Echoes Of The Past (Fermosa Bay #1) Read Online Free Page B

myself thinking he’d come back, and we’d have a happy reunion. I’m old, but not a dimwit.” He paused and met her gaze. “I loved Connor’s mother. I truly did. And I’ll never forget the day she left with my son, telling me they’d have a better chance in life somewhere else. It broke my heart.”
    He paused, and Emily had to work hard holding back the tears.
    “It took me a long time to make peace. I tried so hard to forgive her. After all, she’s over twenty years younger than me. She didn’t belong here, I figured that pretty quickly. But I always missed my son. Always. His smile. His wit. His love for life. He cared for everyone and everything. He was my world. And when she took him away from me—”
    Emily saw he swallowed hard and struggled with emotions as well. It was only when he wiped a tear from her cheek that she noticed she was crying.
    “You came here every day after school asking whether he’d come back. Sometimes you even stayed the night. You always loved him.”
    Emily’s lips tugged at the corner. “We were kids. I didn’t understand.”
    Shaking his head, he said again, “You loved him.”
    Biting her lips, she stayed silent, not sure how to respond.
    Jack let out another big sigh. “Anyway, she left after Connor had the accident. It wasn’t anything major. A few stitches, and he was good as gold. But his mother packed the bags the same night and left. Apparently, she needed more in life and needed a safer life for her son.”
    It was clear to Emily how much resentment there still was. Jack always called her ‘his mother, but never by her name—Jane.
    “It must’ve been more than a couple of stitches, because he can’t remember anything.”
    Jack shook his head. “Nah. Once they’d left, he’d been fed lies.” Then he stood. It took him a lot of effort to stand up, and Emily had the urge to ask him to stay seated. He walked over to the window and looked out. “He was told I had kicked them out. Told that I’d never loved her or him.”
    Lowering his head to his chest, he said, “All those years, all those very long years my boy went through life believing I didn’t love him. Let’s hope the Lord will give me enough time to tell him the truth.”
    Grabbing the box of tissues from the coffee table, Emily cried for Jack. But also for Connor. For their lost time together.
    “Why haven’t you told him, yet?” she whispered.
    He turned towards her, his shoulders sagged. “What if he doesn’t believe me and I’ll lose him all over again?”
    Emily understood. Their relationship was new and still fragile. Although it was the truth, it wasn’t in Connor’s mind.
    “Where is he now?”
    Jack pointed to the beach. “He always loved the water, and it seems the love is coming back to him. Slowly, but surely.”
    “Did you tell him that she’d lied to him?”
    He nodded. “We often hear words, but we will not listen to them.”
    When Jack started to cough, Emily wiped her tears with a tissue and walked over to him. “You should rest.”
    Shaking his head, he said, “I’m running out of time, Emily. He needs to know—”
    “He will,” she assured him, knowing what he wanted to say. Jack loved his son and didn’t want to die before Connor understood. Following his gaze, she watched Connor for a while as he sat at the beach. His posture displayed a closed world, one he’d withdrawn into from everyone else’s.
     
    ***
     
    Connor turned when he heard the soft crunch of steps in the sand.
    “Hi,” Emily said. “May I join you?”
    “I’m probably not the best company.”
    She smiled and sat next to him.
    “How is he?” he asked.
    Gazing out into the distance, she replied, “I wish I could do more for him.” Then she turned to look at him. “He’s worried that he’s running out of time with you.”
    Connor wasn’t surprised at the honesty and the fact that his dad had talked to her. It was clear that Jack had a good relationship with all three of his