"That's a lot, huh, mom? My daddy must've loved you a lot." Jackson was listening intently.
"Yes, I think he did," she nodded. "Then one Christmas we had a big fight. I wanted him to give up a job he needed very badly and make him go home to Poppa Jack's with me instead and he wouldn't do it."
"But why did he need the job so much? Didn't he have a lot of money like Poppa Jack?" he asked.
"No, he didn't. He had to work so he would have money to go to school," she sighed. That part of the story was easy enough, but how did she explain the other complications to a six-year-old child?
"So I went home angry and he went home angry and we didn't talk for a whole month. When he called me, it was to tell me he was going to marry another girl," she said and paused, hoping that would suffice for today.
"What's his name?" he asked again.
"That's not important right now," she said.
"It is to me. I've got a daddy somewhere and I don't even know his name. My last name is the same as yours. Why is that?"
"Because your daddy didn't know about you," she answered honestly. "I never did tell him because he married someone else and I—" She couldn't find the words to finish.
"Well, tell me his name and we'll go find him and tell him about me. And if we can't find him, I bet Poppa Jack will help us," he said.
"I never was married to your daddy, Jackson," Tracey told him, hoping to prolong this business about his name a while longer. She and Austin had decided maybe it would be better to tell both children on the same day, but she hadn't anticipated Jackson's unexpected questions.
"Even so, he still has to have a name," Jackson said stubbornly, not taking his eyes from hers.
"Yes, he has a name." Tracey took a deep breath. "And I saw him a few weeks ago and we talked about you."
"You did?" The excitement was evident in his voice. "Then he knows about me. But you didn't tell me about him. Where is my daddy, Mom? I want to see him and talk to him. I want to tell him that Poppa Jack might buy me a pony and I want to tell him about my friend, Emily and her pony, Maybelle," he rattled on.
"Do you remember when Emily said her middle name was Trace and I told her that's what her daddy used to call me a long time ago?" she asked.
"Yep, and my middle name is Nelson, just like Emily's daddy," he nodded. "That's funny, Mom. She's got your name and I got her daddy's name."
"Well, when Emily was a little baby, her mother decided to marry someone else. She gave Emily to Austin since he is her daddy."
"I know that." Jackson's tone was pure six-year-old exasperation. "He named her Emily after his grandma who is dead now and Trace after a lady he loved a long, time ago. Emily told me that," he said.
"He named her Trace after me. I was that lady he loved a long time ago," she said.
"Oh."
"And I named you Jackson after your Poppa Jack. Your middle name, Nelson, is from a man I loved a long, time ago, who is your daddy," she said.
"Then my daddy's middle name is Nelson just like mine and Emily's daddy, huh?" He cocked his head to one side.
"Yes, it is," she told him. "Because Emily's daddy is your daddy, too." She said the words she'd dreaded saying all in a rush.
"Hot damn!" Jackson jumped up and hugged her tightly again. "He's the best daddy in the whole world! Emily says he is and I believe her. Now he's my daddy, too! Can we go home and tell him? Hey, does that make Emily my cousin? She's got lots of cousins in Tom Bean. Does that make me kin to them, too?"
"That makes Emily your half-sister since she doesn't have the same mother you have," she explained. "And all the Tom Bean cousins are your kin. They're your daddy's brothers' kids."
He hopped around so excitedly he didn't even see his bobber go under and wouldn't have noticed the rod and reel being pulled out to the edge of the water if Tracey hadn't jumped up and grabbed it.
"We got a big one," she hollered at him just about the time the line broke and the bobber floated away to the middle of the lake. "But he's gone now. He broke our line. I guess fish do like pink bubble gum."
"I got a dad-dy," he sing-songed. "Let's go home and see if they're back from Tom Bean yet. Emily said they were goin' down there for the whole weekend and she was goin' to ride Maybelle, but they might come home early. Can we go now? I'll help you get the stuff together." He was already reeling in the line on her fishing gear.
"Jackson, I think maybe Austin better tell Emily before we talk to him," she took him by the shoulders and tried to explain. "You know, she might not be as excited about this as you are. After all, you'll have a daddy but she still won't have a mommy."
He fidgeted all the way back to the apartment, trying to sort things out in his young brain and not having much luck with the job.
"Do you think I could call him when we get home and ask him some stuff?" he finally asked.
"What do you need to know? Just ask me." It was the first time he'd ever needed anyone's opinion on an issue other than hers.
"Well, I want to go talk to my daddy right now. I want to tell him lots of things and I don't want to wait," he told her.
"You've talked to Austin lots of times. You'll see him again soon enough."
"Well, he wasn't my daddy until right now," he argued. "I want to see him today."
"Oh, all right," she agreed.
Austin's black pick-up truck was parked in front of his apartment when she drove into the courtyard. She parked the Camaro and lugged the cooler and fishing gear up the stairs. Jackson carried their hats and his tackle box and followed behind her.
She dropped it all in a pile on the dining room floor and picked up the phone.
"Are you calling him right now?" Jackson asked.
Tracey nodded. "Go wash up, comb your hair, and put on a fresh pair of shorts," she told him.
"Okay." He ran off to his room.
"Hello?" Austin's voice still made her heart skip a beat.
"This is Tracey," she said.
"I'm glad you called. Listen, Emily and I started talking about Jackson and before I knew it she was asking why he didn't have a daddy, and anyway I ended up telling her that he did. And that I was his daddy. I know we were going to tell them at the same time, and now I've put pressure on you. If you don't tell him tonight, then she'll tell him tomorrow at school. I'm really sorry, Trace."
She sighed heavily. "I was calling to apologize to you for the same thing. We went fishing and he asked me point blank what his daddy's name was. I tried beating around the bush, but it didn't work. He knows and he wants to come down there right now and talk to you."
"Send him down then. These kids are readier than we are."
"So how did Emily take it all?"
"Pretty well. She says Jackson is the luckiest boy she knows, and he's got the bestest mother in the whole world and she doesn't mind sharing her daddy."
"For now," Tracey said thoughtfully.
"Well, we can worry about that later. Are you coming over with Jackson?"
"I'm coming. We just got back from a fishing trip and I look like hell, but I'm coming," she said.
"You'd look beautiful in a feedbag dress tied in the middle with a rope." Austin's tone was warmly encouraging. "See you in a few minutes, then."
Chapter Seven
Jackson held her hand tightly as they crossed the courtyard and knocked on Austin's apartment door. Emily answered the door with a squeal, "Daddy, they're here. Come on in. Jackson did you know you're my brother?" The little girl grabbed him by the hand and pulled him away from Tracey.
Austin leaned against the door frame leading from his bedroom to the living area. "Hello. Have a seat. I'll put on a pot of coffee. You kids want some juice?"
"Yes, sir," Jackson stopped in the middle of the living room and stared intently at Austin, his eyes traveling from Austin's bare feet, all the way up to his face. "You are my daddy. I think I look like you," he said without a smile.
"Yes, I am, and I think you look like me, too." Austin squatted s
o his face was level with Jackson's. "Do you like that?"
He nodded eagerly. "What am I supposed to call you?" he asked.
"Don't be silly," Emily grabbed his hand again. "Call him daddy. That's what I call him."
He looked up at Austin once more. "What am I supposed to call Emily?"
"Oh, Jackson, that's funny," she giggled. "You call me Emily just like you always did. Let's get some juice and go in my room and play Memory. Betcha I can beat you this time." She tugged at his hand, but Jackson just stood there.
"Any more questions?" Austin asked.
"Can I hug you?" Jackson asked.
Tears stung Austin's eyes as he opened his arms and hugged his son for the first time. "You bet you can, son," he said hoarsely. "I really do like hugs." He included Emily in the second hug.
She squealed and slipped out of her father's arms long before Jackson did. "Let's go play." She tugged at his hand again.
"You hug like Mom does," Jackson said, and he smiled then. "I think I like having you for a daddy. Are we goin' to live together like a family someday?"
"Well, we'll have to see about that. For right now you and I will have to get used to being a daddy and a son, won't we?" Austin answered carefully.
"Okay. Let's go play, Emily." He ran off to the bedroom with his sister.
Tracey plopped down on the sofa in his living room, because she knew if she didn't sit down she was going to fall. Every nerve in her body was tingling with anxiety and she didn't even realize how tense she had been until Jackson had asked that last question.
Austin settled into the couch cushions right beside her, took her hand in his and sighed as deeply as she had just moments before. Just the touch of their hands gave each of them enough strength to keep breathing.
"Tough, huh?" she said.
"I wanted to grab him and hug him every day last week. I wanted to hold him and never let him go. I was afraid something awful would happen before I got to acknowledge him as mine," Austin whispered.
"Hey, Daddy!" Jackson ran out of Emily's room. "Can me and Emily have a birthday together?"
"We'll think about it," Austin said.
Tracey felt his hand tremble and she squeezed it tightly.
"You sound just like Mom," Jackson said. "That's what she always says." He ran back to the bedroom and shouted down the hall. "Hey, Emily. They're going to think about it."
"You'll get used to him calling you daddy, after a while," she said.
"You don't know how happy it makes me, Trace," he said softly. "Thank you."
She patted his hand, not wanting to talk about anything so emotional just yet. "He wants to stay here. Can you bring him home in thirty minutes? He needs to take a bath and calm down a bit before bedtime."
Austin smiled. "Yes, dear. Do you realize we sound just like old married folks?" He leaned over the arm of the couch for a quick peek down the hallway, then threw his arm around her and drew her close for a kiss. He'd been drinking black coffee, no cream or sugar and he tasted wonderful. Tracey kissed him longer than her good judgment told her she should, but deep down inside, she kinda didn't care.
"Now what are we goin' to do about us?" he asked when he broke off the kiss.
"We'll worry about that later." She pulled out of his embrace. "See you in half an hour."
Exactly thirty minutes later her doorbell rang, but before she could reach the door from the bedroom where she was ironing Jackson's jeans, he burst into the apartment with Emily in tow and Austin right behind them.
"Daddy, you've got to come in." He tugged at Austin's hand. "Emily's been up here to play but you've never seen my room, Daddy. Hey, Mom, I'm home now," he shouted. Then he looked up to see her standing in the doorway of her bedroom watching the commotion. "Oh, hi, Mom. Daddy's come to see my room!" He said Daddy so often, she was sure Austin's ears were probably hurting from listening to it. But he looked as proud and pleased as any man could.
"Well, you better take him in there before your toys run away. Since you weren't here, they told me they might run away from home and never come back," she teased.
"You're silly," he giggled.
"And when you get through seeing his room, you gotta see his mom's room." Emily joined in the conversation. "Jackson let me look in from the door once and it's so pretty. Someday when I'm a grown-up girl I want a room just like it, Daddy."
"This is my toy box and this is my bed. The other one is where Mom sleeps when I'm sick. Last week there was a spider on that bed, and Mom hates spiders but she put it in a grocery sack and took it down to the yard to let it go because I don't like her to smash them."
Jackson rattled happily on.
"Daddy, here's my closet and here's all my games. Emily likes to play Candyland with me when she comes up here."
"Can we look at your room now?" Emily asked Tracey.
"Maybe Tracey doesn't want us prowlin' around in there," Austin said quickly, trying to avoid any awkwardness. They still were a long way from being a real family.
"I don't mind," Tracey said warmly. "If Emily wants a room just like mine I expect you'd better look at it. Then you'll know what to get her."
"See, Daddy." Emily was the first one through the open door. "Look at this yellow bed and her mirror—it looks like a window, but you can see yourself six times. Ain't it pretty?"
"Isn't it pretty, not ain't," he corrected. "Yes, it is, and no clothes on the floor, either. My, how people change," he said with a wink at Tracey. She decided to ignore his affectionate dig and said nothing, turning away to hide her smile.
Austin looked around the feminine, homey room and smiled himself. He noticed a crystal dish on her dresser with a ring in it, and looked closer. Sure looked a lot like his class ring. Had she really kept it all this time?
Jackson interrupted his thoughts, trying to wheedle another favor from his mother.
"Can me and Emily play a little while before I take my bath?" His voice betrayed his tiredness, and Austin exchanged a look with Tracey.
"No," he said firmly. "It's Emily's bath time, too. And you two have school tomorrow, so we'd better go back to our apartment and get things ready. Nice ring, Trace." He nodded toward the crystal dish that held it. "Looks like one I used to have."
Tracey realized what he was talking about, and blushed ever so slightly.
"What a coincidence," she said sweetly, but with just enough edge to let him know she wasn't about to fall into his arms and swoon over sweet love remembered. Austin just grinned at her like a crazy coyote.
"Okay. I now declare this is officially everyone's bedtime," Tracey said firmly.
"Doing anything later tonight?" Austin asked mischieviously. "We could ask Twyla to babysit and go out to celebrate."
"Sorry. I already have a date," Tracey answered pertly.
Austin's disappointment was plain.
"Who with? If you don't mind my asking."
"With Dr. Seuss and Jackson. We're reading Green Eggs And Ham for the umpteenth time."
"Oh. I see. Well, come here and give your daddy a big goodnight hug, Jackson." He stooped down and took his little boy in his arms and Tracey's heart nearly stopped. They looked so natural together and Jackson was laughing so happily she knew she'd done the right thing at last.
"Okay, Daddy. See you tomorrow. 'Bye, Emily. The kids at school aren't going to believe that you're my half a sister. I bet they say we're making up a story."
"I bet they will." Emily held Austin's hand as they walked Tracey and Jackson to the courtyard.
"Goodnight, Trace," Austin said softly. He kissed her cheek gently, and Tracey knew she was blushing. Thank goodness it was too dark for the children to see her color rise.
"Goodnight, Austin," she finally said, and turned to go. Jackson was working off some of his excitement by tearing around the courtyard. If he ever got to sleep tonight, it would be a miracle. And that went double for her.
The phone rang shortly after Jackson had finally dropped off and Tracey ran to answ
er it. Austin's drawling hello made her blush all over again.
"I'm taking you out tomorrow night. You can't say no."
"No," she said firmly. "I'm not ready to be seen going out on a date with you. You know how people talk."
"Then let's go to my place. I already asked Twyla if she could babysit. She'd be delighted to watch both kids at her sorority house. She and her girlfriends are starting to make decorations for the upcoming Halloween dance tomorrow night. Jackson and Emily can make tissue paper ghosts and pig out on candy corn."
"On a school night?"
"She'll put them both down for a nap if they get tired. They'll be fine. How about it, Tracey? I really think we should celebrate."
Tracey hesitated. She wondered what exactly there was to celebrate this early in the game. But she told herself there was nothing wrong with having dinner with him, and if Austin got frisky, she could just walk across the courtyard back to her own apartment.
"Say yes."
"Yes," she said slowly, delighting him and making her wonder just what in hell she was getting into.
Austin's table was set for two, when Tracey finally arrived and set down the casserole she'd brought. It wasn't anything fancy, just chili and cornbread baked together, but it had been a favorite of Austin's. Back when. She noted the champagne chilling in a tin pail of shaved ice, and looked at the label. It was an expensive brand, and the kind she'd preferred. Back when.
Tracey smiled. So he remembered what she liked. That was a good sign. She looked around for her host, hearing water running in the bathroom and whiffing the familiar piney scent of a certain shaving cream.
Austin came out of the bathroom with his face half-shaved and half-covered with foamy white goo, a small white towel slung over his shoulder. He was barechested and Tracey didn't know where to look first.
Small Town Romance Collection: Four Complete Romances & A New Novella Page 23