It's All Relative (55 page)

Jessie nodded and whispered, “Kai’s dad.”

April’s eyes widened. “Oh…” She moved to sneak a peek at him, but Jessie grabbed her elbow. “He’s nervous. Don’t spy on him, okay?”

She frowned and then sighed. “Yeah, all right. I have to get ready for work anyway.” She sighed again as she disappeared into her room, and Jessie could have sworn she murmured something about missing all the good drama.

Shaking her head at her friend, Jessie opened her bedroom door. Kai stirred and twisted his head to peek up at her. Stretching, he murmured, “Good morning.” He yawned right after he said it, the satisfied smile he’d had on his face the last few days still firmly in place. Softly closing the door behind her, Jessie wished she didn’t have to say what she was about to say; it would certainly remove that beautiful smile. Seeing the reluctance on her face, Kai cautiously asked, “What’s wrong?”

As he sat up on the bed, she sat down. Jessie could see the goose bumps on his arms and she rubbed his skin, warming him where she could. Still smiling, he patiently waited for her to answer.

Sighing, she nodded her head at the door. “Your dad is here.”

Kai’s expression twisted to confusion. “My dad is here from…” His sentence trailed off as his eyes blazed with understanding. “Mason? Mason is here?”

Jessie nodded as Kai flung back the covers and stood up. Her eyes drifted down his bare body before she reprimanded herself and made her gaze stay focused on his face; now wasn’t the time. Kai seemed shocked as he looked for clothes. Understandable, Jessie was a little shocked that Mason was here too. Stepping into his underwear, Kai asked, “Did he say what he wanted?” He found some jeans and pulled them on while Jessie shook her head.

“No, just that he wants to see you.” She lowered her voice. “I think he was worried about you.”

Kai paused in putting on his shirt. “Worried?” He finished slipping the material on and smoothed it over his fabulous frame. “Why would he be worried about…me?”

Jessie gave him a wry smile. “Kai, regardless of
when
he found out about you, you’re his blood. He’s naturally going to be concerned about your wellbeing, especially since he’s gotten the chance to know you recently.” She shrugged. “I’m sure when he didn’t hear from you for a few days…he panicked.”

Kai closed his eyes for a minute and shook his head. “My phone died at the lodge…I never charged it again.” He sighed. “My mom must be freaking out too, since she hasn’t been able to get a hold of me either.”

Jessie cleared her throat, and Kai immediately snapped his eyes open. “What?” he asked, his voice flat.

Jessie looked down at her bed, their bed, and picked at a loose piece of string coming off the blanket. “Well, your dad didn’t know how to find you. He probably thought you went back home…so he…”

Hearing Kai sigh, she looked up at him. “He called my mom, didn’t he?”

Jessie nodded. “And Grams.”

Kai’s mouth dropped open, then he ran his hands down his face and groaned. Peeking at her between his fingers, he muttered, “I guess the honeymoon is over, isn’t it?”

The summation of their few days of bliss made her smile. But he was right. Their uninterrupted time together was over. Sighing, she stood up and laced her hands around his neck. “Back to the real world, babe.”

He slipped his arms around her waist. “At least you’re still a part of that real world.”

She gave him a tender kiss. “I’m not going anywhere you’re not.” They pulled apart, and Jessie bit her lip. “Let’s go see what your dad has to say.” Kai slumped, then nodded. Grabbing her hand, Kai pulled Jessie from the room. His face seemed loose and relaxed, but Jessie felt the tension in his fingers; he was nervous.

Mason looked up from examining a spot on the floor once they were at the end of the hallway. A small smile ghosted across his lips as he stood up. He seemed nervous, too, but also relieved that Kai was still here, still around. Stepping toward the pair as they approached the couch, he extended a hand to Kai.

“Kai, I’m glad I found you.”

Kai glanced at the hand being offered to him, but he didn’t drop Jessie’s hand to take it. Furrowing his brow, he examined the man who had rocked his world. “What are you doing here, Mason?”

The obvious distance between them made Mason sigh as he shoved his hand into his pocket. His aged face—a bit wearier than Jessie remembered from the first time she’d met him—relaxed into neutrality. “You ran out on me. I haven’t seen or heard from you for days…”

Kai hung his head, then peeked up at him. “Are you here to fire me then?”

Shock ran through Jessie as she flicked her gaze between Kai and Mason. She hadn’t considered that Kai might get in trouble for ditching work. Sure, he’d had a really good reason to not return, but a job was still a job, and certain responsibilities were still expected from the employees, regardless of their personal problems. It was why she’d had to call in with a fake illness every day.

The same shock Jessie felt passed through Mason’s face, disturbing his attempt at detachment. Sputtering, he stepped up to Kai and reached out for him before stopping himself and putting his hand back in his pocket. “No, of course not, Kai. The job is yours, for as long as you want it. I understand why you fled.” Exhaustion seemed to overtake him, and all trace of indifference vanished. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay…son.”

His gaze softened as he stared at Kai, and Jessie couldn’t help but note the obvious similarities between father and son. Besides the eyes, there was something about the angle of the jaw, the slope of the nose, the basic bone structure. Kai’s coloring and ethnicity helped to mask a lot of the connection, but once you knew the lineage, there were just too many markers to ignore the truth. This man
was
Kai’s father.

Still having trouble accepting it, Kai stiffened; his hand loosely held hers and suddenly clenched it painfully tight. “Don’t call me that,” he bit out.

Mason looked away from him, but nodded. Jessie placed her other hand over Kai’s clenched fist and tried to ease the tension she felt there with soothing circles. Jessie understood Kai’s anger and confusion, but none of this was really Mason’s fault. From what Kai had told her, Mason had just recently found out about him.

Kai’s death grip on her hand loosened as Mason returned his eyes to him. “I’m not trying to replace the father who raised you, Kai. That was never my intention.”

“Then what are you doing here?” he asked in a tight voice.

Mason bunched his brows in disbelief. “Is it so hard for you to believe that I care about you?”

Kai looked over at Jessie. She slung her arm around his stomach, holding him tight as she rested her head on his arm. Glancing back at Mason, he shrugged. “I’m not sure what to think or feel right now. You’ll have to excuse me if I’m a little…uncertain how to act around you.”

Mason nodded, but his eyes were locked on Kai and Jessie’s embrace. Flicking his green-blue gaze between the two of them, he lifted an eyebrow. “Are you two together? As in, a couple?” His tone seemed nothing more than curious, a man of science studying an interesting phenomena of nature in front of him, but Jessie felt herself flush with heat.

Kai pulled her tightly against him. “What we are isn’t really relevant.”

Mason’s eyes snapped up to his face. “Oh, I know. I didn’t mean to pry. It’s perfectly fine if you are together. There are no inherent genetic dangers in a sexual relationship between the two of you. I was just…curious.” He smiled apologetically, like out of everyone in the room, Kai should understand curiosity.

The blunt way he talked made Jessie’s cheeks feel like they were on fire, but Kai seemed amused. He even smiled a little. Maybe seeing an invitation in his mirth, Mason pointed to the couch. “Do you mind if we sit, Kai. I’d love to have a conversation with you.” He smiled widely for the first time. “I’d love to get to know you, if you’d let me?”

Kai inhaled a slow breath. On the exhale, he slowly nodded. “All right, I can handle…talking.”

Jessie wondered if she should leave them alone, but Kai led her to the couch; clearly he wanted her to stay. Jessie sat beside him, still holding his hand in support. Mason sat on the smaller couch, looking nervous, but happy too. He seemed to have been genuine in his desire to get to know Kai.

Rubbing his hands on his slacks, Mason cleared his throat and gave Kai an apologetic smile. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t know how to act around you either.” He laughed lightly as he shook his head. “It’s not every day that you find out you have a twenty-three year old son.”

Kai laughed at his remark, then smiled over at Jessie. “Yeah, I suppose that could be a shock.”

Hearing Mason let out a weary exhale, they both redirected their attention to him. “I suppose I should start at the beginning. Your beginning anyway.” He indicated Kai on the couch, then smiled sadly. “Leilani Harper was the most beautiful, exotic, vibrant woman I had ever seen. I couldn’t help but fall madly in love with her…”

His expression alternating between reflection, remorse, and lingering love, Mason began describing the series of events and bad choices that led to Kai’s creation. Kai seemed uncomfortable hearing such intimate, and not always flattering, details about his mother. But by the end of Mason’s tale, he’d scooted to the edge of the couch, listening raptly.

Mason had a way of painting their relationship that made it easy to see why they’d fallen so deeply for each other, even though it was wrong for them to do so. Jessie couldn’t help but steal glances at Kai throughout Mason’s confession. While she and Kai couldn’t be together for entirely different reasons, the heartache they’d all shared was the same. Jessie found herself sympathizing with Kai’s mother. She couldn’t imagine being torn between two lovers like that, and then having to leave one behind for the sake of the child, a child who could have been fathered by either one of them. That was hard to picture, but she could easily understand being in love with someone who was forbidden.

When Mason was finished, Kai hung his head and nodded. He seemed to better understand the turmoil his mother had gone through. As Jessie rubbed his back, she hoped that when Kai saw her again, he wasn’t too hard on her. Her choices hadn’t been the best, but her decision to stay with Uncle Nate had in large part been for Kai’s benefit. Either way, her decision must have been hard.

April emerged from her room to leave for work. Having heard parts of Mason’s tale, she gave Kai a swift hug and a light kiss on the cheek. Jessie was a little surprised as she watched the affectionate moment between them that she no longer felt any jealousy over their contact. Maybe that was because April and Kai’s relationship had shifted into an easy friendship, or maybe it was because Jessie was now bonded with Kai so firmly that she had no question where his heart was; he showed her every chance he got. Or maybe, it was just because she’d gotten to
know
Kai over the last few months, and she was certain he’d never stray. That just wasn’t who he was. He was loyal and trustworthy, loving and honest. He was devoted to his family, and there for anyone who needed a hand. Inside and out, Kai was just a good person. And besides being the man who occupied her bed and her heart, he was also her best friend. Her soulmate. As Jessie waved goodbye to April, she was certain that, unlike his mother, Kai would never find himself in a position where he had to choose between two lovers. Jessie was absolutely certain that Kai’s heart was hers…and only hers.

Jessie stood to make the father and son cups of coffee when the conversation shifted to lighter topics. Mason seemed genuinely curious about Kai, about who he was and what he enjoyed, and he endlessly expressed his regret over seeming standoffish to him upon his arrival. The whole situation had completely thrown Mason off, and he wasn’t someone who liked to be off-track. He’d been struggling with the task that had been given to him from day one.

After giving the pair their coffee, Jessie kissed Kai’s forehead and gave him some privacy so he could truly get to know his father. Hearing Kai laugh while he described the numerous bee stings he’d hidden from Mason on his first day at work made her smile. Slipping into her room, Jessie crawled onto her bed. With the scent of Kai still on her pillows, she listened to his deep voice as it drifted throughout her home.

It filled Jessie with a surprising amount of warmth that he was making an attempt to bond with Mason. Maybe that was because if Kai bonded with Mason, it would only reaffirm that Uncle Nate wasn’t his real dad, reaffirm that it truly was okay for them to be together. Jessie knew in her heart that being with Kai was the absolute right path for her, and she knew they were strangers, in that sense, but still, having him develop a close tie to someone who didn’t share a branch on the Harper family tree was a good thing.

Smiling, Jessie closed her eyes and let the image of Kai’s sea-green gaze sweep her away into slumber.

K
ai smiled as he shook hands with Mason. That had gone better than he’d ever thought it would. Now that Mason wasn’t sick with dread over having a conversation with Kai that he didn’t want to have, he was easier to be around—open, curious, and eager to form a lasting bond with Kai. Kai wasn’t sure if he was ready to include him in family functions yet, but he definitely felt more comfortable about returning to work.