Wayward Son (Jensen Family #3) (47 page)

“Yes, I know and I won’t. She’s perfectly safe with me
.
”

“I’m not so sure. You are a predator
,
” Julian paused when Gavin raised his eyebrows at the term, he continued
as the boy inclined his head, agreeing
.
“I told you that I would be happy if
you dated my daughter, and in some respects I am pleased that you won out over
Quinn but I’ve encountered guys like you throughout my life, boys like you
rarely stay with one gir
l for long
.
”

“There’s more to me than what you see on the outside
,
” Gavin replied
.
“I realise I’ve only known Angel for a
short time but I can honestly say that so far, I like everything about her, I
know it’s early days and that there may be things we cla
sh on but that’s just the thing, she tells me when I step out of line or
say something she doesn’t agree with
.
S
he’s not so love struck that she blindly agrees to everything I say and
do, she kicks up and puts me back in my place and that’s refreshing. I’v
e had to grow up a lot in this last year and to accept that
the things I do have consequences and can hurt other people, I know it will be
easy for me to hurt her, I know she’s getting in deep with me, I’m already so
attached to her it’s painful, so the la
st thing I’m
going to do is hurt her, even if that is an act of self preservation and just
so you know, I have never been more embarrassed in my life than I am right now
.
”

Julian laughed, he was taken aback by this young man’s honesty but a
little more rea
ssured that he would indeed, be very
careful of his daughter’s feelings
.
“I appreciate everything you have said and I’m pleased that you feel you
can be that open and honest with me but at the end of the day, she is my
daughter and I will come down on you
like a ton of
bricks if you hurt her
.
”

“Then I guess it will be my aim will be not to hurt her and stay on your
good side
?
” Gavin grinned,
he glanced at his watch
.
“I’d better
make a move, let me know if you want me to help with the car
.
”

Angel walked with
Gavin to his car
.
“Was that so bad?” she asked.

“Yes, it was horrible
,
” he faked a
sulk and stuck out his bottom lip, making her laugh
.
“I’m going to swing by home then go to
work
.
I’ll pick you up in the morning for
college ok?”

“Actually, I’m going for
a work out later, I
may see you at the pool
,
but if not,
I’ll see you in the morning
.
”
S
he stepped into the circle of his arms
and waited for him to kiss her, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling
him closer when their lips met.

“You are making it
very difficult for me to
leave
,
” he whispered
against her lips.

“Then my evil plan is working
,
” she replied.

Gavin returned home, he found Novak on the rowing machine in the gym, his
father working out on the resistance weights. Paul let go of the handle h
e was holding and wiped the sweat from his body as Gavin
walked over to him.

“How’d it go?” Paul asked, unable to keep the smile from his face.

“Not as bad as I thought it would be
,
” Gavin replied
.
“What was up
with Gramps?”

“The usual
,
” Paul replied
.
“Me
,
” he shrugged
.
“Novak and I got the pumps and pool
sorted, thanks for your help
,
” he quipped.

“Sorry about that
.
” Gavin replied
.
“I had to leave Dad; I didn’t want
Gramps dragging me into it
.
”

“It’s ok, I know why you left, and it’s not a problem
.
”

“Dude
,
”
Novak
joined in. “You
r old man was awesome, got his point across in a calm collected manner
and I am now officially, unofficially your brother, hey Mr.
J, does that mean I’m in your will?”

“Now why would you need to be in my will? You turn twenty
-
one in w
hat?
Four, Five months?” Paul asked.

“Yeah
,
” Novak replied,
confused.

“At which time, your trust fund will mature and you will be a wealthy
young man in your own right
.
”

“I guess
.
”

“Who do you think paid for that trust fund?” he enquired.

Gavin and Novak e
xchanged a glance
.
“What?” they asked simultaneously.

“You want me to go into this now?” Paul asked.

“You can’t just throw
,
‘
“I paid for your trust fund
’
” out there and expect either of us to
just understand Dad
.
” Gavin spoke.

“Ok, Carmen wanted to go back
to work after you
were born, I was still living at home and as good as useless in the childcare
stakes so we discussed having someone available to take care of you and that’s
where Helen came in. When I came to visit and picked you up from Novak’s house,
I realised that the house wasn’t suitable for anyone
to live in let alone my child being there for the majority of the day so I
bought another house for the three of you and as your Dad didn’t show any signs
of coming back, I set up a trust fund for you an
d
supported your Mum so that you wouldn’t grow up feeling second best and envying
the fact that Gavin had everything he wanted. Helen cared for Gavin like he was
her son even though she gave him back at the end of each day and her friendship
was invaluable
to Carmen, I just wanted her to know
that she was appreciated and that you would be taken care of
.
”

“So every time we moved or got a new car; that was you?” Novak asked.

“Yes
.
” Paul replied.

“How did you afford to buy a house at sixteen?” Gavin asked.

“I
borrowed some money from my Grandparents,
Carmen and Helen both sold their houses for the deposit on the larger house and
I increased the hours of my gardening business to make up the difference
.
”

“Wow
,
” was all Novak
had to say.

“Perhaps I should have tol
d both of you sooner.
I jeopardised my relationship with you by supporting two families,
” he addressed Gavin.
“I
t meant I had to put in more hours at work and wasn’t able to visit as
much
,
but we did have a pretty good
relationship when you were little
.
I
came to see you as often as I could and when I couldn’t get
to Gloucester, my Mum would drive up and bring you down, you must remember
that?
”

“I do, we had some good times and you used to take me to work with you. I
learnt to swim in Aunt Kay’s pool
,
” ther
e was a ghost of a smile on Gavin’s lips.

“Yes you did, of course, it all changed again when I got married and
Marissa came along, I then had three families to support and was running the
gardening business, the club and doing a bit of insolvency business
on the side. There wasn’t enough hours in the day and I
came up as often as I could but Eve would give me a hard time about leaving her
to come and see you and Carmen would give me a hard time about going home, it
was difficult and I did what I could but l
ooking
back, I know I should have dropped one of the businesses and spent more time
with you, maybe if I had, you wouldn’t resent me the way you do
.
”

“I don’t resent you for not being there, I know you had to work and that
you were the reason I had the bes
t of everything,
there are other things you did that pissed me off
,
” Gavin replied.

“Go on
,
” Paul
encouraged.

Gavin shook his head
.
“Not now. You
were right when you said we need to talk and to be honest, I was going to do
everything I could to avoid that
,
but now I think
we both need to make some time to sit down and have this out
.
”

“Ok, when?” Paul asked.

“After my game, we need to be somewhere neutral Dad, just us two, the
things I have to say to you are not pleasant and I’m fully expecting that
you’ll b
low up at me but we do need to do this
.
”

“Fine, I’ll find somewhere
,
” Paul told him
.
“Gavin
,
I thought I was doing the right thing
by you
.
”

“I know that Dad, just as I know you think I hate you. I don’t but I do
need to understand a little more about you a
nd Mum
.
”

“I’ve never hidden anything about my relationship with Carmen from you.
You can ask me anything, anytime
.
”

“I’m going to, you find us somewhere and we’ll talk. I’d really like us
to be a proper father and son instead of skirting around each other
all the time
,
” Gavin looked at his watch
.
“I have to go
to work
,
” he turned and
walked out of the gym without another word leaving a stunned Novak and a
worried Paul looking at each other.

“I don’t suppose you would consider giving me a heads up on what to
expect from him?” Paul asked the young man next to him.

“What makes you think I know?” Novak asked
.
“There are certain things he’s kept to
himself, his feelings towards you are one of them but I wouldn’t have told you
if I knew, that’s up to him. If it he
lps, I haven’t
seen him this relaxed and happy for a long time, even before Carmen died
,
so you are doing something right
.
”