Noah (The Mitchell/Healy Family #1)(58)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Noah

When Shalan got to her first destination she called me every morning and afternoon. It wasn’t until the second day when the calls started to taper off. She was filling in for a backup singer that was having surgery. Shalan, being focused on learning all that she could, lost track of time most nights. By the seventh day I wondered if she’d forgotten all about me.

Since I knew when her return flight came in, I decided that I’d wait to see if she called me before telling my parents that she was coming for a visit. I couldn’t take the chance of making a fool out of myself when she didn’t show.

I waited all night for her to call, and heard nothing.

It hurt, especially since we’d connected the way we had. I felt like I knew her enough to trust that what we were feeling about each other was mutual.

The next morning I headed over to my parents to have breakfast. Bells was already gone for work, and it happened to be just me and my parents. Right away my mother noticed something was wrong. “Does the look on your face have something to do with who you went to see last weekend?”

“What look?” I tried to play it off, even though I knew I wasn’t fooling them.

My father took a drink of his coffee and sat the cup back down on the table. “She got a name, son?”

“Does it matter? I mean, I’m pretty sure I’m never goin’ to see her again.”

“Why’s that?” He asked.

“We live in two different worlds. She’s got big plans, and I’ve -,” I stopped before I could say something that would piss him off.

“You’ve what?” Of course he would still want to know.

I put my silverware down on my plate and placed my hands on my knees under the table as I spoke. “I’m stuck here.”

My mother walked over and put her hands on my dad’s shoulders. He reached up and touched one of them, turning to give her a reassuring smile. “It’s fine, darlin’.”

When he called her that it made me think of Shalan. At first she’d hated when I called her that, but I’d learned it from my father. He’d always called my mom that, out of respect and love.

“Son, I know you don’t believe this, but I was once in your shoes. You think I always wanted this life? Noah, I could have played football, hell, I could have done anything I wanted to. I finished college with a business degree. I could have been an accountant makin’ mediocre money anywhere in the state.”

“What stopped you? Was it your dad?” He never talked about his father, mostly because it upset him so much. My mom told me once that they’d fought all of the time, and my dad hated that they’d not been on great terms when he passed away.

“Yeah, I guess in a way. I can’t really explain it. All I know is that I woke up one mornin’ and knew it was where I belonged. I realized that above all, my family was the most important thing in my life. I’ve never regretted my choice.” He cleared his voice before continuing. “You know, I can be a pain in the ass, I get it. You need to understand that I’ve lived your life, son. I see you makin’ the same mistake that I did. The grass ain’t always greener on the other side. That sayin’ stands true in every aspect.”

“I get it. I’m here and I’m not leavin’.”

“Noah, the happiest day of my life was findin’ out I had a son. I’m hard on you because I want you to be better than I was. No matter what you decide in your life, I’m still goin’ to be your father.”

I smiled and nodded my head at the same time. “I appreciate that. You don’t have to worry. Even if I thought about leavin’ before, I know there ain’t nothin’ for me anywhere else.”

Okay, in my defense I knew I was being dramatic. Shalan didn’t have an inkling about how I felt about her. Feeling sorry for myself wasn’t going to get her to call me, but it sure as hell made me feel better about coming home to the ranch. At the end of the day, it would always be there for me.

“Did Bella tell you her parents are comin’ to visit next weekend?” My mother asked as she grabbed my dish and put it in the sink.

“No.”

“They aren’t bringing the boys,” she added. “They’re staying home this time.”

“Good. I don’t feel like seein’ those little pricks.”

“I know what you mean. At least when I was younger there was only one of them.” My father and my uncle Ty had a love-hate relationship when they were younger. Nowadays they were the best of friends. I think it mostly had something to do with my mom dating uncle Ty before she got with my dad. Even though he’d won the girl, he still held it against my uncle whenever he got the chance.

“How’s his hand, by the way?” I hadn’t asked since the fight at the anniversary party.

“He was fine the next day. Miranda said it scabbed over and he never mentioned it again. You know how they are.”

“I wasn’t stickin’ around to deal with it.”

“For the record, son, I didn’t know about your sister until after you left.”

“Water under the bridge, dad.” I put up my hands hoping that he’d drop the subject. My mind was elsewhere and the sooner I got out of the kitchen, the better I was going to feel.

My dad and I headed out to start our day a little later. Once we’d separated, I took my time with my daily routine. By noon I was sweating up a storm and needed to cool off and get a drink. I’d no sooner walked into my kitchen when my phone started ringing.

I looked down and saw the person who was calling, and definitely regretted hitting the answer button.

“Perry. What’s up?” I hadn’t talked to my ex since I left her in shambles, and honestly, I hadn’t thought about her since I’d hooked up with Shalan.

“I just missed you, Noah. I thought you’d have called me by now to talk about things, or maybe even check on me.”

I cleared my throat before I answered, really because I was stalling. As bad as I felt about what I did, I knew I probably wouldn’t have met Shalan. Even if she chose to never call me again, I couldn’t regret the time that I had with her, because being together made me forget about everything else. “Sorry. I figured I’d be the last person you’d want to hear from.”

“She told me what happened. I know she came on to you.”

“I still did it, Per. It takes two people.”

“Yeah.” The line got quiet. “It happened and I can’t change that, but I want to move forward. I want you back, and I’ll do whatever it takes.”