Lorenzo looked grim. “This feels worse.”
No one was safe, and Lorenzo was particularly worried about the Millers. Bobby may have stopped using drugs, but Jade came into the pizzeria with the Rogue from Mercury a few months back. Perhaps Bobby and Jade knew their heritage by now, but they weren’t scared of the PMI, and that was a mistake.
“Trip is panicked,” Carl said.
“Tell him to keep his head down. You do the same. I have to go back inside.”
Carl nodded once and walked away.
Zander opened the front door of his childhood home. “Mom, Dad, I got the pizza.”
His sister Rayley's red hair peeked out from around the corner. “Hey, Z!”
Zander almost dropped the pizza in surprise. “Ray! You got out of work early!”
“Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday; did you think I would miss it?” She pouted as she spoke, a rare occurrence for her usually shining face. Zander embraced Rayley, and she mumbled under her breath, “Especially not this year.”
What did she mean? He held Rayley by the shoulders and searched her face.
“How’s the world of immigration law?” she asked, changing the subject.
Zander let the odd comment slide. “Busy. Lots of interesting characters.” Zander kissed her forehead, and she hugged him tighter. A wave of gratitude washed over Zander. He didn't realize how much he missed her. With their crazy work schedules, they hadn't seen each other in months.
The doorbell rang. “Who's here?” Zander asked.
Rayley skipped to the foyer to answer it. Vicki stood in the doorway with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon in her hand. Rayley shrieked with excitement before wrapping her arms around the tall pretty brunette.
“Were you going to celebrate the second biggest party night of the year without me?” Vicki asked.
“Vicki, I can't imagine a party without you. This town would not survive without its Queen Bee,” Zander told her.
She walked over and gave him a peck on the cheek. “That's why I stay. I sit idle in my small-town kingdom while my worker bees head off to important places.” She beamed at Zander, and took a step back, looking him up and down. “You look good, Zander. Is the new shirt and muscular pecs for anyone special?”
Zander smirked at her fiery gaze which he knew left a trail of broken hearts. She was acting strange. She usually saved her flirty comments for her latest conquest. Why was she buttering him up? Zander turned to take the pizza in the kitchen without answering her question.
“Where's Repugnant Rachel?” Vicki asked, following Zander.
Zander cringed and played dumb. “Who?”
“The airhead girlfriend you brought to Thanksgiving Eve last year. Was she old enough to be at the bar?”
Rayley giggled.
“Rachel is only two years younger than you,” Zander shot back. He wished he could erase last year's foolish actions.
Vicki expertly opened the bottle of wine. “I'm glad that's over.”
Zander shrugged, but silently agreed. His parents came in just then, and they all chatted and enjoyed the food. As conversation slowed down, Zander swallowed his last bite of pizza and washed it down with a swallow of wine, hoping to appear nonchalant. “I ran into Jade's brother Bobby at Lorenzo's.”
Rayley and Vicki exchanged a look. “How is he doing?” Vicki asked.
“He seemed healthy. He said he’s working in sales and found a new purpose in life.”
“Did he mention anything else?” Rayley asked.
“No.” Zander wiped his hands on a napkin. He was anxious to get to the bar and see Jade. “I'm going to wash up for tonight.”
A few hours later, Rayley, Vicki, and Zander were sitting on stools at a table in the corner of McCallister's. The local bar was the same. The place had slowly filled up with familiar faces, either visiting their families for the holiday or locals out for a drink with friends. Many of them stopped by their table to say hello and get an update on the past year.
Zander was strategically positioned on a stool that faced the door. He was waiting for one person. He truly believed this would be the year he made it work with Jade. Everything felt right. He couldn't explain it, but having Rayley home and running into Bobby confirmed it for him.
Amid a crowded bar filled with people catching up with old friends, Zander saw her walk in with Marcus. His breath caught in his throat. He might have thought about her constantly over the past year, but she was more stunning than he remembered. Her blonde hair bounced in long beautiful waves on the sides of her face. She glowed. Zander pushed off his stool without hesitation and watched her.
Jade's wide blue eyes scanned the room, stopping on Zander. He was watching her like she was the center of the universe. She felt the rush of heat to her cheeks. She almost turned back. She didn’t want to hurt him any more than she already had, but she kept her feet pinned to the ground. She reminded herself that this was why she came to the bar tonight.
She needed to see Zander. She had so much to tell him. Not a day passed that she didn’t miss him. Once she saw herself clearly, she ached for him. Nic had filled in the holes of her past, but Zander was the missing puzzle piece to her future. If he allowed her a moment to speak, she would explain everything to him.
The crowd of people between them parted, and Zander started to move to her. She put her hands on her belly, and that's when Zander noticed the bump. He froze.
The rise and fall of Zander’s chest quickened and his jaw dropped. Rayley put her hand on his shoulder.
Vicki leaned over and whispered, “Jade is due this winter.”
Zander's world turned upside down. This wasn’t how the night was supposed to go. She was pregnant? How could that happen? Why would she do that? “Bobby didn't mention it.”
Rayley gave Zander's shoulders a squeeze. “I'm sorry, Z.”
This wasn’t the way he envisioned their reunion. In his mind, he’d had the perfect fairytale ending. Zander threw on his coat and headed for the door. Jade's apologetic eyes followed him the whole way, but she did nothing to stop him.
“Zander, please wait,” Marcus called in a last-ditch effort to ask Zander to listen. Guilt from keeping Jade’s secret had weighed on him the past few months, but it hadn’t been his news to share.
Zander walked out.
Early on Thanksgiving Day, Jade stood outside her mother's house with both hands on her bulging belly. She hadn't been home in a year, and she knew clearing the air with her mother was overdue. The baby kicked, and Jade smiled.
“I know I have to go in. Give me a minute. This is hard for me,” she whispered to her baby. No matter what happened in the future, the two of them were in it together.
She took a deep breath and headed up the walkway. Bobby had offered to be by her side for moral support when she told their mother, but Jade needed to do this on her own.
Jade climbed the front steps, which was becoming more difficult as her body grew. She opened the door and crossed into the foyer. Little had changed. The same framed photographs of her and Bobby as kids lined the hallway. A dent remained in the wall from Bobby's roughhousing, and her mother's presence loomed like a clawing fog.
“Mom, are you home?” Jade was proud of herself for sounding confident. She was going to be strong for her baby.
There was movement upstairs. Jade heard a door open and close. Footsteps pattered along the floor. Her mother appeared at the top of the steps with her hands on her hips and a cross look on her face.
Jade said nothing. She straightened her spine and put her hands on her belly, waiting for the reality to sink in. She braced herself for an argument.
Jade's mother's eyebrows curved upward. Her hands loosened from the tight fists at her waist. Step by step she descended the stairs, never taking her eyes from Jade’s face.
“I'm pregnant.”
Her mother gasped and brought her hands to her mouth. She stepped closer to her daughter, staring at the swelling belly.
�
�It's a boy.”
Jade's mother looked up. Jade was surprised to see tears in her mother's eyes. Were they happy tears because she was going to have a grandson or sad tears because Jade was pregnant and unmarried?
Jade thought desperately of a way to convince her mother to help her. She needed to remind her mother that they were connected—to each other, to the Isle of the Lost and to the Rogues they both came from. She had one last arrow in her quiver.
“My middle name is Quark. You gave me a name like theirs.”
Her mother stuck out her chin. “Yes, a reminder of the past to keep me on my toes.”
Jade nodded her head, unsure if her last attempt bridged a divide or threw a wall between them.
“Is it his?” Her mother asked with a tone of disgust. Ms. Miller wouldn’t even lower herself to mention Nic’s name. The horrid man had stolen her baby girl and put her at risk of exposure to the PMI. Every day, she feared that Jade would be taken to the Isle of the Lost, and she would never see her again.
Whether it was the hormones or the time apart or seeing her mother's tears, Jade let out a sob. “Yes, but we broke up.”
Ms. Miller wrapped her arms around her daughter and her future grandson. Her heart shattered. With this child, her daughter was going to be a mother, but she was also forever bound to a Rogue. It was confirmation of her worst fears.
Worry creased the corners of Jade’s mother’s eyes. There had been whispers that the Rogues were coming over in droves. The PMI authorities would be on high alert. They would all have to be extra vigilant not to raise an alarm. “Don't worry. I will protect you, my sweet Jade.”
* * * *
Chapter Nine: The Thanksgiving Eve When Love Might Steer the Stars (Part 1)
Three Years After Jade Discovered the Truth about the Rogues
Age: 28
Jade tapped her foot during the train ride into the city. She was nervous about her plan despite the calm that had settled at her core. The inner peace had arrived the day her son was born. On that snowy January morning, baby Kelvin brought meaning to her life, and she didn’t accept that gift lightly. Jade’s newfound passion was making his life special. Every day, she worked to improve the world for her son and the progress centered her.
Kelvin, a name that toed the line between odd in the Land of the Free and traditional on the Isle of the Lost, slept in a bassinet next to Jade’s childhood bed in her mother’s house. During the work week, Jade, Bobby, and their mother took turns looking after him. He was the brightness in their day. The ray of hope that connected them.
Nic brought Kelvin to his apartment on the weekends. Nic’s relationship with Jade was civil at best, but he doted on his son. Kelvin would grow up in a broken family, but he would always be loved.
Jade nibbled her thumb nail on the subway ride downtown. She was a woman of twenty-eight. She no longer felt like an uneasy teenager, unsure of who she was. She was a Rogue living in the Land of the Free with a child of her own. In fact, now that she knew who she was, she also knew what she wanted.
Jade was the hero in her story, battling shadows and taking on the ugly world. Nonetheless, she also wanted her happy ending with the man of her dreams. She wanted her knight in shining armor—not to protect her from the dangers of the world, but to show her what true love means.
Jade stood on the third floor of Zander’s apartment building. She looked down at the maroon carpeting. While she was sitting on trains, the trip had felt too slow. Now that she was standing outside Zander’s door, the journey had been too fast. Was she ready to take the next step?
She was there for one reason: to win Zander back. In her heart of hearts, she felt like being with Zander was the happy ending she was looking for. Would he feel the same way? They hadn’t spoken in years. Perhaps he had already moved on. Maybe he was seeing someone new. There was even the possibility that he hated her.
Jade took a deep breath and lifted her hand to ring the doorbell. One quick press of the button, and she could hear the chime on the other side. She bit her lip when she heard footsteps coming closer. The door swung open, and there he was in gym shorts and startled wide eyes. Love swelled from the bottom of her heart and shot through her veins. This was where she was supposed to be. This was the man she was supposed to be with.
“Jade?” Zander held the door wide open.
“Hi, Zander.”
A million thoughts raced through Jade’s mind. If there was a woman in his apartment, would he have been tentative about opening the door? Maybe he wasn’t worried. Was Jade someone important or just a girlfriend of the past?
“What are you doing here?”
Jade analyzed his face. There were faint lines etched into the skin around his eyes that weren’t there the last time they stood this close. Was that three years ago? Time slipped by when she wasn’t paying attention. His lips parted, and his eyebrows raised. He didn’t look angry to see her.
“I took the train from Woodpine,” Jade said, internally kicked herself for not saying something sophisticated. Why was she nervous? This was Zander, the nerd from her high school social studies class, the guy that drooled when she entered the room, and the man who loved her even when she was at her worst.
“You could have waited a day. I always come back on—”
“Thanksgiving Eve. I know.” Jade smiled and Zander smiled back—an encouraging sign. She continued, “I wanted to break with tradition and see you a day earlier. I’m never very lucky on Thanksgiving Eve.”
Zander’s grin widened. “I like that idea. Come in.” He stepped aside and let Jade in.
The apartment was small and tidy. It was a studio with a bed in one corner, a kitchen in the other and a television, couch and coffee table huddled against a wall. Zander picked up a shirt strewn on the back of a chair and an empty Chinese food container.
“Sorry, my place is messy,” Zander said as he tossed the container in the garbage and the shirt in a laundry basket.
Jade clasped her hands and twisted them into a knot. She found a picture of Zander’s family on a nightstand. The space might have been small, but it was Zander’s.
She wanted to feel at ease in his personal space, like she used to feel. She pictured them eating take out on his couch, wrapped in his sheets, and sharing showers in the mornings. She wanted to reconnect and re-start the relationship with the new knowledge about herself. Would he want that, too?
“Your place is great,” Jade said, and she meant it.
Zander ran a hand through the hair he chopped short to look professional. “Do you want to sit down?”
Jade lowered herself on to his couch, and Zander sat down next to her, keeping a safe distance. It didn’t go unnoticed, and Jade yearned to close the gap. She could tell her visit was not easy for Zander. She wanted to touch him, kiss him and comfort him.
Zander felt the butterflies dancing in his stomach. Jade looked beautiful sitting on his couch. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and run his fingers through her hair. Yet, he couldn’t touch her and that pained him. After all this time, why was she here?
“It’s great to see you—”
“It’s nice to see you—”
They both laughed, and it cut through the nervous tension.
“Listen, Zander,” Jade said as she put her hand on his. “I miss you.”
Zander’s heart skipped a beat, but he refused to let her see how much she meant to him. He didn’t want her to know how those three words affected him if she was just going to walk out of his life again.
Jade watched Zander’s face for a reaction, but he was unreadable. She stared in his eyes, willing her words to mean something to him. How could she explain that she needed the break from him to learn about herself?
Before she understood why she was different, she wore protective armor in her relationships. She had to live with a Rogue to understand who she was and what she wanted. Her journey was personal and difficult, and in the end, she realized that Zander was her soulmate. From day o
ne, he saw past her defensive walls and understood her better than she understood herself.
“Jade…” He had to stop her before he broke down and said he missed her, too.
“Wait. Let me explain.” Jade swallowed the lump in her throat. “I treated you poorly and unfairly. You didn't deserve to be brushed aside. I feared being defined by one person or place. I wanted to escape anything that was confusing and everything that gave me pain. At the time, I didn't know who I was. I needed time to learn.”
Zander stared into the eyes of a confident woman. “What did you discover about yourself?”
Jade's blue eyes glistened. “That I'm a mother.”
Zander pulled his hand from hers. He tried to smile. “That's great, Jade. I'm really happy for you.”
He meant it. He was happy she found her calling as a mother, and he hoped she was content with the baby’s father. Unfortunately, the arrangement wasn’t going to bring Zander joy. He had worked hard to close the gaping wound that their relationship had caused. In fact, he wasn't sure if his heart would ever be full again. The way she glowed on the couch next to him gnawed his insides. If she had moved on since their relationship, he preferred she stayed out of his life.
Jade saw the hurt reflected on his face. She inched closer and grabbed hold of his hand again. “You don't understand. Learning about myself cleared my mind of the darkness and shadows. When I was certain of the person I am, and who I want to be, there was only one person I wanted to share my life with…you. I love you, Zander.”
Zander’s heart soared even though his brain told him to be rational. The problem was that he wanted to believe Jade. She was saying the words he longed to hear. “What about your boyfriend? The father of your child?”
Jade didn't look away. “We're not together.”
A million logical questions ran through Zander’s mind. He was a lawyer and an expert at reviewing the facts from all angles. However, his heart overruled. What had he been doing these past few years? He hadn’t dated anyone seriously. He hadn’t let himself get involved with other women. The truth was that he had waited for her.
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