“Thank you, Dane. I appreciate that.”
“By the way,” said Jake, snickering like something tickled his throat. “I figured you’d remember Beth.”
Dane laughed hilariously. “Hell yeah, I’d never forget the only girl in high school who stood me up.” He nudged Beth and laughed again. “I bet you don’t remember such a feat.”
“Stood you up, you say? Hmm, interesting.” Jake gave her a smug grin. She had never mentioned standing him up. This would be fun.
“Yeah, it took a while to live that one down. Don’t be a stranger.” Dane gave Beth a hug.
Beth hugged him back. “I bet you didn’t have a problem living anything down, Dane Carlson. Don’t take it personally. You see, this here cowboy beside me had me blinded. It’s wonderful to see you again. I’m glad you came home from Afghanistan all safe and sound.”
“Yeah, well, almost sound. You guys should come over to the Double Dutch someday. See what I’ve done with the place.” He peered at a dark-haired woman standing over with his family. “I have to go meet the family over there. Hey, it’s almost time to get the tree lit. Don’t miss it.” He walked away but whirled around. “Beth, great to see you again.” He waggled his finger at each of them, grinned, and nodded. “Cool about you two.”
Jake let out a snide laugh. “Stood him up, huh?”
“No comment,” Beth said with a smirk. “Well, I almost went out with him if you must know.”
Yeah, he knew what they said about almost. He stared at her, a lifted brow and a grin about to break out on his lips. “I still would’ve punched him.” He reached for her. “Get over here. It’s been thirteen years since we stood in this place together for a tree lighting. I sure don’t want to miss this one. We’ll celebrate tonight in the hot tub.” He lovingly yanked her close for a kiss.
“Fine with me!” More than a few sets of eyeballs had been on them.
“T.J., come on.” The two of them strolled along as T.J. ran up to push his way into the crowd to get them a spot. When they got there, Beth put her hands on Trace’s shoulders, and Jake put his arm around her neck in a possessive hug. Jake didn’t know how to handle it when Trace and Destiny Carlson kept making eyes at each other, or maybe it was just Destiny making eyes at the handsome lad Trace was growing into.
Beth glanced up at him, and his heart shined as much as the tree would in a moment. She met his kiss when he leaned over. He wanted it to be more than a quick one, but the lights came on and the crowd whooped and hollered, ouu’d and ahh’d.
Trace jumped up and down in front of Beth and stepped on her toes, but she didn’t break her gaze with Jake. This time he did kiss her longer, and when it ended, T.J. wasn’t the only one watching them. Jake saw it in their eyes as he peered around at the townspeople near them. They were happy for him and Beth.
Behind him, someone hollered, “Jake and Beth are back together?”
He and Beth both turned to see their old principal from high school. Jake laughed. Even he remembered. Well, he would’ve. They’d had enough days in detention for more than one, or ten, public displays of affection. Little did the guy know how much fun they had in the back of the room in detention.
He came up to them with a grin on his worn face. “I’ll be doggone. Is this real? You know, you two—”
“Should’ve been together all along,” Beth and Jake chimed in unison.
“Sure!” He placed his hand on Jake’s shoulder. “Take care of y’all.” He nodded to Beth as he went back to stand with his wife.
Jake peered at Trace who stood in front of them with a downtrodden frown on his face, his brow straight, lips a flat line. As the crowd diminished, Jake crouched. “What’s the matter?”
“You and Beth should’ve been together all along? What about my mamma?”
Oh, damn. “Trace, your mom and I were married for a long time. No one can ever take that away. You’re mine and your mom’s boy, and I love you so much, but we have to move on now. You like Beth, don’t you.”
“I do, Dad,” he whispered. “I didn’t know what the man meant.”
“Beth used to be my girlfriend a long time ago, way before I knew your mom. He was our old principal, and he remembered us.” Jake choked. “From detention. Yeah, son, I spent many days there, too. Mr. Barker will remember you one day.” Jake glanced up at Beth as a lump settled into his throat—the DNA results wearing more on his mind as he coddled his son.
“Okey doke. Can we get ice cream now instead of a hot dog?”
Jake removed his hat and wiped sweat from his brow as he stood. Whew. “Yep. Lead the way.” He and Beth followed Trace.
“How can I stay with you tonight after hearing what Trace said? Your little boy longs for his mother. I don’t want to upset him by butting into his life right now.”
“That’s all the more reason to stay. Stay.” What the hell was she saying? Backing out? Thinking…planning now?
Beth sighed. “All right. If you think it’s okay.”
Jake held the door at the Family Favorite Ice Cream shop. Trace stopped abruptly when he entered. “Trace?” He followed his son’s gaze past the sparkly snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. There sat Drake Manning, his mother, father, and two siblings. Jake’s hands instinctively balled into fists, but he stretched out his fingers to relax his hands. “Come on.” He headed for the other side of the room and took a table near the Christmas tree in the corner.
“Dad? Can we leave?”
“No. You have nothing to worry about. Nothing’s going to happen.” He pulled the chair out for Beth.
“Who are they?” she asked, taking a seat, refraining from looking back.
“A kid at school who picks on Trace.” He leaned over to whisper. “The guy I punched, who gave me the bruised jaw.”
Beth gasped, “Are you all right here? In control?” Getting her own breathing under wraps, she gave Trace a nonchalant glance. His back was as straight as the wooden chair back.
Her question hadn’t warranted an answer, but he replied anyway. “Yes, I’m in control. What do you want from the menu, T.J?”
“Hot fudge sundae.” Trace set his folded arms on the table and leaned over them. Speaking low yet resolutely, he peered at Jake. “Whatever you do, Dad, don’t hug me in here.” His gaze went to Beth who shook her head in agreement, though he hadn’t said it to her.
Jake gave an understanding nod. After they put in their order with Holly, Jake glanced to the Manning table. The kids’ looked like ragamuffins with the threadbare clothes they wore, and Chad’s wife appeared tired or sick. A concrete block of guilt thudded over him. Manning had three kids in the room at the extended stay hotel while Paige lost her cookies in the room beside him. How do you explain screams and moans to three little kids? If it had been him in the room with kids, he’d have a few names for her, too. Shit. Jake called the girl at the register over. “Hey, Holly, how’s it going tonight?”
“Great. Busy! What can I do for you, Mr. Lawton?”
Jake leaned back in his chair, hoping no one heard him but Holly. “The guy over there with the kids? Would you be able to bring me his bill?”
“I suppose, but why?”
“Can you do it, and don’t tell him who paid? Throw in something extra for the kids. I don’t know, a big chocolate bar or something.”
“Sure, I’ll tally it up and bring it over.”
“Thanks, Holly. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas to you, Mr. Lawton.” She smiled at Beth and said to Trace, “Santa’s coming pretty soon.” She left while Trace tried to hide his face.
Through gritted teeth, Trace spat out, “I don’t believe in Santa. What did you mean when you said that to Holly? Why are you paying his bill?” he snapped.
“We’ll discuss the reason later. About Santa. Maybe Holly believes, so give her a break.” Jake glimpsed Beth out of the corner of his eye and turned toward her. Crying? He slipped his arm around her shoulder. “What’s the matter with you, girl?”
>
“What you just did. Omigod.” Her voice cracked. She raised her hand to her forehead, quiet for a moment. “I love you so much for what you did.”
Jake peered at his son and turned his hand over. “Women cry sometimes, T.J. Get used to it.”
They received their order, but before he took a bite, he went to the jukebox, scanned through the list of music, and found Beth’s song, but this was a remake by a female country artist he liked. For the life of him, he didn’t know why he had done that—other than it felt like the right time to do it. Tonight the song made sense to him, and she already cried anyway.
As their time there went on, Jake and Beth talked about the evening, and how nice the tree looked when it came aglow. What he didn’t mention was how his heart came aglow to have her in his arms again during this time of year—the same warmth inside that traveled from the past and spanned thirteen years. T.J. had gaped at the tree in the square, saying “Cool.”
They had finished their ice cream before the Manning family left. Jake hurried his family out of there since they were the only two families left in the place. They took the long way back to the parking lot, and Jake marveled at the way Trace stayed close to Beth. She peered in holiday decorated store windows, now and then pointing things out to his son or him.
It was like he woke up after a bad dream, and she had never been gone, but this wasn’t a dream, and reality had certainly sucked for a while. Jake caught a glimpse of a man walking from across the street. He recognized him as the judge who allowed Paige to take Trace out of the state—the one his lawyer, Tom Brandt, called him about. “Beth, keep T.J. for a minute. I have to take care of a problem.”
“Jake—”
“I’ll be right back.” He followed him as he took a shortcut between the buildings, and called out, “Hey, Judge.”
Judge Stone whirled around before he reached the parking lot. Standing in a confrontational stance, he muttered across the way, “Do I know you? What can I do for you?”
A strong right hook landed the judge against the wall. “Hell yeah, you know me. You gave my wife permission to take my kid out of the state. For no reason, you allowed her to move my kid across the damn country! Y’all wanted me to think there was no reason.” Pausing, he let his words sink in, hoping the judge figured it out on his own before blasting him with what he had learned. He hoped for him to take a swing—to give him another excuse to lay him out.
The judge rubbed his jaw and took a step toward Jake. “I’ll have you thrown in prison. You can’t hit a judge. I could’ve shot you.”
“Well, I did hit a lowlife judge. I know why you did it now. You asshole. Your nephew Austin was the father of my wife’s child. How convenient. Now, I don’t think you were supposed to do that, and I could’ve shot you.” Oh, fuck, he shouldn’t have said that.
The judge straightened his jacket and walked away in a rush.
“That’s right. Take off. Think about it the next time you do a family member an illegal favor.” Jake stretched out his hand. That was something he never should’ve done. But damn, he could go to jail, not only for the hit but for the threat.
He needed to stop punching people. At least he wasn’t drunk this time. He’d remember it clearly in the morning. Nope, he wasn’t much sorry for punching him. Who could the judge tell, anyway, without getting his own ass in trouble?
He went back out front to catch up with Beth and Trace, not yet ready to answer any questions. “Sorry about walking off. Guess we should head home.” They strode around to get in the truck, and Jake glanced over his shoulder twice on the way. With a check to his watch, he said, “It’s late. I have a lot of work to do on the ranch tomorrow. Everything happens at once. Orders, pick-up, fencing, bailing the hay load after it comes in, but before that, stacking what’s already there. They’re all getting what they need before we close for Christmas. Besides, Wade put some things on sale.”
“Maybe you should go to bed when you get home,” said Beth, harboring a smug grin.
“You’re right. I plan on it.” He switched the station back to country music and headed down Main Street.
“Dad, when I go back to school after Christmas, do you think Drake will forget about picking on me?”
What a question. Those kinds of bullies usually moved on to the next person after a while, but then he remembered the conversation after Chad decked him in the bar. “I have a feeling he will.”
“You need to be the bigger kid here,” said Beth. “Ignore him. Pretend it doesn’t bother you even if it does. Go into the bathroom and scream if you have to, so he doesn’t see how it bothers you. That’s what I used to do when the high school girl bullies said nasty things to me.”
“I’ll try. Did those girls stop?”
“Finally.”
It took a long time for those girls to leave Beth alone, but she had always handled it well; however, he never knew she had been forced to hide in the bathroom, to scream. “Maybe Drake won’t live here anymore. I heard something about him moving. Don’t think about him right now. You’ve had sadness in your life, Trace, more than many kids your age will ever have. Why let him take away any joy you’ve found?”
Trace didn’t say anything in return.
Chapter 13
At home, Trace found a kid’s holiday movie on TV. Jake opened a bottle of whiskey, drank down a shot, and then capped the bottle. He set it back on the shelf behind a box of cheese crackers where it wouldn’t be an invitation when he opened the cupboard. He held up a bottle of red wine. “Beth?”
“Not now. Can I fix you guys anything to eat?” Beth relaxed against the counter where she could see both into the family room and Jake where he stood in the kitchen.
Jake straddled her legs, putting his hands against the counter top edge, one on each side of her, moving close enough to kiss her. “Ice cream was enough. I’m going into my office. I can’t…well, I don’t know. Come with me.”
Her brows were knitted when she caressed one side of his face. “Are you sure you don’t want to be alone? I’ll remain in the family room with Trace.”
Her thoughtfulness lightened his heart, but with a shrug, he stood straight. “I want you to be there.” Agreeing, she followed him to where Trace watched TV. “We’ll be in my office for a few minutes if you need anything.”
“All right, Dad. I like this show. It’s a marathon tonight.”
“Enjoy it.” In the hallway, he stopped and placed his palms against the wall like he needed to hold it up, when in fact, it held him up. His head lowered toward the floor. He closed his eyes, breathing deep. “I’ve been thinking about this moment all evening. I don’t want to know now.” She laid her hand on his back. Her presence brightened the atmosphere, and he appreciated her silence. After a few minutes he continued to the office, closed the door, and took his phone out. “I’m sure this message is notification to check my account, not the actual result over voice mail.”
Beth took a seat in a leather chair near the window that looked out at the front of the property, and she remained quiet.
Jake dialed. Listened. He played the message with his eyes closed, one hand against the desk to prop himself up. His body felt numb. Disconnecting the call, he nodded and took a seat at his desk. The strength he depended on most of his life dissipated into the hard wood floor beneath his feet. “Yeah. I have a message in my account.”
Beth came to him and put her arm around his shoulder. He logged in with his computer password and went to his account, again logging in there too. She placed her other hand on his shoulder and spoke softly. Sweetly. “Do you want me to read it, babe?”
His heart raced faster with each letter of the password and by time the account opened, he might have a heart attack or stroke. Each move was forced, because this was all done against his will, or his better judgement. Why had this happened? Had Paige hated him that much? “I have to do this myself, but thanks.”
“Jake, wait.”
He peered up at her, motionless,
his hands still on the keyboard, his little finger ready to hit enter. His voice was sandpapery hoarse. “What?”
“What will you do… God, forgive me for saying this, but if the result is the same?” Beth stood behind, hugging him, and she leaned down until her cheek pressed against his head.
“How can I honestly answer? I love that kid, but to know he isn’t my flesh and blood, I don’t know how I’ll respond. Nothing can make me stop loving him…I hope.” Jake leaned his head back against Beth’s body, and she slid her hand over his shoulder to rest against his chest. Yeah, he was glad she was there. “I don’t want to feel any different, but what if I do? What do I tell him if I’m different toward him? He’s already lost his mother, for God sake.”
“He’s your son. My mom and dad loved me like their own child. I never felt like they didn’t. Honey, Trace won’t know, because I see how you are with him—I can’t imagine you changing. That boy is in your heart, your soul.”
“Because for almost ten years he was my child. That’s why I’m…” He hesitated.
“He is your child. You’ve raised him—have loved him through all the ups and downs…and he loves you.”
“There’s only one way to find out. Either way, he’s never going to know, Beth.” Jake blew out the breath building up inside his body like a gas ready to explode. He had never been afraid of anything, but he was terrified of this. What if the results turned out the same? He dropped his hands to his knees. What if he did tell Trace? Would he want to find his real father one day? “I don’t know if I can do this. I could lose him.”
“No one would know except you and I. If you want, I can leave the room so only you know.”
He grasped her hand. “No. You’re a part of this with me.” How could he ask her to love his son if he wasn’t sure himself that he could? Dammit. He was sure. No matter what, that child was his, and he’d love him until the day he died, flesh and blood or not. Jake hit enter and clicked open the PDF attachment. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them. He read: “Child, Trace Lawton. Father, Jake Lawton. Are you reading this, Beth?”
Whispers of Forever: Mending Christmas (Canyon Junction: Hearts In Love #1) Page 20
