“I stopped by the bar and you weren't there.”
Sydney wanted to give the mother and son privacy to sort out their issues, but her feet simply planted them when she rounded the corner. What had happened between them? Her curiosity couldn't pull her away.
“What do you need? Money?” Yes, pay her, shut the door and come back to me. Please, let it be that simple.
“No.” Her whiny voice crept up the stairs childlike and right under Sydney’s nerves. It was hard to believe that his successful father was at one time involved with this sketchy woman. It was hard to believe she was Jake’s mother.
“Is it Adalyn? Where is she?”
“I don't know.” Irritation rose along with her tone. Why was she irritated, they were logical questions. Sydney was starting to see tiny bits of Jake in his mother. Tiny, tiny bits.
“What do you mean you don't know?” His tone matched her irritation for not answering the questions she didn’t like.
“Enough with all the questions!”
“Are you high?” Isn’t it obvious?
“Jacob!”
“So that's a yes.” There was so much hurt in his caring voice that it pulled every string around Sydney’s heart. “I'm not giving you money for this.” She could envision him waving his hand up and down at Beth’s body, but she didn’t dare look around the corner in fear of being seen.
“I don't need money.”
No lady, you need rehab...and a shower. She scolded herself for the latter thought. Clearly, this lady needed serious help and hadn’t the slightest clue she smelled like a garbage truck.
“Then what do you need? Why are you knocking on my friend’s door?”
Friend? The term stung. At one time she would have enjoyed him calling her a friend, she would be proud to be his friend, but now she wanted him to use a different title. The chances of that seemed slimmer with every word. If he fell back into the man who had left ten years ago they would lose any chance of discovering what had been occurring between them. Oh, how she wanted to rewind and ignore the door.
“High? Drunk? Whatever you are.”
Sydney felt a hand touch her shoulder and jumped. Busted.
“Who's that?” Haylee whispered.
Sydney’s heart was beating wildly as she gripped the shoulder of the bright cartoon-printed pajama shirt Haylee had changed into, and sent her a glare for startling her. It went unseen as Haylee braved a peek around the top of the stairs.
“Jake’s mom,” Sydney whispered.
“Jake’s mom?” Haylee caught a glance of Beth then came back to Sydney’s side and sent her a, whoa look. Beth was probably accustomed to such looks, if she even noticed.
“Is everything ok?”
Sydney shrugged, not sure what was going on. Beth wasn’t easily giving up details.
Haylee strained to listen, resting her head on her mother’s shoulder.
“I had to drop something off for you,” Beth said.
“I don't want it.”
“Neither do I.”
“Girls?” At Joan’s voice they both jumped this time.
Sydney’s elbow made contact with Haylee’s chin and a little groan escaped as she covered her chin. “Mother!” she whispered in a painful snarl.
Sydney hugged her daughter. “I'm sorry.”
Joan stared at them confused. “What are you two doing?”
Sydney shook her head and made motions to lower her voice.
“Jake’s mom is down there,” Haylee blurted out quickly without working the poor lady into it. Haylee didn’t know any of the history between Joan and Beth that dated way back before they had moved to Willow Valley.
Through the dark hallway she could see Joan’s body tense.
The three stood quietly as the voices travelled up the stairs.
Jake’s mother was still going on about dropping something off for him because she couldn’t find Adalyn and no longer wanted to deal with it.
“Mom, you're not making any sense.”
“I have to go.” That sounded familiar. Sydney brushed the trickles of awareness away. Jake wasn’t the same young teenager he was ten years ago. He was a grown man and he had promised her he wouldn’t leave. She would give him the benefit of the doubt, she believed him.
“Go where?”
“I don't know. Stop asking me all these questions. Damn it, you’re worse than your father!” Yikes.
Jake didn’t let her insult daunt him. “What about Adalyn?” His worry for his sister and the life she had chosen was a burden Sydney knew he carried every single day.
“She shouldn't have done it. I told her not to after all these years.”
“Done what mother? Jesus can’t you get out a simple answer?” Hmm, that also sounded familiar, Jake. Not so much fun on the other end of this conversation, was it?
“She's probably dead.”
The three women at the top of the stairs gasped then looked around to quiet each other. Dead?
“Dead? Why would you say that? What are you talking about?” Jake was in a panic. “Answer me. Dammit, Mother.”
“I have to get out of here.”
“Where?”
“Get your hands off me!”
A loud crash came from below then the front door slammed shut and silence.
The three women stood unmoving until Haylee nudged her mom to go downstairs. Sydney glared at her daughter. There was no way she was going down there. Only Joan’s eyes were telling her the same thing.
Sydney shook her head. Jake would need a moment to himself to process Beth and her apparent no reason visit and he certainly wouldn’t want to talk about it.
Go, Joan mouthed, in a bossy mom way, shooing her with her hands.
Sydney reluctantly made her way down the stairs to an empty foyer.
Had he followed her?
That wouldn’t be surprising. He’d left and now Sydney was standing alone, her dress smelling of Jake, the memory of his touch and the worry of where he went.
Jake walked out of the kitchen shrugging into his leather jacket just as her thoughts were going wild.
Relief invaded her thoughts until his perplexed face barely acknowledged her.
“Hey.” She remembered the small word seductively coming out of both of their mouths only minutes earlier.
Sydney touched his arm and he walked past her conveying hurt from small action. He had the power to hurt her and it was all too familiar.
“Are you alright?” she asked even as she was breaking inside.
Jake stopped.
She felt his tense body through her fingers. He didn't want to stop. He was leaving. This was her fear and it was overtaking her body at an incredibly fast rate. Get it together Sydney. He just had a huge falling out with his mother. Of course he wants to follow her. She claimed his sister might be dead.
“I'm fine,” he grumbled. A lie. He was anything but fine but he wasn't one to admit it.
“Are you going to find her?”
“Yes.”
She understood, really deep down she did. “Jake, be careful. You don’t know what’s going on with her, or Adalyn.” He would know she’d been listening but his safety was more important. “Please, watch yourself.”
Jake pulled away like he always did and she let him go like she always did. She turned, watching him open the door and walk away as she folded her arms across her front and tried to repel the emotions from surfacing. Ehen Joan and Haylee tromped down the stairs, she didn’t want them to know she was reliving her past.
Jake stopped abruptly.
Then Sydney heard a tiny little sniffle...that of a child. She quickly crossed the hallway forgetting her misery and grabbed the sleeve of Jake’s jacket moving him aside for a better view of what was stalling him.
Standing in the cold rainy night were three sets of dark, tired eyes. Sydney’s fingers gripped tighter to Jake’s jacket. These children were so tiny, malnourished and dressed poorly. This was what Beth had to drop off? Sydney’
s eyes followed the direction of Jake’s as he looked around for his mother. Nothing. Not a car in sight.
Jake stared at the kids like he was seeing things and without a clue what to do. Sydney bent down to their level. “Hello. My name is Sydney.”
The two girls, no older than ten exchanged mistrustful glances while the younger boy, maybe three-years-old, hid behind them, whimpering. He looked exhausted behind the ruffled curly hair dropping over his eyes.
“This is Jake.” Sydney pointed at Jake and the eldest’s wary eyes looked up at him.
“Uncle Jake?” she asked.
Sydney followed her gaze to Jake’s solid face as he took in the words. These were Adalyn’s kids. Jake, smile, these are Adalyn’s kids!
“What are your names?” Sydney asked.
Jake’s lack of response received a glare from the oldest before she looked at Sydney with untrusting eyes. “Beth left us here for Uncle Jake to watch us. You don't look like our Uncle Jake, so what do you care what our names are?” There was the no-nonsense Stow in this young girl that so reminded Sydney of Jake.
Sydney’s mouth shut and she slowly rose back to her feet beside Jake, who was dumbfounded and quiet. This was about to get very interesting and Sydney had a front row ticket.
“Where is Beth?” Jake asked, sounding harsher than she knew was his intention. He was still wound up from Beth and concerned about Adalyn’s safety.
The oldest shrugged. “How are we supposed to know?”
Sydney sucked her lips, trying not to smile. This little one was full of attitude while the other two cowered behind her, scared and seeking protection from the unknown before them. Sydney suspected the oldest was scared too only she had learned how to hide it with an attitude facade.
“Your mother is Adalyn?” Jake asked, slowly eyeing each child up. Their resemblance was uncanny.
Big russet eyes rolled upwards and the oldest took a deep, annoyed breath. “Well aren’t you a genius.”
Haylee had never in her entire life spoke to an adult with such disrespect. Then again, Haylee had always been taken care of, and it appeared these kids were lacking adult guidance.
Jake ignored the saucy tongue. “Where's your mother?” His tongue sounded just as saucy.
She shrugged, all superior, but her eyes were sad and Sydney’s challenge not to smile vanished. She suspected this little girl’s tone was a direct result of her need to protect herself and her siblings rather than to give Jake...or herself...direct ignorance. “I don't know.” It came out snappy.
When Jake still didn’t invite them in out of the storm beating on the roof above, Sydney stepped in, bracing herself for a battle with the oldest.
“Why don't we all come inside,” Sydney suggested, stepping back into the house and nudging Jake who wasn't moving.
Finally, acknowledging her existence, Jake looked up at her. His face masked of all his emotions in a hard stare. She wanted to reach out and touch him, but as he stepped aside and motioned for the children to enter, which they did, he left her no opportunity.
Sydney tried to send him a look of comfort for the whirlwind of drama Beth had whisked into his life. He didn’t even acknowledge the look, or reach for her. Instead, Jake disappeared outside to look for Beth. At least, she hoped he was looking for Beth.
Joan and Haylee met them in the small hallway with open mouths. Sydney sent them a quit it look and they smiled, fake, forced and confused as the rest of them.
Since the children weren't keen on sharing Sydney introduced Haylee and Joan.
“Oh yeah we heard about you,” the saucy one said to Joan. “You killed our grandpa.”
Whoa! Sydney's eyes flew to Joan.
Joan didn’t tolerate little mouthy children, the way she’d raised Jake and Adalyn made that obvious. Her silk, deep purple pajamas swished as she straightened even more while her eyes turned into heated little saucers. “Now listen here little missy, that's rude and inappropriate. It’s also completely uncalled for and disrespectful of other people’s feelings. You are in our house and I will not tolerate such ignorance.” Joan voice held no tolerance.
The little unnamed girl didn’t even waver. “So kick us out. It won't be the first time.”
Where was Adalyn? Where was Beth? Where was Jake?
Joan and the young girl had a stare-off when Jake came back inside just after the firework show and Sydney sent him a questioning look, did you find her?
He shook his head.
The younger girl, whose short hair was cut blunt with an uneven edge just above her shoulders, looked at Jake. “Are you our Uncle Jake?” Her voice was softer, kinder, with a hint of sad curiosity.
The little boy peeked around the eldest at the mention of Jake’s name and his eyes shyly found his uncle.
The older one shook the hands that connected her to the young sister. “Of course he is,” she snapped as Jake said, “Um, yeah I think so.”
The younger girl yanked her hand away from her sister and sent her a glare. She walked over to Jake lacing her tiny fingers in his big hand. Jake stared down at her like she was the plague, but she didn't notice, showing him a wide-eyed, trusting face. “Beth said you would keep us now.” The tired girl rested her head against Jake and yawned.
Sydney held her breath. How are you going to run away from this?
Chapter Twenty-One
KEEP THEM? KEEP them! What did that even mean? Why had his mother dropped them off with him? Why did his mother have them? Where was Adalyn? What had she done? What was going on?!
The unanswered questions drove Jake’s mind into a state of uproar. What was he supposed to do when he had no idea what was going on? He was thrown into a situation with Beth and Adalyn...once again...and blind-sighted without a clue.
Jake paced across the kitchen, back and forth, his boots scraping the wood with each step. He should remove his boots knowing the scuffs of dirt across the floor would drive Sydney mad. There was too much on his mind to think about boots, too much unknown.
Sydney. He stole a quick glance at her. Her eyes were locked on him. Her damp dress clung and outlined her body where his lips had dipped into the silky warmth of her flesh in what felt like a decade ago. He wanted to go back in time to her bedroom, agree to her suggestion and let Joan or Haylee answer the front door. Then he could take his time and wipe away all the worry laced across her face. Worry he and his family had put there...again. Truthfully, as much as he wanted to go back, sending young Haylee or Joan, the mistress, into Beth’s path would have been by far worse...and this had been horrendous.
He turned away from Sydney’s questioning gaze. She didn’t care about his boots, she was waiting for him to explain.
How the hell was he going to explain anything when he didn’t even know what was going on!
He’d heard the startled gasps of horror that crept down the stairs when Beth put Adalyn’s name in the same sentence as death, so he knew Sydney had heard every word between him and his mother. That left nothing else, of the current situation, to discuss. There were things that had gone unsaid the night he talked to Sydney about his past, but he wasn’t about to walk down that road either. He built a fence across that road to block enduring the pain it caused ever again.
Each time he passed the kitchen door, he glanced into the dimly lit living room across the hallway. The three kids, still nameless, were bundled up in blankets on the pull-out sofa. The youngest, a small, shy boy, a replica of himself at that age, was already sleeping away the evening’s events. Jake wished it was that easy for him...this was just the beginning of his night. The middle-aged girl, who smiled at him with Adalyn’s exact, trusting glimmer, was lying on her sister’s lap engrossed in the television. The older one...the saucy one that rose her eyebrows in such a way there was no doubt she wasn’t a Stow, petted the younger girl’s hair while her other hand was wrapped around the brother’s hand. She was the protector. He’d been in her shoes.
“I didn't even know I had nieces and a nephe
w,” he said, ripping his stare away and starting back into the kitchen, out of their sight.
After the drug and weapon bust in the clubhouse Beth’s boyfriend operated ten years ago Jake had left that life. He’d thought Adalyn would see there was no fixing their mother, a lesson he had to learn the hard way. He’d thought, he’d hoped Adalyn would give up the horrible life she’d been dragged into and come back home with him to start a life away from the damages of their mother’s lifestyle. Jake had waited in the police station for the entire night and when everything had settled, he’d been told she didn’t want to see him. After everything he had done...after putting his life in danger for her...she’d denied him the opportunity to even have a conversation. Now his mother left her three children saying Adalyn might be dead. Was she? How would he ever know?
“Jake, sit down.”
His wired body would never be able to sit still in a chair. I have to get the hell out of here. He needed to jump on his bike and scope out the town in case Beth was still here. Rain or not. The local bars were a great first place to look.
“I have to go.”
Sydney pushed herself away from the counter she'd been leaning against. “What? Jake, where?”
“To go look for my mom.”
Sydney stepped in front of him with her arms folded across her chest. Worry claimed every inch of her eyes and he wished they would look at him with desire like they had in her bedroom just a few moments before. He wished they were still in her bedroom now.
“I will let you go...” Let me go? Who was she kidding if he wanted to go her little tiny self wasn’t stopping him. “...but, you have to promise me you're coming back here tonight.”
He stared at her. Come back? Why would he come back? What was he going to do here? He had to locate his mother and sister.
Sydney stared him down as if reading his mind. “Jake, their grandmother just dropped them off with strangers promising that you...” She poked his chest. He almost grinned at how the gesture that was meant to be bossy was in fact adorable. “...are going to be their keeper.” That was a terrible promise. “If you don't come back you will break their little hearts.”
Lakeshore Love: The McAdams Sisters (By The Lake Book 3) Page 14