Page 44 of The Handy Men
"Her parents sound like real dicks," Barbie said.
Jack nodded. He agreed.
Dean got up and motioned for him to follow.
Once they were inside the ferry's enclosed seating area Jack said, "How much money do we have?"
"We don't have sixty thousand. The taxes on both houses have been killing us, especially since we haven't had a tenant in over a year. We might be able to take another mortgage out, though. But I'm not sure Paige would accept our help."
"If it means that or running back home to her shithead parents or douchebag ex-husband, I'd like to think she'd swallow her pride and take it," Jack said.
"It's not fair that she's going through this because of us."
"She chose us. She knew what she was getting into, and we can handle this. All of us, together."
Dean shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe we should stay away until her parents go home. Let them think they won."
"What if they don't go? I'm not sneaking around the island to see my girl. This is the whole Stephanie bullshit all over."
"It's worse. No one was going to ruin Stephanie's livelihood if she was fucking us."
Jack wanted to punch something. "What are we going to do?"
"We have to tell her, but I can't get a signal yet.” Dean glared at his phone.
"Well, let's get back out there and see what else we can find out.” Jack pushed through the doors and walked nonchalantly passed the couple to hang off the railing. He pretended to look out at the waves, but he was preoccupied trying to figure out how to swing their finances to best help Paige. Unfortunately, Dean was the accountant, not him. And what if they had to pay child support? He ran his fingers through his hair and tamped down the panic.
Dean slung himself back into the chair and closed his eyes, probably pretending to take a nap. Unfortunately, the couple had finished their conversation. Unable to sit still, Jack paced around the ferry. When he got to the bow, he could see Hamlet Island up ahead. He had enough bars to make a phone call, but he saw that Stephanie left a message. He listened to it.
"Hi, Jack. I left a message for Dean, too. Um. Congratulations. Dean's the father. I'm sorry it's taken me this long to sort everything out in my head. I know he's pissed off at me. I'm not going to ruin things with you guys and Paige, but if that doesn’t work out, I’m willing to try again. I'm at my parent's house." She took an audible breath. "I guess it’s my house now. My mom's leaving for Florida next week, but if you want to come by, I'd love for us to tell Brendon together. If you want. Call me."
Jack blew out a breath. There was a pang of disappointment he wasn't the biological father. Straightening his shoulders, he forced his feeling aside. It didn't matter if Brendon was his or Dean's—they were going to both be Brendon's fathers. He ran back to Dean to tell him the news.
"Get your ass up. I need to talk to you."
Dean frowned but followed him back inside the large seating room of the ferry. Ducking into a booth by the snack bar, Jack motioned for him to sit down.
"Stephanie called." Jack swallowed. "The baby is yours."
Closing his eyes, Dean took several long breaths. "Wow," he said quietly. "Just wow."
Jack felt like he'd hit him with a sucker punch to the kidneys.
"I thought you wanted…" Jack’s voice trailed off as words failed him.
"This is such a clusterfuck. I know you were hoping for this, but it would have been so much easier if Stephanie was out of our lives."
It was hard to hold on to his temper. "We’re talking about a two-year-old boy. Your son."
"I know." Dean pinched his nose. "It's a shock."
Slamming his hands on the table, Jack half rose out of his seat. "What is your fucking problem?"
Dean pushed him back into his seat, looking around to see if they were attracting attention. "Paige doesn't need this shit right now on top of everything else."
"So we're going to lie to her? Keep it from her? It didn’t turn out so good the last time."
"The news can wait a week, can't it?"
