“I don’t want Nick looking into my past,” I whispered to Jackson.
“Why not?” He didn’t whisper; he spoke loud enough for his father to hear and now he was staring at us.
“You know why not.”
“No, Sweetness, I don’t.”
He couldn’t be that obtuse. I tried to push away. I needed distance to remind myself I wasn’t living in some fantasy world where I was well adjusted and Jackson was a possibility.
“Let me go,” I demanded.
“No. Tell me why you don’t want Nick looking into who sent the letter.”
He was looking down and I was looking up. There wasn’t that much space between our faces. And I could remember, even though I was trying hard not to, what his lips felt like on mine. Not to mention, all the other places they’d been. The way they made magic wherever they skimmed along my flesh. Dammit, why couldn’t I forget?
“Because it’s embarrassing,” I seethed.
“Embarrassing? Tuesday, you do not have one goddamn thing to be embarrassed about. I’ve told you this. You didn’t do not one single thing wrong. Travis is to blame.”
“But I did. I trusted him.”
“And? He took advantage of that trust. He’s the one who should be embarrassed. He fucked over a good woman who didn’t do anything but love and trust him.”
“But—”
“He’s right, Tuesday,” Nolan started. “I’m not going to pretend to know how you feel. He violated you. I have no doubt that mark is deep. But, darlin’, that asshole is to blame. He did this to you. I know it doesn’t make it easier, I suspect, if I were in your shoes, I’d feel the same way. However, in this family, our family, there is no judgment. If you let us, we will rally around you and protect you. Whatever Nick finds, he’ll be discreet. What he passes to Ethan, he’ll be discreet, too. You’ll never know what they see because they’ll never discuss it with you. So, while it doesn’t make it any easier, I hope it makes it a little better knowing we’ve got your back.”
When his dad was done, Jackson was smiling. I could see him out of the corner of my eye but didn’t stop looking straight ahead.
“They’re bad,” I muttered.
Nolan’s features softened and nothing but compassion shone in his eyes. “I figured they were, darlin’. Anytime someone abuses trust to inflict harm it is. But he did it in a way where you were unaware and vulnerable. That shit ain’t just jacked, it’s criminal. Nick’s working on that, too. He has a copy of the model release, and he’s trying to work around it. If something can be done to prosecute Travis, Nick will find it.”
“But—”
“No sense arguing, Sweetness.” Jackson gave me a squeeze. “When my brother sniffs injustice he doesn’t stop. He might not be able to find something, but he’s gonna try. In the meantime, we have to concentrate on making you safe and catching whoever is leaving you notes now.”
I was overwhelmed by their kindness. Other than my grandparents and Mercy no one has ever offered to take care of me, not in the slightest. I’d been on my own since the week after I turned eighteen and my parents had declared they’d done their duty and had gotten me to adulthood.
They’d promptly packed up the house, told me they were leaving, and were on a plane to Hawaii before the house sold. They were nice enough to allow me to live in the home I’d grown up in, until they found a buyer. The only room that they’d left furnished was my bedroom. I didn’t take them up on their generous offer, instead, I’d moved in with Gran and Pop. I stayed with them for almost a year then I was ready to be on my own.
“With cameras and an alarm,” I muttered. “I have money in my savings I can—”
“No use arguing about that either, Tuesday. Dad already told you, family doesn’t pay.”
“But I’m not—”
“Explained that, too,” Jackson cut me off again.
“Sorry to interrupt,” a man said, walking into my living room.
“No problem, Brady. Need me?” Nolan asked.
“Yeah, if you wouldn’t mind. I’m ready to install and want to run over the site plan,” Brady answered.
He was a nice-looking guy, sandy blond hair, a little shorter than Jackson, he, too, looked like he put a lot of time and effort into keeping himself in shape. But that wasn’t what had caught my attention. There was something in his eyes that was sad.
Nolan didn’t say anything else he just followed Brady out the door, leaving Jackson and me alone for the first time.
“You doing okay?” Jackson asked.
“No.”
“Break it down. And we’ll figure out a way to make it okay.”
Before I could answer him, my cellphone rang. I pulled it from my back pocket and saw the number I’d been avoiding answering. She wasn’t giving up and she wouldn’t. Seeing as today had already been shitty, I decided I might as well answer it.
“Hi, Mom, right now’s not good. Can I call you back?”
“No, you may not,” she snapped. “I’ve called you four times in the last two days.” It wasn’t a statement, it was an accusation.
She had indeed called me four times, and I’d hit ignore each time. While I didn’t ever find speaking to my mom a good time, the last two days really hadn’t been good.
“What can I help you with, Mother?” I sighed and did it in a way she knew I was doing it. Nothing annoyed Gladys more than my “childish behavior,” as she called it.
“You can start with explaining why you’re giving Meredith such a hard time. She’s worked hard for you over the years and this is how you repay her?”
“What?”
How did my mother know about my troubles with Meredith? She hadn’t been involved with my career since I’d cut her out in every way I could. Mainly because she’d been stealing from me. Though she hadn’t seen it as such. To her, she’d been taking what she was owed for making me somebody, when, clearly, I hadn’t had the intelligence or ambition to do it myself.
“A lawsuit? Do you have no shame?” she sneered. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to the family name?”
The family name? That was all she cared about?
“She’s suing me, Mother. And how do you even know about the lawsuit?”
“Yes, she is suing you because you are being an irrational bitch. Meredith had—”
“Irrational bitch?” I bit out. “Irrational because I wanted to cut back on my schedule to pursue other avenues. A bitch because I’m not caving to Meredith’s demands? Why is this your business? Oh, that’s right, Mother, it’s not. And I’m not sure why Meredith called you in the first place, but knowing she has means I’m absolutely doing the right thing by severing ties. You do not enter my life but two times a year. Christmas and Gran’s birthday. Both of those occasions are the only times you and Dad feel it is imperative you behave like parents to put on a big show for Gran. Though, after all this time you have to know she’s not senile and has caught on to your game.”
God, why couldn’t I have a normal mother? She’d always had a stick up her ass when I was a kid, but as I got older her attitude surpassed annoying and went straight to mean. She’d become the worst kind of stage mom.
“That is the second reason for my phoning you. What is this I hear that Patricia has decided to move into an old folks’ home?”
She hadn’t even attempted to hide the disdain. “Geez, Mother, it’s a fifty-five and older community. She wants to be around people her own age instead of alone in that big house.”
“I don’t care where she wants to live. What I care about is why you think you’re entitled to the house.”
“The house? What house?” I had no idea what had my mom so worked up. She was telling the truth. She didn’t care much about anything except herself.
“The Manor. I’m warning you, Tuesday, you do not want to fight me on this. I will take you down.”
“Take me down?” I breathed. “What?”
The next thing I knew, the phone was snatched from my
hand. I’d forgotten Jackson still had his arm around me. Testament to how angry my mother had gotten me.
“You’re done. When Tuesday’s ready she’ll make contact. Until then, you do not bother her.”
Holy shit.
Jackson was taking on my mother.
“No. You listen. And listen carefully. I don’t care who you are. When my woman starts trembling in my arms and it’s not from what I am doing to her, instead what her bitch of a mother is threatening, you get me. Tuesday is off limits.”
His woman?
Oh, boy.
Oh, shit.
I liked that. I liked how it made me feel having Jackson take my side.
Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy? I didn’t want to be right. I didn’t want to believe that Jackson would tear me to shreds. I wanted to be happy. But I didn’t know how to be that. I’d been miserable and alone for so long, I wasn’t sure if I could let down my guard—not even for Jackson. Though if there were ever someone I’d be willing to try with, it would be him.
Maybe . . .
I think . . .
Shit!
21
Jackson
Tuesday’s mom was a total bitch.
I could hear the entire conversation they’d had through the phone. I wasn’t sure how someone as wonderful as Tuesday could come from someone as nasty as the woman who was currently screaming in my ear.
“I cannot believe my daughter would choose to be with someone as vulgar as you. Though I should, she always did like to scrape the bottom of the barrel.”
“I don’t care what you believe. But I will tell you, it says a lot about the type of woman you are speaking about your daughter that way.”
“Put Tuesday on the telephone.”
“We’ve been over this and that’s not going to happen.”
I wasn’t sure what was working behind Tuesday’s eyes but clearly, with this new drama, she’d forgotten she was supposed to be pushing me away, because the more I spoke to her mother the softer her features became.
“Tell my daughter, I’ll be over soon.”
“You show up here, we’ve got problems.”
I disconnected before she could answer. There was no point in arguing with a bitch. She’d dug in and so had I.
“She’s coming here?” Tuesday squealed.
“That’s what she said.”
“She can’t come here.”
“Sweetness.” I pulled her tight against my chest. “Let’s finish up with my dad, then we’ll talk about that conversation. How far away do they live?”
“Uh, Hawaii.”
The fact I didn’t know her parents didn’t live close or that her mother was a complete bitch was a reminder of how little I knew about her. Something that was going to be rectified starting immediately.
“Then we have time.”
“Who’s coming here?” my dad asked, coming back into the house.
Tuesday stiffened in my arms. “Her mother threatened to come over, but she’s not going to.”
I heard the tiny gasp, it was better Tuesday learned now, I didn’t keep shit from my dad. I’d learned early on that if anything important was going on in my life, he’d have my back. And it was best he had it from the start.
Just as I suspected he would, his gaze hardened and he asked, “Threatened?”
“I had a five second conversation with the woman. She took the opportunity to insult me, insult her daughter, then informed me she’d be over soon. After I told her she wasn’t going to speak with Tuesday again, until Tuesday was ready.”
“She insulted Tuesday?”
My dad was a good father and a good honorary uncle. A man like him wouldn’t be able to fathom insulting his own child. Never once growing up had my dad ever been anything but supportive. I was disciplined when needed, but I’d never been talked down to.
“That’s just her. She always—”
“That’s just her?” my dad interrupted.
Tuesday didn’t answer she just nodded in the affirmative and rested her head back on my chest. I was thrilled she hadn’t yet pushed me away, though I knew it was coming.
“Right. Brady’s heading to the office to get the rest of what he needs. He’ll wire up the front today, but he’s gonna run out of light soon, so he’ll be back to do the rear tomorrow. He’s also gonna check what equipment we have and what needs to be ordered. It may be a few days until that’s set up. When’s your next shift?”
“I have the next two days off,” I told my dad.
“I’ll make sure it’s done before you’re back to work.”
I knew what that meant. I was guessing Tuesday did, too, when her head lifted and her eyes came to mine.
“Jackson. I’ll be fine.”
“I know you will.”
“So—”
“Because I’ll be here with you.”
“Jack—”
Her cheeks were getting pink, and the cute look she got when she was pissed was blooming. Yeah, my girl burned hot. And I’d bet she’d have no issue unleashing on me in front of my dad. Which I had no problem with either, but Brady was standing at the door. He seemed cool enough, not that I knew him well, but Dad and the uncles having hired him in the first place told me he was solid. That didn’t mean I wanted him to witness Tuesday in a snit.
As I’d noted, she was cute as fuck when she was mad, when she activated the head tilt and hand on hip maneuver, it drew your attention to all the right places. As much as I enjoyed the show, Brady wasn’t getting a front row seat.
“Sweetness, let’s let my dad head out.”
“Maybe you wanna go with him and help?” she sassed. My upper body started to shake as I held in a silent chuckle. “I’m not being funny. I think they may need help. And you need a shower, you smell like the inside of the men’s locker room.”
“You know what a man’s locker room smells like?”
“Yeah, like sweaty balls and your shirt.”
My dad and Brady both started laughing, and, before I could brace, her lips tipped up and her face split into a smile.
Holy fuck, I’d missed seeing that.
Beautiful.
I caught Brady out of the corner of my eye watching Tuesday with a look that could only be described as wistful. Time to shut this shit down.
“Thanks for all your help, Dad.” My curt statement only made him laugh harder.
With a chin lift he started to the door. “Call me if you need anything.”
“I will,” I called out to his back.
He stopped and turned. “I got it before. But I really get it now. Be smart.” And with that they were gone.
I was frozen in place with Tuesday’s arms still wrapped around my middle, but she was staring up at me. She opened her mouth to speak, but I beat her to it. “Please, just give me one hour.”
“One hour?”
“Before you batten down the hatches and start kicking me out. One hour.”
She didn’t respond verbally but she nodded. But more than that, her eyes gave me the answer I needed. They were soft and receptive. With a gentle kiss I broke away.
“Be right back.”
I left her in the living room and jogged out to my truck, grabbed my gym bag, and headed back inside. After I made sure the door was secured and locked, I gave Tuesday another lip touch, and made my way to her bedroom, tossed my bag on her bed, and headed for the shower. I quickly rinsed the heat of the day off my skin. Taking a moment to breathe in her gardenia shampoo, I thought about how I was going to play this.
Apparently, giving her time was the wrong way to go, and after what Quinn had pointed out, I realized she and Dad were right. I shouldn’t have left the way I had. I also realized that while I’d been pushing her to let me into her present, I hadn’t been asking the right questions about her past. What I did know, I liked. All of it. Enough that no matter what, I wasn’t letting her keep me out.
I dried off, threw on my clean gym clothes, and went in s
earch of Tuesday. She was sitting in the corner of her couch, heels up, knees to her chest, and her chin was resting on them. She looked tiny folded into herself. Which was a goddamn crying shame. There was nothing small about Tuesday, not her height, not her personality, and certainly not her attitude.
I sat down next to her and tugged her leg so it fell off the couch. Taking advantage of her being off balance I continued to pull her until her body collided with mine. She was at an awkward angle, not nearly close enough.
“Scoot over,” I told her.
“But—”
“Please, Sweetness.”
She did as I asked and once her head was on my chest and my arm was around her, I started.
“Tell me about your parents.”
“What about them?”
“Anything. Your mom. Has she always been like that?”
“For as long as I can remember,” she mumbled.
“And your dad?”
“My dad tries, sometimes, though he’s a ‘yes man.’ What Gladys wants, Gladys gets. George doesn’t stand a chance. When my mom first brought up modeling, my dad put his foot down and said no. She ignored him and I had my first studio session with a photographer a week later for headshots.”
So, her trust issues didn’t start with Travis. They ran much deeper, back to the first man in her life who should’ve been her champion but wasn’t. From the phone conversation I’d had with Gladys I could totally see the woman having no regard for anyone but herself.
“How long have they lived in Hawaii?”
“They left Georgia right after I graduated high school.”
“Come again.”
I couldn’t imagine living so far away from my parents. Then again, my family was tight. My ass was planted at my mom’s dinner table at least once a week. And if I missed a meal it was only because I was working.
Reagan Clark loved her boys and could get pissy if my brother or I didn’t give her ample opportunity to show it. Over the last decade, this had also included Meadow, Nick’s wife. And now that they had babies, my mom was thrilled she had more people to love.
“They left a few months after I graduated. I moved in with Gran and Pop. They were more than happy to have me. I’d spent a lot of time at their house when I was growing up. I don’t think it’s too hard for you to believe Gladys wasn’t real hip on being a parent. Sometimes I think the only reason she had me in the first place was to make my grandparents happy.”
Claiming Tuesday: The Next Generation Page 13
