“Of course it isn’t mine! We haven’t had sex since I don’t know when.” Jake ambled toward the door, took his hat off, and wiped sweat from his face.
Tears flooded her eyes before she rounded the front of her vehicle, “I’m so damn sorry.” Wasting no time getting to her car, Paige rushed away from the barn to drive the hell out of there. She had meant every letter of her last sentence. S-o-r-r-y. All she’d wanted ten years ago was a fling with a sexy cowboy, not a baby or a husband.
Chapter 3
Numbness enveloped his body. Fuzz filled his brain. None of this had come out in court. He took his phone out to call Tom Brandt. “You won’t believe this,” he said to his lawyer. “I have something for you to add to your notes.” Jake proceeded to tell Tom the newest bit of information.
“This changes everything, Jake. I’ll be in contact with you soon.”
She was having another man’s baby, but it wasn’t the guy he had seen her with last night. A ball of confusion settled into a corner of his brain to figure out later. He checked his watch. It was almost time for Trace to get out of school. Jake went back into the tack room to wash his hands, then into the house to brush his hair and put on a clean shirt. His dirty jeans would have to do. Tonight, his son was moving back home. Let her try to stop him.
Pulling onto the 60 toward school, he called Paige. “Have Trace’s things ready. Leave the door unlocked, then find someplace to go,” he barked out when she answered. “My boy is coming back home with me, and I don’t want to see your face when I get there in a couple hours—”
“But—”
“Don’t try to fight me on this, Paige, because there’s no way you’ll win. You did this to yourself, lady. Nothing left but to accept it.” Let that sink in. Remaining calm now was important. Name calling would solve nothing and would only get his blood to boil and steam to shoot from his ears.
“All right. Tomorrow I’ll file to dissolve our marriage.”
“You’ll get no argument from me this time.” At the school, he parked and then sat a minute until his breathing got back in check. He went inside to the office to ask for a meeting with the principal. A few minutes later, the secretary escorted him through a narrow walkway to his office.
Meeting him at the door, the principal shook hands. “Have a seat. What can I do for you? I only have a minute before getting out to bus duty.”
Jake focused on the pens and sticky notes, the old stapler, a box of tissues, and footsteps clomping in the hallway.
“Jake?”
“Ah, I don’t know if you know my wife left with Trace, but I’m bringing him back home today. I don’t want Paige to pick him up from school anymore. She wants to take him to Baltimore, and I have a lawyer to fight the move.”
Mr. Barker shoved a pen away with his little finger and clasped his hands on the desk. “Well, we’ll need official paperwork in his files in order for this to take effect.”
“You’ll have them.” He looked at his watch. “There’s five minutes left in the day. Can you call him down now?”
“Um, sure, there isn’t anything to say you can’t pick him up.” He buzzed the secretary and asked them to call Trace to the office, ready to leave.
Jake stood. Nodded. “Thank you. I’ll get the paperwork you need.” He waited by the front door. As soon as the bell rang, it went from quiet to chattering chaos. A loud buzz filtered down the halls like a bunch of bees had been let loose. Lockers slammed and feet scuffed across the floor. Trace came up to him, and Jake held the door for the stream of kids overflowing to get outside all at once.
Trace grinned. “How come you’re here today, Dad?”
“Let’s go get some dinner. You hungry?”
“Yep. I’m always hungry after school.” A big smile lit his face when his former first grade teacher walked toward the office. “Hi, Brenna.”
Jake nudged him. “Hey, don’t call a teacher by her first name at school, even if she is our friend.”
“Hi there, Trace.” Brenna smiled at Jake. “Have a good night, you two.”
“Brenna,” said Jake. “Tell Jase thanks again for introducing me to Tom Brandt.” He glanced at the little brown-haired girl with her. “Jaelle sure is getting big.”
Brenna smiled at Jaelle. “She’s growing fast.” She leaned in toward Jake. “Joey even has a girlfriend, but Jase and I aren’t supposed to know. I’ll be sure to tell Jase thanks for you.”
He held up his hand. “Hey, can I talk to you?”
“Jaelle, wait in the office for a minute, please.” She smiled when Jaelle gave her a hug before entering the office. “What’s up?”
Jake left Trace talking with Destiny Carlson and moved off to the side. He mentioned how he didn’t want Paige to pick up Trace for fear of her running off with him. He knew he’d never get paperwork in time, and he hoped she’d do the favor for him since he was friends with her and Jase Carlson.
“I’ll talk to his teacher, off the record, of course, and explain what you just told me. Maybe she’ll give you a call if Paige comes up. I can’t promise you anything, but after what Jase went through with his kids, I surely understand where you’re coming from with this. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to do it.” Before going into the office, she tapped Trace on the shoulder as he waited near the office door. “See you at lunch tomorrow. Come on, Destiny.”
Jake held his arm loosely around his son’s shoulder as they went outside. “How come you’re seeing her at lunch tomorrow?”
Trace peered up at him. He blinked a couple times and looked away. “I have detention. The note for you to sign is in my backpack.”
“What?” Jake came to a stop in front of the truck. “What happened? The day of the Halloween party?”
“I almost got into a fight at recess. I can still go to my party.”
Jake opened the truck door, removed the backpack from Trace’s shoulder, and tossed it into the back seat. “Hmm. A fight? We’ll have to talk about this after dinner. Hey, bud, you’re coming back home. You can ride Blue every day now if you want, like you used to.”
He cocked his head toward his dad. “What about Mom?”
She’s moving on, son… She’s moving on. “Can we talk more about that tonight? I’ll explain everything.”
Trace removed his black and red checkered flannel shirt while peering at the ground but then he smiled at his dad. “All righty.”
He waited for his son to get into the truck then went around to his side, half expecting Trace to give an argument about why he wanted to stay with his mom, but he didn’t, at least not yet. “After dinner we’ll go get your clothes from your mom’s.”
He reached for his baseball cap in the backseat. Trace twisted his mouth to the right, held a second before twisting to the left, and lifted his gaze to his dad. “Really, Dad, I’m moving back in with you?”
“Yep.” Once the parking lot cleared, he put the truck in gear and pulled out toward the Sunset Grille, the local restaurant on Main Street. “Kasha can’t wait to see you. She misses sleeping on your bed.”
“Can I take a ride on Blue tonight?”
“We’ll see how much daylight is left after you get home. And we’ll talk about detention. At least you got a good detention teacher.”
“Uh uh, she’s mean in detention. Not nice like when she was my teacher.”
Jake laughed to himself, for he had more than enough days in detention—the place where he had met Beth. “She’s doing her job, T.J.”
“I have to take cookies to the party tomorrow.”
Cookies? Shit. What did he know about cookies? “Does your mom know? Maybe she’s making them.”
“I forgot to give her the note. I guess it’s up to you, Dad.”
“Nope. It’s up to us. We need to take a quick trip to the store. I hope you know how to bake cookies.”
“I know how to taste the batter and eat frosting.” Trace turned the radio up and bobbed his head to the sound.
Jake pulled into the res
taurant, and they went inside. They beat the crowd, and there was no waiting. Those cookies would get made, but he couldn’t promise they’d be pretty. “I’m making you eat all the vegetables you don’t like as punishment for detention.”
“Aw, Dad. I didn’t hit the kid, but I should’ve. I just pushed him down, and he was bigger than me! He called my mom a name. What did you expect?”
What? Jake did a quick glance around the restaurant. Only a few other patrons sat in various spots in both booths and tables around the clean and not too large of a place. “What kind of name?”
Trace shrugged. “A bad name I’m not allowed to say.”
“Then don’t say it.” Jake had a lot of names he could call her, too, but why would another kid call her names? “Can we—”
“Jake Lawton?”
Jake spun around. A nice-looking redhead had called after him. “Yeah, it’s me.” Upon a closer look, the sight of her face—that pretty face—hit him upside the head. “Macaroni?” He whipped off his hat, straightened his back as his gut tumbled, and stepped toward her.
“Hi! I haven’t seen you since forever ago. Of course, it’s me. Omigod, it’s so great to see you, Jake.” She rushed toward him.
Jake did a quick once over and gulped. His heart skipped a couple beats, maybe stopped once. “Beth Marconi. Well, look at you. Wow.” Those green eyes of hers smiled as she held out her arms. He hugged her, more like sank into her being with no regrets. At their first touch after many years, his eyes closed, and he inhaled the scent of her. Catching his breath after it hitched, he found his voice. “What are you doing in Canyon Junction? Oh, your dad?”
“Well,” she said when they parted. “I came to help my mom take care of my dad. Yeah, he’s…he’s dying from cancer, and even with CAM nurses, it’s getting hard for her. I came in here to pick up a carryout for us.”
“Doggone, I’m sorry to hear his cancer has progressed. You know, I used to run into them at the ice cream place, but I haven’t seen them around for a long time.” Jake nodded to the hostess to hold up a minute. He turned to Trace. “Hey, follow the lady to our booth, and I’ll be right there. Order a soda for yourself if you want.” Jake nodded to the hostess about the soda.
“Okay, Dad.” Like a gentleman, Trace removed his cap. He followed the hostess to the table, and his lanky body stumbled over his own feet before dropping into the booth.
“When did you arrive?” Jake asked when he faced Beth. Usually, the phone never stopped ringing when she was in town, but not this time.
Beth took a deep breath as she glanced at his boy. “Not long ago. I’ve been so busy at home. I haven’t had time to get out, or to let anyone know yet. Cute kid by the way. He looks like you.”
A beaming smile burst forth. “Yeah. The pride of my heart.” The smile left as fast as it had appeared. “Did your husband come with you?”
Beth touched his arm, sending a shock of electricity shooting to the unsteady beat of his heart, the jolt rippling out from there. “No. Um, I’m no longer married. Ross and I are divorced. How about you?” She pulled her hand back, clenching both of hers at her midriff. “Never mind, it’s none of my business.”
Friends had told him everything about her. How come they forgot to tell him she had been divorced? Bastards. “Well, it isn’t official, but she wants a divorce. We’re separated—have been. In fact, she’s getting ready to rush off—move to Baltimore to be with her new lover.” Why had he blurted out stupid stuff? “Don’t say anything if you run into Paige. Her news shouldn’t have slipped out of my big mouth.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t think I’d even recognize her. I only met her once at a baby shower. Oh, dear, how awful for you and your boy. I’m sorry. Are you doing okay?”
That quick, her eyes took on an empathetic seriousness. It was like Beth to put her own issues aside to be concerned about others—a specialness about her she’d always had—one of the traits he had admired back in the day. Jake shrugged as he held his hat with both hands. “About as good as can be expected, I suppose. I tried to talk her into staying. Today, I realized why she wouldn’t. It’ll be hard on my kid. T.J. is staying with me now. At least that’s my plan.” He peeked around the corner to check on his son. “Hey, Macaroni, you have any kids?” She didn’t, but he made small talk before she rushed off. If it had made sense, he’d grab her hand to keep her from leaving.
“Still the Macaroni, huh?” Beth snickered, peering away momentarily before reaching into her leather designer purse for a credit card. “No, not yet. With what is going on right now, it’s best I don’t…I guess.”
He nodded and glanced at his son who looked back at him, straw in mouth, one hand wrapped around the cold glass. “Well, I better get seated. Do you wanna—”
Their gazes connected. “Take care of yourself, Jake. It was terrific to run into you.”
Her penetrating stare was hypnotic, and he wanted to turn away from her, but he couldn’t pull his eyes away. Guess she didn’t wanna no matter what it was. How could he let her get away? He could have a heart attack any minute and that’d make her stay. “Yeah, for sure. We’ll probably run into each other again…if you’ll be around. This town isn’t big.”
At least maybe he wouldn’t avoid her the next time like he always had when she’d arrive. He took a step away but whirled around. “Call me sometime. Let’s catch up.” Those words came out of nowhere. Beth smiled softly, and he was taken back many years. The same gut-wrenching pain from their last goodbye twisted his stomach to the point of nausea.
“Um, are you in the book?”
He held his hat against his chest, fingering the brim. “Sure am. I have a ranching business now, so yeah, you can find me in the book, online, ask a neighbor.” He chuckled. “Talk to you later.” Heading toward the booth, he peered over his shoulder. “Welcome back to town.”
“Jake?”
Oh, God. Beth. Facing her, he lifted his head in a nod as he did another once over. She looked damn good in a little cotton dress with a denim jacket atop it, but it didn’t hide a glimpse of her alluring breasts. Low ankle boots replaced the cowboy boots she’d worn as a teen. Her hair was ten times longer than he’d ever seen it. A trace of a San Antonio tan still remained. Yet, a tiredness lingered in her eyes. “Yeah?”
Beth walked up to him, and he got another whiff of her sultry perfume. “Is the Coffee Shoppe still in town?”
“Sure is. Hey, they even have my phone number.” Jake sighed internally at his foolish remark.
“Would…would you be able to get away for a cup of coffee tomorrow morning? I mean, well, I know your work must keep you busy…and now your son. A nurse will be by in the morning to check on my dad. It’ll be okay for my mom not to have me there. She’s so tired and worn out.”
A million memories ran through his brain. Snapping out of it, he determined a meeting was possible since he had to drive Trace to school. It didn’t matter if he had to take him to school or not. He’d be there. “How’s nine-fifteen?” It didn’t take him long to answer. Again, she smiled that same sweet smile he had found so irresistible in the past.
“Sounds like a plan. See you then. Enjoy dinner with your son.” She sauntered to the desk to pay for her order but glanced over at him. Good thing he hadn’t reached out for her like he’d wanted to, for he’d be busted right now. Their longing gaze held, remaining that way until her order came. She paid for her dinner, and he walked away with a yearning in his heart that caught him off guard.
When Jake got to the booth, he bumped T.J.’s shoulder before sitting. “Sorry for the delay, kid. She’s an old friend from high school. I haven’t seen her in years.”
“She’s pretty.” Trace pushed ice down in his glass with a straw but peeked up at his dad. They both grinned.
The waitress came over to take Jake’s drink order. His gaze followed Beth out the door. There she goes. How could he let her get away again? “Bring me whatever my son has and give us a minute to look over the menu.”
“I have root beer! Daddy, can I have a hambuger?”
“How about a hamburger? Fries, too.” With a snap, his mood had improved. He’d pull a fast one on his kid. “Don’t forget an extra side order of broccoli.”
Trace’s glass nearly tipped when he fooled around with his straw, but he grabbed the glass in time to prevent a mess. “I like broccoli, Dad. I hate Brussels sprouts.”
“We’ll change it to those little green balls of yumminess.”
Trace wrinkled his nose as he shook his head, making a nasty face.
Jake chuckled. “I see a slice of pumpkin pie in our future, too.”
The smile burst out on T.J.’s face. “With whipped cream?”
“Whipped cream with those sprouts to top it off. Is there any other way?” He licked his lips and winked at his son as he reflected back to Macaroni, a nickname he’d given Beth upon hearing her last name when she’d strolled into detention at the innocent age of fifteen. He was a junior and doing time in detention for having a pack of cigarettes in his shirt pocket. Later, he found out Beth had been caught lighting up right outside the gym door. What a naughty girl.
Nearly three years later, they had run away together toward the first hotel out of town, and wherever the road took them after that. The night he had promised her forever. A pleasant memory for him, at least up to that point. He’d never gotten over that girl. Visualizing the way she looked now, he could no longer call her a girl, for she was all woman.
His heel tapped against the floor. How smoothly would the trip to Paige’s play out? Trace better not change his mind. Regardless, tonight he was pulling rank, and his son would remain with him. Let Paige try to stop him—court order or not. They’d have to haul him away in handcuffs to get Trace from him.
***
After dinner, they stopped at the store for cookie supplies—a nice roll of dough where they’d only have to cut, bake, decorate. Done. Jake and Trace pulled up in front of the moderate townhouse. Paige’s car was parked outside, and the living room light burned. Dammit. “Come on, T.J. Let’s get your stuff. Remember, you’re coming back with me. If you’re having doubts, have no worries. It’ll work out for us. The ranch is your home.”
Whispers of Forever: Mending Christmas (Canyon Junction: Hearts In Love #1) Page 3
