“He didn’t throw you away,” he says. Whispering, he squeezes me, “He gave you the best gift he could have given you. He gave you Jacob.”
“I know,” I say. “I know that now.”
“My father was not a nice person. My brother was just as stupid, who had no balls to stand up to him. He dropped your mother without thinking twice about you.” I put my hands in front of my face. “He’s not a man, he’s a coward, and you were raised better than that.”
“I was,” I say. “It’s why I came back.”
“You being gone hurt everyone in a different way,” he tells me. “It hurt not to be able to watch you grow to be the man you are. It hurt not to be there when you had doubts and thought you had no one to turn to. It hurt watching your mother miss a piece of her. It hurt watching your father not be able to make sure you were okay. He had to wait for Casey to give him whatever news he had. It would take a toll on him after he did find out,” he tells me. “He would get quiet for a couple of weeks. I don’t know how he did it.” He shakes his head. “Knowing that your kid is out there but not being able to talk to them and hold them.” My heart breaks for my father. I never thought about what this was doing to him.
“I was a selfish asshole who only thought about myself,” I say, wiping my eye.
“You weren’t a selfish asshole,” he tells me. “You were a man finding his path.”
“Well, this path led me to the one place I need to be,” I say. “Home.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Emily
“If you guys need any extra help, all you have to do is let me know,” I say to the kids as they start to walk out. “I’m here early in the morning and during all of lunch.”
I sit down at the desk and start to pile up the things I need to bring home to correct, and when I walk out of the classroom, I see the halls are pretty much empty. A couple of students stand at their lockers, trying to clean it out before the last day of school. It’s always a bittersweet time of year when the kids get ready to leave. Some of the kids that I’ve taught for the past three years are graduating, and I’m going to miss them. I get into the car and make my way home, with the window open and the air blowing through my hair.
I pull up, and I’m shocked to see Ethan there sitting on the porch. He gets up when he sees my car, opening the door as soon as I put it in park. “Hey,” I say right before he leans in and kisses me on the lips.
My hand comes up to hold his cheek. “Hi,” he says, smiling, and I lean forward for another kiss. “Hi.” He steps out of the car and holds his hand out for me. I grab his hand, getting out. He opens the back door, grabbing my bag, and we walk up the steps to the front door.
“Were you waiting long?” I ask, opening the door and feeling the cool air hit me right away. I walk in and go straight to the fridge, grabbing him a water bottle. He sits on the stool after putting my stuff on the couch. “Here.” I hand him the bottle, and he finishes it. “I wish I knew you were coming. I would have given you the garage code.” As soon as I say the words, I want to take it back. Maybe he won’t remember. “It’s 1-7-1-4,” I say, and the look on his face tells me that he remembers. He gets up, coming around the counter toward me. “Ethan,” I say as he picks me up and sets me on the counter.
“That’s the first day I told you I loved you,” he tells me in almost a whisper.
“You remembered.” He puts his hands beside my hips, coming in and rubbing his nose against mine.
“I remember everything when it comes to you,” he says softly. “Every single moment, every single day, every single memory is engraved inside me.” His voice is so low that if I wasn’t this close I would not hear it. He kisses me softly. Then his tongue comes out to lick my lower lip, and my tongue comes out to meet his. He kisses me, and I suddenly hate that I’m wearing a skirt and can’t wrap my legs around him. His hands come up, one holding my neck while the other pushes my hair away from my face, and he holds it in his hand. The sound of us kissing fills the room, and just when I’m about to wrap my legs around him anyway, a knock breaks us up. “Were you expecting anyone?” he asks, his chest rising and falling. His lips wet from my kiss.
“No,” I say. Pushing him away, I hop down, walking to the front door as another knock sounds. I open the door, and I’m shocked that it’s Olivia and Kallie. “Hey,” I say, smiling.
“Sorry to just drop in,” Olivia says, and then she looks behind me, and I know right away that they must see him because they both look at me with their mouth open. They recover pretty quickly, and I see a smirk form on Olivia's face while Kallie smiles so big. “We didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”
“Don’t be silly,”
