“And he doesn’t?”
“Not once.” Jen wanted to fuck up Judge’s relationship with his son out of spite. She succeeded.
“I’m sorry.”
“My fault, too. Should’ve pushed harder. But I let her win. She wanted me out of her life because I wanted her out of mine. The problem was, Ry got caught in the middle.”
“How old is he now?”
This was when the knife always twisted the most painfully. “Seventeen.” Jen had taken off to California before he’d turned one. He was now at an age where he could think for himself. And that was what hurt the most.
Well, that and missing out on all those years. No pictures, no phone calls.
Nothing.
Cassie whispered, “Holy shit.”
“Yeah, it’s his senior year. Told him I’d pay for his college if he wanted to go.”
“Can you afford it?”
“I’d find a way, even if I had to borrow the scratch. Want his future to be a good one, even if I’m not in it.” But he hoped to fuck he’d be in it.
He was just waiting for his kid to turn eighteen and graduate high school. Then he was inviting him to come back to Manning Grove. Even if it was for a short trip. Just to open that door toward some sort of relationship. He missed watching his boy grow up, he didn’t want to miss out on the rest of Ry’s life.
He just needed to get his son out from under Jen’s thumb. Let him make his own decisions. Let him form his own opinions about his father, too.
Judge only wanted a fair shot at him.
“I can’t imagine having Daisy stolen from me. And here I am crying about Dennis stealing all our money and gambling it away. At least I still have her. What happened to you makes me realize that every minute I have with her is precious.” She rolled back into his side and planted her chin on his chest, staring up at him. Her face twisted. “Except when she’s being a bossy little monster. I don’t know where she gets that from.”
Judge shot her a look. “Right. Got no clue, huh?”
Her expression became a mask of innocence. “Nope. My mother is very opinionated. Maybe it skips a generation.”
“Yeah, sure it does. Just didn’t skip yours.”
She pretended to be insulted. “Are you saying I’m bossy?”
“Sayin’ you try to be bossy. But I ain’t lettin’ you boss me around. You wanna be bossy in bed, might allow it. To a point. Beyond the bed? We might have a serious discussion about it.”
“Will we?”
“Fuckin-A-right.”
Her sassiness disappeared when she stretched up and planted a kiss on his mouth. “Sorry about your son. I wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone. I never understood how a parent could use their children as pawns to hurt the other one. Nobody wins in those types of situations. I only hope he’ll give you a shot. He needs to know you’re a good man, Judge.”
“Glad you think it, but you don’t know me enough to say that.”
Her eyebrows rose. “I know you enough to be naked in bed with you. You’re one of a select few who has had that privilege.”
Judge snorted and he fisted her hair so he could stare into her blue eyes. “A privilege, huh?”
“Well, of course!” She waved a hand over her naked body. “Not everyone gets to experience all this goodness. You should feel lucky.”
He barely managed to keep a straight face. “You’re right, baby, consider myself lucky to have you lying here next to me.”
She grinned. “See?”
“Even luckier you didn’t kick my ass out after hearin’ all that.”
She frowned. “Why? We’ve all done things we’re not proud of. Should that define the rest of our lives? The whole time you told it, I watched your face, I felt your body react, I heard your voice. There’s no doubt you love your son. I only wish he had the opportunity to see that and to get the chance to give you some of that love in return. The only thing you can do is keep reaching out like you are, so he knows you haven’t forgotten about him. One day he’ll see it and realize what it meant. You never know, one day he might just return the call or text. Never give up hope.”
Christ, this woman.
That was a pep talk he needed. He kept that shit buried deep and sometimes it ate at him to the point he felt like giving up. That the whole situation was hopeless. That he should just move on and accept the fact he lost his son and would never get him back.
But he’d always had that thin thread of hope.
And Cassie just turned that thin thread into a rope he could grab onto.
If she believed it, maybe he needed to keep believing it, too.
“Baby?”
“Hmm?”
“Think I gotta fuck you again.”
“I thought you needed sleep for the drive in the morning?”
“Will get Deke to drive. Right now, you’re more important than sleep. And I’m feelin’ pretty lucky. Lemme show you just how lucky...”
Cassie groaned as she rolled over, pushed the hair out of her face and glanced at the digital clock.
How could she be so sore from sex?
A smile spread across her face as she stretched.
Because it was super awesome sex and loads of it. After years of not having it, she couldn’t get enough.
It helped that Judge was game to make sure she got everything she needed.
She wiped the sleep out of her eyes and sat up. She was supposed to make breakfast this morning, but Judge was already gone from the bed and she couldn’t hear any kind of racket. Maybe he left and couldn’t wait for breakfast.
Once again, he hadn’t woken her up.
She thought again about his son and that satisfied smile she wore disappeared. While her daughter was a handful, she couldn’t imagine not having Daisy in her life. Daisy was a piece of her. Just like Ry was a piece of Judge.
He was heading up to Rochester this morning to help her. She only wished she could help him heal that wound in return. But not only was it not for her to fix, she wouldn’t even know how or where to begin.
The frustration she felt from that probably wasn’t even a fraction of the frustration Judge dealt with and had dealt with for years.
Years.
Years of not seeing his son. Of no communication. Of being totally cut from Ry’s life out of pure spite.
Jen was evil but also smart to leave Pennsylvania and move across the country. It made it easier to fuck Judge over. Because if she had stayed, he could’ve forced his rights as a father.
Seeing the way he was with Daisy made her believe he would’ve been a great father. Ry lost out on all of that. That was sad and shameful. She could only hope his ex-wife was hit with the karma bus.
Cassie would be glad to be behind the wheel.
She normally didn’t wish ill on anyone, but right now, she had two people on her shit list.
She needed to get up and check on her own child. Because if Judge had left, she wouldn’t put it past Daisy to have her butt planted in front of the TV, watching cartoons and on her way to a sugar high by eating Heather’s stash of Hershey Kisses for breakfast.
Cassie groaned at the thought of having to tie Daisy to a chair so she didn’t bounce off the walls like a ping pong ball.
Plus, she had no idea where the dogs were and if they’d even been outside yet.