Page 83 of Awakening the Sheriff

“That’s why I think you did the right thing.” Keaton removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “If you had broken Byron’s trust by telling me everything, you would’ve been the third person to betray him. Now Byron knows he can trust you because you kept his secret.”

I hadn’t looked at it that way, but I did now, and a wave of gratitude and relief washed over me. “True.”

We sat in silence, processing it all. So much heartache, but at least now we knew the truth. That was the first step toward healing.

Keaton’s hand found mine again, and we threaded our fingers. “I’m just glad we’re finally getting somewhere with this situation. I’m hopeful my relationship with Byron will recover and rebuild.”

“I know how hard this has been for you.”

He sighed, his brow furrowed. “It’s also impacted our relationship, Auden. I’ve had so many insecurities around you, feeling like I was failing as a parent.”

“I never looked at you that way. You’ve done everything you could for your sons, and I admire you for that.”

A small, grateful smile appeared on his face. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

We both fell silent, lost in our thoughts. The rain seemed to be letting up, the light streaming in through the windows a little brighter as if the sun was fighting her way through the clouds.

“We haven’t had a lot of time for each other,” Keaton said. “Now that my life seems to be in calmer waters, I hope we’ll be able to focus more on each other and get to know each other better.”

“I’d love that.”

“Of course I still have Mandy to deal with.”

I winced. “What’s your strategy gonna be?”

“My first impulse is to say she can’t see the boys anymore, but I know that’s not a viable solution. She’s still their mother, and it wouldn’t be right to banish her from their lives. I wouldn’t be within my rights legally either, I guess.”

“No, but I can appreciate the sentiment. She needs to understand this can’t continue though. What worries me is that even when Byron was missing, she still kept things from you. I’m not sure it would’ve made a difference had we found out about Troy then, but I don’t like that she didn’t share that with you.” The irony of my statement hit, and I held up my hands. “I know, pot and kettle and all that. I’ll shut up now.”

Keaton chuckled. “Not quite the same thing, but I get what you’re saying.” He grew serious again. “I guess I’ll have to talk to her…again…and make sure she understands this can’t happen again, or there will be consequences.”

I played with his fingers. “I’m not sure Byron would believe her so easily anymore. She did a number on him, and that has left its marks.”

“That’s a relief, but it also makes me sad. His relationship with her will never be the same, and she did that herself. Heck, I don’t even know if Byron will still want to go see her, spend time with her. If he doesn’t, I won’t force him. Not after what she did.”

“Marnin’s father was a piece of work. He was a drunk his entire life who rarely had any interest in his son. Growing up, Marnin spent a lot of time at my place, and he considers me and my parents his family. When his father died, Marnin refused to go to the funeral or pay for it. Some people gave him crap for that, stating the guy was still his father and he owed him that much. But my dad told Marnin he didn’t owe him jack shit and that he understood. Kids don’t owe their parents anything, especially not when the parents did them wrong. Respect has to be earned, and love has to be freely given.”

Keaton nodded slowly. “That’s beautifully put, and I couldn’t agree more. I refuse to force my son to have a relationship with someone who played him like that. If he wants to see her, fine, but if he doesn’t, I’ll respect his decision.”

“Does Milton know?”

“Not from me, but I’m not sure what Byron told him or how much he figured out himself. He’s smart. So the same goes for him. I’ll let him decide if he wants to see her.”

The sun peeked in through the curtains, the rain gone. “I love how everything smells after rain,” I said wistfully.

Keaton smiled. “Wanna go for a little walk to enjoy it?”

“I’d like that. I’d really like that.”

30

AUDEN

No matter how often I looked at the situation from every angle, I had a hard time shaking my guilt off for not telling Keaton about Byron. It wouldn’t have mattered, he kept reassuring me, since I didn’t have the whole story anyway, not enough to help find solutions. Maybe so, but I didn’t like the gray areas I had ventured into, and I vowed never to put myself in that place again.

A week later, I asked Tricia to take the girls a day early so Keaton and I could have some alone time, and she immediately agreed. As Keaton had pointed out, I’d chosen well for my ex-wife and the mother of my children. The resentment I had so often felt toward myself about the dissolution of our marriage was fading, and in its place had come a new understanding that I had a lot to be grateful for. Our marriage might’ve ended, but our friendship hadn’t, and we’d brought two amazing girls into the world. Without Tricia, I might not have become a father, and how could I regret that? No, I’d come to the conclusion that if I’d known then what I did now, I would’ve made the same choice all over again. My life was better and richer for having been married to Tricia, and I didn’t want to erase that.

But I still felt like I had something to make up for with Keaton, so I had set the stage for us. Sadly, we didn’t have time to have a romantic dinner, but I wanted to help him forget about everything for a few hours and fuck his brains out. Pound him into the mattress, as Keaton was so fond of saying. Sex relaxed him, and I was happy to oblige. Plus, we’d both gotten tested in the meantime, courtesy of Fir, so now we could ditch the condoms.

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