Jessie gave him a wry smile. “Kai, regardless of when he found out about you, you’re his blood. He’s naturally going to be concerned about your wellbeing, especially since he’s gotten the chance to know you recently.” She shrugged. “I’m sure when he didn’t hear from you for a few days…he panicked.”
Kai closed his eyes for a minute and shook his head. “My phone died at the lodge…I never charged it again.” He sighed. “My mom must be freaking out too, since she hasn’t been able to get a hold of me either.”
Jessie cleared her throat, and Kai immediately snapped his eyes open. “What?” he asked, his voice flat.
Jessie looked down at her bed, their bed, and picked at a loose piece of string coming off the blanket. “Well, your dad didn’t know how to find you. He probably thought you went back home…so he…”
Hearing Kai sigh, she looked up at him. “He called my mom, didn’t he?”
Jessie nodded. “And Grams.”
Kai’s mouth dropped open, then he ran his hands down his face and groaned. Peeking at her between his fingers, he muttered, “I guess the honeymoon is over, isn’t it?”
The summation of their few days of bliss made her smile. But he was right. Their uninterrupted time together was over. Sighing, she stood up and laced her hands around his neck. “Back to the real world, babe.”
He slipped his arms around her waist. “At least you’re still a part of that real world.”
She gave him a tender kiss. “I’m not going anywhere you’re not.” They pulled apart, and Jessie bit her lip. “Let’s go see what your dad has to say.” Kai slumped, then nodded. Grabbing her hand, Kai pulled Jessie from the room. His face seemed loose and relaxed, but Jessie felt the tension in his fingers; he was nervous.
Mason looked up from examining a spot on the floor once they were at the end of the hallway. A small smile ghosted across his lips as he stood up. He seemed nervous, too, but also relieved that Kai was still here, still around. Stepping toward the pair as they approached the couch, he extended a hand to Kai.
“Kai, I’m glad I found you.”
Kai glanced at the hand being offered to him, but he didn’t drop Jessie’s hand to take it. Furrowing his brow, he examined the man who had rocked his world. “What are you doing here, Mason?”
The obvious distance between them made Mason sigh as he shoved his hand into his pocket. His aged face—a bit wearier than Jessie remembered from the first time she’d met him—relaxed into neutrality. “You ran out on me. I haven’t seen or heard from you for days…”
Kai hung his head, then peeked up at him. “Are you here to fire me then?”
Shock ran through Jessie as she flicked her gaze between Kai and Mason. She hadn’t considered that Kai might get in trouble for ditching work. Sure, he’d had a really good reason to not return, but a job was still a job, and certain responsibilities were still expected from the employees, regardless of their personal problems. It was why she’d had to call in with a fake illness every day.
The same shock Jessie felt passed through Mason’s face, disturbing his attempt at detachment. Sputtering, he stepped up to Kai and reached out for him before stopping himself and putting his hand back in his pocket. “No, of course not, Kai. The job is yours, for as long as you want it. I understand why you fled.” Exhaustion seemed to overtake him, and all trace of indifference vanished. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay…son.”
His gaze softened as he stared at Kai, and Jessie couldn’t help but note the obvious similarities between father and son. Besides the eyes, there was something about the angle of the jaw, the slope of the nose, the basic bone structure. Kai’s coloring and ethnicity helped to mask a lot of the connection, but once you knew the lineage, there were just too many markers to ignore the truth. This man was Kai’s father.
Still having trouble accepting it, Kai stiffened; his hand loosely held hers and suddenly clenched it painfully tight. “Don’t call me that,” he bit out.
Mason looked away from him, but nodded. Jessie placed her other hand over Kai’s clenched fist and tried to ease the tension she felt there with soothing circles. Jessie understood Kai’s anger and confusion, but none of this was really Mason’s fault. From what Kai had told her, Mason had just recently found out about him.
Kai’s death grip on her hand loosened as Mason returned his eyes to him. “I’m not trying to replace the father who raised you, Kai. That was never my intention.”
“Then what are you doing here?” he asked in a tight voice.
Mason bunched his brows in disbelief. “Is it so hard for you to believe that I care about you?”
Kai looked over at Jessie. She slung her arm around his stomach, holding him tight as she rested her head on his arm. Glancing back at Mason, he shrugged. “I’m not sure what to think or feel right now. You’ll have to excuse me if I’m a little…uncertain how to act around you.”