His Surprise Son

“Try to understand how difficult this is. You can’t just show up in his life, Josh. We need to think about this, figure out how to introduce you in a way Jonah can understand and cope with. He’s five years old. Most of this is way over his head.”

Josh ran his hands through his hair. “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation. I can’t believe I have to figure out a way to introduce myself to my own son.” He looked at her. “Have you said anything to Violet?”

“Of course not. Have you?”

“Are you kidding? I have no idea how to handle this. Or what to say, if anything.”

Violet came back down the aisle, then stood with one hand on her hip, her gaze tacking back and forth between him and Jean. “Okay,” she said slowly. “What’s going on here?”

Josh’s first thought was You’d have to be blind and deaf not to see what’s going on here, but now that felt like a terrible, tasteless thought to have. “Um... Vi, I...”

Jean took charge of the conversation. “The truth is, Violet, that your brother and I have...a bit of a history.”

Violet’s eyes popped open wider. “What kind of history?”

“In college. After. We were...together.” And the award for colossal oversimplification goes to...

“You and Mayor Jean?” Violet’s eyes opened wider, if that was possible. “Wait...wait, she’s that Jean? Wow. What are the odds?”

“I’ve been asking myself that for the past eighteen hours,” Josh replied.

“You know,” Violet said, “I think I’ll just head on back to Kelly at the flower shop and go over these colors again. Or order more centerpieces. Leave you two kids to settle things.” Being three years older than Violet, Josh took issue with the “you two kids” remark, but not enough to say anything.

“Do whatever makes you happy,” he told his stepsister.

“Or takes a lot of time,” she added, smirking. “Remember we’ve got lunch reservations to taste the entrées at eleven thirty.” Violet looked at Jean. “You’re welcome to join us, you know. I expect you could tell me a few great stories about my stepbrother here.”

Her suggestion would take the awkward level off the charts, and Josh wondered if Violet didn’t realize that, or simply didn’t care.

“You’re sweet to offer, Violet, but I’m sure Hailey can take perfect care of you.”

“See you at lunch, then,” Josh said with tightly forced cheer. Violet would have a long list of questions, surely none of which he knew how to answer quite yet.

“Bye.” Violet took one last look at them as she started on the path that led back to town. “You. Two. In college. Wow.”

Josh heard Jean push out a breath just as he released his own exhale once she was out of sight. “Wow indeed.” He took a step toward Jean. “I mean it, though. We’re only here until tomorrow afternoon. You’ve got to let me meet him.”

Jean leaned against the gazebo. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I think it’s best if he meets you without knowing who you are just yet. He needs time to adjust to the situation. I can barely handle it as it is, much less find the right way to explain it to him on short notice.” She looked up at him. “Can you handle that? Meeting him first as Josh Tyler, brother of the bride, instead of Long-Lost Dad?”

Long-Lost Dad. Words Josh still couldn’t believe applied to him. The list of ways he felt unready to be a father could fill a phone book at the moment. He ran his hand down his face. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. But how do I...speak to him? Or him to me?”

“The same way lots of people do—through me.” She waved her hand in a silent “hello.”

“And some things are universal. A smile, a wave, a handshake—” she brightened with a sudden idea “—or a milkshake. Why don’t you meet us at Marvin’s ice-cream parlor at two thirty?”

“I can do that.” He couldn’t not do that—no way was he leaving Matrimony Valley without meeting Jonah, even if it had to be under forced and not-entirely-forthright circumstances.

“Do you want to tell Violet about Jonah?”

“No. Not yet. Not until I have my head around this. I’m hoping there’s a way to not let the wedding get all weird because of this.”

Jean gave a tense laugh. “I know this is hard. For both of us. But I’d like to think we can avoid messing this up for Violet. Or for anyone. Violet’s wedding needs to be perfect for a lot of reasons bigger than you and me and Jonah.”

“I get that.”

Her eyes met his. “I can’t believe I didn’t put this together earlier. She’d mentioned a brother Josh more than once, and I saw your name on a form somewhere. I remember thinking, ‘Isn’t that a funny coincidence?’ I never dreamed...”

“Me neither.”

“I know what Dad would say.” Her gaze cast back to the waterfall spilling behind them.

“What’s that?”

“That there are no coincidences. Only ways God surprises us.”

He hadn’t set foot in a church since Dad’s funeral—and it had felt cold and foreign that day, despite Violet’s very friendly congregation. “Well,” he replied, “count me surprised.”

* * *

Jean held tight to Jonah’s hand as they walked down the street. She squeezed his hand three times—their private signal for “I love you”—as they walked, and her heart pinched as her son gave three squeezes back. Her mind cast back to the final day Jonah came to visit Dad in the hospital, and how he kept squeezing his grandfather’s hand three times. The moment Dad wasn’t aware enough to squeeze in reply still ranked as one of the most heartbreaking moments in all of Dad’s passing. Tears stung her eyes just thinking about it now.

She tugged gently on Jonah’s hand to get his attention, then pointed to her friend Kelly Nelson’s Love in Bloom Flower Shop.

“Stop and see Lulu’s mom?” she signed to Jonah. She didn’t really need to settle any floral details for Violet’s wedding, but she needed to talk out what was happening with Kelly.

Jonah raised his eyebrows and made the sign for “cookie?” in reply.

Kelly often kept a stash of goodies for her daughter, Lulu, and Jonah to share at the shop. “Maybe one.” She held up a single finger as she led Josh toward the door.

“Hello, you two!” Kelly said, setting a vase on the counter. “Good timing—I just put a fresh pot of coffee on.” She looked down at Jonah, signing, “Lulu’s at a friend’s, but I still have cookies.”

Jonah’s head bobbed in a “yes” that needed no translation.

“Can we set out a few coloring pages with those, Kelly?” Jean asked. “I need to talk.”

Kelly raised a questioning eyebrow. “Oh. I see.” She waved Jean and Jonah toward her work area in the back of the shop. “Maybe I should get out my stash of chocolate croissants from the bakery? Has it been that kind of day already?” she called over her shoulder as she pulled out cookies, crayons and the stack of coloring books she always kept to keep customers’ children occupied. “Our first bride looks pretty happy to me. And that brother of hers—quite the handsome fellow.”

Everyone always noticed Josh. He effortlessly commanded a room back then, and it wasn’t any different now. “No croissants. I’d eat a dozen. But I won’t turn down coffee.” Best to just spit it out while Jonah was occupied. Jean slipped onto one of a pair of stools after settling Jonah at the end of a smaller table. “It’s actually the brother I need to talk about.”

“The brother?” Kelly came back with two steaming cups of coffee and slipped onto the stool opposite Jean. “Isn’t it usually brides who cause the trouble?”

The scent of Kelly’s cinnamon coffee felt like just what she needed. Well, that and an hour’s conversation. She’d be grateful for twenty minutes if Jonah didn’t start getting antsy. “This problem isn’t wedding related. Well, not directly.”

Kelly took a sip of coffee while she sorted through some stems of luscious white roses. “Meaning?”

Just say it. You need someone else on the planet to know. With a quick glance to make sure Jonah’s attention was on the cookies and crayons, she unnecessarily whispered, “That brother, Joshua Tyler, is Jonah’s father.”

Kelly nearly dropped the bouquet. “What?”