Again? How long had she been there? Jack remembered a phone conversation, then a whole lot of nothing.
“What are you doing here?”
“Pulling your sorry butt out of your pity party.”
Jack popped one eye open and saw her push out of the chair. Blonde, slim, beautiful, and loaded, Katie looked as if she was made of porcelain and might break if shaken. Jack knew better. Katie Morrison took crap from no one, ever. When the girl had it in her craw that she needed to fix someone or something, there was no stopping her.
Jack decided right then to keep his lips shut about Jessie. He didn’t need his sister interfering.
Katie stood over him and handed him a glass. “Here. Drink this.”
With his throat dry enough to compete with a desert, Jack drank before he asked what it was. One gulp and Jack sat up, sputtering.
Whiskey.
“What are you trying to do, kill me?”
Katie laughed. “Hair of the pooch.”
“Dog. Hair of the dog,” he corrected.
“Whatever,” she said, sitting down beside him after he’d made room for her on the sofa. “It works when you’ve been as blitzed as you were.”
Jack rubbed a hand over his face and took another gulp for good measure. “How long have you been here?”
She rested a hand on his arm and turned her soft blue eyes on him. “Long enough, big brother.”
No, no, no, no…not good. “How long, Katelyn?”
“Oh, I’m Katelyn now. Must mean you’re sobering up.”
She always was a sassy girl growing up. He could see nothing had changed. Jack finished the contents of the glass in his hands and felt the headache beginning to ease. His clothes were a mess, he smelled bad—even to himself—and if his life depended on it, he wouldn’t be able to tell anyone what the date was. The memory of Jessie’s refusal added a familiar ache in his chest.
Dammit.
Where is that bottle?
“Come on. Get your ass in the shower and put on some clothes. I’ll have a plate of steak and eggs up here by the time you’re out. Then we’re out of here.” Katie stood and pulled on his arm until he was standing beside her. With her heels on, she was nearly his height.
“Where are we going?”
“Home. The plane is waiting.” She pushed him toward his room.
“I’m not leaving.” Not without Jessie.
“Yes you are. Sitting here feeling sorry for yourself isn’t going to have you thinking clearly. Not to mention the alcohol factor. You need to jump on Dancer’s back and ride the fences. Then maybe you can pull your head out of your ass and figure out what to do. Sitting in this hotel room isn’t going to do it.”
Dancer…he hadn’t thought of his horse back home for months. Riding along the fences of the property was mindless and helped to clear his head. The fact his sister remembered that about him made him smile.
“I think you might be right.”
“Hon, I’m always right. Now shower. You stink.”
He stumbled into his bathroom and the phone in his pocket rang. He managed to pull it out and recognized Dean’s number. “Hello?”
“Well, hell, at least you sound sober this time.”
“I take it we talked last night?” Not that Jack remembered.
“You slurred, I listened.”
“I’m sure it was very entertaining.” He sat on the edge of the counter and pulled off his socks.
“Enlightening, actually. I just wanted to call and make sure you were OK.”
His heart was shattered in a zillion pieces. He was anything but OK. “I’m fine.”
Dean snorted into the phone. “Right. Listen, while you’re sober I thought I might try and give you some advice. You know when you told me that Maggie and I had two different ideas on what life was all about?”
“Yeah.” It took Maggie dumping Dean for Jack to tell his friend he was better off without her.
“Well, this girl, Jessie…she’s a waitress at Denny’s, Jack. Not exactly the kind of woman you’ve dated before.”
Jack’s jaw started to throb as his back teeth gritted together. “Dean,” he warned.
“I mean, a waitress. C’mon. Did she even finish high school?”
“It’s a damn fine thing you’re calling on the phone, Dean, or my fist would be through your face.” Jack clutched his phone with one hand and pounded on the counter with the other.
“Whoa, OK, Jack. Calm down. Just wanted to point out that these things happen for a reason. You said the same thing to me not too long ago.”
Yeah, he had. But this was Jessie they were talking about.
“I’m going to forget we ever had this conversation.”
“Just trying to help.”
“Well, next time…don’t!” Jack hung up and tossed the phone on the counter.
Katelyn watched her brother wobble to the bathroom while talking on his cell phone. She waited until she heard the sound of water before reaching for her phone. She’d learned more of Jack’s story than he could possibly remember.
Arriving near midnight, Katie had found Jack sprawled on his sofa, moaning about his life. It took her hours to decipher it, but when she did, she knew she had to help.
Her brother was bonkers over this Jessie he had called out to repeatedly. From what Katie could tell, her brother had decided to find true love by keeping the truth of his wealth from the single mom. Then when the chips fell, the wise woman refused his proposal for fear he’d leave her when he decided to follow his dreams.
He even drove his old beat-up pickup truck he’d had since he was sixteen. No wonder Jessie said no.
“She thinks I’m a w-waiter, here at the hotel,” he’d said last night once Katie got him going. “A temporary holiday waiter.”
Katie wanted to reason with him, but knew he wouldn’t remember much, if any, of their conversation in the morning.
Jack had even showed her a picture he’d taken with his phone of Jessie and her son. The expression on Jessie’s face was one of pure devotion. Her son, Danny, had a beaming smile for the camera.
Katie had taken the time to jot down a few phone numbers he’d put in his phone. For later use, she’d told herself, justifying her invasion of his privacy.
But she knew better than to push a man. Her father was just as stubborn as Jack was, or maybe it was the other way around. Still, the two men had one very big thing in common. When they fell in love, they did it all the way. No second time around for either of them. Watching her father pine for her absentee mother for years had made Katie hate her mother more and more.
Katie wouldn’t allow her brother similar years of pain.
He was in a tight spot and needed to think.
He needed his little sister to watch his back until he could come up with his own way of fixing the problem.
Sure, Katie could call this Jessie lady up and tell her the truth about her brother, but who knows how that would go? If it went south, Katie and Jack’s relationship would be strained more than it was.
She missed her brother. Her own trials in recent life reminded her how much she needed the tiny family she had.
She called room service, ordered a high-protein breakfast for her brother, and then asked the manager of food services to meet her downstairs with the acting manager of the hotel.
She had a few things to cover before she and Jack jumped on the plane.
In the manager’s office, Katie asked the two people to sit. “I have a big favor to ask of both of you, a private favor that needs to be between the three of us.”
For the first time in months, Katie started to feel good about herself.
Monica stood beside her sister as they walked around the car lot full of shiny new chunks of machinery. Although Danny was feeling better, the cool day had made Jessie ask the neighbor to sit with him long enough for her to pick out a new car.
Something about the whole We burned your car so come on over and pick out another one thing bugged
the crap out of Monica. If Jessie weren’t in such a funk, she’d be questioning the good fortune, too.
Nonetheless, they walked from cars to SUVs to trucks and discussed the merits of all the vehicles.
Mr. Gravis pointed out the attributes. “Navigation is a big thing right now. All the newer cars have hands-free Bluetooth connections for your cell phones, making it safer while on the road.”
“Fuel economy is more important than speed,” Jessie told the dealer.
“Do you like the hybrid?”
“I live in an apartment. Plugging it in would be a hassle,” Jessie told the man.
Monica hadn’t thought of that.
“Then a smaller engine with high miles to the gallon. You have a son, right?”
Jessie nodded.
“I think the crossover is perfect,” Monica said. “Room for five, plenty of storage in the back. The mileage is better than the bigger SUVs.” Monica led her sister over to the cars in question and opened the door of a blue one.
Jessie slid into the seat and placed her hands on the wheel. “It is nice.”
“Leather seats with heaters in them on the higher-end models, back-up cameras that display on the navigation system.” Mr. Gravis touted the car’s statistics while Monica climbed into the passenger seat.
“What do you think, Jessie?”
“I like it…”
“But?”
“The trucks are nice, too.”
Monica’s smile fell. Jack’s truck was old. Even now, Jessie was thinking about him. Monica put her hand over her sister’s. “This is your car. Jack isn’t here.”
“I know.” Jessie glanced around the interior of the car and shook her head. “I guess this would be a good pick.”
“Might I suggest something?” Mr. Gravis asked.
“Go ahead.”
“Long trips are made easier with the entertainment package for the kids in the car.”
Jessie cocked her head to the side. “The dealer wants me to have a completely loaded crossover?”
Mr. Gravis smiled and nodded.
Jessie glanced at Monica. “What do I have to lose?”
“Take it.”
Jessie glanced at the dealer and said, “Show me this car loaded up and I’ll take it on a test drive.”
“Good choice, Ms. Mann.”
Monica stepped out of the car and followed the dealer and her sister around the lot.
When Jessie found the car with all the requirements, Mr. Gravis handed her the keys and let her drive off the lot by herself.
Both Monica and the dealer stepped into the shadow of the building.
“So, Mr. Gravis, do you mind telling me what the real story is here?”
Mr. Gravis glanced her way and the smile on his lips faltered slightly. “It’s just as I said. There was a fire, and the dealer—”
“Dealership is responsible. Yeah, I heard that, but I’m having a hard time believing it. Where is Jessie’s old car now?”
“We towed it out of here.”
Isn’t that convenient?
She wasn’t buying it.
“Towed it where?”
Mr. Gravis shuffled his feet. “I’m not sure. Junkyard, I guess.”
“So if my sister left anything in the glove compartment…”
“Oh, we removed all of her personal items. No worries there.”
Yeah, right!
“Sometimes good things happen to good people,” Mr. Gravis said. “Your sister seems like a deserving sort. Between you and me, I think my boss is being very generous. Must be the Christmas spirit.”
Monica narrowed her eyes. “Christmas spirit?”
“Yeah, ’tis the season and all of that.”
She dropped it. She didn’t buy his crock of crap for nothing. But she dropped it.
A few minutes later, Jessie drove back into the lot and stepped out of the car. She smiled, but there wasn’t any real joy in it. It tore Monica up to see her sister so down.
“I like it. It has everything.”
“So shall we fill out the paperwork?”
Jessie nodded.
Two hours later Monica stood beside Jessie as she sat in her new car. “Christmas came early this year,” she said, trying to cheer Jessie up.
“I can’t believe this. Jack is going to flip…” Her voice trailed off, her eyes fell to her lap.
“Try and think of the good things going on right now. No more broken-down cars or broken heaters. I’ll bet you won’t even have to roll the windows down on this car to get the air to start working.” Her other car was a pile of junk. It was nice to see it go. “Hey, I’ve got some errands to run. Are you going to be OK if I make it home in a few hours?”
Jessie smiled at her. “I’m a big girl, Mo. I’ll be fine.”
Monica reached into the car and hugged her sister. “I say we take a road trip the first chance we get.”
“Danny is going to be so excited.”
“See, that’s it. Think of the good things.”
Yet as Jessie drove away, Monica knew she was already in tears or near them thinking about Jack.
In her car, Monica drove straight to The Morrison and parked along the street to avoid having to tip the valet. She walked past the marble columns and massive glass doors as if she knew exactly where she was going. Inside, she found the signs pointing toward the lounge. Only a few people were in the bar, none of them Jack. Monica returned to the lobby and found the restaurant. At nearly one o’clock, the lunch crowd was in full swing. The hostess at the desk asked if she wanted to be seated.
“No, I’m sorry. I’m looking for a friend who works here.”
“Who are you looking for?”
“His name is Jack Moore.”
The hostess had the oddest expression on her face that Monica had ever seen. “Can you wait here?”
“Sure.”
Maybe Jack had told the friends he worked with about Jessie and they were watching out for him. Monica thought of what her fellow students might do to help if she were in Jack’s shoes.
Monica didn’t have to think about it long before an older woman walked up to her, smiling. “Hi, can I help you?”
“Yeah, I’m looking for Jack. It’s kind of important or I wouldn’t be bothering him at work.” Monica realized that her showing up at his place of employment might look bad for him, so she started to explain herself. “He doesn’t know I’m coming.”
“It’s OK. We’re not as stuffy as we look. What’s your name?”
“Monica. He’ll know me as Jessie’s sister.”
The lady wrote down her name. “Jack isn’t working today, I’m afraid. Why don’t you give me your number and I’ll get him the message.”
“Really? I mean, that’s nice of you.”
“You did say it was important.”
“Right. It is. Very important.” Monica gave her cell number. “Will Jack be in tomorrow?”
The lady seemed puzzled by the question. “I’m not sure. We allow our employees to switch schedules a lot during the holidays. Honestly, I’m really not supposed to reveal personal schedules.”
“Of course. I understand.” Monica held her hand out to shake the other woman’s. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure, Monica. Have a merry Christmas.”
“You too.”
As Monica left the hotel, she was sure a set of eyes watched her leave. For the second time that day, she thought the Christmas spirit had flown over the people of Ontario and they were all just a little too eager to help.
Chapter Fourteen
Jack pushed his horse into a fast run, enjoying the cool air hitting his face. His head cleared for the first time in days. With that clarity, reason and regret wiggled in.
He’d messed up bad with Jessie. He should have kept his trap shut about marriage and given the girl more time for him to grow on her.
Now he needed to figure out a way to climb back into her life without her running away. More than ever, he needed to kn
ow if she loved him. Katie seemed to think she did, and Katie hadn’t even met Jessie yet.
“What did she say that made you leave her apartment?” Katie had asked in the plane on the way home to Texas.
“She said it was just sex.” Jack had opened up to his sister.
“And you believed her?”
“What was I to think? She turned me down and told me to leave. To find my dreams with someone else. Someone who didn’t have a kid that would strap me down.”
Katie shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Oh, Jack, you’re a fool. Don’t you see what she did?”
“I saw it clear enough. She said no.”
His kid sister sat forward across the aisle of the Lear and leveled her eyes to his. “When you’re riding Dancer, you think long and hard about what you just told me. Long and hard.”
Sitting on the back of his horse on his father’s Texas ranch gave him plenty of time and silence to think.
Jessie was hurting when she’d told him to leave. Her eyes had glossed over with fear and then her jaw had gone firm with determination. The strong mom gene in her kicked in and she drew her line in the sand. Told him he had pushed too far…too fast.
Yet when she’d given him her reasons for saying no, none of them had to do with the persona he’d presented to her. She didn’t say no because he was a transient waiter in a go-nowhere job. No, she’d told him that he would regret asking her one day. So once again, Jessie had to be the adult and say no.
Only she didn’t need to say no. And she wasn’t the only adult in the relationship.
Jack pushed Dancer to the westernmost part of his father’s property and watched the sun move low on the horizon.
He pictured Jessie wearing a sundress and a smile, laughing in the field…a cowboy hat atop her head.
He and Danny could fish on the riverbank. Did Danny like to fish? Chances were the kid hadn’t had a chance to do that yet.
Jack’s throat started to fill with regret.
He needed to fix this. To make the picture he’d painted in his head come true.
“Is this Monica?” Katie asked when a woman picked up the phone.
“This is. Who’s this?”
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