Page 111 of Finding His Redemption

Oliver’s face crumpled. “He fell down and scraped his elbow. And then everyone was looking at me like I was the bad guy. And I got scared and ran away.”

“Do you think pushing him fixed the problem?” Jax asked gently.

“No,” Oliver whispered. “It made it worse.”

“Yeah, it usually does.”

“Like when you punched Deputy Murdock?”

“Exactly.” Jax reached back and squeezed Oliver’s hand. “You know what I learned from that? The hardest thing isn’t fighting back when someone hurts you. The hardest thing is walking away. Being the bigger person.”

“But what if they keep saying mean things?”

“Then you remember that what they’re saying isn’t about you. It’s about them. People who say mean things are usuallyscared or hurt themselves. And you know what’s stronger than fighting back?”

Oliver shook his head.

“Being kind anyway. Showing them that you’re not who they think you are.”

Nessie watched her son absorb this wisdom, saw the way he looked at Jax with complete trust and admiration. This man she’d pushed away was teaching her son the very lessons she’d been trying to teach him herself, but coming from someone who’d lived through the consequences of violence, they carried more weight.

“Will you teach me?” Oliver asked. “How to be the bigger person and not let the bad win?”

Jax’s eyes found Nessie’s, and she saw the question there. The hope. The same hope she’d been afraid to acknowledge in herself.

“If your mom says it’s okay,” Jax said carefully.

Oliver looked at her with pleading eyes. “Please, Mom? I want to be good like Jax.”

Her son saw goodness in this man she’d been afraid to trust. Her son, who was pure and innocent and had never been wrong about people’s true nature.

“Yes,” she said, the word thick with emotion. “Yes, I think that would be good.”

The relief on Jax’s face was almost painful to see. “Then yeah, buddy. I’ll teach you. But first, we need to get you checked out by the doctor, okay?”

Oliver nodded, then looked around at all the people who’d come to find him. “I’m sorry I scared everyone.”

“We’re just glad you’re safe,” Nessie said, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “That’s all that matters.”

As Ghost pulled out of the parking lot, heading for the clinic, Nessie caught Jax’s eye in the rearview mirror. This time, shedidn’t look away. There was so much she needed to say, so much she needed to apologize for. But for now, it was enough that he was here, that he’d helped find her son, that he’d offered to help heal the damage his own choices had caused.

Maybe they could find their way back to each other after all.

Maybe they could all learn to be bigger people.

chapter

thirty-three

Once Oliver receiveda clean bill of health from the pediatrician, Ghost drove them back to Nessie’s. Jax carried the exhausted kid upstairs to the apartment and laid him out on the tiny bed covered with little cartoon dinosaurs.

He was already asleep.

Jax wanted to linger, but as Nessie started to pull off Oliver’s muddy shoes, he backed away. She’d made herself plenty clear the other day, and now that the emergency was over, she’d probably want him gone.

He turned to leave, but Nessie stopped him at the doorway.

“Jax? Please stay. I… can’t be alone tonight.”

---