She was sure he told himself that he just needed time to shore up his emotional barricades. To make sure he had all signs of vulnerability—which he would consider weakness—hidden.
A real man dealt with his own problems, after all. Real men gave emotional support. They never asked for it for themselves. They shouldn’t need to, at least according to the teachings of strong and stoic Carl Reiss. The only father Jackson had ever known.
“What should I say if your parents call?”
“Just tell them…tell them I’ll talk to them later,” he said, moving toward the door.
He paused just before he stepped out of the room. “Laurel?”
“Yes?”
“About what I said earlier… I’m sorry. It was a stupid remark, and I know it wasn’t true. It’s long past time for me to stop trying to compare you to my mother. It won’t happen again.”
Laurel sighed as she watched him leave without giving her a chance to respond. She hadn’t expected the apology, though she deserved it. She certainly hadn’t expected him to admit that he had unfairly compared her to his mother, and on more than this one occasion.
Thinking about the things he had said, and the look on his face when he had spoken, she returned to the rocker to watch her son sleep for a while longer.
Carl didn’t call. He came by. Not half an hour after Jackson left, Carl showed up at the back door, as was his habit. “I didn’t think anyone would answer the phone if I called,” he admitted.
“Come in.”
He stepped past her, searching her face as he did so. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. How is Donna?”
“She’s a mess,” he answered flatly. “Is Jay here?”
“No. He went to his office for a little while. He was getting too restless sitting here thinking.”
Carl nodded his understanding. “I never can just sit around the house much, either. I’ve been trying to stay with Donna this weekend, but I just have to get out every once in a while. That’s why I came over here, to see if everything’s okay.”
“Want some coffee?”
“No, thanks. I think I’ve already had a couple of pots today.”
“At least sit down.”
He pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sank into it. “I guess Jay’s told you everything by now.”
“He gave me the abridged version, I think. But I know the basic facts.”
“How’s Jay holding up?”
She hesitated a moment before answering. And then she decided to be candid. “He’s hurting. He’s angry. He’s confused about who he is and how he feels about what he’s learned.”
“He’s mad that we didn’t tell him earlier. I guess I don’t blame him about that. I always— Well…”
“You wanted to tell him sooner?”
Carl looked torn for a moment between protecting his wife and being honest. “Donna just never thought the time was right. By the time Jay was old enough to understand, we’d settled into such a comfortable family routine that it seemed a shame to risk messing it up. He was such a good kid, didn’t get into much of that teen rebellion everyone worries about with their boys. She—we didn’t want to do anything that would make him turn against us.”
“Surely you knew the truth would come out someday.”
“Well, no. I guess we were being unrealistic, but we thought there was a good chance he would never have to know the whole story.”
“I hope he can come to understand that you were doing what you thought best for him. It’s just— Well, you know Jackson. He hates being lied to.”
Carl took offense at that. He lifted his chin, his sun-lined eyes narrowing more than usual. “As far as I’m concerned, I never lied to him. I married his mama before he was born. I was there at the hospital to welcome him when he came out. I held him in my arms when he wasn’t fifteen minutes old, and I told him then that I was his daddy, and that I would give my life for him if necessary. I meant every word of it.”