Cherishing You (Thirsty Hearts Book 3)

by Kris Jayne

Jonah set the glass on the edge of his father’s desk and rose, his family obligations calling to him.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Jonah’s prediction came true. Aaron had called her. Lindsay gave him her number. Shannon didn’t return his voicemail. Assuming he called her from a cell phone, she texted him—so angry that she had to communicate with him, her hands shook.

  > Doing the test this week. Should know by next week if this is any of your business

  On top of all her personal chaos, Shannon had to make arrangements for Kid’s body. A county clerk pointed her to a local church that helped pay for indigents and people whose families couldn’t afford funerals. Shannon contacted them for assistance—easy enough since she didn’t have much money on her own—and they’d paid for his cremation.

  Packing up his ashes to send to his cousin, Shannon said her final goodbye. Death reduced the man who caused her endless grief to less than the size of a shoe box.

  She paid for the Priority Mail Express service and dropped him off at the post office, throwing up beside her car before she drove away. The entire ordeal had a horror movie quality that Shannon couldn’t wait to leave behind.

  Then, Wednesday came. She and Jonah didn’t speak again after Christmas Day except to confirm their arrival time for the paternity test. Once there, Jonah didn’t talk to her except to say, “Hello,” and sit on the opposite side of the waiting room until the receptionist called their names.

  Jonah went first, and when he was done, he left—without a word. Shannon pulled out her phone and re-read Jonah’s Christmas texts again. If she thought he worried about her and still cared about her, she saw no signs of it.

  Then, they called Shannon, and she went back so strangers could draw blood and run the test that would change her life.

  She stayed in the clinic for a bit, feeling woozy after the blood draw. They gave her some juice and told her to wait until she felt better.

  Finally, after another twenty minutes, she felt more like herself and slogged out to the parking lot.

  Jonah leaned on a post outside the front door. “What took so long?”

  “Nothing.” As much as she’d longed to talk to Jonah, now, she didn’t have the energy.

  “You were in there for a while. Did something happen?”

  “No. I have to go,” she muttered and scurried past him.

  “Wait, Shannon.”

  She turned. The wind kicked up, and she wrapped her arms around herself, clutching her shoulder bag. Jonah stepped toward her with a pitying look that only served to enrage her with its condescension.

  “What can you possibly have to say to me, Jonah? Gonna call me a scheming bitch again? Or are you feeling sympathetic right now, so you’ll save your insults for later?”

  He ignored her anger and addressed her softly. “I thought you’d be coming out right after me, and when I got to my car and I still didn’t see you, I thought I’d wait and check on you.”

  “Don’t check on me, Jonah. Don’t worry about me. Don’t look after me. I’m doing all of that myself right now, and you know what? It’s not that bad.”

  The tears building in her eyes betrayed her words. It was worse than that bad, but she handled life nonetheless.

  “I don’t know what you want from me, Shannon. You’ve done this thing, and I can’t stop thinking about it, but I worry about you. You don’t have anyone. I have to make sure you’re okay.”

  She held her hand up to her brow, shielding her eyes from the sun behind him so she could read his expression—the furrowed brow and mouth gaping with worry.

  “If I tell you I’m fine, then I’m fine.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I don’t care what you believe.”

  “Why are you angry at me? Because I care?”

  “No. Because you don’t. Not really.”

  “That’s not true. You have no idea—none—how much I…care what happens to you.”

  Shannon snickered. “You care what happens to me? What—like a puppy you’ve dropped off at the shelter? If I end up on a kill list, Jonah, are you going to come back and get me? Fuck you. Don’t text me or call me with your ‘concern’ for what ‘happens’ to me.” She crooked her fingers in derisive air quotation marks.

  “God, after all that’s happened, I’m still trying to take care of you, and you don’t give a shit.”

  “I’m a big girl, Jonah. I’m not looking for you to take care of me. Worry about yourself. Don’t you have to rush back to the office and your daddy? You wouldn’t want to be late.”

  Jonah’s nostrils flared. The pain she inflicted with her verbal blow didn’t give her the anticipated satisfaction.

  “Then, what do you want?” He clipped.

  “Nothing. Not like this. Not from you.”

  Shannon stepped back and turned toward her car. When she didn’t hear him follow, she assumed she left him standing there. Whatever.

  Jonah was a big mistake, but she’s going to love this baby regardless. He still thought her a charity case, sitting around waiting for his rescue, or his money, or what he had to give her. He didn’t get that she had only ever wanted him to know her, love her, and appreciate her. In the end, he thought no better of her than his parents did.

  She needed distance from him and his kind, but she might not get it. All this time, she thought having Jonah be the father would solve her problems—even if they stayed apart. Now, she knew that wasn’t true.

  * * *

  Worn out from the day, Jonah hesitated before answering the call from Trevor, but he figured the day couldn’t get any worse.

  He was wrong.

  “We have to meet up.”

  “I can’t. You can’t believe the day I’ve had.”

  “No. This can’t wait.”

  “I don’t have any more money for you, Trevor. I’ve done all I can.”

  “This isn’t about money. Not everything is about money!” The young man raised his voice in distress.

  “Alright! Calm down.”

  “When you hear what I have to say, you won’t be asking me to calm down.”

  “Then tell me.”

  “Not over the phone.”

  “If you want me to see you, you need to spill it, now. Over the phone.”

  “I’m your brother.”

  * * *

  The twenty-four-hour breakfast joint half-way between Dallas and Fort Worth had a coat of grime that told Jonah not to order anything until he got a hepatitis booster.

  “You’re not going to eat?”

  “Uh, no. I want you to tell me why on earth you think you and I are brothers.”

  “I had a therapy session with my mother today. She told me that she lied—to me, my sister, my dad, or…” Trevor sighed. “The guy I thought was my dad. To your dad. She lied.”

  “Not possible. My father told me that she had a paternity test done. He must have seen the results himself. You can’t fake those results. Trust me.”

  His new knowledge of court-approved paternity tests depressed him.

  “I don’t think she faked anything. She had the test done, but she lied about the results.”

  His father had said he saw the results, hadn’t he? Jonah squinted at Trevor and shook his head.

  “Or she’s lying now.”

  “Why would she lie now after all these years?”

  Jonah didn’t want to point out Arianna’s obvious mental instability and didn’t need to. Trevor read his face and frowned.

  “My mother isn’t so crazy that she’d make stuff up. Not when she knows we could just go get another DNA test done.”

  “Maybe.” Jonah sighed. The lab could run another test on his sample, and then he and his entire family could appear on an episode of Maury Povich.

  “I’m going to talk to your—our—father, but I didn’t want to do it without talking to you first.”

  “Wait. That’s not a good idea. Did you ask your mother why she lied?”

  “She said s
he thought I’d be better off with his interference.”

  “But not his money. He paid her millions over the years.” For once, Jonah wondered if he could believe what his father told him about why he paid. Had he suspected Trevor was his?

  “Yeah, but he owed her. I didn’t even know that the money wasn’t from her own investments until your dad quit paying.”

  “You never knew anything about my dad?”

  “No. Not until he quit paying. Mom said she didn’t want the money to control me and that your dad thinks everyone else is as in love with his money as he is—and that the money is all anyone ever wants. I think she really loved him, which is stupid. All he did was use her and then toss his pennies at her like that made up for everything.”

  Jonah defended his father instinctively. “That’s not all there is to him. He’s a powerful man, and people do try to take advantage of that. You don’t know what it’s like to be target for fortune-hunters and—”

  “Yeah, so tough to be so rich.”

  “That’s not what I’m saying. Even without meaning to, people can get seduced by the money, and it makes them do shady things. They lie, and they trick you. You never know what someone really wants from you. You can’t trust people sometimes.”

  “Seems like you should be able to know what’s real and what’s not if you’re not so caught up in being rich that you can’t see it. Can’t you trust yourself?”

  No quick retort materialized for Jonah. He sipped water carefully through the straw he’d unwrapped, noticing spots on the plastic cup.

  “Look, don’t stir my dad’s hornet’s nest until I have a chance to talk to him. If you go to him first, he’s going to be on the defensive. I’ll talk to him.”

  Trevor narrowed his eyes. “Will you really?”

  “Have I ever said I was going to do something and not done it?”

  “No. You haven’t. Sorry.”

  Something Trevor said earlier hit him. “You never talk about your sister. Have you mentioned any of this to her?”

  “I didn’t grow up with her. She stayed with my dad, and I lived with my mom. We’re not close. I hadn’t even seen her until a few months ago when Mom started having her problems. She and my mom barely speak.”

  “That never seemed weird to you that your dad hardly spoke to you and that your mom didn’t speak to your sister.”

  “I knew mom had an affair and that my dad kicked her out. I figured it was fallout from that. My dad wasn’t sure I was his, and I don’t think he ever got over it. It’s all I’ve ever been told. On some level, he must’ve known the truth.”

  “I’m sorry that you had to grow up that way. We’ll get this sorted,” Jonah promised. “I need to go, but I’ll be in touch, okay? Hang tight, and don’t do anything.”

  The brokenness of a family went on and on. Jonah thought about Shannon and the tenuous relationship she had at times with Jeff. They got along—sort of—and co-parented—sort of. Olivia rolled with the punches, but it can’t be easy for her. Now, Shannon faced the same situation with him or with Aaron.

  No wonder she was so pissed off all the time—even if she’d done this to herself.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Sunlight streamed through the window of his father’s home office, belying the frigid temperatures outside. Many of their employees took the week off between Christmas and New Year’s, but not Tom.

  Jonah agreed to meet his father to discuss a new acquisition target, but he also intended to bring up Trevor’s revelation.

  They meandered through analyst reports and spreadsheets, trading data points and making notes. The entire day, half of Jonah’s mental energy churned over when and how to broach the subject.

  Finally, at four thirty, his father declared it was time to knock off. He poured Jonah and himself a Scotch and agreed to reconvene the following Monday.

  “Did you decide on your plans for New Year’s Eve?”

  “I called Graham, and he’s coming up from Austin. You know Jesse Hampton. He’s having a party.”

  “Good. A guy’s night may be just what you need. Two bachelors out on the town. See if you can’t get yourself into some trouble.”

  His father cracked half smile, leaving Jonah as good an opening as any.

  “I think I’ve gotten into enough trouble, and so have you.”

  Tom frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “This is tough, so I’m just going to say it. I’ve been in touch with Trevor Stiges. It’s a long story, but I’ve helped him out a couple of times. His mother—Arianna—tried to kill herself and had to check into a facility. She gave him some news when he visited her last.”

  Tom stared, arms folded. Jonah continued.

  “She said you’re his father.”

  “That’s not true. I don’t know why he would tell you that. Arianna Stiges told me years ago that I wasn’t Trevor’s father. Given how much money she wanted from me, if I were, she would have told me.”

  “According to him, she didn’t want you involved in Trevor’s upbringing.”

  Tom rocked his head back in disbelief. “She loved me—adored me—back then. Why wouldn’t she want me in the boy’s life? No.” He waved his hand and scowled. “I’m not his father.”

  “Why would she suddenly tell Trevor that, knowing how simple a paternity test would be?”

  “You said she’s getting treatment for a suicide attempt. She has problems. Always has. Why are you talking with Trevor Stiges under any circumstances? Chances are they’re all a little nuts.”

  Jonah’s head began to ache. “He’s not crazy. He’s just a kid. It could be that she examined her life and decided to tell the truth. Did you ever see a paternity test?”

  “No. She said she and her husband had one done. I believed her. She was already leaving the man, and she wanted me to leave your mother. Having my child would be a way to hang onto me. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Easy way to resolve this. Get tested now.”

  “I am not submitting to a paternity test.”

  “Then I’ll get tested. There are other ways to establish that he’s your son.”

  “How could you even think about doing that to your mother?”

  Jonah laughed without smiling. “You did this to my mother. I only want to know the truth, and so does Trevor.”

  “You sound very involved with this young man’s drama. I don’t get it.” Tom kept shaking his head, his face pinched in disgust.

  “He wants to meet you.”

  “That won’t happen.” His father lifted his head and glared at Jonah. “You need to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  “He could cause you trouble.” Jonah recounted how he met Trevor.

  “All the more reason not to talk with him. There’s no way to compel me to take another paternity test. He’s not a minor. There’s not question of financial support. If he wants to make this public, tell him his mother will be branded a whore. That couldn’t be good for her state of mind.”

  “Doesn’t it bother you that you may have a son that you’ve never known?”

  His father didn’t even bother to shrug. “I’ve never known him for reasons, Jonah, and I can’t see how it does anyone any good to act as if I’m the boy’s father now. It sounds like all he’d want from me is money, and the bank is closed to the Stiges clan.”

  “You feel nothing?”

  “There’s more to family than blood, Jonah.”

  “That’s not what you taught me. Our family has been fucked up for as long as I remember. We have completely different value systems in a lot of ways. We fight, but you’ve always told me and Vivienne that—regardless of our disagreements—we’re family. Blood. That matters, you said. Apparently, that’s just bullshit to you.”

  “It’s more complicated than that. Your mother is my wife. Our children are my children. That’s what matters. There’s a sanctity to that. Anything else…Well, I made a mistake, but if what you’re saying is true, Arianna clearly di
dn’t want me involved. I have no real connection to Trevor, and if your mother found it, this would crush her.”

  “More like she’d crush you. I can’t fathom our mother crumbling under the weight of anything.”

  “That’s your perspective. I’m telling you mine. I have no intention of setting a new place next year at Christmas dinner for some child that was born under these circumstances.”

  “I thought I knew the lowest of your lows, but you’ve just bottomed out again.”

  “Jonah, be reasonable.”

  He could hardly look at the man he called his father for forty-two years. The conversation looped in his mind. How could his father care so little? Jonah pondered if he bluffed, hoping that Jonah would see his coldness and encourage Trevor to give up.

  Hurting his mother seemed inevitable. She knew her husband had affairs, so at some point, she must have wondered if this were possible. But postulating was miles away from suspecting.

  She could already know and simply say nothing, which fit perfectly with what Jonah knew about his parents’ marriage. In that case, she wouldn’t want someone pointing out a conveniently forgotten truth, but Jonah couldn’t drop it. Now that Trevor raised the question, he had to follow through.

  A few months ago, this might not matter so much to him, but every child deserved to know their true family.

  Jonah dropped his tumbler of Scotch on the desk. What was true family?

  “Maybe you’re right. Maybe blood doesn’t make family. That mistaken notion can cost you.”

  Tom tipped his head and bored into Jonah with a quizzical and suspicious look. “Now you’re talking in riddles.”

  Jonah rose to his feet. Then, he picked up his glass and drained it. “I’m leaving.”

  “We still have topics to discuss. For example, your campaign. You’ve said nothing to me or to Lester about your plans. With Shannon having your baby and your not being together, we have to address this problem.”

  “Not we. I have to decide what to do about the trouble I’ve gotten myself into with Shannon. If I have something of relevance to share with you, I’ll call you. Otherwise, I don’t think you and I have anything else to say to one another on that topic.”