On Frozen Hills

by KJ Swann

  “That woman never knows when to be quiet.”

  “I think it’s the other way around, Dad.”

  “I think you’d better learn your place.” Michael glared at his daughter.

  “Over the years, I’ve learned. If I didn’t speak up for what I wanted, I never got it. I love Jace, and there’s nothing that’s going to change that.”

  “Oh really? Do you even know Jace as well as you think you do?”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “Do you remember the time when you were split up?”

  “Yes, it was when he lost Sawyer. What does that have to do with anything, and why are you bringing it up? He was hurting, and we were broken up, so anything that happened during that time shouldn’t reflect on who he is now.”

  “Are you so sure about that?”

  “Get to the point, would you?”

  “Oh, in due time. While you two were broken up, you realized he saw other women. Correct?”

  “Yes, so?”

  “How do you know he doesn’t have any children out there from during that time frame?”

  “Really? Is this what you have against Jace? He doesn’t have any children with other women! And if he did have any kids, I’d support him and welcome them just as if they were my own. You need to learn you are entirely wrong. I'll stand behind him all the way. As far as Derrick is concerned, he’s a nice guy, and I’m glad Tessa’s with him. But I’d never see myself with someone who’s like you.”

  Michael narrowed his eyes at Ivy. “I think you’ll change your mind when you hear what I have to say. Back to the topic of Jace having a child.”

  “Why? It can’t be true.”

  “Well, I beg to differ. I’ve been in contact with the mother of the child for the past few months. She has also sent me a picture of the little girl who Jace fathered.” Michael handed Ivy the picture.

  “Excuse me? A few months and you’re just saying something to me now? And how the hell how did you come into contact with her?” Ivy demanded.

  “Well let’s just say he’s been getting child support notifications at our home. He has been for a while now. When I was opening up the mail one day, I opened one by mistake and it’s how I found out. I reached out to her to find out what happened.”

  “I find that unlikely. He gets mail at our apartment all the time, so why didn’t he get the child support notifications?”

  “For some reason, Allison, the woman Jace slept with, somehow got hold of our home address and thought you and he lived there.”

  “Interesting. But the thing is we never lived with you or mom, so I don’t buy it. Why didn’t you say anything to either Jace or me?”

  “I thought both of you knew and he was negating his responsibilities.”

  “You really think he’d do that? Boy, you’re so wrong. That is something he’d never do.”

  “You asked, I’m telling you.”

  Ivy stared at the picture of a very young baby girl with light brown hair tied with pink bows. Her big brown eyes stared back at Ivy. “Are you sure she’s Jace’s daughter? She has brown eyes and the woman Jace was seeing had blue eyes.”

  “She said she’s certain Jace is the father.”

  Ivy narrowed her eyes. “So, you’re not one hundred percent certain.”

  “I’m certain of it. She looks like Jace.”

  “This means nothing. A DNA test will tell us what we need to know, so make sure this child and her mother get it done, since you talk to her.”

  “I’ll get it arranged.”

  “Be sure you do. You always have to try to ruin peoples’ lives no matter how happy they are. So, what happens if this little girl isn’t Jace’s? Then she has no clue who her daddy is. What kind of life have you made for her? You’re a monster.”

  With that, Ivy left and banged the door shut behind her.

  4

  In the bedroom, Ivy slammed the door behind her and stared at Jace, who was standing at the window gazing at the snow coming down.

  “I can’t believe the gall of that man.”

  “What’s going on?”

  Ivy picked up the pillows and threw them around, making the bed.

  “Ugh, he’s so infuriating. He tried to tell me you could have had a child with someone else.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Yeah. Supposedly during that time when you and I were broken up.”

  “If that were the case, wouldn’t somebody have stepped up by now saying I was a dad and had a paternity test done? Why in the hell is he trying to do this?”

  “But he did show me this.” Ivy handed the picture of the little girl to Jace.

  “Who’s this?”

  “Supposedly your daughter, according to my dad. He can’t stand the fact we’re happy together and will stop at nothing to break us up.”

  Jace placed his hands on her arms. “Listen, your dad seems to love to cause chaos in everyone’s life. If there’s a child out there, we’ll deal with it, if you’re by my side.”

  “That’s what I told my dad, but it’s easier to say it than to mean it. As much as it would kill me that you have a child with another woman, I’d still welcome the child as my own. Now we need to have a DNA test done to prove paternity.”

  Jace nodded. “I understand you’re upset. You have a good reason to be. This is the last thing I ever expected. But now I want answers too. If she turns out to be mine, then we’ll figure everything out together, and if she isn’t, then your father has some explaining to do. As long as we know where we stand in this together is all that matters to me.”

  “Before I went in, my mom was coming out, and she told me not to listen to anything he had to say.”

  Jace nodded. “She has your best interests at heart.”

  “Yes, she does, otherwise she wouldn’t have said anything before she left the room. I think they were arguing about it when I knocked on the door. She didn’t want him saying anything.”

  “I can’t blame her. It’s Christmas Eve, and here he’s trying to cause issues between us. I don’t remember everything I did. Honestly, I could’ve been with someone and had unprotected sex, but knowing how I was at that time, I don’t think it happened. I couldn’t even stand to see myself, let alone look at someone else.”

  “I’m not going to worry about it until we know for certain one way or another. Right now, I want to get changed, then gather up Tessa and Derrick to see if they still want to head outside and have the snowball fight. I think it’ll help relieve some tension by letting loose.”

  “You sure you want to hang out with him after everything your dad is trying to do to us?”

  “Yes. I don’t think he’s going to cause us any issues. I think it’ll do us some good.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Your nightmares.”

  “Why are you bringing them up again? I haven’t had any lately.”

  “Ah, did you forget the other night at home?”

  Jace sighed. “I don’t have any idea what brings them on.”

  “Have you talked with your captain?”

  “Of course I have.”

  “Have you really?”

  “Can we talk about this later?”

  “You can count on it, Jace. This topic isn’t going to go away.”

  Jace smirked slightly. “I know.”

  “I think we need to have a bet on today’s snowball fight,” Ivy suggested.

  “Okay, what do you have in mind?” Jace rubbed his hands together.

  “Well, we both know how Tessa is with snowball fights. I think she’ll throw the first one.”

  “Nah, I’ll be the first one.”

  “Okay, if you think so. So, here’s the deal. If I’m right, then you’ll be spending the day with Derrick and getting to know him.”

  “Man, you’re asking a lot.”

  Ivy knew Jace didn’t want to have anything to do with Derrick, let alone become friends with him. Jace hadn’t become c
lose with any one of his male “friends” since he’d lost Sawyer. “You struggle every day with the loss of your best friend.”

  “Ivy, not now, please.”

  “No, listen. I feel you need to get some other male interaction, like you had with Sawyer. Not saying you have to be friends with Derrick, just get to know him.”

  Jace shook his head. “No one will replace Sawyer.”

  “Hun, I didn’t say replace him. You need a person who you can talk to besides me. Someone to hang with or even just that male-bonding thing.”

  Jace pushed away from Ivy. He walked to the window and placed his forehead against the cool glass.

  Ivy place her hand gingerly on his back. “I’m not asking you to put yourself out there right at first. Give it a shot, at least.”

  Jace nodded. “I’ll try to do my best. That’s all I can say.”

  “Now, Jace…”

  “I know, I know. Let’s get finished and get the other two. Hopefully, the snow is good for packing.”

  Jace and Ivy headed out of the back door and found Derrick and Tessa already outside, throwing snowballs at each other. While Tessa waved them over, Derrick hit her in the shoulder with a snowball.

  “Really? I turn my head for just a second and you hit me?”

  “Seemed like the perfect time to me.” Derrick laughed.

  Tessa grabbed some snow, packed it into a tight ball, and nailed Derrick in the chest with it. Derrick stared down at where Tessa had hit him, then glared at her. She stood there as if nothing had happened.

  “I don’t believe you’re that innocent, Tessa.” Jace turned toward Ivy. “Did you see her throw it?”

  “Throw what? I didn’t see anything.”

  “What? Are you blind? Tessa threw it and you know it!” Jace exclaimed.

  Ivy smirked at him. “I didn’t witness a damn thing, Jace.”

  Jace shook a finger at her. “Hey, Derrick, want to team up against the girls?”

  Derrick nodded and grinned at Tessa. “You’re mine.”

  “Bring it!” Tessa beckoned Ivy over, away from the guys.

  “What’s the plan? I can tell you have something. It’s written all over your face.”

  “Ah, such a wonderful plan indeed.” Tessa smirked at her sister’s query.

  “Care to enlighten your big sister?”

  “You realize they’re each going to attack us both, right?”

  “Hmm. Derrick has it out for you, but I don’t think Jace will try anything.”

  Tessa stared at her older sister as if she was crazy. “I bet if you throw a snowball at Jace right now, he’ll make one and throw it right back.”

  “You want a war? Because that’s what you’ll get. You’ve seen Jace when he gets going with snowball fights in the past. Do you think we’re going to win?”

  “No, but it’s worth trying,” Tessa said, grinning.

  Ivy shook her head while she bent down to pick up a bunch of snow and packed it together. She glanced quickly over her shoulder to see if Jace or Derrick was paying attention, but they seemed to be deep in conversation. Ivy used this to her advantage and threw her snowball, hitting Jace square in the back of the head.

  “What the—” Jace yelled.

  Ivy pointed at Tessa, all the while grinning from ear to ear.

  “Uh-uh, no way. I didn’t throw that snowball.”

  Ivy broke out laughing at Tessa’s denial and Jace’s expression.

  “So it was you. I didn’t figure Tessa would hit me in the back of the head. That was something you always did.”

  Ivy shrugged. “Can’t help it. Good target practice.”

  Jace narrowed his eyes. “War!”

  “Shit! What the hell did you do that for, Ivy?” Tessa exclaimed.

  “You wanted a war, now you got one.” Ivy ran and hid behind the closest tree.

  As Ivy bent down to pack some snow, she was pelted in the ass by Jace.

  “I always get even, my dear.”

  “Just wait for it, Jace. I’ll get you again.”

  “Sure, you will. You know I don’t play fair.”

  Ivy threw her snowball and missed Jace by just a few inches.

  “That was close, but not close enough.” Jace laughed.

  Out of nowhere, Jace was hit in the chest by a snowball. He looked around and saw Tessa wiggling her fingers at him. Then while Tessa wasn’t paying attention, she was hit in the face by a snowball. She bent down to pack a missile and threw it at Derrick.

  “Tessa!” Ivy yelled at her.

  “What?”

  “Did you have to hit him in the balls?”

  “I wasn’t paying attention when I threw it,” Tessa replied.

  Ivy rolled her eyes as she and Tessa ran over to check on Derrick. Jace was kneeling over the prone Derrick.

  “Man, you still alive?” Jace inquired.

  “It’s not funny.”

  “Sure it is. Tessa had an awesome aim for not even paying attention. Trying to kill him already, Tessa?”

  “No! Geez, I didn’t think I’d hit him there.”

  “It’s all good. He’ll be fine; at least there was nothing in the snow that would do any real damage to him.”

  Tessa grabbed Derrick’s arm. “I’m sorry. It was an accident.”

  Derrick slowly reached up and patted her face. “Hey, it’s all right. It’s a snowball fight. Accidents do happen. It’s funny though, since you had no clue where it was going.”

  Ivy squealed when all of a sudden Jace tossed her into the snow. “What the hell was that for?”

  Jace grinned down at her before he fell into the white powder beside her, put his arm around her waist, then pulled her as close as he could with the snow on the ground. He gently leaned down to kiss her cheeks. Ivy let out a slight shriek—Jace’s breath tickled her ear. When she relaxed in Jace’s arms, he moved the one that was around her waist and tickled her.

  “Stop, stop, Jace.” Ivy screeched.

  Jace laughed but kept going. Ivy struggled to get away from him, but each time she did, he’d pull her back.

  “Okay, I give,” Ivy panted.

  Jace stopped tickling, and Ivy wiped away the tears at the edge of her eyes from laughing so hard.

  “You, sir, don’t play fair.” She poked his chest in accusation.

  “I never told you I played fair.”

  Jace bent down and began kissing her. Next to them, Tessa made gagging noises.

  “Get a room. I don’t want to see that crap.”

  Jace looked down at Ivy. “Can you believe her?”

  Ivy shook her head, laughing. She knew what was coming. She moved slowly out of the way of Jace and Tessa’s war of words.

  “Me? You’re the one who’s out here trying to gross us out!” Tessa exclaimed.

  “Oh? It’s not like you wouldn’t be doing the same thing if you had the chance,” Jace argued. “Hey, is there a problem, Tessa? Why’s your face all splotchy?”

  “Shut up, would you?”

  Then all of a sudden, a snowball came flying at Jace and hit him in the face.

  “What the hell was that for?” Jace asked.

  “’Cause you’re giving Tessa a bunch of shit. That’s why,” Derrick replied.

  Jace grinned. “Ah, I see. Protecting her now, are we?”

  Derrick shrugged. “So what if I am?”

  “Hey, it’s cool. I respect that. Plus, it’s all in fun.”

  “True.”

  “I hate to break up this cozy conversation, but I’m freezing my ass off,” Tessa said.

  “I agree. I’m getting cold as well. Why don’t we go in and make some hot cocoa and see what’s on the agenda for tonight?” Derrick asked everyone.

  “Sounds good to me. Lead the way,” Jace replied with a sweeping movement of his arm.

  As Ivy went to stand up, a snowball hit the back of her head. She turned around to see her sister laughing hard enough that she was holding her sides.

  “Really? Was that ne
cessary?” asked Ivy.

  “No, but it sure was funny,” Tessa sniggered.

  Jace helped Ivy get the snow from the back of her head and coat as they walked to the house. Behind them, Tessa and Derrick whispered. Ivy tried not to pay attention. As they got closer to the house, Ivy saw their dad standing at the window watching them, a scowl on his face. Tessa glowered at him. Ivy smiled. Tessa isn’t going to back down. Tessa was determined to piss off their dad and protect her older sister.

  Jace walked up the steps and waited for Michael to move out of the way so he could open the door. Michael instead stood there, glaring at them all. Ivy grabbed the door handle from Jace and pushed the door open.

  “Excuse you?” Michael growled.

  “You were in our way,” Ivy replied.

  Michael glared at Ivy before stomping off toward his den.

  Ivy leaned against the wall and removed her boots while the others filed in.

  “I see Dad always has to be an ass about things,” Tessa remarked.

  “I told you he wasn’t going to be happy once he found out.”

  “I know. He needs to stay out of our business.”

  Ivy laughed. “Yeah, right. Like that will ever happen.”

  Tessa shrugged. After everyone got their coats, boots, and gloves off, they started for the kitchen and found Vivian.

  Vivian turned. “Did you guys have fun?”

  “We had a blast. I’m glad we got out there and did that,” Ivy said.

  “Good, now go get cleaned up and come back down so you’ll can help with dinner prep for tonight.”

  “I thought it was just going to be Tessa and me helping?” Ivy questioned.

  “After hearing your dad stomp away, I think I should find out a little bit more about what he saw outside.”

  Ivy could tell Tessa wasn’t worried. Their mom was strict but not as bad as their dad. Vivian had been the one who’d let the girls go after what they wanted, no matter how much it pissed off Michael. Tessa nodded to her mom and walked out of the room. It didn’t take long for everyone else to follow suit.

  In their bedroom, Jace asked Ivy. “Do you think your dad will give Derrick a bunch of shit?”

  “He isn’t going to be happy that he’s chummy with you. So, ask yourself that question.”

  “Oh, boy.”

  “At least Mom’s on Tessa’s side for the most part. At least I think so. Only time will tell.”