Page 100 of Dreaming at Seaside
“I’ll tell you what. Call Bobby and tell him that after my shift I’ll come by to meet his parents; then you and Bobby can spend the evening here.”
Evan closed the book he was reading and sighed. “I’ve been spending all my time here since this whole thing went down. Don’t you trust me to doanything?”
“Yes, I trust you.” Caden sat beside him on the couch and leaned his elbows on his knees.
“No, you don’t. If you’re not working, you’re here with me. Except when you run, but then I’m usually sleeping.” Evan rose to his feet. “You never even go out with Bella anymore.”
“This isn’t about me, Evan. You want to spend time with Bobby? Then I need to meet his parents.” Caden was not bending on that rule ever again.
“I don’t care about that. Fine. Whatever.” Evan shoved his hands into his pockets. “But why do we have to sit around here all night? It’s boring, Dad. It’s summer. We want to go hang out, and there’s a movie playing on the back of the town hall building in Wellfleet tonight. We were going to ride our bikes over and watch.”
Caden ran his hand down his face. He was glad Evan was getting back into life, and he’d done the right thing, so there was no reason not to trust him.
“Fine. I’ll meet his parents after work. You have your new phone?”
Evan pulled it out of his pocket. “Thanks, Dad. Why don’t you go out with Bella tonight?”
Because we broke up.“How about you worry about your own social life, and I’ll worry about mine?”
Evan looked at the floor, then back at his father with a pinched look on his face. “You broke up, didn’t you?”
“We’re…taking a break.” He was done with this torturous break. He couldn’t remember why he’d thought it was a good idea in the first place.
“Why?” Evan’s face contorted. His cheeks heated. “Why’d you break up? Was it because of me?”
“No, it wasn’t because of you, and I said abreak, not that we broke up for good.” How could Bella not have known that? How could she have left? How could he have been so stupid in the first place to think he needed this break? Bella understood Evan, maybe even better than Caden did at times.
Evan paced. “Dad, I really like her. Why’d you break up if it wasn’t because of me?”
“It’s complicated, Evan.” He rose to his feet and started down the hall toward his bedroom.
“Complicated. That’s your standard answer,” Evan said as he passed him. “Well, that sucks, Dad. You finally get a life, and somehow you manage to do it with a woman I really, really like spending time with, and then I screw it up for you.”
Caden closed his eyes for a beat to try to gain control of his mounting anger, but days of frustration came tumbling forward, and he stalked back down the hall to Evan. “First of all, don’t sayscrew. Second of all, I’ve always had a life, and—”
“You have not ever had a life. You’ve had work and me, and that’s it. I’ve never seen you with a woman until Bella, and I liked her, Dad, and whether you want to hear it or not, I liked you even more when she was around. You were happier.” Evan fisted his hands.
Caden realized that Evan was as upset over this breakup as he was. They were both on the same page.
His voice softened as he tried to rein in his anger. He’d thought he was making things better, but he’d only made things worse for both of them. “Did it ever occur to you that you and workaremy life?”
“I don’t care.” Evan stepped into his room and slammed the door.
Would things ever go back to normal?
Caden went into his bedroom and sat on the bed. He always did the right thing.Always. He’d hurt Bella, Evan, and himself, all because he thought he was doing the right thing. His father was right. He couldn’t be the best father if he wasn’t whole. It was time he took his life into his own hands and did whathewanted for his own heart. What he needed to be whole.
He loved Evan and he loved Bella. There was no reason he needed to be exclusive with his love—he had enough to give to both of them.
He paced the bedroom.If I hadn’t done a good job of raising Evan, he would have been in the thick of the trouble—not the one who turned them in.
He looked at the bed, and his chest constricted. He’d had dreams of loving Bella in that bed, waking to her in his arms, making plans for the day with herandEvan. He pulled out his cell phone, then scrolled to the picture of him and Bella in the Wellfleet fire tower.
“I miss you, babe. I miss you so much it’s killing me.”
He had to show Bella that he was fully committed to her, and there was only one way to do that.
