Tycoon Takedown (14 page)

“I have a small house in Fort Mavis.”

“We’ll stay in the nearest town.” H
e’d
sounded like he was about to hang up, but the mother took the phone from him.

“Melanie?”

With tears in her eyes, Melanie answered, “Yes?”

“Thank you. Thank you for calling us.”

Melanie said, “I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“Don’t be sorry, Melanie. You just gave me a piece of my son back. You don’t know what that means.”

Long after the call had ended, Todd’s mother’s words had haunted Melanie.

Please, this time, let this have been the right thing to do.

Waving to catch her attention, Sarah called Melanie back to the present. “So I spoke to Charlie again today.”

Melanie kept her eyes on her son. “How is he?”

“Miserable. I wish yo
u’d
let me tell him why you don’t want to talk to him.” Sarah picked up some grass and tossed it into the air as she spoke. “That is, if you know why. I’m still not sure I understand.”

With a sigh, Melanie looked at her friend. “Your brother is a wonderful guy, but we’re too different.”

“He doesn’t like to talk about anything that bothers him. You don’t like to talk about anything that bothers you. Yeah, you’re so different.”

Melanie turned back to watch Jace. “Did he ask about me?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean anything. He expects me to gush and tell him everything. Even I can’t believe I haven’t.”

“Well, thank you for that. I’m not ready to talk to him yet.”

“Did you sign up for the interior design course?” Sarah asked, deciding to drop a topic that was going nowhere.

Melanie smiled with relief at the change of subject. “Yes, I can’t wait to create beautiful spaces again. I even started keeping a notebook again of designs I like.” She turned and winked at Sarah. “Unlike your journal, I’m not worried if Jace sees it.”

Sarah blushed. Melanie knew she should probably let her friend forget the time Jace had repurposed her notebook, which was filled with Sarah’s first attempts at writing erotica, as his coloring book. Luckily, he could only read a few words at the time.

As Sarah continued to turn various shades of embarrassment, Melanie said, “I forgot how much I loved the creative process. I enjoy taking the ordinary and making it beautiful.”

Sarah smiled. “Speaking of beautiful, I can’t get over how good you look. Tony says he liked you better before because now his ranch hands are having difficulty concentrating on their training sessions. They get all moony eyed when they see you.”

Melanie blushed again. “It’s just makeup and a few dresses.”

“No, it’s more than that, Mel. It’s a confidence.” Sarah stood slowly and brushed off the dirt from her jeans. “I know it’s none of my business, but you really should call Charles. He deserves to know why you left.”

“Why?” Melanie said angrily. “You said he doesn’t even ask after me.”

“Exactly.”

Melanie sighed. “I want to, but after how I lef
t . . .
I don’t know what to say except that I’m sorry. Most likely he’s already moved on, and
I’d
only be rehashing something h
e’d
rather not. I don’t know what I should do. I can’t think about anything else right now besides Jace’s grandparents coming here. What if they’re horrible people? What if contacting them was a mistake?”

“No one is going to let anything bad happen to Jace. Tony will throw them right off the ranch if they so much as breathe funny at either of you. And with my brother, I can’t guarantee what he’ll say—especially not after you disappeared without a word—but you should give him a chance. He’s hurting just like you are. I don’t need all the details of what happened between you two to know that. Love is terrifying sometimes. It requires a leap of faith. And you’re right—it may not work out. But ask yourself, What if it could? What if making a phone call this time could change everything?”

With that, Sarah turned and walked back toward the main house.

Melanie thought for a long time about what Sarah had said. Sh
e’d
been too afraid to contact Todd, and the consequences for that decision were hefty. She was moving forward in so many areas of her life, perhaps this was another she needed to address.

She took out her cell phone and stared down at it in her hand. She swiped it on and scrolled for Charles’s number.

Her finger hovered over the “Call” button.

There was the sound of boy and horse disagreeing and then a thud as Jace hit the ground. Melanie pocketed her phone and was behind him in a heartbeat. “Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”

He stood up and brushed himself off. “Mama, I just fell.”

There was a small scrape on his cheek. “You cut yourself.”

He touched it, wiped the blood on his finger, looked at it, and said, “A little blood never stopped a real cowboy.”

Melanie shook her head and pulled him into her arms. “No, but his mother did. Help me put that horse away for tonight. It’s time for dinner.”

“You’re choking me, Mama.”

She released him. Jace straightened his small, proud body and settled his hat low on his head, the way sh
e’d
seen Tony do a hundred times. She wanted to keep him little forever, but Sarah was right. He was growing up fast.

Life is going to change with or without my help.

Maybe it’s time to stop being so afraid of it.

As they walked back across the huge field that led to their house, she said quietly, “Jace, remember when you were asking about your father?”

Jace looked up at her hopefully. “Is he coming here? Is he coming to see me?”

Melanie stopped walking, bent, and took her son’s hands in hers. “No, honey. He can’t. He’s up in heaven.”

Disappointment darkened hers son’s expression as he tried to understand. “With Sandy?” Jace asked, connecting death with the only experience he had with it—the dog h
e’d
grown up with and lost a year ago.

“Yes, he’s with him.”

“I’ll pray for him just like you taught me to for Sandy,” he said quietly, and Melanie’s heart clenched painfully in her chest.

Melanie hugged her son to her. “You do that.” She released him and stood, afraid that if they stayed on this topic too long, h
e’d
see her cry. “But your father’s parents are alive and they want to come see you. Would you like that?”

“Will they bring me presents?” he asked.

Melanie sniffed, smiled, took him by the hand, and started walking toward their house again. “I’m sure they will.”

“Will they bring me my own TV?” he asked, once again sounding hopeful.

“No, because you’re still too young to have one in your room,” Melanie said with finality. H
e’d
been asking for his own television ever since he started kindergarten and one of his friends told him that he had his own.

“I bet the
y’d
bring me a puppy if I asked for one,” Jace said.

Melanie sighed. “Didn’t we talk about why getting a puppy is not a good idea right now? I’ll be taking classes. You’re in school. What would we do with a puppy?”

Jace looked up at her with enormous, soulful eyes and said, “H
e’d
sleep with me.
I’d
take good care of him.
I’d
train him to wait for me on the porch like Sandy used to.”

Melanie appealed to the sky for support but none came. She gazed back down at her son’s pleading expression and partially caved. “Well, maybe we can start looking.”

With a whoop of joy, Jace jumped. “Kenny said his dad said we could have one of their puppies for free because they’re too old to sell. His dog is super smart, Mama. Can we go see them right now? Can we?”

“Tomorrow, Jace. We don’t have anything for a puppy. W
e’d
have to go shopping in town for supplies.”

“We can go when I get home. I can’t wait to tell Kenny you said yes.”

“I didn’t—” Melanie started to say, then stopped herself.
I’ll just count myself lucky that all he asked for was a puppy. Good thing he doesn’t know that I would have said yes to almost anything today.

Inside the house, Jace followed her to the kitchen instead of running off to his toys as he usually did. “Do they like puppies?”

“Who, honey?” Melanie asked as she opened the refrigerator and took out a bowl of salad.

“My grandparents.”

Melanie closed the refrigerator and lowered herself to her knees in front of her son. “I have a feeling they will love whatever you love.”

“Will I have to hug them?”

“Only if you want to.”

“Do they ride horses?”

“I don’t know.”

“Grandpa is a good rider. He races me even though Grandma tells him not to.”

Melanie smiled, wondering what her father would think of that claim to fame. “Well, when you meet your other grandparents, you can ask them if they’ve been around horses.”

“I might love them even if they say no.”

Melanie stood and ruffled her son’s hair. “That sounds like a good idea. Now go wash your hands and help me set the table.”

“But I—”

“You heard me.” Her son went off to wash his hands.

Once he was out of the room, she sat back against the counter. Jace now knew about his father and his grandparents. It certainly wouldn’t be the last conversation they had about either topic, but it had gone better than sh
e’d
dared hope it would.

Minus the puppy.

But I’m only human.

The more Melanie faced the past, the stronger she felt.

What would Charles say if I called him and told him that I miss him?

Would he rush here to see me?

Or would he politely explain that he’s already moved on?

“Mama, don’t be ma
d . . .
but I dropped a towel in the toilet,” Jace called from the downstairs bathroom.

Melanie rushed down the stairs. She looked into the empty basin. “Where is it?”

Jace turned red and shrugged. “It went away when I flushed. Now the water is coming up instead of going down.”

Shaking her head, Melanie dialed David’s phone number. He merely chuckled when she told him the situation and said h
e’d
be right over.

What would Charles have said if
I’d
called him for assistance?
She couldn’t imagine him fishing in the toilet for an elusive towel. He didn’t know the first thing about kids.

Nor did I, before Jace.

She thought about how sh
e’d
almost called Charles earlier and decided she was glad that she hadn’t.

Is this really what New York’s most eligible bachelor is craving? A ready-made family? This crazy life? Me?

Chapter Fifteen

A
few weeks later, Melanie stood with her son on the porch of their house. Sh
e’d
changed her outfit twice already and was tempted to change it again. Sh
e’d
started the day defiantly in jeans, then switched into a simple cotton dress sh
e’d
hoped would make a better impression.

They aren’t coming to see me.

Jace was in his usual jeans and plaid shirt, with boots and a cowboy hat. He was a miniature of the men h
e’d
known and was proud of it.

Melanie looked at her watch, reminding herself to breathe, and saw that it was three minutes past the hour the Joneses had said they would arrive.

Please be
reasonably sane.

Don’t be the type to say things that Jace is too young to understand.

Don’t rush him.

Don’t dismiss him.

Just love him and be someone he can love.

Please.

“You think they’re coming, Mama?” Jace asked, squinting as he looked down the long dirt driveway.

The
y’d
better be.
“Of course they are.”

Jace took out a piece of construction paper h
e’d
folded up and stuffed into his pocket. It was wrinkled and torn, but he smoothed it out on the railing. “I made them a card. Want to see it?”

Melanie looked over her son’s shoulder and felt her chest swell. Sometimes he was such the independent little man. “I would love to.”

On the front there was a drawing of two stick figures, one tall and one short. “That’s me and you.”

Melanie cleared her throat and said, “I love my third eye.”

Jace smiled. “That’s a freckle. I like freckles on girls.”

Melanie nodded solemnly. Jace pointed to a cloud h
e’d
drawn and colored with a white crayon. “That’s where my dad is. You can’t see him because he’s in heaven. And you can’t see Sandy because Sandy is with him.”

“It’s beautiful.”

He opened the card. He had drawn four stick figures on the inside. “That’s you, me, and my new grandparents. I didn’t give them faces because I don’t know what they look like yet.”

“That makes perfect sense.”

He pointed to the cloud. “The cloud is smiling because my dad is happy to see his parents. And I’m smiling because I am, too.” He folded the card up again and stuffed it back into his pocket. “Do you think they’ll like it?”

Melanie ruffled her son’s hair. “They’ll love it.”

“If they come. Lyle says his dad doesn’t always come when he says he will. He’s too busy. Maybe my grandparents are too busy today.”

“They’ll be here,” Melanie assured him.
God, please let them be on their way.
She took out her phone and considered calling them, but they were only ten minutes late. Ten of the longest minutes of her life late.

A black sedan turned up the driveway, and Jace ran down the front steps, then stopped. He looked back at his mother, unsure if he should return to her side or run to the car. Tibby, their new pup, bounded around the side of the house covered with mud from the backyard.

“Tibby!” Melanie called and rushed down the steps.

Tibby was running circles around Jace. Beyond them an older couple was getting out of the dark vehicle. The man was tall and average in build, dressed in tan khakis and a light blue button-down shirt. He had Jace’s eyes and a dignified mop of salt-and-pepper hair. His wife was dressed in a cream-colored skirt and blouse, with her straight brown hair perfectly tied back from her face in a loose bun. She could have graced a style magazine cover.

Melanie made a grab for the dog’s collar, but he dropped playfully onto his elbows, then darted away to chase a bird in the grass. Torn between chasing Tibby and greeting the older couple, Melanie forgot to worry about either when she looked down at her son. He was suddenly all eyes and shy. He stepped back from his grandparents and clung to Melanie, burying his face in her stomach, and his hat fell to the ground behind him.

Todd’s parents walked over and Mr. Jones held out his hand. “Thank you for inviting us, Melanie.”

Mrs. Jones bent down to Jace’s level and said, “You must be Jace. We came a long way to meet you.”

Jace lifted his head and looked at her shyly. “Mama said you came from Greece.”

The older woman smiled at her grandson and nodded. “We did. We have a house there, but when we heard about you we wanted to come see you.”

His grandfather picked up Jace’s hat and brushed it off. “You might want this.”

“Thank you, sir.” Jace took the hat, crushing it between him and his mother when he turned away again.

Melanie placed her hand on her son’s head and smiled at her guests. “You two must be parched. Why don’t you come inside and we’ll get you a lemonade?”

“That would be very nice,” Jace’s grandfather said.

Melanie turned and started to lead the way toward the house when Tibby flew around the corner of the house again and beelined it for Jace’s grandparents as if they had just that second arrived. He barked at them happily, then jumped up and left two large mud footprints on Jace’s grandmother’s cream-colored skirt.

Melanie gasped and rushed forward, this time catching the dog before he could skirt away. “I’m so sorry,” she apologized.

Jace froze and his eyes doubled in size as he waited for her reaction. Part of Melanie wanted to scoop him up and protect him, but she knew she needed to give their relationship a chance.

After trying unsuccessfully to wipe the paw prints off, Jace’s grandmother looked across to her husband and said, “Do you remember the puppy you bought Todd? The one I told you I didn’t want?”

Her husband smiled at the memory. “The one who loved to dig up your flowers?”

“And then jump all over me. I used to get so upset.” Tears welled from her eyes. “I miss that stupid dog.”

Her husband walked over and hugged her. “I do, too.”

Jace studied the couple carefully. “You like dogs?”

His grandmother bent down again and looked him straight in the eye. “I love them.”

“My dad had a dog?”

His grandfather joined the conversation with a smile. “He did.”

Jace dug in his pocket for the card h
e’d
made. He pulled it out and smoothed it on his leg, then showed it to his grandmother. Melanie couldn’t hear everything he said, but her heart swelled with love for the couple when she saw Jace’s grandfather straighten and blink quickly. His eyes shone with emotion when he looked over Jace’s head and mouthed, “Thank you.”

The regret sh
e’d
clung to for so long was replaced by a burst of hope.

I could love these people.

And so could my son.

We’re going to be okay.