by Debbie Mason
“Madison doesn’t know?”
“No one does but me, and now you.”
“I won’t say anything, but she might feel better if she got it out in the open.”
“It’s not like I can force her. She’ll open up to Madison when she’s ready. Now, are you going to tell me what happened with Maria?”
“Yeah, in a minute,” he said, drawing her onto his lap. And then, after giving her a long, sweetly tender kiss, he told her how he’d found Maria and what had happened to her.
“I feel terrible, Jack. If it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t have had to deal with the memories on her own.”
“I feel bad, too. But I’m not equipped to help her deal with this and, let’s be honest here, she wanted more than my help on the book. I shouldn’t have cut her off like I did, though.”
“She needs to talk to someone.” Who was she to make that call? It wasn’t like Grace had opened up about her sister’s death. She hadn’t even told Jack about Faith. Then again, it wasn’t the same. Maria wasn’t to blame for what happened to her. Unlike Grace, she was the victim.
“I know that,” Jack said. “But it’s like Skye. Until she’s ready to, I can’t force her.”
No woman should have to deal with being raped, especially on her own. Grace didn’t fool herself into thinking that Maria would accept her sympathy or help. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t support her indirectly. “What if Dr. Trainer happened to show up tonight? He’s a friend of Gage, and he works with Dr. McBride.”
“Good idea if he’s free and they don’t mind giving him a call.”
“I’m sure they won’t. I’ll go talk to Madison,” she said, moving off his lap.
“Hey, princess,” he said as she walked away. She turned, and he held up his hands. “I must have the magic touch. You’re not limping. Guess we can go for a run tomorrow after all.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Panicked, Jack searched the crowd attending the auction in the backyard of the house on Sugar Plum Lane for his son.
“There he is. He’s headed your way.” Sawyer gestured over the heads of the people gathered in the side yard.
Jack crouched and caught sight of his son crawling through a woman’s legs. She let out a shriek. Jack jumped to his feet. “Grab him,” he ordered the woman.
“Got him,” an older man called out.
Great, it was Murray. Patrick was a fan of the leash. He’d probably tell Grace. Sure enough, Patrick shook his head as he handed off little Jack. “When are you going to listen to your wife, boy-o? Put the lad on the leash. Where is Gracie?”
“We’re taking little Jack up to the meadow later. She’s getting the picnic ready.”
“You proposed to her there.” The old man gave an approving nod. “Good place to give her the key to the house.”
Jack thought so. Murray smiled, and Jack’s jaw dropped.
Ever since the night of the fire, the old man didn’t lecture or curse Jack out as much as he used to. But smiling… It took a couple of seconds for Jack to recover. “I’ve got a limited budget. Hopefully no one pushes the price too high.”
Patrick scrutinized the crowd. “Know most of them… You should be good. Stop by my place before you bring her the key and get some flowers. Gracie likes her flowers.”
It wasn’t long into the auction when Jack knew he’d have no need for the flowers. He didn’t realize until now that he’d actually thought he had a chance. How much he had wanted to see Grace’s face when he handed her the key.
“Shit,” Sawyer said. “I’m sorry, buddy.”
“Shit,” little Jack echoed.
Jack scrubbed his face. “All I had to do was figure out a way to keep working with Maria. If I had the extra money, I could’ve gone higher.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. You did what you had to. There’ll be another house.”
“It’s not the same. She wanted this one. And I… I wanted to be the one to make her dream come true.” He shrugged, embarrassed for coming off a sentimental sap.
“You did. You came home.”
“Thanks.” Jack appreciated him saying so, but at the moment, it didn’t help.
Fred, Ted, Patrick, and Nell came over to commiserate. Then Madison, who’d been shaking hands with the new owners, walked over. “I’m so sorry, Jack. I wish there were something I could do.”
“Don’t worry about it. At least Grace didn’t get her hopes up.”
“That’s true,” she said. “Well, you guys have a nice picnic. We’ll talk later.”
“Yeah, thanks.” As Madison walked away, Jack noticed Maria standing with the well-dressed couple who had the winning bid. His eyes narrowed as they shook her hand. Sensing his attention, she looked up, then excused herself and walked across the lawn to where he stood.
“I’m sorry you lost the house, Jack. But in the end, you know you’d never be happy here.”
She ran her hand over little Jack’s buzz cut. “Hey, cutie.”
“You made sure I didn’t get the house, didn’t you?”
“What I did is save you from making the biggest mistake of your life. You don’t belong here.”
“Who are they?”
“A former colleague and his wife who moved to Colorado a couple of years ago. He’d always talked about how they wanted to open a bed-and-breakfast. He’s close to retiring, so I let them know. I…”
He turned and walked away. If he didn’t, he’d say something not fit for his son’s ears. “You don’t want to do that,” he warned her when she followed after him.
“Hey, Jack,” Sawyer called out, jogging in his direction.
Jack waited for him on the sidewalk, forcing himself not to look back at the house. “What’s up?”
“Five-acre wildfire on Blue Mountain. We’ve got a scout troop locked in up there. One of our pilots is down sick. You okay to take a chopper up?” Sawyer had been volunteering with search and rescue since he’d retired.
“Yeah.” Jack ignored the uptick in his pulse and started for his truck. “I’ll take little Jack home and meet you at the field.” With his son buckled in his car seat, he called Grace before getting behind the wheel.
As soon as he pulled up to the bakery, Grace ran to the SUV. “Jill called. Dr. Trainer’s going up with you, too,” she said, opening the door to get little Jack out of his car seat. “Are you going to be okay?”
“Sure, why wouldn’t I be?”
With their son on her hip, she reached through the open window to caress Jack’s cheek. “Because you haven’t taken up a chopper since the day you were shot down.”
* * *
Grace sat on the landing outside their apartment door, anxiously waiting for Jack to come home. Gage and Jill had been giving her updates on the hour. As of thirty minutes ago, all the boys and their troop leaders had been rescued.
The door opened. Jack saw her and cocked his head, a slow smile curving his lips as he started up the stairs. “Hey, princess.”
“Hey, flyboy. I hear you were playing hero again.”
He laughed, hauling her off the steps and into his arms. He kissed her, walking her backward into the apartment as he did. She was breathless and weak-kneed by the time he drew his mouth away to rest his forehead against hers. “Hold that thought. We’ll take up where we left off once I grab a shower.”
All Grace could manage was a nod. He grinned then headed for the bedroom, stopping in his tracks as he went to walk by the living room. He swung his gaze to hers. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
She shrugged. “I thought if we couldn’t go to the meadow for our picnic, I’d bring it home to you.” She’d pushed the furniture back, spread a blanket on the floor, and filled the room with flowers. “Patrick let me raid his garden. I don’t know what happened today, but he seems to have a crush on you now.”
“Jesus, don’t tell me that.” He reached for her hand, tugged her closer, and kissed the top of her head. “I won’t be long.”
She was arranging the foo
d on the blanket when he returned to the living room.
“Looks great,” he said, stretching out on the blanket beside her. He snagged a piece of fried chicken. “I checked on little Jack. He’s down for the count.”
She scooped a big helping of potato salad and one of macaroni salad onto his plate. “I kept him up as long as I could.”
“You let him stay up past his bedtime?”
She caught the amusement in his voice and sighed. “Just because I think a structured environment is important doesn’t mean I won’t deviate from his schedule every now and then, you know.”
“I know, princess.” The corner of his mouth twitched, and he patted her leg.
She watched as he dug into his potato salad, noticing a change, a lightness in his manner that had been missing earlier. “You loved flying again, didn’t you? It makes you happy.”
“Yeah, I did. I didn’t realize how much until I got up there.”
“I was worried you might have a flashback.” She’d had them for a long time after her sister’s death. After what Jack had been through, she imagined he did, too.
He wiped his hands on a napkin. “I did.”
“How bad was it?”
“Bad. Would’ve been worse if Sawyer and Dr. Trainer hadn’t been with me. They knew what was happening. They talked me through it.”
“Did you have the flashback when you were in the air?”
“No, thank God, on the ground. I wasn’t going to take her up, but they convinced me it was something I needed to do.”
They talked about the rescue, Afghanistan, and how much Jack had missed flying. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do? Are you going to retire?”
“Your dad asked me the same thing the other day. I’ll tell you what I told him—I’m not sure.”
“Oh, I see,” she said, trying to hide her disappointment. She started to pick up the dishes.
“I know that’s not the answer you want to hear, but it’s a big decision. I’m not ready to make it yet, but when I am, we’ll talk about it.”
“Okay.” She forced herself to smile.
He took the dishes from her hands, placing them on the floor. “Come here.” Drawing her between his legs, her back to his chest, he wrapped his arms around her. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“I heard from Madison. She sounded happy with what the house brought in.” Grace had done her best to act pleased. It wasn’t that she thought there was a chance she’d ever live in the house on Sugar Plum Lane, but before it was sold, at least she could dream.
“Yeah, I’m sure they made a hefty profit. Free labor and all. She say anything else?” he asked in a wary tone of voice.
“No, why?”
“Nothing, just Nell was giving me a hard time about little Jack losing his long hair. Thought she might have mentioned it. I don’t know what the big deal is. If you ask me, he looks pretty darn cute.”
“Of course he’s cute. But I miss his curls. He doesn’t look like a baby anymore.”
He wrapped her hair around his hand and gently tipped her face back. “You ever think about having another one?”
“I’d like to. What about you?”
“Yeah. I missed out on a lot. I didn’t hear his first word, didn’t see him learn to crawl or walk.” His hand caressed her stomach. “Didn’t get to feel him kick.”
“But, Jack, if you’re not going to retire, you could end up missing out on—”
“There’s always a possibility an instructor’s position might come up,” he murmured against her lips, silencing her response with a hot and demanding kiss.
“You want to start trying now… tonight?” she asked breathlessly when he finally let her up for air.
He rolled her beneath him. “Yeah, right now, right here.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
A week later, Jack decided he needed to have his head read for thinking adding a baby to their family was a good idea. With the bakery back up and running, Grace had been inundated with orders for her sugar plum cake. Despite the promise she’d made to him, she worked from morning to night and had an excuse at the ready every time he approached her about bringing in more help. Add her parents’ impending arrival to the mix, and her stress levels were through the roof. She was driving him crazy.
“Stop.” He took the cloth from her hand. “You wiped down the counter twenty minutes ago.”
“Maybe if you’d cleaned up after you made little Jack’s lunch, I wouldn’t have to.” When he didn’t release the cloth, she tried to tug it from his hand. When that didn’t work, she got another one from the drawer, slamming it shut.
At the end of his patience, Jack threw the cloth in the sink. “I did. And I loaded the dishwasher, only you had to reload it. I also threw in a load of wash, and you redid that, too.”
“You put little Jack’s clothes in with the sheets. I told you—”
He gritted his teeth, put his hands on her shoulders, and turned her to face him. “Look, I get that you’re tired and stressed, but I’m tired of you giving me hell when all I’m doing is trying to help out.”
“I appreciate your help. It’s just that…” She trailed off, looking at him from under her lashes.
“Just what… that I’m not doing it to your standards? Well, let me tell you something, princess, no one can live up to your standards.”
Her shoulders sagged under his hands. “I just want everything to be perfect.”
Some of his anger faded at the sight of her blinking back tears. “Baby, they’re your parents. They don’t care if the house is spotless. Little Jack and I sure as hell don’t. We’d rather have you happy and relaxed than stressing out over a few crumbs on the counter and tie-dyed sheets.”
“My dad doesn’t care, but my mother does. I’ll never hear the end of it if everything doesn’t meet her expectations. I wish she weren’t coming,” she murmured into his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. She looked up at him. “I’m sorry. I know I haven’t been easy to live with the last couple of days.”
Try a week. “Why don’t we go for a walk once little Jack’s up from his nap? It’s just drizzling out. The fresh air would do you good.”
“I wish I could, but with the tourists starting to arrive for the Fourth of July celebration, it’s really busy today, and the Pines doubled their order for this week.” When he gave her an exasperated look, she wrinkled her nose, something he used to think was cute. “I promise, as soon as we slow down, I’m going to advertise for another baker. Skye and the girls are great with the customers, but I need help with the sugar plum cakes. And now we can afford someone with experience.” She gave him a hopeful smile. “That’s good, isn’t it? We’re making money now.”
And that was another thing that was starting to get to him. His wife was providing for the family, not him. He decided to talk to the general about his options tonight. Because as much as Jack enjoyed spending time with his son and Grace, when she wasn’t acting like a Stepford wife, which admittedly had been much of the time lately, he needed to be doing something productive. He needed a job. At least when he’d been working on the house or the book, he’d felt like he was contributing something.
Grace looked at him expectantly, waiting, he imagined, for an enthusiastic response. “If you’re able to hire someone to take the load off you, then yeah, it’s good.” But he wasn’t holding his breath. He doubted his wife would be able to give up control to anyone, no matter how experienced they were.
A crash came from little Jack’s bedroom. Grace sighed, her arms dropping to her sides. “I’ve got it,” he said, heading to his son’s room. He opened the door. “Okay, Houdini, what did you do now?”
Little Jack, who’d escaped from his crib, tossed a basket from his change table onto the floor and pulled off his diaper. “Me go pee.”
Jack didn’t need to look at Grace to know what her reaction would be. He steered her from the room. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks,”
she said wearily. Halfway out the door, she turned. “Um, Jack, do you think you could take him to the park or visit with Jill until my parents get here? They’re supposed to be here around two.”
Right, because God forbid there was a pillow out of place when they arrived.
* * *
“Hey, Jack,” Matt Trainer called out as Jack buckled his son into his car seat. He’d decided to take little Jack to Jill’s instead of taking him to the park to play. With the rain they’d had, the playground would be a giant mud puddle. All he’d need was to bring little Jack home dirty for his visit with his grandparents.
Jack straightened. “Hey, Matt. How’s it going?” The thirtysomething-year-old doctor reminded Jack of Sawyer. He liked the guy. So did most of the women in town. They’d nicknamed him Doctor McSexy.
“Not bad.” Matt looked like he had more to say, but was weighing whether to tell him or not. Jack had an uneasy feeling it had to do with Maria.
She’d waited a couple of days after the auction to get in touch with him. By that point, Jack figured she’d done him a favor by screwing up his bid on the house, so he didn’t walk away when she caught up with him on Main Street. Besides that, no matter what she’d done, he couldn’t help worrying about her.
They’d met for coffee a couple of times—she’d completed the first draft of the book and wanted his opinion—and everything was good… until yesterday. Madison had come over to their table at the diner and teased him about working on baby number two. And that’d been it: Maria had had a meltdown.
Little Jack fired a ball at Matt through the open window. “Good arm.” Matt smiled, tossing it back before he glanced at Jack. “You hear from Maria today?”
“No, why?” Oh yeah, something was definitely up, Jack thought, feeling the electrical buzz at the back of his neck.
“She didn’t show up for her appointment this morning.”
“You’re worried about her?”
“You more than anybody knows what she’s dealing with. So yeah, I am. And up until today, she’s kept her appointments.”
Remembering the shape she’d been in only a few weeks ago, Jack took out his cell. “I’ll give her a call.” An uneasy feeling came over him when she didn’t pick up. If she answered for anyone, it would be him. “I’ll head over and check on her.”
