“Yes, Daddy. You and Mom can have your grandson all to yourselves tonight.” I got up from my chair. “By the way, Collin told me he fired Cara. What are you going to do for a secretary? Are you calling the temp agency?”
He sighed. “No. I’m stealing Collin’s secretary for the time being.”
“Maybe Mom can come fill in for a while.”
“That’s not a good idea. I wouldn’t get any work done if she was here. She’d spend more time in my office and on my desk than at her desk.” He winked.
“Ugh. Why do you say those things? If you need me, I’ll be in my office wiping what you just said from my mind.”
“Bye, princess. Have a good day.” He laughed.
I secretly smiled because I loved the way my parents still felt about each other after all these years, and I hoped that Jake and I would be the same way.
Chapter 6
Connor
As I sat at my desk, I couldn’t take the silence between me and my son anymore. I walked to the closet, grabbed my gym bag, and went to Collin’s office.
“Grab your gym bag and let’s go. We’re hitting the gym.”
He looked up at me and then looked back at his computer. “I can’t. I’m busy.”
“Bullshit. You’re busy if I say you’re busy. Work can wait. I can’t, and we need to talk. Now get your bag and let’s go. Ralph is waiting for us.”
He sighed as he got up from his desk and grabbed his bag. The ride to the gym was silent. After changing into our workout clothes, we hit the treadmill.
“I’m sorry, son, and I want you to know that I fully understand why you married Amelia in Vegas.”
“Somehow, I don’t believe you, Dad. You and Mom said some really hurtful things.”
“I know and we’re sorry. We just need you to understand how hurt we are. Do you understand that?”
“Yeah, I do. But you need to understand how much I love Amelia and I didn’t want to wait. I don’t see what the big deal is. You and Mom can throw us a wedding reception if you want and we can celebrate.”
“That’s not the point. We weren’t there to watch you and Amelia say your vows. We didn’t get to witness one of the most important things you’ll ever do in your life. We’ve been there for you, helped and watched you grow into a man and it’s something we planned on and couldn’t wait for. We couldn’t wait to watch our only son marry the woman of his dreams. To witness the union of you two becoming one. I guess your mom and I are being very selfish people right now.”
“You are, but so am I. I’m sorry, Dad, that I hurt you both, but I’m not sorry I married Amelia the way I did. I will never apologize for that.”
“I know and I wouldn’t either. You were right; I would have married your mom right on the spot when I proposed to her without giving my family a second thought. You’re a lot like your old man whether you want to be or not.” I gave him a small smile.
He smiled back. “I know I am and, to be honest, that’s not a bad thing. I look up to you, Dad. I always have. How was Mom this morning?”
“She’s still upset. I wiped a couple of tears from her eyes before I left for the office, but she’ll be okay.”
“Umm, Dad.” Collin looked straight ahead.
“Oh shit. How did she know we were here?”
“Dad, she’s got that look on her face. I’m scared,” Collin expressed.
“So am I, son. Just keep running.”
Ellery headed straight for us with a mad-as-hell look on her face. “So, I see you’re having a talk with our son without me, Connor.” She stood there with her hand on her hip.
I swallowed hard. “Ellery, how did you know we were here?”
“Collin’s secretary, Laurinda, told me. I went to the office to talk to both of you, hoping we could get this resolved, and I find out you’re having a gym session with him?”
Collin and I got off the treadmill and wiped our faces with towels. “Let’s go into the locker room, Ellery. People are staring.”
“I don’t care if they’re staring. This is my gym and if I want to yell in it, I will.”
Collin walked over to her and hooked his arm around her, kissing her cheek. “Hey, Mom. Let’s go and talk.”
I let out a sigh of relief as she placed her arm around his waist, and we headed to the locker room.
Ellery
I stood there and stared at my son as sweat dripped down his face. He was my boy and nothing he could ever do would change how much I loved him. Even though I was hurt by his decision to get married without his family, I needed to accept the fact that he was happy and that was all that mattered. Seeing him after his breakup with Hailey was, at times, too much to bear. When he found Amelia, I saw something in him that I never had before. It was the same something I had when I met Connor. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I understood.
“Go clean yourself up and we’ll talk after.”
“Okay, Mom.”
Connor walked over and wrapped his arms around me. “I’m so proud of you, baby.”
“You’re all sweaty, Connor.” I broke our embrace.
“I thought you liked it when I’m all sweaty.” He winked.
“I do. Just not gym sweat.” I reached up and kissed his lips. “Go change.”
He slapped me on the ass with his towel before walking away and I took a seat on the bench. A few moments later, both my handsome men walked towards me in their tailored business suits. As they stood there in front of me, I stared at them with a tear in my eye. Not only did they look so much alike, they acted alike, and Amelia was the luckiest girl in the world to be loved by my son. Just as I was by Connor. I stood up and wrapped my arms around my son.
“I am truly happy for you, Collin, and I want you to know how much I love you. I’m sorry for yelling at you last night.”
“It’s okay, Mom, and I know how much you love me. I love you too and so does Amelia. We just want you to be happy for us.”
“I am. I’m very happy for both of you. Please come to dinner with us tonight so I can apologize to Amelia and welcome her properly to the family. We can also discuss a date for the wedding reception your dad and I are giving you.”
“Amelia and I would love to have dinner with you and Dad tonight. What time?”
“I figured you’d say yes, so I already made reservations at Per Se for seven o’clock.” I smiled as I placed my hand on his cheek.
“Seven it is.”
“Now that we have this settled, Collin and I need to get back to the office. What are your plans for the rest of the day?” Connor asked as we left the locker room.
“I’m going to stay here and get in a workout and then go over some things with Bobby. I’ll see my two sweet men later.” I gave Collin a kiss on the cheek and Connor a kiss on the lips and watched with contentment as they walked out of the gym.
I pulled out my phone and called Julia.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, sweetheart. Your dad and I are taking Collin and Amelia to dinner tonight. Would you and Jake like to join us?”