Page 18 of Xavier

He’d probably say no and that was okay. Extending the offer was the least I could do, though. I would hate for him to find out after I let it slip that I had the opportunity to invite him and just didn’t. If the situation were reversed, I’d feel hurt, too.

Besides, the worst he could tell me in the end was that he was planning on spending Christmas back home with Dexter.

Pulling my phone out of my vest and flipping it over, I noticed a text message already waiting for me. I’d missed the sound of the notification going off in the midst of the chaos in sending off my coworkers.

Opening it up, I saw Xavier’s name at the top and his message directly underneath.

>>Call me.

CHAPTER 8

Xavier

The last thingI expected to wake up to that morning was a text from Kate’s number telling me to call her with no other context given

While normally at that point I would’ve been pinching myself to make sure I wasn’t in some sort of horrible nightmare where my ex was threatening to take my kid away from me again, my blaring alarm had those thoughts straightening right out and bringing me back down into reality.

Pulling myself out of bed while clutching my phone tight in my hand, I made my way into the kitchen to brew myself a cup of coffee that I’d most definitely need before I had any conversation with Kate.

While her text to me was simple in terms of her request, it also left my mind wandering far too much for my liking.

Obviously, the only reason she’d be contacting me was to discuss my upcoming trip with Dexter. And of course, judging by her text, I had absolutely no idea which way she was swaying toward.

The fact that she was even trying to contact me at all spoke to what little progress we’d made from the last time we’d talked. Sure, it wasn’t much, but it was better than what we had before, which was complete stonewalling.

I’d take the stunted communication over thatanyday.

With my coffee finally brewed and a few sips down the hatch, I set my phone down on the counter after putting it on speaker and let the warmth from my mug seep into my hands to keep me steady.

Talking with Kate always set me on edge, no matter what the situation was. I wanted to lie to myself and pretend that I had no lasting effects from our divorce still lingering within me after running myself ragged going through therapy. However, the pounding of my heart told me otherwise.

Thankfully, she didn’t keep me waiting too long, answering on the third ring. “Hey.”

“Morning,” I said, hoping my pleasant tone was at least a little bit of a buffer for the inevitable awkwardness that was about to happen.

She didn’t waste time on any of the pleasantries, cutting right to the chase. “I need to lay out some ground rules for this trip.”

My heart fluttered in my chest. Jesus, she was actually going to let me take him. No trying to stonewall me into changing my mind or negotiating me down into keeping him here for a local trip. I wasactuallygoing to get to spend an entire weekend withmy son and share an important experience with him—just the two of us.

I didn’t know whether to thank Dan for talking some sense into her, or for Kate finally wanting to bury the hatchet for the time being. Either way, I was eternally grateful.

Clearing my throat, I said. “All right. Go ahead.”

“He needs to call me every night before bed. I don’t want any excuses that you guys got too busy and didn’t have time. He’s my son, too, Xavier. I want to hear from him. I see and talk to him every single day and this trip isn’t going to keep me from that routine.”

I could work with that. “Done.”

She let out a soft sigh. “I also want updates on what you guys are doing. I… I may have went a little overboard in accusing you of wanting to take him to gay bars and stuff the last time we talked. I know… I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. I just?—”

My mouth dropped open in disbelief while I stared down at my phone and her number lit up on the screen still.

Not only was that sounding a lot like an apology, but the fact that Kate wasrecognizingshe’d fucked up in accusing me of doing something so heinous to our son was the exact last thing I ever expected to hear out of her mouth.

Maybe deep down, Kate really did want to trust me.

Her years of being resentful toward me made that nearly impossible—a situation of my own making, unfortunately—and while I never blamed her for hating me, I wished things could’ve been different.

If I was less of a coward in being honest with myself and those around me, if she and her family were less bigoted… So many possibilities of our futures having turned out differently could’ve happened.

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