Tallulah Bargain (Tallulah Cove Book 4)

by Casey Hagen

  He hung up the phone, powered it off, and slid it into his pocket. “That’s not the way I wanted to tell you,” he said with his head propped in his hands.

  “You shouldn’t have said anything at all. It doesn’t change anything.”

  His head snapped up. “What do you mean it doesn’t change anything?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “This isn’t going to work.”

  “What are you saying?”

  She slid the engagement ring off her finger and set it on the arm of the chair. “I’m saying I can’t marry you.”

  He eyed the ring but refused to pick it up. “We had a deal.”

  She propped a shoulder against the doorframe, looking unaffected. “A deal that’s causing a whole lot of trouble for both of us. It’s better this way.”

  “Better for whom? Your father? The school I need to finish funding? Who is it better for?”

  “I’ll take care of my father. You should talk to your parents. See if they’ll remove the stipulation. You might be surprised. Leave the attitude out of it…and the guilt.”

  “This is bullshit.”

  “I’m not going to argue with you. I can’t. You need to go.”

  He reached for her, but she pulled away. She wouldn’t look him in the eye.

  “I never took you for coward, Jack.”

  That got her attention. Her arms fell to her sides; her nails dug into her palms, and those olive eyes of hers shot daggers at him.

  He headed for the door. With his hand on the handle, he turned back to her. “I’m going to be waiting for you, in my parents’ backyard, under that ridiculous trellis, a week from Saturday at three p.m., you hear me? Because for once, I’m not doing this to make everyone else happy; I’m not settling for less; I’m waiting for what I want, and I want you.”

  “Lathan—”

  “No. I don’t want to hear it. I know you love me. You won’t say it. You’re scared to death of it, but I know it’s in there. I’ll be waiting for the brave woman I know you are, if you can find her.”

  Against his better judgment, he turned the door handle and walked out of Jack’s house, praying that he hadn’t just walked out of her life.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Of All the Pompous, Macho…Sigh. Men.

  JACK MANAGED TO HOLD BACK the tears while Lathan stood before her, but the minute he walked out that door, they streamed down her face. He’d attacked her armor over and over until it evaporated, and it sucked.

  Her hot and itchy skin felt stretched too tight. Her house, a place that had once been her safe place, felt marked. Marked by him.

  Exhausted, sore, and with her skin scratched and scraped, she filled her clawfoot tub with warm water, crawled in, and let it all out. The fear that they wouldn’t be able to keep her father at Mid Point. The hurt that Lathan might very well end up with Kim, whoever the bitch was, and forget about Jack completely. The heartbreak that he would never touch her again, kiss her lips, or worship her with those long looks and loving eyes that didn’t find her lacking when every other man had.

  With her towel pressed against her face, she cried until her body had lost the energy to even shake with the sobs. The water had cooled; her skin had wrinkled, and finally, when she thought she had exhausted all the tears, she hoisted herself out of the tub, and slipped on her terrycloth robe.

  When she opened the door into her bedroom, her brother stood there, just waiting. Apparently, she had more tears because they fell the minute she laid eyes on him. Her protector, a certified pain in her ass growing up, and the one person she could count on day in and day out.

  “Should I take a bat to his car?”

  She snorted through her tears. So, her sense of humor hadn’t completely died with her broken heart. “No.”

  “Too bad. I guess I have to finish fixing those damn dents then.”

  “Yes, you do. Do me a favor? Arrange for him to pick it up when I’m not home.”

  He nodded and slid his hands into his pockets. “Anything you want. Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Maybe in a bit.”

  “Okay, in the meantime, get those damn fuzzy pajamas of yours on. I’ve got a surprise for you in the living room.”

  She threw on her flannel PJs. It was finally cold enough for her to wear them, and they were her favorites. She secured her hair in a knot on her head and joined her brother in the living room where he had an old Atari set up. He covered the coffee table in all of her favorite snacks: Combos, Twizzlers, and Smartfood. He skipped the beer and brought in Sprite. They played Pac-Man and Breakout and gorged themselves on junk food until she had exhausted herself to the point where she had no choice but to sleep.

  At four in the morning, she rolled out of bed, her eyes gritty and swollen, and washed her face. She looked like hell. Day one without Lathan. This would be the worst of it. How the hell had she gotten in so deep in just a handful of days, she would never know, but she would never let it happen again.

  Two days later, she was eating a ham and swiss on rye over the kitchen sink when Jeremy came with news. “Lathan is picking up his car tomorrow at four.”

  She swallowed and took a drink of her ice water. “I’ll make sure I’m out of here.”

  “You sure you don’t want to talk to him?”

  There went her appetite. She ditched the rest of her sandwich in the trash. “There’s nothing left to talk about.”

  “Look, I know I’m no expert, but he’s the guy. I can see it; hell, our employees can see it. I think even you can see it, but you’re just too stubborn to admit it.”

  She glared at him over her shoulder. “Are you my dad now?”

  “Someone has to do it, and we both know Dad can’t. It’s no secret that this fear of yours goes back to Mom.”

  They stood there, locked in stubborn silence. He wasn’t giving up, and she wasn’t giving in. “Did you used to see it, too…the longing in his face? The way we would lose him in some memory when he saw pictures of her?”

  “Yeah, I saw it. Do you remember what he used to say?”

  “What?”

  “He would do it all again because you and I were the best things that ever happened to him.”

  She swallowed the lump in her throat as fear surged in her belly.

  He squeezed her shoulder. “Think about it. In the meantime, I’ll deal with Lathan.”

  “Thank you,” she said as she looked out over the backyard.

  “What did you do to her?” Aunt Edie said as she cuffed Lathan on the back of the head. Hard. The women in his family had descended upon him like locusts, and now that they’d found out Jack had called things off, they were out for blood. His.

  He rubbed the back of his head. “I didn’t do anything, damn it!”

  “Why don’t I believe you?” Edie glared.

  “What was the last thing you guys did together before she broke it off?” Annette asked.

  “We went on a call. An accident. She took an unnecessary risk by climbing into the vehicle for a teddy bear.”

  “And?” Francine asked.

  Jesus, the three of them were a united force. Watch out world, shit was going down. “And I told her I didn’t like it.”

  “Who cares if you like it?” Edie demanded, her fists on her hips.

  “I have a right to want the woman I love to be safe,” Lathan shot back.

  “Yes, but you don’t have the right to tell her what to do,” Francine said.

  “I won’t stand by and lose another person I love when I have the power to stop it,” Lathan ground out.

  “This isn’t like Liam. None of us knew he was ill,” Annette said.

  Jack had told him to talk to his family. Time for some honesty, because he couldn’t let the truth eat him up inside anymore. He just couldn’t.

  “I did,” Lathan whispered.

  Everyone froze. All eyes on him, he started the ball rolling and had no choice but to finish it.

  “What are you talking about?” Annette
asked.

  He scrubbed a hand over his face. “He had chest pains in football. The last playoff game of senior year. He made me swear not to tell anyone.”

  Annette dropped down next to him and wrapped her arms around him tight. “Oh, Lathan, you should have said something.”

  “I know. If I had, he might still be here.”

  Annette pulled back and held his face, forcing him to look at her. “No, I mean you shouldn’t have carried this guilt around all this time. Your brother could have easily said something about the chest pains after the game, but he didn’t. That’s not your fault.”

  “It feels an awful lot like it.”

  Annette shook her head and tsked. “Well, then, I guess I’m at fault for not making him go to the doctor when he was short of breath on one of our runs. He couldn’t finish. Could barely walk, but it was spring, and even people who had never had allergy symptoms were struggling. I assumed it was the same for him.”

  “You couldn’t have known, Mom.”

  “No, I couldn’t, and neither could you. No one expects a fit man in his thirties to drop dead of a heart condition. None of us could have predicted it. That’s why you signed the papers with no argument, isn’t it?”

  “A good part of it, yes,” Lathan said.

  “The other part?”

  “I wanted you guys to be proud of me.”

  They sat on the loveseat, and his mother took his hand. “Because I always talk about Liam’s accomplishments and never yours. Jack called me on it. I didn’t even realize it until she pointed it out.”

  He squeezed her hand and tried to reassure her. “It’s okay.”

  Annette smoothed his hair away from his face, something she had been doing since he was a young child. “No, it’s not. I hurt you. Over and over, I hurt you. I’m so sorry.”

  “Well, you know what I think? I think you need to cancel that damn contract. It’s stupid,” Edie said.

  “You’re right,” Annette nodded to Edie in agreement.

  “And then you don’t have to worry about getting married,” Francine said.

  He looked up at his great-aunt, his grandmother, then to his mother. “You can cancel the contract, but I still intend to get married…to Jack. I’m going out there today to get my car, and I’m going to have a talk with her.”

  “Smartest idea you’ve had. Don’t ruin it by bossing her around this time,” Edie said, pointing a crooked finger in his face.

  Three hours later, he stood before his finished car. The smell of motor oil and grease hung heavy in the air, and fearing he would never stand in this space again, he took a deep breath and committed it all to memory. With the way things had turned to shit, he almost wished he had left the dents right where they were. “Where’s Jack?”

  Jeremy handed him paperwork for his signature. “She’s at Mid Point with our dad.”

  Lathan scribbled his signature across the bottom and handed the clipboard back. “Is he okay?”

  Jeremy nodded. “He’s sick; nothing major, but Jack worries.”

  “Can you give her a message for me?”

  Jeremy narrowed his eyes. “I guess, but if she kicks me in the balls, your ass is dead.”

  “Tell her I’m waiting for her.”

  “I’ll tell her.”

  “And your dad’s care is covered for as long as he’s around.”

  “Lathan—”

  “No strings attached.”

  Jeremy shook his hand and clasped his shoulder. “She won’t like it, and normally neither would I, but I’m so damn relieved to know Dad is taken care of, I’ll take it.”

  Lathan climbed into his car. He turned the key, and the engine hummed to life.

  Was it really just a week ago that he had last driven it?

  It was different now. The car was tied to memories of Jack and her family that he had begun to hope would become a part of his family.

  He still hoped.

  Pulling out of the drive, instead of heading toward Brentwood, he headed for the mountains as he had a week ago. He rolled along the winding roads, the city lights falling away behind him, nothing but open roads and curving up through the mountains ahead. Near the top of one of the many peaks, he pulled off into a scenic overlook and took in the sight below him.

  A cluster of lights winked just a bit north and the Pacific lay a black mass just beyond the land.

  Tallulah Cove.

  Was she down there somewhere? Did she miss him? How the hell would he get her back?

  He thought of his brother, too. The guilt he’d carried since his death. The worry that he wasn’t ever going to be enough for his parents or for Kincaid Industries. But he’d proven he could handle it, hadn’t he? He caught a crooked CFO and fired him. He had a new one stepping into place first thing Monday morning.

  He’d worked things out with his parents. They’d all been wrong. The best thing to come of that talk was the dissolution of the contract. He would have the money for the final payment for the school. He would have controlling interest in the family company instead of just being the CEO.

  The only thing missing was Jack. He missed her smart mouth and confidence. He missed the way she commanded a room, the way she enjoyed people for who they were.

  Following the same mountain road, he turned up the music, his thoughts of her, the way she’d tormented him the night he made her sleep with him. He could handle that torture every day for the rest of his—

  Just past the curve, he spotted something in the road way too late and heard the same pop and hiss as before.

  “You have got to be shitting me.” He pulled off to the side of the road, and sure enough, there was fluid on the ground again. He’d had his car back for all of three hours, and he was right back where he was when he met Jack.

  He called AAA again and went through the same song and dance and waited. He didn’t call Morgan this time. He was not going to explain how he’d just trashed his car again. He called the car service Kincaid Industries employed and figured by the time the tow service loaded the car, his ride would be there.

  And why the hell was there always something in the road? Maybe it was a sign. Clearly, he couldn’t handle the damn Porsche. His brother was probably sitting up there, laughing his ass off right about now. He wouldn’t blame him. If the situation were reversed, he would do the same.

  The Jack’s Towing truck pulled up ahead of his vehicle, and his heart leapt in his chest. The door flew open. What were the chances that she would drop out of the cab just like she had before? The driver took a couple steps, and right away he knew it wasn’t her.

  In the light he recognized Kurt and swallowed the lump of disappointment. “Hey, Kurt.”

  “Lathan, how you doing, man? Well, I guess that’s a stupid question,” he said as he glanced at the car and winced at the growing puddle. “So, where do you want me to tow her?”

  Lathan sighed. “Take her back to Jeremy.”

  “Does the man not learn anything?” They were standing in front of Lathan’s Porsche, parked again at Jeremy’s shop.

  Jeremy scratched his head and smiled. “I would say both cases of distracted driving. What I can’t figure out is how the hell he managed to do the same exact damage all over again. I mean, that had to be a one in a million shot. Maybe even a billion.”

  Jack sighed. “Yeah, he has talent. I guess this means more premium parts for Annabelle’s sculptures.”

  “You know, it might just be fate.”

  Her gaze snapped to his, and she put up her hand. “Don’t start.”

  “It’s been three days. Can you say you’re feeling any better than you were on day one?”

  She couldn’t, and she had absolutely no idea what to do about it. “It’ll fade with time,” she lied.

  “Like Dad?”

  She turned away from her brother, from the truth, and headed for the house. “That’s not fair.”

  Jeremy stomped right along beside her, easily keeping up with those long legs of his. T
he jerk.

  “Maybe not, but that’s where you are right now.”

  “He must be pursuing Kim by now,” Jack said as she yanked open the front door to the house.

  “He’s not. He’s waiting for you.”

  She whipped around and glared at him. “Why would he do that?”

  Jeremy scratched his beard. “Well, I’m no rocket scientist, but maybe because he loves you. There’s something else…he covered Dad’s care for the rest of his life. No strings attached.”

  She dropped onto the couch. The bone-deep exhaustion set in. She’d barely slept in the past three days. She’d fought tears at every turn. She’d worked herself into total exhaustion, to no avail.

  Before she could choke the words back down, they slipped out. “He’s it for me,” she whispered.

  Jeremy snorted. “I got that.”

  “It’s the scariest thing in the world saying it,” she admitted.

  He sat next to her and bumped his shoulder against hers. “I get that, too. So what are you going to do about it?”

  She rested her elbows on her knees, letting her hands fall limp, and then glanced up at her brother. “Can you have the car ready for my wedding day?”

  “As long as you don’t put any more dents in it.”

  She cracked a smile for the first time in days. “Deal.”

  Jack slid her cell out of her back pocket. She scrolled through until she found Corrine’s number and hit dial. After three rings, she was pacing the living room. “Come on. Pick up.”

  “Hello?” Corrine’s sleepy voice sounded through the line.

  “Shit, I woke you up.”

  “Jack? Is that you?”

  “Yeah. Listen, I need your help, but I can call you tomorrow.”

  “Oh, no. Don’t hang up. I’ll spend the night awake and wondering, so spill.”

  She explained to her about the breakup and all that had transpired since. Corrine squealed, then sighed to the point that Jack wondered if Corrine might be doing permanent damage to the baby.

  “So, are you in?”

  “I am, and I know just who to call to help me.”