by Taylor Hart
The woman laughed too. “Every Sunday when I’d come over in the summer and have lemonade with her on the porch, she just had so many hopes for you.”
Jaycee’s eyes misted again. She covered her mouth. “You were so good to Mama. Especially at the end. She would tell me how much she loved lemonade days with you.”
Ms. Fairbanks patted her hand. “I’m glad I got to see you. And meet you,” she said to Shay, winking at him. “I know your mama too. She’s part of the women’s group in town.”
Shay was confused; he didn’t remember hearing about Ms. Fairbanks or seeing her anywhere in town. He nodded anyway.
“You tell your mother I said hello.”
“I will.”
Jaycee led him back toward the house, less quickly than before.
“Uh, not that I care where we’re going, but where are we going?”
Jaycee’s lips pursed into a straight line. “I’ve done my duty and shown up at the party. Clearly, Daddy has Marsha. He doesn’t need me.” She shook her head. “Let’s go lay down our official track of ‘Tragic, Furious,’ shall we?”
Happiness surged within him. Leah had been bugging him to make an official soundtrack for it. “You’re speaking my language.”
She pulled him back through the house, but just as they were dashing down the hallway, he almost bumped into the server holding a tray of wineglasses. His eye caught the one person he’d never expect to see at a party like this.
Wasn’t it enough that Kristie stalked him with baked goods? Now she had to show up on the arm of Duke McCade.
Chapter 19
Jaycee was on the verge of freedom. The front door was in their sights, and she tugged Shay hard to get out of there. How dare her father bring that woman to the manor, to her mother’s manor! Her mother had loved this home, bringing them here every summer.
At first, Jaycee had been upset that she had to come back to Rutherford this summer, but then she had gotten a chance to realize how much her mama had loved them in this house. She’d found her true love here, and that meant everything to her.
“Excuse me,” Shay said, turning and avoiding a platter of wineglasses.
Jaycee turned with him, trying to help him not collide with another guest who had been coming toward them.
Suddenly, Shay stopped. Duke had cut them off. He wore a tux, looking all suave. A woman she didn’t recognize clung to his arm.
“Kristie,” Shay breathed next to her.
Jaycee jerked her head to Shay and saw his annoyance. Kristie? The crazy ex who left baked goods everywhere?
Duke smirked at Shay. “I got the girl that apparently broke your heart six months ago.”
Even though Jaycee knew the whole story about Kristie, she was ticked at her brother for bringing her to this party. Obviously, he wanted to rub something in Shay’s face, so he thought he could do that by inviting his ex. It wasn’t just that; it was that Duke was doing all of this just to be a jerk.
Shay glanced at Jaycee. “I don’t want any problems. We were just leaving, man.”
Duke threw his head back and laughed. “Problems?” His eyes hardened into slits of anger. “Why would there be problems?”
Jaycee wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t want to try to walk past Duke, because she could tell that Shay was brewing for a fight. Not that she would care if Duke ruined her father’s perfect party, but she did care about Shay. Fighting at her father’s party wouldn’t come without a price. She snatched Shay’s hand and bolted for the back door. “C’mon.”
“What?” He resisted at first, but then he took off with her, matching her pace, dodging other people and servers.
They reached the front door, and she tore down the steps. There was a path to the side of the house, the one that led down to the lake. “This way,” she said, booking it.
The sun was just starting to set, and she didn’t think they’d made too much of a scene. The party never really started up until her father gave some speech, and then the band would start and the dancing and dinner would commence.
Once they’d gone a sufficient distance, they slowed down. Shay turned to face her, and a smile broke out across his face. “I like cutting out. That was awesome thinking.”
She laughed, then stopped, and he almost fell. “Sorry.” She kicked her heels off. “Can’t have those on; they’re not suited for the beach.”
Shay chuckled, and together they ran to the beach, laughing harder and harder.
Chapter 20
Later, Shay and Jaycee sat in the sound studio at his ranch. With Leah’s guidance, they’d laid down a couple of different versions. His mind was still on stinking Kristie, but he did his best to push away those thoughts as they sang together.
“Tragic, furious, every part of me.
Tragic, furious, the parts that no one sees.
But you gave me that light, that took from the darkest night.
Tragic, furious, and then I could see.
Tragic, furious, all thoughts of me.
Tragic, furious, the time is meant to be.
I couldn’t think the world could save me, but then I found you.
Believing. Believing what I see. Believing, believing you and me.”
Leah knocked on the window and then cracked the door to peek in. “That was it. That tone! Top hit, baby. Listen, I have to go out, but I’ll edit this tomorrow and send the track to you guys.” She winked at them as she left. “You kids have fun now.”
Shay took Jaycee’s hand and kissed her. He’d changed out of his tux and Leah had loaned Jaycee some sweats and T-shirt, but her hair was still all done up and she looked stunning with her makeup accentuating the lines of her face. His hand brushed along her arm, grazing down her shoulder to her wrist. “Did I tell you when I saw you tonight, coming out of the house when I first got there, I could barely breathe because you looked so amazing?”
She put her hand on his shoulder, kissing his neck and rubbing her nose up his jawline. “Really?”
His arms went to her hips and pulled her in close. “Really.”
She put her hand on his chest. “Your heart is going fast.”
He put his hand over hers and closed his eyes. “I don’t want this moment to end. I don’t want anything to ever break us apart.”
“Never,” she whispered, looking up into his face. “I meant what I said before, even though you don’t want to hear it.”
His heart raced. “What?”
“Marry me. Marry me right now. Let’s just go elope and come back married.”
He wanted to. Every part of him wanted to.
“Why?” she asked, suddenly upset and crying.
He was shocked she was so upset. He pulled back. “Jaycee,” he whispered softly.
She held his hand. “I just want us. I want us right now.”
He held her. He didn’t know what else to do so he held her. “We will get married. One year. One year. You finish your degree, I’ll become famous.”
“You promise?” she asked.
He pulled back and gently touched her face. “I’d put my life on that promise.”
She hesitated, then pushed out her pinky. “How about your pinky?”
He laughed, then put his pinky out.
She took it, then he kissed her, again. This time drinking from her.
After she encouraged him for a while, she stood, tilting her head toward the couch. “Let’s go over there.”
Shay wanted to, he really did, but he didn’t want to move too fast with her. He swallowed, thinking of a way to distract them. “I want you to hear something first.” He pulled out his phone and played a familiar song—the same one he’d performed when she’d watched him in the bar. He grinned at her. “I tweaked it for us.”
She cocked an eyebrow, then smiled. “The song is about first love, right?”
He nodded. “Let’s dance.” He stood and pulled her into his arms.
“The first time I fell in love, it took me by surprise. The first time I
fell in love, there was this light in your eyes. I never thought you’d be the one to turn me from my past. I never thought I’d find you and now you’re here.”
The music hit its stride, and he twirled her out, then brought her back.
“This little town will be on the end of my boots real fast. And all I know is I want you by my side to make it all last. I need you, I want you. I have to have you with me. I need you, I want you. You’re the hope in my life, because now I’m believing.
It was always you.
I’m believing.
It could always be true.
Believing there’s more than just my little dream.
Believing that everything is right here, in me and you.”
She stopped dancing, and her eyes sparkled.
He brought her close, tears stinging his eyes, too. “What do you think?”
“I love you, Shay Summerville.”
Their lips touched, and then he was flying, floating, soaring. When the kiss ended, he pressed his forehead against hers. “I love you, too.”
Chapter 21
Shay had just cued up The Goonies, and now he and Jaycee were going to hunker down and watch. Maybe kiss, of course. He grinned, thinking of how it’d been so fast with her.
While she lay on the couch, snuggled up in a blanket, he walked out of the studio to go get waters and snacks for them. It was past midnight, but he wasn’t tired. He pulled bottles of water out of the fridge and popped some popcorn.
“I guess the party went okay?” his mother asked, wandering into the kitchen. Her hair had been drawn back in a ponytail, and she was wearing her night robe. She pulled him in for a hug.
“Yeah, it … went fine.”
His mother cocked an eyebrow. “Doesn’t sound promising.”
Putting his hand on the counter and yawning, he thought back to earlier that night. “Well, her brother Duke decided to show up with Kristie.”
“What?” His mother covered her mouth.
“Yeah and I think he wanted to fight me.” He let out a derisive laugh, remembering the way he and Jaycee had busted out of the place. “We took off, but before that, I met her father and he brought the mistress.”
His mother smacked the counter. “What is wrong with that man? Her poor mama hasn’t been in the grave but three months, and he’s flaunting the other woman around?”
“I know, but Jaycee has pretty much led the kind of life where her father wasn’t a huge part of it. Her mother was depressed a lot.”
His mother frowned. “I feel so bad for Susan. For everything that happened with her. After your father and I married, we did stay friends, you know. That’s why you and Duke played together during the summers. There was a point when she would come and I would try to reach out and she would just pull away.”
It was clear his mother wanted to fix things, but Shay was sure that like most painful things in life, they aren’t fixable. He sighed. “I’m going to go watch a movie with her in the studio.” He moved past his mother and kissed her head. “Love you.”
“Love you too, son.” There was still worry in her voice.
As he was heading back to the front door, Liam burst inside, alarm on his face. “Shay! Come quick, the studio is burning!”
Chapter 22
Jaycee felt it licking at her feet. Smoke. She coughed, but that only allowed more smoke into her lungs, making her cough harder.
She sat up on the couch and froze when she saw that there was fire surrounding her. Was this real? Was this a vision or reality? Clearly, it was real because she knew where she was—in the studio.
The smoke was thick and heavy. She thought about what she’d always been taught: stop, drop, and roll. She dropped off the couch, fear pressing into her. “Shay!” she tried to scream, but to no avail. The fire was right at the door to the studio, and that was the only way in or out.
She crawled toward the door and grabbed a blanket that was on a chair. Maybe she could use it as a shield so she could run through the fire. It wasn’t ideal, but it would be something.
She started to wrap the blanket around her, but the closer she got to the fire, the hotter and hotter it was. More fear made her stumble, and she coughed and coughed and coughed and gulped for air. It was worse than in her dream. Worse than anything she’d been through.
“Shay!” she tried to call out. “Shay!”
Now the fire was even hotter, raging even more, and she felt the blanket burning her. She dropped it and tried to crawl away from the opening. She put her face lower to the ground, trying to suck in as much oxygen as she could. “Shay!” The more she cried out, the less she could breathe.
Then it all went black.
Chapter 23
Fire blazed at the front of the studio. Already, Noah, Shar, Kira, were running out of the house. Liam was spraying the hose.
Their father was barreling toward them. “What the heck!”
Shay remembered Jaycee’s dreams, the fire, the screaming that she’d told him about since kissing him the first time. No! Hyper panic spurred him to action, and he did the dumbest thing, but the only thing that made sense to him. He kicked in the front door and ran in.
Through the flames, he saw her huddled in a mass on the floor. He rushed to her, barely feeling fire around him and beneath him. With a heave, he gathered her into his arms and rushed out.
When he’d gotten them outside into the fresh air, he was coughing and coughing, but he didn’t care. He took the moment to study Jaycee. She hadn’t been badly burned, but she wasn’t speaking either.
Liam sprayed them. The cold water was a shock, but it also made her stir.
“Jaycee! Jaycee!” Shay shouted at her, sitting on the ground with her in his arms.
Her eyes fluttered open. Then they closed again.
Sirens screamed in the background. He grabbed her hand, still yelling at her. “Jaycee! Jaycee!” His mind whirled with everything she’d told him about the visions and the mental institutions and her mother and the fire. “Open your eyes!”
Chapter 24
Moving, spinning, lights coming in spurts. Something creaked beneath her, and the sound forced her to the surface. She felt something on her face, something that felt suffocating. A mask. It was pulling her skin too tightly, and she could barely breathe.
“How long will the helicopter ride be to Boston?” Her father’s voice.
She opened her eyes, but she groaned in pain when light flooded her vision. Her eyes squeezed shut.
“She’s awake!” someone yelled next to her, moving with her.
“Thirty minutes, sir,” someone else said.
“Okay, we’ll meet you in Boston. Thank you.”
The air turned cold, and Jaycee risked squinting again. The light was even brighter, but she recognized a rooftop, and she saw that she was surrounded by doctors and nurses.
“On three!” someone yelled out.
Shay! She wanted to scream it, to tell them to put her down, but she couldn’t even move.
The images from the fire pulsed through her. The smoke. The flames. Then Shay leaning over her. She needed him. She needed him so much.
The blackness came rushing back.
Chapter 25
Three Weeks Later
Shay stared out at the cliffs from the driver’s seat of his truck. When he’d taken her to these cliffs, he’d had one of the best nights of his life. Now these cliffs would bring his life to an end.
For three weeks, he’d tried to find her. After her father had helicoptered her to the hospital, Shay had felt hopeless. Liam had gone with him to their home in Boston, but there was nothing. Leah and James had been fruitlessly scouring social media for anything that would tell him where she was. Noah and Shar had been a support to him constantly, trying to convince him that things would be okay. Poor little Kira would find him roaming the halls at home at night, and she would walk with him to keep him company.
His family meant everything to him, but there was this emptiness in t
he pit of his gut.
There was nothing.
Ever since meeting her, kissing her, seeing her show up at The Bird, his life had changed. He would never be the same. How could he? She’d become his oxygen. All life revolved around Jaycee. The smell of strawberry jam, the way her red hair felt in his hand, thick and lush, and the way she melted against him when they’d kissed … She was supposed to be his.
His mother and father kept telling him that there was no way the Senator could keep her isolated forever. At some point, she would get free and come back to him.
His hand shook, and he clenched it into a fist. “No!” He slammed it into the steering wheel.
It’d been three weeks. Longer than he could handle.
Seething, he thought about how he’d gone to the hospital, but he hadn’t been allowed to see her. When her father had arrived, the increased security blocking the way made Shay feel hopeless. When he’d woken the next morning after sleeping in the waiting room with his family, the nurse had informed them that she was gone, taken to Boston via helicopter an hour ago.
He hadn’t been able to find her anywhere. Her phone was disabled. Duke was gone.
Tears slipped down his cheeks, and he slammed his hand down on the steering wheel again. Was this what true love was? Not having the person you wanted? Being broken and desolate?
He hadn’t slept, hadn’t eaten. His parents had told him earlier in the day that they wanted to get him some help.
He cursed. He didn’t need help. He needed her.
Shay closed his eyes, his mind churning the way it had since the night of the fire. He’d made his decision. As he exited the truck, he took the gun from the seat next to him, the colt forty-five. He didn’t want this incident to be messy. He didn’t want to make his family clean it up at home.
