Repair Me (Kin #1)(65)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I could tell she was avoiding certain conversations, and by the time the evening news came on, we hardly said a word to each other. It wasn’t like it was her fault, even though she felt it was. Ashley had taken her obsession for me and turned it into revenge. She was like one of those girls on television that says “if she can’t have me, nobody will”.

I considered all options to figure out what to do to help my dad. One could only imagine what was going through that man’s mind. He’d just got my mother back after years of them being separated. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, she was doing so well. It sucked that it could all turn to shit again, because of this.

Since I’d wrecked my truck, I would now have to replace it. How was I supposed to do that without any source of income or a real home address?

Ashley had f**ked me royally. She had taken what was once a fun time and turned it to shit, all because she didn’t get her way. I thought as adults we were supposed to grow up and mature. She’d aged in reverse as far as mentality went.

Now she was pregnant and expecting a child that I knew she had no desire to have. We’d talked about a dozen times when we were younger and Ashley was adamant about never wanting children. She said she hated crying babies and would never want to be tied down by that kind of responsibility. The only time she agreed to have kids, was when I was breaking up with her. She said it out of desperation, not because she’d changed her mind.

Her father didn’t know it, but he was enabling her to act out in such a way that it would end up ruining his career. They may have taken away everything from my family, but it would never make me change my mind about them. They were bad people and I felt sorry for the baby that she was carrying. The child would probably never know what a good father I would have been. It certainly would never know what it was like to have two parents that loved each other and wanted to be a family.

Thinking about it made me sad. I started wondering if I would ever be able to even see the child. I hadn’t considered that one day I would want someone to call me Daddy, but now that I knew there was a child involved, it seemed like I couldn’t wait for it to happen.

Still, I had no control over what they were going to do. Sure, we could hire a lawyer and lose more money to fight someone with power that would win regardless of my situation. It was a lose-lose situation for me and I needed to realize that my chances were slim.

The depression was getting the best of me due to the fact that I was stuck in this hospital. I was worried about Sky and hoping Ash got her shit and got out of my life. I worried about the future of my family. If I stepped out on them, I wanted to know they were going to be okay.

With so much time on my hands, decisions were becoming the highlight of my days. There was only one thing I was sure of, and that was the fact that I wanted a future with Sky. Come Hell or high water, I was going to find a way for us to be together. I didn’t care if I had to work three jobs, or sell my soul. I was going to make it happen.

Chapter 31

Skylar

Ford still had a couple days left in the hospital. Since I was supposed to go to my classes, I used that excuse and left the hospital. My father had come home early to attend a business meeting, so I drove straight to his warehouse to meet him. After hugging me, I could tell he wanted to know why I’d skipped school to visit him. He led me to his office and closed the door behind us. “What’s wrong? Did something happen to Ford?”

I sat down and folded my hands. “Ford is fine. Well, physically he’s fine. I think there are some things we need to talk about though. I don’t know how you’re going to feel about him once I’m done, so I need you to promise to be open-minded.”

He put both hands on his desk and leaned forward. “Okay. You’re scaring me now.”

“I told you how Ford and I met and how his ex-girlfriend still wanted to be with him. I’m not going to go into every detail, but basically, before we became a couple, they slept together. Now she’s claiming she’s pregnant and he’s the father.”

“But you think she’s lying?”

I motioned for him to wait before I went on. “My opinion doesn’t matter, right now. What matters is what has happened because of it.”

“I’m all ears.”

“When Ford and I became a couple, Ashley went crazy. Her father is some big councilman in their town and apparently Ford’s dad didn’t pay his taxes for quite a while. Because Ford and Ashley were dating, her dad overlooked it.”

My dad cut me off. “Let me guess. Now that they aren’t seeing “eye to eye”, the bills finally came back into play?”

“Pretty much.”

My dad sat back, folded his hands together and beat his index fingers onto his mouth, like he did when he was thinking. “Are you coming for money?”

I shook my head. “No. I’m coming here as an adult to tell you that I’m using some of grandmom’s money that she left for me to pay for them. Ford doesn’t know and I don’t want you to tell him.”

“That money is for your future, Skylar.”

I smiled. “You may not believe this, dad, but I feel like Ford is my future. You can be angry with me and cut me off from everything you do for me, but that account was left to me and I want to do this. I want to help them, because they’ve lost so much already. I can’t stand to see people struggle when we live so comfortably.”

“I’m assuming this decision is final. If that’s the case then I would like to give you another option.” I knew my father was going to try to fight me to not take out that money. It was hard for anyone to understand that my feelings for Ford were real and that they were going to last. I knew it in my heart and I felt it in my gut that I loved Ford and he loved me.

“I won’t change my mind, but I’ll hear you out.” I stuck with my gut and wasn’t about to change my mind.

He pulled something out of his desk drawer and pushed it across to me. It was an application for employment and the necessary paperwork for a background and drug test. “My option is to provide Ford with a new business opportunity. If all goes well, he will receive a hefty signing bonus after six months, in which he can use to repay you for helping him.”

I pushed the paperwork back toward him. “Dad, you can’t do that for me.”

He pushed it back. “I’ve already asked Ford. He’d be crazy to pass up on it. The new division needs young people with experience. Ford would be perfect and I can tell that he’s a hard worker. Look at what he’s sacrificed already.”