Proving Paul's Promise (The Reed Brothers 5)

Friday is sitting with Reagan and Emily. And next to her is Henry. On her other side is… Who is that? Oh my f**king God. That’s Jacob. My heart soars, and I feel almost giddy. She brought her son. She brought Jacob. That must mean that things are going well.

“Is that him?” Matt asks from right beside my shoulder. His chin is almost resting on my shirt, and I don’t try to move him away.

“You know?” I ask.

He nods. “I’ve always known.”

“What?” The breath that I was holding escapes me in a rush.

“Friday and I used to spend a lot of time alone together in the shop.” He shrugs. “We talked.”

“About that?” I can’t believe she told him.

“When Pete did her tattoo,” he says. He looks at me sheepishly. “We both knew. We didn’t and still don’t know details, but we knew she had a kid.”

“Why the f**k didn’t you tell me?” I’m irked. I can’t help it.

He shrugs. “Wasn’t my story to tell.”

I wish someone had f**king told me.

“You were so busy trying to get into her pants that you didn’t really get to know her. Not the real her.”

“That’s not true,” I sputter.

“Yes, it is.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes. It. Is.” He glares at me. “You saw the glam girl that everyone else sees.”

“There’s so much more to her than just that.”

“You were f**king Kelly, so you didn’t really have room for anyone else.”

He’s right. I scrub a hand down my face. He’s so right. “Okay,” I say.

“He’s cute,” Matt says. He nods toward the audience. “Her son. He looks like her.”

“He’s a lot like her. In a lot of ways.”

“Is he the reason she stopped talking to you?” Matt asks.

“Sort of.” I scratch my head.

“You think she’ll talk to you today?”

“I’m not going to give her a choice.”

He squeezes my shoulder. “Good.” He looks at me for a minute, blinking those blue eyes at me. “Anything worth having is worth fighting for.”

I fake a punch to his shoulder. “I’m coming out swinging,” I say.

He grins.

The music starts, and the curtain opens. Matt and I step back and out of the way. Pete, Sam, and Logan are helping, too. We’re all waiting on the stage so we can move props around between sets. Seth is in charge of the music, and he’s standing there with headphones on and his sound mixer in front of him.

Matt watches the dancing closely because Mellie is in the first number. She dances, but it’s more like jerky running around than dancing.

“I think my kid is the best one out there,” he says. He’s smiling so broadly that I can see every tooth in his mouth.

“Until one of your other ones gets out there. Then that one will be the best.” I chuck his shoulder.

“Damn straight,” he says.

Matt’s the best dad I’ve ever seen. So much better than ours ever was. Ours couldn’t even tell Pete and Sam apart most days.

“Where’d you learn to be such a great dad?” I ask.

His gaze jerks to meet mine, and he doesn’t look away. “From watching you, dumbass.”

Friday

I sit with Reagan and Emily, and Kelly and her boyfriend are right in front of us. She introduces me, and I like him. I like him a lot. I don’t particularly like that she was f**king both him and Paul at the same time, and I can’t help but wonder if he is aware of that little fact. Not my business, I guess. But he probably deserves better.

Jacob is being really good, and he sits on the edge of his chair when the recital starts. “I can’t see,” he complains.

Next thing I know, he’s crawling into my lap. He sits his skinny little body right on top of mine and leans back so that his head is resting on my shoulder, and he snuggles in. He still smells like the outdoors and purple shampoo, and I want to hold him like this forever. Tears fill my eyes, and I blink them back furiously. Henry reaches into his pocket and hands me his cotton handkerchief. I wave him off. I’m going to keep it together, I promise myself.

“Can you see now?” I ask Jacob. He nods, and his cheek brushes mine. I close my eyes and drink in the feeling.

I see one of Matt’s girls, the older one, and she dances with the second group. I point her out to Jacob and tell him who she is, and he claps for her when I do. God, she’s so adorable. She trips over her own feet a couple of times, and one time, she lands on her face in the middle of the floor.

I gasp and Jacob sits up. She looks like she’s about to cry. But Matt dashes out onto the stage, picks her up, dusts her bottom, and he starts to do the routine with the little girls, and Mellie jumps up and gets back into it quickly. He looks ridiculous, this great big tatted-up guy dancing with all the pink little girls. But he does it, just because she needs him to. He backs away as soon as she gets moving again and fades off the stage.

Sky claps and shakes her head. She loves every second of it, I’m sure.

Hayley and Joey, Matt’s oldest daughter, are in the same class, since they’re the same age, so they dance at the same time during the next dance. I can see Paul lingering by the curtain, and just the sight of him makes my heart thump in my chest. I’ve missed him. I’ve missed all this. I’ve missed having a family.