“I’ve asked her out, but she keeps putting me off. You know Jayda—she doesn’t like hurting people if she can help it.” He glared at Chase. “I couldn’t figure out why she didn’t want to go out with me. I thought we’d be great together, but then I saw the two of you together again, and I had my answer.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s still there, isn’t it? What you two had?”
Chase could feign confusion, but he wouldn’t. Jessie deserved the truth. “Yeah, I still have feelings for her.”
“She told me you spent the night at her place. Did you two sleep together?”
He was tempted to tell him it was none of his business because it wasn’t. “No, but not because I didn’t want to. It wasn’t the right time. We’re both crazy worried about finding Cadence. That has to be our first priority right now.”
“And when your daughter’s back? What then? You usually come home at the end of the season to spend time with Cadence. Is that still the plan for the off-season?”
“Yeah.” Now more than ever, Chase wanted to be here. He wanted to explore the connection he felt with Jayda, to figure out if there was any possible way they could find their way back to each other.
“Do you think she’s still in love with you?”
That was a huge question, one Chase was afraid to ask. “I don’t know, man. A lot of time has passed. We’ve hurt each other. A lot.”
“But you never stopped loving her, did you?”
Chase had been telling himself that he still “had feelings” for his ex-wife, but that was bullshit. He was still in love with her. Plain and simple. He just didn’t know if she felt the same way about him. “No, I guess I didn’t.”
“So you think there’s any way you can make it work?”
“Why are you asking me this?” Chase asked, unable to quash his growing suspicion about Jessie’s motives. “If you think you can sabotage me and Jay—”
“You really think I’d do that?” Jessie sank back in his chair, covering his mouth with his hand as he stared at Chase. “Man, I thought you knew me.”
He did know Jessie, at one time better than he’d known himself, and his conscience reminded him that his old friend was one of the good guys, someone who’d always had his back. “I’m sorry.” Chase took off his ball cap and scratched his head before replacing it. “It’s just been a crazy couple of days. I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster.”
“I get that. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through, worrying about Cadence.”
“I think about her every minute.” When I’m not thinking about her mom. “I just want her home safe.”
“You’re not the only one who hasn’t been getting much sleep.” Jessie pointed at the half-empty coffee cup on his desk. “Caffeine’s been keeping me going ever since I heard she was missing. I don’t have to tell you how much I love that little munchkin.”
Chase smiled. “No, you don’t. And she thinks Uncle Jessie is just about the coolest. I may hit a baseball, but you carry a gun, which apparently is way cooler.”
Jessie smiled briefly before he said, “You asked me why I hate you. I don’t. I just hate the choices you’ve made. I’ve known you a long time. I know, deep down, the kind of man you are. You always told me that the way you grew up made you appreciate people more than money.”
“That’s true.”
“Then why did you trade all of the people who love you for a bigger paycheck?”
Chase had asked himself that question plenty of times over the years. “I don’t know. I was young and stupid, I guess. I made a mistake. I thought I only had a small window of opportunity to make my mark in baseball, to make it to the Hall of Fame, to be remembered for something important—”
“Being a good dad is more important than being a great ballplayer. You know that.”
Chase nodded. “Yeah, I do. But when I signed that contract, Cadence was still a baby. I had no idea how much it would hurt to hear her tell me she loved me and didn’t want me to go.” He still got emotional when he thought about prying her tiny arms from around his neck while drying her tears as he fought back his own. That happened every time he had to leave her for spring training.
“She knows you love her. Don’t question that.”
“If I had it to do all over again…” He shook his head. “Let’s just say I’d do a lot of things differently.”
“Oh yeah? So you wouldn’t abandon your friends either?”
“What?”
“You heard me. You left town, and I never heard from you again. Sure, I’d see you around when you came back during the off-season, but that was it.”
“Another reason to be pissed at me,” Chase said. He would have felt the same way had their situations been reversed. “I’m sorry, man. It’s no excuse, but life just got so crazy and—”
“I get it,” Jessie said, shaking his head. “And I don’t need an apology. I guess I just needed to tell you why I was pissed at you.” He grinned. “Now you know.”
“You had good reason.” Chase felt better that they’d cleared the air and he finally understood the years of awkward small talk they made every time they ran into each other. “But for the record, you and Jayda… don’t count on it.”
Jessie smirked. “Why? Because you said so? You’ll have to do better than that.”
“I think I want my family back. How’s that for a reason?”
Shaking his head, Jessie said, “I saw that coming. Okay, fine. I’ll back off. I may be a lot of things, but I’m not gonna be the guy who tries to keep my goddaughter’s parents from getting back together.”
Chapter Seven
Jayda was making her father lunch in his small apartment kitchen when he looked up from his newspaper and said, “You didn’t have to come in today, you know. I would have understood if you weren’t up to it.”
“It’s okay,” she said, setting the tuna salad sandwich down in front of him, along with some sliced berries. “I needed to get out of the house.” And away from all of the well-meaning friends who believed they had a clue what she was going through. Jessie had a cop staking out her house, in case Dillon brought Cadence back, so there was no point waiting for them at home.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” he asked, struggling to bring the sandwich to his mouth while his hand shook violently.
“I’m not hungry.”
He scowled. “I hate that your brother did this to you and that sweet little girl. What the hell was he thinking?”
“I don’t think he was.” Jayda sighed as she wiped down the counter. “That’s the problem. Dillon’s so high half the time, he’s rarely thinking straight.”
She knew it was time to lay her cards on the table. After pouring herself a cup of coffee to mitigate the effects of a sleepless night spent thinking about Cadence and Chase, she sat across from her father at the small bistro table, waiting for his undivided attention.
“Something on your mind?” he asked.
“I’m not going to let him get away with this. I can’t.”
He shook his head slowly, looking weary. “I know.”
“I don’t want to hurt him or you. This isn’t about revenge. He needs to realize that actions have consequences, something we should have tried teaching him years ago. We’ve been bailing him out for so long, he just assumes he’ll never have to stand on his own two feet.”
“You’re right.”
Jayda was shocked. She’d expected her father to put up a fight, to insist that her brother would never survive in jail. That he was sick and needed treatment, not prison. “Really?”
“I love all of my children equally…” He closed his eyes after setting down his half-eaten sandwich. “But your brother always seemed to need me more than you and Danny did. You were strong, you could fend for yourselves, but Dillon? He was always getting into one mess after another.”
“And you were there to clean it up.” She couldn’t place the blame squarely on her fat
her’s shoulders. She’d always run when Dillon came calling too. “So was I.”
“But not anymore.”
She so wanted to believe that her father meant what he said, but only time would tell. “I hope not, because honestly, I’m done. After this latest stunt, I can’t keep looking the other way. I can’t keep pretending that things aren’t as bad as they seem. They are. Now he’s not just hurting himself. He’s hurting other people too, and my job is to protect Cadence.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?” This talk was long overdue, but fearing for Cadence and trying to deal with her feelings for Chase forced Jayda to face the truth about her life. She wasn’t happy. Not really. She was doing what was expected of her, but she wasn’t doing what she wanted with her life.
“I think so.” He picked up his water bottle, unscrewed the cap with great difficulty, and finally brought it to his lips. “Your ex-husband implied that you might not want to be here anymore. Is that true?”
She didn’t appreciate Chase sticking his nose into her business, but she chose to believe his heart was in the right place. “I’m not sure where I want to be, or what I want to do. It may sound crazy, but I’ve never even considered my options.”
“Because you felt you had to be here, to take care of me and the business?”
“I knew Danny had other plans, and Dillon’s always been unreliable. The business keeps a roof over your head and pays your medical bills.” She shrugged. “What other options did we have? I had to keep it going.”
“Would you have stayed if not for my diagnosis… or would you have gone with Chase when he was traded?”
Her father had been diagnosed the year Cadence was born, the year before Chase was traded. She had been a new mom, feeling overwhelmed with a husband who traveled all the time, a sick father, a business to run, a baby to care for, a drug-addicted brother… it felt as though she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Something had to give, and that something was her marriage.
“I don’t know. Does it matter now?”
“I think it does.” He gestured toward the closed door. “We could keep the business going. I know you’re the numbers gal, the one who makes sure we make enough to cover everything, but John and Alan are damn fine mechanics. Maybe we could hire a bookkeeper part-time or someone to do what you do?”
That her father didn’t acknowledge everything she did at the shop irked her. She was more than a mechanic, more than a bookkeeper, more than a manager. She was the lifeblood of that business, the one who made sure they kept their doors open month after month.
“I don’t know,” she said, knowing now wasn’t the time to get into the logistics. “It’s something to think about.”
“Mommy!”
Jayda’s heart nearly stopped when her daughter threw the door open.
Cadence jumped into her lap. “I’m back! Did you miss me?”
“Oh my God,” Jayda said, trying to hide her tears as she buried her face in her daughter’s dark curls. “I missed you so much! When did you get here? Where’s your uncle?”
“Right here.”
She looked up into the eyes of the brother she’d tried so hard to protect and felt nothing but hurt and anger and frustration that he put their relationship on the line over a few lousy dollars to feed his addiction. She had no doubt that was the only reason he’d done this—because of the promise of drug money.
Jayda kissed her daughter’s cheek. “Baby, can you go out to the front with your grandad for a minute? I want to talk to Uncle Dillon. Then we’ll go home and get you bathed and fed and have a nap. How does that sound?”
She looked around the small apartment. “Where’s Daddy?”
“He had a game tonight, sweetheart. But I have a surprise for you.” She had no intention of sharing her plans in front of her brother. Her days of trusting him were over. “I’ll tell you all about it on the way home, okay?”
“Okay, Mommy. Can we stop for ice cream on the way home? I asked Uncle Dillon, but he said he had to get here ‘cause you couldn’t wait to see me.”
“Well, he was right about that,” Jayda said, glaring at her brother over her daughter’s head. “I’ve been counting down the minutes ‘til I could see you. And I promise we’ll go out for ice cream later, but you go with your grandad now, okay, princess?”
“Okay,” she said, hopping off her mother’s lap. Cadence ran over to her grandfather, whose eyes were suspiciously damp as he leaned in to give her a hug. “Why’re you crying, Grandad?” Cadence frowned as she held her tiny hand out for his.
He chuckled. “I just missed you, pumpkin. I’m glad you’re home.” He scowled at Dillon. “I’ll let your sister talk to you first, and then you and I need to talk. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Dillon said, stepping out of the way so they could pass.
After they’d closed the door behind them, Jayda pulled out her phone. “Sit down. I need to call Chase and let him know his daughter is back.”
Her eyes tracked her brother’s movements as he crossed the small room to the two-seater sleeper sofa her father had insisted on, in case Dillon needed “to crash” with him sometime. His sandy hair was longish, the whiskers on his face a testament to the fact he hadn’t shaved in days. His green eyes were framed by dark circles, but at least they weren’t bloodshot or vacant… a look she’d come to associate with him.
As soon as her ex picked up the phone, she said, “Chase, it’s me.” Before he could ask, she said, “It’s okay. She’s home.”
He released a shaky sigh, whispering, “Thank God. Is she okay? Was she hurt or upset or scared or—”
“She seemed fine.” Though Jayda didn’t know how she could be, given what she’d been through. “She’s with my father now. I’m going to have a little chat with my brother before I call Jessie.” She glared at her brother, daring him to challenge her.
“You’re not the only one who would like a piece of him, Jay. Believe me, I would too. But I guess the only thing that matters now is that she’s back home where she belongs, right?”
“Right.”
“You guys are probably wiped out. If you don’t feel like flying to New York, I’ll understand.”
“Do you want us to?” she asked, grateful that he’d saved her from asking. She didn’t know whether it was safe to discuss her travel plans in front of her brother.
“Well, yeah. Of course. You think it’s okay for Cadence to miss a week of school though?” He chuckled. “I’m not expecting them to go down without a fight.”
She loved his confidence, his belief in his team and their abilities. “I think that would be okay.” She bit her lip. “Can I call you back in a little while? I’d like to talk to Cadence first, see how she feels about it.”
“Of course. I’m still at the airport, then I’ll be heading to the hotel for a bit, see if I can grab a quick shower and nap before I head to the ballpark.”
“God, you must be exhausted. How will you be able to play?”
“I don’t feel tired when I’m there, believe me. The energy of that crowd booing us always gets me fired up.”
Jayda smiled at how competitive he was. “Okay, well I’ll check in with you about four, if that’s okay?”
“Sounds good. Give Cadence a big kiss for me, okay? And tell her I love her.”
“I will. I promise.”
After saying their good-byes, she set her phone down, staring at it instead of the man across the room. “How could you?”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I know it was stupid, okay? I knew as soon as I did it that I had to figure out a way to make things right. But I swear to God she wasn’t scared, Jayda. I made it seem like I was just taking care of her for a while. I told her that you got tied up at work, that’s why I was picking her up from the school bus. That’s what I told the driver too. Since I’d done it before, he didn’t think it was a big deal.”
“I know. He told me.”
&n
bsp; The poor driver had been sick with worry when he realized he’d released a child to someone who didn’t have parental permission to take her. The driver had said Dillon assured him he’d cleared it with the school, and since he knew Dillon was Jayda’s brother, he believed him.
“Why did you do it?” She had so many questions, but she knew no matter how many excuses or justifications he gave her, she would never understand why he’d felt justified putting his sister through hell.
“Money.”
“Of course it was about the money.” There’d never been a doubt in her mind that was his motive. Even if the objective had been to take Chase out of the game, money was still the root cause of his diabolical plan.
“I owe my dealer. A lot,” he said, lowering his head. “I have no way to pay him, and he started threatening me. I told him there was no way I could get the money. That’s when he suggested I use ‘the little heiress.’”
It made Jayda sick to think about the losers and criminals her brother associated with. “That’s how he referred to my daughter, as the little heiress?” It made her blood run cold to think that these people had their sights set on Chase for reasons she couldn’t begin to understand. “Why? They’re not thinking about—”
“Nothing like that,” Dillon said, shaking his head. “This guy is small time, sis. He doesn’t have the kind of connections to do any real damage.”
“Good to know,” she muttered, though it only took one psycho with a gun to change the landscape of a country and make millions of people live in fear. “So if you took Cadence because you wanted money, why didn’t you just take it when Chase offered?”
He laced his fingers, rubbing his thumb over his palm. “I don’t expect you to believe this, but I already felt like shit about what I’d done. I knew I wasn’t going to get away with it, and even if I agreed to take Chase’s money, I wouldn’t be able to spend a dime of it from behind bars.”
She was glad that he’d accepted that prison was where he belonged. She’d expected him to beg and plead with her not to turn him in, but it was too late for that. Once Jessie found out that Cadence was back, he’d come looking for Dillon.
Make Up Call (Summer Rush #3) Page 7
