“Through Henry.”
“How did Dad know Jason?”
“Excuse me,” Sydney said stepping between the two for their attention, her eyes finding each of them and pulling them to her. “Sorry to interrupt, but I want to know who Drake and Jason are before this goes any further. I want to know if we are safe. Then you two can continue clearing up the crap load of secrets you’ve been keeping from each other and from me.” Sydney took her time to send each of them a glare. “However, I am more currently concerned about our well-being.”
Where did he even begin?
“Drake is my mom’s drug dealer who is the owner of the club-house where I went those years ago to find her and Adalyn. He is dangerous and he went to jail for manslaughter.” Jake shot Joan a look before continuing. “Jason is the undercover detective that I helped to put Drake away. Drake is out of prison and looking for me because I was the snitch that helped put him there.” He hated how bad that sounded. Jake didn’t look like a snitch and he wouldn’t have been if Adalyn hadn’t been guaranteed a ticket out of that life if he helped Jason. “And he’s looking for Mia because she is Drake’s daughter. I called Jason the second I had put good distance between me and Drake. He instructed me to gather my family and stay here where we will be safe until he contacts us.”
“So we are safe?”
“Yes.” Jake turned back to Joan. “I want to know how Dad knew Jason.”
Joan’s face softened. “Your dad was the snitch, Jake. Not you.”
What was she talking about? His father didn’t know these people besides being his ex-wife’s drug dealer. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“That’s because you don’t know the history.”
More skeletons hanging in her closet. “How about you enlighten me.”
“I didn’t ever want to taint your image of your father, Jake. It’s not fair that I tell you what I am about to and you judge a man that is not here to defend himself.”
Why did his dad need defending?
“He loved you and Adalyn more than you will ever know. Everything your father did, he did it for the two of you. Everything in his life that he changed was for the two of you. To protect you and give you a good life.”
When she paused to give Jake the opportunity to comment, he remained quiet. His dad loved him, he got it...the question bothering him was what had be done that would make Jake think otherwise? And how on earth was he the snitch?
“Henry was a very smart man. He started life with nothing, but learned quickly how to flip money fast. Before you were born, he was hungry for money in a bad way. He had a clean business front buying, selling, renting properties for a good profit, but there was another side to him.” She took a deep breath and Jake knew this had to do with Drake. “Henry illegally invested in gun smuggling, through Drake. He never got his hands dirty and he knew how to take out the right money and put it back without causing suspicion. Or so he thought.”
At first, Jake didn’t believe her. He needed a moment to register everything. How could this even be possible? Not once had Henry, Drake or his mother mentioned his involvement in the clubhouse. Jason hadn’t mentioned his involvement when he pulled Jake aside and listed him his options: jail or snitch.
How had his dad, the man he looked up to, the man he trusted, the man who raised him, managed to keep such a part of his life hidden? At the very thought, Jake’s eyes found Sydney’s in a wide, confused stare. Jake was closer to Sydney than any other person in the world and he had managed to keep all of this from her. What would she think of him when all this was done and there were so many things he hadn’t told her at Hastings Port when they were sharing their past? Jake was right ticked at his dad for all the deceit...is that how Sydney would feel?
“Through his connection with Drake was how Henry met Beth and most likely how the cops connected the two together. I don’t know the details, I never asked because I didn’t want to know, but Henry thought he and Beth were in love.” Joan was pouring the details of the past out like she couldn’t say it fast enough, like it had been weighing on her all these years and as every word past her lips, it looked like a piece of guilt was lifted from her soul. Jake felt like every word she spoke was doing the opposite to him and dragging him down into a puddle of mud he was having a hard time trudging his way through.
“How or why a business man like your father ended up with Beth is beyond me. She was an addict when he met her. She was addict when he married her...” Joan was shaking her head. “...I never understood it. Henry thought a life for them away from Drake was possible and that they would be happy. But every time she took a trip for a week or a month or longer, she wasn’t on vacation like we told you. She was either back with Drake or back in re-hab.” That meant Henry pulled his mother out of a life of drugs and she hadn’t run to him because of Henry and Joan, she’d already been running to him.
“At first I suppose they were happy and it was enough. Not long after they had Adalyn, Beth went back to Drake. Henry knew me through my family...my rich family... and when he asked me to watch Adalyn between your mother’s disappearances, I agreed. Mainly to spite my father who later disowned me. His daughter could never be a nanny, but I was young and rather smitten with your father...I always had been. Then you were born, and some months were good, some years were good, while others weren’t. That was when your dad and I began to really get close. He didn’t have anyone else. No family and no friends and I was living in the guest house, so we bonded.”
Jake shook his head. “I don’t want to hear about your relationship with Dad.” The last thing he needed on top of the fact he just learned his dad was a criminal was about his romance with his mistress.
“Alright,” Joan took a deep breath sounding frustrated at the interrupted. “Henry was gathering evidence for Jason and making himself a deal in exchange for putting Drake away. Your father invested money illegally but he wasn’t a murderer like Drake. Henry had enough proof to put him away for a long time. He was working out the details and then you left. Your dad died and Jason had nothing.”
Jake held his hand up. “Jason knew Dad died and didn’t tell me?” This was getting more ridiculous by the moment.
Joan frowned. “How could he tell you? You were in over your head and as a favor to your dad, Jason involved you to keep you safe.” Jake was fuming, they should have told him. Damn it, they should have told him.
“Is that what Kyle found out?” Sydney asked. “Is that what they were fighting about the night we were going to get Jake back? That Kyle learned about Henry’s involvement?”
Joan shook her head.
“What were they fighting about?” Jake asked.
Joan pressed her perfect pink lips together, this time not wanting to spill the truth. Another secret.
Jake folded his arms across his chest. “What were they fighting about, Joan?” He mustered up his very best firm tone, but for a woman who had changed his diapers, it didn’t faze her.
“Your father and my affair.”
That didn’t make any sense. They all knew about the affair, it wasn’t a secret.
“After Adalyn was born.” Had he heard her right? “Nine months before Kyle was born.”
Jake’s anger paused, taking in her confession. What the hell was she saying?
“Kyle was your half-brother. That was why he went to get you.”
Kyle was his half-brother? Kyle was his half brother! Kyle was a year younger than Jake. That meant his dad had been cheating on his mother the whole time they were married! No wonder she went back to Drake. Did Beth see Henry in Kyle when she looked at him? Did she know about the affair? What kind of life was that for his mother to live?
“Your dad was mortified after we were together. You have to understand Henry and I were friends for a long time before Beth came around and that night it just happened. We were never together again until after your mom left for good.”
“Does that justify it? Does that make it right? What about
my mother? Did she know? Did she know Kyle was Dad’s?”
Joan looked hurt. “Beth didn’t know about us and Kyle. Thankfully, he didn’t take on your blue eyes and thick features. Beth left of her own free will and neither your father nor I had anything to do with it. Jake, your father would have stayed with her forever if she’d stayed with him. He was committed to her.”
“What else did you two put her through that I didn’t know about?”
“Beth left when you were Mia’s age, so I don’t think you remember a lot.”
“I remember plenty.”
“You remember from a child’s perspective.”
“Don’t try to butter it up.”
Joan laughed a strained gloomy laugh. “Butter it up? Let me see if I can refresh your memory. Do you remember the night your mother left you in a bath during one of her highs and Adalyn had to call 911 when she found you underneath the water Jake, unconscious?”
Jake didn’t remember that.
“How about the time your dad came home to a houseful of high strangers and you and Adalyn were locked in the garage?”
He sort of remembered something about being in a garage.
“I was also the one that raced over to help you and Adalyn out of the situations she left you in. I was the one who took you to the hospital and sat in the waiting room for hours hoping you were okay. Jake. You only see what you want to see. You’ve always been like that. I know Beth’s your mom, but I didn’t push her away and your dad didn’t push her away. She did it to herself.”
This was too much.
“Jake, as hard as this is to believe, I loved you and Adalyn. I wanted the best for you two, just like your father. But you two were always so angry with me and there was no way of changing your minds, so I hoped you would grow out of it. I never expected you or Adalyn to go look for your mother. That part of our life was coming to an end and we were starting over in Willow Valley. We wanted to be a family.”
Jake turned, unable to take anymore, and headed toward his bike.
Sydney was at his heels. She touched his arm and he turned, knowing she was going to try and talk him out of leaving when right now all he wanted to do was ride.
Her supportive smile took away some of his anger. “Take me with you,” her low voice said, surprising him.
Take her with me? He’d been astonished Sydney made it to the cabin on his bike the first time and now she wanted to climb back on with him? For him. She was amazing.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “The kids are with Joan and Haylee. They’re alright.”
Jake handed her a helmet. He was never letting this woman go again.
Chapter Thirty-Five
AS THE WIND continued to whip around Sydney, she wouldn’t say by any means that there wasn’t fear rumbling through her body, but she felt safe with the man controlling the machine. She also felt heartbroken for him.
There had been far too many secrets between Joan and Jake and so many they’d kept from her that she was going to need an instruction manual just to figure out what was going on and to keep up.
But her own sadness didn’t compare to what she knew Jake was going through. If riding his bike down side roads was going to help him deal with the newest secrets in his life, then she wanted to be strapped to the back with him. Literally, she would prefer to be strapped to the back of this monster machine then knowing her arms were the only security she had.
Jake dealt with too much on his own. It was time they let the love between them build a team and deal with all the ups and downs of life together...and if that meant climbing on his motorcycle every single time life was too overwhelming for him, then she was willing to take that step. No matter how much quivering was going on inside her and right now every organ in her body was jiggling around.
Darkness had fallen around them quite a while ago, which meant it was well past ten and into the night. That also meant they had been driving for hours on his bike and yet it didn’t feel like hours. That was how he always ended up out so late like a night owl.
When the bike pulled into the bush at the cabin, and the engine cut, Sydney would admit she was relieved. That was certainly enough driving for one day...one year...but if he needed her again she would clamber on and force her anxiety down.
The cabin was black besides the outside light.
Jake had pulled the bike over as the sun was starting to set and she phoned Haylee with a quick, less terrifying brief of events and confirmed everything was okay. Haylee had paused from the board game they were playing and Sydney relaxed when she heard laughter and teasing in the background.
Jake climbed off the bike, hanging his helmet from the handle bar before taking hers and doing the same. “Are you okay?” he asked putting her first when he was the one hurting.
She touched his worried face. “Are you okay?”
Without another word, Jake wrapped his arms around her waist resting his head against her breasts. His sadness tugged her heart and she stroked his hair with her fingers, cherishing in the way he was letting her comfort him through one of the hardest times in his life like he never had before. If only they had been this close when he returned, maybe things would have been different between them.
He kissed the bare flesh above her breasts and she almost went weak in his arms. She couldn’t help think he was sad again. She knew she shouldn’t go there. She knew now without a doubt in her mind that he loved her, but there was so much going on in his life maybe they should just...
He kissed her again, a little higher at the bottom of her throat and she swallowed hard.
The distant thought in her mind that they should stop and talk stumbled around and she almost laughed, even as Jake trailed more slow kisses up her neck and her body was reacting to every spot his lips touched. Jake wouldn’t be able to handle anymore talking tonight.
His mouth reached her chin and she managed to pull her face away. It wasn’t that she was afraid he was venting or using her, she just wanted to make sure he was okay.
His strong hands caught her face and pulled it back so their noses were touching. His shadowed eyes were so serious. “This is not because I'm scared or sad or dealing with my family shit. This is because when I was at the clubhouse today and realized I'd put my family in danger you were the top of my list Sydney. You were the flash in my head, the panic in my chest and the fears of losing you took me to a whole new level.” There he was being charming again, sort of, in a serious, stone-cold kind of way. “I never want to lose you. I never want to be away from you again. I never want to walk away from you again. I want you forever.” He paused and his words were so overwhelming she couldn't speak. “I have loved you since the day you slapped my arm in that hall and told me no biker jacket was going to scare you away.”
She laughed under her breath at the memory of a girl who had no idea what life had in store for her.
“I loved you the day I left and the day I returned and every day in-between. I love Haylee. When this is done I don’t want to go spend another night in the apartment above my bar. I want you and only you and I promise I will never hurt you again. I will never keep a secret from you or lie to try to protect you. I will be straightforward and honest and together we can work through whatever life throws us.”
Tears slid down Sydney’s face and his thumbs caught them.
“Am I too late?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Do you want me?”
Of course I do!
She nodded and sniffled. “Yes.”
“Will you marry me Sydney McAdams?”
Marry him? Marry him! When had he found time to think about marrying her? Why were her legs tingling to jump off the bike and do a marriage dance!
“I feel like we are rushing it.” He frowned and she kissed it away. “I am teasing you Jake. We have waited over a decade. I had plenty of time to think about marrying you.”
A smile found his lips. “That’s not funny.”
> “You told me to try humor.”
“Sexy humor, not mean humor. That was mean,” he claimed but there was humor in his eyes.
She kissed him again, and then worked up her most seductive voice. “Walk with me,” she said.
They walked across the grass and she let his hand go at the edge of the water.
The moon and stars reflected off the rippling water in tune with her rippling heart.
“Let's go swimming.” Sydney slowly pulled her jacket off and tossed it on the sand. She smiled seductively up at him, at least she hoped she looked seductive. She wasn’t exactly practiced at this like Abb. Her shoes were next, kicked off, and then she pulled her dress over her head tossing it at Jake who caught it with a slow grin creeping across his face.
“Are you trying to seduce me?”
She frowned, disappointed. “Trying?”
He grinned wider. “Are you planning on going skinny dipping Sydney McAdams?”
She stood in front of him with only her bra and underwear. “I was thinking about it. Are you going to join me?” She turned away from him and unsnapped her bra, pulled her underwear down and dived into the water leaving him fully clothed on the beach.
The water was warm and refreshing after being on the back of a bike for hours.
She surfaced and looked at the shore for Jake. He wasn’t there. It wasn’t a windy night and the water was calm around her.
Where was Jake?
Just then the water splashed behind her and Jake grabbed for her waist. Sydney laughed, pulling away and splashing him with water.
“Oh, you think so!” he hollered and she could hear some of the stress of his day washing away, so when he swam after her she splashed him more laughing when he sent waves of water in her direction.
Touching the lake’s muddy floor, she ran away from him, but he was quick, scooping her in his arms. She screamed and laughed his name as he threatened to throw her in the water. She begged him not to but it was a lost cause and she went flying through the air and back in the water.
“Jake Stow!” she laughed, splashing him again.
Lakeshore Love: The McAdams Sisters (By The Lake Book 3) Page 22