Page 29 of Embracing the Change

He then called his son.

“Dad—” Judge answered.

“Turn this fucking boat around, Judge.”

“Dad, listen to me?—”

“Turn it around.”

“What’s going on with you two?” Judge asked.

And there was one question answered, what had precipitated this drastic action.

They’d all definitely noticed he and Nora no longer spent time together.

“It’s not your business.”

“How do you figure that?” Judge returned, and his words were becoming aggravated.

“We’re adults. I don’t get involved in your relationship with your wife.”

“Think about that,” Judge clipped.

“About me not getting involved when you and Chloe fight?”

“Chloe and I don’t fight. I tell Chloe something that’s bothering me. She either decides it’s important to factor into her life, or not. And then I realize, if it’s not, it’s not important, and if it is, all is copasetic.”

“I’ve seen you fight, Judge.”

“You’ve seen Chloe throw dramas. Everyone knows to ignore her when she does that. It eventually passes.”

Jamie blew out an infuriated sigh.

“What I mean is, think about how you jumped right to that comparison,” Judge carried on.

“Sorry?” Jamie queried.

“Whatever is happening with you and Nora being akin to my relationship with my wife.”

Fucking hell.

Jamie grew silent.

“Yup,” Judge said, ending that one-syllable word with a decisive pop.

“Bring us home. We’ll have dinner together on the boat. We’ll work things out. And when I get home, I’ll find time to sit down with you and your sister and explain why this can’t be what all of you think it is.”

“You can talk to me until it’s two thousand and ninety-nine, and I won’t get that. Dru either.”

“Judge—”

“You’re allowed to be happy, Dad.”

“Judge!” he bit, but he got nothing further out.

“Mom was whatever Mom was. That wasn’t on you,” Judge bit back. “Rosalind died. Her loss was hideous, but it happened. That wasn’t on you either. Live your life, for shit’s sake. And be happy.”

“Don’t talk to me like that,” Jamie gritted.

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