A Stone in the Sea
Page 31
Leaving Aly and Jared all wrapped up in each other, I headed for Ella who was lying on her back on the cushioned play area Aly had set up for her in the family room between their huge ass overstuffed couch and the fireplace.
“There’s my girl,” I sang as I wound around the couch and knelt down in front of her. Her blue eyes were all bugged-out as she watched the lights flashing on the infant play gym set up over her. Five brightly colored stuffed animals hung down from it, teasing her. She didn’t come close to being able to touch them. Yet she had her tiny hands all balled up in fists, her arms flailing and her legs kicking as she stared, fixated, making it clear how badly she wanted to reach out and touch one.
A tiny sound escaped her pursed lips and my heart throbbed a wayward beat.
Yep, man card at the door.
This little girl owned me.
“Don’t worry, angel…give it a few weeks, and that monkey is yours,” I promised as I bent down and maneuvered her from under the play gym and into my arms. “Come give Uncle kisses before your daddy drags me off to a grueling day of work.”
“Grueling my ass,” Jared shot from the other side of the room. “You’re in the air conditioned office while me and the guys are out doing the grunt work. I’d say you have it pretty easy there, my friend.”
Laughing it off because what he said was nothing but true, I brought Ella’s face close to mine. She offered me one of those little grins that I felt right in the center of my chest. She reached out, her nails digging into my bottom lip as she grabbed for me. I kissed them. “You take care of your mommy while we’re gone.”
“She always does,” Aly said, watching us with a soft smile on her face. Something shifted in her expression, and she bit at her lip and quickly turned her face to the floor.
I felt the frown crease my forehead. I knew my sister pretty damned well, and that meant I was pretty damned sure she was holding something back. “What?” I asked, my eyes narrowing as I pinned her with a stare.
She lifted her head, blinked, looked away. “Nothing.”
At the same second, Jared tensed up a little, like he knew exactly what was running through Aly’s mind.
Nothing my ass.
My frown deepened. “Nothing?” I challenged, my brow rising.
Aly shook her head and looked almost repentant. Unease slowly snaked its way through my senses. My gaze darted between the two of them. Something was up. Something they didn’t want me to know. A silent tension filled the room.
“Nothing,” she reaffirmed in what I knew was a lie. “I just…” She shrugged. “Seeing you with Ella like that makes me happy.”
“Come on, man, we need to get a move on,” Jared cut in, obviously putting an end to my questioning. He walked to the kitchen island and grabbed the small cooler he kept stocked with food, water, and sodas. “It’s going to be a busy day and an even busier week. You may just find yourself on the job. Then I’ll let you complain about work being grueling.” He tossed me a mocking wink, then sauntered up behind Aly, hugging her as he whispered something in her ear.
Below her breath, she laughed and nodded her head.
Three months ago, my brother-in-law aka best friend who bagged my little sister, had somehow managed to persuade me into starting a new venture with him. I went straight from a lazy college student, one who gave little thought to what he was going to do with his life after he graduated—because the truth was, he really didn’t give a shit—to business owner in the matter of weeks.
I mean, fuck, me being part-owner in the remodeling business with Jared and our other partner, Kenny? All signs pointed at a no-go. I wasn’t exactly what most would consider the ambitious type. But somehow Jared convinced me to team up with him, said he didn’t want to do it without me. Jared and Kenny had fronted the money, and now I was doing my all to live up to it. Turned out I was pretty damned good at, too, basically running all the business shit that didn’t deal with the hard labor, all of the accounting and paperwork that needed to be dealt with in the office, although the company was growing so fast there’d been a couple of times Jared had hauled me out on a job when he was short-handed. It was crazy going from scrimping every month to having more money in my bank account than I knew what to do with. I wasn’t loaded by any means, but it sure felt nice not to have to check my bank balance any time I wanted to buy something.
Truth was, I liked having a reason to drag my ass out of bed in the morning. And I had two. The other one cooed, grabbing my attention. I kissed Ella at the corner of her mouth. “Stay sweet, little one.”
I passed her off to Aly and followed Jared out the door and into the approaching day. Jared climbed into the passenger seat of my truck.
Each week, we traded off driving. We figured after I moved into my new place a couple miles away, there was no reason for both of us to hike it across town separately since Jared checked in at the office every morning before he headed out to the job sites in a work truck.
After Aly moved out, the apartment we had shared near the U of A campus had felt all wrong. Lonely. I knew it was time to make a change. Plus being so near to them gave me an excuse to stop by all the time so I could hang out with Ella.
I glanced across at Jared as I hopped into the driver’s seat of my brand new truck, the leather already heating up with the rising sun that blazed through the window. He smirked at me, lifted his chin. Guess it wasn’t so bad hanging out with him, either. Honestly, it’d been good watching him come back to life, overcoming the darkness that had plagued him since his mother’s death.
A flash of resentment twisted through me, and I quickly tamped it down. I didn’t blame him. Couldn’t. He’d been through more than I could ever imagine. What had happened wasn’t his fault. I’d made those mistakes all on my own.
I started the truck and shifted into gear. “So what was that back there?” I asked.
His face lifted in a clueless expression. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I cut my eye toward him, watching the little twitch of his jaw when he gritted his teeth. He averted his gaze to his tablet and clicked into his schedule, asshole acting like he was all too busy to look my way.
Right.
He knew exactly what I was talking about.
And whatever it was, I wasn’t really sure I wanted to know.
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A.L. Jackson is the New York Times Bestselling Author of Take This Regret and Lost to You, as well as other contemporary romance titles, including Pulled, When We Collide, If Forever Comes, Come to Me Quietly, and Come to Me Softly.
She first found a love for writing during her days as a young mother and college student. She filled the journals she carried with short stories and poems used as an emotional outlet for the difficulties and joys she found in day-to-day life.
Years later, she shared a short story she’d been working on with her two closest friends and, with their encouragement, this story became her first full length novel. A.L. now spends her days writing in Southern Arizona where she lives with her husband and three children.
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