by Lauren Canan
“I’m sure you did.” The anger rolled off her tongue. “But things happen, right?”
“Yeah. I guess they do. For instance, you never told me which correctional center you were in. Apparently I’m not the only one who can be accused of keeping secrets.”
Her head snapped around toward him. What did he just say? For several seconds she couldn’t speak. Had she heard him correctly? “What?”
“I said I—”
She raised her hand, palm side toward him. “Does someone write this stuff for you or do you make it up all by yourself?” He expected her to buy the excuse he hadn’t come back because he thought she was in jail? She shook her head in amazement. “You really need to seek help.”
The man she remembered had clearly changed. She couldn’t help but ask herself which one was the real Jace Compton. “Turn left at the light.”
“Left?”
“We live in town now.” Jace was remembering her grandfather’s small farm.
“Kelly, are you saying you don’t have a criminal record?”
“Duhhh. Are you saying you honestly thought I did?”
“But—”
“You know what, Jack... Jace—whatever your name is today—just don’t say anything else.” She’d heard more than enough. “Obviously, you’re incapable of being honest. I don’t care anymore, all right? I don’t care why you lied. I don’t care why you never came back. I don’t give a rat’s behind who you are and I don’t want to sit here and listen to your wild excuses. I’m sorry I even brought it up.”
Jace didn’t speak again, but Kelly felt the anger crackling in the air between them.
The route took them south, toward the low-rent side of town where the small forty-year-old houses marred the landscape and even a fresh coat of paint did little to hide the weathered conditions along the rutted streets. Inside the houses lived people like herself, who worked too hard for too little. But she refused to be embarrassed. The house was old and small, but it was clean. It had a new roof and the amount she paid for rent couldn’t be beat. “Third street to the right and down a block. On the right. It’s the white house with green shutters.”
With her hand on the door handle, Kelly made ready her escape. But by the time they pulled up to the curb and she remembered to unfasten the seat belt, Jace held the door for her, seemingly oblivious to the rain.
Her younger brother stood on the front porch leaning on one of the support posts. The glow of the outside light fanned out over the small front yard.
Jace nodded toward the teen. “How ya doing?”
Kelly watched Matt’s body language shift as he recognized Jace. It was clear he was having a hard time believing it. He stared at the big man standing next to the truck.
“You’re... Are you? You’re Jace Compton!” Matt’s eyes were as big as dessert plates as his mouth dropped open in sheer astonishment.
“Matt, go inside,” Kelly ordered.
“You want to come in?” Her younger brother totally ignored her request. Anger tinged with fear coursed through her, quickening her steps to the house. This was so not happening. What if Matt had picked up Henry from the sitter?
“No,” she stated firmly, and turned back to Jace. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Thanks for the ride. It was very...enlightening.”
Jace made no reply, just stared at her through the soft glow from the porch light. Kelly hurried to the house. “Matt, get inside.” When he didn’t move, she snapped, “Now.”
“But Kelly—” he looked as though she’d just told him to rob a bank “—do you know who that is?”
The question was almost laughable. Almost.
“Have a good night,” Jace called from the curb.
Kelly grabbed Matt by the arm and pulled him inside. At fifteen, her brother already stood a couple of inches taller than her own five foot seven and pulling him anywhere was a challenge. This time, with the adrenaline flowing, she managed. She closed the front door and prepared for the onslaught. She didn’t have to wait long.
“I can’t believe you.” Matt glared in her direction. “The Jace Compton at our house and you wouldn’t let him come inside. What is your deal? Are you like...crazy?”
“Matt...” There was no way to explain.
“Forget all the movies. He still holds the record for completed passes in the entire NFL. The record, Kelly. The guy is a football legend.”
Matt lived and breathed football, so she understood what he was saying. But her brother didn’t know Jace Compton. Unfortunately, she did.
“Come to think of it—” Matt frowned “—what were you doing in his truck? How did you—?”
“He bought the old Miller spread and had a new house built so Don asked me to clean it. When I finished, the car wouldn’t start.”
“Jace Compton is living here? In Calico Springs? Like permanently?” With each question, Matt’s voice rose in excitement. His eyes were wide with elation. He hadn’t even taken note of the fact that they had no transportation.
“I really don’t know.” Kelly didn’t want to discuss it. Jace had chosen to keep his reasons for being here to himself, so there was really nothing to tell Matt. She just wanted the man to stay as far away from her small family as possible. “I’m gonna walk down to Mrs. Jenkins’s and pick up Henry.”
“He’s here.” Matt was clearly still annoyed, his tone full of frustration. “Mrs. J fed him and got him ready for bed. Football practice was canceled because of the rain so I brought him home.”
“Thanks, Matt.” She smiled and walked toward the small bedroom she shared with her son. Bless the elderly woman down the street who kept Henry while Kelly worked and who refused to accept one penny for her efforts.
The baby slept in his favorite position, on his tummy, his little butt in the air. Kelly pulled off her wet T-shirt and jeans and grabbed her old robe from the closet. Then, unable to resist, she approached the crib and softly caressed the little head. Sensing his mother’s touch, Henry stirred. With a smile, Kelly picked up the sleepy bundle, holding him close, loving the sensation of her tiny son against her heart.
Henry had Jace’s dark lashes, even his dimples. Kelly shook her head, still in disbelief that he’d moved here. She should have known Jace would come back to stir up the painful memories it had taken months to overcome. He was no different from her father. Love ’em and leave ’em and not give a damn who he hurt in the process. Move on to the next conquest and never look back. Only this time, the man in question had looked back.
Because of her father’s lies and cheating, her mom had taken her own life. That was when dear ole dad had disappeared for good. Kelly had made a pledge then and there that she’d never let a man get close to her. And she’d kept up her resolve. Until Jace. She shook her head at the irony. The one man she’d made the mistake of trusting made her father look like a guppy compared to a twenty-foot shark. And look where it had gotten her.
Forcing the negative thoughts from her mind, she kissed Henry’s little head and walked toward the kitchen and the aspirin bottle. Her own head was pounding. After the last hour, she might take two. The very idea that Jace actually believed she’d been in jail was...laughable.
But she wasn’t laughing. The man apparently believed his own hype. He really did live in a world of make-believe.
She reached for the aspirin bottle and heard Matt talking to someone in the next room. Curious, she rounded the corner just in time to see Jace Compton step inside the small living room.
Immediate and total panic set into every fiber of her being.
“You, ah, left your purse in the truck.” He held the small bag out to her, his eyes glinting wickedly. “Practice makes perfect?”
She glared. She stepped forward and snatched the purse from his hand, and then turned toward the bedroom, hoping he’d go out the same way he came in.
“Kelly?”
She stopped. This was so not happening. Jace walked over to where she stood. His gaze focused on the baby i
n her arms before those green eyes pinned her to the spot.
“Who do we have here?”
Three
It was here. The moment she’d dreaded since the day Henry was born. She looked down at the baby in her arms, hoping Jace wouldn’t see the panic that engulfed her.
“This is Henry,” she said and swallowed hard.
“Yours?”
She blinked more than once at his question. Apparently his manager hadn’t lied when he’d said he wouldn’t tell Jace about the pregnancy. He’d never even told Jace she called.
“Yes,” she finally answered. “He’s all mine.”
Jace looked at her, and then glanced back at the baby. Henry kicked his feet, blowing some of his best baby bubbles for the strange man.
“He’s cute,” Jace murmured. “How old is he?”
No surprise he would ask. She had to give him an answer. To avoid a reply might only increase his curiosity. “Four months.”
She saw the wheels turning in Jace’s head as he did the math and knew what conclusion he reached: Henry could be his son. He looked at Kelly again, as though searching for a different answer. His full lips were pulled into a straight line of contemplation.
“I’m Kelly’s brother, Matt.” Her brother grinned from ear to ear, obviously dying to talk to his hero. Kelly welcomed the interruption.
“Nice to meet you, Matt.” That killer grin spread across Jace’s face. He held out his hand and Matt shook it. Matt was so excited, it was as if he rose two feet above the ground.
“So Kelly says you’re living in Calico Springs now?”
Jace nodded, his eyes shifting toward Kelly for an instant and then back to Matt.
“Yeah. I bought an old ranch north of town. Have a friend who has been in horse racing for thirty years. I always wanted to have land and horses. He talked me into trying my hand at raising some thoroughbreds. There’s enough room to bring in some cattle later if I decide to expand.”
“Oh man, that’s cool.” Matt’s entire body vibrated in excitement. Matt pointed to a chair. “Can you stay a couple of minutes?”
“Sure.”
As they sat down, Matt asked, “Do you still throw a ball?”
“Oh, yeah. Any chance I get.” Jace’s heart-stopping grin reappeared. “I’d still be a wide receiver if the knee hadn’t gotten bent the wrong way. Do you play?”
“Yeah. Well, it’s just high school.”
“Hey, it’s where we all started. What position?”
As the football banter between the two continued, Kelly eased out of the room. She put Henry down in the crib, and then collapsed onto the small wooden chair by the door. When would this day finally end? Jace Compton, the lying, two-faced multimillionaire, was sitting in her living room talking with her brother, probably speculating if he’d just been two feet away from his own son. And from the sound of their animated conversation, the two guys shared a common interest. This was going to get worse before it got better.
She wouldn’t think it odd of the Jace she’d met last year. A regular guy. One who fit into the world she knew: a guy who loved cheeseburgers, hot rods and practical jokes. He’d been a decent, down-to-earth guy who’d talked of everyday things. No arrogance. No haughtiness. But it seemed unbelievable the suave wealthy superstar who traveled the globe would sit in an old house and enjoy conversing with a fifteen-year-old kid. It was as though Jace was two different people. In spite of everything, deep inside she still wanted to paint him as a good guy. But she knew he was anything but.
Breathe deep. She’d told no one the identity of Henry’s father, not even Matt. Infants didn’t resemble either parent enough for someone to see a resemblance. Did they? Most babies had dimples. Maybe she’d get through this.
To her brother, Jace was a true hero, a superstar both in his action films and on the football field. The chance to talk to the great Jace Compton one-on-one was beyond exciting. She got that. But she would exercise caution. Usually a fair judge of character, apparently she’d misjudged Jace once. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
The two voices filled the small space as Kelly grabbed dry clothes and headed for a hot shower. When she emerged some twenty minutes later, all was quiet. She saw the glow under her brother’s door and heard the faint sound of music coming from inside. She pulled the air deep into her lungs and blew it out as relief loosened the muscles of her neck and shoulders. Like a major storm that dropped down from the sky without warning, Jace had again breezed in and out, this time leaving no damage behind. But more storms would come. Jace wouldn’t let this go. She knew in her gut he hadn’t been convinced. He would think about it. Remember their time together. And he would be back.
* * *
As Jace drove through the small town square headed north toward the ranch, he couldn’t get Kelly and her baby out of his mind. His heart had dropped to his knees when he first saw the infant in her arms. The last thing he’d expected was for Kelly to have a child. Then the idea had hit him hard. Was he the father? He’d always been so careful. He didn’t want to have any kids. He knew all too well what the title of dad meant in his family.
To this day, he could still vividly remember the smell of burned grease and scorched onions that had filled every corner of the shoddy apartment above the fast-food joint where he and his parents lived when he was around ten or eleven. It was during that time that something had happened. Something had changed. He never knew what. His mother had refused to discuss any of it. But his father had begun drinking and the arguments between them had grown worse. Louder. More intense. Then the abuse had started, his dad taking his fist to the first one he saw when he walked through the door. To try to protect his mom, Jace had endured a lot of it. His mother had been the strong one, taking her son away from the horrific situation. A couple of times after the divorce, his father had found them and it got bad before the cops arrived. Even after all these years, Jace still hadn’t completely let go of his hatred of the man. And he would always admire his mom’s strength of will.
Finally, in the predawn hours of a Sunday morning, two police officers had stood outside their door. They’d explained that her ex, George Compton, had been killed in an alley behind a bar. Jace’s only thought had been that some stranger got to the bastard before he could.
Jace could still feel the sinking sensation he’d experienced when reality hit that night. In that moment, with those two cops standing at the door, he’d had an epiphany. He was George Compton’s son.
He’d never put it into perspective before. His primary focus had always been survival. He and his father shared the same face and deep jaw. They had the same green eyes. Same color hair. If they were so much alike on the outside, it had to be true for the inside. When Jace had realized that, the earth seemed to tilt and spin.
Before he turned sixteen, he’d been in and out of juvie a half dozen times for altercations with guys in the neighborhood and at school who had somehow found out about his dad and wanted to see if the son was as worthless. He’d had so many suspensions he never did figure out how they’d let him stay in school. His junior year, he’d tried out for football on a dare. He put himself up against classmates who had been active in the sport since fifth grade and wanted to see Jace Compton go down. They were merciless on the new kid, which suited Jace just fine. He’d poured out all his aggression on the field. It was his saving grace. And, as it turned out, football was something he was good at. After three games, he’d earned the respect of a lot of his teammates. His grades came up, and just before graduation he was offered a college scholarship. His love of the sport carried him almost four years. Then amazingly he’d been picked up by the pros. No one knew that every tackle he made, he was taking down George Compton. Every catch and subsequent dash for the goalpost was a screw you to his old man.
After a freak injury ended his football career, Jace began to work with young athletes. He enjoyed teaching them about his favorite sport anytime he got the chance. But any hope that he’d s
omeday have kids and a family of his own had been stomped into the ground a long time ago, beaten out of him by his father’s fists.
Still, the idea of Kelly bearing his son was immediately, unbelievably gratifying. His body surged to readiness. Protective instincts rallied to the surface, taking him to a place he’d never been before.
He took a deep breath, pulling the humid night air into his lungs. If the child was his, why hadn’t Kelly called? He knew instinctively she wouldn’t have kept something so important from him. It wasn’t her way. And surely she would want help with the baby, child support...something. Most women would beat a path to their attorney as soon as a pregnancy was confirmed. There had been two women who had actually schemed to make Jace think they were pregnant just to get rings on their fingers or obtain a few million dollars in their bank accounts.
But Kelly wasn’t like other women. He would be wise to keep that in mind. It wasn’t only her beauty that drew him to her. She was feisty and independent to a fault. She was intelligent and decisively stubborn. Her convictions and beliefs ran deep, and her sense of right and wrong went to the core.
What phone number had he given her before he left? He couldn’t remember. The security he had to maintain made it damn near impossible to reach him by phone unless one knew the phrase or identifying password. It changed every few weeks. Had he provided his private cell number? His gut tightened. If she’d tried to call when she realized she was expecting and couldn’t get through his security, she would be...furious. Suddenly all the little pieces fell into place with the force and impact of a nuclear implosion.
Dammit to hell.
He slammed on the brakes, bringing the truck to a screeching stop. Jerking it into reverse, he backed into a side street, turned around and headed back to Kelly’s house. No wonder she’d wanted to get away from him and been so angry. Not only had he lied to her, but he’d gotten her pregnant and left the country. Then the first time he saw her in over a year he’d called her a crook.