Page 3 of It Never Happened
“You're a thief!”
His eyes widen at my outburst. “I’ve paid for everything I own. And everyone has signed it over of their own free will.” His words are firm. “I’ve never taken what doesn’t belong to me.”
I turn my back on him, not missing the paying and owning comments. He continues to deposit money into my account each month. I hardly ever use it, choosing to stash it away for Joey when he’s older. I can give my son whatever he needs on my own. “You leave people with no choice.”
“There’s always a choice, Coco.”
“Don’t call me that!“ I yell out, unable to keep my temper at bay.
“Am I interrupting?” January, my best friend, enters, holding hands with her daughter and my son.
Our son.
“Daddy!” Joey yells and tries to run for him, but January holds his hand tight.
“Are we okay here?” January eyes me and I give a nod. She lets Joey’s hand go and he runs straight to Jack as I tryto calm myself. This is the usual thing for us. We escalate from zero to one hundred within ninety seconds of being near each other. I used to love that passion. As a teen, it was exciting. We’d fight then have makeup sex, and I thought that's how love was. A fiery existence between the two of us where the only thing that kept us grounded was the physical act of working out our differences with each other.
The “D” word did wonders to make that fire sizzle out. Maybe that’s why he’s not really fighting back anymore.
Jack drops down to Joey's height and captures him in a hug. It breaks my heart how much Joey loves him without even really knowing him. But as he grows up, he’s going to need him more. FaceTime calls and texts aren’t going to cut it much longer.
Jack stands, holding Joey now, and January says, “I didn’t realize you were coming so early.”
“I came early because your brother called.” Her eyes narrow, and his grin widens. “Oh, you didn’t know? You should check in more often.”
And that’s yet another dig from him. My best friend, January Nilsson, just moved back to town after we all ran from this place together. We left here right out of high school, thinking there was so much more out there. A life of grandeur and men who could give it to us.
We were both so stupid.
“I’ll be speaking with Lief, but you can’t just walk back in and take over,” January says.
“That's not what I’m here to do, which you would know if you were more involved.” he replies with a sneer.
“Jack.” My tone is sharp, and I give a slight head shake due to the kids in the room. “Leave Joey with me. Go handle whatever business you have to do, and we’ll work out dates in the next few days. There is a week of school leftbefore Christmas break, so we need to get a few things in order.”
He studies me like he has more he wants to say but thinks better of it. “I'll call you later.” He places Joey back down, ruffling his hair as he turns and walks out.
Jack Fristoni always used to know how to make my heart race. Now my ex-husband only knows how to break it.
Chapter 3
Courtney
It’s later than I wanted, but I’ve just gotten Joey into bed. He was so excited to know his dad was in town and fought bedtime for thirty minutes longer than usual. I really needed those thirty minutes to myself too, so finally having him asleep is a godsend. I just settled onto my couch with a cup of tea, my Christmas tree is lit, and the outside lights on the deck highlight the flurries that are still falling.
My phone rings and I seeJack Fristoniflashing across the top. Every time I see his name, it catches me off guard. I used to get butterflies when he called. Now my stomach just turns with regret and anxiety. For two rings, I debate whether I want to answer his call or not, but he’ll just call back until I do. Him showing up earlier than expected has completely thrown me off my game. I know I should be happy he’s putting forth the effort for Joey, but at the same time, I know he’s only here early because of business, not because he misses his son.
When January and her family lost their dad unexpectedly, when she and I were barely eighteen, it shook thetown. When she said she was leaving, Jack and I made plans to go with her. We had always dreamed about running away from here, and if anyone could do it with me, he could. And when January said she was ready, the three of us left and didn’t stop until we ended up in New York City, grossly unprepared and unsuspecting of how the world really was. We partied and fell into a rough crowd, but after coming from little ol’ Montana, where the summers are hot and dry, the winters are cold and wet, and the nightlife is almost non-existent, we fell in love with the change of pace.
The party scene was amazing and like nothing we’d ever seen before, and when her older brother, Lief, called to ask when we were coming home, we told him we weren’t. He came to find us and ended up staying too, recovering from his own heartbreaks in life.
Lief and Jack were always good friends in high school, and I thought my life was going to be amazing. I thought it was the greatest thing in the world having my boyfriend, my best friend, and her brother all with me in the city. We were going to start a new life.
How wrong I was.
After just a few months, Lief wanted to go back home. He was worried about their two younger sisters and their mom. He and January fought over her abandoning the family, and in the end, Lief went home and she stayed.
Jack, who had been taking classes in finance, stepped up. He met a few guys that were willing to take a risk on a young kid who had nothing but a sincere passion for work. A year later, he was able to come in as a shared investor, and he and his partner offered a lot of help to the Nilsson family. They have a boutique in town calledDress Me Upthat has been a family business for years. When their daddied, Lief and January were expected to step up and run it. But with January in New York and Lief without experience, it quickly fell into the red.
