Page 50 of Loving Justice

“There’s no reason to involve anyone else in this until the time comes. I have a wife that I need to consider.” And he doubted she’d ever forgive him.

“I’ll give you two days. Got it? Two days,” she repeated.

She appeared frantic.

He watched her stomp back toward her car and the cloud of dust she created as she sped down the lane.

Would Justice speak to him?

They needed to talk.

He felt numb as he headed toward the house. Ilene had mentioned to him that she and Justice were planning to paint her bedroom. He took the stairs two at a time, his heart beating so fast he thought it might pop out of his chest. All he could think was that he’d hurt his chances of making his wife happy and having a family for Ilene.

Upstairs, Ilene and Justice’s laughter filtered out into the hallway. Music was playing and they were singing along. Justice had taken Ilene under her wing. They’d become friends, sisters. He loved this. Everything had felt so right up until they weren’t.

All because he’d made a colossal mistake.

When he stepped into the bedroom, neither his sister nor Justice saw him. They were busily singing and dancing while they moved the rollers up and down the wall. He didn’t realize he was smiling until his cheeks ached. Ilene looked so happy and content.

Justice was the first to notice him.

All the joy left her features, and accusation filled her expression. She dropped the roller into the pan and shut the music off.

“Hey! I love that song,” Ilene complained. Then she saw Jinx. “Have you come to help paint?” Her smile was warm.

“Maybe later, but I need to speak to Justice right now. Can you give us a moment?”

“I guess. I will.” She set the roller down. “I need to check my messages. I met a new friend at school today and we plan to go shopping this weekend.” There was an entire transformation in Ilene.

“That sounds like fun. We’ll talk about it later, okay?” He hated to rush her away, but the conversation he was about to have with Justice might destroy everything he’d built.

“Have fun you two,” Ilene sung on her way out.

Jinx closed the door.

“Lanah came to visit you, didn’t she?” Justice’s voice was so soft he almost couldn’t hear her.

He swiped his palms down his face. “She did. Justice, I—”

“I almost told you a dozen times but couldn’t find the right words.” Dark circles lined her eyes. He felt responsible for her sadness.

“You shut me out,” he groaned.

“This…the baby changes everything.”

He took a step but stopped. “It doesn’t have to. What I did, sleeping with Lanah, was before you. It was one night.”

Justice shook her head. “One night or ten. It doesn’t matter. We all have a past, but we’re talking about a child. A son or daughter that will need your care forever.”

“I haven’t had time to wrap my head around this…all this, but are you saying we don’t have a chance because of the child?”

She looked like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. “What I’m saying is if you would have known, if we would have known, we would have never gotten married.”

He took another step, needing to be closer to her. “Do you think I want to be with Lanah?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head and sending tendrils of hair swirling around her cheeks. “But I know you, and you will want to be with your child. I want you to be free to be with your child.”

He removed his hat and tossed it onto the bed. “I made a mistake. The baby isn’t a mistake, but if I had known that you and I would end up in this situation today, I would've made a different choice and not been with her. I had no idea.”

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