Page 157 of Eight Years Gone

Grace sipped her tea, not entirely sure what she was supposed to say to that.

“But I can’t be sorry about Colton,” Jessica added, looking at Grace. “He was the biggest of surprises, but he’s been the light of my life. Or he was for a long time.”

Grace set down her cup. “Did my father acknowledge him at all?”

Jessica shrugged. “My parents disapproved of my pregnancy, especially when I refused to name the father. I don’t speak to them or my sister, so there hasn’t been any family support there.”

Grace nodded.

“I went to Steve when I was five months pregnant. He assured me he would take care of his responsibilities but couldn’t play a role in Colton’s life. He’s always provided financially.”

Grace pressed her lips together as she nodded again. She and Logan were handled the same way after their mother passed away. They’d been provided for. Generously. But the love and support they so desperately needed hadn’t been available to them. “I’m sorry that was the case.”

“I’ve always dealt with Steve’s lawyer—”

Grace’s eyes sharpened. “Dennis?”

Jessica nodded. “Yes. Dennis Fitch. His firm has taken care of the monthly child support payments for Colton. Adjustments have occasionally been made for Colton’s changing needs. But I’ve never taken advantage of Steve’s wealth. I’ve only asked for what I needed for Colton. Even now with Steve’s passing, Dennis has assured that Colton is taken care of and will be for the foreseeable future.”

Grace wanted to shake her head, never more ashamed of her father. Colton had been nothing more than a responsibility—a transaction—that had needed to be taken care of. “He’s had a rough time. Colton.”

Jessica sighed as she nodded. “He’s always been a good kid. He’s smart. He’s a gifted basketball player who also plays the guitar quite well. But the past couple of years have been hard.”

“What do you think happened?”

“My longtime boyfriend and I broke up toward the end of Colton’s eighth-grade year. He’d been in Colton’s life for eight years. Marcus owned the car dealership I worked at. It became difficult for us to work together, so I decided Colton and I needed a fresh start. We moved to Millsdale the summer before his freshman year so I could take a job as an office manager at one of my good friend’s salons.”

“That sounds like a nice change,” Grace offered, trying to be supportive where she could.

“I thought it would be. It seemed like we were starting to settle in, but that fall, Colton used my computer for a school project. He found an email from Dennis discussing child support for the upcoming year and realized who his father was. He changed after that. Our relationship changed after that. He grew angry. He stopped trying at school. The basketball coaches had been eager to welcome Colton to the team for the winter sports season. They had discussed putting him on varsity as a starter, but he refused to show up for practices.”

Grace couldn’t help but wonder if her dad’s interests would have changed if he had known that his forgotten son had been a star athlete.

“Although, I must say things did get better for a little while,” Jessica continued. “Colton met a girl early his sophomore year. Casey. He did much better in school while they were together, but they broke up this last summer. He’s been off the rails since.”

“That’s really tough.”

Jessica sighed. “I’d always told Colton I’d been young and in college when I got pregnant. I’d always let him assume that his father had been young, too—that he hadn’t been ready for the responsibilities.”

Jessica shrugged. “I think finding out about Steve amongst all of the changes was too much. Maybe things would have been different if Marcus and I had still been together. Perhaps we wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation if I hadn’t taken him away from the home he’d grown up in and his core group of friends.”

Jessica was clearly a caring mother. It was easy to see that she’d been devoted to her son. “You did what you thought was best.”

Jessica shook her head. “I’m at the point where I don’t know what to do. He doesn’t listen to me. Our relationship is volatile at best. Marcus has tried to help a couple of times, but Colton is hanging out with bad influences. This is his second arrest. The judge was lenient last time, but I doubt that will be the case again.”

Grace picked up her cup, seeing her opportunity to test the waters for her and Jagger’s idea. “How would you feel about giving Colton a fresh start here? Enrolling him in classes at the local high school? He could get a job and give basketball another shot if he wanted to.”

Jessica frowned. “That would be wonderful, but I’m not sure how realistic that sounds. It would take me a while to find a new job and housing. Colton doesn’t have that kind of time to pull himself together.”

Jessica sighed. “In fact, my friend is opening a bigger salon and day spa in downtown Philly. She wants me to move and manage things there, but that doesn’t seem like a good idea right now…”

Grace shook her head. “Colton could stay here with me and Jagger.”

Jessica shook her head this time. “But he doesn’t know you.”

“That’s true. But he could go to a really good school—meet a new group of kids. I run Simplicity with Aunt Maggie. He might be able to pick up some hours or help at the dojang where Jagger works part-time. If we can show the judge that he’s working hard to change his ways, he or she might go easy on him again.”

Jessica’s brow furrowed again. “Why would you do this?”

---