A/N: Updated 8/21/20
Chapter 13
Eliza Pov
When I hung up the phone with Jax, I got in my car and headed over to the cemetery. Jax would be meeting me in front of Dad's headstone. When I got there I sat on the bench that was in front. I sat and waited for Jax. I didn't have to wait long.
"E, what's going on?" Jax asked me as he approached where I was.
I handed him the letter. "Read this." Jax took the letter from my hand and began to read it.
When he was done reading, he looked up at me. "Where did you get this?" He asked.
"Piney gave it to me. I have a bunch more at home that I haven't read yet." Jax nodded. "What do you think that it means?"
Jax shook his head. "Honestly E? I don't know. I've heard rumors over the years…. people suggesting that Clay had something to do with Dad's death but I haven't thought about it much." I nodded. "But there's something else."
"What is it?" I asked.
Opie POV
I was finishing up at the garage, when I looked up and saw Gemma standing in front of me. "Ope, have you seen my kids?" She asked me.
"Jax said that he was gonna head over to the hospital. I think that Eliza was going home to take a nap." I told her. I had been trying to get done at the garage a little early so that I could spend some time with Eliza. I had been thinking about the future ever since she came home. It was time that I talked to her about it.
"Okay. Thanks, Ope. When you finish that you can head out."
"Thanks Gemma."
When I finished up my work, I headed home. I was surprised that Eliza wasn't there. I decided to take a shower before she got back.
Eliza POV
"What are you talking about Jackson?" I asked him. I couldn't believe what I had just heard.
"Tara said that she regrets leaving me all those years ago." Jax said.
"Please tell me that you're not considering it." I said.
"I — yes, no…I don't know, E. I mean it's Tara. The way you feel about Ope…It's how I've always felt about Tara."
"I get that Jax. I do…but Jax she left."
"So, did you."
"But Ope and I weren't together when I left."
Opie POV
After I took a shower, I decided to stretch out on the bed. When I laid down, I laid on something. When I pulled it out from under me, I noticed that it was a big envelope. I turned the envelope over and looked at the front of it. There was writing on the front of it that I recognized…my Dad's. I pulled the contents out of the envelope. As I flipped through the envelopes, I saw that they were letters. Some of them were addressed to my dad and others were addressed to Eliza. I put the letters back in the envelope. I decided to order some Chinese food for me and Eliza. A short while later, I heard the front door open and shut. I walked through the house to the front. "Hey." I said.
"Hey. Your home early." Eliza said.
"Yeah finished early, so Gemma let me take off."
"How nice of her." Eliza said a little cold. Something was wrong.
"Yeah." Eliza walked into the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of whiskey out of the freezer. It was her go-to when she was upset about something. "What're you upset about?"
"How do you know that I'm upset about something?"
"Eliza, you only drink Whiskey when your upset about something. Now…what's on your mind?"
"I had lunch with your Dad today." She said.
I nodded. "That's not unusual. Sometimes I think that he likes you more than me. What's wrong with having lunch with him?"
"He gave me an envelope…with letters from my dad."
That kind of explains the letters. "Okay…so what about the letters. Did you read them? Any of them?"
Eliza POV
"I read one of them." I said. I pulled the letter out of my back pocket and handed it to Ope. I watched as he read the letter. I watched to see his reaction because he was about to find out how long I've liked him.
When he finished, "Thirteen?" He said. He looked up at me and I nodded. He sat the letter on the kitchen table and began to pace around the kitchen. "Thirteen, Eliza!"
"Yes. Now can you please quit pacing around the room your making me dizzy." I said to Opie as I reached into the fridge and grabbed him a beer.
"Babe, why wouldn't you tell me something like this?"
"Same reason why I didn't tell you at all until I came home that I even had feelings for you." I handed Opie the beer and he opened it. "What else do you want me to say? It was a conversation that I had with my dad. At the time, I didn't know that we would end up where we are today."
"I get that, I do."
"There's something else."
"What is it?"
"After I read the letter, I went to meet up with Jax. I showed it to him. He told me that Tara came to see him last night. She told him that she regretted leaving him all those years ago."
"Don't tell me that he's gonna take her back?"
"I don't know what he's gonna do Ope. What I do know is that if she comes walking back into his life…I won't be able to stay here. I can't be around her, Ope."
Opie grabbed my hand and pulled me to him. "I know. Eliza, I wanna talk about the future."
Jax POV
After I left the cemetery from meeting with Eliza, I headed over to the hospital to see Abel. I think that part of me was hoping that I would see Tara as well. When I walked into Abel's room Tara checking on him. "How is he?" I asked as I stood in the doorway.
Tara turned around. "Hey. He's good. Doc wants to check his weight tomorrow." Tara said.
"Hey, that's good news."
"Yeah. I was beginning to think that I might not see you before I left."
"Sorry. I had something that I had to take care of."
"Everything okay?" Tara asked.
"Seems to be."
Tara stepped closer to me. "Jax, did you think about what I said?"
I let out a sigh. I wasn't sure how to respond. "Tara, I've thought a little about it and I don't know. I mean you and I were great together, but I don't know if I can go back that." I told her.
She looked disappointed. "It's okay, Jax. I get it. I need to finish my rounds." Tara said, and I stepped out of her way.
Eliza POV
"What about the future, Ope?" I asked taking a step back.
"It's nothing bad." I raised an eyebrow at Opie. "Promise." I nodded. "Have you thought about the future. Our future?"
I thought for a moment. Opie wanted to know my thoughts about our future. What was I going to say?