I opened the sandwich and looked over some briefs as my phone rang. Since it was the office phone, Dustin must have sent it back. I answered.
“Jacob Queen’s office.”
“Hello there, darling,” my mother said. I smiled, leaning back in my chair.
I took a bite of the sandwich and grinned. “Hello.”
“You’re talking with your mouth full.”
I winced. “Sorry, I figured since you called, I could take a break.”
“That’s good timing, then. Since you’re eating, I don’t have to nag you about that.”
“I take care of myself.”
“No, Dustin and Seressia take care of you, which is good. They know exactly how to make sure you don’t work yourself into the ground. I just wanted to check on you.” There was an awkward pause, and I cleared my throat and set my partially eaten sandwich down on the desk.
“I apologized to Annabelle. Told her I was a jerk and said I would work to do better. I am sorry, Mom.”
I heard the relieved breath, and I winced.
“That’s good to hear,” she whispered. “She needs love, too. And so do you.”
I shook my head and bit into the sandwich again so I wouldn’t say what was on my mind.
“All I’m saying is that she could use a friend,” my mother backpedaled. I rolled my eyes, though she couldn’t see me.
“Sure. Whatever you say. I think Annabelle and I are going to try to be friends. Or at least nice neighbors.”
“That’s all I can ask. I could ask for much more, but I’ll stick with that.”
I shook my head again, even though, once more, she couldn’t see me. “Thank you for checking in. That is why you called, right?”
“I just wanted to hear your voice.” There was another pause, and my sandwich tasted like sawdust all of a sudden. I swallowed the last of the bite and wiped my hands on the napkin Dustin had given me.
“I’m glad you called. Call anytime—even if I’m in court. I’ll take it.”
“I will not call when you’re not on a break.”
“And how will you know that?”
“I have spies.”
“Dustin and Seressia call you to let you know when I’m eating so you can call me?” I guessed.
“Maybe. And when your brilliant women get back to the office, they’ll make sure I can take care of you, as well. I’m doing my best to make sure that all of the moms in that lovely little office of yours are taking care of their kids. You might be adults, but you’ll always be our babies.”
I let out a breath and tried not to focus on the fact that my heart broke a little inside. I needed to focus on the now and not what could happen in the future. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too, baby. Now you go put those criminals behind bars.”
“That’s not the type of law I’m working on up here,” I said dryly.
“Maybe not, but you’re still doing good work. You’re brilliant. And I’m proud of you. Now, go do whatever paperwork you need to do.”
I laughed. “That sounds about right.”
We said our goodbyes and hung up, and I looked down at my desk, wondering what I would do when she didn’t call on my lunches anymore. It wouldn’t serve me to focus on that, but I’d moved up to Fort Collins and changed my entire life and career to be near my family. And after she was gone? After the doctors were finally proven right?
I’d stay, wouldn’t I? Or would I run again? I shoved those thoughts from my mind, not wanting to focus on them. It would only make me ill again, and I couldn’t breathe if I let my thoughts go down a path of shadows so far in the future—at least I hoped it was far in the future.
I cleaned up my desk, pulled out my water, drank half of it down, and then got back to work. I’d focus on the paperwork in front of me, on the people who needed me right now, and then deal with everything else later.
There was a light tap on the door, and I looked up to see Seressia frowning at me.
“What?”
“There’s someone here to speak to you. I wasn’t sure if I should send them away or not.”
For some strange reason, Annabelle’s face popped into my mind, and I stood up. “Tall, average height, dark brown hair, vivid blue eyes?”
Seressia’s smile made her look like a cat in cream, and I could have cursed. “No, but after work, once I’m not on the clock, I do believe you need to explain that to me.”
I held back a wince. Damn it. Seressia was far too good at ferreting out information, and I’d walked right into it. “No, I don’t believe I do.”
“Whatever you say. But, no, it’s not her…whoever the dream girl is.”
“Seressia.”
She sighed and then visibly braced herself. “It’s Mrs. Queen.”
I closed my eyes, counted to five because I sure as hell wasn’t going to make it to ten, and let out a breath. “Why don’t you just send her back? I’m sure she didn’t give you a reason for being here.”
She gave me a pointed look. “Okay, we’ll be here to call you out on business in ten minutes.”
I snorted. “You know what, I’ll take you up on that offer.”
“It’s what we’re here for.”
Seressia left, and a few moments later, I heard the click of heels against the hardwood of the older home we’d converted into my office.
Susan Queen was gorgeous. Vivid red hair and curls that framed her face. Her green eyes were piercing, and you never forgot them. She had a pointed chin and a semi-pointed nose. Her face was dusted with freckles, and she looked like a fey queen. She had sinful curves, something she called them herself, and looked as if she could take on the world.
And she did.
She had taken me on, after all—and then spat me out after she chewed on me a bit.
“Hello, Jacob. It’s good to see you,” she said softly as she made her way inside. She leaned forward, grabbed my shoulders, and air-kissed my cheek before leaning back to study my face.
“You look tired. How is Kelley?”
“Mother’s doing just fine. Father, too. And I’m probably tired because it’s the middle of a workday and I haven’t had coffee since nine.”
“Why don’t we take care of that? I’ll take you out for a cup. There has to be a little café around here. One owned by a little barista with a cute smile. Maybe one that serves the best cinnamon rolls in the state.”
“How many Hallmark movies have you been watching lately?” I asked wryly.
“Enough. They’re on Lifetime now, too. Though those are a little spicier.”
“I don’t have time for coffee, Susan.”
She looked past me to the papers on my desk and frowned. “I’d hoped that you coming up here to this little town of yours would help you not work so much. I can see that isn’t the case.”
I resisted the urge to shove her out of my office because that wouldn’t be nice. And I didn’t hate Susan. I just didn’t like her anymore. “Susan, first off, Fort Collins is not a little town. It’s a city. A decent-sized one.”
“It’s not Denver.”
“No, it’s not. But it’s my hometown and the place I’m living for the time being. Maybe forever,” I added when her eyes brightened at the phrase time being.
“Well, let me take you out for that coffee.”
“I’m busy, Susan. Why did you drive up here? It’s over an hour out of your way.”
She waved her hand. “I have business in Cheyenne tomorrow. A potential story. I decided to visit here first. See what you were up to.”
“And you’re staying the night in Cheyenne?” I asked.
“Bob has a hotel for us.”
“You and Bob still seeing each other, then?” I asked, not sure why I even brought it up.
She gave me a look that spoke volumes. “No, but we still work together. There are two rooms in that hotel, thank you very much. However, I’m sure I could arrange to stay here for the night if you were accommodating.”
&nb
sp; I gritted my teeth. “No. There’s no room at the inn for you, Susan.”
“Pity.” She let out a breath and looked up at me with wide eyes. I used to love staring into those eyes, the jade green color so intoxicating.
Now, I only saw all the lies.
“I am sorry,” she whispered.
“You said it before.”
“Well, I am. And maybe one day you’ll believe me. I’m glad that you’re here, settling down. Finding peace. You’ve needed it.”
“Susan,” I warned.
She held up a hand and shook her head. “I know. Can’t touch the heart that is Jacob Queen. That was always the problem.”
“We both know that wasn’t the only problem.”
“Perhaps. However, I am glad you’re here. But I miss you.”
I shook my head as warning bells sounded in my brain. “Okay, go get in the car and drive up with Bob to Cheyenne. You probably left him out there, didn’t you?”
“He has an audiobook. And the man is monotonous. Not Bob,” she said as my lips quirked. “The narrator. He has no inflection, but Bob’s happy with it, so I’m dealing with it. However, I wanted to see you.”
“You came, you saw, now it’s time for you to go.”
She looked at me then, studied my face and shrugged. “Be safe, Jacob.”
And then my ex-wife walked out of my office. I let my head fall back. Today was a shitty day already, and, honestly, I only had myself to blame for the choices I’d made that led me to this point.
“That seemed fast enough. I didn’t have to get you out for a meeting,” Seressia said, and I growled.
“We’re all out at six. I don’t care what we’re working on. We’ll come back to it tomorrow. I’m pretty sure I’m going to need a drink, and me thinking about it here isn’t going to cut it.”
Seressia grinned as Dustin and Lucas laughed behind her. “You’ve got it, boss.”
They left my office, and I went back to work, trying my best to focus on what I needed to do, rather than the outside world continually trying to drag me back in.
I didn’t love Susan anymore. I hadn’t for a long time. We’d been married for all of two years, and she’d cheated on me in the end. She and Bob had been happy for a split second, though apparently, they weren’t anymore.
Susan had once called me too raw, too angry at life. Said she needed normalcy. Fort Collins would be too ordinary for her. I didn’t know why she had come here, other than to disrupt my life because she didn’t know how to settle herself. Either way, we were two flames that burned too brightly near each other. We didn’t need to be in the same room anymore.
Being combustible meant leaving debris in your path, not a warm and bright glow.
And now, I was getting all poetic about my ex-wife. Time to get to work and focus on what was important. Not my future plans, not my ex-wife, and not a woman with blue eyes who kept haunting my daydreams.
By the time six p.m. rolled around, I was exhausted and really wanted to take off my tie and call it a day. I was true to my word and shoved my staff out the door before they had a chance to complain about it. They worked just as hard as I did, hence why they had disrupted their lives to come up here with me to begin with.
I had a feeling that Lucas and maybe Seressia would head back to Denver after they got a couple of additional years under their belts here and gained experience, but they were here for now, and we had an odd little work-family dynamic.
I looked down at my phone and figured I could eat or go and get that drink. And if I remembered right, Riggs’ had wings. Damn good ones.
Riggs’ was a bar owned by a nice guy. He’d given me a once-over the first time I walked into the place, and I had simply smiled and shaken my head. I wasn’t interested in starting anything, especially not with the bartender I wanted to get to know personally when it came to my drinks.
I tugged off my tie and made my way to Riggs’, grateful that it didn’t seem too busy on a weeknight. Once I got out of the car, I looked down at my slacks, nice shoes, and the button-up shirt I had on and figured I was probably a little overdressed for the place. But I wasn’t about to go home and change. I rolled up my sleeves so my forearms were bare and undid the button nearest my neck. It was the closest I could get to casual. Plus, I didn’t usually wear jeans. It just wasn’t who I was.
I walked in, the sound of music playing and people talking over drinks and food filling my ears. My shoulders immediately relaxed, and I knew I had come to the right place. I needed people around, but I didn’t need to talk to them. Wings and a beer and maybe a whiskey, neat. That’s all I needed.
But then I looked over into the corner, saw a familiar set of people, and ground my molars together.
Of course, they would be here.
The fucking Montgomerys were everywhere.
Chapter 7
Annabelle
* * *
“Okay, who is the hottie with that strong jaw?”
I looked over my shoulder, then at my best friend, Brenna, and winced. “That would be my neighbor, Jacob Queen.”
Eliza, my other best friend, gasped. “That’s Jacob Queen?”
I sighed and took a deep gulp of my beer.
“I love that whenever we talk about him, we always use both of his names. And someone always says that Jacob Queen. Like a title.” Paige sighed happily.
I glared at my little sister. “Shove it, Paige.”
She wiggled her fingers at me and leaned into her boyfriend. “Oh, I don’t believe I will. And look, Jacob’s not headed this way. He did that head-tilt thing, though. Mr. Queen acknowledged your presence, but he isn’t coming over here to talk to the big, bad Montgomerys.”
“Probably because he knows that while the brothers haven’t seen him yet, they will likely kill him because they are big, mean, and love to act like linebackers protecting their quarterback.”
I whispered the last part, and both Eliza and Brenna started laughing into their hands, doing their best not to make too much noise.
Jacob sat at the bar, Riggs grinning down at him as the two of them laughed over something. Riggs set a beer and a water in front of Jacob, as well as a menu.
“He shouldn’t sit and eat all alone,” Eliza said. “It’s not nice.”
“You shouldn’t be so mischievous. You are a lovely, pleasant, married woman. Aren’t married ladies supposed to be calm and happy and not annoying?” I asked.
“I have no idea where you heard or read that,” Eliza said. “And my husband is deployed, so I need some entertainment in my life. If that means joking around about a certain dark-haired, chiseled-jawed stranger at a bar for you? Well, I’m going to have fun.”
“Oh, yes, that sounds like a plan.” Brenna clapped her hands as she grinned.
“I don’t like you guys.” I pouted.
“Don’t pout. You’re an adult,” Paige said, her eyes dancing with laughter.
Her boyfriend, Colton, cleared his throat. “If it’s all right with you, I’m going to go get grilled by Paige’s brothers rather than sit here listening to this. I feel like I don’t have enough estrogen, and I’m eavesdropping on the secret meeting of an organization I shouldn’t know about.”
He grinned, and I rolled my eyes before Paige went up on her tiptoes to kiss him soundly. I averted my gaze because some things having to do with my little sister I did not need to see.
“He seems nice,” Brenna said, watching Colton walk away.
My sister smiled. “He’s great. He makes me laugh, he’s kind, he has a good job, and he isn’t riddled with debt.”
Eliza laughed. “And that’s what you’re worried about?” she asked.
Paige shook her head. “No, that’s what my dad would worry about, so I’m learning to tack it on for when I’m around him. Sorry. I’m just trying to get used to the idea that I have a committed boyfriend. Not some guy I date for a couple of days and never see again. And it’s not like a high school boyfriend where it’s all about wei
rd anxiety and wanting to throw up.”
I looked at Brenna and analyzed that comment, then we all snorted, holding back our laughter. “I’m sorry, but high school boyfriends make you want to throw up?” I asked, pressing my lips together after I’d said the words.
“You know what I mean. When we were younger, it was always stressful and anxiety-riddled because of social constructs inherent within school walls. This feels nice.”
“So, it’s serious?” Eliza asked.
“Maybe.”
I listened with half an ear as my friends and Paige began discussing Colton and all his qualities. I liked the guy, but I didn’t know him well enough to judge. He’d have to run the Montgomery gauntlet if he wanted to go the distance with Paige. And not because we were overprotective. Okay, not only because we were overprotective. Mainly because Paige wouldn’t date anybody seriously without us loving him. We were family, and that’s how we worked.
It had been different with Jonah because it hadn’t been real. And Paige hadn’t even been old enough to drive, so I knew she didn’t have as many memories of him as I did. There hadn’t been love there. Not the kind shared between a husband and his wife. But there had been love between two best friends who didn’t want to leave each other alone in the dark.
I shook away those melancholic thoughts as Eliza looked at me, her gaze troubled.
“What’s wrong?” my best friend asked. She’d pulled her dark hair away from her face tonight, all twisted together on the top of her head. It would tumble around her shoulders later when we danced, and she would look like a beautiful princess in the woods, carefree and happy. I knew she missed her husband with each passing day. And Marshall would be coming home soon, God willing. I didn’t know how she did it day in and day out, but she was a force to be reckoned with and a light in all of our lives. It helped that she was brilliant, sweet, and always had my back.
Inked Persuasion: A Montgomery Ink: Fort Collins Novel Page 6