Brenna was across the room in an instant, but Tyler was there first.
He hauled Jess into his arms, ignoring her attempts to push him away, holding her tightly, murmuring against her hair as she cried and sobbed. “I’m glad you were born. You’re the best thing in my life. Always have been. We all love you. Gramps, Grams, Grandma, Uncle Jackson, Uncle Sean, Brenna—” he smoothed her hair “—so many people love you and care about you. And your mom loves you, too. I’m sure she does.”
“No, she doesn’t, and I never want to see her again. Never, ever—” Jess was crying so hard she couldn’t speak. “Make that happen! I want you to get lawyers or whatever but promise me you’ll make that happen. Dad?” She raised a blotchy face to his. “Do you promise?”
Tyler looked shaken. “I think we need to talk about this when you’re calmer.”
“I want you to promise!”
He took a deep breath and met Brenna’s eyes over the top of her head. “I promise that if that’s what you want when you’ve had time to think about it, then we’ll make it happen.”
“Why did she even come here?” Jess scrubbed at her face with the heel of her hand. “I haven’t seen her, she never shows any interest in what I’m doing, she doesn’t even call and then she shows up at the door. Did she bring Christmas presents or something?” She pulled away from Tyler and glanced between the two of them. “Well?”
“I’m not sure.” His voice was rough. “If she did then she probably wants to give them to you in person.”
“You’re trying to make me feel better. But I still don’t understand why she even came here.” Jess broke off and her eyes filled with anguish as the truth dawned. “She came because I told her about Brenna. It’s my fault. I told her Brenna was living here and how great that was and how much fun, and it must have made her angry and jealous.”
“It’s not your fault,” Brenna said quickly, but Jess wasn’t listening.
“She’s married. She has another baby, and she still has to come rushing here when she thinks Brenna might be in a relationship with you. She can’t have you, and she doesn’t want anyone else to have you, either.”
Tyler’s face was pale. “She wanted to see you.”
“Dad, I’m not six years old. If she’d wanted to see me, she would have called me and told me she was coming. We both know she isn’t interested in me. She’s told me that so many times I’ve stopped counting, so stop lying and covering for her.”
“I’m not covering, but I think relationships are often complicated and messy things. That’s why I’ve always avoided them.”
Brenna felt as if she’d missed her footing and stepped off a cliff.
She told herself that his words weren’t intended for her, that he was trying to comfort his daughter, but still it felt as if a dark cloud had suddenly appeared in the sky and cast a shadow over her happiness.
“I hate her, and I never want to see her again.” Jess sprinted out of the room, and Tyler inhaled sharply.
“Jess!” He ran his hand through his hair and cursed under his breath. Then he glanced toward Brenna, visibly torn.
“Go.” She wrapped her arms around herself, thinking only of Jess. “She needs you.”
“I’m saying all the wrong things.”
“That’s not true. There’s no right way of smoothing out a situation like this one. All you can do is be there and listen.”
“What about you?”
“She’s the one that matters right now.”
“You and I have to talk.” His gaze held hers, and she saw the uncertainty in his eyes.
“She is the priority. I can take care of myself.”
And they had nothing left to talk about, she knew that.
The fact that he knew the truth about Janet didn’t change the basic facts.
He didn’t want a relationship for the long term.
He was never going to be able to get past that fear of commitment no matter how much she wanted him to.
She had no doubt that this latest crisis with Janet would fade, but the real problem wasn’t Janet.