Jordan nodded, but he still seemed so torn up, and I wished I could take away all the confusion and pain. I wondered if he was thinking about Mallory, too — about his half-sister. With all the chaos since Monday night, I knew they hadn’t had a moment together yet, either.
“You know, I think a part of me must have known,” Eli said. “I mean, obviously I couldn’t have known that you were my son, but I’ve always felt tied to you. I watched you grow up as a kid, and watched you play football in high school, watched you take over as coach. I never felt so invested in anyone else in this town, but there was something about you that I was drawn to.”
Jordan smiled. “I felt the same way. The gang of moms at every practice and game drove me crazy, and I didn’t like to talk about football with anyone else in town — at the barbershop, the post office, none of it. But with you?” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just felt comfortable.”
“Sounds like God was going to make sure we were in each other’s life in some way, whether we knew why or not.”
They shared a smile, and then Eli stood, squeezing Jordan’s shoulder before excusing himself inside to use the restroom.
When he returned, it was with more wood for the fire, and we spent hours in that backyard with Eli, talking and laughing and crying a little, too. It was too much to try to talk about everything in one night, but I could tell on the ride back to Jordan’s house that he already felt a little lighter.
When we finally crawled into bed that night, Jordan opened his arms for me to slide in and rest my head on his chest, and we held each other tightly, silent for a long time.
“This has been the wildest week of my life,” he said on a breath after a while.
I chuckled. “Yeah… to say the least.”
“Are you doing okay?”
I sighed, considering his question — one that we’d continued asking each other all week long. It wasn’t so much of a demand to be okay, but rather a reminder that someone cared, that the other wasn’t alone.
“Yeah,” I finally answered. “Yeah, I think I really am. I mean, I’m worried about Paige, but… like you said. She’s tougher than I give her credit for a lot of the time.”
“She is. And she has you,” he reminded me, kissing my forehead. “Which means she can get through anything.”
“I guess I’m kind of in shock,” I admitted. “I mean… who knows what will happen with Randy and Patrick and everyone. I’m glad we have lawyers, because I don’t know about you, but I don’t understand any of it.”
“No, I don’t either,” he said with a deep exhale. “The only comfort I’m taking in any of it is that with Miranda’s story being out there, there’s no way Patrick or Randy can use their power or their money to get out of it this time.”
“What do you think will happen?” I asked, leaning up on my elbow to look down at him in the soft moonlight streaming in from the blinds.
He thought for a moment. “I think Patrick will be charged with murder. Randy and the board members and the firemen who were in on it, the lawyers… I imagine they’ll be charged with either being accomplices or at the very least, covering up the crime. At least, from what the lawyers are saying.”
My heart jumped. “Do you think Randy will get out of doing time?”
“No,” he answered quickly, smoothing his hand over where mine was on his chest. “He knew about it. He helped cover it up. They burned my father alive, for God’s sake,” he said, and we both shivered. “I don’t think any judge would let them get away without doing life in prison. If everyone else gets off with lesser sentences, that would make sense. But… Randy is an accomplice. He might as well have lit the fire.”
I nodded, resting my head on his chest again. “This is all so much… I can’t digest it all.”
“Me, either.”
“How’s your mom?”
He sighed. “She’s shaken up, too. I mean, of course she’s relieved we found out what happened, we got proof for what we’d known all along, but… it’s also her worst nightmare, you know? Now she knows the love of her life was murdered, and all because of a jealous man who loved her and wanted her to love him, in return.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know how he can live with himself.”
“Me either.”
“Do you think they’ll give you half of the company now? I mean, your family?”
“I’m not sure,” he confessed. “Mary said she wants to talk to Mom about that this week, but… to be honest, it’s the last thing on my mind right now.”