Broken Dreams (Broken 2)

I pushed his hand away. “Yes, sir, I do. I’d never leave my wife and kids—ever.”

He threw his head back and laughed as Jim, the owner of the coffee shop, came walking up.

“Reed, Mr. Moore, is everything okay here?”

My father looked at Jim and smiled. “Jim, good to see you after all these years. Yeah, all is well. I was just letting my son here know that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

With that, he grabbed the slut by the hand, and they started to make their way out of the coffee shop. My heart was pounding, and that familiar fear that I’d thought I had pushed away came creeping back.

Jim put his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t listen to him, Reed. You are nothing like him. Nothing.”

I glanced over at Jim and tried to smile as I nodded my head. “Thanks, Jim. I think I’ll skip the coffee.”

I turned and headed to my truck. The moment I got in, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I never wanted to hurt Courtney—ever.

I grabbed the steering wheel hard and yelled out, “Fuck! Why the fuck did you come back?”

I reached for my cell phone, and with shaking hands, I hit my sister’s number.

“Hey, big bro. I’m just about to pull up to Mom’s to pick her and Paul up, and then we will be heading out to Mimi and Frank’s place.”

“Wesley,” was all I could get out.

“Reed, what’s wrong? Are you okay? Is Courtney okay?”

I tried to talk, but I couldn’t.

“Reed! You’re scaring me!” she yelled over the phone.

“He’s back. Dad is back,” I whispered.

“What?”

“I just ran into him at the coffee shop. He was with some bitch our age. Wesley, he told me that I was like him. I can’t be like him. I promised Courtney that I’d never hurt her.” I barely got the last few words out while I fought to hold back a sob.

“You listen to me right now, Reed. You are nothing like that man. Our mother raised you to be a gentleman and to treat women with respect, and I’ve never in my life seen you not do just that.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding and put my head down on the steering wheel. “Wesley, I’ve done things, things I’m not proud of. If Courtney ever found out—”

“Stop this, Reed. Stop this right now. I know Courtney, and I know how much she loves you. What you did in the past has nothing to do with how you feel about her. We all make mistakes, Reed. Please…please don’t let him do this to you. Promise me.”

I sat there and thought about what I’d done in my past. I needed to tell Courtney, or I’d never be able to shake this fear of losing her if she ever found out.

“Reed? Please talk to me,” Wesley whispered.

I cleared my throat. “I’m here. I promise, Wesley.”

“Don’t let him ruin your happiness. He doesn’t deserve it. I’ll let Paul know that Dad is back in town. Are you still going with us to take Paul back to school?”

I nodded my head even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “Yeah, I’m still going. I think Court wants to come along as well.”

“Perfect! I know Mom really loves Courtney, so it will be nice for her to spend time with the whole family. I gotta run, honey. Please don’t worry about Dad. Reed, you are nothing like him. Just always remember that,” Wesley said as I heard her punching in the gate code to our mom’s place.

“Yep. Talk to you later, sis.” I hit End and sat there for a few minutes.

Then, I started driving toward Courtney’s house as I thought about how what I was about to tell her could possibly end my whole future.

I sat on Mimi and Frank’s porch swing, looking out over the pasture, lost in thought.