by Leah Braemel
CJ glanced away. “We all make mistakes from time to time. I know I have. And I think you know you have too.”
“Yeah.” And the list was growing longer.
“And you’re wrong about lumping Paige in with everyone else. I’m bettin’ she’s the one person who has never betrayed you. She was thinking about what was best for you, son, as well as maintaining a confidence that she’d given her word to keep, and temporarily at that. There was an end date to her patience with him from what you say, which says to me she would have told you if he’d broken his promise. Comes down to it, I’d say that proves she’s trustworthy” He held up a hand to stop Jake from interrupting. “I know it hurt to find out she’d kept something from you, but how is that different from you keeping the secret about Gabe from him. Or from your other brother?”
“It just is...it...” Had to be different.
“Son, you need to take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror. And when you figure out what’s wrong with the picture, you have some apologies to make.”
* * *
“And here’s another song from local boy, Jake Grady...”
Paige scrambled across the office at Bull’s Hollow to turn off the radio. In the two weeks since she’d returned, she’d deliberately not turned to the local radio station that Cissy favored, tuning to a Dallas station instead, figuring she wouldn’t be in danger of hearing Jake singing. Only to discover two of his songs were climbing the charts, and were being played far too often for her comfort.
“Hypocrite,” she sneered at the now silent device. The anger and hurt of that day in Myrtle Beach flared back to burn in her chest and belly again. She’d spent the plane flight home both fuming and fighting back tears. She never cried, she’d trained herself not to a long time ago. Okay, so she’d cried before he left, but that was a fluke.
By the time she landed in Dallas, pure anger had engulfed her. She still felt sorry for poor Gabe who’d had to listen to her rant for the entire three hour drive home, assuring her as far as he and Ben were concerned she was still their accountant since they were two votes to Jake’s one. He’d been gracious in accepting her apology the next day, but still...
Guess she’d learned her lesson not to trust people again. Except Ben and Gabe and even Cissy had rallied around her, proving some people were trustworthy.
Now here she was, with Jake returning in ten days, and she’d not even arranged to move out of his place as he’d demanded. Since her own house was rented out, Cissy had offered to let her move back into the main house, rent free. Given her dwindling finances, she might end up taking her up on the offer, except it still meant running into Jake regularly. Which might have been Cissy’s reason for making the offer in the first place.
“Of all people, you should have realized there are reasons why you can’t tell people things sometimes,” she snarked at the radio as if Jake might hear her. “Legitimate reasons.”
Her voice caught in her throat. “Stupid man.” No, that wasn’t strong enough. “Stupid ass.” No, it needed more. “Stupid hypocritical, self-righteous ass!”
The phone rang, interrupting her search for even better epithets. A number from Austin showed on the display. Which meant it was safe to answer.
“Bull’s Hollow,” she snapped into the receiver.
“Paige?” a woman’s voice asked cautiously. Sharon, her college girlfriend who had promised to hook her up with an entertainment accountant friend.
Settle down, girl. She’s a friend, don’t bite her head off. Paige exhaled and settled into the chair, tucking her feet beneath her. “Hi, yeah. Sorry, you just caught me...distracted, that’s all.”
“Let me guess, you heard from Jake?” Sharon had been treated to yet another rant about the stupidity that was Jake Grady two days before when her friend had responded first to an email and then they’d caught up on the phone.
“No.” Well, she had. He’d been phoning a lot the past week. She’d let them all go to voice mail—her inbox had filled up because she couldn’t be bothered to listen to any lame-ass excuse he could come up with for kicking her out. Okay, maybe “couldn’t be bothered” was wrong. She was afraid she’d be sucked into listening to an apology and feel sorry for him enough to give him a second chance.
Not. Happening.
“Listen, I got in touch with Lori. She said she’d be happy to answer any questions you have. She can’t take you on as an employee, but she’s willing to mentor you, show you some of the tricks the record companies play on musicians. But she does ask that you agree not to set up shop in the Metroplex. You understand, right?”
Yeah, who wanted to train their competition who might end up stealing your business? “I’m good with that. I was thinking of trying to hook up with some musicians in Austin anyway.” She hadn’t been, but Austin had a strong music industry and was far enough from Joshua Falls that she wouldn’t be reminded of Jake whenever she drove past Bull’s Hollow. Of course moving meant giving up the one permanent client she had. Then again, she could always drive up once a month to do their books. Just because Jake was an ass didn’t mean she should lose a client, or the company of the rest of the Gradys. The past week, Ben and Allie had dropped in regularly. Allie and she had especially clicked.
There was a tapping noise in the background as Sharon spoke again. “I’m emailing you Lori’s phone number, email addy, that type of thing. She’s waiting for your call. Just tell her you’re Sharon’s friend so she knows it’s you.”
Cissy appeared in the doorway, Bill Kligman at her side. “Paige honey, this man says he wants to talk to you.”
Shit. She made the appropriate thanks to Sharon, assuring her friend she’d phone the entertainment accountant later that day, then hung up the phone. Remember, he hasn’t got any power over you anymore. “Hello, Bill. What are you doing out this way?”
Most likely attempting to steal back the Bull’s Hollow account. Which he might succeed in doing if she ended up working out of Austin. The thought that she couldn’t stick it to Kligman long term chaffed her ego.
Bill glanced at Cissy before easing into the office. “I tried to phone you after you walked out of my office, but you didn’t return my calls. So I figured if the mountain wouldn’t come to Mohammed...”
“I took a vacation. Figured I was due one considering I hadn’t taken any with K&T.” That she’d gone on the road with Jake was none of his business. “What did you want, Bill?”
“I was wondering if we could discuss you returning to Kligman and Tuckett.”
And bring the Bull’s Hollow account, and its contacts, along with her. “I’m not interested in working with K&T anymore. But thanks for the offer.”
His already thin lips thinned until they almost disappeared. “As I was telling Mrs. Grady earlier, while you’re a good accountant, with Kligman and Tuckett behind you, her family would receive even better service.”
So he’d hit Cissy with his pitch even before talking to her. Figured.
“For instance, when you want to go away on vacation again, there would always be someone to back you up. Or God forbid if you ever got sick or injured on that motorcycle of yours.”
“I’ve already told you, Mr. Kligman,” Cissy interrupted him firmly, “we are confident in Paige’s abilities and are behind her one hundred percent.”
The stiffness in Paige’s shoulders relaxed at Cissy’s statement. From the moment Paige had stepped back on Bull’s Hollow land, Jake’s mother had clucked and fussed over her. After apologizing for placing Paige in an untenable position and being the cause of Jake’s ire, Cissy had brought her lunches and dinners every day, staying to exchange gossip. She’d even started teaching Paige how to ride a horse. Only twice had she mentioned the reason Paige was there without Jake, brushing it off as a “first fight misunderstanding.” Unfortunately Paige didn’t share Cissy’s confidence
that she and Jake would soon be reunited. But whenever she tried to broach the subject that she and Jake were done, Cissy got such a hurt look in her eyes, and her shoulders slumped that Paige felt like she’d just kicked a puppy and changed the subject.
Cissy’s expression lightened as footsteps echoed and Ben entered the office, though her expression tightened when Gabe appeared behind him.
Kligman introduced himself and repeated his pitch. He spluttered to a stop when Ben folded his arms across his chest and shook his head.
“Sorry. Your firm had its chance and you blew it by not standing behind your employees. Paige is our accountant, and we have no plans on replacing her.”
Bill opened his mouth, only to pause when the song Paige had assigned as Jake’s new ringtone started playing. Paige grabbed her cell just as August Campbell wondered if the person had been born an asshole. Once she’d muted the phone, she winced at Cissy’s raised eyebrows. “Sorry about that.”
A grin tugging at Ben’s lips, he faced Bill again and assured him that he wouldn’t change his mind and offered to show him to the door.
Cissy followed the two men out of the office, leaving Paige alone with Gabe. Who grinned. “Nice choice of ringtone.”
She eyed him, trying to figure out if he was sincere or she’d missed some veiled sarcasm. “I know it’s probably juvenile but—”
His grin widened. “Hey, no judging here. I’ve got the same song assigned to my father’s number.”
A shaky laugh escaped her. “I’m pretty sure Cissy’s not impressed though.”
Gabe’s expression flattened. “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t worry too much about her at the moment. She’s got her own issues to deal with.”
Shoot. Even after having a year to get used to the idea that Gabe was her husband’s son, Cissy still treated Gabe like he had leprosy. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to rub salt into that wound.”
He lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “Hey, it’s her damage, not mine.”
Poor guy. If she had any sort of ally on the ranch, it was Gabe. Of all her acquaintances, he understood the Gradys, and their secrets and melodrama, better than anyone.
The man in question sprawled in the extra chair and tilted his head as he examined her. “How you doin’? I’m guessing from the ringtone that you still haven’t talked to Jake?”
“I know he’s your...friend, and you’re probably wanting to give me some ‘you need to give him a second chance’ talk, but I’m not sure I can forgive him.”
“Yeah, I can understand that. When you told me what he’d done, I was ready to get on a plane and punch him in the gut for you.”
She gaped. She was certain that while she had ignored Jake’s calls, Gabe and Ben hadn’t and had probably heard a whole different sanitized story. “What? No explanation for him? No excuses?”
He squirmed beneath her gaze. “Look, I know he hurt you. I know he was a first class ass. But that’s not typical behavior for him. He’s usually pretty laid back.”
Arrrgh. “And there it is, the ‘give Jake a second chance’ pep talk” She huffed in exasperation. “I figured Allie or Ben would be the one pounding at my door pleading his case, not you.”
“I’m jes’ saying that...” He frowned. “Yeah, I guess I am trying to explain about the Jake I know, and you’re clearly not willing to listen.”
Well, didn’t that make her sound unreasonable. Inflexible. With a huff, she circled her hand. “All right, let’s have it.”
He stretched out his legs and studied his worn boots. “It’s true. In the past year, Jake and I have had our problems. Not that I knew I was the problem until about six months ago.” Irritation crept into his voice and he clamped his jaw tight. Rubbed the back of his neck. Dropped his hand and plucked at his jeans.
She waited as he regained control before asking, “So how—why—did you forgive him? How do you forgive a best friend for betraying you like that?”
He finally smoothed his palms on his thighs. “Okay, yeah, I was pissed as hell at him. I’ll admit it. But eventually I realized he was caught between a rock and a hard place. He had to choose between me and his momma. And I had to admit that if I had to make a choice between him and my mom, I’d protect my mom too. And it made it a little easier to try to see his side. I’m not saying we’re best buds again yet, and I don’t know if we ever will get back there, but he apologized and I realized it was up to me to determine the next step. That I had all the power.”
“But he didn’t even listen to my explanation,” she ground out. “I mean, he kept secrets from you and from Ben and everyone for almost a year. And I got why he did that. But when I had to keep a secret from him, he should have understood why sometimes it’s necessary not to tell people things. He accused me of trying to manipulate him by not telling him about Randy. I thought our relationship was stronger than it was.” She rubbed at her chest, then realized what she was doing and dropped her hand, embarrassed at the weakness.
“He struck out at you because you were a handy target. It wasn’t fair, I know.” Gabe’s tone was far too evenhanded. She wanted him to be as irritated at Jake as she was. So much for having an ally.
“But in the past year,” he continued, still far too reasonable for her liking, “his family and everything he believed about them has been destroyed. His parents were real big on telling the truth. And now he’s learned that everyone—and I mean everyone, his mother, his father, his grandparents...okay, well, not Ben—but everyone of authority lied to him. So I get why he got upset to find that you’d withheld information too. Even if it was a knee-jerk reaction.”
Damn it. Why couldn’t anyone take her side? “You’re awful understanding considering they lied to you all this time too.”
“I still have issues with George and Agnes—they knew from day one that I existed and yet they refused to admit I was their grandkid. Even when I was standing right in front of them. Which is probably why I can see his side of things.” He folded his arms over his chest. “He ever tell you about when we first met?”
“A little bit. That you and he used to fight and Ed forced you to bunk together to work out your differences.”
A smile crawled over his face. “Yeah. Poor Jake. I made his life a living hell those first few months after George first brought me out to Bull’s Hollow. I lashed out at everyone and everything—back then Jake was smaller than me and an easy target.” His smile faded and he met her gaze. “My father—my adoptive father, the man who had chosen me, and promised the courts to love me the rest of my life—had walked away from me when I was eleven. Left me and my mom. Mom did her best but she had to hold down two jobs and I was alone a lot. And bored. So I’d go out with my friends. Get into trouble. That’s how I ended up in juvie, catching ol’ George’s attention. I lost everything and everyone I knew. My father had walked away, the courts said I had to live on the ranch instead of with my mom and I’d only get to see her on the weekends. So I was pissed at the world.”
He met her gaze, his eyes dark and stormy. “There were times back then when I was ready to just give in. To give up. But Jake—it was like he knew what I was planning. He’d find some way to make me laugh or come up with some other stupid plan that usually ended up getting us in more trouble. If it hadn’t been for him, I’m not sure I’d still be here.”
The clouds disappeared from his eyes, and he laughed, its rasp startling her after his confession. “That boy was plumb stupid back then. He followed me around everywhere like we were handcuffed together. Even after I beat him up a couple times, he kept coming back. So I ended up dragging him along with me, hatching plans to deliberately get him in trouble. He’d be right there with me, willingly, coming up with even more outrageous stunts. Then when we got caught, he’d take his punishment without making a single complaint. So if you’re wondering if I think you should give him a second chance? Yeah. I do.�
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She cleared her throat against the forming lump. “So I’m just supposed to forgive him? Take him back like nothing happened? Like he didn’t hurt me?”
“No, I’m not saying that. You have every right to be angry at him. But do you really want to write off a relationship over one argument? I know you didn’t like keeping Randy’s secret any more than Jake liked keeping his momma’s secrets. I’m betting Jake knows it too. But you did, and no matter how good your intentions, I can see how he’d be hurt. Because he trusted you. And in his eyes, you were different from everyone else. And even though he knew deep in his heart why you did it...well, yeah, he struck out because you were the one who was there. And no I’m not sayin’ he was right, but I understand it.”
His gaze slid to her phone vibrating across the desk. “And I’m betting he’s realized what a jerk he is and is desperate to apologize.”
It sounded so reasonable when he said it. Except he hadn’t been there, facing Jake’s anger. “I’m not sure I’m ready to forgive him.”
There was forgiving, and there was forgetting, and she’d always had trouble with the second part. And she’d never be able to forget how he’d made her feel that day. Or maybe it was that she didn’t know how to forgive him.
Come on, Paige, you’ve never really fought for any relationship. She’d always set her boots to the pavement whenever things got rocky. Maybe it was time to dig in her heels.
“You guys belong together, Paige,” Gabe said quietly. “You’re good for him. I haven’t seen Jake so relaxed and happy...well, hell, in a long time. He’s been good for you too, hasn’t he? You liked being on the road with him, and you like hanging out with the musicians and you even want to make it your career now. And from what little you’ve told me about your family, I think you need him and his family as much as he needs you.”
She froze. Was that why she’d been with Jake in the first place? Because she saw Cissy as the mother she’d never had, and Jake as the way to an instant, accepting family?