Chapter20
What the hell is this?Jace wondered as he walked toward Seamus’s office at the ferry landing. Everything had been going so well between him and the O’Gradys. Was Seamus going to tell him he couldn’t see the boys anymore? The thought of that sent a shaft of panic through him. What would he do then?
God, he hoped that wasn’t it. The last freaking thing in the world he wanted was some sort of legal battle to see his kids. Because that’s what he’d do if Seamus tried to cut him off from them. He’d fight for them—and for himself.
Please don’t let it be that.
By the time Jace reached the offices of the Gansett Island Ferry Company, he was thoroughly worked up, especially when he noticed Carolina’s car parked next to the company truck Seamus drove.
Jace stepped into the building and went to Seamus’s office, knocking on the closed door.
“Come in,” Seamus called.
When he walked through the door, Jace noted that Seamus and Carolina were seated together on the small sofa, and he couldn’t miss that they seemed troubled.
“Thanks for coming,” Seamus said.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“Have a seat.”
Jace sat even though he didn’t want to.
“Yesterday, we were in the barn going through some of the things that came from Lisa’s,” Carolina said somewhat haltingly. “The boys were playing in the yard with the dog. You know how they are—they’re so loud, we can always hear them.”
“Right,” Jace said, feeling more tense by the second.
“We were going through some of Lisa’s photos when Jackson surprised us. We didn’t hear him coming, and he saw… Well, he saw photos of you with Lisa, and now he’s full of questions about who you are and how his mom knew you.”
“Oh,” Jace said on a long exhale. “What’d you tell him?”
“That his mom knew you, too, but he didn’t seem to buy that.”
“What did he say?”
“Just that his mom never mentioned you.”
Carolina took hold of Seamus’s hand. “We need to tell them the truth about who you are.”
“It was one thing to pass you off as my friend when they had no clue,” Seamus said, “but when he asks us directly who you are, we don’t feel right about lying to him.”
“We think he might suspect,” Carolina added, “which is why the truth becomes important.”
Jace tried to keep up with what they were saying as he processed his own emotional reaction to the news.
“We didn’t want to say or do anything until we spoke to you,” Seamus said.
“I… um… I appreciate that.”
“What do you think we ought to do?” Carolina asked.
“I agree that we need to tell them the truth,” Jace said, screaming on the inside at the possibility the boys would want nothing more to do with him after they knew how his mistakes had led to their mother being a struggling single parent.
“How much of the truth?” Seamus asked.
“All of it,” Jace said. “Go big or go home, right?”
“You’re sure about that, mate?”