“You’re wrong.” So freaking wrong. “And I will not be made to feel bad for respecting and maintaining a good relationship with Jesse for our son’s benefit.”
He opens his mouth, but I hold up a hand.
“I am sorry if that makes you feel threatened or if raising this little boy with me makes you feel held back in some way, but, as his mother, I will always do what’s right for Jett. Always.”
“Hayden…”
I shake my head as tears slip down my cheeks. “What hurts more is that you could insinuate my reasoning is anything other than that. That you could make it sound like I did something wrong when we both know that isn’t true.
“You cheated on me, Lane. And, despite everything we went through that summer, I still came back to you. I gave you another chance. Not because I was pregnant and had nowhere else to go, but because I loved you and because you were the one I saw my future with.”
“Baby, come on.” He tips his head to the side, dark eyes pleading. But it’s too late.
I grab my pillow and head for the door. “Don’t make me regret that decision.”
Chapter 4
JESSE
Sometimes it’s hard to believe there’s more than a two-decade age difference between my younger brother and my son, as demonstrated by the literal, dicks out of their pants pissing match they’re currently having on the side of the road.
“I’m winning!” Jett screeches, his lily white ass and hips thrust forward, giving it all he can while Jinx laughs so hard next to him it’s a wonder his boots aren’t soaked.
“Jesus Christ, you two.” I roll my eyes and grab our fishing gear from the back of the UTV. “Wrap it up, so we can go and catch these fish already.”
Jinx snorts, shakes, and zips before helping Jett do the same. “Your dad is crabby today, huh? Probably jealous that our fire hoses are bigger than—”
“Don’t you fucking dare,” I snap, and then realize my language is no better. “Let’s just go already.”
Jinx shoots me a cocky smirk as he collects his pole and creel, and we head down the grassy path to the creek that gave our small town its name. “Jettster, you probably don’t want to tell your mom about our contest, but Grammy will definitely want to hear. She’ll be super proud of you.”
Jett’s grin is pure pride, and I can already hear him telling Ma all about it in church tomorrow morning, loud enough for the entire congregation to hear.
“Speaking of little hoses, have you heard from Aiden lately?” Jinx asks.
“Just texted with him yesterday. Why?”
“Amelia said he went out of town for work. Sounds like he’ll be gone for a couple of weeks.”
“Damn, he didn’t say anything about that.” Then again, we don’t usually hear about Aiden’s undercover work until after the fact.
“I think I’ll use the opportunity to break into his house and take my shit back.”
I snort. “You lost that TV and Xbox fair and square.”
“Poker is technically illegal in Wisconsin, so not really. Aiden, of all people, should know that.”
“Do it then.” I laugh. “I dare you. I’ll enjoy watching him kick your ass when he gets back.”
He tosses a grin over his shoulder and splits off to the left, where the trail leads to a part of the creek that has more tree cover and is trickier to cast into. Jett and I go right toward the clearing to avoid tears and frustration.
“Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask…” Jinx calls back as he sets his stuff down and begins to fuss with his line. “I think it’s time we invest in a new cherry picker. We have quite a few people needing tree work done this summer and the ol’ Genie was pretty damn stiff last year.”
Is he friggin’ serious? “You didn’t think to mention this sooner? Like maybe in the winter when we’d have some time to shop around, rather than a week before you need it?”
He shrugs. “Not really. Was too focused on plowing and shit.”
Uh huh. Plowing half the women in town, maybe. “Get me some quotes and we’ll go from there.”
“Me?” His eyes widen. “Isn’t that your job?”
I stick my tongue in my cheek and resist the urge to push his ass into the creek and hold his head beneath the water. “Maybe you haven’t noticed, since you’re so busy trimming old ladies’ hedges, but I’m doing about five jobs right now. The least you can do is get me the damn quotes.”
“Yeah, I’ll get on that.” He makes a smart-ass face that reminds me why I’ve never given him more responsibility. He’s a hard worker, but he’s too immature to see the big picture. Maybe it’s time we work on that.
“Good.” I dip my chin. “Because you’re not getting new equipment until you do.”
He flips me off and casts his line without another word. I have zero faith he’ll get a single quote, but I’d love for him to prove me wrong.
Shaking my head, I turn back to Jett, who’s wearing the same smarmy expression.
“Come on, Dad,” he groans impatiently, and then has the audacity to shake the worms at me.
I laugh—and then laugh some more—because that shit is not happening today. “Kid, you’re gonna be four, not fourteen. Drop the attitude or I’ll make you bait your own hook.”
His eyes light up like the early morning sun shining down on us, and I cringe. The little turd lured me right into that shit, didn’t he? No pun intended.
“I want to bait my own hook,” he says, bouncing on the toes of his muck boots. “Please, Dad!”
I lift my ball cap and scratch my head. “I don’t know, little man. I thought you said worms were slimy.”
“Yeah, when I was two.” He rolls his eyes and all I see is Hayden. He’s a miniature version of me in so many ways, but he’s just as much her, especially with that challenging gleam in his eyes. Which means he’ll learn to bait his own hook today, because the kid always gets what he wants when he looks at me like she used to.
“Fine. Whatever. But once you learn, there’s no going back to me doing it for you. Got it?”
“Yesss!” He does some crazy, overexcited dance involving way too much rear end.
“What the heck is that?”
“It’s the booty dance! Mama does it when she washes dishes.”
“Does she now?” Jesus, the very thought.
“Yep!” He starts grooving again, and I can’t help but smile. I also can’t help but imagine Hayden shaking her peachy little ass across the kitchen in a pair of itty bitty shorts and—
“How many quotes?” Jinx calls. “Will three work or do you need more?”
“Huh?” I clear my throat, but the image of Hayden’s ass remains. “Oh. Yeah, that’ll work.”
“I’ll have them to you by the end of next week.”
I won’t hold my breath. I learned long ago that getting your hopes up and waiting around only leads to disappointment.
An hour and a half and a bunch of poked fingers and smooshed worms later, we have ten trout in the creel. Jett stands so proud and tall, it’s like he’s grown two inches since we started this adventure today.