Isabella (The Mitchell/Healy Family #2)(42)
Author: Jennifer Foor

My mother used to tell me that if I loved something I needed to let it go to see if it would come back to me. This was what she meant, and I knew it was going to be difficult. Considering that I’d spent so much time thinking about her, especially since we’d been intimate, it was impossible to sit around knowing she was so close. All I wanted to do was head to the party and sweep her off her feet.

I could hear music playing in the distance, and honestly felt left out. A part of me longed to have a family again; to be a part of something that was unbreakable. The only problem with that was knowing what could happen when I opened my heart again. Isabella had already shot me down, so many times that I stopped counting. She’d told me to stay out of her life several times, leaving me to head back here and be miserable.

I didn’t know how I was supposed to move forward, and let her go at the same time. While contemplating my options, someone knocked on my door. Excitement was soon turned to disappointment when I saw her dad standing there. “Do you mind if I come in?”

I opened the door and motioned for him to take a seat. His pockets were full of beers and he offered me one right away.

I put my hands up. “No thanks.”

“More for me.” I could tell he’d had a few from the way he said it. Just to be safe, I sat on the opposite side of the room.

“Is everything okay?”

“I came to talk to you about my daughter. She’s asked me to leave your past alone, but you can understand how that concerns me.” He took a few sips of his beer before continuing. “I think that in light of this situation between the two of you it would help everyone if we could spend more time together. Since we’re leaving in the morning, I am here to invite you to come to North Carolina and see where my daughter grew up. We can spend some one on one time together, and start over without my relatives breathing down your back. I trust my daughter, Rusty, but she kept you a secret, and until I can figure out why I’m going to keep my guard up.”

I sat there across from him with my elbows propped on my knees. The man had every right to feel the way he did. I could have made things better by telling him the truth, but that wasn’t an option for me, not until I could figure out how to handle myself without losing my shit in front of him.

“I’d be glad to accompany your daughter to North Carolina. I hope that it will put your mind at ease.”

He stood up and I did the same. When he walked up closer to me I didn’t know what to expect. He put his arm on my shoulder and looked down at the floor. “I’m still pissed you knocked up my daughter, but my wife says I’ve got to try. She wears the pants in our house, so I don’t have a choice. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll learn how to accept that. Iz is exactly like her mother.”

The distraught man turned and left without saying anything else.

For a while I sat back down and thought about what I wanted to do. On one hand I felt like I needed to let Isabella know that her father had come to me. On the other, I knew she needed space. My concern was that if I gave her that space it could all backfire on me, leaving me more alone than I’d ever been before.

It wasn’t long until another knock came to my door. I half expected to open it and see her father back again, since he already looked as if he’d thrown back a few too many. I couldn’t blame him.

This time when I opened the door I was met with one of Isabella’s brothers. He stepped inside before I ask him to. “Which one are you?”

He looked around the room, and then finally toward me. “Jax.”

“So what’s up? Your dad was just hear a bit ago. Were you looking for him?”

“Nah. My dad’s got nothing to do with my visit.”

I leaned against my arm chair, feeling a little uncomfortable about this kid being in my house. There was something strange about the way he was looking at me. “So what’s up? Did your sister send you here?”

He smiled, as if I was way off. “Nope. I came here because something’s been bugging me since last night. You see, me and Jake are real close to our sister. We know things that our parents don’t.”

“Just tell me why you’re here. I’m not in the mood to decipher some hidden agenda of yours.” He was annoying the shit out of me. I had enough to worry about than him standing there talking in code.

“That baby she’s carrying, well I don’t think it’s yours. I haven’t asked my sister, but I know for a fact that she spent the night with her ex a while back. I’ve been doing the math in my head for the last twenty-fours hours. She’s never once mentioned you, dude. The whole family is asking her questions, and she refuses to talk about it.”

All I could think about was the fact that he’d thrown his sister’s secret out to me. What if I didn’t know about her being with the ex? It was possible that she’d cheated on me, for all he knew. “You’ve got no right to come in here and make these kinds of accusations.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I’m not here to get to the bottom of some conspiracy. Some things are better left unsaid. I’m here because that baby is going to need a dad. So I’m going to ask you once. Are you just covering for my sister, or do you care about her?”

“I’m not covering for anyone.”

“You didn’t answer the question.” He was plucking my nerves. What did this guy want from me?

“Just tell me why you’re here.”

“My sister has this problem with letting go of her ex. Yesterday she found out he’d tried to end his life, and I’ve got this feeling that she tried to contact him. I checked her phone last night and saw that she called North Carolina. I’m sure if I called the number, he’d answer. Now the way I see it you’ve got options. You can help me make sure she stays in Kentucky, or you can make sure that she’s never going to want to be with that common ass**le again.”

“You seem to harbor some ill feelings toward this guy. She doesn’t talk much about him. Can you tell me what’s so bad?”

“He cheated on my sister for years. On one occasion she was assaulted because of him. God only knows what else he’s done to her, aside from lowering her self esteem and causing her to want to leave her home in hopes of getting away from him.”

The more he explained, the more I understood. In fact, it was all starting to make sense. “I appreciate that you want what’s best for your sister. I wouldn’t have stood up and taken responsibility if I didn’t expect to step in. Your sister means a lot to me, and I intend to do whatever it takes to prove that to her, and to the rest of the family.”