by Dee Carney
“No,” he said, shaking his head. He just didn’t want to go where the search was leading them.
They worked efficiently to replace the items and then the box back on the stack.
When done, Jason glanced at his watch and made a decision. “I know it’s kind of soon, but how do you feel about meeting my mom?”
She looked as if he’d just suggested they drown a puppy for fun. “I’m sorry?”
“She’ll be opening up their offices and I’d rather catch her alone. My dad won’t be there for another hour or so.” He hoped.
Sabrina’s gaze dropped to her feet, but she mumbled, “Sure. If you’re ready for that.”
Jason pondered her reply as they waited for a cab to pick them up. Although only a couple of weeks had passed in their relationship, he thought he knew Sabrina better than most women he’d known four times that length of time. His feelings for her were strong, the passion between them scorching. At times he wondered if perhaps they might still be caught in the lust-for-you phase, but when he looked at her, when he caught her gazing at him with that mysterious smile plastered across her face, he didn’t discount that as the only reason. Things—whatever those things might be—moved fast between them. Most of the lingering doubt he’d faced their first few days together were nonexistent at this point.
At the end of the day, he was falling hard for Sabrina. Having her meet his mom now was the right decision. A step in the right direction. The only direction for him, truthfully.
They pulled to a stop in front of their destination and Jason exhaled a deep breath.
Here goes nothing.
Holding out his hand, he helped Sabrina from the cab. She looked up at the small brick building, her face as serious as an undertaker’s. “You didn’t say what kind of business.”
“They own an accounting firm. Slow time of year now, but in a few months, there’ll be a line outside the door.”
“Wow.”
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He held the door open and immediately bit back a wave of apprehension about crossing the threshold. The business-grade carpeting muffled their steps as they crossed the room, his ears tuned in for movement beyond the reception area. When he heard his mother’s voice, he allowed a small smile to push at his cheeks.
“Mom?” he called out, still testing the water for sharks.
She stuck her head around a wall and his apprehension vanished. “Jason! I didn’t expect you here.”
The woman who would always be first in his life came out, wearing a pale-blue, old-fashioned dress meant for function, not appeal. He took in what Sabrina saw when she saw his mother. A tall woman with her weight in her thighs and midsection. Eyes he’d inherited. An easy smile. He’d seen pictures of her when she was a young woman and had been embarrassed to learn the beauty ended up giving birth to him ten years later. Somehow the stick-thin blonde had morphed into a matronly brunette who wore glasses. Only when he really studied the old black-and-white was he able to pull out the woman who stood before him now. He crossed the room quickly and pulled her into a bear hug. “How could I stay away from my favorite woman?” She squeaked. “You charmer. Flattery will get you everywhere.” He smiled down on her, inhaling the scent of baby powder she somehow managed to keep after all this time. She pushed away from him after a minute. “Wait a minute. Who do we have here?”
He followed her gaze to take in Sabrina, standing there with her purse clutched between both hands. If possible, he’d say the woman looked green.
“Mom, I want you to meet…my, uh…”
“Sabrina Turner,” she interrupted, holding out a hand. She found a reserve of courage somewhere and moved toward Rue Raines, as if meeting her had been her idea.
Rue knocked aside her outstretched hand and pulled her into a tight hug. Startled, Sabrina fell into it before a protest could cross her lips. “Sabrina, it’s nice to meet you,” she said after stepping back. “I’m Rue.”
Rue’s brown eyes studied his girlfriend, and although he recognized it for sizing her up, Jason also knew she met his mother’s approval in those few milliseconds that passed. “Baby boy, what brings you here?”
He held back a sigh. How to explain this to her? “Mom, I need to look at some of Teddy’s things.”
“When are you going to stop calling him that? You know how much he hated that name.”
After all this time, she still stuck up for him. “I’m sorry to drop in like this, but we don’t have a lot of time to stay today. Another time, perhaps. Do you have any of his things still?”
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Her lips thinned into a firm line. She glanced at Sabrina and admonished him in a hushed voice. “Enough is enough, Jason. One of you has to be the first. If it won’t be him, let it be you.”
Sabrina must have felt the tension now crackling the air. Before he could rehash the same old argument with her, Sabrina stood at his side, the fingers of one hand entwined with his, her other hand running over his forearm. “Hey,” she said softly.
“Mom, I love you, but let’s not go over this again, okay? Do you have Ted—Thad’s things?”
She released the sigh he held back. “Is there anything in particular you’re looking for?”
Jason shook his head. “I don’t know, exactly. His address book or anything that might tell me who his friends were.”
Rue walked toward the back offices, gesturing for them to follow. A few people he didn’t recognize smiled up at them as they passed. A lot of the staff here had been temps when he frequented the office and apparently things hadn’t changed that much.
“I had his address book, as well as the numbers programmed into his phone transcribed a while back. In case I needed someone’s information.” She walked around to another desk and sat down behind a computer. “It’s on a spreadsheet I can access from here.”
Jason’s eyebrows shot up. “Way to join the twenty-first century.”
“Is there anyone in particular you’re looking for or did you want the entire list?
Ah…here, it is.”
He debated what to tell her, but Sabrina stepped forward. “Can you sort it to find the name ‘Felice’?”
“No problem.”
Her fingers moved over the keyboard at lightning speed, another surprise to Jason.
When had his mom turned into this modern woman? He always knew her as the face of the business while his dad ensured the mechanics functioned without a problem. Now look at her. She sorted through the spreadsheet like an old pro, finding Felice’s name before he had a chance to offer how she should go about finding it.
“Print it out or rattle off the number?”
Sabrina reached into her purse, pulling out a pen and an old receipt. “Go for it.” Well, hell. He might as well take a seat and let the two of them sleuth without him, full steam ahead.
“Cute purse,” Rue observed.
“Thanks. Half off at Macy’s.”
“A Macy’s girl? A woman after my own heart.”
“Are you kidding me? It’s the first place I even consider going.” 80
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Jason’s gaze volleyed back and forth as they chattered. Somehow, they managed a conversation about shopping, sales, and cars—go figure—in between transcribing Felice’s number. He kept his eye on the clock hanging against the wall though. They were running out of time. Finally, he held up his hand. “Mom.”
“The handling on that model isn’t as good—”
“Mom.”
“Yeah, but you can get it custom fitted—”
“Mom!” Sabrina and Rue both looked up. Based on their expressions, his feeling of being forgotten wasn’t quite far from the mark. He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “We have to go.”
She squeezed Sabrina’s hand before letting go. “If you ever need a shopping partner, give me a call. I have a feeling you and I could do some serious damage to the sales’ racks.”
&
nbsp; Her response and smile filled him with a good feeling. “You’re on.” He wrapped an arm around Sabrina’s waist, hugging her close. “She’s my girlfriend, Mom.”
She arched a brow at him. “And now she’s one of mine. Now,” she rose, “go on.
Get. I know you’re in a rush.”
Yet another reason he loved her so fiercely. She took the news of his relationship with Sabrina without batting an eye. He hadn’t realized he still faced some concern about his parents’ acceptance of her, but the way the two women carried on, without cause.
Jason took both his mother’s hand and Sabrina’s, walking in between them, his heart swollen. Yes, he would make certain the three of them got together soon, and hopefully, often. He missed talking to his mother without interruption and this brief meeting only brought back a feeling of homesickness.
He looked up when the doorbell chimed, signaling a new customer had arrived.
His gaze landed first on his graying hair before landing on the disapproving gaze of the man standing there. Without thinking, he dropped hands with the women and tensed, ready to face down the accusations and vehemence about to be thrust upon him.
Rue move to stand between him and Gibson. He hoped to God the man would let him by unmolested, because his throat was so tight, he didn’t think it would function.
His eyes burned, his chest tightened. A flush of heat crept up his neck and he worked like hell to keep his hands relaxed at his sides.
“Gibson.” Moving forward, he maintained a wide berth. “We’re just leaving.
Don’t—”
“Don’t?” Gibson ground out between clenched teeth. “Don’t what?”
“Sabrina,” Jason whispered harshly. “Let’s go.” 81
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For Christ’s sake, why had he brought Gibson’s attention to her? The older man’s green eyes dropped on her like weights. “She’s with you?” Venom and condemnation dripped from every word.
Jason refused to answer that question and moved to the door, holding it open.
Thankfully, Sabrina followed without saying a word. She kept her head down as they moved, not stopping long enough to say goodbye to her new friend.
“Thank for the information and I’m sorry, Mom,” Jason offered as he pulled the door behind him.
He kept a brisk pace, unable and unwilling to stop until some distance separated him from the man with whom he was supposed to have a close relationship.
Sabrina pulled on him until he slowed after they’d traversed two city blocks. “What was that about?”
“Nothing.”
“Jason, don’t tell me nothing. Who was that?”
The man who worshipped the ground his mother walked on. The man who’d bought her a single solitaire diamond every anniversary of their lives, including when they’d been dating. The same one who’d built her dream home with his bare hands, working long hours so she could stay at home with their young family.
The same man who’d never wanted the third child who’d come along as a surprise.
He hated having to tell her, but she’d find out sooner or later. “Gibson Raines. My father.”
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Chapter Six
Sabrina stared in disbelief. “Your father?”
She recalled the way the men stood off, staring each other down like two cobras poised to strike. The family resemblance wasn’t as strong between father and son as between the trio of brothers, but now that she thought about it, she couldn’t deny some existed. Jason inherited his father’s cleft chin, along with his stature. The smile she probably couldn’t coax out of him now with a crowbar came straight from his mother.
Anger still emanated from him in fine vibrations. He glanced back toward where they’d just come. “Yeah.”
All of a sudden, everything he’d said and more importantly, what he hadn’t said about his family came together to make sense. She didn’t know what to say, how to console him. “Jason…”
He shrugged her off. “It’s nothing.”
Using long strides, Jason marched away, forcing her to hurry if she wanted to catch him. He didn’t slow when she latched on to his arm. “Wait.” He kept moving, so she tugged harder. “Whoa. Wait! Jay, aren’t you going to tell me—”
“No.” He reached into his back pocket and whipped out his cell phone. “What’s her number?”
For crying out loud. In the intense excitement of the last few minutes, she’d forgotten why they’d sought his parents out in the first place. She pulled out Felice’s number on the receipt and handed it to him.
He punched in the numbers, then held the phone to his ear. “Hi, my name is Jason Raines. I’m looking for Felice. I think you knew my brother, Thad.” Color drained from Jason’s face as he listened. Several minutes passed, none of them bringing back his normally ruddy exterior. His voice shook when he finally spoke. “Let me write it down.”
Sabrina gave him the pen and watched him scribble something down, resting the phone against his shoulder and balancing the paper on his thigh. When he stopped writing, he stood and said, “Twenty minutes, okay? I’ll be bringing my parents, too.” He stared off into the distance after he ended the call. Still reeling from his dismissal of her question about his father, she didn’t know whether to ask about the conversation. A side of Jason she hadn’t met before stood right there and nothing in their relationship had prepared her for this new man.
“We’ve found her,” he said at last. “Thank you.” Concerned with yet another change in his demeanor, she tested his foul mood.
“Yeah, but what was so important that Thad wanted you to get in contact?” 83
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Jason moved to the street and waved down another cab. “The day Teddy went boating, he’d called me to come with him. The part I didn’t tell you was that he wanted to talk to me about a situation he was in. You’ve got to understand that Teddy’s been in trouble half of his life.” He waited until he’d given the driver the address to the business only two blocks away. “Hold on.”
She nodded and watched him make another phone call.
“Mom, I’m coming to pick you and Gibson up. Tell him don’t give me any shit because this is about Teddy, not me. If he’ll stay civil, so will I. The both of you need to be here for this.” He returned his attention to Sabrina after disconnecting. “You know the kid who’s always wearing black and making death threats with the way he looks at you? Well, that was Teddy as a senior in high school. An up-and-coming juvenile delinquent.”
It must have been hard for Thad to have two brothers who were his polar opposite.
From her understanding, both Reid and Jason made good grades, participated in after-school activities and had a future waiting for them.
“Even if he didn’t actually do something wrong, he was the kid people fingered because he looked like he was up to no good, you know? I spent a lot of time providing an alibi, sometimes truthfully, sometimes not, when we were growing up.” What he’d said about not wanting to go boating the day his brother disappeared now made sense. “You didn’t want to hear it, right? Tired of cleaning up after him?” The cab pulled to a stop in front of the shop, not more than two or three minutes after they’d left it. “Yeah.” He pointed toward the opening door with his chin. “Do me a favor and don’t say anything to him while we do this, okay?”
“What about the rest of the story? What did Felice say?” Jason kept his attention on his approaching parents, saying nothing. Rue squeezed in beside him, but Gibson, thankfully, chose to sit up front after assisting Rue inside.
Sabrina almost leaned forward to start another conversation with Rue, but the look Jason shot her put an end to that thought in a hurry.
What the hell was going on? Jason’s fingers curled so tightly with hers, she winced.
She tried to help calm him down some by caressing his hand, but if he noticed her, she couldn’t tell. He stared at the back of Gibson’s neck, boring into it wit
h enough hostility to cut through to bone. Gibson had to feel the weight of his gaze, but chose not to turn around and address it. She would have loved to take Rue aside and find out more about the vehemence between the men.
She might have to take her out to lunch and find out anyway. Jason didn’t appear amenable to even considering opening that skeletal closet.
Thankfully, the ride ended without incident though she expected one every mile or so along the way. Instead, they pulled up to an old brownstone. It sat away from the street, a black wrought iron fence caging it in. A few brown, decaying bushes lined the brick walkway within. Closer to the doorway, rose bushes, devoid of the pretty flowers, sat limp and untended.
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Curtains on the second floor shifted, catching Sabrina’s attention. Jason released her hand and followed his mother out of the cab. By the time she looked up again, the curtain’s movement had stopped. Unthinking, she reached for Jason’s hand again as they walked to the entrance, but his fingers hung loose when she tried to grip them. She looked up at him, but he remained focused on Gibson. The way her father stared at where their hands connected sent a chill skittering down her spine. Jason made a soft sound, like a growl, and shook loose her touch.
Her heart sank into her stomach. She expected him to latch on to her support, not shun it. What hold did Gibson Raines hold over his son? For the first time, he made her question what feelings Jason truly had for her. If a man he despised could cause him to push her aside, forgotten for some indeterminate amount of time, what might happen when someone he truly cared about had something to say?
The worst part was she didn’t know what exactly he pushed away. Was it her as a person that put distaste in his mouth? The color of her skin?
Okay. Slow down. He’d introduced her to his mother. Men didn’t take that kind of step lightly.
His mother wasn’t the problem, though. A man’s true worth had to be in those moments when faced with adversity. Did he choose to stand and fight? Or walk away, meek and with a whimper? If she had to name his actions now…
