Never Let Me Go (30 page)

I turned around and gave him the tiniest peck on the lips, causing him to recoil in surprise. I cracked a smile, bringing my hand up to run through the locks of his thick hair. “I don’t need someone with all the money in the world, or to be spoiled twenty-four seven. I don’t need any of that.” I extended my hand and pointed at the sky. “This, Brody. This is all I’ve ever wanted.”

His gaze traveled up my arm and in the direction I was pointing. He looked back down at me, a question in his eyes.

“All that I’ve ever wanted—the only thing I’ve ever wished for was to be able to watch the stars with you.”

Chapter Twenty

It had been over a week since my and Brody’s first date. We’d stolen glances when we passed each other in the house, and he’d even left me a letter on my pillow when I’d gotten home from work the other day, but I hadn’t taken the time out to read it yet.

Brody wanted to have our second date on August 11th, because that was the first day that I had off from work since our first date. However, I couldn’t promise him more than an hour or two since I’d been working overtime, and I’d promised my spare time to Hayden and Sky when I wasn’t working. But I couldn’t promise him August 11th. Actually, that day was completely off-limits.

August 11th was the day of Skylar’s fourth birthday party, and I wouldn’t miss it for anything. Even if that
anything
was Brody.

The day after my and Brody’s first date, Hayden and Livie had dropped by to give me invitations to Skylar’s party. Honestly, I had no idea what Hayden meant when he said he went “all out” for Skylar’s birthdays until we received those invitations.

Livie had gotten out of the car with three large, white boxes. On top of one, the words “
Finnigan Family
” were written, on another, it said “
Nickayla Quinn and Colin Westwick
”, and on top of mine, it said “
Michele Taggaro
”. Inside, there was a tea set inside a wicker basket, and there was a picture of Skylar with white gloves and sipping tea with all the party information on it. It was requested that we dress up for the occasion.

Needless to say, I knew that nothing could prepare me for what was in store at the Jax household when I got there.

We all rode up in Callum’s family Sienna, party invitations in tow, just in case, and when we pulled up in front of the Jax house, there was no sign of a party. It wasn’t until Hayden came bounding down the stairs and escorted us inside and through the house that I realized the party must have been taking place outside.

In the backyard, I was beyond surprised. A large white tent was up, with a different colored gossamer curtain on each side. Two jumpers flanked either side of the tent: one with a water slide, and one without. “Well, hot damn, Mr. Jax. This is one Hell of a party!” Nickayla said, her hand coming up to her mouth as she shook her head.

I turned to glance at Hayden, a grin on my face. “Do I even want to know what the inside looks like?”

He smirked, edging me forward. “Did I mention that we really love parties?”

I shook my head in awe, walking toward the tent. I stepped inside, immediately assaulted by the sounds of children giggling, the smell of baked goods, and the smallest scent of fresh tea. White Christmas lights were strewn across the top of the ceiling of the tent, and multi-colored lanterns were in each corner. Each table had a different colored table cloth, each was a different size and shape, and the chairs at each table seemed to follow no particular pattern at all.

In the center of every table was a small pastry tower with fresh scones, miniature cupcakes, and cookies. It seemed as though every family that had been invited had brought their party invitations just like we had.

The cake was a topsy-turvy one, each layer colorful and lopsided. Right beside the cake table was an equally large table with a plethora of gifts stacked high.

I sighed, turning around to find that Hayden was watching me and trying to gauge my reaction. “This is perfect. This is everything any little girl could ask for.”

Hayden opened his mouth to respond, but we were interrupted by a small voice squealing, “Michele!”

The small ball of excitement raced over to us, her blonde curls bouncing with each step she took and her puffy dress leaping right along with them. She had a small girl with midnight hair in tow, squeezing her hand and dragging her along.

“Look, Grace! It’s my Michele! She’s my most favoritest person in the whole world!” Skylar leapt into my arms and wrapped her legs around my waist as I hugged her. “I’m so happy you’re here!”

“So am I, cutie! Do you like your party so far?”

She nodded frantically. “I do! I do! Come on!” She leapt down and grabbed my hand, dragging me toward a tall man with a widow’s peak and dark brown hair peppered with grey, and he was holding Samantha’s daughter Kynlee. I assumed that was Skylar’s stepfather. “Michele, this is my Patty. He’s married to my mommy. Patty, this is my Michele. She’s gonna marry my daddy!”

I glanced at Patty—or Patrick, which was how I knew him from talking with Hayden—who cocked an eyebrow at me. “Is that so?”

I shook my head. “Not any time soon.” I giggled, and Hayden came up behind me, wrapping his arm lightly around my waist. “I have to graduate high school first. And of course, he has to ask me.”

“Ask you what, love?”

“To marry you, Daddy! Don’t you want to marry my Michele?” Skylar was
relentless
.

Hayden looked over at me, a smirk on his face and an eyebrow raised. “You know what, Sky, that doesn’t sound like such a bad idea to me.”

I flushed, unsure of what to say after all of that.

“Honey, did you say hello to Nickayla and Colin?” Hayden asked, narrowing his eyes at his daughter. When she shook her head, he sighed. “Did you say hello to Caleb, Rhys, and Julian, or thank them for coming to your party?” She responded with yet another shake of her head, Hayden reached down and swatted her behind playfully. “Well, hop to it, funny bunny! And take your sister with you!”

Skylar laughed and took Kynlee’s hand, pulling Grace behind her yet again as she ran off to do what her dad had asked.

My entire head was swimming with questions, because the minute that the kids were gone, the mood around me had changed drastically. Hayden’s posture was rigid and Patrick slumped a little bit, as though he was ashamed by something.

“So you and Sam are taking Sky after the party, right? I know her parents had wanted to do something for her birthday on their side.” His voice was thick with tension and impatience. I could tell already that he wasn’t exactly too fond of Patrick.

“Well, we
are
taking her, but she’s not staying the weekend with us.”

Hayden’s jaw worked, and he tightened his grip on me. “Why is that? She always spends the weekend with you guys after her party here.”

“Actually, Samantha and I wanted to talk to you about something. I’m just waiting for her to get back from picking up the cake so we can get on with it.”

“I don’t like the sound of that, Patrick.”

I turned to look at the back door, relieved to see that Lizzie had just arrived, along with her mother and—to my surprise—her father in tow. I hadn’t met Mr. Jax, but I’d seen a picture of him; Asher and Hayden were spitting images of him, so there was no mistaking who he was.

“Look, baby, your parents are here,” I whispered, taking his hand and squeezing it.

I knew exactly what it meant that his parents had shown up, not just his mother: he’d invited his dad. He really
did
miss him.

He turned and followed my gaze, breathing a sigh of relief when he caught sight of his father.

He sighed, reaching up and raking his hands through his hair. “Yeah, okay.” He turned to Patrick, a slight scowl on his face. “We’ll talk about this later. Don’t you fucking ruin my daughter’s day.” A beat. “
Again
.”

With that, we made our way toward the back door of the house, hand in hand, but nervousness was rolling off of Hayden in waves. “Hayden, are you okay?”

He nodded, but he didn’t respond at all. We walked in silence, and stopped just short of the back porch stairs. “I honestly didn’t think he was going to come. I thought he’d let me off easy and not show.”

I grinned, but then faltered a bit as I realized that by him inviting
his
dad, it meant that before the summer was up, I’d have to at least attempt to make things right with
mine
.

Mr. Jax regarded his son skeptically, like he was afraid that Hayden was going to swing.

Mrs. Jax held onto her husband’s arm, and Lizzie coughed a bit before muttering a quick, “excuse me” and rushing off. We were all silent, exchanging glances and no one appeared to be ready to break the ice.

It was Hayden who spoke first. “Dad.”

“HJ,” Mr. Jax replied.

Hayden turned to face me, a small smile on his face. “Dad, this is my girlfriend, Michele Taggaro. Mich, this is Dad.”

I stepped forward, extending a hand to my boyfriend’s father, nodding my head. “It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jax.”

Hayden’s dad laughed, throwing his head back and clutching his belly.

“Please, don’t call me that. Mr. Jax is my father. You can call me Kenneth.” He paused, shaking my hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you from my daughter, Elizabeth. She’s quite fond of you, really, and from what I’ve heard of her, so are HJ and Skylar.” He leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I haven’t seen my son this happy since before he met Samantha.”

At that, I raised my eyebrows, but I didn’t comment back. Hayden eyed me, his lips quirking up on one side like he was curious what his father had just said to me, but he didn’t ask.

“Dad, I think we should talk,” Hayden said, standing straight and jutting his chest outward.

“Honestly, HJ, I think that’s overdue.” Mr. Jax—er, Kenneth—turned to his wife and gave her a curt nod before pulling his arm from her grip. “If you’ll excuse us…”

“You don’t mind handling things for a little while, do you, love?” Hayden asked, concern ringing loud and clear through his voice.

I smiled, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll be fine. Sam and I can handle it. Go talk with your dad.”

He nodded, pulling me in to kiss me lightly on the top of the head. He let go of my hand and walked forward to embrace his mother.

“Behave, Hayden Lucas,” she said sternly. “Kenneth, you too.” When the men retreated into the house, Mrs. Jax turned to look at me and proceeded to look me over. “Was this your doing?”

I nodded bashfully, averting my gaze.

I was completely taken aback when Hayden’s mother stepped down off the steps and pulled me into a tight embrace. I didn’t really know what to do, but I realized a while ago that the Jax family was a family of huggers, so I did the only thing that I thought I could do. I reached around her petite frame and gave her a hug.

“Thank you, sweet girl,” she crooned, her voice breaking. “This has gone on far too long.

…

When Hayden and his father emerged from the house an hour later, they looked like two old friends who’d just spent three days reminiscing. I was helping Skylar arrange her gifts around the cake table so that she could begin opening them once her dad came out.

“Daddy, Mommy and Patty said I should open my presents now! Then I have to get my stuff so we can go to Meemaw’s,” Skylar said as Hayden approached. “Do I have to spend the night at Meemaw’s? I want to stay here with you and my Michele and all my friends and all my presents!”

Samantha was behind me, a camera at the ready, and Patrick was beside her.

“Actually, Sky, you’re not staying at Meemaw’s this year. You’re going over there to open presents and then Mommy and Patrick are bringing you back home,” Hayden said. “So let’s get this party started, yeah? Meemaw and Papa wanna see you.”

I took a seat in the front row, taking Hayden’s camera and getting ready to snap some pictures. Patrick stood behind Samantha, but I waved at him. “Patrick, why don’t you let Hayden, Sam, and Skylar get a picture together…alone?”

I knew that he had been a part of this family for a long time, but Sam and Hayden were Sky’s parents. He and I weren’t.

I watched as he walked over to me, his head hung low. I didn’t know him all that well, but he seemed a bit…distracted.

“Say ‘Gouda’!” I exclaimed, smiling at the memory of how Nickayla’s mother called off names of different cheeses every time she took a picture of one of us.

I snapped away while Skylar ripped her presents open, holding each one up and yelling my name when she found one in particular that she wanted to enjoy with me later on—which was just about every other present. Soon enough, there was only two things left: the large box that Nic, Colin, and I had paid for by splitting the price three ways, and something that Hayden had gone inside to get.

“Open Michele’s next, Skylar, honey,” Samantha said with a curt smile.

“Okay, Mommy!” She went to town, climbing onto a chair and ripping the bow off the top before she tore the wrapping paper into a hundred pieces. She slapped both of her hands against her cheeks and her jaw dropped open at the sight of the brand new Barbie Hotel we’d bought her. “OH! MY! GOODNESS! MOMMY, LOOK! MOMMY, LOOK! LOOK WHAT MY MICHELE GOT ME!”