Mason
Present Day
“Where’s Oliver now?” Liv asked, looking around like she expected him to jump out from behind a chair.
“With my mum,” I answered. It made my heart swell that our extended family was just as eager to meet him as Ava and I had been. The boy had some serious love coming his way, and it was about time. “Although he’s come on leaps and bounds in the last five months, it would have still been overwhelming to meet everyone all at once.”
Nate nodded. “I bet that was a bit of a shocker for your mother! Her dead son shows up with the five-year-old great-grandson she’s never seen.”
Chuckling, I nodded. “I’ll admit, I was a bit worried for a moment.”
“I get why you waited to come back, though,” Liv stated. “Katie has been to hell and back. She’s used that time to fall back in love, not only with Tristan but with herself. George’s death haunted her for so long, and, not to be cruel to you two, but I think that you not being here, she’s had to face up to what happened, and furthermore, accept it. It’s been so easy for her to hide behind the both of you, and when you left, she was naked and raw. She discovered so much about herself, mainly how strong and independent she is.”
“That’s my girl,” Ava whispered. Her beautiful smile was back, and I had forgotten just how bloody stunning it was.
The last few months hadn’t been the easiest. Oliver was severely withdrawn, frightened of his own shadow. His vocabulary was so impaired that Ava had had to take him back to the very basics and practically teach him how to talk. Many times, when he would wake screaming, or we’d catch him discovering the simple things every person took for granted, I’d wanted to go back and seek Etta out all over again. But, for the first time, it was my wife who had been the patient one, and like she’d said, we had to earn the privilege to have Oliver in our lives. Resorting to violence made us just as unworthy of being his guardians as his own mother.
Our relationship was another thing that was healing, admittedly very gradually, but it wasn’t only Oliver who had come on leaps and bounds. He was our medicine and the frustration and heartache we encountered each day had seen us turn to one another at night when he’d finally fallen into the dream world. Sex was still sparse, but when we did have it, it was frenzied and fast, a means of release for our broken souls. We both knew that wasn’t entirely healthy, but it was a start.
“So, Grandad Mason,” Nate chuckled. “What now?”
Sitting back, I pondered his question. What now? “Who knows.”
Liv sighed happily, draining her glass and stood up. “Well, whatever happens, at least life is back to normal.”
Nate helped her into her coat and groaned. “Jesus, does this mean I need to upgrade my life insurance premium again.”
Ava laughed. “Never a dull moment, Mr Carter.”
Pulling her in for another hug, I caught his whisper in her ear. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, Mrs Fox.”
♡
He knew I would come and resigning himself to the fact I wasn’t going to give up without a fight, Kade stepped back and held the door open for me.
I followed him through to the kitchen. “Did you rent the place while you’re back to help Katie out with the baby?”
Swilling the water around in the kettle to check the water level, he flicked it on and grabbed two cups from the hooks under the shelf. “No, we bought it.”
“Oh.” Looking around, I smiled. “It’s nice.”
I spotted his hands shake as he tried to pour boiling water into the mugs, and I stepped up to help him before he scolded himself. Standing behind him, taking advantage of the moment, I pressed my chest up against his back. As if sinking into the comfort of a warm bath, his body untensed and a long sigh left him.
“I missed you so much.” He didn’t turn into me, but he didn’t move away either. “I’m so sorry, Kade. Ava and me, we hit rock bottom. In fact, we sank under the rocks, and we found ourselves in hell. George infected us both with his bitterness, and we knew if we didn’t do something drastic, then it was all going to crumble around us.”
Burying my face into his hair, I inhaled his scent deeply, filling my empty soul with its drug. I didn’t need coke when Kade was near. He was far more addictive than any drug.
“We went to Portugal, and we drove to the cliff.”
That made him turn around. Tears shimmered in his eyes as he looked at me.
“We were ready to drive off. I hit the accelerator, and we were just inches from the edge when something made me stop.”
“What, what made you stop?”
I got lost in the sight of him. Kade always made me feel so comfortable in my own skin, calm and untroubled, and I’d always found I could be honest with him. With him, I felt like I could take on the world, grab it by the horns and ride it together.
“I felt his hand in mine.”
For a second, confusion filled his eyes, but realisation made him blink. “George?”
Nodding, I shrugged. “Stupid, I know, and I’ve never told Ava this. But I just knew he was saying goodbye, and I had this overwhelming knowledge that his death would be my rebirth. My reason to carry on. For him. For his mother.”
“Jesus, Mason.”
I palmed his face, begging him with my eyes for forgiveness. “The person I was then wasn’t someone who I wanted you to love. I’ve always had a dark side, but every inch of me was drenched in black. There were no greys, no off shades, just a void of blackness that I knew would have eventually sucked you in as well.”
The tears that had shimmered in his eyes spilt over, and I wiped at them. “I love you, Kade. Only you know how much. That will never end, and it was the strength of that love that made me walk away from you.”
I wasn’t sure if he’d ever forgive me for what I’d done, but when he brought his hand to my face, his touch told me that one day it would hurt him that little bit less. His kiss was passionate but tender, and as our breaths mingled together the chasm between us both became narrower.
I was in no doubt that Kade and my family and friends were the foundation that held Ava and me together, and with them by our side, we could continue to build our future into something that would one day be magnificent.
The End