Stay with Me

by Jules Bennett

  “Gray-haired neighbors?” Jade asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Olivia shot Jade a smile. “Those two are always gossiping about something. I swear, they were old and gossipy sixteen years ago when we lived here.”

  “They didn’t see me, but I just heard one of them say the film crew would be here in two weeks to start scouting locations in town.”

  Haven had some beautiful areas. The park, the roundabout in town with a massive clock in the center; the courthouse was also a stunning structure. Definitely the new resort and spa. Those grounds were remarkable and the home itself just screamed Southern plantation. She wasn’t sure what type of film was being shot here, but if it was an historical or a small-town love story, Haven certainly fit the bill.

  “I need to get to work or I’ll never get it done.” Olivia took her glass and headed toward the back set of steps that led to the bedrooms. “Save yourselves, run now. I can’t promise there won’t be tears and throwing things.”

  Jade and Melanie grabbed their drinks and followed. Apparently, her warning wasn’t necessary. She’d informed them before they came to Haven and they’d assured her they were here for her, but Olivia knew they were here for one another. It was almost as if they took turns leaning on one another. Melanie definitely had used their shoulders to cry on. And Jade, well, Jade was proud, but she’d break soon. She was dealing with some ugly things and it wouldn’t be long before she’d need them. When that time came, Olivia knew there was nowhere else she’d be but by her friend’s side.

  Chapter Six

  “Damn it.”

  Jax wiped the grease on his already-stained jeans and stepped back from the leaking fuel drain. The rubber plug had been a bit difficult to get in, something he didn’t typically have an issue with.

  “Another exhilarating day on the job?”

  Jax spun around to his older cousin’s snarky comment. “Don’t you have parking tickets to write?”

  Tanner Roark crossed the hangar and shrugged. “I did that yesterday. Today I’m taking a breather and letting my writing hand rest.”

  Jax turned back around to the pan of fuel he’d drained. “Did you come to help with this leak or to just be a pain in my ass?”

  “I can do both,” Tanner replied. “I’m excellent at multitasking. Comes with the badge.”

  Tanner was an officer for Haven and was rarely seen out of uniform. Jax believed his cousin most likely wore it to keep the attention of the ladies. Tanner had always been quite the ladies’ man and didn’t make any apologies about the fact.

  Quite the opposite of Jax and their other cousin, Cash. The three were not only cousins, but also best friends. Jax and Cash had gone through ugly divorces. Tanner had sworn never to get himself into such a predicament as marriage. Jax figured he was the only smart one out of the bunch.

  “You want a pair of coveralls?” Jax asked.

  Tanner stepped up beside him and propped his hands on his hips. “Nah. Is this Bill’s plane?”

  “Yeah.”

  Bill was just one of the renters who occupied a portion of one of the hangars. Oftentimes Jax would do maintenance on others’ planes to help out when he could. Now he was wishing he’d not taken this on because he was a greasy mess and he had to go to Piper’s school this afternoon for some ceremony because Piper had entered a poster contest and was about to find out she’d gotten first place.

  He hoped he had time to shower and not look like a complete slob, but at the same time he needed to get this job done because Bill was planning a flight for five this evening.

  Jax would find a way to make it work. He always did. His new life motto was “it will all work out” and so far everything had. Maybe not in the way he’d planned, but there was only so much he could control.

  “What do you need?” Tanner asked.

  “This pan needs emptying.”

  “Do you want me to do that first or do you want to discuss the fact that Olivia Daniels is back in town?”

  Jax swore beneath his breath and shook his head. “I’d prefer to just get this job done and ignore the locker-room gossip.”

  “Too bad. Start talking.”

  Since Tanner made no move to get that pan out of the way, Jax slid the cardboard beneath the mess to the side. “Livie is back. She wants to sell the airport and pretend this never existed in her life and be done with the last memory of Paul.”

  Tanner let out a low whistle. “Sounds like a bind. Did you tell her about Paul or did you opt to close up and just be stubborn?”

  Being stubborn might’ve been a smarter option considering when he’d opened just enough to give her a glimpse, they’d ended up kissing and he could still taste her on his lips.

  Damn it. He’d tried to get that moment out of his head, but there it was again. Jax didn’t even have to concentrate and he could feel her sweet curves as she arched against him and returned his kiss. As a teen he’d dreamed of what that moment would be like, but now that he was older, more experienced, finally getting a taste of Livie Daniels only left him aching for more.

  “She knows all she needs,” Jax explained going back to examine the plug. It was holding; now he just needed to repair the line. “Nothing is changing her mind.”

  “She still hot?”

  Jax snorted and shot his cousin a glare. “Are you kidding?”

  Tanner shrugged. “That question is from Cash. He’s busy at the gym until this evening.”

  Picking the new line from the floor, Jax leaned into the Cessna. “You two are worse than a bunch of old ladies. I’m not thirteen with a crush and a hard-on anymore.”

  Well, he had gone home rather uncomfortable after that kiss, but he wasn’t an adolescent. He was a man and he needed to act like one. He could start by figuring out a way to get Livie to back off, which was damn hard when he was busy sampling her mouth and feeling her up.

  Tanner grabbed the pan with fuel and headed out the open bay door. “Cash said he heard Livie has friends with her. You see them?”

  “Jade is with her and another woman I met the other night. I think her name was Melanie.”

  “Jade was a year younger than me in school, but I took her out a couple times.”

  Jax slid the new line into place, thankful this was going smoother than the first part. “Is there anyone who’s crossed through this town that you haven’t taken out?”

  “That other lady you mentioned,” Tanner stated as he walked out to dump the fuel.

  Jax got busy on the line and had it changed out and ready to refuel. Tanner came back in and was silent for a while, doing something on his phone, most likely making a date.

  “You free this evening?” Tanner asked.

  Swiping his hands on his pants once again, Jax climbed down and nodded. “Should be. What’s up?”

  “Cash texted and said he had a client give him a bunch of steaks from their farm.”

  “I could use a steak, but if he thinks this is going to turn into me spilling my guts, he’s wrong.”

  Tanner shoved his phone back in his pocket. “I don’t care what he thinks so long as he brings meat.”

  “Tell him to be at my place around five. Piper and I will make something to go with it.”

  Jax headed out of the hangar, making his way toward the office where he could wash off the mess somewhat before heading home to shower and change. Tanner followed at his side.

  “How’s she liking preschool?”

  Jax opened the office door and gestured his cousin inside before he stepped into the refreshing air-conditioning. “She loves it. I’m going to head to the school in about an hour to some awards thing. I guess she won a poster contest, but she doesn’t know about it yet.”

  “That’s awesome,” Tanner stated, crossing his arms. “I bet she’s making all kinds of friends. You’ll be having little slumber parties before you know it.”

  Jax cringed at the thought of squealing little girls overtaking his home. Soon enough that would happen. He had a feeling
he’d have makeup on his face and polish on his hands. But being the dad of a spunky little girl was the greatest job he could’ve ever asked for. He wouldn’t trade it for anything.

  “Let’s focus on tonight,” Jax stated, stepping into the bathroom to wash off his hands and arms. “Warn Cash not to start talking too much about Livie. Piper already thinks she’s gorgeous. Somehow she manipulated us into a date.”

  “The hell?”

  Damn it. Jax hadn’t meant to let that part slip out. That was just another reason he’d taken Livie out in the plane last night, because it was private where nobody would see them and there would be no gossip. Of course, now that Tanner knew, there was no way in hell he wouldn’t tell Cash.

  “Forget you heard that,” Jax muttered, lathering up his hands and scrubbing like hell to get that grease off so he didn’t go to school looking like he’d never bathed. “There was no date.”

  “Spill it, Jax. You know I’m not going anywhere until I hear what happened.”

  He refused to glance up and meet his cousin’s reflection in the mirror over the sink. The bathroom was so tiny, he knew Tanner stood directly behind him. Jax was essentially trapped and there was no need to deny or even lie. Tanner would draw his own conclusions and share them with Cash like some damn old gossipy lady. Jax had to give him something though.

  “It was nothing really.”

  Except the kiss, but there was no way Jax was going to get into that portion of the evening.

  “Piper said something about her friends having mommies, then she asked if Livie was here to go out with me, and that all snowballed. Basically, we agreed to appease Piper and we used the opportunity to talk.”

  “You said that twice, so what else happened?”

  Why did he have to be so damn intuitive? Talk didn’t always mean something else.

  “Are you always in cop mode?” Jax growled as he shut off the squeaky faucet. “Because we talked, we argued, I drove her home.”

  Tanner stepped back and let Jax pass through, but the mocking laughter followed. He didn’t care how much his nosy cousins prodded, because there was no doubt that Cash would jump on this bandwagon. Jax was not spilling any details because talking about the kiss would make it out in the open and no longer a secret. Jax was positive Livie didn’t want anyone to know what happened between them and he sure as hell wasn’t about to give Cash and Tanner fodder for endless jabs.

  “Maybe you just need a few beers to lighten up,” Tanner replied as if he had the answer to the mystery.

  “You know better than that. It takes more than a few beers to get me talking and I don’t drink that much with Piper home.”

  Priorities had changed since he’d come home and started parenting. By far a totally different lifestyle from what he was used to and there had been a major adjustment, but Jax loved every minute. Being a single parent was by far more difficult than anything he’d ever done, but Piper was worth it. She was his entire life. This airport was how he paid for everything to secure her life, and that was just the monetary aspect. He and Piper shared a bond here, they would chat about planes, about flying, and the future here. She was only four years old, but she had a vision for a future and that future was right here.

  “You know we’re going to get this out of you.” Tanner pulled his cell from his pocket. “Cash and I will be over this evening. Don’t think we won’t revisit this topic.”

  “You’ll be wasting your time.”

  With a shrug, Tanner focused on his phone as he sent a text. “I have no other plans tonight. Piper has to go to bed at some time. We’ll get you then.”

  Jax laughed and grabbed his keys off the old scarred desk. The same desk Paul used when he took over here years ago. “When Piper goes to bed, that’s when you two losers are leaving.”

  Tanner headed out with Jax and stopped beside the old beat-up truck Jax so loved. “Was there something you wanted when you stopped by?”

  Shoving his hands in his pockets, Tanner rocked back on his heels and nodded. “I wanted to talk to you about a job prospect.”

  Intrigued, Jax crossed his arms and leaned against his bumper. “For you?”

  “I was given an option of transferring units.”

  “Where’s the other unit?”

  Tanner pulled in a deep breath, his broad chest expanding beneath the gray T-shirt. “In St. Perry.”

  Stunned, Jax absorbed the information. “Two hours away. What made them offer that to you?”

  “You know I passed my exam to be promoted to sergeant?”

  Jax nodded.

  “Well, there’s an opening coming up there and I was offered first. I’m supposed to tell them within the next couple months. It’s a long gap, but they want time to look for others if I’m not interested.”

  Raking a hand over the back of his head, Jax truly had no clue what to say. “Do you want the job?”

  “I want the pay and the position, but I don’t want to be in St. Perry.”

  “You talked to Cash?”

  Tanner shook his head. “Not yet.”

  “Well, whatever you decide, we’ll support you. I know we were both proud of you for passing. You’d make an excellent sergeant.”

  Tanner kicked at a pebble with his work boot. “I’d prefer to be excellent a little closer to home.”

  “Well, you can always take the position and wait for something to open up here.”

  Tanner simply nodded and Jax knew he was torn up over the life-changing decision looming over him. But Jax would have his back no matter what. It would suck to have his best friend move, but two hours wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t down the street like they were used to, but it could be worse.

  “I need to get to the school,” Jax stated. “I’ll see you this evening and keep your mouth shut about Livie around Piper.”

  Tanner tossed a dimpled grin. “I know how to handle a toddler. It’s Cash you need to worry about.”

  Jax ignored the warning and climbed into his truck. Cash and Tanner had been there for Jax from the beginning of this whole parenting thing. The three of them often took Piper out fishing or to the park and on occasion they’d all pile into the movie theater. Nothing like three guys and a little tomboy heading in to see the latest kiddie flick.

  Jax was convinced Tanner liked to use Piper to pick up ladies, but Piper was so damn adorable, it was impossible to ignore so much cute.

  As he drove away, his mind circled back to Livie. She’d melted when she’d spoken to Piper and Jax couldn’t deny a piece of him had softened. The way she’d squatted down to speak to Piper on her level stirred something deeply within him. He didn’t want anything to stir, he didn’t want to find Livie even more attractive. Between the kiss and the way she seemed to adore Piper, Jax was having a difficult time remembering they were on opposite sides of the spectrum.

  Tonight he was going to have to answer to his cousins. There was no way in hell Tanner wasn’t spilling everything to Cash. Most likely they were on the phone now chatting.

  Regardless, he had more important things to address than what they thought. Livie wasn’t going anywhere and it was only a matter of time before he was face-to-face with her again. Jax doubted anything would prepare him, because as much as he wanted to end this property dispute, he wanted to touch her, kiss her, and forget they were technically enemies.

  Chapter Seven

  “Sweet tea?”

  Olivia glanced up from her laptop and smiled at Jade. “Perfect timing. I just submitted the quote.”

  Jade sat two glasses of sweet tea on the small table by Olivia. Jade folded her lean frame on the chaise and let out a sigh.

  “Where’s Melanie?”

  “She said she was going into town.”

  Into town was code for Haven. There were many cute specialty shops that had popped up since Olivia had left years ago. The once run-down, sad area was now thriving with day-trippers from Savannah and the locals who appreciated their beautiful, quaint area.

  Oliv
ia took a sip of her tea and welcomed that extra kick of sugar and caffeine. After working all day in the bedroom closets, she was more than ready to relax.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Jade stated in a slow, careful tone. “Just hear me out before you shoot down my idea.”

  Olivia sat her laptop beside her on the cushion and gripped her cool glass. “When you lead in like that, you’re already making me nervous.”

  Stretching her long legs in front of her, Jade crossed her ankles and stared out into the spacious backyard. “I had an epiphany while going through your guest-room closet. Maybe I was trying to figure out a way to find a happy medium with the airport or maybe I was trying to distract myself from pictures of you with a bad perm, I don’t know. Regardless, something kept sticking out in my mind and I think it’s worth surveying.”

  Olivia sipped her drink and was almost afraid to hear the rest of Jade’s line of thinking. Her friend was a brilliant businesswoman and she was always working her mind in overtime. She was successful, but lately had been second-guessed and really put through hell at work. Some may say she was running from her problems, and she may have been, but getting Jade out of Atlanta so things could die down was the smartest move right now.

  “Let’s have it,” Olivia sighed.

  “Don’t sell the airport.” As soon as Olivia opened her mouth, Jade closed her eyes and held up a hand. “You said you’d hear me out.”

  “I said no such thing,” she argued.

  “It was implied.” Jade waved her hand and crossed her ankles. “As I was saying, don’t sell the airport. You’re half owner, so anything you do would benefit you as well.”

  Olivia laughed. “Have you seen the place? I’m sure Jax barely pulls in enough to keep himself afloat, let alone give me half.”

  “You haven’t heard my idea,” she stated, her voice suddenly taking on almost a sinister tone. “You’re going to turn that airport into something like this town has never seen.”

  Olivia nearly choked on her tea. “Excuse me? You not only want me to keep this part of my past that I want out of my life, but you also want me to get fully involved in it and . . . what? What exactly is in that marketing brain of yours?”