Until We Touch (Fool's Gold #15)(91)

He followed her through the opening to the shop where Taryn had tried on wedding gowns. He ignored the wide and frilly skirts and waited until Isabel handed him a pink dress with lots of bows and ruffles.

“Will this do?” she asked.

He nodded. “It’s great. How much do I owe you?”

“How long do you need it?”

“About an hour.”

“Then take it. If you break it, you buy it.”

Just like that. “Don’t you hate me?” he asked.

“I think you’re a jerk, but that’s no reason for me to act like one.”

Because in their hearts, most people were pretty decent, he thought. Why hadn’t he realized that before?

He took the dress. His next stop was the halfway house where Percy lived these days. He hadn’t seen the kid in almost a month and had no idea what his reception would be like, but this was one of the fences he needed to mend.

He gave his name to the woman who answered the door, then waited. A few minutes later, the teen appeared at the top of the stairs. His expression was wary as he approached Jack, but he held his head high and his shoulders square. He faced Jack man-to-man.

“I’m sorry,” Jack said by way of greeting. “About what I said and how I let you walk away. You weren’t a project. I said it because having a kid scares me. I don’t want to care that much. I don’t want to risk losing anyone close to me. The flaw in my plan is that I already cared. I was fooling myself, which is okay, but I hurt you and that’s not.”

Percy stared at him, but didn’t speak. Jack didn’t know what the teen was thinking, but knew he had to keep going.

“Larissa is special,” he continued. “She sees how things are supposed to be. I admire that in her. I admire how you’ve kept it all together. You didn’t get into trouble, when that would have been the easy path. You stayed strong and I admire that, too.”

Percy looked away and cleared his throat. “It’s okay, man.”

“It’s not. I miss having you around. I want to help you with your studies.”

“Kenny, Sam and Taryn have that covered.”

“I want you to move back,” he said, looking at the teen. “I don’t want this to be temporary, Percy. You’re too old to be adopted, but I’d still like you to be part of my family. I’d be proud to have you as part of my family.”

Percy’s expression turned wary. “Why are you saying all this?”

“Because it’s true. Because I’ve been a jerk and I want to fix it. I want to be better. But mostly because of what I said before. I miss having you around. I want to be the one you talk to about your classes and what four-year college seems like the best fit. I want to be the one you call after your first interview. I want...” Jack hesitated. “I want to matter.”

“Are you for real?” Percy asked hesitantly.

“Yeah. Just as long as you know I’m going to screw up. But no matter what, I’ll never stop trying to be better. I don’t want to be the problem anymore, Percy. I want to be the solution.”

Percy gave Jack a manly hug, more chest bump than embrace. But then Percy stepped back and wiped away tears.

“I want to come home,” he admitted. “But I’m not going back to work at Score. I have a new job and I like it.”

“That’s fine.”

“And we’re getting a dog. You need a dog in that big house of yours.”

“You’re negotiating your return?”

Percy grinned. “I am. And I want to learn how to drive.”

“A man should know how to drive.”

“You have a nice car.”

Jack laughed. “No, you can’t borrow the Mercedes.”

Percy grinned. “Good, because I need boundaries.” His smile faded. “I have a shift in an hour. I’ll move back after that.”

Jack handed him the house key he’d brought. “I look forward to it.”

“You gonna get Larissa back? Because without her, you’re just sad.”

“I know. I’m going to do my best.”

* * *

JACK WALKED INTO the offices of Score, not sure what to expect. His pictures were still up, which surprised him. He’d thought they would be ripped down or at the very least, defaced. But nothing looked different.

He made his way back to Kenny’s office first. His friend saw him and frowned.

“What?” he demanded.

“I was wrong. Sorry.”

Kenny looked startled, then nodded. “Don’t do it again.”

“I won’t.”

He went by Sam’s office. The other man was hanging up the phone. “Kenny just told me,” Sam said. “We’re good.”

That made Jack chuckle. “You don’t want to hug to seal the deal?”

“Get out of here.”

Jack moved down the hall. He had a feeling things wouldn’t go so smoothly with his third partner.

He made it to Taryn’s office without being seen by anyone else. He stepped into the empty conference room across from hers and shrugged out of his jacket.

For a second Jack hesitated. He’d never done anything like this before, but then he’d never screwed up so bad. If he won Taryn over and things went bad with Larissa, Taryn would be a formidable ally.