with their mother. With his ex-wife, Daneen. Even with Daneen’s ten-year-old son, Jack.
The boy Nick had once prayed would be his.
“Emma wants an old-fashioned wedding, so we’re both stuck with the penguin suits.” Johnny didn’t really sound upset, which wasn’t surprising. His brother was totally gone on his fiancée.
Funny, thinking of Emma Jean as his brother’s bride…considering Nick had once asked her to marry him. Of course, that was years ago, before he’d walked out on her on prom night so he could run away and marry Daneen, who’d named him as the father of her unborn baby. One lie among many.
Things sure had worked out, because Johnny had always been the one Em had wanted. Nick had figured that out long ago. “Jack sounds pretty excited to be an usher.”
His brother was silent for a moment. “I didn’t realize you’ve been talking to Jack.”
“He e-mailed me in July. Seems he has no problem with me not being his father, but he still wants me to be his friend. We’ve talked a few times,” Nick said, still surprised himself.
“I told you that kid was something special.” Johnny had doted on Jack for years, so he’d been the one who’d taken Nick to meet the boy for the first time in June. Somehow, Johnny had known—as no one else did—that Nick was still raw when it came to Daneen’s son…the child who should have been his.
They could never have predicted how Jack would react. He’d been incredibly mature, admitting he’d known since age six that his mother had lied about his paternity. He’d overheard the truth but had kept silent, not wanting to embarrass Daneen or upset his Grandma. He’d also thanked Nick for helping them out financially over the years…something no one else knew about.
Some kid, that one. Made Nick wonder how things might have turned out if he’d reacted differently. If instead of lashing out in anger at Daneen and joining the marines, he’d stuck around to be some kind of father to the boy.
Too late. Much too late.
“You are coming back for the engagement party, right?”
“Will that get me out of wearing the cumbersome thing?”
“Cummerbund,” Johnny said with a chuckle. “And no.”
Nick gave an exaggerated sigh. “I suppose I’ll come anyway.”
“Good. Gotta go,” Johnny said. “I have an hour with the courthouse secretary before she has to go on dog-tag duty.”
Ahh, Joyful. Some things never changed.
Disconnecting, and starting the car, Nick couldn’t help thinking about how different his life was from three months ago. He had a family again…a connection to Joyful, of all places. Things he’d never expected. So maybe the idea of finding a special woman wasn’t so ridiculous. Hell…maybe he already had.
Emma Jean would crow about that. His future sister-in-law had been urging him to believe he could meet someone, have something better in his future than he’d had in his past. Frankly, though he’d never admit something so sappy, having a relationship with his family again had given him a better future. And the other relationships from his old life seemed to be resolved now, too. Like the one with his ex-wife.
No, he was never going to forget that Daneen had lied to him—giving him the expectation of being a father, then yanking it away a month after their marriage. Or that she’d gone back home after their divorce and made him out as a villain who’d abandoned her and their child.
But he’d somehow been able to finally let go of his anger and come to an understanding with Daneen. She’d been as much a kid as him—just a couple of teenagers trying to escape from their shitty lives. And God knows she’d gone through hell lately. He pitied her, really, because at some point, he’d forgiven her.
A year ago, forgiveness hadn’t even been in his vocabulary. Now he had a more than passing acquaintance with the word.
So, yeah, maybe Em was right. Maybe things could be different. Nick had certainly changed, in more ways than one.
What had happened yesterday was a prime example. Because he sure couldn’t remember ever being as fascinated by a woman as he was with the sassy, ponytailed redhead who’d flipped him off.
The woman who, he realized as he cruised down Habersham Street, was almost directly in front of him. He’d recognize that bouncy reddish ponytail anywhere, not to mention the camera stuck in front of her face as she photographed a carriage driver and his horse. Then she waved at the guy and started walking down the street.
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