Page 80 of I'll Carry You

His words made her cry harder. He came closer and wrapped his arms around her, tightly. She cried in his arms, feeling safety in her father that she hadn’t really allowed herself to feel for so long. When she’d settled, she sat back, and he wiped her cheeks with a tissue. His own eyes were red-rimmed. “I’m so sorry, Dad.”

He gave her a sad smile, then held her hands. “I want you to know a few things. The first is that you’re welcome to stay here as long as you want. But you remember Price’s Hardware store on Main? It’s been available for rent for the last few years.”

He dug into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a wrinkled envelope. “I talked to Millie today. She said you mentioned to Jason your interest in the property. She’s having trouble renting or selling it because of the cost of the updates needed. But she’s going to let you use it. Rent free. The contract is here, just to make things official, but there won’t be a cost to you.”

Jen stared at the envelope.What?“Why?”

“It’s a good place. Prime location on Main. And it has a nice apartment on the top floor. The interior needs a lot of work, but I had Garrett Doyle meet me there. He’s willing to do all the work it needs at a good price. To convert it to a bakery, that is. I know you’ll need a business loan to get you started and pay for the updating, but I’d be willing to help by cosigning a business loan.”

A bakery for her.

“Dad!” Jen pushed the chair back. “I can’t accept this. You and Mom—you don’t have the money to just give me such an enormous gift.” And what if she failed? She was the screwup of the family. The one who was back at her parents’ house with her hand out.

“I know it’s a lot to consider. And if you’re not comfortable with it, then we don’t have to do it. And you know me, I’m not going to just jump into something like this without making sure we do our homework. We’ll have to draw up a proper business plan, get your finances sorted, meet with a financial planner, my lawyer, and a loan officer at the bank. Think of a way to handle childcare for Colby. But those are all details we can figure out with hard work and diligence. And together, Jen.”

Jen let herself imagine the possibilities for a moment. She’d been working for Bunny long enough to know that being a small-business owner wasn’t easy, especially in the restaurant industry.

Yet she’d also daydreamed about it. What she would do with her own place. How she could balance being a bakery owner with being a single mom. Strangely, the obstacles her father mentioned didn’t overwhelm her—they excited her. She cocked her head to the side. “But why are you doing this?”

He removed his glasses from his face and wiped them down with a tissue. “The truth is, Jen, I know you told Mom and me you want roots for Colby. And you will always, always have our home as an option. But I know how independent you are, too. I want you to be happy. And to give your son the home you want to give him. Sometimes you have to let other people carry you a bit. We do it because we love you.”

Jen felt choked. Had she been so stubborn about accepting help? “I don’t know what to say, Dad. And Bunny. Don’t you think she’ll be angry with me for setting up shop around the corner from her? I’d be competition.”

Her father smiled lightly. “Well, think about it. And then talk to Bunny. She loves you a lot, Jen. And she’s getting up there. She can’t keep running that café forever.” Then he drummed the table, the envelope flapping under his fingertips. “But I also want you to reconsider your position about the inheritance.”

She’d known to expect this. “Dad. No. I’m not going to. I don’t want Jason’s money.”

He gave her a wary glance. “Strictly speaking, it’s not Jason’s money.”

“Cavanaugh—whatever. I don’t want it.”

Her father scratched his eyebrow. “I can’t say I’m happy with Jason. And whatever his position now, he came down here with opportunistic, self-absorbed intentions. But I think you should know that I had a hunch about who Jason was when I met him.”

What the hell was he talking about?She gawked at him.

He folded his hands in his lap. “Do you remember that time Kevin went hunting with us when you were dating?”

“Yeah, I remember.” Kevin had looked so out of place with her father and brothers as they loaded into Warren’s SUV. They all wore their hunting camos. Kevin had worn a red-and-black buffalo checkered shirt.

“On the trip, Kevin and I got to talking, and he let it slip that his last name was Cavanaugh. Just to me. He begged me not to tell anyone and said he came from a bad family situation, and I accepted that. Then after he left you pregnant, I didn’t know if he would make the best sort of father anyhow, so I let it be.”

Her father had known and had said nothing? Had he kept it from her mother? She tried to be attentive, keeping an expression devoid of her response.

“Anyhow, after Colby was born and you were so sick, and you ended up in such bad financial shape, I decided it was time for that boy to pay some child support. So I attempted to track him down. I tracked down Tom Cavanaugh, his grandfather, instead.” Her father paused as though giving that information a chance to settle.

Jen gasped. The thought of her father doing all this behind her back was both endearing and hair-raising, which felt like a strange paradox. “That’s when you met Jason’s grandfather?” She could barely imagine her father doing all that. He was one of the least confrontational people she knew. “You knew about Kevin?”

“Yes. And he was floored to find out about you and Colby. He wanted to meet you. But as we talked, it became clear that Kevin left Chicago to get away from his grandfather. Tom was devastated. He blamed himself for Kevin’s death and promised he’d make things right. Since it was clear that child support wasn’t an option, I came home. Then I never heard from him again.”

She shook her head, any anger that she would have felt choking in her throat. “Why didn’t you tell me that my son’s father was dead? That Kevin was never coming back?”

“I didn’t know how to tell you. And you never wanted to talk about Kevin. I didn’t want to open a wound when you seemed to have moved past it.”

His explanation sounded reasonable, but at the same time, it wasn’t. It spoke volumes that he’d felt the need to find Kevin’s grandfather. Trying to think of what her reaction would have been was hard to imagine, given everything that had happened in the past few weeks.

Jen clenched her jaw, staring at the table. “You should have told me, Dad. That’s a pretty big thing to have kept from me.” Still, it was hard to stay too angry with him. Her father had always been protective of her—just like Warren and Dan. Sometimes to a fault. But he’d also always been supportive and loving. How could she complain when she’d basically won the lottery with the type of dad she’d been given? Look how he’d just stepped up for her, yet again.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. You’re right.” Her father took her hand. “But the point is—I don’t think it’s a coincidence or luck that Tom put that information in his will. He knew Colby existed. Knew you could be found with ample digging—no matter how hard Kevin had tried to prevent that from happening. I think he meant for Colby to have it. It’s not Jason’s money, sweetheart. It’s Colby’s.”

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