by Ann, Jewel E
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He shook their hands, then they all sat down at the table two seconds before the waiter rushed over to get their drink order.
Jessica ordered wine. Luke ordered beer—a local brew. Grant nodded in approval. Jessica rested her hand on Luke’s leg. A silent thank you.
“So Jessica told us you’re a doctor.” Sunny smiled.
Yes, she had told them that, but they already knew. They knew more about Luke than she did. Since Claire’s death, her father made every move Jessica made his highest priority. He and Jude had both offered to fill her in on all the details, but she didn’t want to know, at least not that way. Luke would share his past on his own time.
“Yes. I’m a psychiatrist.”
They nodded.
“Our daughter’s psychiatrist?” Grant questioned.
That … that was the one piece of information they didn’t know. She begged Jude to keep it a secret, to make sure their father never found out.
“I was.”
Jessica turned toward Luke. Stunned. There was no other word. Not in her wildest dreams did she imagine him telling them that, not with his professional career at stake. A bubble of silence enveloped their table.
Grant looked at Jude. Of course he wondered how that bit of information failed to make it to him. Jude glared at Jessica with apparent anger over the secrecy that was blown with two simple words from the good doctor himself.
Grant cleared his throat. He was a dark-haired, burly man with a Tom Selleck mustache. Most people found him intimidating. Jessica, however, was a daddy’s girl and knew his softest side. That side wasn’t on display during dinner. “And now you’re romantically involved?”
“I’m in love with your daughter.”
“Enough to risk ending your career?” her father continued as Jude and Sunny watched like spectators at a Wimbledon match.
Jessica feared the answer. The question weighed heavily on her own mind. Truthfully, she didn’t know what she wanted his answer to be. Thinking of herself as a monster for so long made it easy to feel unworthy of Luke’s love, and even more unworthy of him taking such a life-changing risk for her.
“Yes.”
Sunny looked at Jessica, both of them teary eyed.
Grant nodded. “And dealing with her past?”
“It’s my number one priority.”
Another nod. “If you hurt her—”
“I’m certain I won’t live to tell about it, sir.” Luke smiled and finally, so did her father.
It seemed Luke had passed her father’s test and everyone relaxed, except Jude. The thing she loved most about him was also the thing she hated the most. He believed no man would ever be worthy of his “little” sister. There was a better chance of San Andreas making Vegas a beach town than Jude accepting Luke as a worthy man.
“So … we have a bit of news.” Taking a breath of courage, she forced an uneasy smile.
“You’re getting married?” Sunny jumped in with a hopeful guess. Jessica inherited her mother’s beaming smile, but not her curly auburn hair that she wore long and wild like the seventies hippy her name implied.
“Uh … no.” Jessica gave Luke an apologetic look. They had never discussed marriage. He almost went down that road, and perhaps he didn’t care to do it again. It didn’t matter to Jessica. She would take him however she could get him. Everything else was inconsequential details.
“You’re pregnant?” Jude crossed his arms over his chest, a devilish grin on his face. The smug pot-stirrer knew better. He just liked fishing for a reaction. Some things never changed between them.
Sunny went from hopeful to terrified and Grant looked ready to kill.
“No! Jesus, Jude. Stop being such an ass.”
The urge to stick her tongue out at him overwhelmed her. Another habit that felt impossible to break. However, the one thing she wanted more than to be that childish twin was to make Luke proud, so she pulled on her big girl pants to regain her composure.
“Luke got me a dog, Jones. He’s amazing.”
The frown on Luke’s face showed his objection to that statement, but he didn’t say anything so she continued.
“He asked us to move in with him and I said yes.”
“You live in a safe part of town?” Grant asked.
Jessica rolled her eyes. It was a ridiculous question. In all his background checks, Luke’s address had to be at the top of the list. It was possible he had a satellite put in space just to follow his daughter.
“Yes. It’s a newer building with underground parking and video surveillance.”
Jessica opened her mouth to speak, then closed it before the words came out. She wanted to remind her father that she had the skills to take care of herself, but once Claire died her father trusted no one, not even his own daughter.
“Well, I hope you two are happy and maybe someday you’ll make a real commitment beyond just playing house.” Grant tipped back his tall glass of beer, keeping his eyes on Luke.
“So … shall we get the waiter back over here to take our order?” Sunny, God bless her, she knew how to save the day, even if she was the one to first mention marriage.
*
They survived dinner, just barely. There wasn’t much to say on the drive back to Jessica’s. Luke shut off the engine and they both sat in more silence.
“I’m going to marry you.” Luke kept his eyes trained on the parked car in front of them.
“You don’t have to say that. It doesn’t matter what they think. I’m not waiting for you to get down on one knee.”
He climbed out of the car and opened her door, offering his hand. She took it and let him lead her up the stairs. Before she could fish out her keys, he kissed her. His touch healed her more than anything. Luke gave her strength, he gave her hope, he gave her life.
“I won’t get down on one knee,” he whispered over her lips. “I’ll get down on both knees because I won’t ask you to marry me, I’ll beg you to marry me.” Feathering his lips down her neck, he continued to whisper, “But for now, I need to give you back the life you lost. I want you whole … complete. When I marry you, I don’t want to share you with your past. I want it to only be us and our future.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him like her life depended on it, and maybe it did. “I love you … I love you … oh my God I love you so much.” She hung from his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist.
He chuckled and kissed her on the lips at the same time. “Pack an overnight bag and we’ll get the rest tomorrow. We need to get home and let your mutt out of his kennel.”
Home.
They were going home. Really, Jessica was already there. Luke was her home. He would forever be her home.
Chapter Thirteen
Knight
Forty.
Over the hill.
The view was good from the other side. The forty-something had a birthday date with her twenty-something daughter and thirty-something boyfriend. Boyfriend? While the term implied something more than friends, “boy” screamed cradle-robbing cougar.
Jackson Knight had become more than a fun-banter-role-playing fantasy. She fell for him for one reason: he loved his sister. Who falls for a guy because he loves his sister? Someone who lived her entire adult life wishing a man would wrap her in his protective arms, kiss her on the head and say, “You’ve got this,” in her darkest hour.
That man deserved to see Ryn in a new dress, one that said, “This is how sexy you make me feel.” As an unexpected gift, Maddie rearranged her work schedule to spend the day with her. Though instead of a spa day, they decided on shopping, but only after Ryn agreed to buy Maddie a new dress as well.
The new adult age was a difficult time. She remembered it all too well. The early twenties felt like legal freedom without the maturity to go with it. Too old to justify holding onto the selfishness of adolescence, too young to really let it go. At least that’s how Ryn saw it from the outside. She went from child to mother an
d skipped the wild freedom of her twenties.
“So tell me about this Jackson guy,” Maddie asked as Ryn slipped into her black strapless dress that showed a lot of leg and too much cleavage that was not perky enough to hold it in place well. Maddie assured her she looked hot “for a mom.”
As expected, she regretted caving to Maddie insisting she buy that dress. It didn’t make her feel young, it made her feel like a forty-year-old woman trying and failing to hold onto her youth. But once she saw past her insecurities to the woman in the mirror, she had to admit the reflection had a little sex appeal going on in that dress.
Ryn turned, letting Maddie zip it for her. “He’s from New York and he teaches piano lessons.”
“Piano lessons? Really?” Maddie wrinkled her nose. “What is he like … eighty?”
Nerves hijacked her body, starting with her heart pounding in her chest. They’d had dinner several times since she last cleaned his house, and each night ended with kissing that felt more like mouth fucking and Jackson’s hands making bolder moves exploring her body, but always on the outside of her clothes. Wound tight and ready to self-combust was an accurate assessment by that point.
“Actually, he’s a little younger than I am.”
Maddie applied a thick coat of dark purple lipstick that looked quite hideous, but Ryn didn’t dare say anything.
“Is he weird?”
Ryn laughed. “I don’t know how to answer that. I’m not sure how your generation defines ‘weird.’”
“Well, what kind of car does he drive?”
“A PT Cruiser.” Ryn’s voice bubbled with amusement.
Maddie paused mid stroke, wide eyes looking at Ryn’s reflection in the mirror. “You’re kidding.”
Ryn shook her head.
“Oh my God, only old people drive those things. Is he short and suffering from male-pattern baldness? He wears plaid pants pulled up to his armpits with a bowtie and a fedora, doesn’t he? Oh, Mom, you can do better than that.”
“He’s good looking. Just keep an open mind, okay?” She slipped into her black heels.
“Have grandma and grandpa met him?”
“No. This will be their first time meeting him as well.”
“I’m sure they’ll love him because he sounds nothing like Dad, which is unfortunate because all my friends think he’s hot. It’s pretty weird hearing that because he’s my dad, but it’s kind of cool too.”
Ryn bit her tongue, she always did—but she wouldn’t forever. Maddie’s days of believing her father walked on water were numbered.
“So where is he taking us for dinner?”
“I don’t know. Some place fancy I assume since he insisted we dress to the nines tonight.”
“He’s paying?”
Ryn nodded as they walked down the stairs with Gunner in tow.
“Is he rich?”
“I don’t know anything about his bank account.”
“Well he teaches piano lessons for God’s sake, he can’t be that rich.”
“Money isn’t everything, my dear child.”
“Clearly it isn’t to you, or you wouldn’t have left Dad.”
Another dig that kept getting harder to ignore.
“Oh my God, Mom!” Maddie called looking out the front window. “It’s not just a PT Cruiser … it’s a purple PT cruiser with wood panels. It’s totally like Barney meets National Lampoon’s Vacation.”
“Be nice, please.” Ryn grabbed her purse and kissed Gunner on the head.
“Oh. Fuck …”
“Madison!” Ryn scolded.
“Sorry but … he … he just got out. No way … no freaking way.” Maddie plastered her face and both hands to the window.
Ryn opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. Jackson grinned as he met her with a dozen red roses.
“Happy birthday, beautiful.” He bent down and kissed her, keeping it PG … maybe PG-13.
“Thank you.” She smiled back, reaching up to rub the pad of her thumb along his lips to wipe off the transfer of lip gloss. “Let me just put these in water. Maddie!” She jerked her head toward the door when she saw her daughter still gawking in disbelief out the window.
Maddie peeked around the door.
“Maddie, this is Jackson Knight. Go say hi and be nice while I put these in a vase.”
“Nice to meet you, Maddie.” Jackson offered his hand.
Maddie took it and whimpered a little when the arm of his suit coat rode up enough to share a glimpse of a tattoo. “H-hi,” she stuttered.
He released her hand, but hers stayed frozen in midair for a few seconds.
“You look beautiful in your dress as well, and you have your mom’s eyes.”
She nodded. It seemed as if that’s all she could do. Maddie looked like a younger version of Ryn except with her dad’s dimples. Maddie’s pin-straight blond hair cascaded to her butt. She looked and carried herself with a model’s posture, yet Jackson’s eyes stayed on Ryn. Falling never felt so good.
“Ready?” Ryn asked, shutting the door.
Jackson offered one arm to Ryn and the other to Maddie, escorting them both to the car.
“Maddie’s disappointed you’re not balding or wearing a bowtie and fedora.”
“Mom!” Maddie shrieked as Jackson opened the back door for her.
He chuckled. “At one time I had my head shaved. I considered getting a tattoo on the back of it, but it never happened.”
Ryn had never seen her daughter stunned into complete silence. It was kind of nice for a change. Jackson shut Maddie’s door and walked Ryn to the other side.
“Your dress is going to put an end to my celibacy,” he whispered in her ear before opening her door.
She gulped, thankful for the pantyliner she decided to wear because only the hottest women wore them on dates.
“So be prepared.” He pecked her cheek.
“O-kay.”
That one word stutter of a response brought a seductive grin to his face as he opened her door. She couldn’t stop thinking about that promise—a promise of sex—her age, her body, his past, his expectations, her minimal experience, his expertise. It overwhelmed her.
“So, Maddie, what made you want to become a lawyer?” Jackson asked.
After a few seconds of silence Ryn looked over her shoulder at Maddie in the backseat. “Maddie, he asked you a question.”
She closed her unhinged jaw and swallowed, eyes still glassy. “Uh … money. And I like to argue.”
Her mother smirked. “She won quite a few awards on the debate team in high school.”
“I thought about law school at one point,” he said.
“And you chose piano instead?” Maddie asked with a condescending edge.
“In college it’s called music, but I didn’t get a degree in music. It’s just a hobby. If you don’t have passion about your pursuit in life, it will never take you where you want to go.”
“Pfft … if I followed my true passion I would be in medical school at Harvard.”
“Why aren’t you?” Jackson looked at her in the rearview mirror.
“My dad won’t pay for my college because somebody pissed him off. But I’m not mad at him … my dad’s the best and he still sends me a nice allowance for other things.”
Another dig at Ryn. Jackson rested his hand on her leg, she returned a weak smile. Just because she’d learned to tolerate it, even expect it, didn’t make it hurt any less.
Seeing the restaurant parking lot filled to capacity, Jackson let the ladies off at the front door and searched for a parking spot down the street.
Ryn’s parents were already seated.
“Happy birthday, baby girl!” Her mom hugged her and so did her dad.
“Thank you.”
“Where’s this mysterious guy?” her dad asked.
“Oh my God.” Maddie plunked down in her chair and rolled her eyes. “Wait until you meet him. He’s so out of her league. No offense, Mom. But seriously, guys like him don’t dat
e women in menopause. There must be something wrong with him … like maybe he just got out of prison and he has mommy issues or—”
“Madison!” Ryn warned and Maddie jumped. “That’s. Enough.”
She wasn’t in menopause yet, even if her hormones hadn’t received that memo.
Maddie sank in her chair while messing with her phone. “Christ, Mom, you don’t have to reprimand me like a child.”
“Then stop acting like one.”
“Okay, this is supposed to be a celebration. Let’s all calm down a bit.” Ryn’s mom smiled as Jackson approached the table.
The birthday girl staving off anger to the point of near tears, forced a smile. The knowing look on Jackson’s face confirmed she wasn’t hiding it well.
“Jackson, these are my parents, Ryan and Lynn.”
“Bet you can guess how my mom got her name,” Maddie mumbled, still staring at her phone.
“Nice to meet you.” Jackson offered his hand as both of her parents stared.
“Mom, Dad!”
They shook their heads. “Sorry, uh … nice to meet you too. Thank you for inviting us to dinner,” Lynn said as they took their seats.
“My pleasure. I’m quite fond of your daughter.”
They nodded. Of course they wouldn’t be as bold and inconsiderate to ask why, but Ryn could still see that question on their faces. In all fairness, she still pondered it too.
“We just want her to be happy.”
“Done.” Ryn smiled, looking over her menu. “Maddie, your friends can wait. Please put your phone away.”
Maddie rolled her eyes again. The waitress took their drink orders, ending with Maddie.
“I’ll have your most expensive scotch.”
“Madison—”
“What? I’m twenty-one and Jackson is paying so …”
Jackson grinned. “Absolutely. As long as you drink every last drop.”
Maddie smiled, batting her eyelashes. “Of course.”
The waitress brought their drinks and took their dinner orders. Maddie grimaced, taking a small sip of her Scotch. She might as well have ordered a glass of gasoline.
“I’m impressed a young girl like you enjoys Scotch. It’s usually an acquired taste.”