“Okay. But what happened with Jensen?”
“His ex-wife Vanessa showed up at the party and told me that Jensen had a son.”
“Well, of course he has a son,” Heidi said. “Duh.”
I froze in place. “What do you mean of course he has a son, Heidi! You knew? Why wouldn’t you tell me something like that?”
“Jesus Christ, I didn’t know that you didn’t know, Emery. Everyone knows he has a kid. He’s like this absentee father, who spends all his money on child support and only sees his kid for the holidays. What did you think I meant when I said that he flies to New York every holiday?”
That conversation all those weeks ago when Heidi had said that came back to me. God, I hadn’t even known what she had meant, but now that I did, I felt like an idiot.
“Fuck. Really everyone knows?” I asked.
“I mean it’s not a secret that he had a kid. I swear I thought you knew before you even hooked up with him.”
“I didn’t.”
“Shit, I’m sorry. I would have said something, but I figured you knew and thought it was no big deal. It’s not like this is his first hook up post-child.”
“Yeah,” I said softly. It sure wasn’t. “It just…I don’t think he’s an absentee father, Heidi. I think he’s really involved in his son’s life. He said he’s very protective of people meeting him. He wants me to meet him, and I don’t know if I want that. I don’t think he really trusts me.”
“Maybe he thought you already knew about his son like I did.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think he did. We would have talked about it.”
“Well, now I feel even shittier. What are you going to do?”
I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes. “I have no idea.”
“Look, when you and Jensen started this, it was supposed to be a fling. It’s only been a few weeks since you’ve been together.”
“Yeah. That’s true. Why would he share crucial information with a fling?” she asked miserably. God, I knew that I wasn’t a fling to him, but this whole trust thing was taking me to a bad place.
“You’re not a fling anymore. So, if he wants you to meet his kid, then this is a good sign, Em,” Heidi said. “Just because you didn’t find out the way that you wanted doesn’t mean that he doesn’t trust you.”
“Maybe.”
“Okay. Worry about Kimber right now and deal with Jensen tomorrow. Maybe you’ll have a clear head then. We can talk more if you need to work through it.”
“Thank, Heidi.”
“You’re the best.”
“Don’t forget it.”
We ended the call, and I took my time getting back to the hospital room. I couldn’t believe that Heidi had known…that everyone had known. I knew I was out of the loop on Lubbock gossip, but I thought I would have heard something like this. But no, I had closed myself off from the Wright family so much that I didn’t even know this one piece of information. And Jensen hadn’t trusted me with it.
I sure hoped Heidi was right and that by tomorrow I would know what to do. Because right now, I had a long night ahead of me. A long, tiring night.
Thirty-One
Jensen
Leaving Emery at the hospital was much harder than I’d thought possible. Her words had put my entire life in perspective. I was the one letting Vanessa continue to ruin my life. And I wouldn’t do it any longer. I wouldn’t be ruled by her dictatorship in our relationship. I didn’t care what she wanted or what she thought she could threaten me with. Colton wasn’t a game piece in an adult battle. And I refused to let her use him in such a manner.
He was a six-year-old boy. Vanessa using me and our past as weapons only hurt him. And the last thing in the whole world that I wanted was to hurt my son.
I spent the rest of the night fighting with myself to go to sleep. Even for a half hour. But it never came. When it was finally time that normal humans would be awake, I stumbled out of bed and decided to do something about it. I texted Vanessa to find out where she was staying and then drove the Mercedes over to the hotel downtown.
I parked the car out front and took the elevator to the top floor. I knocked on the door and the nanny, Jennifer, answered the door. She was a twenty-something live-in that Vanessa had hired last year full-time.
“Hey, Jensen!” Jennifer said. “Oh, Colton has been talking about you nonstop!”
“Hey Jennifer. Good to see you too.”
I stepped inside, but before I even fully entered the living room, I heard the familiar ring of, “Daddy!”
Colton launched himself from the couch in the living room and straight into my arms. I picked him up off the ground and swung him around in a circle.
“Hey, champ,” I said, squeezing him tight.
I could never get enough of this. I could never have enough hugs or enough of these moments. Him living in New York was a vise on my chest at all times. I hated it. The week I’d seen him before Christmas wasn’t long enough by far. He’d been in Paris with Vanessa for the two weeks before that, and it had been so hard to let him out of the country. Even if he had done it before, I still worried. Having him here with me always made me less nervous.
Most days, I still couldn’t believe that I had moved back to Lubbock. I’d had to admit that the two years I’d lived in New York were bad for the company. It had been a devastating decision, one I could never take lightly. But I also couldn’t take Colton out of New York. I wanted what was best for him, and even if Lubbock had good schools, I’d be stripping his known environment from him and taking him away from better schools.
On days like today, I wanted to not care.
“God, I missed you so much,” I told him as I moved him to one hip and carried him into the living room.
“I missed you, too! Are you coming home with me and Mommy and Nanny Jenn?” Colton asked. He was an adorable kid with unruly dark hair and big brown eyes that got him anything he ever wanted.