Love Realized (25 page)

Jake huffed a laugh at that. He wasn’t giving a second thought to the plans they had, was only thinking about her, and here she was thinking of his son. “I'm sure he’ll be fine with it, but can I just tell you that I love how you love my son,” he said, pouring all sincerity into his statement so she knew how much it meant to him.

He heard her say, “Oh, give me a break, Jake Michaels, that kid is the other half to my kid. He’s mine, too, so you better never take him away from me.”

Shaking his head, he said, “Never … Please let me know when you get home. I won’t be able to rest ‘til I know, okay?”

“I will … bye.” Jake said his goodbye and went in search of Jonathan. He would make sure the young man double-checked the windows and everything at the house before they went to sleep tonight. Whoever vandalized Logan’s truck clearly had some aggression issues, and Jake wasn’t going to take a chance. Jonathan had made himself at home on the couch, watching television; Jake sat himself in the chair across from him.

“Did your mother tell you what was going on tonight?” Jake asked. Jonathan answered yes without even taking his attention from the screen. Not wanting to give away information that Gillian may have withheld from him, he probed further. “And what did she tell you?” The young man moved his attention from the television to Jake, and that’s when Jake could see the anger on his face. His eyebrows were scrunched together, and his lips were pressed in a tight line as he leaned forward on his forearms and clenched his fists.

After glaring at Jake for a few moments, he spoke, “She told me that someone slashed my father’s tires, bashed in his headlights and tried kicking in his fender. Then she told me that they found out it happened because somebody texted a picture of it to her.” A sudden concern flashed through Jake’s mind about who could possibly have done this, and he felt pretty shitty for wondering if the young man sitting in front of him could have. The thought of the semi-threatening message to Gillian cancelled out that concern. But still, the anger evident in the kid needed to be addressed.

Once again realizing he may be overstepping some boundaries regarding Gillian’s kids, and for the second time in one day, he hesitated, but decided it was necessary to ask, “Hey Jonathan. You got something on your mind? Do you need to talk about it?”

“Talk about what Uncle Jake? The fact that my father deserved to have that done to his truck? How about how I wish I could’ve done that? Or how about the fact that whoever did that to his truck seems to be texting my mom about it?” Jonathan jumped up from his place on the couch and began to pace as he let his anger out. “Oh, I know what I can talk about! How about the fact that everything my father has taught me is a lie!” Jake was confused at the direction of Jonathan’s rant. Clearly, he was mad at his father, but the why was not as obvious.
Unless, he knew why his parents were getting divorced
.

Wanting the kid to get it all out, Jake helped him along. “Come on man, what else?”

Jonathan paused in his pacing and gave Jake a look like he had sprouted a second nose or something, before saying, “Isn’t this the part of the conversation where you jump in and tell me some crap about my father being a
hardworking, loving family man
? That I should respect him and be proud of him?”

Surprised at this, Jake went with nothing but the truth, “Hell no! Why the hell would I spout that shit at you?”

When what Jake said sank in, Jonathan slowly lowered himself onto the chair he was standing in front of. Jake must have been the only adult to answer him candidly like this, so the kid wasn’t prepared for it. “Why wouldn’t you, Uncle Jake?” the kid asked in a low tone.

Without hesitation, Jake said, “Because that’s bullshit, I wouldn’t lie to you like that. It’s clear to me that you know things that have happened, and you’ve taken them upon yourself for some reason. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Why does she defend him, Uncle Jake? I heard what he did … why she left him. If she knows what he did, why am I not allowed to be mad at him, too! He lied to me, told me that it was important to be good to women. Never be disrespectful, always treat them like you would treat your mother, like they were the most important person in the world.” Tears shown in the young man’s eyes as he looked at Jake. “He told me how I should treat a lady, and he didn’t do any of that! And she defends him—all I want is to be angry at him!”

Jake could see the weight lift from Jonathan’s shoulders as he sagged back against the couch. The poor kid was holding all that in for over two months? No wonder he was a moody little bastard. “So are you angry with her or with him?” Jake asked.

Jonathan paused to consider the question before answering, “I'm definitely mad at my father for being such a prick. But I'm upset that my mother is letting him get away with it—she defends him when she should be trying to destroy him. And now, there is apparently some crazy person doing some crazy shit around her, and it’s probably his doing, too!”

He didn’t like how the young man was upset with Gillian, so that was going to be Jake’s first order of business. “So, you’re upset with your mother for defending your father? Did you stop to consider why she does that? Have you considered that she has possibly handled the situation the way she did … to protect you kids?”

Jonathan’s silence allowed him to continue, “Did you know that your mother hid what happened between them for a long time? She didn’t share it with me, your Aunt Allie … no one. No, the strong woman that she is, she took it all on herself. Much like the anger you’re carrying right now. Now, I'm not going to pretend that because your father has been a good father to you, that you should ignore his other behaviors. Truthfully, I feel much of the same feelings toward him right now and would have absolutely no problem telling him that. But I will damn sure set you straight with how you should see your mother.” Jake cocked his head to the side in question to him.

When the young man nodded his head, Jake continued, “You mother didn’t want you kids to know what happened because she didn’t want what happened between them to cloud how you would feel about your father. You have to see the irony of this, don’t you? She didn’t want you to know, so that you wouldn’t be angry with your father … kind of like you are.”

Jonathan rolled his eyes and said, “Okay, I get that. I do. But why does she let him get away with it? She talks to him like nothing has changed.”

Jake shook his head at the seventeen year old—sad that he was so confused about this. This was a conversation he should be able to have with his mom or dad. “Think about it Jonathan. That’s the kind of person your mother is. She doesn’t feel the need to harp on something and dangle it out there for everyone to see. She made a decision, she owned it, and she’s moved on from it. It’s her strength that allows her to do that, because believe me, I was there that night, and I saw what it did to her. We both know she would never want you to see her fall apart like that, but she did, nonetheless. But now she has moved past it, and I think you need to, as well, for her.”

“You’re not asking me to forgive my dad, are you?”

“Again, my answer will have to be, hell no. But I want you to make sure that you’re not upset with your mom. She’s worried about you.”

The young man hung his head in shame before saying, “I just don’t know how he could do that do her. Why he would do that to her?”

“That’s a question I think you deserve an answer to, but the only person you can get it from will be your father. So in the future, when you’ve calmed down, maybe you could ask him.” Jonathan nodded before leaning his head back against the couch. It must have been a huge relief for him to get that out there. Jake wanted to make sure that he also knew Allie would be a good person to talk to about all of this. “Hey, just so you know, your Aunt Allie—she might be the person that’s most upset at your father. You could always talk to her, too, you know.”

For the first time that evening, Jonathan let a small smile creep across his face at Jake’s words. “I'm actually surprised that Aunt Allie didn’t have him hospitalized. Is it safe to assume that my mom also stopped her from doing that?” Jake nodded a laugh at the kid for picking up on that part of his Aunt’s personality. Jake and Jonathan had moved past the heavy stuff and into a lighter mood when Dylan and Ryan came into the room. Both boys said hello to Jonathan as they sat on either side of him. Jake was about to comment on how the boys should give him a little space when Dylan dropped a bomb.

“Hey Jonathan, did you know that Uncle Jake likes Mom, and he kissed her, and wants to hold her hand, and maybe kiss her again?”

Jake almost choked on his own tongue when he heard all that roll out of Dylan’s mouth. Jonathan’s confused eyes met Jake’s, and he raised his eyebrows in question. Of course, he wasn’t going to lie, but he would’ve preferred to deliver it to the young man with a little more tact than that. But, oh well, it was out there now, so time to own it.

Jake smiled at him and said, “True story, man. I’ve loved you
r mother since I was seventeen years old, and I plan to make her a very happy woman.”

Gillian couldn’t contain her yawn as she made her way back to the nurse’s station. She was tired and hungry and ready for her lunch break. The chaos of last night took forever to end, and she was disappointed that her time with Jake had to be cancelled … again. She had sent him a message when she got home late last night, after eleven o’clock, not sure if he was still awake or not. It took all of ten seconds for him to respond.

Gillian: I'm home now. You can call me if you want. Otherwise, sleep tight.

Jake: I'm sorry, Mr. Police Officer, but I'm just not interested in you right now … I kinda like this girl. Her name is Gillian, and she is super-hot!

She was laughing at his text when her phone began to ring in her hands. Skipping a hello, she said, “What if it was a Ms. Police Officer?”

“I’d have to say that my response would be the same. Besides, I try to avoid women who sleep with guns and can totally kick my ass. In my book, that would be all female police officers, and of course, Allie.”

“Oh yes, it’s a good idea to include Allie on that list.” She sighed then asked, “Why are you still up?”

“There was no way I could try and sleep ‘til I knew you were home, safe and sound.” Warmth filled her at that comment. Giddy schoolgirl was becoming a good description of her lately; it was a bit embarrassing if she thought about it.

“Well, I'm home, so you can get some sleep now.”

“Yeah, right, like that’s going to happen anytime soon. How did everything go with the police? Do they have any suspects?”

“Well, first they asked me if it was possible that I had some disgruntled lover who had a problem with Logan.” She snorted at her own comment before adding, “I made sure to set that detective straight by pointing at Logan and saying that I didn’t, but he might.”

“What about that number in your phone? That would be a dead giveaway as to who it was.”

She responded, “You would think so, but apparently it’s one of those throw-away phones.” Yawning loudly in Jake’s ear, she continued, “It’s all very
Law & Order
,
if you ask me.”

“I don’t like the thought that someone has your number and knows Logan’s truck … I told Jonathan to double check all the window locks and doors when he got home tonight. And I want you to make sure you set the alarm.”

“Thanks for that. I did when I came in. Was Jonathan okay? He didn’t seem too worried or anything?”

It was Jake’s turn to sigh as he said, “You have one smart kid there, Gillian; he isn’t an idiot. He knows that something is going on. Plus, you’re not going to be happy to hear that he knows why you and Logan are getting divorced.” Her sharp intake of air had Jake quickly trying to appease her. “Calm down, Gillian. It’s fine. He’s very angry with Logan, but I set him straight on a few things. Apparently, he was outside your bedroom the day of the party and heard the details. He’s seems to be upset with you because you are being too
nice
to Logan. And Jonathon feels you aren’t allowing him to be angry.

Gillian hadn’t thought of it that way. Unaware that Jonathan knew, had only led her to believe he was just moody about the divorce, not the actual actions leading to it. She knew she was going to have to talk with him about it.

“I'm sure if you talk to him, things will be better, but Gillian … from a male perspective, you have to let him be angry. Don’t force his father on him if you don’t have to.”

She knew that Jake was probably right, and she wished that her son had come to her with this. Now even more drained, she and Jake said their goodnights, and she promptly crawled into bed before passing out.

Recalling last night’s events, and the worry she had with her son, Gillian found herself yawning again as she sat at her station. A cup of coffee magically appeared before her, and she couldn’t contain her smile when she saw the hand that was placing it there. Jake had brought her coffee.

“And how did you know that I was desperately in need of caffeine?” she asked as she accepted the cup and swiveled her chair around to face him. Since her seat was at bar height, she had a perfect view as he crossed his impressive arms across that equally impressive chest of his and leaned against the counter top.

“That’s because I was up as late as you were last night, so call it a good assumption. Not to mention that yawn had you resembling a snake—unhinged jaw and all,” he said while giving a little laugh under his breath.