Page 31 of Broken Dreams
“And your prize?” I ask, playing along.
“The best fake girlfriend of the year.”
seven
GRADY
Today was...eventful.
First, Addison wasn’t at the daycare to help me get Jett in, which was not the crisis it would have been a few weeks ago, but he didn’t go in willingly.
Second, I had to fly to New York City to drop off paperwork to some billionaire who wasn’t even there when I arrived and I had to wait three fucking hours for his assistant to finally show up because he was at lunch. My agreements are hand-to-hand delivery, it’s all part of the contract, so I was stuck.
And I was pissed.
That delay caused me to miss a meeting with a potential investor and picking up Jett. Since Brynn is in court, and Asher is on duty, it means that Rowan is watching Jett.
I knock on the door to my brother’s small farmhouse and there is no answer. This is off to a good start.
“Rowan?” I call.
No answer.
“Jett?” It’s more likely that my son ended up watching his uncle. “Buddy, are you here?”
Nothing.
As I walk around to the barn area, I hear his laugh. That effortless, from the pit of his belly laugh that always makes me smile. There’s nothing like it and I swear I wish I could bottle up that sound and save it.
I turn the corner to find him on the back of Matilda, Brynn’s childhood horse. She’s old and unrideable, but Brynn loves her and she is spending her days being pampered and grazing her favorite field.
Jett leans down, squeezing her neck, and gives her a kiss. “I love this horsey!”
Matilda swishes her tail and turns her head. “She likes you too,” I say from the door.
“Daddy!”
Seeming to forget he’s on a horse, he tries to lunge toward me, but Rowan catches him, setting him on his feet.
I crouch down as he rushes to me, arms wide, and I scoop him up. “I missed you.”
“You were in the plane?”
I nod and kiss the top of his head. “I was.”
“I rode the horsey,” he tells me.
“I saw.”
Rowan chuckles. “He didn’t want to do anything but be with the horses.”
“He’s his mother’s son.” Sometimes I look at him and see Lisa in his eyes or his smile. It should be her teaching him to ride.
“And I’m sure he misses his horse in Oklahoma.”
I nod. “I’m sure he does.”
I put Jett down and he runs off, getting to live a life I wouldn’t have been able to give him if I stayed in the military. Small towns are just different. There’s a community that is built in, land he can run free on, animals to chase.
