Rob came over with a glass of water and cup of coffee, sloshing coffee over the side when he sat it down directly in front of Jake.
“What the hell am I going to do with coffee?” He showed the text to Rob. “Look at this, I’m getting dumped by Macaroni. Remember her?” Jake set his phone down and folded his arms on the bar. “I gotta go home, but I want another beer flirst, first, dude. Come on.”
“If you weren’t my friend, I’d knock you on your damn ass myself because I don’t like your attitude when you drink, and I never did, for the record.” Rob set his elbows on the bar to read the text. “Nowhere here does she say she’s dumping you.” Speaking in a calm tone, he continued, “Do you remember what you told me about ten years ago?”
“Stop living in the damn past, Rob. It’ll only turn your crazy loose.”
“Why? Looks like you’re living in it. You are, apparently, the way you’re talking about Beth.” Rob held a steadfast stare. “Yeah, I know she’s back. I’m cutting you off. I’m not losing my bar because you’re pining over a lost love that’s not even lost. Read the damn text again.” Rob took Jake’s phone from the bar.
Jake frowned at Rob when he turned around. “Who were you talking to on my sonofabitching phone.”
Rob set the phone down. “Don’t worry about it. Want your ass to end up in jail tonight?” He got another beer and set it on the bar in front of Jake. “Here you go. Last one tonight. Stay on the bar stool this time instead of searching for a fight.” Rob went to wait on a table in the center of the room, put in the order, then stood near Jake.
“Thanks, man. Why did you have my phone?”
“To read the text again, Jake.”
“You talked to someone on my phone. I’m not that drunk.” Jake shook his head, but he shouldn’t have. The room spun around, and he lowered his head to his arms. I gotta go home. “Where’s my damn keys?” he mumbled. He scoured the bar area around him then stood to check his pockets. “Damn.” Jake scanned the floor around his stool. Rob returned to work behind the bar, and Jake asked, “Have you seen my keys?”
“Sit down, I’ll be right there.”
Jake peeked into the mirror across from where he sat, picked up his hat, and put it on. It was time for a damn haircut. He shook his head again when he removed his hat and slammed the hat down on the bar, admitting to how wasted he had become. He picked up his phone to scroll through it. Rob came over, grabbed the phone from Jake’s hands, and chuckled. “Hey, no drunk dialing allowed. You’ll thank me for it tomorrow. Why not tell me what the hell’s going on? Go ahead, bounce it off me tonight instead.”
“I need to get out of here, but I can’t find my keys. Did you take them, fool?” He plopped his hat on his head again.
Rob laughed. “Chill out. Sit and enjoy the music. Let them play what they want without insulting them.” He left to take orders and served others at the tables before coming back to wipe down the bar.
Jake tapped the brim of his hat, nodding to the pretty girl singing in the band. His phone rang, which caught him off guard. Beth? He didn’t answer. When the voice mail alert came on, he listened.
“Where are you? You haven’t answered my texts or taken my last call. Are you okay? Please call me. I need to talk to you.”
Hmm. Maybe he’d call her later when his brain worked at one hundred percent. If he called her now it was hard telling what he’d say. The band wasn’t bad after all, especially the lead singer. It hit him then that he was single. His gaze remained on her until someone slid into the seat beside him, blocking his view.
“Howdy,” said the guy sliding into the seat beside Jake.
Jake narrowed his eyes and peered at the guy. “Dad? What the hell are you doing here? You don’t go out at night anymore.” He slapped his hand on the bar top and howled.
“I saw your truck outside. Where’s Trace?” Derrick nodded and said hi to Rob behind the bar.
“At home with Pepper the babysitter.” Laughing hilariously, he slapped his hand against the bar again, and repeated, “Pepper the babysitter sounds like a freaking carnival slideshow…shied…sideshow.”
Even Derrick laughed.
“What are you doing here, Dad? I’m about to leave, but I can’t find my keys.” He weaved to the side and bumped against his dad’s shoulder. “Maybe I left them in the truck.” Standing, he checked his pockets again. Nothing. “I’ll go look.”
Derrick Lawton got up, giving a thumbs up to Rob when he glanced over. “Rob, great seeing you again. I’ll walk out with Jake.”
“Have a good one,” Rob said from the middle of the bar area.
His dad put his arm around his shoulder. “We’ll find them tomorrow. I’ll drop you off at home.” His dad guided him to his truck, opened the door, and told him to get in. Jake gave no rebuttal. On the way home, Derrick glanced over at him, “So, is this what we’re doing again, son?”
Jake slumped against the door. “I don’t know. Ask me tomorrow, or better yet, in a couple days when I don’t have a flipping hangover.”
He took his time driving down the secluded highway, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. “I tell ya what. This isn’t what we’ll be doing again. You can’t do this and raise a son who no longer has a mother.”
They drove in silence for the rest of the ride home. Jake welcomed the quiet. His dad put the blinker on to drive down the road toward his ranch and pushed him in the shoulder. Jake jerked his head up. “What? I’m awake.”
“You got a business to run here, and I refuse to see you destroy everything you worked so hard for. If that doesn’t sit well with you, or you’re sitting there trying to ignore what I’m saying, you’ll listen to one more thing—”
“I don’t want to hear it. None of it.” They pulled up in front of the house, and Jake attempted to open the door, but it was still locked. “What the hell? Let me out of here.”
“Tough shit, kid. Listen to me! Take it for what it’s worth.” His dad clenched his shirt sleeve. Jake settled back with no choice but to listen.
“If this is what you’re doing again, your mom and I will be filing for guardianship for Trace. We will not let that boy go through a life with this kind of behavior from you. You make the fucking choice. Now, wait in the damn truck until I pay the babysitter and send her on her way, so we don’t have more rumors flying around this town.”
“It’s my life, Dad.”
“Yeah, and you have a damn good one. One most guys only dream of. Wait here, or I’ll tie ya in a damn cross tie in the barn.”
Jake laughed. The cross ties? “Yeah, right.” His dad walked away and when he knocked on the door, the babysitter let him in. A few minutes later she left in her car. Jake honked the horn at her. He got out when his dad headed toward the truck. “Dad, I—”
“I know. You never did before, either. It better be the last damn time.”
“I never wanted to start this kind of bullshit again. Paige is gone. Beth might be gone.”
“Ah ha, I should’ve known that one had something to do with it.”
Jake tried to hold his head up as he focused on his dad. “You should’ve left us alone years ago.”
“You don’t want your son to be gone, too. Tomorrow’s another day.” Inside, his dad said, “Let’s get you upstairs to bed. Do I have to come by and take Trace to school tomorrow?” Upstairs, Jake fell onto the bed and Derrick attempted to pull off his boots.
“No, I’ll get him there. It’s not a problem. I can take my own damn boots off. I’ll get him there. Wait, he’s suspended for fighting. I don’t have to take him to school.”
His dad rolled his eyes. “Like father like son,” Derrick muttered under his breath. “Well, go to sleep. I’ll check on Trace before I leave.”
***
Jake didn’t know what woke him, but the dog barked and his phone rang when he became aware. He pushed himself up in a rush. “Daylight. Ouch! No.” He squinted and covered his face with his hands. “Dammit, what a mistake.” Wha
t the hell did I do? His phone beeped again and he picked it up. The hired hands were probably looking for him, but instead, it was a text from Beth.
“Where are you? I’m at your house, and you’re not here.”
He rushed out of bed to the window. Where was his truck? Then the buzz hit him about the same time as the hangover. He still wore the same clothes from last night. A vague memory of being in his dad’s truck shot through his brain. Jake stumbled down the stairs and yanked the front door open.
Beth caught sight of him before she started the car. He held his arm up to shade his eyes. How was this going down? Too bad she hadn’t spent the night, but then again, she might’ve been with her husband, which brought him back to last night. Idiot.
“Jake?” She stepped out. “I didn’t think you were home.”
Then why’d she come over? “I’m right here. What do you want?” He swatted at the air in front of him. “If you’re splitting, say it from there.”
Beth moved to the front of her car. “Are you all right? You look awful.”
He leaned against the doorjamb and peered at her with a knitted brow. “No I’m not all right. My head’s killing me.”
“Are you sick? Can I get you something?”
Her sweet voice rolled over his sour body like sweetened lemonade. He moved out of the doorway. “I’m not sick for crying out loud. Say it, Beth, get it over with, dammit.”
“Say what? What are you talking about?” She came up the steps, stood in front of him with widened eyes, and waved her hand through the air. “Whew. You smell like a bar. Are you hammered?”
Jake flung his arm out. “I should smell like a damn bar.”
She huffed. “Do you want me to make you some coffee?”
“Coffee would be nice, but I’d rather you ended it now and drive away like ya did before.”
She shoved his shoulder with the heel of her hand. “Excuse me? What the hell is wrong with you?” Her gaze went past him to Trace who stood at the door behind him. She straightened her back, smiling at the boy. “Good morning, Trace.”
He rubbed his eyes and tilted his head, blurting out in childlike innocence, “Are you going back to your husband?”
“Huh?” She peered at Jake as he dropped to a porch chair and held his head in his hands.
“T.J., go watch TV for now,” Jake said, rubbing his forehead with two fingers.
“I’m grounded.”
“It’s all right. Go watch TV.”
“I’ll make some coffee, Jake. Sit there if you want.” She went to him and brushed her fingers through his tousled hair. “This has something to do with my ex? You saw me with him yesterday?”
“Yeah, me and T.J. both did. He didn’t like the fact because he likes you, Beth.”
She slid a lock of hair behind his ear, and then folded her arms as she remained at his side. “Well, I like Trace, too. There’s so much you don’t understand.”
Not looking at her, he waved her off. “Leave now.”
“So the rumors were true. You turned into a drunk, huh?”
“Hell no, I’m not a damn drunk.” Anymore. “I was last night, and what does it matter? You’re going anyway.” Ouch, that hurt his head, and he deserved it for releasing his bitching attitude. He was madder at himself for what he had done for a stupid reason. Stupid. He knocked his fist against his forehead. Stupid!
“The old Jake I knew didn’t jump to conclusions without facts. And you know what? I could walk off this porch, but if I do, you’ll never know the story. So sit there and sober the hell up. Or go get a shower to make yourself feel better.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.” He deserved to feel shitty this morning—not that he had wanted to feel like he had fought a drunk bear.
“Stop sounding like a teenager, and don’t give me the power to do this to you.” Beth held the door for him. “Get your ass in here, Jake Lawton. We need to talk.”
Kasha remained at the door waiting patiently for him. Sitting a moment longer, he decided to follow Beth inside. He took a seat at the table and lowered his head against his folded arms. “Why are you here again?”
“What’s the big deal if I wanted to spend a few minutes with you this morning before my class? But now, it’s time we both know some things about each other. Does your son have to be in school?”
“No.” A vehicle pulled in and Jake peered out the window. Here it goes again. Mother fu… Shit damn. Take it like a man, asshole.
“How’s it going this morning?” asked Derrick upon entering. His gaze went to Beth. “Good morning, Beth. Long time no see, eh. You look great.”
Jake’s stomach about turned at his dad’s two-faced persona.
“Thank you, Mr. Lawton.” Beth hugged him, and he hugged her back. “Thank you so much. I put coffee on for Jake.”
“Yep, good idea.” He removed his hat. Derrick took a seat beside his son and dropped Jake’s truck keys on the table. “I came over to see if you needed to go get your truck.”
“Where the hell is it again?”
“At Rob’s Place. You don’t remember?”
Jake shook his head. “Um, kind of.”
Derrick stood and sauntered to the doorway between the kitchen and family room. “Well, I see the boy is awake. How about I take Trace out for breakfast since he isn’t in school.”
“He’s grounded.” Jake remembered taking two days away from his punishment. “Yeah, sure. I shortened it anyway. If he wants to go with you, he can.”
“Grounded huh?” Derrick gave a smug grin. “I have a couple jobs for him if I can take him back home.”
“If he wants to go. Hey, Trace?” Jake went into the family room. His stomach didn’t feel well. “Do you want to go with Grandpa? He’ll take you out for breakfast before putting you to work to start owning up to your punishment. Feed the dog first, please.”
“Okay.” He flipped the TV off and went upstairs to dress. Kasha went right up behind him, her curled tail wagging all the way.
Jake went up to his own bathroom to brush his teeth, run a brush through his hair, and change his shirt, all without the light on. He shook his head, unable to glimpse himself in the mirror as he tucked in his shirt. This is bullshit. How’d I let this happen? After popping in on Trace to say good morning properly, he went down to the kitchen. Beth handed him a tall mug. “Thanks.” He was finally able to look at her. The three of them sat quiet until T.J. came downstairs.
“I’m ready, Grandpa.” Trace turned to Beth, his eyes wide and his mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, he filled the dog’s bowl with food and gave her fresh water. He eyed his dad, his mouth opening, but he paused for at least ten seconds. “Um, Dad? Never mind.”
“Come on. Let’s go,” said Derrick. “Let me know if you need to pick up your truck.”
“I’ll have Wade take me up later. First, I’ll call Rob so he doesn’t have it towed away.”
“Nah, you know he wouldn’t, but you owe him a big thanks.” Derrick turned to Beth. “See you around. Tell your mother Silvia and I said hello.”
“I’ll be sure to tell her.” Beth caught Trace’s sleeve before he went out the door. “Maybe I’ll see you later, T.J. Do you mind if I call you T.J?”
“It’s okay. Bye, Beth. Bye, Dad. I love you.”
“I love you, too, kiddo.”
Jake poured a second cup and whirled around to face Beth, almost losing his balance, he did it so fast. “I told you not to hurt my son.”
Glaring right back, she spit out, “Or you. I don’t want to hurt either one of you. What the hell is up? If you saw me with Ross yesterday, you misunderstood. He and I have an understanding. We don’t hate each other. Our divorce was inevitable… We went into marriage knowing it wouldn’t be forever.”
“Where’s the sense in that? Never mind. Come on into the living room. I need to stretch out on the sofa. I’m getting new furniture after the first of the year. New bedroom before that.” He lay down with his head propped agains
t the armrest.
“Well, good for you. This surely doesn’t appear to be your style.” Beth glanced around at the French provincial sofa and love seat, shaking her head. “Gaudy tables. You don’t look very comfortable. Can I get you a pillow?”
Jake set his cup on the glass coffee table, searching around for a pillow, but T.J. must’ve confiscated them for the family room. “Yeah, upstairs in my bedroom. Not my old bedroom. That’s my boy’s room now. You’ll find it. It’s the one that smells like a bar.” He closed his eyes when she left. What an idiot he was for losing it last night, as she said, without facts to back up what he saw—when in fact, he did give her the power to hurt him. That’ll never happen again.
He glanced at his sore hand. Oh, sonofabitch, I didn’t… It all came back to him now. No wonder Trace had given him a weird scowl. Jake twisted his jaw around. Chances are Chad wouldn’t press charges since he got in a good one himself.
Beth returned from upstairs and handed him the pillow. “You have a nice room. I love the arched window, and the closet is huge. Did you knock out a wall there?”
“Yeah, I did knock out the wall between two bedrooms, and I also put a bathroom in there with a whirlpool tub and walk-in shower. The closet wasn’t so big when it was filled with her stuff.”
“That’s understandable. I need another cup of coffee. Would you like ice for your jaw?”
“Uh uh.” Beth walked away. She looked good in a cute little gray pencil skirt and lavender blouse, for so early in the morning. Beth’s beauty amazed him, for she’d grown up more gorgeous than ever. Her long, red hair bounced against her back on the way out of the room. “How come you’re not at work? Did you get suspended like my kid?”
Beth rolled her eyes at him when she returned. “I told you I have training this morning and don’t start as early as a work day.” She checked the time. “In fact, I’ll have to leave soon, but I don’t want to leave on bad terms, or over confusion about what you saw.”
Whispers of Forever: Mending Christmas (Canyon Junction: Hearts In Love #1) Page 12
