She laughed. “Yes, he is.”
“Oh my God, it’s true,” Andi said as she strode into my office. She looked at Tanner. “He’s a mini-Carter, isn’t he?”
Tanner reached his hands up to me and lifted him to sit on my lap. “Tanner, this is Andi. She works for Gran.”
“I’m the one that keeps this place going,” she said cheekily. She looked at me. “Fatherhood looks good on you, Carter. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you this happy.”
I was happy. But was I as happy as I could be? I had a piece of my dream, but not the whole thing.
Andi looked at Gran who nodded. I suspected they had telepathy.
“Tanner, do you like hot chocolate and cookies?”
“Yeah. And ice cream.”
“How about I show you where we can get you all that. We have it here in the building.” Andi held out her hand.
Tanner looked up at me, and I could see he wanted to go, but wasn’t sure about Andi.
“She’ll be a good friend to have here,” I said to him. “If you want some hot chocolate and cookies, you can go with her.”
He hesitated for a moment and then slipped from my lap. “Will you bring me back to my daddy?”
“Yes, of course,” Andi said. “Here, you carry this. It’s my phone. See this button with your daddy’s picture? You push that, and you can call him anytime.”
Tanner took the phone in his free hand studying it. He turned back to look at me.
“I’ll be right here.” I lifted my phone. “Call if you need me.”
I guess that’s the reassurance he needed as he left the office with Andi.
But that left me with Gran and I knew she was going to want to talk about my private life.
“You have everything you want now,” she said.
I didn’t respond.
“Or not. Your father says that you can’t forgive Jess.”
“She wasn’t going to tell me, Gran. She didn’t trust me. Or she was selfish. Either way, how can I let her in my life?”
My grandmother sat tall looking regal as usual. “She’ll be in your life no matter what.”
“You know what I mean. How can I love her?”
“You already love her, don’t you? The question is, can you put down your guard and love her openly.”
I nodded. That was it exactly. “I don’t know that she loves me so maybe it doesn’t matter.” She’d said she’d been in love with me after the cruise, but that was four years ago. She’d said she’d wanted what I was offering her, but was afraid.
“I didn’t like your plan to trick her, but one thing I’ve always admired about you Carter was how you always were open about your feelings and were willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goal.”
“And you were right that it blew up in my face. I now understand why Hunter was so guarded. It hurts to have your heart torn into shreds.”
“Is it in shreds? When I walked in here, the love I saw for that boy could fill a tanker.”
“I love him with all my heart, Gran,” I conceded. “But Jess, that’s a different story.”
“We all make mistakes, some bigger than others. What you have to decide is if you can see things from her side and forgive the choices, assuming she’s sorry for what she did.”