by Cari Quinn
He’d spent years on the road. Too many, truthfully. Sometimes he thought he might be ready to settle down in one place. And when he thought about where that one place might be, he saw Yardley with its picturesque streets and manicured lawns. Kids’ bikes littered the sidewalk, not dime bags. People kept their places tidy and locked doors never kept the neighbors out. Once up a time, his hometown had seemed cloying and intrusive. Now it just seemed like…home.
Summer was part of that. He was pretty sure she’d had a crush on him as a kid. Now the roles were reversed, except he didn’t have a crush. He had a boulder on his throat, cutting off his airflow. Chains around his heart. And he had a tattered show poster tacked up on his refrigerator, like a teenage boy’s shrine to the woman he’d never have.
By the time Jax arrived, Chase was working on a full head of steam. It all dissipated in a rush when Jax opened his mouth.
“Look, I know what this is about. You want me to go with her. It’s all taken care of.”
“I’m assuming we’re talking about Summer.” At Jax’s nod, Chase pushed aside his menu. He’d already dug into the sad looking banana and whole wheat toast on his plate, and he didn’t have the stomach for much else, though he’d planned to order a real breakfast when Jax arrived. “What do you mean it’s all taken care of? I thought you were taking some wonder job at the high school after winter break.”
“Wonder job’s not starting until next summer. Coach Collins decided he could tough it out until the end of the year.” Jax filched a piece of his toast and tore off a corner of the crust, popping it in his mouth. “And I have someone in mind to fill in for me at the agency. Assuming, you know, you ever get actual clients and stuff. Yardley’s not exactly a hotbed for people needing security, but if we expand our operations into—”
“I have clients, thank you very much.”
“Oh yeah? Who? Last I knew you had Summer and Ana. Summer doesn’t pay you. And Ana’s cuckoo.”
“She is not cuckoo.”
“Since when? You’re the one who described her as ‘the cray-cray rich broad’.”
Chase broke off the tip of his banana. Damn thing was mushy. “I forgot how you remember everything. It’s really fricking annoying.”
Jax grinned and ate more toast. “So do you want to hear about my replacement while I’m off with Summer?”
Off with Summer sounded way too cozy for his liking. “Who says I need to replace you? We only have two clients. I don’t even need your obnoxious ass.”
“Then why’d you make me a partner?”
“I didn’t make you a partner yet. Not officially,” he muttered.
“Maybe not, but I snatched one of these from your mailbox.” Jax opened up his wallet and pushed a business card across the table. It was one of the set Chase had gotten printed last week. “Deuces Wild? Really? Kind of lame, don’t you think? Bodyguard agencies should have a badass name. Like Mad Dog Security or something.”
Chase choked out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s real badass, Mr. T.” He shook his head and thumbed the card back at Jax. “Dude, mail tampering is a federal crime. You’re lucky I don’t make you wear orange for the next five to ten.”
“Anything for you. You kinky bastard.” Jax batted his lashes. “Wanna go for a ride on my new Harley? I bought it last week just for you.”
“Jesus, I hate you.” But Chase was still laughing when their waitress, the same one who had waited on them during their initial agency meeting over a month ago, bustled up to the table and took their orders. She flirted with him and Jax—more with Jax, naturally—then left them with a wink and a smile that bordered on lascivious.
“You are a total tease. Thought you were on the pussy wagon?” Chase asked.
“I am. But it doesn’t hurt to keep an eye on the prospects.” Jax grinned and propped his chin on his hand. “So, about Summer.”
“No, let’s go back to this replacement of yours. Who is he?”
“Name’s Sterling Vance. He’s actually got sec experience, unlike us. Used to work as the muscle for a minor boy band and also worked a few clubs in the city for a while. Actually, he’d probably be perfect for Summer.”
“Forget it. If anyone’s going with her, it’s you.”
Jax gave him a sly smile and stole more toast. Hell, Chase wasn’t eating it, so why not? “Thought you’d say that.”
“If he’s so almighty skilled, why does he need a job?”
“He made a mint from good investments early on and doesn’t have to work. Plus, you know, he’s a trust fund baby.” Jax raised an eyebrow at Chase’s quizzical look. “Vance Industries? The finance people?”
“Sorry, not my bag. So you want me to work with some spoiled rich pal of yours while you’re off guarding Summer?” Chase scowled at the table. “Assuming you actually, you know, manage to guard her this time and don’t go running off after some tail like you were last night.”
“What tail was I running after? And how the hell do you know?”
“The tail was my sister. And I know because I was there at the club. I saw you two arguing or love squabbling or whatever the hell it is you two are about these days.”
“Your sister is not, has not ever been and will never be, just tail. And you’re an asshole.” After that proclamation, Jax flashed his pearly whites at the waitress and accepted his coffee and scrambled eggs. Chase got more toast and a bowl of bacon. An actual bowl of it.
Worked for him.
“Regardless, your focus is lacking. So don’t screw around with Summer.”
“Or?” Jax sounded positively gleeful.
“Don’t test me, man. I’m not in the mood.”
“Aww, upset because your girl’s leaving?”
Chase pulled off the end of his banana and crammed it his mouth. Then he gulped half his coffee. “She’s not my girl.”
“But you want her to be.”
Chase lowered his cup a little too hard and the ketchup bottle pitched to its side. Neither of them righted it. “Irrelevant.”
“Ah, so you do.” Jax leaned forward and gestured with a forkful of egg. “You could try something revolutionary. You could tell her how you feel.”
“Uh huh. I’ll just do that. Too bad I don’t know what I feel, except that I sure as shit do not want to play ‘Therapist and Patient’.”
Jax let out a windy sigh and shoveled in eggs. “You know, you could join her in a couple months. Once you’ve gotten in some of your rehab, you can get out there and spend some time together on the road.”
“She could be married in a couple months, for fuck’s sake,” Chase snapped.
Jax’s smirk returned. “Oh yeah, you don’t know what you feel. You’re a blank slate, buddy. Either you need to up your fiber intake or you’ll all knotted up over the girl. And I’ll say this…”
“Please don’t. Stop talking. Forever.”
Jax ignored him. “She’s totally worth it. She didn’t have it easy as a kid, but she’s doing great for herself. After what she saw and lived through, it’s a miracle that she came through it all sane.”
Chase set down his half eaten strip of bacon. “What are you talking about?”
“You know, what happened with her dad.”
“Her dad’s dead. That’s all I know.” The memory of holding Summer while she cried in her sleep made him fist his hands. Which, naturally, led to his little finger starting to tingle from the nerve compression. “What happened?”
Jax frowned. “It’s really not my story to tell.” He exhaled. “Fine. I know you care about her too. From what Cass told me, her mom and dad were really in love. One of those fairy tale-type couples every one hears about and no one ever knows.”
Chase pushed away his plate. “Should I ask why Cass told you and not me?”
“Did you ever ask Cass about Summer’s background?”
“No.”
Jax pointed at him. “There ya go. I used to bug her about it.” He shrugged at Chase’s lifted brow. “She’s a good kid.
I always thought of her like a little sister.”
“Summer? Or Cass?”
“Summer,” he answered a little too quickly for Chase’s liking. Not that he wanted Jax to think of Summer in anything other than a sisterly way, but what about Cass?
Before Chase could ask exactly that, Jax waved his fork. “You want to hear the rest or what?”
“Go on.”
“They lived in the city and Summer was their only kid. I guess they spoiled her, like most parents do with their lonely only’s. The three of them were really close. And I suppose they had to be, considering that they basically only had each other, at least on Summer’s mom’s side. Summer’s grandparents shunned Summer’s mom for marrying someone they didn’t approve of, so that made the three of them that much tighter. Cass said Summer’s dad got in some trouble in high school. Fighting, that sort of thing.”
“Couldn’t have been that much trouble since I’ve seen pictures of her dad in his military uniform. She looks like him. Her eyes. Not the color, the shape.”
“Sounds like you’ve spent a lot of time looking at them.” Jax’s lips twitched.
“Go on, fuckwit.”
“From what I know, Mr. Maitland had a dry cleaning shop in the Bronx. Small place, but he did the best he could with it. One day some guys broke in and they got into it pretty bad. He was military, as you said, and he wasn’t about to let anyone harm his business.” Jax rubbed his hand over the back of his head. “The cops got there in time, but instead of them only taking out the punks who wouldn’t put down their weapons, they took out Summer’s dad too. One bullet to the heart.”
“Christ.” Chase sat back and shut his eyes.
“It gets worse. She was there. In the back. From what Cass said, Summer saw it all.”
Chase said nothing. No words came to mind. All he could think about was the girl he’d held in the night. How many times had she suffered through those nightmares alone?
And now she was going on the road, with no one to hold her when she went to sleep. No one who would care about her even a fraction as much as he did. He’d been her friend and he’d been her lover, and God knows he wanted to be more. He didn’t know much—okay, anything—about being in a healthy relationship, but she’d help him figure it out. If she wanted the same thing.
Only one way to find out.
Chase cleared his throat. “Her mom moved her to Yardley after that.”
“Yeah. They could’ve gone anywhere, but I guess she wanted Summer to grow up in a place with a friendly small town feeling. Plus, Yardley’s not far from where Summer’s grandparents on her dad’s side live. Well, lived. I think they’re dead now.”
“Why do you say they could’ve gone anywhere?”
“Because of the money.” Jax sighed. “Forgot that part, didn’t I? Her mom sued the city for wrongful death and they got a lot of cash. Not sure how much, but Summer won’t ever be hurting financially, best as I can tell.” His mouth tipped up. “Yet she’s getting freebie security from you. Think you might be sweet on the girl, Deuce.”
Chase fingered his fork. His appetite was officially gone. “Guess that explains the vintage Caddy. And how easily she could leave her job at Triple Scoop to take a chance on a singing career.”
“Yeah, I suppose it does. She’s a strong woman. Scary strong. She tells me she can take care of herself and I believe it. She’s taken tons of self-defense classes.”
“Yeah. She showed me some of her moves.” At Jax’s snort, Chase shook his head. “Sick bastard.”
“My point is she’s not the kind of chick you have to worry about. She has a good head, a firm backbone.” He grinned. “Ready fists and a willingness to use them.”
“Not arguing that. Any of it. It still doesn’t change that I want to be there for her. Not because she can’t take care of herself. I want her to know someone has her back.” Absently, he rubbed his thigh. Forever.
Jax threw his arm over the booth. “Sounds like you do know how you feel.”
“This isn’t some Hallmark moment. Life doesn’t work out like that. She’s about to live the dreams she’s always wanted. I don’t want to get in her way.”
“We both know dreams change.” Jax rubbed his thumb through the circle of wetness on the table from his glass of water. “Sometimes they don’t turn out the way you expect. Or they don’t mean what you thought they would.”
“No. They don’t.” Chase pushed away his plate. “Look, I’m just going to say it straight out. I was a dick to you all those years ago. You got something I wanted and I couldn’t handle it.”
“It wasn’t only that. You didn’t think it was fair. I get that. You’d been practicing all those years for a baseball career and one day I took it up on a lark, like I’d taken up so many other things, and next thing you know I was playing for the best team in the league and you…weren’t.”
Chase chuckled, shaking his head. “Understatement, bro. Serious understatement. The Diamonds weren’t even worth making the trip out for the draft. But I eased up on my training senior year. I got overconfident and lax about a lot of stuff. None of that was your fault. My jealousy was my problem.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I thought about your mom a lot. Even at a distance, I kept tabs on her. If I’d had bigger balls, I would’ve gone to see her. She was like my mom too. Better than.”
“Nothing stopping you from going to see her now. You know she’d love it.”
“Yeah.” Chase stared at Elvis’s picture and wondered how it was possible The King’s eyes now seemed sad. “Yeah. I will.”
“Good.”
Chase sighed and tugged on the end of his ponytail. He’d turned into some kind of surfer hippie when he wasn’t looking. Minus the surfboard. “You know, Summer’s mom really fucked her over.”
“How do you figure?”
“She overprotected her all those years and then she took off and left her on her own.”
“I’m guessing she probably needed some space to live for herself after all those years of living on lockdown to protect her daughter. And it’s been good for Summer. She’s branching out.” Jax reached for his water, then drained it in a couple of long sips.
“You mean running away?”
Jax set down his glass. “It’s not running if you’re still searching for something you haven’t found.” Jax forked up eggs, chewed thoughtfully. “Besides, look at us. We lived out of suitcases for years.”
“Yeah, and now we’re home again.”
“She’s young. Give her time. She may come back. Or maybe this isn’t her home at all. Home’s more than where you lay your head, man.”
Chase knew he was right. Knew it bone-deep. It didn’t make it any easier to imagine his life without Summer in it so soon after he’d gotten her back. Sort of. “Yeah. I get that.” He sighed, tipped back his head to stare at the cracked ceiling tiles. Years of grime layered over them. How many conversations like this had they been privy to? “Hearing what happened with Summer’s dad makes me realize how short life is, you know? Wasting time is a debt I might not ever get to repay. I don’t want to be that guy who looks back at my life and can’t remember when I really laid it all on the line.”
“Doesn’t make sense to lay it all on the line if you’re not certain what you want.” Chase looked at his buddy and Jax nailed him with his way too perceptive gaze. “But I think you are.”
“Think I’m getting closer anyway.” He took a deep breath, let it out. “So, ah, you saw the business cards.”
“I did.”
“Which means you saw how I said we were co-owners.”
“Yep.”
“You cool with that?”
Jax lifted his brows. “I’m sitting here, aren’t I?”
“Guess you are. At some point, we’ll have to look into renting some office space. Make it all official.” Chase cleared his throat again and wondered if he’d have any throat lining left by the end of this conversation. “I’m glad we’re doing this.”
“Me too.”
“And I’m glad we’re friends again.”
The corner of Jax’s mouth kicked up. “Ditto.”
Chase extended his hand, and yet again, Jax stood up to haul him into a bone-crushing hug that was the exact opposite of a manly fist bump. Then they pulled apart and stared at each other, grinning goofily the same way they had when they were ten. They had more lines around their eyes, more scars on their bodies and war wounds in their heads, but somewhere down deep, the carefree boys they’d once been were still there.
Looked like the best friends were too.
She was really leaving.
Summer stared at the suitcase at her feet. It didn’t hold much. The bulk of her clothes consisted of jeans and the outfits she wore for shows. She’d have to fancy things up a bit, but until she learned more about the clubs Frank had started booking for her, what she had would work. So far her bohemian funk style had served her well, and she wasn’t about to change everything all at once.
Bad enough she’d had to garage her car in favor of something more reliable that she could put some serious miles on. She’d bought a used SUV since four-wheel drive would come in handy this time of year. Plus, Kyle was coming too and they needed room for equipment and luggage and all that jazz. They might even end up with a small band at some point.
Though she could’ve afforded to fly, she didn’t want to. Part of the reason she’d wanted to become a singer was the chance to travel and see so much more of the world than she had through the lens of Yardley, New York. She’d finally been given that opportunity, and she wasn’t going to waste it.
But man, she would miss her sweet pink Caddy. Even more so now that it bore the faint imprint of her right butt cheek above the left headlight.
Swallowing hard, she stroked her thumb over the telescopic handle of her suitcase and debated going upstairs to change. She’d already swapped clothes twice, trying to ensure she presented the right image for this final meeting. She couldn’t show any weakness.
Or, yanno, sob like her heart was breaking.
She refused to let Chase Dixon know the impact he’d made on her. Sure, he obviously liked screwing her. La-di-da. Too bad she wanted so much more from him than that.