“Mom’s been helping Tiff in the garden,” Shane said quietly.
“That’s nice of her.”
“Yeah, it is. Tiff really appreciates it.” Shane paused, regret flashing on his face. “Mom’s never forgiven her for what she did to you, but they’re slowly rebuilding their relationship. I’m hopin’ one day they can be close again.”
Jackson twisted open his bottle and took a long sip, hoping the cold beer would ease his rising agitation.
“I never forced myself on her, Shane.”
His brother jerked as if he’d been struck.
“Never,” Jackson repeated, his throat so tight it hurt.
“I…” Shane’s expression swam with shame. “I know that.”
Surprise jolted through him. “You do?”
“’Course I do. You’re not that kinda man, Jackie. Never have been, never will be.”
“Then why…” He took another hasty sip. “Why did you follow me into the barn that day? Why did you…”
“Beat my little brother senseless?” Shane’s voice cracked. “Because I didn’t take a moment to think. I reacted, pure and simple. I loved Tiff, loved her so fuckin’ much, and the thought of anyone hurting her made me crazy. I snapped. Think I might’ve even blacked out, Jackie. One minute I was walking toward the barn, the next I was being pulled off your bloody, broken body.”
The horror on Shane’s face was impossible to miss, and when he went on, his voice shook so hard he was nearly stuttering. “I couldn’t believe what I’d done to you. I was so fuckin’ ashamed of myself, and still am. When I saw Dad carrying you to the house, reality suddenly came rushing back. I knew you couldn’t have done what Tiff accused you of. And I knew I’d never be able to look you in the eye again.”
Jackson’s hand trembled as he set his beer on the ground next to his chair. “You never apologized,” he said hoarsely.
“I didn’t know how to. And not just that. I didn’t wanna tell you I was sorry—so fuckin’ sorry—only to have you deny me the forgiveness I was desperately craving. So I didn’t say anything, and eventually shit got so bad between us I didn’t know how to bring it up. I thought that maybe if I ignored it, pretended it never happened, it would just blow over. But it didn’t blow over. It got worse, and then you were gone. You left, and I had no fuckin’ clue how to make you come back. But…fuck, Jackie, I missed you. I missed my brother, and I didn’t know how to deal with that or how to make things better.”
He raked his hand through his hair. “I thought you still believed Tiff’s lie. Even after she came forward and told the truth, I thought you still believed it.”
“Never,” Shane said fiercely.
“Then why…I mean…” Frustration surged in his blood. “Why all the nasty looks? You’ve been eyeing me these past couple days like you want to throttle me.”
His brother let out a ragged breath. “I know. I…dang it…I was jealous, okay? Every time you come home, Mom and Dad act like the messiah has just shown up. And to top it off, this time you brought this amazing girl who instantly earned Mom’s approval, somethin’ my own wife has had to beg for every day for the last eight years.”
As they both went quiet, Jackson listened to the crickets chirping in the distance and the rustling of the trees all around them. He’d never realized how tormented his older brother had been all these years. He’d assumed that Shane hated him, but now he knew that wasn’t the case. His brother had been overwrought with guilt and shame, with envy thrown into the mix, and that made Jackson damn sad.
“I’m sorry.”
Shane’s gruff words hung between them, bringing a lump to Jackson’s throat.
“I’m so sorry, Jackson. For beating you that day, for being too much of a coward to apologize for it, for marrying Tiff even though I knew it would cause more friction for the family. I’m sorry for all of it.”
He slowly met his brother’s gaze. “Thank you. I appreciate that.” He stopped, breathing through the pain and sorrow. “I forgive you, Shane.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, I do.”
Ever so slowly, the tension that had plagued them for so many years seeped away like groundwater soaking into dirt. In that quiet moment of forgiveness, Jackson felt a sense of peace and liberation that lightened his chest and soothed his heart. He’d needed this. Goddamn, he’d needed it.
And clearly Shane did too, because his face relaxed and a smile lifted his lips.
“Do you wanna come in and catch the highlights from yesterday’s games?”
Jackson’s regret was genuine as he shook his head. “I would, but I’ve gotta check on Mia. Poor thing’s more upset than I’ve ever seen her.”
Shane nodded in understanding. “You’re right—go take care of your woman. And make sure she knows there’s no hard feelings on Tiff’s part. She didn’t mean what she said back there. This whole mess has been tough on her too, Jackie.”
“I know. I’ll talk to her tomorrow before we leave, try to make things right,” he said gruffly.
“I know she’d appreciate that.”
The two men rose from their chairs, eyeing each other for a moment. Then Shane stepped forward and hugged him.
Jackson’s heart ached as he returned the embrace. It was the first physical contact he and Shane had had since the incident in the barn eight years ago, and when they finally broke apart, they both had tears in their eyes.
“I love you, Jackie. I need you to know that.”
“I love you too.”
The emotion tightening his chest didn’t let up, not even when he slid back into the truck and made the short drive back to the main house. He was suddenly itching to see Mia, to throw his arms around her and thank her for persuading him to come home. Because of her, he’d finally mended the rift with his brother and found the solace he’d been seeking all these years.
He parked the truck and jumped out eagerly, but when he glimpsed his parents sitting in a pair of wicker chairs on the porch, his happiness dissolved like a cloud of smoke. It was past eleven, way past their bedtime. His folks woke up at the crack of dawn every day—they didn’t normally shoot the shit on the porch this close to midnight.
Their identical grave expressions brought a frown to his lips. “What’s goin’ on?” he demanded.
Kurt and Arlene exchanged a look.
The frown deepened. “Tell me.”
Jackson’s father cleared his throat, distinctly uncomfortable. “Your woman’s gone.”
His pulse sped up. “What?”
“Mia’s gone,” Arlene said softly. “She left.”
Shock and confusion spiraled through him. “What do you mean, she left? Why didn’t you stop her?”
“We were asleep,” his mom admitted.
“Woke up when we heard the taxi pull into the drive,” Kurt said gruffly. “By the time we got outside, she was gone.”
“We tried calling you, sweetie, but your phone went to voicemail.”
As his heart thundered in his chest, Jackson dug his phone out of his pocket and frantically searched the screen. He’d put it on silent before heading over to his brother’s, and sure enough, he had several missed calls from the ranch number.
Along with a text message.
From Mia.
He quickly read the text, unable to believe his eyes.
“She’s catching a flight home.” He checked his watch and cursed. “Son of a bitch. The flight was at ten thirty. It’s already taken off.”
His mother’s eyes filled with sympathy. “Oh, sweetie.”
“It’s too late to stop her,” he mumbled. “She’s already gone.”
“Why?” his father asked, looking bewildered. “Why would she go?”
Jackson set his jaw and took a step to the door. “Shane’ll fill you in. I’ve gotta pack.”
He flew into the house without another word. As he sprinted up the stairs, he heard footsteps pounding behind him. A glance over his shoulder revealed Arlene, whose cheeks were
red as she struggled to reach her son.
“You’re leaving?” she said in dismay.
“I have to.” Misery clogged his throat. “I have to go to her.”
His mom didn’t voice another objection. She simply followed him into his bedroom and stood in the doorway as he rapidly shoved items of clothing into his bag.
“She’s the one.”
He froze.
“You know that, right?” Arlene said gently.
He met his mother’s eyes, his heart squeezing painfully. “I know.”
She gave a brisk nod. “Good. Now go get her, son.”
* * *
Standing in her dark apartment, Mia stared at her brother and waited for him to explain himself.
But rather than shed light on his startling presence, Danny turned the tables on her. “What are you doing home? I thought you were coming back tomorrow!”
“I caught an earlier flight,” she sputtered. “And don’t you dare make this about me, pal! Why aren’t you in Reno with Mom?”
Very slowly, Danny lowered the baseball bat. “I didn’t feel like going,” he mumbled.
Mia narrowed her eyes. “Daniel.”
“I…” He sucked in a breath. “She…”
After a beat, the bat slid out of his hand and clattered to the floor with a sharp, metallic ding.
“What happened?” Mia demanded.
Danny’s entire face collapsed. “Mom never showed up.”
The four desperation-laced words hovered in the air.
And broke Mia’s heart.
As nausea churned in her stomach, the six-foot-tall young man standing in front of her transformed into a lost little boy right in front of her eyes. Danny’s bottom lip trembled, his broad shoulders drooping as if he couldn’t support his own weight.
Mia didn’t waste time—she threw her arms around him and hugged him with everything she had.
“Oh Danny, I’m so sorry.”
Moisture soaked her skin as Danny buried his face in her neck. His tears triggered a jolt of anger that blasted into her chest. She suddenly wished their mother were here so she could strangle the living shit out of that bitch. How could Brenda have done this? How could she?
Mia stepped back. “You’ve been here all alone for the past two days?”
He nodded wordlessly.
Drawing a steady breath, she led her devastated brother over to the couch and forced him to sit while she went to switch on the floor lamp. A moment later, light flooded the room and revealed Danny’s red-rimmed eyes and wet cheeks.
She sat beside him and wrapped one arm around his shoulder, speaking in a firm voice. “It’s all right, baby. We’ve dealt with this before, remember? She shows up and then she leaves—that’s just what she does. I know you were hoping it would be different this time, and I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out the way you wanted. But we’ll get through it, the way we always do. It’s okay to be sad and hurt and upset, but it’s not the end of the world.”
“Yes it is!”
The certainty in his voice and the vehemence in his eyes startled her. “It’s not, sweetie, I promise you that. I know she hurt you again, but—”
“She hurt my future!”
Mia was caught off guard. “What are you talking about?”
Danny looked up with a crestfallen expression. “She took my savings.”
A wave of horror rammed into her. “What?”
“She emptied out my bank account,” he mumbled, then let out an agonized moan that sent a knife of fear straight to Mia’s heart.
She had no idea what he was saying. How was that even possible? She and Danny had opened his account together—they were the only ones who could withdraw or deposit funds into it.
“Danny,” she said softly. “What did you do?”
Tears welled up in his eyes again. “She told me she wanted to help out,” he whispered. “She said that college would be really expensive even if I ended up getting a scholarship, and she offered to throw money my way whenever she had some to spare. She told me it would be easier if she could just deposit money into my account through her online banking.”
Ice crept through Mia’s veins, making her entire body run cold.
“So we went to the bank together and we spoke to the bank manager…”
She could hardly breathe now.
“He made us fill out this form that would link our accounts. That way Mom could put money directly into my account from hers.” Danny’s lower lip started to quiver. “I signed the form, Mia. I didn’t think it was a big deal. I mean, it wasn’t like it was just Mom who could access my account—I could access hers too.” He shrugged helplessly. “I thought it was really cool that she trusted me and didn’t think I would try to take her money or anything.”
Mia’s pulse roared, nearly drowning out his voice. “The bank manager shouldn’t have let that happen,” she hissed out. “She’s not your guardian, damn it. She shouldn’t have been given access to your account.”
In fact, Mia was already planning on marching into the bank the second it opened and demanding that motherfucker be fired.
“So on Thursday morning, I was waiting for her to pick me up,” Danny went on, “but she never showed. I hung out here, and then the next morning I got an email from the bank. It was a confirmation of a transaction, and…I clicked on it and saw that she transferred all my money into her account. I had almost ten thousand dollars saved up and she took it all! I tried to transfer the money back, but I kept getting an error message saying her account number was no longer valid.”
His face scrunched up as if he was fighting back tears, and Mia quickly pulled him into her arms again. Silent sobs wracked his shoulders, and each time he sniffled, another chunk splintered off her heart.
“Why didn’t you call me?” she murmured. “And why didn’t you tell me about the bank thing?”
“Because I knew you’d get mad. I knew you’d tell me I was being a gullible idiot, but I thought she wanted to help me, Mia. I really thought that.”
She sighed. “I know you did, kiddo.”
“And then when I got that email from the bank, I was so embarrassed.” Another round of tears shook his body. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed in me. I didn’t want you to hate me.”
“I could never be disappointed in you and I could never hate you,” she said fiercely. “I love you, Danny. And one of the things I love most about you is the way you always try to see the good in people.”
Her brother looked up, his expression absolutely ravaged. “I love you too.”
“I know you do.”
He rested his head on her shoulder, and she gently stroked his hair, wishing she could take away his pain. Brenda deserved to burn in hell for what she’d done to him. If the woman ever showed her face again, Mia was going to throttle her, no mistake about it.
“Do you think there’s any way to get the money back?” he asked in a small voice.
Mia hesitated. “I don’t know. We’ll go to the bank tomorrow and talk to the idiot who signed off on it. Your account is set up so that both of our signatures are required in order to make any major changes. Anything you do on your own is restricted to withdrawals and deposits. I don’t give a shit if Brenda told him she was your mother—the manager shouldn’t have approved your request. And believe me, I’m going to have his job for this.”
Danny smiled weakly. “Maybe we should bring Jackson. You know, so he can scare the manager with all his muscles.”
Her heart clenched. God, she’d completely forgotten about Jackson. About the way she’d deserted him in Texas and scurried back to San Diego like a petrified animal.
“He came back with you, right?”
She avoided her brother’s eyes. “No, he’s still in Texas.”
“How come?”
Mia shrugged.
“Seriously, why?” Danny pushed.
She let out a sheepish breath. “Let’s just say you’re not the only one who screwed up.”
“Oh, crap. What did you do, dum-dum?”
She and Danny didn’t usually discuss each other’s love lives, but Mia found herself blurting out everything that had happened in Abbott Creek. Confiding in Danny probably wasn’t the best idea, but it was past two in the morning, she felt battered and exhausted, and words just kept popping out of her mouth before she could stop them.
When she finished, Danny was staring at her as if she’d just told him she’d joined the circus and was leaving tomorrow.
“What is the matter with you?”
Her brow puckered. “What do you mean?”
“Why don’t you want to be with him? Jackson is, like, the coolest guy on the planet,” Danny announced. “And for some reason, he actually loves you.”
“Ha ha,” she muttered.
“I’m serious, Mia, you’re being so dumb right now. He loves you, you love him. So what’s the problem? And PS, that was a dick move, leaving without saying goodbye to him.”
She swallowed. “I know.”
“Oh, and PPS—I don’t think you should be scared. You’re not like Mom.” Danny’s tone turned ferocious. “You’re nothing like her. You’re strong and awesome and you put everyone’s needs ahead of yours. She’s selfish and spoiled and doesn’t care about anyone but herself. So are you really surprised that all her stupid marriages failed? She can’t stay in love with anyone because the only person she loves is herself.”
He finished in a thundering rush, daring her with his eyes to disagree.
But she couldn’t. She couldn’t argue a single thing he’d said because he was absolutely right. Brenda hadn’t gotten her happy ending not because forever didn’t exist, but because she was a flawed, self-absorbed woman doomed to destroy every relationship in her life. But happily ever after did exist—all of Jackson’s friends had found it. Kurt and Arlene were living it.
So why couldn’t Mia?
“You’re too smart for your own good,” she told her brother.
“Um? Mia?” Danny pointed at his own chest. “Guy that just had ten grand stolen from him?”
Out of Uniform Box Set: Books 4-6 plus 2 Bonus Novellas Page 82