by Abby Tyler
“I know,” Louisa said. “But we’ve never really been the same type of person. It doesn’t seem like a good fit. And he needs me. Nobody else around town could watch the baby.”
“Oh, I see.” Delilah tapped her thumb on the counter. “So you think he’s acting sweet on you to make sure you hang around to help.”
Louisa didn’t answer. It was an embarrassing thing to admit. “It happened kind of fast. And right around the time we had to go see his sister in jail.”
“You took that baby to prison?”
Shoot. She assumed people knew. But then, unless someone followed them, they couldn’t have known. Jack sure wasn’t going to admit it.
“We had to. The court ordered it. Jack can actually lose custody of the baby if he doesn’t follow the judge’s visitation schedule.”
“Oh,” she said. “What about Jack’s parents? Why aren’t they involved?”
Louisa shrugged. “Jack won’t really talk about them. The one time I brought them up, he got really upset.”
“You don’t say.”
Great. Now Louisa was really feeding the gossips. And she should know, she had been the queen of them.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” she added quickly. “We’re getting along fine. The baby is great. That’s enough.”
She picked up her bag to go.
“Wait a second,” Delilah said. “Do they even know Jenica had a baby?”
This made Louisa pause. “I don’t know.” And she didn’t. Jack definitely did not like to talk about his parents.
Delilah narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you think they should?”
“I don’t think it’s really my place to tell them.”
Delilah began absently reorganizing a pail of squeaky toys by the register. “Well, if one of my kids had a baby and I didn’t know about it, I would be livid.”
Louisa could see her point. She might have to bring it up to Jack.
She needed to get home and think. “Thanks for the advice about Nero,” she said.
“Sure thing,” Delilah said.
As Louisa finished out her day at home, she realized that involving Jack’s parents was the answer to her problem.
For one, Dirk and Marion should know about their granddaughter. If Jack hadn’t told them, he needed to fix that, pronto.
But two, if they came to help with the baby, Jack wouldn’t need her so bad. If Jack kept seeing Louisa when he wasn’t desperate, then she would know for certain that his feelings were genuine.
This seemed like a win all around. Ella should know her grandparents. And Louisa should know where she stood.
When Louisa arrived for the next nanny shift, Ella was asleep in her swing. Jack looked strong and handsome in his police uniform, smelling of soap and aftershave. It was Louisa’s favorite time to see him, just as he went on patrol.
He kissed her forehead. “She’s had a solid meal and will sleep a bit.”
“Good.” Louisa sat on the sofa, trying to screw up the courage to broach the subject of his parents. “I wanted to ask you something.”
“Sure.” He began filling his belt with items laid out on the coffee table.
“Will your parents be visiting Ella soon? Seems like they’d want to meet their grandchild.”
His hand paused only a fraction of a second before he said, “They don’t know about her.”
Louisa leaped from the sofa. “What? Why?”
Jack’s jaw hardened. “I don’t want them here.”
“But not to know? Is that fair to Ella?”
His expression took on that closed-off look Louisa had seen the most when she first came to work for him. “I decide what is fair in this family.”
“So you’re the judge, jury, and executioner?”
“You were the one talking about how terrible a father I had. Why would you want to expose Ella to him?”
He had her there. “Maybe he’s changed.”
Jack shoved his nightstick into his belt. “Right. I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“How will you see it if he doesn’t even know he’s a grandfather?”
His face softened. “I know you mean well, Louisa, but let this go.” He planted a quick kiss on her mouth. “See you in twelve.”
She watched him head out the front door. Nothing about this felt right. Not his explanation. Not his refusal to talk to his family.
Someone had to do the right thing.
Chapter 18
Jack yawned as he handed his stack of paperwork to Brenda to file. He was at the end of a long shift.
“You okay, Officer Stone?” she asked.
“I’m great. See you tomorrow.”
“You mean in two days,” she said. “This is your long break.”
He nodded absently.
He was bone-weary. He’d been on patrol since 7 a.m. yesterday, and it was coming up on two o’clock in the afternoon. He’d had to cover part of Isaac’s shift while he took his kids into Branson for checkups.
On top of it, he had extra reports to file after chasing down a couple of men who had broken into a cabin in the foothills.
It wasn’t unusual for squatters to hang out in some of the cabins, but this was the time of year when people returned to their empty houses, winter being over. So tensions could get high.
In this case, the squatters tried to make off with some of the appliances, and Jack had wound up chasing one of them up the side of a mountain ridge.
Truth be told, crime was pretty rare in Applebottom, other than the odd drunk and disorderly, and the occasional minor in possession. He liked to think that it was the way he structured their patrols and their shifts, making the most out of the two officers at his disposal.
But Applebottom was small, and while there were quite a number of homes outside of town he had to protect, for the most part, he knew everyone in his patrol.
But he hadn’t known these guys.
He’d only caught one of them, not being able to get Jeremy in for backup in time to pursue them both. That one was down at the county jail now. Applebottom didn’t have a holding tank of its own.
But he felt exhausted. From the adrenaline rush, the hike through the trees in pursuit of the men. And the struggle the one he’d caught had put up.
He didn’t like it. It reminded them of his rookie days when a crime like this would happen four or five times per shift.
He thought about what Jenica had said during his visit, that he was putting on airs about being a real cop and not a small-town patrolman. She’d gotten him right in the gut. Truth was, he didn’t want that sort of life, the one where criminals carried guns and officers were gunned down once a week, if not more.
Applebottom suited him just fine.
He was definitely ready to crash for a few hours, glad that Louisa would be there to watch Ella while he slept. Even if she’d been a little more aloof than usual this last week, she was still easy to get along with.
He didn’t understand her mood swings, but he supposed he would get used to them in time. Certainly, after that day with the stroller, something had changed. He just didn’t know what. And he was too tired to think about it now.
He was not prepared for what he saw when he turned down Murray Street. A rental car, parked right in front of his house. Was the caseworker back again? He sure hoped she wasn’t there with news about some change with his sister. He didn’t need to add that to his already difficult day.
But when he opened his front door and saw who was sitting on his sofa, he could not stop the rush of surprise, anger, and absolute disgust that flashed through him.
His parents.
“What are you doing here?” he roared. He quickly scanned the room. Louisa stood in the doorway to the kitchen, holding two mugs of coffee.
Her eyes were wide, and she looked like a startled deer.
“It’s good to see you, dear,” his mother said. She held the baby and lifted Ella to her cheek. “Funny how you didn’t mention that we were grandparents.�
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His father jumped to his feet. “What were you thinking, keeping this from us?” he bellowed. “Nobody told us she was pregnant. Nobody told us the baby was born. And nobody even cared to mention that she was living right here with our son.”
This had been exactly what he had been trying to avoid. “Did Jenica call you? She said she wasn’t going to.”
His mother’s gaze flickered over to Louisa.
No. He couldn’t believe it.
He whipped around. “You called them?”
His mother stood up, cradling the baby. “She did the right thing, Jack. It isn’t right for us not to know about the birth of our own granddaughter.”
“You’re doing exactly what I knew you would do,” Jack said.
“What?” his dad roared. “Coming to see our only grandchild?”
Ella’s face puckered up from the boom of the loud voices, and a howl rose up from her little throat.
“Now see what you’ve done? I have this well in hand. And I don’t need you.”
“Of course you do, honey,” his mother said. “We’re here to help. We brought plenty of things. There’s no reason for you to hire a nanny when we can take care of the baby.”
So now they were planning to stay? No way. He hadn’t given over his savings to buy them a condo in Florida just to have them come back.
“You’re not staying here,” he said.
His mother’s face threatened to cave in. She bit her lip.
“What makes you think we want to?” his father said. “I’ll call the airline. We’ll get a ticket for the baby and take her with us.”
Now Louisa stepped forward. “I’m afraid that’s not possible,” she said. “Ella has a caseworker, and the judge has ordered where she lives.”
His father turned on her. “You think I care anything about what a judge says?”
“You will when you’re arrested for kidnapping,” Jack said. He tried to bring his voice down. Ella continued to howl. “And I’ll do the honors.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“Boys!” his mother shouted, and Ella’s face went red with her screams.
“Here, let me take her,” Louisa said. His mother handed the baby over.
Jack tried to get a handle on his anger. “You can’t just take her, Dad,” he said. “We have monthly visitation with Jenica. The caseworker constantly comes to check on her. She’s not just someone you can make off with. She’s in the system.”
His mother sat back on the sofa. “My Lord,” she said. “How bad is it?”
“Jenica has got three more months to serve on her sentence,” he said. “And that’s contingent on good behavior. And even if she gets out, they will certainly monitor her. Every time she’s gotten out before, she’s gone right back to using.”
His father shook his head. “That girl never was good for anything.”
“Dirk,” his mother said coldly.
“Shut up, Marion,” he growled. “You and I both know that girl will never get clean. She’ll never be anything.”
Jack felt his temper zip right back up to the red line. “If that’s the way you’re going to talk, get out of here right now. This is not your house. It is mine. And maybe when I lived with you, you could talk to people that way. But I will not stand for it here.”
His father stood up menacingly. “I ought to backhand you, son.”
Jack kept his tone even. “Threatening a police officer is a felony,” he said. “Don’t think I won’t arrest you.”
“You don’t have the balls!”
As old as Jack was, bigger and stronger than his father, in full uniform complete with his patrol stick and loaded weapon, the young boy was still there. And inside he cowered, afraid, small, and unimportant. He felt frozen in place, unable to take even one step.
“I thought so,” his father said. “Come on, Marion. Let’s go.”
“No, wait,” Louisa said. “I didn’t call you down here so you all could keep fighting. We’re here so we can all do what’s right for baby Ella.”
“You need to tell your woman to stop flapping her gums,” his father said. “Come on, Marion.”
Jack’s gaze shifted to Louisa. She had caused all this. And now his father was insulting her, too. Why had she done this without consulting him?
“Come on, Marion,” his father said again.
But his mother remained seated on the sofa, her gaze on Jack. “If your father leaves, can I stay?” she asked.
His dad whirled around in astonishment. “What are you talking about, woman? Get in the car.”
But his mother stayed fixed on Jack. “Can I stay if he goes?” she asked again.
For Jack, the world seemed to have stopped spinning. His father stared at him like an angry bear. Louisa bounced the still crying Ella, trying to soothe her, her uneasy gaze flickering to Jack.
His mother was the only calm one, smoothing her gray flowered dress over her knees, waiting for her son to answer. Had she been afraid of his father, too? Had he ever hurt her? He didn’t think his father would have gone that far.
But now it seemed she was rising up.
He held her gaze. She didn’t flinch.
“Why would I let you do that?” he asked her.
“So that I can get to know my granddaughter. I’m willing to sacrifice my marriage for her in the way I was afraid to do for you. I’m an old woman. I want to live the rest of my life with family who actually loves me.”
Her words rang in the room even after she fell silent. His father stared at her, dumbfounded. “You don’t have a choice, woman,” he said. “Get in the car.”
“I won’t. If Jack won’t let me stay here, I’ll get a hotel in Branson and come here whenever I’m allowed to visit my grandbaby. I’ll prove myself.”
“Get in the damn car!” My father’s voice echoed off the walls.
This sealed my decision. “Mother, you can stay. As long as he goes.”
“Good enough. I’ll get my bags.” She hopped up.
His father’s face went dark and red. “You will not be staying here,” he thundered, but he seemed less sure now.
“Of course I will,” his mother said smoothly. “Now unlock the car so I can get my bags.”
“We packed our things together,” he snarled.
“Then you know what, just take it. I’ll buy new things.”
Jack turned to Louisa. “Fetch some sort of bag for my mom to pack her things.”
Louisa nodded and headed toward the bedroom, still patting Ella.
“This is nuts,” his father said. “The whole family has lost its mind.”
“No, I think I’ve finally found it,” his mother said. “It’s clear you only care about getting your own way. It cost me my children. I won’t let it cost me Ella. You and I are officially separated.”
Louisa returned with a duffel bag and wordlessly passed it to Jack. He held open the front door as his mother walked through.
They stood by the locked rental car for several minutes before Jack’s father stormed out and opened the trunk.
“If I leave here, I’m not waiting for you. I’m going back to Florida.”
“Be my guest,” his mother said. “You’ll have to figure out how to turn on the stove, though.”
His mother dug through the suitcase, tossing clothes and the toiletry bag into the duffel.
When she backed away, his father slammed the trunk with a crash that echoed off the houses. Then he started the car with a roar and sped off down the street.
“He’ll never change,” his mother said.
“I’m trying to be as unlike him as possible,” Jack said.
“I can see that,” she said. “Your father wasn’t like this when you were little, or I would’ve left him. By the time he turned into such an angry man, I didn’t have anywhere to go.”
“And what has changed now?” he asked.
“I never thought either one of you would have children,” she said. “But you have. This
time, I’ll do it right.”
As they headed back inside the house, and his mother took the crying baby from Louisa to try and soothe her, Jack felt his world rearranging one more time.
Everything had been under control.
And now Louisa James had turned it all upside down again.
Chapter 19
When Louisa got home, she sat on the floor of her living room, feeling sort of stunned.
Jack had told her to collect her things. His mother would take over Ella’s care and she was no longer needed.
She’d thought Marion and Dirk would hang out a few days, maybe a week, and in that time she would be able to sort if Jack cared about her or not.
That had been settled in a matter of minutes.
Jack was furious with her and showed no indication that he wanted to talk it out, hear her side, or reconsider his position. He was done.
Louisa truly believed she’d done the right thing. The grandparents needed to know about their granddaughter, and how their daughter had hit rock bottom, even if she’d been in trouble before. This time she had dragged a helpless infant down with her.
It was time for the family to pull together, if that could be done. And even if Jack’s father was a lost cause, having Marion back was good for everyone.
Except, maybe, Louisa.
She was out of a job, and out of a love affair.
She fell back on the carpet, staring up at the yellowing fixture that had lit up her living room since she was born. It seemed maybe she was destined to die here, alone, with the same yellow fixture lighting the way.
She’d played her hand and lost. Jack had only found it convenient to be romantic with her when he needed her around. He’d practically ordered her out of his house.
Her heart felt like it had been seized suddenly and unexpectedly by a shark.
For the first time, she admitted to herself that her feelings ran deep. When she closed her eyes, all she saw was Jack. Jack pushing the stroller and grinning at her. Jack stealing a kiss by the kitchen sink. Jack passing her baby Ella before changing out of his officer uniform.
Jack. Jack. Jack.
Her mind turned to baby Ella only for a second before she had to switch away, a keening cry threatening to come out at her loss of taking care of the baby girl. Ella had shown her what it was like to be a mother, something she never thought she’d know. It had been an amazing few months, a gift.
