“Could be better but doing okay.” Taren got to her bedroom and froze. “How did you know to call me now? You know the show confiscated my phone until the finale.”
Connie didn’t answer.
“He’s there, isn’t he?” Taren planted her free hand on her hip.
Connie cleared her throat. “Are you okay?”
Taren shook her head. After everything Jace had put her through he had the nerve to involve her parents. “Tell him—” She stopped. “Put the phone on speaker.” She waited until she heard some rustling on the other line and a click. “Can you all hear me?”
“You’re on speaker, dear,” Connie said.
“Good. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I discovered a lot about myself in these last few weeks. I did this show to prove I can be physically strong. I never thought it would also toughen me up emotionally.” She marched in her bedroom as she spoke, gaining steam with each step.
“Taren.”
Jace’s voice managed to make Taren do a stutter step. “No one will make me question myself. No one will get to me again. Those who withhold the truth from me will get cut off completely. I don’t need anyone delaying my progress. That includes you, Christian Jace Morton. Good-bye.” She disconnected the call.
Although with every word she’d felt invincible, she’d collapsed on her bed. The tears she never wanted to shed for herself and this situation poured from her eyes. She would have loved to be held by her mother right now. She needed to take care of herself. No one had her best interest at heart. She’d learned that the hard way.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Jace didn’t want to think about the harsh words Taren spouted when he’d attempted to get to her through her parents. He’d taken a chance and driven to their house to see if she had retreated there to heal. He hadn’t counted on her completely shutting down. She reminded him of himself. Fuck, had he done that to her?
Once the crews packed up their equipment, they’d left his home empty. Through Kitty, Ananda relayed a message that his belongings would be returned in the next couple of days. Until then, Jace would have to stay in the guesthouse. He couldn’t. Memories of what he’d done to Taren, with her, came flooding back to him no matter where he looked.
Work had been the only place that made sense to him. He arrived before the sun could break the morning sky, before any employees could show up and ask him about his whereabouts these past few weeks.
He did check his messages. Getting back to normal life no longer had any interest to him as soon as Taren Kerrigan walked out on him. No, she didn’t walk away from him. He’d pushed her. He’d done that a lot to everyone around him.
The first message on his phone came from Rich LaMarca himself, not his assistant. “The first rule of business, son, is to not make demands on the person whose help you need. Good luck in your endeavors.”
Jace threw his phone on the desk. He looked over at the drawer where he knew Aaron kept his cigarettes. This time he didn’t even open the drawer. He dragged his thumb over the underside of his sobriety ring. Something in his life had to make sense. Not indulging would have to be one thing.
The trailer door burst open and Aaron ran inside with a two-by-four in his hand. Jace didn’t flinch. If Aaron cracked him over the head with the board, Jace would have welcomed it and hoped the hit would take away the memories of the past few days.
“Man, I almost swung at you with this.” Aaron set the piece of wood down by the door. “I thought some punk kids broke into here. What are you doing here so early? I thought you were still taking some time for yourself.”
Jace sat back in the chair. “I’ve done enough of that.” He gazed down. “Being selfish.”
“What?”
Jace shook his head. “Is it too late to join you and Cherryce for dinner tonight?”
Aaron feigned mock surprise. His eyes widened. His mouth dropped open. He even stumbled back for effect. “Are you serious? You’re not going to back out at the last minute, are you?”
Jace shook his head. “I need to be around people who still like me.” He stood and strolled over to Aaron. “Thanks for never giving up on me, man.” He shook Aaron’s hand.
Aaron pulled him in for a hug. “Dude, what the hell did you go through? Did you do some Native American spirit quest or something?”
Jace shook his head. “No. Just got a good look at myself. I need to do better.” He started to head out the door.
“Hey, um, never mind.”
Jace stopped and turned to his friend. “What?”
“It’s nothing. You seem a little down. We can talk about it later.” Aaron waved him away.
“I’m still the owner. I still care. And what you tell me matters. What is it?” He wanted Aaron to understand that whatever he told him he took to heart.
“Still got a lot of talk about that property.”
Jace took a deep breath.
Aaron must have thought it meant Jace prepared to argued with him. He put his hands up. “Don’t worry about it, man. Anyone else asks me about it, I’ll tell them to shove it.”
“Give me the information.” He nodded. “I’ll look over it. Might be worthwhile to let some things go.”
“Oh, okay. Cool. I’ll shoot it to you by email.”
Jace nodded and left the trailer. He didn’t even look at the job site. He trusted Aaron. Plus his heart wouldn’t allow him to be critical of anyone or anything.
The anger he had for Eagan now felt futile and juvenile. Ananda had tried telling him. He couldn’t blame his Dom side for wanting to be rooted in his resentment. Eventually Jace knew he would have to talk to Eagan and Ananda. He owed them an apology and more.
Later that night, Jace arrived at Aaron’s house. As he walked up to the front door, he heard Aaron’s boys running around in the house, laughing and playing. The laughter almost cracked a smile on his face. Almost.
Jace pushed in the doorbell. He heard the chime even from out on the porch. Aaron answered the door with one child wrapped around his leg and another over his shoulder.
“Come on in. Just trying to get these maniacs to settle down before dinner.” He opened the door for Jace.
“It’s cool.” Jace scanned Aaron’s home.
It hit him that he hadn’t seen the inside of Aaron’s home since he moved here over five years ago, before Cherryce had the boys. Jace had picked him up from his house a number of times. He would always sit in his truck and honk the horn to get his attention.
He scanned the house. Jace knew the layout of the homes in that area. He’d done plenty of remodeling jobs there before the construction business took off. The homes had that dated structure of segmented rooms, leaving them feeling closed off. In Aaron’s home, the walls had been removed, giving it an open appeal. Jace looked forward and could see the backyard. A lake backed up to the house. As the sun set, it gave off a romantic glow across the water.
The bright house had lights on everywhere and white walls to support the cheery atmosphere. The place almost reminded him of Taren.
To push her out of his mind, Jace leaned down and picked up Aaron’s youngest. “Isaiah, right?”
The young boy with the biggest brown eyes Jace had ever seen gave him a solid head nod.
“You probably don’t remember me. I took your dad to the hospital when your mom was having you.” Jace rubbed his finger over the child’s button nose.
“You’re Santa?”
Jace felt his eyebrows coming together at the child’s odd question to him. He glanced at Aaron who only shrugged his shoulders. “No, I’m your dad’s friend, Jace.”
“Mommy said I was a gift. I thought only Santa delivered gifts.” Isaiah looked at his father.
Aaron tried to stifle his laughter but did a poor job of it. “I wish I had a camera to record that.” He placed his older son on the floor. “Zeke, go take your brother to the bathroom to wash your hands.”
“Yes, sir.” Before Ezekiel, or Zeke as Aaron called him, went to the bath
room, he hugged Jace around his legs. “I missed you, Uncle Christian.”
It had been a long time. He hadn’t gotten to the kids in time to teach them his new name.
“Sorry. I meant to tell them to call you by the other name.” Aaron put his hand on Jace’s shoulder.
“It’s fine. Both are my real names. Can’t hide from the truth.” He smiled.
Jace followed Aaron to the kitchen area where Cherryce moved from one side to the other. As soon as she saw Jace, she dropped everything and ran to him.
“I’m so glad you’ve finally come over.” She embraced him and kissed him on the cheek.
Jace hugged her. “I’m glad you don’t have a woman here waiting for me.”
Cherryce pulled back from him and cut a glance to Aaron.
“Honey, you didn’t.” Aaron wrapped his arm around his wife and pulled her close.
She gave him a playful slap on his chest. “I didn’t. I wanted this to be a pleasant dinner.”
“You are going to get it for that one.” Aaron whispered something to his wife, which made her laugh and embrace him harder.
“Come on. Are you two trying for kid number three or something?” Jace laughed to lighten the mood.
“Not trying.” Aaron pulled back from his wife but kept his arm around her waist. “Did it.” He beamed.
Jace stared at the duo. They remained smiling but Cherryce leaned her head against his chest affectionately. “You’re pregnant?”
Cherryce put her finger to her lips. “We haven’t told the boys yet.”
Now Jace understood Aaron’s need for a more financially secure future for himself and his family. “Congratulations.” He kissed Cherryce on her temple.
“Mommy did a good job?” Zeke bounded in the room and climbed on a kitchen chair.
“She did a great job with dinner.” Jace ran his hand over his mouth.
“Get down from the chair like that. Go to the dining room.” Aaron pointed to the other area.
Jace helped get food to the table along with Aaron. With everyone seated, Jace started to dig in and serve himself. Isaiah patted him on his leg.
When Jace looked at the small child, he said, “Hold my hand and pray with me, please.”
Jace glanced around the table and noticed Aaron holding Cherryce’s hand along with Zeke’s. Jace held Zeke’s other hand and took Isaiah’s small hand in his. The weight of holding these children’s hand took him out of his head and made him realize what mattered.
“Amen,” Aaron said at the end of the prayer.
Jace didn’t know why he’d avoided going to Aaron’s house for dinner before. The kids kept him laughing throughout dinner. Even though he knew Aaron and Cherryce would be making lovey-dovey eyes at each other, seeing that didn’t bother him as much as he thought. If nothing else, it gave him hope.
At the end of dinner and right after dessert of homemade ice cream, Cherryce took the boys to bed.
“You know you can come over for dinner anytime.” Aaron nudged Jace on his arm.
“The next time will Cherryce have someone here waiting for me?” Jace leaned back in the dining room chair and kicked his legs out in front of him.
“Do you want her to? She knows a lot of single women from her job and at church. And since she knows you don’t discriminate, her inventory is vast.”
Jace laughed. “Inventory. Don’t let her hear you call women that.” He got pensive for a moment. “I did meet someone.”
“For real? Way to go. You should have brought her here. Cherryce would have loved to have met her.” Aaron stood and started clearing the table.
Jace helped him. “I messed up with her. She won’t talk to me.”
Aaron turned around at the sink and leaned against the wall. “You know when Cherryce and I were dating, we got into this huge fight before we got engaged. I can’t even remember what the fight was about. But I knew she was the woman who needed to be in my life. I couldn’t breathe without her. We squashed the fight and she accepted my proposal.”
“How did you two resolve it?” Jace had tried going through Taren’s parents. Mistake.
Sounded like Taren had warned all three of them of their past regressions with her. Always be honest and don’t keep anything from her.
“We talked.” Aaron started rinsing off dishes before he loaded the dishwasher.
“What if she won’t talk to me?”
“Who is this man in front of me? You’re Jace Morton. You don’t take no for an answer.” Aaron nodded. “Go get your woman.”
Yes, sounded good. He needed to find her. Maybe to resolve his issues with Taren, Jace would have to fix his issues with his family.
After thanking Aaron and Cherryce for dinner, Jace headed to Eagan’s house. He had no idea if Eagan would allow him in his house. To prevent any embarrassments at the gate, Jace called Eagan first.
“What?” Eagan barked over the phone.
“Are you at your house?” Jace went down the long, winding road to Eagan’s home.
Eagan paused before he answered. “Yes. Why?”
“I’m on the road to your house.”
“No. I don’t want any drama in my home. I won’t put Ananda through it.”
“No drama. I promise. Tell your guard to let me in and come outside to talk to me. I swear I come in peace.” Jace turned onto Eagan’s driveway but waited at the edge before driving up to the guard shack.
“Five minutes.”
Jace smiled. “I might need a little more time than that.” He drove up to the shack and waited until the guard got confirmation from Eagan to let him inside.
Jace drove up the long driveway to the front of Eagan’s massive house where he found his brother standing outside.
Jace powered down the passenger side window. “Get in.”
Eagan shook his head as he walked up to the vehicle. “What do you want?”
“I want you to get in. I need to show you something.” Jace nodded his head to signal Eagan to get into his ride.
“I didn’t tell Ananda I was going anywhere.”
“Call her. Tell her you’re making up with your brother. She’ll be glad to see you go.” Jace drummed his thumbs on his steering wheel. “Come on, man. Don’t make me beg.”
Eagan opened the passenger door and got inside. As soon as he closed it, he got on his cell and called Ananda. “I’m going somewhere with Jace right now.” Eagan paused before speaking again. “He says he wants to make up.” He had another brief pause before he said, “I love you.” Then he disconnected the call. “This had better be good.”
Jace hoped it would be. He kept quiet as he drove to a destination in Virginia Beach.
“Where are we going?” Eagan asked thirty minutes into the trip.
“Somewhere that I hope will explain a lot.” Jace drove for another ten minutes until he came to a desolate area near downtown Virginia Beach that had an abandoned building sitting on the large lot. A tall chain link fence surrounded the old building that used to be a warehouse.
Jace parked his SUV and got out walked around to the front of it.
“Is this where you kill me and leave my body?” Eagan got out of the vehicle and met Jace on the other side.
“Not exactly.” Jace took a deep breath before he decided to purge his guts. “We had such a strange childhood, didn’t we?” He leaned against the front grill, still warm from the trip. “Fifteen years apart. You were out of the house, off to college when I was growing up. But I got to see you when you came home to visit.”
“Is there a point to this trip down memory lane?” Eagan folded his arms over his chest.
“When Dad died, it affected more than just you.”
Eagan shook his head. “Take me back home. I’ve already apologized for cutting you and mom off after he died. I took it really hard.”
“So did I. You were gone. By the time I was a teenager, Dad had retired. We bonded way more than you and I did.”
“And?”
Jace s
tormed over to Eagan. “And I wanted us to be closer. I wanted us to be a fucking family again. When I got into drugs, I know Dad called you to help. You have no idea how grateful I am that you were there then. I just wished the connection stayed consistent.” He glanced ahead. “We’re a family of addicts.” He chuckled. “I’d like to think we’re passionate. Dad smoked. Mom has her alcohol. You have work. I had drugs. You would think it would bring us all together.” He pointed ahead. “You see this? This was supposed to bring us all together.”
“A worn out warehouse?” Eagan scratched his head.
“I bought it and the land a couple of years ago, hoping to tear it all down and build you a studio so that you would stay in town more. Mom would get to see you. We could be a family again.”
Eagan stared at Jace for a while. “Christian.”
Jace dropped his gaze to the ground when Eagan called him the name he’d called him for years.
“That would have been huge.” Eagan looked at the property. “Actually this would be a great spot for a studio.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“You wouldn’t have had to. I was going to do it on my own and present it to you. A gift.” Jace gave a soft punch to Eagan’s shoulder. “You’re my brother.”
“You know you would be enabling my habit, right? I would make sure to make this a great studio. I would be here day and night. The only reason I don’t live in L.A. is because I know I can go over the deep end.” Eagan shook his head. “Don’t do this for me.”
Jace leaned his head back. “Holy shit. I hadn’t thought about it that way. Ananda would kill me if I made you a studio that would keep you from home.” He stared at the desolate location.
At one time, he saw potential. He saw a future of getting the family all back together. Now he saw it as the thing that could have taken them all down.
Eagan leaned against the front of the Mercedes and waited until Jace assumed the same position next to him. “Why did you do it? Why did you purposely try to ruin the show?”
Jace couldn’t hold back. “I was pissed when you didn’t answer any of my calls or come to my awards ceremony. I lost, so it might have been a good thing you didn’t show. Then Ananda came to see me right after the awards dinner to ask for a favor. I felt like I was being used.”
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