Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

For the thirtieth time in the past ten minutes, Jason checked the notifications on his phone. After a night of messaging that had kept him up most of the night, Jen hadn’t replied to his last text for a few hours.

Turning it off, he plugged the phone into the charger on the nightstand and got out of the bed, where he’d been working on his laptop. He could use a few hours away from his phone. Most of the time, it felt like an electronic leash that he couldn’t get away from fast enough. Now he was like a teenager staring at his message app, willing for three little dots to appear and let him know she was talking to him again.

How in the hell had this happened?

He didn’t believe in love at first sight but definitely lust at first sight. And he had a severe case of lust.

Not that it was even at first sight, really. But it hadn’t taken long.

This had to end. He’d come to Brandywood to talk to Mildred, not get involved with his brother’s ex-girlfriend and her kid.

Last night had only made it worse. A thousand times worse.

He dressed in his gym clothes, feeling a bit like someone had kicked him in the balls, and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt onto his head. No amount of fantasizing about her had helped last night. Without a car or a phone, his options were limited. He felt driftless and completely displaced.

As he stepped outside, he sucked in a deep breath of chilly mountain air. Some of the other cabins had fires going, and it perfumed the air with the scent of wood smoke.

He considered going for a run, but a run would probably end up taking him into town again. He didn’t want to go into town, didn’t want to be wandering the streets of Brandywood if Ned was skulking around. TJ had promised to find out where Ned was staying and keep tabs on his activities, but the chance of leading him to Jen and Colby was stronger now that he’d gotten involved with her. Come to think of it, TJ probably wouldn’t want him turning his phone off.

But he needed the mental break. Nothing about that inheritance was clear anymore. Maybe Jen did deserve something. She was clearly struggling financially.

He headed into the woods, where dried, fallen leaves crunched under his running shoes. He nodded a hello at a couple walking their dog nearby.

If he could trust her, maybe Jen could help him do what he needed to do with the money for the business. Getting her on his side might be the safest way to go about everything. He’d set her and Colby up comfortably.

The sound of moving water up ahead made him freeze. He searched for the source. Just a stream. Nothing to get his heart beating as abnormally fast as it was. The water moved quickly, the ground near it muddy, as though the rain levels were higher than normal, and the stream couldn’t absorb it. With how deep it was, there had to be a river nearby. Or it led to the lake.

He exhaled slowly, refocusing his brain away from the black thoughts.

Fucking ridiculous. He was thirty years old. A stream shouldn’t do this to him.

When Amanda had found out he hated the water, she’d purposely scheduled the company picnic at Promontory Point on the shores of Lake Michigan. She said she wanted to help him get over his fears. Except she hadn’t put it so nicely. “It’s embarrassing that you won’t go boating with my friends. You’re a grown-ass man.”

He headed back toward the cabins. A run into town might be preferable, after all.

A cop car was sitting in front of his cabin.

He put his hands in the front pocket of his sweatshirt and casually walked up toward the cabin. A cop was standing on his front porch in full uniform. He was a tall, intimidating man with a strong square jaw.

“Can I help you, Officer?” Jason approached the porch.

The cop turned and stared at him with a look that seemed to bore through his skull.

“You Jason Cavanaugh?” the cop asked.

“Yes, sir.” The formality of his response was second nature. His grandfather had been a stickler about that sort of thing.

“Mind if I ask you a few questions?” The cop shifted his weight, the floorboard creaking under his feet and his black work boots.

Jason didn’t love the idea of inviting this guy inside his cabin, but he didn’t want to have a conversation out in the open, either. Had he broken some law he didn’t know about?

He nodded and unlocked the cabin, letting the officer in. He flipped on the light in the living room and pulled open the blinds. Dust motes swirled in the streaming sunlight, bouncing against the warmth of the wood-paneled walls.

“I’m Sergeant Dan Klein. I think you know my sister, Jen.”

Jason stiffened. He turned slowly. Not because he’d mentioned Jen. But because he’d called him by his last name when he’d first addressed him. Jason gave him a flat, hard look. “What do you want?”

Dan crossed his arms. “I want to know what the hell you’re doing with her.” His eyes narrowed. “She mentioned you and that your car was towed. That your last name was Sutter. So I looked up the cars that were ticketed and towed the other day but didn’t find any Jason Sutters. Found a Jason Cavanaugh, though. So I looked you up.”

Jason felt his throat go dry. He took a step back and rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen . . .”

“I’m not finished,” Dan gritted through his teeth. “Imagine my surprise when I dig into who Jason Cavanaugh is, and I find a picture from an obituary of another familiar face. Another prick who didn’t give my sister his real last name, apparently. And now that I know, it all makes a lot more sense why I could never find a trace of him.”

Kevin.

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose. This was worse than he’d even assumed.

Dan’s face reddened. “What the hell am I supposed to tell my sister? That the man she’s been hoping will show up someday again is dead? Or the even better part? That his brother is here is in town, trying to fuck with her, too?”

Jen was hoping Kevin would come back? Was she still in love with him?

“That’s not how it is.” Jason gave him a level glare. “I had no intention of messing with her.”

“I don’t know what sort of sick game you’re playing here, but you have no idea what your asshole brother put her through. She almost died giving birth to his son. And he wasn’t anywhere to be found. She’s broke and my nephew has no dad, and you’re over here toying with her.” Dan reached for his shirtfront and grabbed it in a fistful, yanking Jason closer. “I don’t think so, pal.”

“I’m not trying to toy with her,” Jason managed. Despite his instinct to pull away, he steered himself to calm. Dan wasn’t acting in any official capacity, but cooperating with him would probably be smarter. And make his own life easier.

“Just trying to sleep with her.” Dan didn’t loosen his grip.

God, he didn’t want to admit that to this guy. But Dan had asked nothing, and there was nothing to deny.

Dan’s voice lowered to a threatening whisper, close enough to Jason’s face that Jason could smell the stale coffee on his breath. “What the hell are you doing here in town?”

Jason’s mind raced for an answer. Anything that made reasonable sense. “My grandmother,” he finally said. “I came to see her.”

“Then why stalk my sister’s workplaces? You knew who she was before you kissed her at the street play, didn’t you?”

How did he know about the kiss? Then again, the guy who had dumped Jen had known about it. Word seemed to travel exceptionally fast around here. Dan was definitely not someone he wanted to involve in his personal business. “Yes.”

Dan’s grip—amazingly—grew even tighter. The fabric dug in around Jason’s neck. “Explain how you’re not messing with her.”

Jason narrowed his gaze at him. “I will when you get your hands off me.” He needed the time to think anyhow.

Dan’s fingers uncurled slowly, and he stepped back. Jason had served as the cooler head throughout his life, learning early on that explosive anger only fed off more anger. Pissing Dan off would only make things worse. Jason pulled the front of his shirt down, away from his neckline.

He scanned Dan’s face. There was a faint resemblance there, one that he could see now that Dan had told him he was Jen’s brother, but not too close. Probably the same way Jason and Kevin had been. But Dan had clearly known Kevin, and his attitude toward him would definitely impact how he saw Jason.

Something close to the truth would be the best bet. With Ned in town, it wouldn’t help to have Dan as his enemy. Dan knew Kevin’s real last name now, and that Colby was his son. Both things made Dan a threat he had to neutralize.

Jason relaxed his posture. “Want to sit down?”

“Not really.”

Not surprising. Dan probably was accustomed to using his stature to his advantage. The more Jason could treat this like a casual conversation, the more it would disarm him.

Jason turned and went over toward the kitchen island, where the coffee machine waited. “Coffee?”

Dan’s angular face followed him suspiciously, his eyes wary. “No.”

The small bag of coffee was French vanilla-flavored, and Jason frowned as he ripped the foil top. “I found out about Colby and Jen last week.” He grabbed a spoon. Now that he wasn’t so close to Dan, he felt remarkably more in control. He’d dealt with men like Dan before. “As soon as I heard that my brother had left behind a child, I drove down.”

The heels of Dan’s shoes dragged against the hardwood floor. “And you decided to stalk Jen?”

Jason gave him a quick glance, his brow furrowing. “No. My intention was to talk to my grandmother first and find out what she could tell me. We’ve been estranged for years, so I couldn’t call. But she’s apparently out of town.” He spooned coffee into the filter. “Running into Jen right away wasunexpected. I never intended to get involved with her.” He couldn’t tell Dan that she’d been into the idea of a one-night stand.

“But you did.” Dan crossed the room toward him. He squinted, a tired expression on his face. “And she has no idea who you are, does she?”

“No, she doesn’t.” Jason put the coffee maker on and came around to the other side of the island, leaning back against it. He crossed his arms. “But I’m going to tell her everything.”

Holding his hands up, Dan shook his head emphatically. “Hang on, I wasn’t trying to say you needed to do that.”

What? Jason furrowed his brow. “You don’t want me to tell her?”

“I’d prefer for you to get the hell out of this town, but there’s not a lot of control I have over that. But do I want you to bring up that jackass brother of yours? Not particularly. She’s finally put that to rest. It took her a while to get over him, though. He is dead, right?”

Jason blinked at him. He peered at him, trying to make sense of his words. “He died over three years ago.”

“Right. And you’re not planning on staying long, right? I know you’re not looking for a long-term thing here with my sister. You have a life in Chicago. You’ll be out of her life soon enough.”

Just what had Dan looked up? No way he could know about the will—that was all done behind closed doors. But he wasn’t wrong, either. He hadn’t given Jen the impression he was searching for a relationship. They’d talked about a hookup. Jason cleared his throat. “I’m not planning on staying, no.”

Dan rubbed his thumb into the opposite palm as though thinking. Had he even thought out his reasons for coming here? Jason wasn’t so sure Dan knew what he was doing here. “Are you telling me you’re fine with—”

“I’m telling you I don’t want you to tell her who you are, so don’t get carried away.”

Jason waited for a few beats, the tension in the back of his neck increasing. “What are you doing here, then?”

Dan walked over toward the island, his shoulders drooping. He pulled out a stool and sat. “That depended on what you told me. Your brother didn’t leave a good impression, and that’s putting it nicely.”

Unsure of what to make of Dan, Jason strolled back to the coffee maker. He poured a cup of black coffee and let the steam uncurl from the surface, waiting to sip it. “I’m not proud of what my brother did to Jen. It’s part of why I came here. I wanted to find out more about the circumstances. To be honest, Kevin disappeared seven years ago, and I never spoke to him again. I don’t know much about what he did during that time period or where he was, and this was my first clue.”

Silence filled the space between them. Dan stared at his hands, clasped in his lap. “I’m sorry, that can’t have been easy.”

“It wasn’t.” Jason gave him a curt nod and sipped his coffee. “But what’re you gonna do? Siblings don’t always listen to other siblings—especially not younger ones.”

Lifting his head sharply, Dan met Jason’s gaze. He wasn’t dumb, that was for sure. “No, they don’t.” Dan’s mouth twisted, then he drummed his fingers against his thigh. “I love my sister. I want to protect her, which you seem to understand. But Jen is tired of me trying to protect her. She’d kill me if she knew I was here.”

Jason didn’t doubt that part. Dan was intimidating as hell. No wonder a woman like Jen had a dating problem. Dan had likely done his fair share of cock-blocking in the past.

He sighed. “I don’t want to interfere. But I don’t trust you, either. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t come and see what you were about. So I can’t stop you—or her—from doing whatever the hell you want. But my sister doesn’t deserve one-night stands with men who are lying to her. She deserves a lot better than that. And then some.”

The conversation was fraught with the potential of making his life more difficult, but Jason didn’t quite know what to make of it. Dan made him feel as though he should feel guilty, but Jen was a consenting adult who could make her own decisions. He’d been stupid to give her his phone number because it extended the situation beyond one night...but it had also been fun.

The inheritance part of it all complicated things. “Can I ask you a question?”

Dan frowned. “What’s that?”

They’d made a tenuous peace, and Jason didn’t want to backtrack to angering Dan, but his curiosity burned. “What was Kevin like when he was here with Jen? I’m assuming you knew him.”

A shadow crossed Dan’s features. “I didn’t know him well. He was quiet. Didn’t talk about himself a lot.”

The opposite of what Kevin had been before he left home. Still, not what he really wanted to know. “Yeah, but . . . what was his relationship with Jen like? Were they serious?”

Dan scowled. “How serious could they have been? No sooner did she tell him she was pregnant than he hightailed it out of here. Left no return address. Phone disconnected. Believe me, I tried to find him.” Dan stood again and glowered at Jason. “Jen’s a good person. Easily taken advantage of. She went right on believing Kevin would turn up again for a good year after he left. Thinking something must have happened.”

Jason stared at the inky blackness of his coffee. “She wasn’t entirely wrong. He died before Colby was even born.” Not that Kevin probably had ever had any intention of going back. Dan had confirmed what Jason had suspected. The relationship hadn’t been that important to Kevin in the first place.

That knowledge didn’t bring him the peace or relief he thought it would have.

“How did he die?” Dan asked.

“Homeless. From an overdose.” Jason prayed Dan wouldn’t make another comment about how wonderful it was that his brother was gone. As much as Kevin had his problems, he’d also been his brother and closest friend.

Chad Duncan had proved to Jason that even the people you thought of as friends could turn around and stab you in the back. Smile to your face and then fuck your wife in your bedroom while you’re away on a business trip.

Dan shifted his weight. “Is Mildred Price your actual grandmother?”

Jason nodded.

“Then I guess she’s been lying to Jen the whole time, too. They see her once or so a month for lunch. She’s had more than ample opportunity to tell Jen the truth.” Dan released a frustrated breath. “But whatever reasons the old coot has for doing that, I think that’s more than enough people knowing that Kevin’s dead, wouldn’t you say?”

Whether he wanted to tell Jen more, Jason wasn’t in a position to argue. Dan unknowingly held damaging information to Jason’s claims in the whole inheritance mess. “Mildred just found out about Kevin’s death, actually. So I don’t know what, if anything, she’s lied about.”

“All right. I’m happy to make you the liar in this scenario.” Dan gave him a hard look. “Don’t fuck with someone special. She’s been through enough.” He left the cabin. As Jason stared at the space he’d vacated, a strange mixture of relief and guilt filled him. He didn’t want to lie to Jen. But that was exactly what he’d agreed to do.