Bob Fellows didn’t want to meet at the club, which meant it wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation. They met instead at a little Greek Taverna off the strand with blue and white-checkered tablecloths covered in clear plastic. The plastic was sticky.
Burt’s cholesterol had been giving him some problems, and he didn’t want an issue when he went back for his checkup and another refill of Viagra. So he picked up his Greek salad with Feta cheese with a few extra olives that the toothless woman behind the counter knew he liked. The two friends made their way back to their table. The restaurant was empty, but it was early for the lunch crowd.
“Thanks for seeing me so quickly.” Bob took a deep breath and watched Burt dive into his romaine lettuce. “I got a call from a colleague of mine.”
“Yes. First, so you don’t string it out, does this have anything to do with Aloha Shores or Green & Green?”
“No.”
Burt was relieved.
“But indirectly, yes.”
“Bob, just get done with it. Just put it out there for me, please, will you? I’m not feeling well, and I think this conversation is going to make me feel worse.”
“As your attorney, it’s is only fair that I give you some information you might not possess. And help you make a decision.”
“Okay.” The lettuce was cool, and it was satisfying to be chomping down on the fiber, which blocked the strange Indian music coming from the kitchen. An Indian family who had immigrated to the US five years ago in fact owned the Greek Taverna.
“Do you remember Rob Peterson—used to work in your office?”
Burt thought about it for a second. “I think so. Boy, that was like what? Twenty six-no seven years ago? Something like that. Haven’t seen much of him.”
“He moved up to LA some years ago, and actually did quite well after he left your company.”
“Okay.” Burt was hoping perhaps the guy wanted to buy him out.
“Adele liked him.”
Burt’s gut grumbled, and a sharp pain hit the left side of his chest.
“She visited him several times in LA. During a couple of your golfing trips to Scotland, from what I understand.”
“Okay.”
“He thinks he’s Gerud’s father.”
That fuckin’ bitch.
“Is that possible, Burt?”
“Anything’s possible. If he bought her things and was sweet about it, yeah, I can see her spreading her legs for him.” His blood pressure was beginning to rise, and he didn’t like it one bit.
“So, if he’s not your son, you can cut him out of your inheritance.”
“What inheritance?”
“I wanted you to know that you have a choice now. I understand how concerned you’ve been about the business venture. Rob Peterson is a very wealthy man, and he’s dying, Burt. We aren’t sure if he’s reached out to Adele yet, but he wants to contact Gerud. Bob’s attorney suggested I ask you first.”
“So, what you’re saying is that Gerud is about to come into some money. Not Jake, but Gerud.”
“That’s right. Bob is under no obligation to leave any money for either of them, but he wants to leave money to his son, or who he thinks is his son.”
“No, he wants to send me a message he fucked my wife. He did what I cannot do, he fucked her and provided a nice nest egg for that fuck!”
Two faces appeared in the window each wearing black caps, with Bollywood music booming in the background. Burt inhaled again and resumed quietly. “He wants the whole world to watch as he gets even with me. Took my wife, gave her his kid, and now is doing what I cannot do.”
“Well, there are two ways to look at it?”
“I only see one.”
Peterson grinned, a proper lawyerly grin. “That’s what you have me for.”
“I’m waiting.” Burt shoved the salad away to the side, suddenly not hungry.
“If he’s not related to you, you can cut him out of your inheritance. But you can also sue him.”
“He’s been raised as my son.”
“Under a ruse that your wife participated in. I’m telling you that if you wanted to, you could sue him for his mishandling of the Hawaii deal.”
“You mean steal his inheritance from a dying man who wants to make it right by him after all these years? Not even I am that low.”
“Well, you think it over. And after you do, come back and see me.”
This was turning out to be an even shittier day than he expected.
“I’m not sure I want to do that, but you can start preparing something. Start with the will. Let’s get him out of my will.”
“Just the sole separate property part,” Bob Fellows corrected.
“Which is the part that used to have a ton of real estate and now owns that big fuckin’ piranha of a golf course shopping center, eating up all my assets like a starved zombie.”
“Right, Burt.”
“Not Adele’s part with the house and the jewelry and cars and stuff. He’s her son, and I’ll let her take care of him. And then we can think about what to do next.”
“Okay, Burt. I’ll begin that today.”
“Don’t spend a lot of money on it, please.”
“I won’t.”
“This isn’t going to be a big complicated thing, now is it?”
“Doesn’t have to be. Very simple, really.”
“And Bob, get Belinda Matheson in. She’s my half-daughter.”
“You fathered another child?” His attorney nearly choked on his beer.
“I did. I’ve taken care of her, sort of. Something happens to me, if there’s any money left, I want her to have some.”
“You’ll forward her date of birth and social security number? Do you have those things?”
“Yes, she works for me.”
“Okay, Burt. Just get those to me, and I’ll begin at once.” He reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m here for you, Burt.”
“Yeah, at a thousand dollars an hour, you’re here for me.”
Allen sat back, frowning. “I’ll be on my way, then. Have a nice day. Let it sink in for a day or two, and then we’ll talk.”
It wouldn’t be appropriate to cry, because Burt didn’t have the same feelings for Gerud as he did for Jake, so it wasn’t like he’d lost something he never had.
It was just that everything was so hopeless.
And everything was beginning to spin out of control.
Chapter 13
Ginger couldn’t believe how nice it was to wake up in Jake’s arms again. The lovemaking, after their first rushed encounter, was long and satisfying. Early morning sex was always her favorite, when the house was quiet and the day was a blush of possibility.
“Are you leaving soon, is that what they told you, Jake?” she asked him as he pulled her hair aside with his forefinger and lightly bit her earlobe from behind.
“Um hum.” His fingers pulled her chin over to him, and he kissed her sideways, their tongues having to reach to touch.
“When do you leave?” She whispered.
His hands traveled over her thighs, up over her belly and were squeezing her breasts while she could feel him rooting to find her opening. She tilted her pelvis to give him a little help. He quickly dove under the covers and sucked her lips from behind. Then he slowly kissed up her spine and slid into her core with a satisfying sigh.
His muscled forearms covered hers, his fingers gripping hers as she moaned into her pillow as he plundered deep. Jake liked to work from every angle, pressing inside until she began to lose control. He slowed to give her time to tone down a bit, then as soon as her breathing returned to normal he began again, this time adding his fingers pinching her bud as he bit her neck and licked the knob of bone at the top of her spinal cord. He grabbed a pillow and slid it under her belly to raise her pelvis up. He held her by the hips as he rose to his knees, splaying her thighs further apart and sunk in deeper, picking up speed.
Her fingertips began to spark
. The whole length of her hands, past her wrists and up her forearms tingled under the weight of his arms squeezing them down into the mattress. Again he sent his arm beneath her, reaching down to pinch her bud, which she could feel was swollen with need.
“Come for me baby.” He pressed her there again and she exploded, drawing his cock up inside her, pushing back against him to keep him deep and tight against her cervix wall.
He pulled her up, putting her on all fours as he rammed inside from behind, then pulled her back against him. She arched, her head against his, allowing him to feel her long shapely torso, poking her belly button, squeezing her sensitive nipples and then landing again at her bud. Her head leaned against his shoulder. She was rocking against him, each time sitting back down on him deeper than before.
Jake had to know she was close because she was pulling on his ball sac. She looked down to try to see his penetration between her thighs, but all she saw was his fingers as they probed, pulled and slipped inside where they could find room. He touched all her swollen parts, her nipples, lacing fingers down the inside of her thighs, pinching and pulling her lips over his cock, and then encircling the stiff little bud until finally, she began to shatter with a long, rolling orgasm. Toward the end of hers, she could feel him spilling deep inside, holding himself against her.
His breathing slowed when he placed his forehead against her back, pressed himself one last time in a thrust deep inside and then released.
They rolled to the side. “Thank you, Jake.”
“God, Ginger. I’ve said it now a dozen times. What a fool I’ve been. And this doesn’t have one whit to do with sex, either, although,” he kissed her in return, “I have to say, the sex is fantastic. You’re unbelievable.”
She slipped out of his grip and turned to face him, their legs entangled in the sheets and each other. “You know you’re the only man I’ve ever loved, and the only man I’ve ever made love to. I always did belong to you, Jake. Even when we were apart, I was yours.”
He thumbed her lips and gave her a kiss. She saw in his eyes the mark of devotion he’d had when they were first married. “I should have never left. I’ve made so many mistakes. How can you forgive me?”
“My biggest mistake was not trusting you. I believed what I was told. That you’d fallen for one of the girls down at the beach.”
“That wasn’t me, Ginger. I was probably with the guys, like every night. Running away from all that I saw over there. Some of it was pretty bad, sweetheart. Part of me didn’t want to bring that back home. But of course, that’s exactly what I did. What a fool.”
“I should have trusted you, believed you.”
“It really threw me when Frankie was killed. I came back a different man. Thinking about you and the girls. The one thing in the world I didn’t want to lose, and what did I do? I screwed it up.”
She traced his lips with her forefinger. It hurt her to think that he’d felt he couldn’t return to their marriage, and had sought solace in someone else’s arms. She didn’t want to think about that right now, because this morning it felt like a lazy day, and a good day to stay in bed. But she knew they were on borrowed time. The puppy would be getting up, and so would the girls.
But for right now, everything was perfect. Her perfect life had come back to her. Finally.
They ate together as a family in the kitchen. The puppy was underfoot constantly, and Jake nearly stepped on her several times. The girls were asking questions, and Jake was honest with them.
“Your mom and I have some things to work out. You know how it is when you have a fight with someone? It takes awhile to stop being angry.”
“Were you angry with Mom?” asked their oldest. Ginger decided it was time for her to jump in.
“Girls, it was a misunderstanding. And feelings were hurt, and we stopped talking. Now we’re talking, so, we’ll see.”
Jake looped his little finger over hers as her hands pressed against the countertop.
“I don’t want you to go away again, Daddy,” said Jasmine. Her green eyes excoriated Jake, and she sported a frown.
Ginger knew Jennifer was too young to remember her father leaving. She’d been raised in this house, seeing her father over at his parents’ house, or when he picked them up to take them places. But Jasmine did remember and at first had asked constantly when he was coming home. It had been the most difficult time in Ginger’s life. But thinking he had been unfaithful, she steeled herself into bearing the pain alone and being a rock for her girls.
“Jaz, I’m always going to be your daddy. Nothing can stop that. Ever. And your mom and I are working real hard at communicating. Real hard,” he said as he pressed against her behind.
“Don’t worry Jasmine,” she finally added. “It’s all going to be okay. You’ll see.”
Jake offered to take the girls to school for her, which she accepted. He told her he had to report to the Team Building to send over some equipment they were going to need. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to come back home tonight and would probably stay over with the guys on base, since they were leaving so early.
Ginger agreed to take Chelsea Fiona to Jake’s parents’ house, and then she’d head to the cooking store where she worked as a clerk.
She hugged and kissed the girls, who were delighted getting to ride in their father’s big truck, and said her good-byes to Jake.
“About a week, you say?”
“Maybe two. It depends.”
“Mexico? Really?”
“Yup. Wish it was with you.”
“Maybe when you get home we can go sometime. Take the girls, too.”
“Not this place, but somewhere, yes. I think a family vacation is in order.”
“Will I be able to call you?”
“Sure. Call me anytime. We’ll be in the same time zone. No worries there.”
The Green’s large pink stucco home behind the gated community of similarly-sized homes was always a showstopper. A studio mogul had originally built the home in the thirties as a place to get away from the crowded LA suburbs for a life at the beach. So the art deco detail, especially the fine wrought iron fixtures and railing and use of colorful Spanish tile, always made her feel like a movie star in the age of silent films.
It also reminded her of some of the darker mystery films she’d loved growing up. The house had actually been used in a movie one time.
But none of that made any difference to Adele, who answered the door, her eyes puffy and red.
Ginger held the pup up to her, and before her mother in law could take her, she stopped, saying, “You sure this is okay with you to do this today?”
“You going to bring her to the kitchen shop today?”
“No, but if it’s too much, I can arrange for someone—”
“Look, Ginger,” she practically wrested the pup from Ginger’s arms. “Your father-in-law is a royal asshole, and he’s going through some tough times. He usually snaps out of it, eventually, and then all is forgiven.”
“Adele, what I saw last night was serious. You should talk to someone about it. You guys were nearly violent.”
Adele laughed. “Come on in for a sec.” She let the puppy run to the kitchen where a fresh plate of dog food and water were prepared for him. They watched her devour the food and then make a sloppy mess of her water dish, until Adele called the puppy outside. Ginger followed her.
“I don’t want you to talk to Jake about this, if you happen to see him.”
“Okay. But don’t you think he needs to know?”
“No. He doesn’t. And I’m trusting you with that, Ginger. Besides, Gerud will probably tell him anyway. He can’t seem to keep his mouth shut.”
“You’re being unfair.”
“Am I?” Adele had gotten her hackles up. She poked her toe at several blades of grass before looking back up at Ginger. “Burt and I have lived through a string of bimbos and bad decisions. But I’ve never seen him so uncertain. I think whatever it is, some big deal or something, on
ce it’s over, he’ll be his old self again. A son of a gun, but I’m going to see if he can get some rehab, maybe book him a stay in a clinic for a couple of weeks after all the dust settles.”
“You mean a detox place?”
“Yes.”
“He says he wants that?”
“No, as a matter of fact, he doesn’t. But I’m going to ask him for a divorce if he doesn’t.”
Ginger thought the circumstance was similar to Jake’s discussion with his LPO, Kyle Lansdowne. Jake had given her a brief rundown about how it was motivating him to go to meetings and become a better man. There was no possibility that she would divulge that information to her mother-in-law.
Adele agreed to pick the girls up again, like she always did. Ginger decided to let the girls tell Jake’s mom about the fact that he’d spent the night at home.
Chapter 14
Burt Green wasn’t able to concentrate much during the afternoon after he got back from lunch. The conversation with his attorney had him worried. He wondered if somehow Gerud knew the truth about his paternity. And although he didn’t trust him to make good decisions for clients and for the company, now Burt was beginning to distrust him for an entirely different reason. He wondered if Gerud had somehow set him up to take him down. A way of getting even for some wrong his son had thought he’d perpetrated against him.
Gerud was a boy who had always harbored resentments. He’d resented his older brother, going off and becoming a war hero. Jake was so easygoing, he allowed Gerud to spin his tales and weave his web, and Gerud was always getting Jake into trouble. He was also the first to tell them about Jake’s problems with alcohol and women. When he broke up with Ginger, Gerud delivered the news almost with a smile on his face. Like he was happy Jake had screwed up so badly.
So this revelation about Adele’s infidelity actually helped a few pieces of his life’s puzzle fit into place. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure old Bob Fellows was right. It was time to excise Gerud from his life. If he was lucky, Adele would have no part of it and leave him. Might even let him off the hook so he didn’t have to air the dirty laundry of their lack of funds in front of anyone. She could go live off the trust fund of her ex-lover. Better yet, she could go take care of the man, change his diapers and wipe his ass so she could get her hands on some freedom afterwards. She and her boy. And leave Burt and his bad fortune alone. He could liquidate, sock away a few things without paying taxes on it, and head for Mexico or the Caribbean and disappear.
Band of Bachelors: Jake Book 3 Page 8