“Sorry, Mr. Smythe,” Jake said as he fidgeted again. “But I think it looks fine.”
“This is your aunt’s special day, and you want to look your best. Two minutes longer, sir. That’s all I require.”
“Fine. If it will make Aunt Libby happy.” Standing still for Smythe wasn’t the only thing making him fidget. Trying not to think about the night he’d spent with Marla Jean was about to make him jump out of his skin. Once again he’d proved himself to be a selfish bastard, thinking with his dick, and damn the consequences for Marla Jean. He’d given into temptation, and even now all he wanted to do was drive over to her new place, throw out the crowd of admirers helping her move and take her against one of those butt-ugly yellow walls. He stifled a groan at the idea and closed his eyes.
“Mr. Jacobson, I must insist you stop moving.”
He took a deep breath and let out a lusty sigh. “Sorry, Mr. Smythe.”
Ellie and Aunt Libby sat outside the curtain at the tailor’s shop, waiting to make sure he passed their final inspection. The wedding was a day away, and just to make his mother happy, he’d shopped for new dress shoes and some new socks before meeting the two of them for lunch. When they discovered he hadn’t been to Mr. Smythe’s for his final fitting, they freaked out, dragging him almost literally to the shop by the scruff of his neck. As a favor, Mr. Smythe had agreed to a rush job.
It was a suit for Pete’s sake, a suit with a long, goofy-looking tail. And despite his protests, they were insisting he wear that silly top hat, too. Oh well, no one would be looking at him, anyhow. His Aunt Libby’s voice drifted to him while he stood letting Mr. Smythe pin the hem of his trousers.
She was saying to his mother, “I’ve decided to stay at my old house until the wedding.”
He did a mental eye-roll when his mother said, “Oh, I think that’s so romantic. A little time apart will build anticipation for the big day.”
“It is turning into a big day, isn’t it?” He thought his aunt sounded worried, but he supposed pre-wedding jitters were normal.
He could practically see his mother tut-tutting. “Now Libby, your wedding is supposed to be a big day.”
“Yes, but it can be a big day, without being a big production. It’s costing a fortune. I would have been happy with a small, quiet ceremony. Bradley wouldn’t hear of it though.”
“I know, Libby, and we’ve been over this a million times. You just have to relax and enjoy it all.”
“I was starting to, but then the other day I heard Bradley on the phone talking to his lawyer. It had something to do with money he owed Marla Jean. Something about their house. I just assumed all of that had been resolved when the divorce was finalized.”
That got Jake’s attention.
“Did you ask him about it?” his mother asked.
“I did, and he insisted it wasn’t important. But whatever it was, he wasn’t happy with Marla Jean. That’s for sure.”
Jake stepped down from the platform, pulling Mr. Smythe off balance as he walked over and pulled back the curtain. “What did Bradley say, Aunt Libby? Exactly.”
Libby looked startled at Jake’s appearance. “I didn’t realize you were listening, Jake, but it’s really none of your concern.”
His mother stood up from the wicker sofa. “Watch your tone, young man.”
“I’m sorry, but if it’s about Marla Jean, I’m making it my concern. She was all ready to buy the old Brown house, and then out of the blue, she decides to get an apartment instead. I’m beginning to think Bradley and this money he owes her had something to do with that decision.”
Mr. Smythe trailed after him with his measuring tape draped around his neck. “Mr. Jacobson, please, I’m not finished.”
Jake started taking off the suit jacket. “Well, I’m finished. If you won’t go talk to him, Aunt Libby, then I will.” Without retrieving his own clothes, he threw the jacket at Mr. Smythe and slammed out of the shop.
His aunt followed him out to the sidewalk, reaching out a trembling hand to stop him. “Please, Jake, wait. I’m sure you’re overreacting.” But she didn’t look or sound so sure. Her brows knotted in worry, and she started to pace. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Jake wasn’t buying it. “If he’s the wonderful man you say he is, then he’d want to do everything in his power to make sure the woman he dumped is getting a fair shake.”
His aunt jumped when he yelled the word “dumped” but he was tired of pulling his punches. His mother appeared carrying his clothes and grabbed his arm. “Stop it, Jake. You’re making a scene, and you’re upsetting your aunt.” She pasted a bright smile on her face and waved at Bertie Harcourt, who’d stopped sweeping the sidewalk in front of the Rise-N-Shine to watch them.
“Good. It’s about time Aunt Libby realized she has some responsibility in this situation. It’s not enough to blame it on falling in love—and damn the consequences.”
He saw the color drain from his aunt’s face, but he was on a roll.
“And I’m not overreacting. You and Bradley, the two that cheated, for God’s sake, get to keep everything you had before. He keeps their house, and you keep yours. Isn’t life grand? Except for Marla Jean. What does she get? She gets to go live in a crappy apartment with baby poop walls. That’s what.”
His aunt was blinking now to keep the tears from falling, and he felt a pang of remorse. Her voice was shaky when she said, “I intend to talk to him, Jake.”
In a softer tone he said, “You do that, Aunt Libby. Otherwise, I don’t think I can be part of this wedding.”
His mother tried again. “Jake, you apologize at once.”
“If I’m wrong, I’ll apologize. Until then, I stand by what I said, and the wedding will have to go on without me.”
Mr. Smythe came out of the shop and marched over to where they stood. “I hate to interrupt this family discussion. But if you would be so kind, Mr. Jacobson. I must insist that you take off your trousers.”
From across the street Bertie Harcourt yelled out, “I’ll vote for that.”
“Give me those,” Jake growled. Grabbing his clothes from his mother, he stalked back inside Mr. Smythe’s shop to change.
Jake sat on his sofa with his head thrown back and his eyes closed. Sadie slept, curled in his lap. He’d upset his aunt. He’d upset his mother. And now he was expected to spend the evening at Bradley Bandy’s bachelor party. And that upset him.
After he calmed down, he’d promised his mother he wouldn’t rock the boat until Aunt Libby had a chance to talk to Bradley, so he wouldn’t. In fact, at this point, he was past caring. Marriage was for chumps. Falling in love was for chumps, too.
Jake opened his eyes and looked up when Theo walked in the front door whistling. “What the hell are you so happy about?”
“No reason. Life is good, big brother.”
Jake scowled in reply and closed his eyes again.
Theo sat down and propped his booted feet on the coffee table. “I take it you don’t agree.”
Jake sat up, rubbing his hands over his face. Sadie woofed when he idly scratched her on the nose. “I just had an argument with my mother and my aunt.”
Theo moved some scattered newspaper and sat down on the sofa. “Ah, pre-wedding stress. I’m sorry to hear that, but you’ll be glad to know we just finished getting Marla Jean moved in to her apartment. Except for a few unpacked boxes, she’s all settled.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Jake said derisively. “You and Donny Joe and half the other single men in town.” Sadie seemed to sense his agitation. She jumped from Jake’s lap over to Theo on the couch and resettled in his lap instead.
“Actually, except for me and Donny Joe, it was just Lincoln and Dinah.” He looked annoyed. “What’s your problem, Jake? From what I can tell she’s excited about having her own place. And we’re all going to Lu Lu’s to celebrate later tonight. If you can find a better mood, you might think about joining us.”
Jake didn’t want to find a better mood
, and watching Theo celebrate with Marla Jean sure the hell wouldn’t improve it. “I’m going to Bradley’s bachelor party.”
“I thought you’d decided to skip it.”
“Well, I changed my mind. Brad and I have a few things to discuss.” He was going to make sure Aunt Libby had talked to Bradley like she said she would.
Theo shook his head and petted Sadie, who now slept soundly in his lap. “I guess you know what you’re doing. Speaking of discussions. I’d like to talk to you about something else, Jake.”
He sounded serious, so Jake shook off his irritation with the world long enough to focus on his younger brother. “Sure, what is it, Theo?”
“After we finish the job on your folks’ house, I’ll be moving on.”
“What? I thought we made a good team.”
“We do, and I’m not saying I’d mind if you keep a spot open for me in the future, but I got a call from a buddy up in Alaska. He runs a wilderness tour company and wants me to come work for him. And you know me. I could never resist the call of a new adventure.”
“What about Marla Jean?”
Theo shrugged. “What about her?”
Jake felt like a hypocrite for asking now. He hadn’t once considered Theo’s feelings while they’d been making love. “I thought you liked her.”
“I do, but you know how it goes. I’m not interested in banging my head against a brick wall, not even one as pretty as Marla Jean. Not that she hasn’t been straight with me from the start. We’re friends. End of story.”
“I’m sorry,” Jake said. He wasn’t, but it didn’t seem like the right time to say so. Jealousy made a man feel low down and mean. And every time Theo had walked out the door to go on another date with Marla Jean, he’d felt low-down and mean. He could admit that now.
“That’s all right. Let’s just say I won’t be breaking her heart when I leave.”
“Well, damn, Theo, I’ve just gotten used to having you around. This is the first time in years we’ve spent this much time together.”
“Yeah, and in all this time you’ve managed to avoid talking about our father.”
“What’s there to say? As far as I’m concerned the man was a bastard who shortchanged everyone in his life.”
“I never saw that side of him while he was alive. He wasn’t around much, but when he was, he was a good father.”
“I know we see him differently. I guess I’ve just never seen the point of rehashing all this.”
“The point is there are things I think you need to understand.”
“Like what?” Jake didn’t think Theo could tell him anything he didn’t already know.
Theo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Well, let’s start with when he died. I saw what it did to my mother—finding out he had a wife and another son. It almost destroyed her, Jake. I hated him for that. I hated his guts for a long, long time.”
That surprised Jake. Theo always acted like his father had treated him like a prince growing up, and he wasn’t interested in having his illusions tarnished by cold, hard reality. Jake had tried to honor those wishes the best he could. “I never realized you felt that way.”
“Well, Jake, I guess that proves you don’t know everything, doesn’t it?”
Chapter Twenty-seven
I guess there’s a hell of a lot I don’t know,” Jake admitted tiredly.
“Damn straight,” Theo said with a grunt.
“Okay. Let’s have it,” Jake said settling back into the cushions of the couch.
“Hold on. I’m getting there.” Theo took a deep breath and looked Jake straight in the eye. “I remember the day when you showed up on our doorstep out of the blue. You’d just graduated from college and moved back to Everson and said if we ever needed anything, all we had to do was call. My mother didn’t want anything to do with you—I think you looked too much like our dad, and you were living proof that their whole life together had been nothing but lies.”
Jake nodded. “I understood. My mom felt the same way. She wanted to act like neither of you existed. But I couldn’t do that. You were my little brother, and if you needed anything I wanted to be there. My mother finally came to accept that. But for your mom’s sake I tried to stay on the sidelines.”
“But still, you showed up for every one of my high school baseball games, even though I rode the bench half the time. When Janie Benton dumped me for Cal Price, I got stupid drunk, and you came and dragged my ass over to your apartment until I sobered up. You helped me keep that junk heap of a car running until it died.”
“That old Buick was on its last legs when you got it.”
“And then you loaned me the money for a down payment on a better car when I got that job at the Piggly Wiggly and had to have a reliable ride to get back and forth to work.”
“You paid back every nickel.”
“The day I graduated from high school, after my mother’s face, yours was the next one I looked for in the crowd, and you didn’t let me down. There you were, standing in the back. Just like always.”
“You’re my brother, Theo. That’s what families do.”
“No, that’s what you do, Jake. You look out for the people you care about. And the crazy thing—the thing I’ve never understood—was why you cared about me. I had to be a constant reminder of how much our father hurt everyone around him.”
“You were just a kid. How could I blame you for his sins?”
“So, why do you keep blaming yourself? You weren’t much more than a kid yourself when he died.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you do. Why do you act like ‘love’ and ‘commitment’ are dirty words? Don’t you ever want to settle down and have a family? If you aren’t careful you’ll end up alone with no one but Sadie to keep you company.”
“How many times do I have to say it? Sadie is Marla Jean’s dog. And hey, I don’t see you making plans to rent out the chapel any time soon.”
“Because I haven’t met the right woman yet.”
Jake didn’t say anything for a long time, and then he asked in a quiet voice, like he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer, “What the hell makes you think I’ve met the right woman?”
“Don’t treat me like I’m an ignoramus, Jake. Anyone with eyes can see how crazy you are about Marla Jean. And when we were out together? She spent half the time talking about you. But you are too stubborn and pigheaded to allow for the idea that you’ve got a real shot at having something special with her. I’m telling you, brother, you better wake up before it’s too late. She’s already moved to another town. It won’t be long before the men in Derbyville will be vying for her attention, too.”
Jake rubbed a hand across his face and confessed in a dull voice, “There are a few things you don’t know, either, Theo.”
“Like what?”
“I actually found out about you and your mother before Dad died.”
“What are you talking about?” Theo nudged Sadie off his lap and stood up. “How?”
“During my junior year, I was home from college for the weekend. Lincoln and I rode over to Derbyville to check out some party we’d heard about. We were driving down Central Avenue when I saw Dad coming out of the drug store big as you please, with his arm around your mother. First I thought he was just cheating, but when we followed them and saw the house with the name Jacobson on the mailbox, I realized it was something much worse.”
“Damn. What did you do?”
“I wanted to go knock on the door and drag him out of there by his balls. Then I planned to beat the holy crap out of him.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Linc stopped me. We could see a bicycle in the yard. He said if there was a kid in the house it would be better to confront him after he left.”
Theo started pacing. “I don’t believe this. So what happened?”
“We sat in front of the house all night. The next morning he left early. Your mother walked him to the door a
nd kissed him good-bye just like they were a normal family.”
“We thought we were normal until he died,” Theo reminded him.
“So, he got on the road toward Everson, and I kept him in sight. When he got out away from town where there wasn’t any traffic, I caught up and honked my horn and motioned for him to pull over. He had no idea that I’d seen anything, so he stopped. When he opened his door I just started whaling on him. I was shouting, calling him a liar and a cheater and a bastard and every foul name I could think of. Linc finally pulled me off of him, or I swear I would have killed him that morning.”
“I don’t believe that, Jake.”
“Well, I do. I wanted him dead, but all I managed was to break his nose and crack a few ribs.”
Theo’s eyes widened. “I remember that. He said he’d had a car accident.”
“I told him I’d seen him in Derbyville. I told him I’d seen him shacked up with that other woman at that other house.”
“What did he say?”
“He didn’t even try to deny it. He said I was old enough to understand that his marriage to my mother hadn’t been good for a long time. God knows, they fought all the time.”
“Did you ask him why he didn’t just get a divorce?”
Jake laughed. “Oh sure, and he said divorces were expensive and messy, and he didn’t want to hurt my mother. Dad could rationalize anything if it meant he got to do what he wanted. He’d managed to enjoy his happy family in Derbyville for years, and no one had ever been the wiser.”
Theo shook his head. “My mother told me later she could never understand why he refused to marry her. He’d always laugh and say a piece of paper didn’t mean anything even though he obviously loved her. And he was a good father to me when he was around. But she honestly didn’t know he was married. And when he died it all blew up in her face.”
“Dad did a number on us all,” Jake agreed.
“I still can’t believe you never told me any of this. Go on. What happened next?”
“I told him the game was up, and he just sat right down in the middle of the road and started crying, saying he’d never meant to hurt anyone, but that he’d fallen in love. With your mother. Like love somehow made it all right. I kicked him in the ribs hard, and he didn’t even flinch. Linc had to pull me away again because all I could think about was how much this was going to destroy my mom.
Ain't Misbehaving (9781455523801) Page 24
