Page 32 of Mine to Keep

Jamison:Suzie is looking for a story again. She’s using the girl who gave birth in the middle of town to get to me. She followed me to the park at the beach in town.

He was careful not to use Bryn’s name with his mother. He didn’t want to give his mother any opportunity to make it weird for Bryn. And knowing his mom, she would.

Mom:Why does she want you on her show anyway?

Jamison’s stomach roiled. As if his mother didn’t know the answer to that question.

Mom:I’m headed out the door. I’ll handle it.

Jamison:Thanks. See you at the party.

He tossed in the last comment for good measure but also to make sure his mother didn’t keep texting. But she would, and he didn’t care to carry on the conversation. He’d come a long way in the last few weeks by taking a few phone calls and agreeing to be at the same party as Steve.

All steps in mending fences.

This was as far as he was willing to go right now, though.

He tucked his phone back into his pocket and strolled back toward Bryn. “I believe I made it clear to her that neither of us wants to discuss the day Zadie was born.”

“Please tell me you didn’t give her my child’s name,” Bryn said with wide eyes. “When any of the legitimate news channels reported on what happened, they were kind enough not to show pictures or share names.”

“She knows your name, but not your child’s. And if it makes you feel any better, both my mom and dad will make it very clear to her that if she comes near you, she could be facing charges.”

“Jail time? Seriously?”

He took a seat across from her and pulled the top off his coffee. “She ran a story about who my real father was without knowing all the facts or having anyone’s permission. That included mine, Steve’s, and my mom’s. That pissed us all off, and my dad took legal action. She comes after you, that’s breaking a few laws. Actually, being within fifty feet of me is going against the restraining order I filed. That’s kind of bogus, but still, it was fun.” He pulled open his breakfast and dug in. “I’m going to get fat hanging around you.”

“Hey. I’m the one needing to lose the baby pounds.”

“You look fabulous. Trust me. The prettiest woman on the beach by far.” He held the plastic fork in mid-air. “I’m sorry if that was inappropriate.”

“It was sweet. Thank you.” Bryn took a few bites of her French toast before setting her utensils on her tray as she stared at him with the kind of look his mother used to give him when he got caught sneaking out at night.

“What’s wrong?” He decided to be proactive.

“Why does that Suzie person want to do a story on you so badly?”

“Because of my rich, biological father, my lawyer dad, and my chief-of-police mom. It’s all juicy stuff that she can twist and turn into some ugly shit for her followers. I deal with enough judgments about what happened. I don’t need to be the center of her gossip bullshit.”

“It seems like that story is kind of old, though. No offense.”

He laughed. “I wish this town would forget it. But they haven’t, and since not much happens in this sleepy safe harbor, it seems my DNA is what everyone wants to talk about around the water cooler at work.”

She glanced over her shoulder and then toward the parking lot.

“Are you worried about something else?” he asked.

“I don’t want to be the center of any story or the excuse she uses to get to you. I don’t want my sister finding out where I am, much less my mother-in-law.”

“Ah. I see.” He wasn’t sure how to respond. He could relate to not wanting personal business plastered all over the internet for anyone to judge. It was no one’s business, and she did have a child to protect. If she didn’t want Zadie’s name or image anywhere on social media, he could respect that.

What he struggled with was keeping her daughter from the rest of the family. Didn’t they have a right to develop a relationship with Zadie?

Steve gave up that right when he walked away.

Now that Jamison was a grown man, it was up to him whether or not he wanted a relationship with the parents in his life. But those choices had been taken from him when he was a baby.

Was what Bryn was doing all that different?

---