Bittersweet (Redemption #3) - Jessica Prince Page 0,5
here today, so I probably won’t even see him.”
Avoidance was the name of the game. Sure, the idea that I had to share my town with him rankled, but there was nothing I could do to change that. We’d only had a handful of conversations since his return, and that was more than enough, in my opinion.
Unfortunately, one of those conversations had involved him wanting to get to know Brantley. If I thought sharing my town with him sucked, the thought of sharing my son tore me to shreds. I’d fought it for a while, refusing to let him anywhere near my son. After all, it wasn’t only me he’d left behind.
It was Caroline who helped me see past the haze of rage and pain to reason.
“Your uncle and I did the best we could, honey pie, but we were only fill-ins for the real thing,” she’d said. “You know what it’s like to grow up without your folks. If Brant has a chance to know his daddy, you need to let him.”
“What if he leaves again?” I’d asked, my heart in my throat at the thought of my boy being hurt.
“You can’t protect your baby from feelin’ heartbreak, Shane. All you can do is help him past it if it happens.”
I hadn’t liked it, but she was right. I’d felt the absence of my parents every day. There was a hole inside my chest that wouldn’t fill, no matter what I did. A constant reminder that I wasn’t enough. I didn’t want that for Brantley, so I’d given in. With a few stipulations.
The first being that he and I didn’t speak unless absolutely necessary. The second—and the biggest—was that Uncle Scooter was there to supervise Jensen’s every visit with Brantley. I might have given him the opportunity to see his son, but I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. Overnights were out of the question, and he had to meet up with Scoot and Brantley at a place of my choosing.
That made it possible for my boy to get some time with his father while making it so I saw Jensen as little as humanly possible. It wasn’t ideal, but it was the best I could do.
I could tell by my friends’ faces and the concerned look they shared that they wanted to say more, but the door to the suite opened before they could dig into my feelings, something they were prone to do since Jensen’s sudden reappearance months ago.
“All right, ladies. It’s showtime.” Bennett, Farah’s surrogate father, announced from the doorway. The man had grown up in Redemption, but moved away, getting a job as the driver for Farah and Jase’s family. He’d fallen in love with those kids and stayed up north for them, but when Farah made the move to his old hometown, it hadn’t been long before he’d followed. Now he was standing there, looking dignified and handsome in his classic tux, ready to walk the woman he thought of as his daughter down the aisle.
Farah let out an ear-piercing squeak as she shot up from the padded stool she’d been sitting on while I did her hair and makeup. “It’s time! I’m getting married! It’s time to get me married!”
She’d have bolted right out of the room had it not been for Bennett still standing in the doorway. “All right, my sweet Farah, let’s just slow down for a second. At least let the man get up to the altar before you race down the aisle.”
She paused, taking a few calming breaths before nodding her head. “All right. I’m calm.” She looked back and gave me and Poppy a blinding smile. “You guys ready?”
Not by a long shot, I thought. But I kept that to myself, pasting a happy smile onto my face as I nodded to my friend. “Let’s go get you married.”
Chapter Two
Shane
I was a tangled, twisted ball of nerves as I made my way down the aisle toward the altar where Cannon was waiting beside his father, Banks, who was standing as best man, and Farah’s brother, Jase.
All eyes in the room were pointed in my direction as everyone in the room waited in anticipation for the bride, but I kept my attention on the groom, mainly because I didn’t want to miss his reaction once he caught a gander at his bride, but also because I was afraid of what—or who—I might see if I glanced around.