Jamie felt a ringing in his ears and his stomach flipped over, bringing on a wave of nausea.
Just then Caroline stepped in his line of vision, heading toward the boy with quick steps. “Come on, Jake, let’s give Aunt Grace some privacy.” She picked him up and carried him out of the room while he looked at Jamie with question in his eyes.
Aunt Grace.
He had heard that correctly, hadn’t he? Aunt.
“Is that boy...?” He didn’t want to finish the question.
Grace pursed her lips together before she spoke, and his palms began to sweat. The seconds it took her to respond felt like hours. “That boy was Jake. Caroline’s son.”
Caroline’s son. It made sense. The kid had blonde hair and bright blue eyes. That was Caroline’s coloring, not Grace’s. He always pictured their future children looking like her—daughters with long dark hair and big brown eyes.
But why had the little boy looked at her like that and called her mommy?
“You never said anything about Caroline having a son.”
“So? I don’t owe you any explanations.”
Her defensiveness made him more suspicious. “Caroline must have had him right after we broke up,” he said.
Grace crossed her arms over her chest. “Why are you so interested?”
His heart was beating a mile a minute. “Because I’m not entirely convinced you’re telling the truth.”
“When have I ever lied to you?” she asked innocently.
“I would only have an answer to that, sweetheart, if you were a bad liar,” he said, his eyes narrowed. “I’d be willing to bet, knowing you, that you’re a great one.”
Grace gritted her teeth. “I’m not.”
“So who’s the father?”
She bit her lip, and her brown eyes went wide. “The father?”
“Yes, who is the father?” He felt like he was speaking a different language. “The father of Caroline’s child?”
“Some guy.” Grace shrugged. “One-night stand.”
“Caroline wasn’t the type to have one-night stands.”
“Well, she did. Once. And she got pregnant. That’s why I moved here after we broke up, and why I didn’t go to graduation and take the job in New York City. Caroline needed support, so I wanted to be here for her.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “See? It had nothing to do with you. I wasn’t trying to avoid you, and I didn’t give up that job because I was heartbroken or something. I did it for Caroline and Jake.”
It suddenly all made sense to Jamie. This was the answer he had been searching for, the missing puzzle piece. Now he finally understood the reason Grace had disappeared after school. It had nothing to do with him.
And Jake really was Caroline’s son.
He let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. I thought for a minute that you...” He laughed. “You don’t even want to know what I was thinking. It was bad.”
“Bad?” She was playing it cool, but he detected a slight anger in her tone. “What was it?”
“Never mind.”
“No, it’s okay. Tell me.”
“I thought maybe Jake was your son.” He laughed, but she didn’t.
“Why, can’t I have a child? Do you think I’d make a bad mother?”
“What? That’s not what I meant, Grace, don’t be ridiculous.”
“Then what did you mean?”
He shrugged, feeling like he was missing some point. “I thought that you had a son, and it bothered me. I don’t want to think of you having another man’s child.”
“That’s what you were thinking?” She raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Okay, maybe it was more than that. But why are we fighting about this? We have more important things to talk about than hypotheticals.”
Grace moved toward the sink and turned on the water, scrubbing at the dishes with force.
He came up behind her, wanting to touch her but afraid of her reaction. “What’s wrong? Talk to me.”
“Why are you here, Jamie? How did you even get my address?”
He felt sorry for the pans and the plates, she was scrubbing so hard.
“I looked it up. Your sister is listed.”
“And you took that as an invitation to come over?”
“I needed to see you.” He came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, wanting her to turn around and break down this wall between them.
She turned off the sink, and Jamie heard her sigh. “But what if I don’t want to see you?”
It would have hurt him if he didn’t know it wasn’t true.
“Why did you leave last night?” he asked. “Was it to see Charlie?”
“No.”
“You broke up with him.”
“Yes.”
“And you quit your job.”
“Yes.”
“Why?” His eyes were boring into hers, searching, but he found no answers there.
“It wasn’t right to be with him or work for him after what I did,” she said with a small shrug.
“What we did.” He didn’t want her to take all of the blame or the credit.
She sighed. “It was a mistake.”
“You’ll never convince me of that.”
“Jamie.”
“You were happy. I know you were. What changed? Was it something I said?”
She wanted to say something; he could see that the words were on the tip of her tongue. But for some reason, she held back.
It was killing him.
“Be honest with me, Grace. I can take it.”
Jamie pulled her closer to him, so her body was pressed against his. Her big brown eyes were looking up into his, and her lips parted. He could swear she wanted him to kiss her.
He only held back because he knew something was holding her back, preventing her from enjoying being with him. It felt like there was a big elephant in the room, only he didn’t know why it was there.
“Honesty hurts people,” Grace finally said, her voice small. “Sometimes you’re better off not knowing.”
There was no way he was going to take that for an answer.
“I’ve been racking my brain, replaying last night over and over, trying to come up with some explanation as to how you could go from hot to cold in a matter of seconds,” he said. “All I can think of is that I scared you away.”
She tried to pull from him, but his arms were strong around her.
“I was moving too fast. You need time to learn to trust me again. Is that right?”
Grace pressed her lips together.
“You have to help me out here, Grace.”
“Okay.” She pressed her forehead to his chest, and he felt some of the tension in his body slip away. “Okay. Just give me a second. I need to think.”
Jamie held her for a minute or two. He could feel the wild beating of her heart. He ran his hand up and down her back, trying in vain to soothe her.
“What’s wrong, honey? It’s just me.”
When she looked up at him, he could see the turmoil in her eyes. “You coming back into my life has really thrown me for a loop. I wasn’t expecting any of this to happen, not in a million years. I just need this to slow down. I need a chance to think about everything and get used to the idea of you being a part of my life again. That’s all.”
That wasn’t what he wanted, but he could give her that. He could give her all the time she needed, as long as she would be his in the end. He owed that much to her.
“I can do that,” he said. “We can slow down.”
She smiled. “That would mean a lot to me.”
“No more talk of moving to New York, I promise.” He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “We can start small. Let me take you to dinner tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow? But...”
“Nothing fancy, and you have my word that I’ll be a gentleman and have you home by curfew.”
He smiled, excited at the prospect of spending more time with her. Dating Grace would be fun, and it
wouldn’t take them long to become serious. That was his initial plan in coming to Virginia, after all, before he had found out that she was seeing someone else.
“Okay,” she agreed. “How about I give you a call tomorrow and we can work out the details? I’ve got to get back to making cookies with my nephew or he’ll be upset with me.”
“Deal.”
Jamie leaned in to kiss Grace, and she met him in the middle. Her kiss was soft and sweet, and she held him to her like she never wanted to let him go.
When they parted, however, she was frowning.
“Don’t worry,” Jamie told her. “It’s all good from here.”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I hope so.”
With that, Jamie left and made his way back to his hotel, wondering why he still felt like he was missing something.
Chapter 17
“What are you going to do?”
Caroline carried Jake back into the room, concern written all over her face.
Grace was sitting on the floor, staring at the door Jamie had just walked out of. “Did you hear everything?”
“Yes. Jake was watching TV.”
“Who was that man, mommy?”
“Just a friend, Jake.”
Caroline snorted.
Jake looked back and forth between his mother and his aunt, trying to decide what to believe. “Can we finish the cookies?” he finally said. “I’m hungry.”
Grace pulled him to her, wrapping him in a big hug. “I love you. I love you so much, and I will never let anyone or anything hurt you.”
“I love you, too.” He kissed her on the cheek. “We don’t have to finish the cookies if you don’t want to, mommy. We can watch Beauty and the Beast.”
“That’s one of my favorites.”
“We can watch it...”
She knew she was worrying him. His little hands held her cheeks, and she smiled, trying to reassure him that everything was all right. “I have a better idea, baby. Let’s take a little trip, instead.”
“Where are you gonna go?” Caroline asked, leaning against the counter. “We should stay here and talk about this. We need to come up with a plan to get you-know-who to leave you alone.”
Grace put her finger to her lips, not wanting to discuss any of this in front of Jake. She needed to keep him calm.
“We’re going to go to grandma and grandpa’s,” she told him. “It will be fun to spend some time with them, don’t you think, Jake? I know grandpa wants to spend some boy time with you since he’s been surrounded by girls his whole life.”
Jake giggled, scrunching up his nose. “Yeah, I love to see grandpa because he’s a boy like me. We can watch sports and play baseball outside in the grass.”
“Exactly. It will be so much fun. We can surprise them.”
Caroline raised an eyebrow. “Um, Grace, you aren’t actually thinking of going to see mom and dad, are you? That’s like, a seven-hour drive.”
“So? I’m not tired.”
“That’s crazy. Besides, they aren’t even home. They are on a cruise, remember? They will be gone all week.”
“Oh. Well, that’s fine. I have a key to the house.” She stood up, holding Jake’s hand. “We’re going to go pack.”
Caroline put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “This is no time to take a vacation, Grace.”
“It’s not a vacation, Caroline. I’m unemployed, remember? I can look for a job in New York. Now is as good of a time as any to go home again.”
Caroline gasped. “You can’t be serious! You can’t move back to New York. Your life is here!”
Grace brushed past her, heading toward the bedroom. “Jake, go to your room and put all of your favorite things on top of your bed, okay?”
“Okay, I can do it.” He ran off excitedly like a man on a mission.
Caroline followed behind Grace as she made her way into her bedroom.
“Grace, this is crazy!”
Grace really didn’t think so. She was thinking this was the best idea she had had in a long time. She had nothing holding her to Virginia anymore. She had no job, and her sister would be getting married and moving on with her life. Grace needed to start fresh, and maybe that meant going back to where it all started. Her parents would help her get off her feet again, and she could build a new life for her and Jake.
Moving had worked out well for her the first time. She could do it again.
“I’ll get a job in New York,” she told Caroline, throwing random clothes into a duffel bag she pulled from the back of her closet. “Maybe I can try finding something in the city.”
“Why not here?”
“I’ve had enough of this place.”
“Don’t say that.”
Grace folded her clothes in a rush, empowered with her decision. “It doesn’t mean I’ve had enough of you, Cara. I just feel that there’s nothing here for me anymore. I’ve given it five years, and look where I am. Right back where I started. No job, no boyfriend, just me and Jake, and now you’re moving out and moving on... It’s time for me to do the same.”
Caroline watched her pack, shaking her head. “I would take this seriously if this was a decision you had made after giving it some real thought, but clearly you haven’t. Grace, sit down for a few minutes and take some deep breaths. You just quit your job, and Jamie just saw Jake for the first time. Your allowed to panic, but don’t do something you’re going to regret.”
Grace almost smiled, because Caroline just didn’t get it. She wasn’t panicking. She was having a moment of perfect clarity.
“Jake will be safer in New York,” she told her sister.
“How? Jamie lives in New York.”
“Yeah, but he’s pretty far upstate.”
“So? You ran into him in Virginia. What makes you think the same thing won’t happen when you’re in the same state?”
That gave Grace pause, but only for a moment. “So we won’t stay in New York. It will just be a halfway point. I won’t have to pay rent for a few weeks, and I can use that time to find a job somewhere else. Maybe I’ll do something crazy, like go to California.” She smiled dreamily, zipping up her duffel bag. “Jake would love it there, with the ocean and warm weather...”
Caroline grabbed the bag away from Grace, frustrated with her positive attitude. “This is an overreaction. Do you realize that? You don’t need to move away over this. Jamie isn’t worth that. You’re being reckless. You child’s life is here.”
Grace snatched back her bag, anger coming over her hot and quick. “I don’t want Jamie to find out about Jake. I don’t want him to know, not ever.”
Jamie’s face when he had seen Jake for the first time said it all. He had looked scared, terrified even. When he was questioning Grace to make sure that Jake was who she said he was, she knew the answer he wanted to hear. She had heard his sigh of relief when he accepted her lie. He didn’t want a child, much less her child. That would never be okay with her. She would remember that reaction for the rest of her life, and it was something she would never expose her son to.
The thought almost made her break down, but she held it together. She had to hold it together until she got them out of this house, out of this town. She had a lot of packing to do, and she welcomed the distraction.
“I think you should tell him,” Caroline said.
Grace spun to face her sister when she heard the words, shocked. “I never thought I’d hear you say that.”
“Me either.” Caroline bit her lip, on the verge of tears. “Can we just talk about this, please? I don’t want you to go, not because of this.”
“Caroline, it’s not like I won’t see you again. I’ll call you as soon as I get to mom and dad’s house. Please, don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
“Tell Jamie.”
“Caroline, no.”
“Maybe we are underestimating him. Maybe he will freak out and then he’ll get over it, did you ever think of that? He can’t be mad at you forever.”
“Oh, yes he can.” She pulled her shoes out of her closet in one swift motion. “This would ruin his entire life. I can’t take his bachelorhood away from him. He would resent me and resent Jake.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I saw his face when he saw Jake, Caroline. So did you. All the color drained from it, like he saw a goddamn ghost.”
Now Grace was getting really angry, and emotion was the very thing she was trying to avoid. She told herself to just keep packing.
“Okay. I saw his face, but that doesn’t mean anything. How would you feel if someone came up to you and presented you with a four-year-old you never knew you had? Shock is a normal reaction.”
“Stop defending him!” Grace was trying not to raise her voice, but she couldn’t help it. “You have been against Jamie from day one, and you are not allowed to switch sides now. You have to be on my side. You are my sister.”
“I am on your side!” Caroline wiped a tear off her cheek, her voice cracking. “I just don’t want you to leave! I think it’s a mistake, Grace. You can’t live this way forever. You can’t just run away from your problems. You always do this!”
“I don’t always run away.”
“Yes, you do. That’s what you did five years ago, and it’s what you’re doing now. It was okay then, because you were young and scared, but you’re an adult now, and you’re a mother. You need to face your problems. What kind of example do you think this sets for Jake?”
Ouch.
Grace zipped up her bags. “I’ll come for the rest of my stuff some other time. This is all I need for now.”
“Please don’t do this.”
“I have to. I hope you’ll understand someday.”
Jake walked into the room, smiling wide. “Mommy, I put all my superheroes on the bed and my dragons, too.”
“Great, let’s go pack it up so we can take it to grandma and grandpa’s house. Caroline, can you help me pack up the car?”
Her sister shook her head, her arms crossed over her chest. “I can’t. I can’t help you leave like this.”
“Fine. I’ll do it myself. Come on, Jake.”
Grace understood that Caroline was only trying to help, but she couldn’t second-guess herself now. She had made her choice, and that was that.
Irresistible Lies Page 16
