Coming Back

by Lauren Dane

  Mick pulled a pair from his coat pocket. “She does good work. If you’re lucky she’ll have you over to meet the sheep.”

  “Sheep? Really?” PJ asked.

  “Geese, sheep, goats, dogs, cats, a pig, chickens,” Jessi supplied.

  “What Jessi isn’t saying is that three-quarters of the animals living on her parents’ land are those she saved.” Mick smiled, proud of what a giving, loving human she was.

  “People just throw animals away. It’s disgusting.” Jessi’s face darkened. “They don’t deserve the way they get treated. We have a lot of land, my dad’s a veterinarian, so he never minded it when we brought an animal home. Well, he drew the line at raccoons. We had to tell him where they were but not touch them or go too close. But they’re really cute, if not total thieves and vandals.” She looked over at Mick and blushed. “I appear to have a soft spot for bad boys.”

  Mick chuckled. “Lucky for us, you also have a way with keeping us all in line too. I can promise I don’t have rabies, though.”

  “Thank goodness, since you bite sometimes,” Adam said quietly, which made everyone laugh.

  “Only when you ask me to nicely.”

  Or when he ordered it. He liked to lick after he bit too.

  “Thank you, Asa. My mom is going to be so excited. No matter what help you can give, she’ll appreciate it And so do I,” Jessi said.

  Asa’s scowl eased away in response to Jessi’s thank-you. “Of course, sweetheart. I know what it means to need and not to have the means or ability to take care of it. I’m not that kid anymore, but the memories are enough. If I can help, I’m happy to do it.”

  PJ rested her head on his shoulder a moment. Asa tried to look tough, but when it came to PJ, everyone knew he was a big softie.

  “By the way, Mick and Adam, I met our new dog this morning.”

  Mick looked over to Adam, who didn’t even wince. Heaven only knew what she’d decided to love and make theirs.

  “I take it this creature is at Addie and James’s place?” Adam asked with the smallest of smirks.

  And Jessi didn’t miss it either. “I was thinking of stopping by again on the way home. So you can meet her. Mom tossed in a dog bed, and Leif made sure all the shots and stuff have been handled.”

  “Can we come? Not tonight. Obviously your parents probably wouldn’t appreciate a houseful of strangers uninvited. But another day. I want to see all those animals,” PJ said.

  “What are you all doing tomorrow afternoon? I’m supposed to go over there in the morning, but in the afternoon they’re having a cookout. It’s cold but my dad has a deep and intense relationship with his grill. He uses it all year round. Anyway, they’d love it if you came over. You don’t have to stay for dinner or even that very long. But you can see the animals.”

  “We wouldn’t want to impose. Four extra people is a lot,” Carmella said.

  Mick barked out a laugh. “You’ll soon get over that.”

  Jessi rolled her eyes. “What Mick means is that my parents’ house is pretty much always full. I’ve got three brothers and sisters and we’ve got family like Mick and Adam and Hamish, so believe me when I assure you there’ll not only be plenty of food, but that they’d love for you to come. My mom loves taking care of people, and my dad loves cooking.”

  As Jessi, PJ, and Carmella laughed, Mick locked gazes with Adam a moment, both men pleased to see her forming friendships with people who enjoyed her as much as she did them.

  It made her stronger and if for no other reason he would have favored it. But it was more because he loved them too. Their family made them all stronger and safer. Even Adam had found a place in their group. One that fit him, a genuine, natural affinity and friendship with Asa had eased the way at first. Duke was impossible not to like, so he and Adam got on from the start.

  “My life is full to the gills with love. Thank you.” Mick kissed her hand and she smiled so sweet and pretty he was doubly glad he’d spoken his thoughts aloud.

  He’d waited forever to feel this comfortable in his own skin. It wasn’t an epiphany by any means. More that since they’d come to one another once more, Mick had been less and less lost by the day. Until right that very moment when he realized he’d arrived at who he’d wanted to be all along.

  The dinner was good. Carmella, PJ, and Jessi had a nice, civilizing influence as well as being really pretty to look at. Adam was pleased and relaxed. Mick realized this was not only possible, but it made him happy.

  It wasn’t as if he had plans to stop racing, or stop the bare knuckles fighting or the boxing. Or that Jessi or Adam even wanted him to. It was that there was room in his life for other things now.

  More importantly, he wanted to use all his time for other things. For them. He didn’t need as much speed and danger now. He still loved living hard and fast, but they gave him boundaries and limits, and that’s what he’d needed.

  CHAPTER

  Twenty-seven

  Jessi handed a glass of iced tea to her mother and another to Mick.

  “Thank you, sweetheart. Can you take the red tray on the counter there out to your dad?”

  “Sure can.” Jessi grabbed the tray and ferried it out to her father, who grilled out on the back deck. The Supremes blasted, and one of the cats and two of the dogs hovered nearby, hoping to get scraps from her softhearted father.

  “I bring meat!”

  Duke held up a glass. “Rad.”

  Adam came out onto the deck, Dottie in the crook of his arm.

  Dottie was what she’d named the sweet mutt who’d decided to be theirs. Some sort of hybrid of a bunch of small dog breeds made her petite but also perfectly goofy. She had an underbite and one of her eyes wasn’t quite right, but she was a puppy and adored Adam so much from the very first that she nearly fell over from wagging her tail so hard at the sight of him.

  He’d bent over, picked her up, and she’d been in his arms ever since. So adorable.

  “Hi.” She bent to kiss Dottie’s forehead and then give her a scritch behind her ears.

  “Am I second best already?” Adam asked.

  “You asking me?” Jessi teased. “Or your new lady friend?”

  Dottie made a little growly howl that made every part of Jessi say awwww.

  “I don’t believe anyone has ever successfully talked you out of an animal yet,” Adam said. “Dottie here is, of course, the finest in the lot.”

  “I told her the exact same thing when I met her.” An entire litter of puppies had been left on the doorstep of the vet clinic. The moment Jessi laid eyes on Dottie with her sassy little entire backend tail wag and that fetching little underbite, she knew Mick and Adam would love her too.

  “Mom knitted her a sweater. We should put it on her. It’s cold out here.” Adam’s wince made her laugh. “Oh, are you too manly to put a sweater on a puppy?”

  “Angel, there’s nothing unmanly about it. She’s so small, though. I don’t want to hurt her. I’ve never actually put a sweater on a dog before. It’s a little out of my wheelhouse.”

  Jessi took Dottie. “I’ll take care of it. Come on, dumpling. One of these days, though, Dad,” she teased Adam, “you’ll need to learn. What will you do if I’m not around?”

  “Wait till you get back?”

  Laughing, she headed inside with the dog. “He’s worried he might hurt you but you’re tough, right, Dot?”

  She got another kiss in answer.

  “Did Asa tell you he volunteered one Wednesday a month for a car repair clinic?” her mother told Jessi when she came back through with a freshly sweatered puppy.

  “He didn’t. What a fantastic thing he’s doing.” Jessi would have to think up a way to thank the guys at Twisted Steel. She knew it wasn’t just Asa, but all the guys behind it. “They’re a pretty nice group over there.”

  Mick snorted. “I don’t know if I’d go that far, but we won’t miss a few hours a month and it makes a big difference. Everyone doing their part makes the work easier don
e.”

  “He did listen to all my sermons on manners,” Addie said with a wink.

  “Impossible not to.” Mick grinned.

  “Why do you think I gave my lessons with cookies and milk?” Jessi’s mom patted his leg.

  The house was absolutely full of family and friends. The table had both leaves in it, and people sat elbow to elbow as they piled their plates high and got to work on the feast.

  “Your mom is really good at this,” PJ said.

  “My grandpa likes to say my mom started throwing parties for the family before she could walk.” Jessi snickered.

  “We all have our paths to bringing joy. How blessed am I that this is mine?” Addie patted PJ’s hand. “It’s a small thing that leaves a big mark and enriches everyone.”

  Later, after dinner when all the dudes were in the kitchen cleaning up, PJ and Carmella begged for a tour of the property and the animals.

  “The rain has stopped, and it’s still light for a while. There are plenty of rain boots at the back door. I even penned up the crew,” Addie assured everyone.

  “The killer geese we spoke of before,” Jessi explained.

  “They’re really not that bad,” Addie said with a look. “They’re just very enthusiastic about being geese.”

  She loved her mother so much. Jessi hugged her. “I think that’s probably true. Which means they’re a lot like cats, only much more aggressive about you not being geese.”

  “Very diplomatic, darling.” Addie kissed Jessi’s cheek.

  “That’s me all right. Jessilyn Diplomatic Franklin. Want to come along with us? Have a nice walk? I’ll even steal Rynn, so Charlie can have some free time.”

  Jessi’s two-year-old nephew was truly a delight. She loved being around him and all his happy energy.

  As it turned out, Charlie wanted to come along, so the whole group headed out, Rynn’s hand in Jessi’s as they both jumped in puddles.

  “You have to give him a bath after this, Jessi,” Charlie called out, laughing.

  “Bubbles, young man, are in your future. Probably mine too, I wager.”

  Rynn tipped his head back and cackled with glee. That was the awesome thing about a two-year-old. They took their joy where they found it and released their grievances quickly.

  “How lucky you are to have grown up here,” PJ said as they checked in on the pig, who gave them a grunt and a baleful glance as she chowed down.

  “Totally. I still love to run and jump and play here.” All the time away, this had been part of her, had kept her heart happy. The trees and woods all around, though not as plentiful now as when she was growing up as the city continued to encroach on the wild.

  “I’m not sure we can get Asa to leave tonight. He and that grill, along with all the trees and fresh air out here, are serious competition. I love animals, but living in the middle of the city and working as much as Asa and I do, it’s not really fair to have a pet. Though I suppose he could take a dog to work. Carmella brings her dog to work several days a week, as do a few other people. It’s like doggie day camp. With ice cream bars.”

  “And gorgeous men.” Carmella winked.

  “Goes without saying,” Jessi agreed.

  “And Mick’s family lives near here?” PJ asked.

  “Next door. Though it’s about a mile and a half away. They have a few acres that abut ours.” Addie tried not to look angry, but failed.

  Mick had run to those woods, clinging to the wild to give him some safety from a home that drove him away every chance it got.

  The bald truth of it was that the Roberts family didn’t deserve someone like Mick. They’d never deserved him.

  “They’re jerks.” PJ sniffed, clearly pissed on their behalf.

  “It’s uncharitable of me,” Jessi whispered to her mother when Rynn and Charlie headed over to check on the chickens.

  “What is?”

  “I hate them, Mom. I hate that they treat him the way they do. How much damage will be enough for them?”

  “I’ve tried—and failed—many times over the years to find it in me to forgive them. The more I loved Mick, the harder it became. Then of course, what his father did to you, well that was the last straw. But what I like to do more than hate them is love you. And Mick. And Charlotte and Leif and all my family. I try to push all that hate away with love like I’m supposed to. Focus on the love, Jessi. You can protect them in your way, but if you let the anger take over, it’ll eat you alive. He gets enough negative from those who aim to hurt him. We stand sentry. That’s love instead of hate.”

  That’s what she’d needed. Both the acceptance and then the pep talk on how to do better.

  “Thanks.”

  “All part of the service I provide, Jessilyn. Your daddy and I are proud of you. Of the person you are.” Her mother gave her a one-armed hug as they took up behind everyone else to catch up.

  The lights from the house called them home as twilight slowly fell into dark.

  Laughter sounded on the air, speeding their steps, but the crunch of gravel out front meant they had more people arriving to the party.

  They came in through the back, met with mugs of hot chocolate.

  “I believe I promised a bubble bath to a certain someone.” Jessi picked Rynn up and he wrapped his arms around her neck.

  “I’ll get you some clean clothes too. He’s going to get you soaked,” Charlie said, leading the way.

  “You don’t even sound sad about that,” Jessi told her sister through laughter.

  “Heck no. I plan to enjoy the heck out of being dry.” She kissed the top of her son’s head and left Jessi to getting him undressed while the bath ran.

  “I heard someone pulling up the front drive,” Addie said as she headed past Adam toward the door. “Probably Hamish.”

  “Let me.” Adam needed to make more of an effort with Hamish, he may as well start then and help Addie out at the same time.

  “Thank you. I’ll come along with you.” She looped her arm through his.

  “I promise I won’t punch him. He and I are long past that.”

  Addie laughed. “I should hope so being that you’re smart, grown men who understand exactly what the other is to Jessi.” She pulled him to a stop. Touching his cheek briefly. “And who you are to me and James. You have a place in my heart and in the heart of this family that can’t be erased or diminished by anyone else.”

  He blushed, thinking how long past blushing he was, and yet Addie Franklin could bring one easy as she pleased.

  He hugged her, even as he heard shoes on the porch. “Thank you for loving me.”

  She made a sound, a soft sigh, as she hugged him tighter. “Thank you for being so loveable.”

  The pounding on the door startled them both.

  “He’s probably got too much in his hands. Stop kicking my door, Hamish!” She yanked the door open but it wasn’t Hamish there, it was John Senior with a face so red it was easy to make out in the light from the porch lamp.

  Adam pulled her behind him, even if she squawked like Jessi would have.

  John tried to come in, but Adam planted himself in the way. “You haven’t been invited in.”

  “My boy is here. You have no right to bar the way.”

  “I have every right.” Adam took a step closer, keeping John Senior out.

  He knew from the sound at his back that the fracas had garnered the attention of others, who had begun to fill into the room behind him.

  “I’ve got this,” Mick said as he came to stand with Adam. Adam looked over, but Mick showed no emotion but anger.

  “This is my home.” James circled from the other side. “Charlie, please make sure Jessi stays out of this mess and take your mother with you.”

  Charlie made a growling sound, but soon enough Adam heard her retreating footsteps.

  “State your business from the front porch, John, or get the hell off my land. Given what I’ve recently learned you’ve said and done to my daughter and the lifetime of mi
sery you’ve shoveled at your son, I have little tolerance for you. None at all for you in my house.”

  Mick’s dad stared at James, who may have looked like a sweet dude who wore Birkenstocks with socks, but he was big and broad-shouldered, and he was protecting what was his. Adam wouldn’t have bet on anyone else in a fight.

  Mick heard his father’s words shaped to insult and harm as he rushed into the front room. “This is between me and my son. None of you homosexuals or false Christians has anything of use to say to me. You will not stand between us.” John’s face got redder.

  “I’ve turned the other cheek a number of times with you, sir.” James stood forward, but Mick put his hand out.

  “No. Please. I’ll speak with him outside. I don’t want anyone else involved.” Mick didn’t bother to address his father. It wasn’t his leave Mick was seeking. He needed to handle this himself.

  James searched Mick’s features and clasped his forearm. “You have a father who loves and respects you,” he murmured and Mick was grateful for what he had with a clarity he very much needed. “We’ll be right here. You do what you need to.”

  Mick swallowed back emotion. But then he turned to Adam, whose ferocity sent a shiver through him.

  Adam cupped his neck, pulling him closer so they were forehead to forehead. “I love you. Do you want me out there with you?”

  “I love you too. Just… be close.”

  “Remember, Mick, you get what you need at home.” Adam squeezed the back of Mick’s neck to underline. Message received. And thank god for it, knowing he’d get to work out all of this shit under Adam’s skillful—and loving—hands, meant Mick had plenty of reasons to keep this from driving off the road.

  His father made a derisive sound. “They didn’t waste any time getting you back in their clutches. This is an abomination.”

  Mick walked out to the porch, past his father, shutting the door at his back. There was no way anyone was going to contain Jessi in that bathroom once she knew Mick was out there with his father, so he wanted to make it quick.

  “Why are you here?” Mick asked as he led his father down the porch steps.

  “Why are you here? This is a den of the worst sort of sin. These people care nothing for you. You’re running from your family because you don’t like what we have to say. Ask yourself why.”