"It should be you who packs up the things that meant the most to her," he'd said.
I'd stood there for the longest time as I'd tried to garner the courage to do just that. When I'd finally managed a nod, Dante had wiped away the few tears that had escaped unnoticed down my cheeks and then he'd handed me one of the boxes. We hadn't spoken as I'd begun carefully removing the pictures taped around the edge of the vanity mirror on her dresser and I was glad for that. Someday I would share the memories all those pictures had brought forth with Dante. And Matty, too, when he was old enough.
The act of packing up her things had hurt, but it had also helped in a way too because I got to remember all the times when Jenna and I hadn't fought … when we'd just been father and daughter. As the primary parent, I'd been the one who'd had to wear all the hats including being the disciplinarian, a role Jenna had naturally rebelled against as she'd gotten older. And while there'd been plenty of times where Jenna had thrown the dreaded 'I hate you' line at me, as I'd taken down the pictures, I'd seen nearly as many of me as I had of Matty. Some had just been of me, others had been of Jenna and me doing all the things we'd loved doing together, even when she'd been in the throes of her addiction. Riding, swimming, cooking.
Logically I'd known she hadn't really hated me, but seeing the pictures were validation that she'd loved me. And God, I'd needed to know that.
I'd only packed up the most precious of her personal possessions, leaving the rest like her clothes for the movers to deal with. I'd put the boxes I'd packed in the SUV so they'd be with me for the journey back to Seattle. They wouldn't be going into some cold, impersonal storage space somewhere. No, they'd be with me wherever I was and I'd take them out whenever I needed to remember Jenna for who she'd been, not the way she'd died.
That night was the first night Dante and I hadn't made love. He'd just held me in his arms as we'd talked. I'd told him about my childhood and he'd regaled me with all the good memories he had of growing up in the suburbs just outside of Washington D.C. before his father had died and he and his mother had moved to Brazil. I'd gotten to hear more about Aleks too, though those memories had been much more bittersweet. I hadn't missed how Dante never spoke about Aleks in the past tense, but I hadn't pointed that out. He still needed that hope to hang on to and I knew better than anyone how important it was to never give up the belief that someone was coming home until you had absolute proof that they weren't. Hope had been the only thing that had gotten me out of bed day after agonizing day.
I'd known as Dante had shared his stories with me that I was in love with him. It wasn't one of those stunning, 'stop the presses kind' of things … it was just this feeling of rightness that had spread over me … through me. I hadn't even cared that it was too soon or that he might not feel the same way. I'd just reveled in knowing I'd finally found what I'd just accepted was something I'd never have. There'd be plenty of time later to deal with all the uncertainty that came along with being in love.
I released Dante and took his hand in mine as we began walking towards the front of the house. "Did you get your test results?" I asked.
"No," Dante muttered. "Why does everything in Texas move at the speed of nothing?" he said irritably.
I smiled. "I got mine."
Dante practically yanked me to a halt. "Wait, what?"
"Yeah, they called a little while ago."
"What the hell?" he bit out. "We got tested at the same damn time."
I pretended to shrug in confusion and released Dante's hand when he snatched his phone out of his pocket. I kept on walking as he swiped at the screen. "Guess that means your ass is mine for a little longer," I called.
"Fucking bureaucratic-"
Dante's voice dropped off and I glanced over my shoulder to see him punching in his security code to unlock his phone. He put the phone to his ear and listened and then his gaze locked on mine. "You asshole," he muttered and then he was running to catch up to me. He gripped me by the waist as if he wanted to take me to the ground, but I merely grabbed him and kissed him hard.
He was panting by the time I was done. "Good news?" I asked.
"Like you didn't already know," he muttered even as he kept kissing me. "I thought medical records were private or some shit," he bit out.
I laughed. We'd gone to my doctor's office to have the bloodwork drawn a few days earlier so when the nurse had called to give me my results, I'd asked her for Dante's too. I'd known the nurse for years so it hadn't been tough to coerce them out of her.
"You think you're the only one who knows how to sweet talk the ladies?" I asked.
"That better be all you're doing with them," Dante said and then he grabbed my hand. "Come on, Old Man, time to put up or shut up."
"Old Man?" I said with a laugh as I gladly kept up with Dante's exuberant stride. "No more Ranger nicknames?"
"Google sucks," was all he said. We'd nearly made it to the porch steps when the sound of a diesel engine drifted through the air and we both turned to see a white pick-up truck slowly making its way up the driveway.
All joking ceased at the sight of Colton's truck and Dante dropped my hand. I immediately snatched it back up and pulled him closer as Colton drew the truck to a stop and got out. To say my former best friend looked like shit was an understatement. His hair was unkempt and he hadn't shaved in quite a while. His skin looked pale and drawn over his features. I could tell he hadn't slept either because there were prominent bags beneath his eyes. But I felt next to no pity for the man. I could have forgiven him for fucking Mel, but to know he'd shared my most private shame about what I'd said to my daughter the last time I saw her was a betrayal unlike anything I'd ever known.
Colton's eyes shifted between me and Dante and briefly skated over our joined hands. He didn't seem at all surprised, which had me guessing Mel had already told him about mine and Dante's relationship.
"Magnus," he murmured with a nod. He also gave Dante a nod, but then his gaze was back on me.
For a few seconds anyway, because then he dropped his eyes to the ground. His apparent shame didn't make me feel better in the least.
"Here," he said as he held out a file folder.
"I don't want anything from you," I said coldly as I made no move to take the folder. He drew it back and then lifted his head.
"It's for Matthew," he said.
Before I could ask what he was talking about, Dante reached past me and took the folder. He flipped through it and then handed it to me. When I met his eyes, he nodded.
I took the folder and opened it. The first page had a copy of a check on it. The top image was the front of the check which showed Colton and Bess's names as the owners of the account. It was made out to Cash. I glanced at the bottom of the page and saw a copy of the back of the check which was signed with Mel's name. I flipped through at least a dozen checks, all with Mel's signature on the back. The dates on the checks ranged over a three-year period and the total dollar amount of the checks was in the tens of thousands of dollars.
"What is this?" I asked.
"She won't be bothering you no more," Colton said. "She knows what's at stake if she does. Statute of limitations on those won't run out for a few more years."
Understanding dawned. "Mel stole these checks from you?"
Colton nodded. "I knew what she was doing, but like I said, I couldn't say no to her."
"You never turned her in."
He shook his head. "I do the books so I knew Bess wouldn't see them." His gaze shifted to Dante briefly. "Mel came to see me after you all talked at the courthouse last week."
Talked was an understatement, but I remained silent.
"She was asking me to testify that you wouldn't let her see Matthew or Jenna … that you threatened her. Said it would help her get custody."
I managed to keep my anger in check, but only because Dante's fingers squeezed mine tighter.
"She doesn't want that boy," Colton murmured. "She's just doing it to get back at you. Keeps saying you ruined her life."
I wanted to laugh out loud at that. Even though I'd never regretted getting Jenna, and ultimately Matty, out of the deal, my feelings in regards to the rest of my relationship with Mel pretty much ran along the same lines. I'd met Mel at a college party and had been drawn to her wild, party-girl personality, a quality that had been so different from my own tireless need for self-discipline and control. A broken condom had bound us together for a lifetime.
"So, what is this?" I asked, holding up the folder.
"I went and saw a lawyer … showed him those," he said as he pointed at the folder. "Said because it was so much money, it'd be a felony."
I nodded. "Larceny."
"Yeah, larceny," he murmured. "Anyhow, I told Mel that if she didn't leave you and yours alone, I'd press charges. Told her I knew she was paying a guy who works for a clinic over near Flat Rock to forge prescriptions for her … doubt he'd be willing to go to jail for her. Even she ain't that good of a fuck."