Redeem Me: Oakville Series:Book Four (25 page)

“Can I help you?” the maid asks, looking me up and down with a disgusted look on her face, like I’m not good enough to be here. Little does she know, I belong here just as much as anyone living in the house.

“I’d like to see Andrew please,” I say as nicely as I can.

“Who can I say is here?”

“Just tell him it’s an old friend.” She looks at me skeptically and disappears, but not before closing the door.

A few minutes later, she returns and waives me in. The inside of the house is just as impressive as the outside. Everything looks expensive and old. She leads me out to the back patio overlooking a gigantic swimming pool with a stone waterfall. Sitting at a table is a beautiful blonde woman and my dad with his nose in a paper.

The maid stops and holds out her hand in their direction. My legs are like Jell-O, and don’t want to carry me forward. This doesn’t seem like such a good idea anymore. When I get control over my legs again, the sound my boots make on the pavement seems loud to my own ears. I get about a foot or so away from the table when he looks up. His face pales and his jaw drops open. I can’t tell if he’s scared or shocked. Either way, it doesn’t matter. He recognizes me, and that’s the most important thing. At least I know I wasn’t permanently wiped from his mind after all these years.

“Angel?” he asks as he stands. The woman—Kayleigh’s mom, I assume—gasps. He’s obviously told her something about me. He gives her a look and she scurries into the house without a second glance my way.

“Dad,” I say, my tone clipped. “Nice to see you haven’t totally forgotten me after all these years.” I really did plan on being nice and civil, but that’s just not happening. The sight of him pisses me off. I clench my fists at my sides, trying to remember why I came here.

“How did you find me? What are doing here?” he asks. And here I was hoping for “I’m sorry” to be the first thing out of his mouth. I get my emotions under control and tell him what he wants to know. I tell him about the hell I went through after he left and how much worse it was when Katie disappeared. Then I tell him I’ve met Kayleigh, that I know exactly who she is and how he got her. The only thing that gets any kind of reaction from him is when I tell him Kayleigh knows all about it, too.

“What exactly is it you want, Angel? Money?” he asks. The fact that he thinks I want money infuriates me. After all these years, he thinks I tracked him down for a few bucks?

“I don’t want or need your damn money. I came for answers,” I state. He slowly nods his head and takes a seat, motioning for me to do the same. I do, even though I like towering over him more. He looks the same as he did back then, but now he seems smaller. I guess it’s because I’m a man, and a good five inches taller than he is. It makes me wonder where my height comes from. My mom was pretty short, too. Anyway, that’s not the point. I want—no, I need answers, and I’m not leaving until he gives them to me.

“I don’t know what I can tell you that your mother hasn’t already,” he states. What the fuck is he talking about? The only thing my mother ever did was yell at me and tell me what a complete fuck up I am.

“She never told me anything. Hell, after you left, she never even talked to me. She hated me, blamed me for you leaving, then blamed me for Katie’s abduction,” I growl. I’m really trying to keep my cool here, but it’s hard to do. He started his great new life and left me to carry the blame for it all. He left me with a cold, heartless bitch who hated me.

“I’m sorry for that. I had no idea it was like that for you. She never told you why I left?” He almost sounds sincere in his apology. Not that it really helps. Of course I want to know why he left, but I mainly want to know how he could just leave me behind. He came back for Katie, why not me?

“No, she didn’t. You leaving was bad enough, but you came back for Katie, why did you leave me? How can a father just abandon his son?” I ask, my voice full of agony. I don’t like it. I don’t like him knowing any of this affects me. I wish it didn’t still affect me after all this time. Yet, here I stand, looking like a grown man but feeling like an eight-year-old boy.

“It was easy when I found out you weren’t my son.” My face heats. I feel as if I’ve been slapped. His words repeat in my head, causing bile to rise in my throat. My hands ball into fists at my sides as I try to keep my composure.

“If you aren’t my dad, then who is?” I ask, not that I’ll ever do anything about it. I’ve seen many men be fathers to children who aren’t related to them by blood. You’d think raising me as his son for all those years would have formed some sort of connection between us. Obviously, that’s not the case. He threw me away like yesterday’s trash. Now, it’s time for me to do the same with him. Just because he’s the only father I’ve ever known doesn’t mean I need to waste any more energy on him. I got what I needed from him.

“I don’t know who he was. Your mom didn’t know either. At least, that’s what she told me,” he states, his voice void of emotion. I take a deep breath, trying to gather myself. Once I feel strong enough, I get up, and so does he. I put my hand out to stop him.

“Don’t. I’ll show myself out,” I say before turning and walking out the way I came in. I get in the car and back out of their driveway as fast as I can. I refuse to breakdown anywhere he can see. I make it a block or two away before I pull the car over. Big fat tears stream down my face as loud sobs wrack my body. I’m a bastard. All the people in my life who were supposed to love me didn’t.

I’ve been cooped up in this bunk with the only thing that’s never turned me away ever since—good ole Jack Daniels. The guys tried to talk to me when I got back, but I just couldn’t deal with replaying the whole thing again. With all the emotions rolling around inside me right now, the strongest is shame and embarrassment. One day my kids are going to ask me about their grandparents, and what the hell am I supposed to say?
Well, your grandma slept around and I have no idea who your grandpa is. Oh, and by the way, none of them wanted anything to do with me.
I can’t stand the idea of them not looking up to me. What if they think I’m worthless, just like my parents did?

As we pull into the lot of the bar we’re playing tonight, I glance at my phone again and see I have texts from Chelsie, Amber, and Holly. There are also twenty-five missed calls and almost as many voicemails.
Great.
I don’t need Amber and Holly on my ass, too. Soon, they’ll start calling the guys and I won’t be able to stay tucked away in my bubble with my best friend, JD.

Guilt starts to settle in. Chelsie doesn’t deserve this. She’s been nothing but supportive and understanding. The last thing she needs is me stressing her and the babies out. I start reading through her texts. When I get to the last one, it seriously pulls at my heart.

Angel, I know you went to see your dad. I want you to know that no matter what went on there, I am still here. You are our family now. I love you, our babies will love you, please don’t pull away from me. I can’t handle losing you. I need you…your son and daughter need you.

A son and a daughter. One of each. They will be close, just like Katie and I once were…and hopefully will be again. I decide it’s time to man up. Angelo and my mom were the past. Chelsie and these babies are my future. It’s time I start acting like the man and father I want to be. I quickly text her back so she knows I’m not going anywhere.

A boy and a girl! I’m so excited. I love you, sweet pea. More than I’ve ever loved anyone. I promise you, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. The three of you can always count on me. I will call tonight after our show, make sure to watch it live on the website.

Her reply is instant, but it’s not words. It’s an ultrasound picture of our two perfect babies. At the top, in white lettering, it says, “We love you, Daddy.” My heart instantly melts. For once in my life, I’m happy. I have hope that there’s a bright and happy future for me filled with love. I finally feel worthy.

I make my way from my bunk, leaving the bottle behind. I feel lighter, as if I’ve been able to let go of the past that has chained me down for so long. The foreign smile on my face has my band mates totally confused. I’ve been a major pain in the ass since we set out on this tour. I’m honestly surprised they haven’t replaced my ass by now.

“What’s put the spring back in your step, sunshine?” Paul jokes, and the other guys chuckle. They can laugh it up all they want, nothing is pulling me from my cloud right now.

“Looks like we’re having a boy and a girl,” I announce. The bus erupts in hoots, hollers, and congratulations. I pull out my phone with the ultrasound photo and pass it around for them to see. It’s nice not to be the odd man out for once. For a long time, I was the only one not in any kind of serious committed relationship. Now, I’ll also be a dad, just like the rest of the guys.

“Welcome to the club. So, when are you gonna propose?” Kyle questions. Maybe it’s time to join that club, too.

“Very soon,” I state, and they all look at me like I have three heads. “What the fuck are you looking at me like that for?”

“Just never thought we’d see the day when Angel Walker was in a serious relationship, let alone thinking marriage and having kids on the way,” Marcus explains. He’s totally right. It’s a hard concept to grasp. I never thought I’d see this day either, but it’s here, and I couldn’t be happier.

“I’m surprised you even set a gig here in The Keys after Amber’s psycho brother dragged her down here,” Paul says to Kyle, who cringes at the memory. I slap Paul in the back of his head.

“What’s wrong with you, numb nuts?” I bark at Paul. He’s usually careful and sensitive. I see the light go on in his head when he realizes what he said and how badly it sounded.

“Oh, shit. Man, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking,” Paul apologizes. Kyle pats him on the back.

“Don’t worry about it. I wasn’t too keen on taking it. I figured it’s time to start moving on and this was one of the first steps,” Kyle says, trying to look like he really means what he says.

“Okay, love fest over. We need to set up and do a sound check,” Marcus says as he shakes his head and walks out the door. The rest of us follow behind and get to work.

Chelsie

I’
ve been on cloud nine since Angel texted me. The doubts I’ve been struggling with have disappeared. He’s with me on this and I couldn’t be happier about it. I think he will finally be able to leave the past behind and move forward.

The doorbell rings and I jump up to answer it. I invited the girls over to watch the guy’s concert streaming from their website tonight. After Angel’s text, I was in the mood for a celebration. I open the door and Holly greets me, her arms filled with take-out bags from KC’s.

“We need lots of food,” Holly says as she passes. Behind her is Amber carrying bags from the liqueur store.

“Don’t worry, I have some mocktails planned for you, pregs,” Amber teases on her way to the kitchen. After her is Taryn, who has a large cake.
Mm...that looks good.

“I may be last, but I brought the best part,” Taryn laughs. By the time I make it to the kitchen, all the food is laid out on the breakfast bar. I think Holly got one of everything on the menu. It all looks amazing. Although, I must say, all food looks good lately. I am, however, eating for three. Amber hands me a martini glass filled with what looks like an appletini. I look at her, questioning the drink.

“No alcohol, but it still tastes the same. I promise,” she says with a wink. Eyeing her skeptically, I bring the glass to my lips and take a sip. It tastes good, but it would be so much better with the alcohol. So far, that’s the only downfall of being pregnant.