“As soon as I leave here.”
“Today?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll let you get started on those pipes.” He walks away, leaving me confused.
TWO HOURS LATER, PIPES in place and chrome wiped down, I get ready to head out.
“Okay, all done. Good as new,” I tell him, shaking his hand. He holds his grip and looks at me. “I really appreciate the tire, Robert. You have no idea how much it means to me. It was nice meeting you.” I let go of his hand and turn away while an old muscle car comes barreling up the drive. “Looks like you have a visitor, Robert.” I start pushing my bike out of the barn.
“Jace, wait,” Robert calls behind me. The car stops fast, and a man gets out with determination in his steps. I look at Robert. He nods, and I look back at the man coming toward me.
“He told me I would know as soon as I saw you,” the man says out of breath.
I look at Robert, curious, as he looks between us. I gaze back at matching eyes and black hair. “Told you what when you saw me?”
“You’re my son.”
REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE
“I KNOW YOU DON’T want to do it, but it was already scheduled for this afternoon days ago.”
“I’m just not up to it, Jules.”
“I know you’re not, but you can’t cancel VIBE FM, Shay. I’d go with you, but I have to go to fashion class as part of my final grade, and I can’t get out of it. Have your mom go with you.”
“No, I don’t want her to leave that phone if I have to.” I sigh. “I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?” she asks with a pouty face. I put my skinnies on and pull my pink top over my head and nod. “You look pretty, if that helps.”
“Nothing helps right now. I’m just going to do what I have to and come back home.”
“Well, you still have a little while before you’re on, so try to relax.”
“I can’t relax until I find Jace. I’m going back to the hospitals and check if he’s there.”
“Shay, he’s not, and you call all day.”
“And I will continue, too, until I find him.”
“Okay, Starkie.” She gets up off my bed and pulls me in for a hug. “If you hear from him, call me right away.”
“I will,” I say with tears forming.
“Don’t cry. You’re going live on the biggest radio station in the world in a couple of hours.”
“I’m trying, Jules.”
“Your jailbird better be hurt, or I’m going to hurt him myself.” She smiles, moving loose hair out of my face and behind my ears.
“Don’t say that.”
“I’m sorry, Shay. I can’t help it. You’re going crazy over here, and I just can’t believe he got out and didn’t tell you. Are you just going to forgive that?”
“I can’t think about that right now. All I’m concerned about is if he’s hurt. Nothing else matters to me.”
“And if he’s not hurt?”
“I love him, Jules.”
“I know you do.” She nods. “I’ll call you after my class.”
“Okay.”
“Oh, Shay?”
“Yeah,” I say as she walks to my front door.
“Remember who you are when you’re on the radio today.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have always been strong and positive, and even though you are going through a tough time right now, don’t let that affect how you sound during your interview. Who knows, maybe your boy will hear you, and it will bring him back to you.”
“Jace isn’t one to listen to the radio.” I roll my eyes at her. She opens the door and lifts her tan shoulders.
“I’m just trying to cheer up my bestie.”
“Thanks.”
“All I’m saying is, just do the interview and let the world hear how nice you are. Then leave and come home, and as soon as I’m done with my class, I’ll search this whole damn state with you.”
“You’re the best, Jules.”
“Yeah, I know,” she says, shutting my door.
DON’T CALL ME THAT
I STARE AT THE MAN standing in front of me and shake my head. “No.” I start pushing my bike again. He walks closer to me. “You need to get out of my way.”
“I’m not letting you leave until we talk…” I keep moving. “When my dad called me and told me he met a boy that looks just like me, whose mom’s name is Grace, I knew it was true. You are my son. My name is Jason James, and your mom is Gracie Styles. You can’t tell me you don’t see the resemblance.” I stop and stand up straight. We are the exact same build. His pale blue eyes and black hair stare back at me. I can’t deny the resemblance. It’s like looking in the fucking mirror. “You are my boy.”
“Don’t call me that. You didn’t want me.”
“I was a stupid kid on drugs that let the love of my life go so she could have a better life.”
“Well, thanks for that. Our life was like a fucking storybook straight out of a Disney movie,” I say sarcastically. “It was nice meeting you, Jason, but you know, that father/son ship sailed a long time ago. And, after the way you treated my mother when she needed you the most, you can pretty much go to hell.” I turn to Robert, whom I now know is my grandfather. “It was nice to meet you.” I straddle my bike and start it.
“I want to see your mom!”
“Absolutely not! I don’t want you anywhere near her!” I yell over the roar of my engine. He pulls at his hair out of frustration, just like I do.
“I searched for her.”
“Why would you do that? She said that you told her to get lost.”
“I was scared I was going to screw her up even more than I already had. I didn’t want to ruin you, too.”
“Well, thanks to you, I had a really good fucking life,” I spit the words out.
“Please don’t leave like this, Jace. I’m your dad, and I wanted you. I just wasn’t in a good place. I was a damn kid—”
“And so was my mom! You left her to figure out how to raise me on her own. She had no one to help her.”
“Give me a chance. I need to see her.”
“Yeah, well, join the torture club. I have a girl I’m dying to get back to myself. And, at this rate, it’s going to be a damn miracle if she even lets me in the front door after what I’m putting her through right now. Leave my mom alone,” I tell the man that gave me life, then hit my throttle.
I take off down the road in complete shock. I just met my father. I just met the man my mom wrote on her bedroom window growing up, the only boy she ever loved— my father. God, I need Shay so damn bad right now, so damn bad. How the hell am I going to leave for California now? I was supposed to be leaving right now.
I pull into Grace’s place. “Jace?” I hear as I shut the door.
“What are you doing?” I ask her as she wipes sweat from her brow.
“I’m doing an exercise video.”
“I wouldn’t get too worked up.”
“Why?”
“Your heart might go into overdrive without doing any squats.”
“What do you mean?” she says, catching her breath.
“That’s why you were nervous when you dropped me off at Robert’s this morning, isn’t it?” I look into her eyes when I ask her. She goes over to the television and turns off the video.
“I was hoping he wouldn’t know who you were.”
“Well, seeing as my dad and I look like fucking twins, he kind of put two and two together…along with my name.”
“It’s only a matter of time before Jason finds out.”
“Oh, my dad? He already knows. I’m guessing you’re about ten minutes from a family reunion.” She starts crying, and I walk into the kitchen. I can’t handle all this shit. I grab a bottle of water and chug it. When the last bit slides down my throat, the pounding on the door starts. “I was wrong. It only took five minutes.”
“Don’t open that door, Jace!”
“Open the door, Graci
e!” he yells from the other side. She looks at me with pleading eyes.
“Don’t open it, Jace. I’m begging you. Please.”
I walk up to her and pull her into me as she shakes. She might have been a terrible excuse for a mother growing up, but just the little bit she told me about her relationship with my dad, I know she deserves better now. She’s already changed so much, and now that I see who she probably was before her life spiraled out of control, she needs to do this, even if it’s just for closure. It’s not about me anymore.
“Mom, if you are uncomfortable, I will throw him out. But, he told me he searched for you, and he sounded sincere.”
“I’m afraid to see him.”
“Did he ever hurt you physically?”
“No.”
“At least get closure, Mom,” I say. She bites her lip and nods. “I won’t leave your side.” I walk over and swing the door open.
“Where is she?” he asks.
She stands beside me with the door blocking her. Walking around me, she faces my father for the first time in almost twenty-one years.
His eyes soften, and he lets out a shaky breath. “Gracie?”
“Don’t call me that.” She turns to me. “Jace, please.”
He shakes his head, and with a hand to his mouth in awe of seeing the girl who ran away, he pushes forward. All the years I kicked lowlifes out of our apartment, I’m now faced with keeping my own father from coming through the door. I put my hand out to stop him from going to her. He looks at me, desperate, saying, “Don’t keep me from my girl.”
“I’m not your girl. You didn’t want me or our son.”
“As soon as I sobered up, I went back to your parents’ house, and you were gone. I searched for you.”
“I didn’t want to be found.”
“I loved you.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, Gracie, I did. You know I loved you. I was a stupid strung-out kid, and I thought I was doing you a favor. I was messed up, but the second I sobered up, I went back for you. You vanished. Nobody knew where you were.”
“I’m sure you found plenty of girls to forget me with.”
I look between them, not knowing what the hell to do.
“I wanted you!” he screams at her, then looks at me with pleading eyes. “Let me in, son.”
“Don’t call him that, Jason! You lost that right!”
“Mom, relax,” I beg. Her eyes are full of tears. “What do you want me to do?”
She shrugs her shoulders, mouthing, “I don’t know.” With the same finger she used to draw a heart on the glass to remind me of forever love, she gently pushes me to the side. I let go of the door and step back. Taking two quick strides, he has her in his arms, both in tears. My parents are a fucking Lifetime movie.
I watch while she cries in his arms as he holds her with every bit of his strength. First-time love and miscommunication reunite, and I can only hope when my girl sees me it will be this fucking easy. Clearing my throat, feeling like Grace is finally wrapped up in the right guy, I turn away from a reunion I’m imposing on.
“Are you going to be okay if I leave for a while?”
“She’s going to be just fine, Jace,” Jason says, tightening his hold on her.
“Mom?”
She pulls out of my dad’s embrace. “You aren’t leaving me right now, are you?” she asks. I can sense she fears I’m taking off for California like I had planned. How can I leave her right now?
“No, I won’t leave you until I know you’re okay. I’m just going to step out for a minute.”
“You can be gone a while,” my dad says over her shoulder with a wink.
“It won’t be that easy, Jason,” she tells him.
“It never was. That’s why I fell in love with you.” He chuckles.
“Okay, I think you two are going to be just fine,” I say with two much information freely flowing.
“Jace?” She looks me in the eyes.
“Mom, I’ll be right back.”
She nods, and I walk out the door. Minutes later, I pull onto the side of the road and walk into a bar.
MAYBE IT’S A SIGN
I PULL INTO THE community center and stare at our tree. “Be my girl,” whispers in the light breeze, and I hold back tears, but Jules’s voice reminding me to suck it up for my interview keeps them at bay. Where are you, Jace? Why would you hurt me like this? Please don’t let there be something wrong with him.
I’m so damn flustered I can’t think about anything but where my boy is or if he’s okay. I pull out of the center and make my way to the radio station. My phone rings on my lap, and I grab it quick.
“Did you hear anything?” I say without looking at the caller ID.
“Shay, this is Landon.”
How did I not think to call Landon?
“Oh my God, Landon!”
“Tell me Jace is with you… I tried holding off calling you, but I thought for sure I would’ve heard from him yesterday, and I haven’t so—”
“What do you mean you tried to hold off calling me?” I cut him off. “Did you know Jace got out?” I wait for him to answer, weaving through traffic, trying not to hyperventilate. “Answer me, Landon! Did you know Jace got out?”
He lets out a breath into the phone. “Yes, I knew. I went to see him a few days ago, and right before our visit, he found out he was being released the next day.”
“And he didn’t call me?”
“He told me he had just spoken to you before he was told.”
“And why the hell wouldn’t he have called me back to tell me? I was supposed to pick him up!” My phone beeps a text message. I read it as it scrolls across my screen.
Hunter: Have you heard from your boyfriend yet? I know you have your VIBE interview right now. Good luck.
“Why would he not call me, Landon?”
“He told me to pick him up.”
“What? Why would he do that?”
“I think I might have told him some things that upset him.”
“Like what?”
“I saw some pictures of you and that Hunter Daniels and heard some rumors. I kind of told Jace about them—”
“Oh my God, Landon, why would you do that?”
“Because he’s my best friend, Shay. I didn’t know what to think, and I thought he should know what was being said about his girlfriend.”
“You should know those magazines are lies.”
“I’m sorry. I was just looking out for him. He was really upset, so he didn’t want you coming back to the prison. He wanted to surprise you. I think he was confused and hurt and just wanted to get himself together and come to you.”
“Get himself together? What does that even mean? I’ve searched every hospital repeatedly. I’m going out of my mind, and you’re telling me he didn’t want you to tell me he was getting out?”
“Shay, don’t overthink that. He was going straight to you when he got out. He was upset and didn’t want you to see him walk out in prison clothes. He wanted to come to my place, take a shower, and put on some regular clothes, then go right to your place and surprise you.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better? He broke my trust, and the biggest problem here is, he’s not with me and he’s not with you. So, where the hell is he, Landon?”
“Well, now that I know he’s not with you, I’m really fucking worried.”
“Worried? I’m going out of my freakin’ mind with worry! And, now, I don’t know what to think. If you hear from him, tell him he has a girlfriend that’s falling apart.”
“Shay, wait!”
“No, I’m thirty minutes from a national radio interview, and I can’t even breathe. Please, if you hear from him, call me.” I hang up. With shaky hands, I pull up Hunter’s message.
Me: I’m thirty minutes from my interview, and I’m freaking out. Can you come with me?
Hunter: I’ll meet you at the station.
Me: Thanks.
By the ti
me I get to the station, I have a few minutes to spare to fix my face. Thank God my voice is the only thing the world will get because I’m a blotchy mess. I’m just finishing dabbing concealer under my eyes and glossing my lips when Hunter pulls up next to my car in his Mercedes.
“Did you hear something? Your text sounded frantic,” he says as we both exit our cars.
“Yes, I actually heard something, but not from Jace.”
“Then who? By the way, you look pretty.” He lifts his baseball hat.
“Thanks. Jace’s best friend, Landon, called me looking for him. He thought Jace was with me.”
“So, he knew he was out?”
“Yeah, he did. He said he was supposed to pick Jace up, even though Jace had promised me I was picking him up. I don’t know what the hell is going on now.” I glance down at my phone in my hand, noticing for the first time that I’m not wearing my charm bracelet. I grab my bare wrist. “Where is my charm bracelet?” Hunter looks down at my wrist and shakes his head.
“Were you just wearing it?” He looks on the ground around my car.
“I don’t know. I can’t remember. I’m so damn upset.”
He grabs me by the shoulders and says, “You need to go into the station to get ready for your interview. Take a deep breath and get it together. You probably left it at home, and you are just so worked up you can’t think straight.”
“I don’t take it off, Hunter. If I lost it… Maybe it’s a sign I’ve lost Jace? That charm bracelet is a symbol of our love. He always wants it on me, especially while we’ve been apart.”
“Block it out right now.”
“I can’t block it out right now. I don’t know if the boy I love is okay or not. I have never felt so helpless in my entire life.”
“You have to do this interview. Pull it together.” I stop and breathe. “Yeah, just like that,” he says calmly.
“Is this what you do when you don’t want to be in the public eye but have to?”
“Yes. Celebrities are just normal people. You should know that, Shay. Your brother has to deal with this shit all the time. Sometimes, we don’t want to do a public engagement, but we have to smile through it anyway.”
Questionable Love (A Love Beyond Labels #2) Page 26
