Chapter Twelve
Pacing the white-onyx floor in his father’s home office, Cade’s blood pressure rose. His hands clenched into fists as he fumed over his father’s assistant’s screw up.
“The wrong house got the free utilities. The wrong house got the gift cards for a week’s worth of meals. The Jeeps for the boys got delivered to the wrong fucking house.”
He picked up two, large, stress balls from the big glass bowl filled to the brim with a wide variety of them on the top of his father’s mahogany desk. He tossed them up in the air, caught them and then squeezed them over and over.
My Ella got so drunk she screwed her brother-in-law because I wasn’t there to take care of her. I had to go to that stupid conference when I finally had the woman of my dreams in my grasp. Dumb ass decision.
He strode forward along the path he’d worn to the door then pivoted for the millionth time to do it all over again. “Who gets an address wrong when the right one is in the fucking email I sent you? It’s cut and paste.” I should have handled it myself. He threw the fourth set of stress balls in the last ten minutes against the light-blue wall across from him. They bounced off the wall and dropped to the floor next to the others.
I should have listened to my gut and stayed to work on our relationship. Garrett fucking Winthrop never would have gotten his hands on her. Why the hell is he back in town? The guy hadn’t been home for seven years. He didn’t show for his own brother’s funeral.
Pappy stopped going through the stack of invoices on the top of his desk and leaned back in the chair. “Calm down. We’ll fix this.”
“How the hell does this get fixed?” Cade shouted. “I leave something so simple in Nikki’s hands, and she screws it up. It’s not like I can take the gifts back and say, ‘Oh, hey, Ella. These went to the wrong house. I meant them for you.’ It was supposed to be anonymous but give enough clues she could figure out it was me.”
He had to stop yelling, or he’d never calm down. He grabbed another set of stress balls hoping they would actually lower his stress level at some point. He dropped his voice a few decibels. “If Kyle and Jason figured out my company gave away the gift cards, cars, and utilities, they’re going to think I’m not only an asshole, but I’m stupid too. I bet they’ve already nicknamed me ‘dickhead’.”
“Excuse me,” Nikki peeked into the room.
Pappy sighed. “Yes, Nikki?”
“What did you screw up now?” Cade asked in a strained, yet quiet voice, squeezing the new balls in his hand at an unprecedented speed. His Ella thought he didn’t care because of Nikki’s mistakes.
“I, um,” Nikki mumbled.
“Cade, stop being an ass, or I’ll take you out behind the shop and tan your hide,” Pappy said. “She made a mistake. Everyone makes them, and this can be rectified.” He stood up and walked around the front of his desk. “Nikki, what is it, honey?”
“Um, Jason is here with his brother,” she whispered.
“Send them in.” Pappy placed his hand on Cade’s back. “Son, you’ve got to take it slow. Show her you’re looking for the rest of your life. Show her boys you want them as your family. She’ll choose you because you’re the best man.”
Jason walked past Nikki with his head hung low. “Hey, Pappy.” He hugged Pappy and held onto him.
Pappy let go of Cade and wrapped his arms around Jason. Kyle hesitated at the doorway, but he stepped into the room and walked toward them.
“Come here, Kyle,” Cade said. “What happened?” Have you been crying?
Kyle walked over to Cade and shook his hand.
“Mr. Jackson, we’ve never skipped school before. Could you call the office so they don’t call Mom? We’re not missing anything…” His voice cracked. “…Important.”
Cade grabbed Kyle’s shoulders and pulled him into a hug. His boys were hurting. It had been less than a week, and he already thought of them as his kids.
“Everything is going to be okay. What happened? Is your mom okay?” Cade asked.
Kyle and Jason both shook their heads but didn’t say anything. They stood silent except for the slightest sound of sniffling hiccups muffled by Pappy and Cade’s broad chests.
Cade held Kyle while he picked up his cell from his father’s desk. He called the school and explained the boys’ absence.
“Dad died three years ago yesterday,” Jason said. “We knew it was a bad idea for her to go out last night. We didn’t think she’d actually go, but when Maddie said she was going to your bar—”
Kyle picked up the sentence. “—we thought she would be safe, because you were coming home, and could take care of her. But—”
Jason continued, “—your flight got delayed, and she was late, and we didn’t know. She’s so strong, but every year she falls apart. We screwed up. We should have made plans with her.”
“I didn’t know.” Cade squeezed Kyle tighter. He dropped the stress balls to the floor at his feet. The boys had each other to grieve with, but his Ella grieved her late husband alone while he was out of town. “While I waited at the airport for my luggage, Maddie called me to pick her up. By the time I arrived, your mom had vanished.”
He should have called her this week instead of texted her. He should have left voicemails. If Nikki hadn’t screwed things up, Ella would have known he cared for her more than it seemed. His woman had been vulnerable and turned to another man. That wasn’t happening ever again.
“She trembled during the entire ride to the spa this morning.” Kyle gazed up at him. The poor kid looked as though a dam broke loose inside. Tears filled his eyes. “She tried to act like nothing was wrong.” His breath hitched as he sucked in air.
“Uncle Garrett is in town, and something serious happened between them last night. She said it was over between you two, but I know she doesn’t want it to be. The way she talks about you is different than… My uncle is selfish.”
Cade rubbed Kyle’s back and wanted to cry along with him. Their asshole uncle took advantage of their mother’s vulnerability. His anger resurfaced, and his face heated as he remembered Garrett’s comments along with her pleas to make love. I never should have left for that damn conference.
In a small, insecure voice, Jason whispered, “Uncle Garrett and Dad are, were, geniuses. They excelled at everything. They… When Dad got sick he changed. They got in a big fight and nearly killed each other. Mom pushed Garrett away as Dad swung; Dad hit Mom near the stairs. She fell. It was bad. Uncle Garrett knocked Dad out. Then, he drove Mom and us to the hospital. When Mom woke up, she and Uncle Garrett argued. He hugged us then left. We were ten. He never came back.”
“Dad’s rages got worse as the disease progressed,” Kyle added. “I emailed and called Uncle Garrett to come and help Mom, but his numbers and emails had all changed. He disappeared.”
Pappy kissed the top of Jason’s head like he’d done to Cade as a boy. “You’ve got a strong Momma.”
“Yeah,” Jason whispered.
“Please don’t break up with her,” Kyle said. “You’re good for Mom, and she really likes you.”
The door to the office opened.
“Cade?” Nikki stepped halfway into the room. “You’ve got a call.”
“Take a message,” Cade said.
“Um, he says it is important.” Nikki cringed as if she were in pain. “It’s Garrett Winthrop. It’s the fifth time he’s called.”
“Get his number. I’m busy.”
“Yes, sir.” Nikki closed the door.
Cade patted Kyle on the back. “I’m not breaking up with your mom. I’m crazy in love with her. I know she’s not in love with me yet, but I’ll be damned if your uncle waltzes back into town and takes her from me.” Now that his feelings were out of the bag, he hoped he hadn’t made a mistake.
Jason and Kyle exhaled.
“See, Ky.” Jason nudged Kyle in the side. “I told you he loves her.”
“Boys, we have some shopping to do,” Cade said, unable to stop the smile curving his lips. Jason actually liked him after only one week of conversations. Kyle was in his corner too. He wasn’t doing too badly with her boys after all. Getting rid of Garrett as competition for Ella would prove difficult, but true love trumped a long history.
She hadn’t made him any promises. He hadn’t made her any promises either, but he wanted to. He stepped over the line last night by claiming boyfriend status to Garrett. He and Ella hadn’t set rules about their relationship or defined it, but they would. Tonight, they would.
Jason breathed in and stepped out of Pappy’s embrace as Kyle did the same with Cade. They lifted the bottom of their shirts up to their eyes and wiped them, mirroring each other’s actions.
“We need help with the flower beds in the front of our house,” Jason said, taking the lead. “I wouldn’t normally ask, but Momma Louise mentioned getting rid of some extra flowers she ordered. May I have some of the extras?”
“We’ll load them into my truck,” Cade said. “Pappy, thanks for listening earlier. Jason won’t be at work. I’ve got him all day.”
Pappy walked behind his desk and picked up an envelope with Jason’s name on it from a large stack. He handed it to Jason. “Here’s your check. Let me know if you need anything.”
Jason slipped the envelope into his jeans back pocket and thanked him. “We’re putting our house on the market, so I may need to take tomorrow off to finish up some repairs before the realtor comes.”
“You’re moving?” Pappy asked. “Not far, right?”
“Not far,” Jason said. “Mom talked about buying out this way.”
Pappy walked around his desk and hugged Jason again. “I’d really like for you to be closer to me. It might be a far drive for your mom to get to work, but it would be relaxing once she was out of the city.”
“If we can get her specialty soaps and candle production streamlined, she might not be working as much at the spa,” Kyle said. “We’re looking for a small house on some land with possible space to build a warehouse.”
“That’s a great idea,” Pappy said, taking the words right out of Cade’s mouth. “There are several farms close enough to drive into the city but far enough away to get a good price. We could build her a warehouse for next to nothing.”
Cade wanted to thank his father for being so supportive of the boys. Hopefully within the year they would be the newest editions to the Jackson family.
“Thanks, we might take you up on that,” Jason said.
“Where are you planning to go to college, Kyle?” Pappy asked. “We have a great community college ten minutes down the road. Jason said you might want to stay close by too.”
Kyle looked at Jason and something unspoken moved between them.
“I’m not sure, yet,” Kyle said. “Jason is staying with Mom, but I think I’m going to my dad’s alma mater, if Mrs. Kellen doesn’t screw it up for me.”
Cade gazed at his father, searching for guidance, but the blank look in his father’s brown eyes showed no signs of help. “What’s going on with Mrs. Kellen, and what does she teach?”
“She teaches social studies. We’ve had some issues,” Kyle hedged.
“What issues?” Cade gave them a don’t-bullshit-me glare.
A sheen of perspiration broke out over Kyle’s forehead as he explained the situation with his teacher. “We’re not the only ones to complain.”
“Mom complained,” Jason added. “The principal won’t listen.”
“We have a habit of correcting her in class, and we probably wouldn’t be in this situation if we had played along. But she’s wrong, and I’m not going to write down a wrong answer to please her when I know the correct one.” Kyle straightened up, gaining his composure once again. “So, we’re on the borderline of flunking her class.”
“What happens if you don’t pass her class?” Cade asked.
“We don’t graduate from high school or—” Kyle abruptly stopped and cleared his throat. “But it doesn’t affect the scholarships we have. Mom called a couple of the colleges we’re, um, interested in, and talked to them about the situation after the first parent—teacher conference at the beginning of the year. Mrs. Kellen has a reputation for flunking those with a higher IQ than hers.” Jason’s eyes widened, and he cleared his throat. “Well. We. Sorry. I. Dad told us not to talk about it.”
“What Jason so ineloquently is trying to say is we haven’t had problems with any teacher or class until Mrs. Kellen. She has the administration backing her.” Kyle rolled his blue eyes like he’d seen Ella do many times over the year he’d known her. “College isn’t an issue for either of us. We can go wherever we chose for free.”
“But we can’t go anywhere until we graduate high school. We need a passing grade in history, and Mrs. Kellen knows it,” Jason picked up the conversation. “She did the same thing last year to two kids. She kept the grade at barely passing all year, then failed them.”
Kyle added. “Her tests are all essays. Every one of our answers is irrefutably correct, yet we receive failing or barely passing grades.”
“Do you have the tests?” Cade asked.
“No, sir,” Jason said. “She keeps them. She could give us any test she wanted, even the final in front of anyone she wanted, and we’d ace it.”
I can fix this. “Do you need any preparation for the final?”
“No, sir,” Kyle said. “Why?”
“I’m taking you to the principal. We’ll get this taken care of. Then, we’ll head to the house and fix whatever needs fixing. Let’s go,” Cade said.
“But what about our other classes?” Jason asked.
Kyle’s gaze dropped to the floor as a grin spread across his face.
Cade patted Kyle on the back. “I have a strong suspicion today is the last day you will be attending high school.” If the boys were half as intelligent as he presumed, his father would finally have a business partner in Jason, and Kyle would spread his wings and fly toward a future he seemed ready to conquer.
“Jason, I need you here tomorrow, or I’ll have to call on Cade. I love my son, but he isn’t worth a damn as a carpenter.” Pappy winked at him.
Cade laughed. “Thanks, Dad. Nice to know how you really feel.”
Pappy swung his arm around Jason. “Don’t even think Cade doesn’t know his weaknesses. The man is a machine in what he’s good at, but carpentry isn’t one of them. Not like us.” They walked out of the office together.
“Looks like you’ve been replaced,” Kyle said.
Cade picked up his cell phone from the desk and strode to the door. “Nope. Jason has been adopted. You have too. Come on. We have a full day ahead of us.” He walked through the open door as Kyle followed.
“A full landscaping crew will be at the correct address by the time you get there.” Nikki stood up behind her desk. “Felicity is having lunch delivered at noon to Ella’s office. I’ve taken care of the first oversight you asked me to fix. Felicity sent flowers to her office this morning along with a card stating when you’ll pick her up. Josie is out shopping for an outfit which will be delivered at three with more flowers. I called ahead to the dealership and told them to have new vehicles delivered to the correct address.”
“Thank you, Nikki,” Cade said. “Sorry about earlier.”
“I’m really sorry about the mistakes. I’m not sure how it happened, but I’ll find out.” She held out a piece of paper. “Here is the message and his number.”
“Just trash it,” Cade said.
Nikki stood up with the paper in her hand. “Um, I think you should read it.”
Cade took the paper from her hand.
Ella is mine. She always has been. You have no chance with her. None. Call me, and I’ll explain why you need to let her go.
Nikki gulped. “The number is on the back.”
Cade turned the note over. Ella’s cell phone number leapt out at him. Garrett still had her phone from last night. He crumpled the piece of paper and handed it to her. “Throw this away, please. If he calls again, tell him I got the note. Come on Kyle, we’ve got work to do.”