When she put it that way…
“You had Dave when you were sixteen?” Bex asked, not looking at all surprised by it. “I knew you were young when you had him because you’re young to have a son his age now, but wow. I actually thought you were brothers when I first came back. Logan had told me the sheriff’s dad worked in the department, too, but I expected you to be close to retirement, so I didn’t put two and two together until Ava explained it to me.”
Ava was Bex’s best friend and the girlfriend of the guy who owned the tattoo shop in town, Mace. They were both outstanding people who contributed hugely to making Piersville as impressive as it was.
I’d also been the one to arrest Mace’s dad on an outstanding warrant, which led to him being sent to prison for eight years. After it, I’d apologized to Mace, but he’d been happy about it and thanked me for making the place safer.
“Do you think it’s weird Evie’s not that much older than Dave?” Tabby asked Bex.
Bexley was just shaking her head and opening her mouth to reply when my son stuck his head between his wife and me.
“Why don’t you ask me, seeing as how I’m the son in question?” When none of us did, he sighed. “There’s jack shit wrong with it. If she makes you happy and you make her happy, where’s the issue?”
I didn’t say anything and instead looked down as Sheena tried to insert her fist into her mouth. It used to be her foot, but we’d had to stop her from doing that quickly because she was walking and hated wearing shoes.
“I know what the problem is—you’re still letting the Luli situation weigh you down, Dad.” The comment was so close to home on what my biggest issue was that my head snapped up with surprise.
“Look, you took on a case that put you in a situation you hated. But like we’ve told you a hundred times at least, you saved lives, marriages, and families from going through hell. I can’t even guess what the actual figure would be for law enforcement personnel going into cases that involved having to have a ‘relationship’ like that with someone to get information, but I know it would be high.”
“To be fair, the men and women who left their wives as part of the scam might have cheated anyway,” Tabby mused, staring blindly at the fence. When no one said anything, she added quickly, “But a lot might not have, plus people were killing themselves after they figured out they’d been conned, and families were torn apart.”
I knew all of this. I’d repeated it to myself every day while I’d had to pretend and that I’d had to distance myself from my son for to keep him safe. And with Evie, I think my biggest worry that kept intruding, even after I set my mind to the fact I wanted something with her, was that if my past or something fucked it up, Cody and her would get hurt by it. I didn’t want to run the risk of letting more people down like I had done with DB.
“What I’m saying—and not fucking up, unlike my wife—is that you’re not the only one who’s done it and who’s been left feeling like you are now. Life can’t stop because you went above and beyond. You deserve happiness and to be in a loving relationship. Heck, Luli was the first woman I’d seen you with since Mom died, and it wasn’t even real. You’re good with both her and Cody, Dad, and that kid thinks you’re like a superhero. Let it happen and enjoy it.”
A tap on my shoulder had me looking back again to see Logan sitting with Bex on his lap now. “Let yourself have that happiness, man. You deserve a woman who loves you and makes you feel complete.”
Bex’s face softened as she looked down at him, knowing that the words applied to their relationship, too. As I turned back to my son and his wife, I realized it applied to their marriage as well.
We all had things holding us back from moving forward, whether we realized it or not. Instead of finding reasons to justify it, these two couples had chosen to go with love and happiness.
Lifting my eyes to look at Evie, I smiled when I saw her standing with her head tipped back, laughing her ass off as Jacinda squealed when the pads on her arms made the muscles contract, and she hacked a big chunk of hair off the mannequin.
“Think about it.” Tabby patted my hand and then followed where I was watching. “I don’t know how they come up with this stuff, but these three are hilarious.”
“Right?” Bex agreed, snuggling into Logan as she giggled at the horrified expression on Jacinda’s face as she held up the hair. “It’s incredible to see them making it work for them, you know?