5. Jack

Chapter 5

Jack

I walk into Trudy’s Diner, the same old diner that's been here for years. The smell of bacon is strong no matter what time of day it is, and the round stools at the front counter are always taken by kids wanting to spin until they get dizzy.

“Jack Fristoni, is it time for your annual visit for your son?” Her tone is sharp.

“I’m here on busines?—”

“Of course you are?—”

“…and to see my son. He’ll actually be coming back with me to New York for a short time.” Not that it’s her business, but I need to put Miss Trudy in her place.

She raises her brow and leans on the counter. “You’re taking him from his mama?”

“I’m taking him to spend time with his father in my home.”

“ This is his home. You left, not the other way around.”

I scrub my hand over my face because there is no winning with this woman. She’s the same one who used to chase me out of the diner kitchen for stealing cookies when they came out of the oven. She’s the same woman who always had a stern look and chastised me for walking the wrong way on the sidewalk. And when I started dating Courtney, she had lots of warnings for me. So I imagine Courtney returning with my son and without me has made for quite a few years of built-up tension. As is par for the course with the rest of this town.

She leans even closer. “Let me tell you something, Jack. Someone else may not, but I will. You luring that girl away from here, away from her home, only to force her back here alone is an unforgivable act. If you are the man you say you are, you’re going to step up now and erase these last five years that you have missed.”

I try to speak, but she cuts me off again. “If you’re the man I think you are, I bet you’ll leave town tomorrow without doing the right thing because you’ve never done the right thing. Right down to stealing those cookies from my kitchen. I’m onto you and your game.”

I know I’m not getting a bite of food here today, so instead, I tell her thank you for the warm welcome home. She purses her lips and raises a brow, daring me to say more. I leave the diner knowing she’s right. I did lure Courtney away from this town. Even though she wanted to follow January, I had big ideas and plans for both of us, but somewhere along the line, her plans changed and mine didn’t.

And I did not adapt to anything she needed. I thought I was doing enough, working endless hours a day to give her things she could not have gotten here in Montana. But once I got a taste for success and the lifestyle of the big city, there was no going back, no matter what was at stake. I wanted more, I wanted to give it my all, but I couldn’t stop even when it was all falling apart.