Change of Hart(29)

“She does?” he asked, his mouth open and eyes wide.

“Yep,” I nodded. “Sometimes she even likes to tell people’s secrets.”

“But that’s not right!” Jax argued. “You aren’t supposed to tell secrets!”

“I know. But she does,” I looked over at Mick again who was just following the exchange. “Now, I know your daddy dying isn’t a secret, but I don’t think your mom is ready for a lot of people asking about those stories. So when that lady asked, I got a little mad and I lied to her.”

Jaxon looked back and forth between Mick and me. “But,” he started, “but you’re not supposed to lie either. My mom always says it’s bad to lie.”

That’s when Mick stepped in. “I don’t think Jason was trying to lie this time, Jaxon. I think he was trying to protect you and your mama. I think it was ok this one time.”

Jaxon thought for a minute. “Ok,” he said with a small smile. “I thought maybe you didn’t wanna be my friend anymore.”

“Nothing could be further from the truth, dude,” I said, ruffling his hair. “I like being friends with you. You keep me on my toes.”

“My mom says that all the time.”

Mick and I laughed. “I’m sure she does, buddy.”

“Can I go look at that fish tank, Pee-paw?” he asked Mick, quickly changing topics.

“Sure. Just don’t touch it.”

“Ok!” Jax said, pushing out of his chair and bounding away.

“Thanks for bringing him, Mick,” I said, watching Jaxon as he stared at the lobsters crawling around. “I was a little worried he wasn’t gonna be able to come.”

“Well I’m glad I was able to bring him. I know you were hoping Addison would be with him but I appreciate you being so accommodating.”

“As long as Jaxon gets here, that’s all the matters,” I said, taking a drink of water.

“Don’t bullshit me, son. I see the way you look at her.”

I choked on my water and started coughing into a napkin. As soon as I could talk again, I responded.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mick.”

“Sure you do,” he said, sitting back and crossing his arms over his chest. “I was watching you during the birthday party. I’ve seen that look before. You’re smitten.”

I paused and realized there was no way to talk myself out of this one. “Was it that obvious?”

“Only to me,” he said. “But I’ve been there. The way you were looking at Addison reminded me of the way I used to look at my Lisa.”

“Wait . . . I thought your wife’s name was Angela,” I said, confused.

“Oh it is,” he replied. “Lisa was my first wife. Mother of my son. He took a little too much after his mama if you ask me. But I was so in love with that woman.” He leaned over, elbows on the table. “Before she came along, I didn’t have any interest in building a life with anyone. But when she fell into my lap, I don’t even know how to describe it,” he said, looking over at me. “I couldn’t get her out of my head. She owned my thoughts. At work, at home, it didn’t matter where I was. I was always thinking about her.”

I smirked, understanding how he had felt back then. “So what happened?”

He sighed. “She apparently didn’t love me as much as I loved her. About three years after Austin was born, she just up and left. No explanation. Just . . . gone.”

My eyebrows rose. “She just up and left her kid, too?”

“Oh, she saw him every weekend. She just wanted nothing to do with me.”

“Wow,” I said, sitting back. “That must have sucked.”

He sighed. “It’s the ugly side of love. The part no one ever talks about. But then Angela came along and I’ve never looked back. She isn’t Lisa, but she is one hell of a woman.”

We sat in silence for a minute, watching Jaxon make friends with one of the servers who was picking out a lobster.

“I guess my point in all this, which I am obviously not making very well,” he said, “is that I know what it’s like to lose your spouse. And if you are using that little boy to get to Addison, I will come after you. I don’t care that you are bigger than me, or stronger than me, or younger than me. I’ll get in a few good punches.”

I whipped my head back around to look at Mick. Wow. I did not see that coming.

I nodded once. “I understand where you’re coming from, but I can assure you, I had never met Addison before she brought Jax on his tour. I wouldn’t have been able to pick her out of a crowd. I had asked them here for the sole purpose of getting to know Jaxon better.” I sat back, crossing my legs, resting my ankle on my knee. “That being said, I’ll admit, I am interested in Addison. But since she hasn’t been responding to my texts lately, I’m assuming the interest isn’t reciprocated. So you don’t really have anything to worry about.”