Second Chance at Forever (Forever Book 2) (26 page)

“Jackson, grab a shower and get dressed. Pack only what you need, and then we need to head to the airport.”

“Are we going back home today?”

“No, son, we’re not. I have located Riley and her mom. We’re going to them.”

“How dad? Where are they?”

“Jackson, I will explain everything to you on the plane, please just hurry so we can leave.”

Without another word, Jackson leaped out of bed and headed off into his bathroom to get ready. I grabbed my bag and briefcase. In a matter of hours, I would see Reese again. Her husband had left me no choice. He took her away, and from what I gathered from Stephen, it was not by her choice. Yes, Samuel is her husband, but she belonged to me, and I’m not going to sit back and let Reese slip through my fingers again.

Within the hour, we boarded my jet and began our destination. I was apprehensive about my talk with Jackson, but I knew if this was going to go any further, I knew I had to come clean with my son.

“Dad, I can’t take it! Please talk to me. Where are we going? You promised to tell me and I think I’ve been pretty patient, but you sitting there staring at me is driving me crazy.”

“Jackson, what I have to tell you is a very long and complicated story. It also involves people who you love that have hurt me, and I don’t want your feelings and memories of these people to be tarnished because of what I now know. This trip to New York has changed my life in only a matter of a few days, and now it’s going to change yours.”

“Whatever it is dad, I trust you and will give you the chance to explain. You have always been straight up with me, so let’s hear it.”

“Jackson, I swear you’re wiser beyond your years, you certainly don’t take after me. When I was your age, I was reckless and a bit of an ass. You’re only eighteen years old and have the intelligence and wisdom of someone in their thirties.”

“Dad, you’re stalling. Please talk to me.”

“Please keep an open mind for what I’m about to tell you. My senior year of college while attending NYU, I had met the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. Her beauty pulled me in like a magnet. I was drawn to her from the very start, and I knew I had to meet her and ultimately be with her. I dated lots of women back then, and most of them were just conquests and insignificant lovers. I never felt a connection with any of them until I met my beauty sitting in the library one day. She mocked me, and I loved it. No lines worked on her. She was amazing, and after she finally agreed to go out with me, I knew I wanted no one else. Our relationship was solid, and many times when I looked to my future, she was in it.”

“I wanted to marry this woman and experience it all with her. The time we spent together was beyond any of my wildest expectations, but also the happiest I have ever been in my entire life. I asked her to marry me many times when we were in bed together. She always thought I was kidding around, but I think deep down she knew I wasn’t and that the day was coming for the real proposal. After graduation, I was to go to California and begin working for your grandfather’s company. I planned on having her join me once I got settled. She was going to continue with graduate school and work part-time. My last night spent with her was indescribable. We just loved each other with all that we had, and my biggest regret was leaving her in the morning.”

“I wanted to surprise her with her favorite breakfast and my proposal. I was called away to handle some unforeseen business at the office, which I now know was orchestrated as a diversion. I didn’t know this at the time. My girl looked breathtaking as she slept in her peaceful sleep. All I wanted to do was finish up and return to her. Proposing to her was all I had thought about, but I never got the chance to do so. I returned to my apartment and found it empty. She was gone, and all she left for me was a note telling me goodbye.”

“Wow!” Jackson exclaimed, “How could mom have done that to you? Maybe she got cold feet as they say, and needed time to think. Obviously you two worked it out, because you did marry and then had me.”

To hear Jackson talk about his mom and think she was
“the girl”
in my story was killing me. This was the part I dreaded the most because he always had this idealistic memory of his mother and the life we had together. I was about to crush his whole image of her. I poured myself a drink and composed myself for what I was to say next to him.

“Jackson, I’m not speaking about Elizabeth. Your mother was my childhood friend, my very best friend. I was a few months from graduating college when everything went to shit in my life. It was your mother who saved me from myself and helped me mend my broken heart. I can never repay her for the kindness she showed me back then. Her generosity was overwhelming. She gave me her heart when I didn’t deserve it. I belonged to another, and no matter how much time I spent with Elizabeth, I never loved her the way I should have.” I carefully watched Jackson’s face, as he struggled to understand where this story was leading to.

“Your mother loved me back with all of my faults, and she always believed that she had enough love in her heart for the both of us. This is how incredibly unselfish your mother was, and in time my feelings did change for her. When we found out she was pregnant with you, I married your mom, and I completely centered my entire world on her and taking care of you. Your mother was so happy to be pregnant with you, and she couldn’t wait to hold you in her arms. I begged her to find out what we were having, but she never wanted to know. When you were born, I placed you into her arms, and I whispered into her ears, ‘We have a son.’ I made promises to your mother that I would be the best father I could be to you. I vowed to always put you first no matter what. Jackson, I pray that I have all these years and haven’t broken my promise to Elizabeth.”

My son was quiet, and tears are falling down his cheek. I wanted to just take him in my arms and hold him, but I waited for him to tell me or show me what he was feeling
. Please god, don’t hate me, Jackson.

“Jackson, are you alright son?”

“Dad, if it wasn’t mom, then who are you talking about? Whatever happened to this woman? Did you ever try to find her and ask her why she left you in the first place? I’m sorry that this happened to you, dad, but if it didn’t, I may not be here right now. I guess everything happens for some cosmic reason, at least I try to believe that.”

“It does, son, I never believed in theories about what’s meant to be, but I do now. Fate has stepped in and has given me a second chance to right a wrong that never should have been. In life we sometimes are not meant to understand everything as it happens. Eventually we may, and we either choose to accept the choices we make and have made, or someone else does it for us. In my story, and unbeknownst to me at the time, outside forces conspired together that separated me from the girl who I was
in love
with. I only recently found out who the responsible party was.”

“Who is this woman, dad? Was she the big love of your life? The one that got away? Because it sure wasn’t my mother!”
It’s like Jackson is looking right through me now. Does he know what I’m about to say?
“Dad, what the hell? Who is she?”

“Her name is…Reese.”

Jackson was silent.

And then he wasn’t so silent. “No fucking way, dad. You mean to tell me it’s Riley’s mom? Oh my god, I think I’m going to be sick. The way you two acted that night in the restaurant, I knew something felt off about it. Dad, I have never seen you behave that way before; right there I should have called you out on it. I can’t believe this is happening, and now it all makes sense to me.”
He doesn’t know the half of it.

“Jackson, you need to calm down and let me explain. There is so much more to this story than you can even begin to understand.”

“Dad, it seems pretty clear to me. Riley’s mom was the bitch that broke your heart and stomped on it all those years ago. You married the consolation prize, my mother, and then she goes and dies on you and straps you with a kid that you probably didn’t want.”

I grabbed Jackson by the shoulders, and I forced him to look at me. “Jackson, I always wanted you. Don’t you ever defile your mother’s memory like that again! Do you hear me, son? You’re my whole world, my reason for getting up every day and living this life. I will never regret being your father. If you believe anything, you must believe that. I love you, my son.”

“I love you too, dad.” Jackson wrapped his arms around me and held me in a vice grip of a hug until he cried it all out. My son rarely showed this level of emotion with me. After hearing about his mother, he must have needed to get it out.

“Jackson, please calm down. I want you to sit and take a breath. I know this is hard to hear son, but you have to know losing your mother was the hardest thing I have ever had to go through in my life. You, my son, were my lifeline. To be responsible for another human being is the hardest job in the world, and it became my responsibility to care for you and be two parents to you. I never imagined doing this alone, but what happened to your mother was an unforeseen tragedy. You’re the one good thing that happened to me after losing her. You have your mother’s kind eyes, and I know she is with you. I was lucky to have known her and share my life with her for the short amount of time we were given. Not a day that goes by that I don’t remember your mom fondly. How can I not? I see her every day in you. She would be so proud of the man you have become.”

“I’m sorry, dad, for your loss and for flipping out. I always thought mom was the one you were meant to be with, and to have that not be true, kind of freaked me out.”

“Jackson, you don’t have to apologize, your reaction was justified. I never thought I would have to share this with you at all. My life with your mom, and what I shared with Reese, was very personal. I have never talked to anyone about this, but your mom. I wanted to preserve your mother’s memory and show you who she was.”

“I love you, dad. I couldn’t have asked for a better father than you. Can you please continue with your story?”

“As I said, it’s very complicated. Please don’t think of Reese, Riley’s mom, in a bad way. She was a victim in all of this. Reese loved me, Jackson, and her feelings were true. Sadly, she fell prey to someone who manipulated her and convinced her that she wasn’t worthy of me and who ultimately pushed her out of my life. I didn’t know why she left me, and to have only a note telling me goodbye nearly destroyed me. I searched all over the city for Reese, but every turn I came up empty, and then my anger took over and I gave up.”

“Forces around me convinced me that she wasn’t worth it, and to move on with my life. As I said, I was self-destructing and not caring about anything until your mom gave me hope. I never expected to turn around and see Reese standing before me that night in the restaurant. My heart was bursting out of my chest, and all I wanted to do was hold her in my arms, but we were both so shocked that we played it off. Sitting so close in her proximity after all of these years, my shock turned to anger and I wanted to just mess with her a bit, so that explains my behavior. I knew you knew me better than that, son. I was waiting for you to confront me, but you never did. I’m thankful for that, because I needed time to compose myself and process it all.”

“Dad, does Riley know any of this?”

“No, she doesn’t, son. Reese and I both talked about how we were going to tell you both, but we never got the chance to.”

“Who was the person that made Reese leave you and kept you two apart?”

“I think you’ve heard enough for now, Jackson.”

“Dad, you said you would tell me everything. You can’t stop now.”

“Jackson, I don’t want to hurt you any more than I already have. Please let’s drop this.”

“Dad, the only way you will hurt me is by keeping me in the dark. Tell me everything.”

I took a deep breath and started. “After you and Riley left the restaurant, I confronted Reese. I forced her to tell me everything as to why she left me all those years ago. We spent hours together talking, fighting, and revealing many things to one another. Reese told me that your grandfather—my father— tried to blackmail her with something from her past. It’s not important, and it never was, but at the time it scared Reese. Your grandfather used what he knew to convince her that she wasn’t worthy of being with me, and I was only using her to sow my oats until I married the right girl. In a moment of weakness, Reese believed him and left. She left school, her friends, and me all behind, because of a made-up story that she believed to be true.”

Jackson looked shocked as I continued, “What I didn’t find out until she told me was that she was pregnant with my child when she left. She had planned on telling me about the baby the same morning I was to propose to her. We both never got the chance.”

I took a deep breath and pressed on, “Reese told me that she did try to come back to work things out with me, but fate again stepped in and changed the course of our life. She got sick before reaching out to me and lost our baby. I married your mother, and we left for California.”

I went on, “Reese met Riley’s father, and began a relationship with him. They married, and the rest is history. I don’t know if I was ever meant to find any of this out, but when your grandfather died, he had left instructions with his lawyer to finally reveal the truth to me. This is why I made the trip out to the Hamptons. Reese told me all that she could, but it was my father who held the key to my past and played a role in breaking me and Reese up.”

“Why would grandfather do this to you? It doesn’t make any sense to me. How can someone do that to another person? I hate him, dad, for what he did to you.”

“Jackson, please don’t. This is why I never wanted to tell you. You have many good memories of your grandfather, and he loved you very much. I believe he loved me too, but he had a hard time showing it. He had his reasons why he did what he did, but they were his and his alone. I can’t continue to try to understand them. When you were born, he changed, and you were his second chance. I allowed him to be a part of your life, and I’m happy you had time with him that I never did. He wanted you to have this watch, which belonged to my grandfather, and now it’s yours.”