by Cat Johnson
Right next door to Tara and Tuck’s parents’ house, where Tara was driving to straight from the event. God almighty, she was headed directly toward the thing she was trying to avoid.
“Yup. Emma had some superstition that she refused to tell anyone else, not even their parents, until after she’d reached three months in the pregnancy. Thank goodness that passed because she’s starting to puff up. Can’t be hiding it anymore.” Tuck was so busy bitching about things, he didn’t notice Jace was ready to crawl out of his skin at the news.
Good thing Tuck wasn’t being all that observant, because a casual friend shouldn’t be as concerned as Jace was about Tara. He had to stop her. “I’ll try texting Tara and see if maybe she’ll answer me.”
He punched in the text and hit SEND before Tuck could see what he’d written.
Don’t go home! L and E there.
He hoped Tara saw it before she hit the road and ended up blindsided.
“Thanks for doing that, Jace. Appreciate it. In the meantime, I guess we better get these kids moving.”
He followed Tuck toward the group of kids who made up the Oklahoma State University rodeo team, but his mind was no longer on the practice. It was miles away with Tara. Where would she go if she couldn’t go to her parents’? College? Did she even have a place to stay there this semester? He hadn’t asked about her lodging situation. They’d been far too busy doing other things.
Jace checked his phone in case he’d missed feeling the text alert come through. Nothing. She hadn’t replied, which made him nervous, and the unease increased with every minute that ticked by.
As soon as the damn practice was over he was going to find a way to get in touch with her. And if he couldn’t . . . then what? He didn’t know. He’d text Dillon. If she’d already left, then Tyler. Hell, Jace would wait until morning and call her parents’ house if he had to. Seeing Logan and an ever-expanding Emma face-to-face was going to throw Tara into a tailspin. She’d need somebody with her who’d understand.
Strange as it would have seemed before their little trip, that person was Jace. He might be the only one who understood.
Tara woke in her own bed and stretched. She squinted across the room at the red glowing numbers on the dresser clock. It was still kind of early, but she should get up. Her phone had died sometime after she’d sent that last text to Jace and her charger had been buried somewhere in her bags in the trunk.
She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and pawed through her bag, digging out the charger. She plugged it into the wall and the phone into it. She’d never gotten to text Jace last night that she was safe so she powered the cell on to do it.
It started to vibrate in her hand the moment it came to life. The display read INCOMING CALL FROM TUCK. That figured. He was still looking for her to come to Stillwater. Well, it was too late now. She was already home.
Tara hit the button and anticipated saying exactly that to her pain in the ass brother.
“Tara, where are you?” he asked instead of good morning or any other nicety.
“Home.”
“Home where? At Momma and Daddy’s house or at school?”
“School isn’t home, Tuck. School is school. I’m home as in the house where our parents and our brother live.” Being a smart-ass was extra fun now that she’d heard how pissed Tuck sounded.
He let out a huge breath. “Crap.”
“What’s wrong, big brother?” She smiled, loving when she frustrated Tuck so much he cussed.
“You talk to anyone yet this morning?”
“No, I just woke up.”
“I tried calling you and texting. Even Jace tried getting in touch with you. You didn’t get back to either of us.”
“Sorry.” Tara saw she had a bunch of unread texts in her inbox but she hadn’t had time to open any with Tuck calling and yelling at her first thing in the morning when she’d just woken up.
A beep in her ear told her she had another call. Perfect timing. “Ooo, gotta go. I’ll call you back later.”
“No, Tara—” As she hit the button to accept the incoming call, she heard Tuck’s protest and smiled as she cut it off.
She pressed the cell to her ear. “Hello?”
“Tara. Thank God. Why haven’t you called or texted?” Jace sounded all out of sorts, too.
Jeez. What was the big deal? “I know. I’m sorry I didn’t text when I got in last night. My battery was dead and the charger was buried and I was just too tired to deal with it. Okay?”
“That’s not why I’m upset. Listen to me, Logan and Emma are there. Right next door, right now, to make the big baby announcement to his parents.”
Tara took a second to absorb that as breathing felt harder than it should. Her escape plan hadn’t worked out so well, after all. She sat down in the chair next to her bed. “Wow.”
“You need me to come there and be with you? Hell, you wanna come here instead? You can stay in my apartment.”
Jace’s offer sounded really good. Get in her car, drive away, and not face anyone. She could probably sneak out without her parents even seeing her. Cowardly, yeah, but way easier. Then again, she was going to have to face this eventually. “I don‘t know, Jace. I don’t know what to do.”
“Okay, well listen. I’m going to have to turn my phone off shortly for about an hour, hour and a half, but right after that, I’ll turn it back on and I can do whatever you need me to do.”
“What are you doing that you have to turn your phone off?” Tara knew he’d turned it off for days at a time during the whole ex-girlfriend thing while they were on the road, but to specifically mention it would be off between an hour and an hour and a half seemed odd.
“I’ve got to go to a therapy session with Jacqueline. Long story. I’ll tell you all about it later. But after that, I’m free and available. Okay?”
A therapy session with Jacqueline. Like as in couples counseling? It seemed that, contrary to what Jace had just said, he was neither free nor available. Jace and Jacqueline were back together. That hit Tara harder than the news that Logan was next door with his pregnant wife.
“Uh, yeah, thanks but I’m fine. Your traveling partner responsibilities are over so don’t worry about me. I gotta go.” Tara disconnected the call with shaking hands.
What the hell had happened in a week to make Jace go back to Jacqueline after all the hell she’d put him through? Sex? History? Traumatic brain injury? It had to be something, but it didn’t matter. It was done.
When it rained, it poured. Logan and Emma next door. Jace and Jacqueline back together. Heart pounding, Tara set her jaw and stood. She glanced down at the cell phone still clutched in her hand. She’d considered powering it off after hanging up on Jace, but no, she wasn’t going to do that. No more running and hiding. Time to face the demons. Maybe Jace couldn’t move on from his past, but Tara could and she was doing it today.
She showered, dressed, and ignored a bunch more incoming texts and calls. Proud that she didn’t even look to see who they were from, Tara continued to get ready for the day, taking the time to blow dry her hair and throw on some lip gloss. She didn’t let herself think she was trying to look good for the confrontation with Logan. She decided she needed to look good for herself. She needed all the self-confidence she could get.
Her pulse still beating faster than it should, Tara strode into the kitchen, ready to face the world. It turned out, the only person she had to face was Tyler.
“Hey.” She frowned. “Where’s Momma and Daddy?”
“Who knows? They’re like newlyweds. She’s got him going all sorts of places with her. When did you get here? I didn’t hear you come in last night.”
“Late. I drove straight from the event.”
“How’s the car running?”
“Perfect. Thank you again. It was a lifesaver.” Although she had to think that if Tyler hadn’t delivered it, Jace would have stayed safely far from Jacqueline. Tara pushed that depressing thought away. “So, I heard Log
an’s visiting.”
“You heard right.” Tyler poured himself a glass of sweet tea, then put the pitcher back in the fridge. “You, uh, talk to him lately?”
He watched her as if she was a horse ready to bolt. Real nice. Did none of her family think she was adult enough to hear that Logan was about to have a baby? “No, I haven’t. I was about to go over there now.”
Tyler’s brow rose. He put his cup down. “Oh. All right. I’ll go with you.”
Tara frowned. “Why?”
“No reason. Just being friendly.” He shrugged, then glanced down at his phone on the table. “Hm. Text from Jace.”
“Jace is texting you? What’s he want?”
Tyler read the display and she watched his eyes widen. He punched in a reply that seemed to be about one word long, then looked up. “Uh, nothing. Just saying hey is all.”
Tara had known her brother all her life, and she knew when he was hiding something. When he shoved the phone deep into his front jeans pocket, she was sure of it. “That’s all?”
“Yup. That’s all. Ready to go next door?” He pressed his lips together and waited. His lips were sealed on the matter, literally.
“Yeah. Fine. Let’s go.” She turned for the door. If her brother chose to follow, there wasn’t much she could do to stop him.
Tara marched across the lawn on the same path to Logan’s house she’d taken countless times during her lifetime. She caught a glimpse of his truck in the drive, but turned toward the back and the kitchen door. She’d never gone in the front door and she didn’t intend to start.
She reached for the doorknob, but hesitated, looking through the window first. Logan sat alone at the kitchen table, his long legs stretched out in front of him as he read the paper. His six-foot-two-inch frame had always made her feel small, even after she’d reached her full height. He looked just as she remembered him from all those years ago when he’d lived with his parents. He looked older, but the bigger difference was her pulse didn’t speed up because she was in love with him and could hardly breathe in his presence. Instead, it pounded with anxiety and determination over what she was about to do.
Maybe she had moved on. That fact didn’t help the knocking of her heart against her ribcage as she opened the door and forced a smile. “Hey.”
“Tara, I didn’t realize you were back from school.” Logan’s dark gaze looked past her. “Morning, Tyler.”
Tyler followed Tara into the kitchen, not that there was any room for him to stand. She’d stopped right inside the doorway, unwilling or maybe unable to go in farther.
Time to get it over with. Logan’s wary expression and Tyler’s hand resting on her shoulder told Tara both men were braced for her to blow. “I just wanted to tell you—and Emma, too—congratulations on the baby. On the wedding, too, since I haven’t seen you since.”
Logan’s brows rose. “I didn’t realize you knew about us being pregnant.”
Us. Logan was going to be one of those annoying husbands who used the we when speaking about his wife’s pregnancy. Tara had always thought that pretty ridiculous. The man wasn’t the one getting huge, or with morning sickness, or pushing a big headed baby out of a very tiny space.
Thinking the word ridiculous in relation to Logan, who used to walk on water in her opinion, was a new concept to Tara.
Logan once again looked toward Tyler. Her brother shook his head. “I didn’t know she knew, either, man. I didn’t tell her.”
She wasn’t about to throw Jace under the bus and admit he’d slipped about the big secret. Stupid to keep Emma’s pregnancy a secret, anyway. Not like people wouldn’t be able to do the math. Count back nine months from the eventual birth of the baby and see it was conceived before the nuptials.
“Well, thank you, Tara. Em and I appreciate it. How are you doing? School good?”
“Yeah. Things are going good. So, I just wanted to stop by and say that. I’m gonna head home.” Tara hooked a thumb toward the door. “I’ve got some stuff to do before I go back for the semester. Say hey to the wife and I, uh, guess I’ll see you around sometime.”
“All right.” After Logan’s nod, she turned and left the two men in the kitchen, most likely discussing her.
Fine. She didn’t need an inquisition from her brother, anyway.
Tara was on the property line between the two yards when she saw a big ass truck that had become very familiar to her pull into her parents’ driveway. Jace was there. They’d talked less than two hours ago. He’d said he had a session with Jacqueline. The thought had her stomach churning, and it wasn’t because she’d never gotten around to eating breakfast.
Resigned that she might as well get all the bad stuff over with at once, Tara headed for the front of the house toward where she heard the sound of the truck’s engine cut off. She braced herself for the inevitable—Jace telling her he and Jacqueline were back together. She’d get over this, just as she’d gotten over Logan. After that, there was nothing else that could get to her because really, what else could happen?
Even monumentally bad luck, such as the kind Tara seemed to have with the men in her life, had to run out eventually. Right? She could only hope. Her heart could only take so much.
Chapter Twenty-five
Tara came around the side of the house just as Jace was about to head for the back door. A frown marred her brow as she asked, ���What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He knew Tara well enough to figure out from the morning’s phone call that she was upset.
“You drove two hours just to see if I was okay?” Her surprise was evident in the expression on her face. The face that had become so familiar to him, he’d started to see it in his dreams.
“Yup. It only took me about an hour and a half. I made good time.” He was lucky he hadn’t passed any cops on the way. He’d topped the speed limit by a good twenty miles per hour for most of the trip.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yeah, I did.” He’d upset Tara by telling her Logan and Emma were there. Upset her enough that she’d hung up on him. “You know what you said to me before on the phone about how I don’t have to worry about you anymore. That’s not true. You are still my concern and you always will be. Once traveling partners, always traveling partners.”
Her expression softened. “How did you even know I’d still be around by the time you got here? I could have left for school by now.”
“I texted Tyler from the road. Told him I was on my way to your place and he should keep you here no matter what.”
“He didn’t tell me that.”
“I asked him not to tell you I was coming.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re contrary and do the opposite of what anyone tells you. I consider that one of your more endearing qualities. At least you’re predictable.” He shrugged, wishing he could hold her. She looked like she needed it.
Tara wrapped her arms around herself even though the day was warm and she had on a long-sleeved shirt. “What about your couples counseling with Jacqueline? I thought you were busy this morning with her.”
Couples counseling?
“It’s not couples—is that what you thought?” Things started to make more sense. “After I hung up with you, I told her I couldn’t make it, but Tara, those sessions with the therapist aren’t for us as a couple. They’re for her alone.”
“Then why do you go?”
“Turns out you were right about the bipolar thing. She needs medication and therapy. The first few sessions she refused to go unless I went with her. It’s better now that she’s over a week into it, but I was still going with her because I figured I needed to see it through. To make sure she can stand on her own two feet so I can make a clean break and get on with my life.” Jace finished the explanation and waited for Tara’s reaction.
She remained wary. “So you’re not back together with her?”
“No, I’m not back with Jacqueline . . . and I w
ouldn’t have gotten this done if I thought I ever would be.” Jace pulled the neck of his T-shirt to one side.
Her attention snapped to his new tattoo. “Wow. You got the cover-up.”
He smiled at her surprise. “I did.”
“And the booty calls with her? They over, too?” Tara avoided making direct eye contact as she asked the question.
Jace took a step closer, into her line of vision so she had to look up and see him and the truth that he spoke. “No, there’s been no sex with her or with anyone else. Booty or other.”
“Good. I’m glad my orgasm therapy worked.” She met his gaze and he saw her mood had lightened a bit. It made him feel lighter, as well.
“Yeah, it definitely did.” Jace laughed but there were still serious issues to discuss. His relationship baggage had been laid out on the table, but Tara’s hadn’t yet. He wanted a clean slate and a fresh start on both their parts. “So, I hate to bring this up, but I told you mine, so you have to tell me yours. You go over and talk to them yet?” He tipped his head toward the house next door, where Logan’s truck was parked in the drive.
“Yeah. Just left there.”
“And?” Jace tried to gauge how it had gone. It didn’t look as if she’d been crying, so that was a good sign. Of course, that didn’t mean she hadn’t yelled or thrown things. The girl had a temper on her.
“I didn’t see Emma, but I talked to Logan and it wasn’t so bad.” Tara let out a short laugh. “I think I don’t care all that much anymore.”
Jace let himself breathe freely again. “Maybe that therapy of yours worked both ways.”
“I think it definitely did.” Her smile had his heart speeding.
Jace didn’t know what to do with his hands. He wanted to reach out and pull her to him, but instead he pushed his fingers into the front pockets of his jeans. “Tara?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t faint or anything, but I think we—you and I—should go out on a date.”
“A date? Like a dinner-and-a-movie kind of date?” She bit her lower lip to control the smile that started to bow her lips at his offer.