Page 53 of Close to My Heart

I didn’t tell him, but I planned on making my move well before the divorce came to fruition. If we divorced, that meant I’d put everything on the table, and she’d said no to a future with me. The only thing left to preserve would be our friendship, and that would be hard if I revealed my true feelings for her.

Dad opened the slider from the basement. “Is this where the troublemakers are?”

Otto ran right up to him, and Dad handed him the treat he always kept in his pocket for him.

“They’re at the wedding dress shop spending all of Wes’s money,” Jameson helpfully added.

Dad’s eyes flashed with amusement. “Is that so?”

I stood and slapped him on the back. “You made it.”

Dad sat on a chair. “I wanted to tell you all something while you’re together.”

We looked at each other.

“Axel is taking his leave with us sometime in the summer.”

“Too bad he couldn’t be here for your fake wedding,” Jameson teased.

“How should I talk to him about your marriage?” Dad asked me.

“Let’s not tell him. I don’t want him worried about me when he should be focused on his job.” There was no way Axel would understand. He saw everything in black –and-white, right or wrong, and this was most definitely wrong. We were lying to Sutton’s family. I didn’t like it, but it was necessary.

Dad sighed heavily. “I don’t like lying to him, but that’s probably for the best.”

“He’d hate this.” He wouldn’t understand why Sutton didn’t walk away from the ultimatum and her family. It wasn’t lost on me that Axel enlisted when he turned eighteen and hadn’t returned other than for short visits. Sometimes he preferred to go home with friends than come here.

“I’m just happy he’ll be home soon. It’s been too long,” Teddy said.

Dad looked around at us. “I’m worried about you boys. I don’t want you to be afraid to make a commitment to someone.”

Jameson frowned. “Why would we be?”

Jameson might have met his significant other, but the rest of us hadn’t, or at least weren’t pursuing anyone.

“You watched your mother get sick and die. That would be traumatic for anyone. I don’t want you to hesitate to make those connections with someone. I couldn’t have said this at the time. But now that I’ve had some time to think about it, and I’ve watched Daphne and Fiona fall in love and get married, it was better to have loved and lost your mother, than to never have had her at all. I wouldn’t have all of you, and you’re the best things I’ve ever done.”

“That’s nice, Dad,” Teddy said, “but I don’t think Mom’s death affects our relationship status.”

Dad grunted. “I’m not so sure about that. The rest of you are anticommitment. Hell, Wes is marrying his best friend just for her inheritance.”

I held up my hands. “To be clear, I’m not getting any money out of this deal. She and her mother talked about giving a lump sum to me, but I said no. I don’t want her money. I just want her to be happy.”

“By this time next year, you’ll be divorced, and what will you have gotten out of the situation?” Dad asked.

“You think I’m wasting my time,” I said, knowing I wasn’t. This was something I had to do, and I didn’t need to explain it to anyone else.

Dad let out a breath. “I just worry about you. All of you. I want to see you settled and happy.”

I exchanged a look with Teddy.

“I get that. But you can’t force love,” Jameson said. “Sometimes it appears when you least expect it.”

“Like with you and Claire?” I asked, genuinely curious and feeling weird about asking my little brother for advice. But the fact was, he’d found love before the rest of us. We’d always thought he was young and immature, but he knew what he wanted and went after it.

“Neither of us were looking for love. I didn’t think I’d find it with a single mom, but I love her and her son. So don’t rush it.”

“I’m not saying to rush it. I’m just asking you to open your minds to the possibility of meeting someone. You’re not getting any younger.” Dad gave Teddy a pointed look. Then he turned his attention to me. “If you love that girl, you have to tell her.”

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