said to Nate as I held out the phone.
“Nate, I told you there was something else you needed to know.”
“Okay,” Nate said, looking as weary as I felt.
“It was just a practical joke. I was mad at the world when my wife announced she was leaving me. Rather than watch her go, I drove and drove and somehow ended up near your place. I saw your dad walking to the mailbox. Then he went to the corral and just stood there for a time. It was already dusk when I arrived. With my lights off, he hadn’t spotted my car on the side of the road. I got out, ran across the paddock to a crop of trees. I made a sound like a dying animal my dad taught me as a trick for when we went hunting. Your dad, being who he was, wandered toward me and the noise. I was good at not being spotted and used the cover of darkness to backtrack my way to where he’d been. And this is where I’m not proud of what I did. I thought it was a practical joke, opening the gate to the corral. Then I took it a step further and stole the mail your father had put in the box—bills he was mailing. I tore them up and threw them away. I never thought it would lead to someone thinking he had dementia. I swear.”
“Oh, Dad,” I said and covered my mouth.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m sorry, Nate.”
The line of Nate’s jaw as he looked away from me was tight. “Did you steal money from him? Feed our cattle lye?”
“No. It was just a joke. A bit of mischief from an old, jealous fool.”
“Dad, I’m ending the call,” I said and did. Then I reached for Nate to say something.
He skirted my extended arm. “I need some air.”
“Nate,” I called after him, but he disappeared out of the room.
I collapsed on his bed. My hormones got the best of me as I cried.
THIRTY-ONE
Nate
Holy hell. I wanted to break something. Avery’s father had caused nothing but problems for me and for my dad as of late. Even Avery had said his jealousy of our family had destroyed his relationship with his wife. The last thing I needed was to be irrevocably tied to this man for the rest of my life.
Too late for that. Avery was pregnant, and I couldn’t hold her responsible for the sins of her father.
But now what? Dad had always maintained his innocence about letting the horses free, not paying those bills, and wandering off that day. Her father had explained most of the big things, but not the missing money or our cattle. And Dad had been forgetful on some things, but forgetfulness was not enough for a dementia diagnosis. I’d have to have him tested again. The question was how to tell him he’d been right, and I’d been wrong.
“What’s going on, son?”
I turned to find my father had followed me out of the house. He wasn’t wearing a coat, but neither was I.
No better time for the truth. “Avery’s pregnant. Her father was the one who stole the mail and let the horses free out of jealousy over you.”
“I told you I was telling the truth,” he said. “But why would her father do that?”
“Apparently, he dated Mom once before you met her, and he lost the ranch to you in that card game.”
Recognition dawned on his face. “That old coot. The sly devil.” Dad didn’t get mad. “I can’t say I blame him. Your mom was a prize. More so than the ranch. And it was pure damn luck I snagged a pair of aces in that deal. Men have done worse things for less.”
