Jaguar

by M. L. Hamilton

  He smiled at her and shook his head, coming forward to take a seat at the table. “I’m good.”

  Pam set the bottle down and took a long drink from the glass, then she sat, staring at the liquid inside.

  “What’s up?” he asked her.

  She ran her tongue across her upper teeth. “I’m sitting here feeling so guilty for what I said to you about Sophia. When I said I’d put her in foster care. You know I didn’t mean that, right?”

  “We’ve talked about this before, Pam. I know.”

  “I can’t fight you for custody, Jaguar. I don’t have the money.”

  “You aren’t going to fight me. I’m not taking you to court.”

  Pam’s eyes grew liquid and she sniffed, brushing the back of her hand under her nose. “I have never been so scared as I was today. I love that little girl like she was my own.”

  “I know you do.”

  She studied him a moment. “I’m glad you were here. I’m glad I could call you.”

  “I’m glad you could too.”

  “You think we can do this together.”

  “What?”

  “Be a family. We’re a really weird sort of family. I mean, we give name to dysfunction. My sister tried to…”

  He held up his hand. “Let’s not go there, okay? I think we’re not any weirder or any more dysfunctional than any other family in America. Being unconventional is sort of an American thing.”

  She laughed.

  “We’ll work it out. I promise you,” he said, reaching across and taking her hand. “I want to be here for you. Not just with Sophia, but the other kids as well. We’ll get them raised. I mean, it might take the whole damn community, but we’ll get them raised.”

  She squeezed his hand and smiled at him. “You’re a good guy, Jerome Jarvis, you know that?”

  He shrugged, but he wasn’t going to lie. It was good to hear.

  CHAPTER 18

  The day after Sophia ran home, Jaguar agreed to take the kids to school. As soon as Hakim pulled up in front, the boys hopped out, racing for the entrance. Jaguar climbed out of the passenger’s seat and unbuckled Amanda and Sophia from their booster seats.

  Amanda hopped down onto the sidewalk and looked up at him. “Do I have to wait or can I go to class? I’ve got recess right now.”

  “You’ll wait,” he said, giving her a firm look.

  She stuck her tongue out at him, so he stuck his out at her. She burst into giggles, drawing a giggle from Sophia. Jaguar smiled and lifted Sophia out of the car. “I’ll be right back,” he told Hakim.

  “Tell my sister hi for me,” said Hakim.

  “Sure,” answered Jaguar, shutting the door, then he held his hands out to both girls. Amanda skipped along beside him as they walked toward the school.

  Mrs. Martin, the principal, was standing at the entrance and she ducked her head in greeting. “Mr. Jaguar,” she said.

  “Mrs. Martin,” he answered, not bothering to correct her. He could be Mr. Jaguar if it made people happy. Sophia glanced up at him and he shrugged.

  They took Amanda to her class. Before she left, she turned suddenly and hugged him, then she was off. Jaguar stood stunned for a moment, moved by the precocious child’s gesture, then he and Sophia wandered toward her classroom.

  Kallista stood in the doorway as they approached. Jaguar nudged Sophia toward her. The little girl stopped before the teacher, her small hands wringing the leg on her duckling as Kallista hunkered down in front of her.

  “I’m glad you’re back, Sophia. We’re going to have a lot of fun today.”

  Sophia shuffled her feet, refusing to look at her. Jaguar nudged her in the back again and finally Sophia looked up at her teacher. “I’m sorry I ran away,” she said.

  Kallista reached out and hugged the little girl. “Thank you for saying that, Sophia. I know it won’t happen again.” She released her and shifted a little, pointing inside the classroom. “I know someone else who’d like to hear that.”

  “Miss Rose?” asked Sophia.

  “Miss Rose,” said Kallista.

  Sophia turned first to her father and held up her arms. He hugged her, kissing her cheek. “I’m proud of you, little girl,” he said.

  “See you at noon,” she whispered in his ear.

  “See you at noon,” he answered her, releasing her.

  She walked into the classroom, clutching her duckling like she was going to her own execution, but at Miss Rose’s enthusiastic greeting, she picked up her pace.

  Kallista rose to her feet to face him, giving him a smile.

  He smiled in return. “Thank you for everything yesterday.”

  She shrugged off his comment. “I’m sorry it happened. I should have been paying more attention.”

  “It definitely wasn’t your fault,” he answered, then heavy silence fell between them as he studied her pretty face and her calm demeanor. Yesterday that calm had been what stopped them from jumping to crazy conclusions and he appreciated it. “Oh, Hakim said to tell you hi.”

  “Thank you,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck, her black hair shimmering in the sunlight.

  He shifted weight, feeling self-conscious and uncertain. It was a strange feeling for him. He’d always been so self-assured, but then he’d been half-baked for a lot of his adult years. “So, I was wondering…” he began.

  She looked up, her dark eyes deep and open, accepting. He could lose himself in those eyes.

  “I was wondering what you’re doing in June.”

  She narrowed her gaze on him. “June? It’s September, Jaguar.”

  “Right.” He rubbed his forearm with his free hand. “I want to ask you to dinner, but I figure I should probably wait until you’re no longer Sophia’s teacher.”

  She laughed, then took her phone out of her slacks and pretended to scroll through the calendar. “I don’t know. My Junes fill up so fast.”

  “Really?”

  She giggled. “I think I’m free.”

  “Then can I take you to dinner in June?”

  “Yes,” she said, a little breathlessly. “But you’re going to have to ask my brother’s permission.”

  His eyes widened and he felt a drop in the pit of his stomach. Was she serious?

  She burst into laughter, putting a hand on his arm. “I’m kidding. Don’t look so scared.”

  He blew out air. “Um, well, I’m not sure how he’s going to react when I tell him.”

  She shrugged. “You’ve got a few months to figure it out.” The bell rang for class and she motioned over her shoulder. “I gotta go.”

  “Right,” he said, watching her step inside. As she shut the door on him, giving him a final sultry smile, he realized this was the first time he’d actually asked a woman on a real date. He frowned and turned, headed back toward the car. Curious.

  Maybe he was growing up after all.

  * * *

  Saturday arrived and Jaguar knew fall was coming to Sequoia. The trees hadn’t started to change colors, but there was a crispness in the air. He felt a little excited for a different season. He’d always liked fall in the mountains, waiting for that first snow.

  Pam had dropped Sophia off for his weekend overnight. Amanda had gone through the house, telling him he needed to work on making them breakfast when they came over and asking him when she’d be able to spend the night with Sophia. He found himself echoing Pam when she said, “Manners, Amanda.”

  After Pam and Amanda had left, Jaguar and Henry showed Sophia her new playhouse. They’d deliberately kept it away from Amanda because they wanted it to be Sophia’s alone, but if Sophia decided to show her cousin next weekend, Jaguar wasn’t going to complain.

  After lunch, Henry suggested they take the stale bread and go to the lake to feed the ducks. Bundled in a fluffy pink hoodie, she took both of their hands and skipped down the street as they headed for the lake. Jaguar exchanged a look with his father.

  Neither one of them had ever seen Sophia skip before and
she was humming a song, something she’d learned in her kindergarten classroom. Pride rushed through Jaguar, surprising him that something so small, so insignificant could seem so very important. He wanted to swing her into his arms and kiss her, but he contented himself with walking alongside her, humming the song under his breath too. She smiled up at him, squeezing his hand tighter.

  He took a seat on the bench, while Henry pulled out the bread, then watched as his father and his daughter moved toward the water. The ducks spotted them and began swimming in their direction, quacking. Sophia laughed, making both Henry and Jaguar smile. The pure sound of her laugh was better than music to Jaguar.

  His phone rang as they began tossing bread to the greedy ducks. Jaguar pulled it out of his pocket and thumbed it on, pressing it to his ear.

  “Hello?”

  “If it isn’t the tree hugger,” came Hifler’s voice.

  Jaguar wished he’d looked at the display, but it was too late now. He shoved himself to his feet and walked a few steps away, turning his back so his conversation couldn’t be overheard. “Hello, Desmond.”

  “No use building the anticipation,” said the manager. “Shadow Eyes has gone platinum.”

  Jaguar felt the old thrill of excitement at Hifler’s words. “Really? This soon?”

  “You betcha, baby. I cannot tell you how important it is for us to go on tour. Already, there’s Grammy buzz, Jaguar. Grammy! We haven’t gotten one of those yet. This is the stuff that puts bands in the rock-n-roll Hall of Fame. You’re gonna have so much money, you can buy yourself a little tourist trap town.”

  Jaguar laughed. A Grammy? He couldn’t believe that. He’d had more success than he’d ever imagined, but a Grammy would solidify his legacy. No one would be able to deny his talent now. He realized Hifler was still talking, rattling off dates and cities and concert venues. He was talking stadiums again, in some of the biggest urban locations around the country – places that sat almost twenty to thirty thousand people at a time. Jaguar couldn’t get his head around it.

  He turned and his gaze fell on his father and daughter. Sophia held out a crust of bread to a duck, Henry’s hand curled around hers. The duck was extending its neck, prepared to take the bread out of her hand.

  “We’ll finish up the tour in February, right around the Grammys, generating the most buzz for a win.”

  February? Six months on tour?

  The duck snatched the bread from Sophia, gobbling it down, and Sophia let out a squeal of delight, clapping her hands. Henry laughed with her and hugged her, then he looked over at Jaguar. Jaguar found himself smiling as he watched them.

  Six month of tour? Riding in airplanes, tour buses, a different hotel every night.

  Henry’s smile dried, but Jaguar’s grew broader.

  “Actually, Desmond,” he said, starting to walk back to his family. “I’m good. I’ve got everything I need right here.”

  EPILOGUE

  Snow still blanketed the front yard, but patches of it were beginning to thin, showing grass beneath, and a large chunk had fallen off the roof of the playhouse in the backyard. An enormous flat screen television hung from the wall opposite the couch and people crowded for places on the couch and the kitchen chairs that had been arranged around the living room.

  Henry sat in his recliner, Amanda curled up on his lap. Jasper and Evan sprawled on the pillows littering the floor, a bowl of popcorn between them. Zion and Tate came out of the kitchen, carrying a tray with champagne glasses arranged on it and began passing it around the room. Kallista got up and helped distribute the glasses, while her brother lounged on the couch, shouting directions at her, until Pam slapped him on the shoulder, telling him to stop being bossy. Jim and Minnie Dawson followed the champagne tray, carrying a large cake, plates, and forks which they set up on the coffee table. A circle of chocolate made to look like an old-fashioned vinyl record sat in the middle of the cake with the words Shadow Eyes in blue frosting etched onto it.

  Jaguar stood in the entrance of the hallway and watched it all. He took in the noise and commotion and energy. Here were all the people who he cared about most in the world, the people who made his life more full than it had been when he was a rockstar touring the country.

  Kallista brought him a glass of champagne and offered it to him.

  He took it, smiling at her. “Your brother gave us permission to go to dinner in June,” he told her.

  Her eyes widened. “You told him?”

  He laughed. “I didn’t have much choice. He was going to set you up with the banker who gave me the loan for the music store.”

  She shook her head and slipped into his side. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. Okay, so they hadn’t exactly waited until Sophia was no longer in her class, but they were trying to keep things on the down-low. Only close family and friends knew.

  Sophia stopped in front of them. She wore a fancy satin dress in blue with her hair curled around her face and a white bow at the nape of her neck. The dress had petticoats under it, so it swished when she walked. She’d picked it out for the Grammy party, telling him she wanted to look like she was walking down the red carpet with him.

  She took his hand. “Come on, Daddy,” she said, tugging him toward the others.

  He let her lead him into the room and he took a seat in the other recliner his mother had always sat in. He could just see the picture of her hanging in the dining room – the one with the blue butterfly.

  Zion patted his shoulder and moved back beside Tate, so she could see the television. Jaguar gave her a fond smile.

  “Here it is!” shouted Jasper, waving everyone to silence.

  Kallista leaned against him, resting her hand on his shoulder as Sophia climbed onto his lap. His father gave him a nod and Minnie Dawson clasped her hands in prayer. “Come on, come on,” she whispered.

  Turning his attention to the television, Jaguar focused on the gorgeous singer with the long blond hair standing next to the handsome dark-skinned man in the perfectly tailored suit amid the lights and the spectacle of the Grammy stage, and he felt his heart beat a little faster. His bandmates were all there, somewhere in the audience, waiting to hear the results.

  After it was over, they would go to after parties and rub elbows with the beautiful people. They would drink champagne and shake hands and take pictures. And he would tuck a five-year-old into bed with her battered yellow duckling.

  Curling his hand around Kallista’s, he gave her a wink, then he glanced over at Pam. She lifted her champagne glass and he lifted his.

  This is where he wanted to be. This is where he belonged. This was home.

  The gorgeous singer leaned into the microphone and everyone in the Jarvis household held their breath, everyone except Jaguar. After all, what more did he need in his life.

  “And the Grammy for Song of the Year goes to…”

  The End

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  The Complete Peyton Brooks’ Mysteries Collection:

  Murder in the Painted Lady, Volume 0

  Murder on Potrero Hill Volume 1

  Murder in the Tenderloin Volume 2

  Murder on Russian Hill Volume 3

  Murder on Alcatraz Volume 4

  Murder in Chinatown Volume 5

  Murder in the Presidio Volume 6

  Murder on Treasure Island Volume 7

  Peyton Brooks FBI Collection:

  Zombies in the Delta Volume 1

  Mermaids in the Pacific Volume 2

  Werewolves in London Volume 3

  Vampires in Hollywood Volume 4

  Mayan Gods in the Yucatan Volume 5

  Zion Sawyer Cozy Mystery Collection:

  Cappuccino Volume 1

  Café Au Lai Volume 2

  The Avery Nolan Adventure Collection:

  Swift as a Shadow Volume 1

  Short as An
y Dream Volume 2

  Brief as Lightning Volume 3

  Momentary as a Sound Volume 4

  The Complete World of Samar Collection:

  The Talisman of Eldon Emerald Volume 1

  The Heirs of Eldon Volume 2

  The Star of Eldon Volume 3

  The Spirit of Eldon Volume 4

  The Sanctuary of Eldon Volume 5

  The Scions of Eldon Volume 6

  The Watchers of Eldon Volume 7

  The Followers of Eldon Volume 8

  The Apostles of Eldon Volume 9

  The Renegade of Eldon Volume 10

  Stand Alone Novels:

  Ravensong

  Serenity

  Jaguar

  Ready for the next Peyton Brooks, FBI?

  Coming soon.

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  With Marco embroiled in his own battle with the Chechen mob, Peyton finds her attention divided between the situation at home and a suspect that’s as ethereal as a ghost. Unfortunately, Radar is dead in the crosshairs and Peyton may be the only one who can save him.

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