15. Jack

Chapter 15

Jack

S he looks at me with wide eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I never filed the paperwork.”

“Are you kidding me? Why would you not file it?” She sits up and moves to the end of the bed, but I grab her hand and hold her still.

“Because I didn’t want it to be real. It killed me when you left and I had to let you go. But I couldn't force you into a life that fit me when it didn’t fit you. I never stopped loving you though, and I never gave up on wanting us to be a family.” My voice is pleading.

“You had a funny way of showing it, only showing up for seven days a year.” She’s indignant, stern, her body is tight as she absorbs this information. But she’s still naked, and she’s still here. So I keep going, trying to make her understand.

“I know, and that’s on me. I just wanted to work and make enough where I could make a drastic change and not stress about what the next step is.”

“What does that mean, drastic change? ”

“It means I’m moving back to Wintervale.”

Her shoulders sag, and it's like the fight just left her. She’s been here before. “You have to be sure, Jack. We can’t have you coming and going anymore. You’re either in or you’re out, because we can’t do this back-and-forth anymore. But I know you, and you can’t not work. What are you going to do here?”

I sit up straighter and get closer to her, excited to tell her about the plans I’m still forming. “I’ve already set things into play. I’ve been speaking with a few businesses who are looking to change how they do things, and I am ready to help. I want to add to the town, not take from it. I will be supporting them as an investor only. I’m not looking to buy out or change things, and I’m starting with Dress Me Up.”

She listens to everything I say, but then quietly asks, “So all this time we were still married?”

“Yes.“ She searches my face, clearly wanting to ask every question that I’ve already had. “I’ve already told you, Courtney, I haven’t dated another woman, let alone touched one, since the day you walked out of our apartment. I couldn’t. No one was you and no one will ever be you.” Her eyes get glassy, and I quickly keep going. “There are no words to erase the time I missed, but all I can beg for is a chance to make the new year right. Let me save Christmas. Let me do this for Joey and for you and for us as a family. One call, and I can have it all canceled. The paperwork won’t go through. Tell me you want that too.”