05

I grinned and stood up. “I can’t vouch that I’ll be able to hold back every member of the Maxfield family, especially my husband, but if you’ve already come this far, you might as well cross the door and get it over with.”

“I want to make it right this time around,” Jason said solemnly as he slowly rose. “There is no pleasant or convenient way out of this but that’s the truth about betrayal, isn’t it ? It’s ugly and hurtful and shameful but it can end.”

I wrinkled my nose at the raw memories that fleetingly scraped at me. “Yes, it can. Confront the monster and have it out so you can put it to rest rather than letting the lies build a larger, more fragile illusion that will come crashing down on all your heads.”

Jason’s gaze narrowed at me slightly in thought. “You sound like you know how it’s like.”

I managed a bittersweet smile. “My mother walked out on me and my Dad when I was six, without a word or a backward glance. Years later, I found out on my own that she has a new family, a new daughter, who was about the right age to have been born right around the time she disappeared on us.”

While I didn’t always volunteer the past at every opportunity I get, I didn’t hide it when it needed to be said. Why bother ? It wasn’t going to change what had already happened. Besides, my secret wasn’t anywhere near as damaging as Jason’s.

“I’m sorry, Charlotte,” he murmured softly, his brown eyes anguished.

“I would’ve preferred the harsh truth to the years of endless questions,” I told him with a casual shrug even as I felt the sting that forever lingered. “I’d rather a quick stab to the heart than a slow, agonizing death, but then, that’s just me.”

I grinned at his horrified expression, brightening up. “Hey, it’s a cautionary tale—not an instruction manual.”

Reluctantly, he smiled back. “Alright. I’ll brave it and enter a den packed full of protective Maxfields.”

I snorted. “It’s about time you showed some balls—metaphorically speaking, of course.”

Jason choked on a laugh as he held the door open for me. “Let’s hope they don’t go straight for them—literally speaking.”

The party was still in full swing when we came back in. We stood by the doorway to survey the crowd until Jason picked out Anna who had no trouble standing out.

“There’s no training wheels from here on then so best of luck to you, bud,” I told him with a firm smack on his back before I turned around and walked away.

Sweeping a quick glance around, I spotted Brandon and Martin in a corner, shooting hoops with the children at one of those basketball arcade games. The men were engrossed in conversation even as they took turns helping Mattie, Rose and Zach shoot balls through the hoop.

Both men wore relaxed, smiling expressions and I felt a surge of relief that there seemed to be no notable damage to the relationship between father and son despite the wide berth they gave each other in the past couple of weeks.

I left them to catch up further and headed for the bar.

I had just asked Jenny for another fizzy drink when Tessa appeared by my elbow.

Her brows were drawn in with disapproval, her lips pursed in a frown. “Is my eyesight going or was that Jason Reid who just walked in with you ?”

“I didn’t check for ID but I’m pretty sure that was him,” I told her with a smile as I hoisted myself up on a stool and happily accepted the pale blue mocktail Jenny handed me. I surveyed the crowd and found Jason talking to Anna at a corner booth, out of earshot from the other guests. “The sulky look on Anna’s face confirms it.”

“What is he doing here ?” Tessa demanded in a hushed tone that concealed none of her outrage. “I went through the guest list and he was nowhere on it.”

“I’m sure he wasn’t,” I answered calmly. “I saw him outside with his nose practically pressed against the window like a hungry kid watching people having fancy dinner.”

Tessa scowled. “While I usually admire your charitable nature, Char, this particular recipient of it is a cheating, lying bastard who shouldn’t be anywhere near Anna. He’s hurt her from day one and he’s going to keep doing it.”

I understood Tessa’s anger. I truly did.

“I’m not sending them off to elope or anything like that, Tess,” I said in a placating tone. “It’s a conversation—one that’ll hopefully bring this whole episode with Anna to a close.”

Tessa’s eyes widened. “You think he’s here to break up with her for good ?”

I shrugged. “Or fight for her this time around. Who knows ? Either way, he needs to conclude this once and for all.”

Tessa fell into a thoughtful silence as she sat next to me at the bar and watched Jason and her sister. “Even if he chooses Anna, how do you know he can be trusted to stay faithful to her when he obviously failed at that with his wife ?”

“I don’t know that,” I answered quietly, stirring my drink with the short straw. “I can’t really say for sure that a person who’d done one wrong is forever wired to do it over and over again, or that someone who’d made one mistake after another can’t just clean up his act one day and start living right.”

“Then how do we know who we can trust ?” Tessa asked softly, cautiously.

I glanced at her in the corner of my eye and saw that her gaze was no longer narrowed at Anna and Jason but at the tall, blonde, grinning man who stood by one of the tables, talking to Bobby and a couple of girls, Macy and Becca, who worked for Marlow’s.

His animated expression and hand gestures told me he was having a good time in the conversation but I was certain that while he may not be oblivious to the adoring looks the girls were casting his way, he wasn’t encouraging them either.

But to Tessa, the sight was probably like tossing fuel to the fire.

“It’s called trust, not insurance,” came my wry answer which caused Tessa to frown. “If you have a safety net for every risk you take, it’s not much of a risk, is it ?”

Jake chose that moment to glance our way and when he saw us, he smiled broadly and gave a little wave before Macy touched his arm lightly, drawing his attention back to his group.

“It’s not so much as insurance at it is simple research,” Tessa said with an unmistakable hint of bitterness in her voice. “I like to know exactly what I’m going to be investing in. A company’s history speaks a lot about its stability and profitability.”

God, if Jake could just hear how Tessa was comparing him to a stock market investment, he would pull his hair out and eat it.

“Tess,” I started slowly. “Have you ever liked someone from afar before ? Someone you’ve watched be with someone else and wondered what the hell he’s doing with a girl you didn’t think was right for him ?”

She turned to me with a startled expression, blinking for a moment before nodding. “Yes. Haven’t we all done it ?”

I grinned. “Oh, totally. I used to think that each time I read something about your brother’s love life on the papers.”

Tessa smirked. “He was quite notorious. It only slowed down a little as he got older and became more focused on work.”

I eagerly nodded in agreement. “I used to think he was going about it the wrong way. He was with women who were, yes, all beautiful and fabulous, but they didn’t quite have that extra special something that will make him happy. Of course, I’d mutter out loud that I had that extra special something but he wouldn’t quite know until he stopped looking where he was always looking and look at me instead. You know what I mean ?”

Tessa smiled and rolled her eyes but nodded anyway. “Yeah. You keep thinking, he wouldn’t know what he’s missing until he takes a chance on you. Yeah, I totally get it.”

I reached out and took her hand in mine, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Sometimes, the guy looks up and past the usual types he’s often surrounded with, and does exactly that—taking a chance on you.”

It only took a moment for my meaning to dawn on Tessa and she visibly swallowed, her eyes lowering. She knew that I knew but knowing how surprisingly stubborn she could be, my little pep talk probably helped Jake very little.

It’s funny how we get exactly what we want and we don’t know what to do about it.

“He’s just suffering from a high dose of guilt and misplaced honor,” Tessa said shortly. “He’s determined to do right by me because I happen to be his best friend’s younger sister. If it were any other girl, he would’ve forgotten her name by now and moved on to the next conquest.”