Chapter Six

Chapter Six

“I’m not meeting with her. She can go to hell for all I care.” Travis threw himself into a dining chair for breakfast

“I’m doing whatever Travis does,” Grady said, but to Jace he seemed less adamant and more conflicted than his older brother.

“It’s entirely up to you guys. I’ll support you in whatever decision you make,” Jace said.

Mary Ann was moving fast. Jace hadn’t even heard back from his lawyer yet.

He had no idea what kind of resources she had or how far she would push the issue, but he was willing to guess not a lot on both questions. A tiger doesn’t change its stripes. And Mary Ann had never been the focused type. Besides, how do you force a kid you abandoned to take you back as if nothing happened?

“I don’t want her living here either.” Travis rested his arms on the breakfast table, his fists clenched.

“It’s a free country, Trav. She can live wherever she wants,” Jace said. “But if it makes you uncomfortable, you should tell her that.”

“Except I don’t want to talk to her.” Travis scratched a patch of poison oak on his neck.

“Don’t scratch, sweetie.” Charlie fetched a bottle of anti-itch cream from the mudroom and applied a handful to Travis’s neck.

“Then send her a text or an email,” Jace said. “You have a voice in this.” He’d always taught his sons to speak up for themselves as long as they did it respectfully. “I don’t know that she’ll listen, but I do know that she loves you boys. That she wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Jace spoke the truth. Mary Ann did love her sons, just not more than she loved herself.

“Yeah, she loved us so much that she took off and never came back. That’s some love all right.”

“What if she comes to my school again?” Grady wanted to know.

“She’s not authorized to have contact with you at school. Mrs. Martinez knows the situation and will bar her from campus. But if she does approach you, you call me. Okay, Grady?”

He nodded.

“Look, I’ll talk to her if you want me to. I’ll explain to her that you guys aren’t cool with this. But only if you want me to.”

“I do,” Grady said, but he seemed torn and that was tearing Jace apart.

“You got it, buddy. Travis?”

He shrugged. “Whatever. But if she comes around me, I’m not going to be nice about it. Not like you’ll probably be. I’ll tell her to go straight to hell. She’s nothing to me. As far as I’m concerned, Charlie’s my only mother.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Jace said. “Why don’t you guys finish the rest of your chores, then enjoy your Saturday? I don’t want you to worry about this anymore. Okay?”

Grady got up from the table first. He’d never been good at sitting for too long. “Ellie’s got a horse show today in Auburn. Uncle Cash said I can go with them if it’s all right with you.”

“Sure. Just make sure the dogs and horses have water before you go.” Jace made a mental note to give Cash a heads-up about the Mary Ann situation before Grady spilled the beans.

“What are you up to today?” he asked Travis.

“I’m meeting a couple of friends down at SB.”

SB was what they called the Mill County State Park’s swimming hole. It was a public beach where tourists and local kids liked to hang out and swim or tube in Dry Creek. On almost any given night you could find groups of high schoolers there, holding bonfires. It was a rite of passage for teenagers here. Jace and Aubrey had spent many a weekend at SB. When Cash, Sawyer, and Angie were visiting for holidays or summers, they came too.

“It’s still a little cool for swimming,” Charlie said.

Travis shrugged his shoulders. “We’ll probably just hang out.”

“No drinking and driving,” Jace warned.

“I know. We won’t.”

“I’ve got to get to the store.” Charlie started clearing the breakfast dishes.

“I’ll do the cleanup.” Jace said. “You want a ride?” Refind was only fifteen minutes away by foot, and in good weather, Charlie liked to walk it. But he wanted to talk with her.

“Sure.” She pressed her hand into the small of her back.

“Meet me at the truck. I’ve got to get my keys.”

She was already in the passenger seat when Jace got behind the wheel. “How’d you think it went with them?”

Charlie looked away and gazed out the window. “It broke my heart. I just hope we’re doing the right thing.”

“I left it up to them, Charlie. I can’t force Travis to see her and Grady . . . what’s the point? She’s only going to leave again.”

“I know. But maybe we should’ve encouraged them to at least hear what she has to say. Maybe it would be healthier.”

“Healthier?” He let out a bitter laugh. “She deserted them when they needed her the most. She doesn’t get to march in here six years later and decide she’s ready to be a mother now.”

“I didn’t say it was about her. But I understand your concerns. It’s just . . .” she trailed off.

“It’s just what?”

“Never mind. My hormones are all over the place and I guess I feel sorry for her.”

“Well, don’t. You’re such a good person, Charlie. It’s one of the many reasons I love you so much. But she doesn’t deserve your sympathy.” He started the engine and nosed down the driveway.

“Are you really planning to talk to her?”

“Hell yeah. I want to know what her intentions are. Why she’s here.”

For some reason Jace got the impression that didn’t sit right with Charlie. But he’d promised Grady he would talk to Mary Ann and there was no reason for him not to.

“I’ve got to call Cash and tell him what’s going on. I don’t want him hearing it from Grady first. Then I’ll get around to Sawyer and Gina and Angie and Tuff.”

“Uh, I may have already said something to Aubrey on the way home from the shower.”

Jace chuckled. “Then Cash and half of Dry Creek already knows.”

He cut the engine in front of Refind. The old livestock barn had been falling down when Charlie had started using it to refurbish her found and rusted treasures. She, Aubrey, and a crew of construction workers had given it a second life.

In the beginning Jace had been dubious that the barn would ever serve as a legitimate store and design center, or that the money it took to rebuild it could ever be recouped. He was proud to say he was wrong on both fronts.

“When’s Aubrey coming to relieve you?” He didn’t want Charlie working too hard.

“After Ellie’s horse show.”

Jace snorted. “That’ll be all day, babe.”

“She’s driving her own car and coming back right after Ellie’s event. And Kelly should be here in a couple of hours.” She leaned over and brushed his lips with hers. “I’ll be fine. Spring is a good time for us. Something about the warm weather puts people in a buying mood. Fingers crossed that the only energy I expel today is working the cash register.”

“Fingers crossed.” He crossed his. “Just no heavy lifting. If you need some muscle, call me.”

“I will, I promise.” She hopped down from the truck and shooed him away. “Now go mow the lawn.”

He would, but first he texted Cash to meet him at the horse barn.

Cash came down the dirt trail from his and Aubrey’s house and joined Jace on top of the fence. “What’s up?”

They’d been holding impromptu meetings here for so long Jace couldn’t recall when they’d first started doing it. Probably as far back as childhood.

“Mary Ann’s in town.” Jace figured there was no sense beating around the bush. With Cash it was best just to lay it out there. Before his cousin became a livestock investigator, he was an FBI agent and liked his facts unvarnished. “She’s rented the Stoddard place. So I assume she’s sticking around for more than a few days. She wants to see the kids.”

Cash scrubbed his hand under his cowboy hat. “This is kind of sudden. Did she contact you ahead of time?”

“Nope. Just showed up. Marta Martinez called me a couple of days ago. Mary Ann came to the school and asked Doreen to get Grady out of class. They didn’t do it, of course. Then she called Travis on our landline. Told him she wanted to see him and Grady.”

“Jeez. What did Travis tell her?”

“That he’s not interested. Grady isn’t either,” though Jace wasn’t so sure about that. He told Cash that he was in the process of consulting with his lawyer.

“What the hell do you think brought this on? I mean, the woman all but vanishes off the face of the earth for six years and suddenly she wants to be mom of the year.”

Jace hitched his shoulders. “Don’t know, but I plan to find out.”

“How?”

“I’m going to ask her.”

Cash let that settle in. “I’d be careful of that if I were you. Did you tell the lawyer you were planning to confront her?”

“Confront her? You make it sound like I’m planning to arrest her.”

Cash pursed his lips. “I know you, and let’s just say when you’re angry you’re not subtle about it. And there’s a lot of water under the bridge where you and Mary Ann are concerned. A lot of pent-up resentment. You don’t want to give her any ammunition to put your job in jeopardy or, for that matter, custody. In my opinion, you let the lawyers handle it.”

Jace would take Cash’s advice under submission. His cousin was the most rational person he knew, except for maybe Angie, who was generous and kindhearted to a fault. But it wasn’t as if Jace was a hothead. In fact, he prided himself on keeping his cool in the most trying of situations. It was a requirement of his job.

“Have you talked to Sawyer yet?” Cash asked.

Whereas Cash was rational, Sawyer was practical. Jace respected Sawyer’s opinion on just about everything. “You’re the first person in the family I’ve told. Sawyer’s next.”

“I would definitely get his take on this.” Cash became pensive. “Look, you’re not going to like this but no matter how absent she’s been, she has a right to see her kids, Jace. And maybe it would be good for Travis and Grady. They’re not babies any more and don’t need you as a buffer. I’m no therapist, but I suspect they have things they want to say to her, things they want to get off their chest. Things Mary Ann should hear from them, not you. All I’m saying is if the boys are amenable, maybe there should be a meeting. Something with your blessing; otherwise even if they want to talk to her, they’ll say no out of loyalty to you.”

“If they want to talk to her, they can. But I’m not giving my blessing to anything having to do with her.”

Cash looked away, realizing he wasn’t going to win this battle. “How’s Charlie holding up under all this?”

“Like a trooper.”

“You’ve got a lot of emotion where Mary Ann’s concerned. It’s coming off you in waves. I get it. I do. It’s impossible to watch the mother of your children break their hearts. I hope for your sake Charlie doesn’t misconstrue that emotion.” He caught Jace’s gaze and held it. “Remember, there’s a thin line between love and hate.”

Jace had no worries where Charlie was concerned. She would back him 100 percent. As far as love for Mary Ann, that ship had sailed the minute she headed for the high seas.

Cash jumped off the fence and slapped Jace on the back. “I’ve got a horse show to get to.” He started for the trail back to his house and called over his shoulder, “Don’t do anything rash.”

Jace gave a slight nod and went in the opposite direction.

There were at least three baby gates in Sawyer’s upscale apartment, which made Jace chuckle at the humor of it. When Sawyer hired a fancy San Francisco architect to convert one of the ranch’s old barns into a contemporary one-bedroom loft, he’d been a confirmed bachelor. Now the only sign of Sawyer’s bachelor days was a basket of dirty laundry on the sofa.

“Hey,” Sawyer grunted. Jace could tell by the pillow imprint on the side of Sawyer’s face that he had just woken up.

“You want coffee?”

“Sure. Where’s Mia?” Gina was probably at the restaurant, which left Sawyer on kiddo duty.

“Angie took her for the day so I can get some work done. I can’t ask for any more extensions on my book deadline without getting blacklisted by the publishing world. We need a nanny.” Sawyer glanced around the open floor plan, cluttered with toys. “But first we need a bigger place.”

“You working on that?”

“Yeah, Aubrey’s architect came through. He thinks we can expand this place, but we might have to move in with you during the work.” His lips curved up in a wicked grin to let Jace know he was joking. “But seriously, he’s drawing up plans. Between drawings and pulling permits, it’s going to take awhile, though.”

“What about Tuff’s old cabin?” They had two cabins on the property. One that Angie and Tuff lived in and a second one that had been used at one time or another by almost every Dalton on the ranch but was now vacant.

Sawyer turned up his nose. “Or I could just move onto the set of Deliverance.”

Granted, the cabin was a little rustic for Sawyer’s taste, but “At least it has two bedrooms,” Jace said.

“Yeah, it’s a hard no.”

Sawyer poured them each a cup of coffee and motioned for them to sit at the kitchen island. Jace wiped the counter with his hand, clearing a path of Mia’s leftover Cheerios.

“Sorry about that.” Swayer got a dishrag and gave the counter a good cleaning. “We also need a housekeeper.”

“I came by to let you know that Mary Ann’s here. She’s living in town at the Stoddard place and wants to see Travis and Grady.”

“Whoa. When did this happen?”

Jace told him the whole story, starting with Mary Ann showing up at the high school and Mitch tipping him off about her renting the cottage.

“Mitch? Since when do you talk to Mitch?”

“He and Brett got into it at Brett’s workshop. I got called in on official sheriff’s business.”

“Okay. We’ll circle around to that story in a minute. First tell me about Mary Ann.”

“I told you everything I know. I was planning to have a chat with her, find out what on God’s green earth she’s doing here. But Cash thinks I should leave all communication with her to my lawyer.”

“When did you talk to Cash?” Sawyer asked.

“Right before I came here to talk to you.”

“Yeah, I’m in agreement with Cash.” Sawyer shook his head. “I guess it was bound to happen eventually.”

“What was?”

“Her showing up. Her wanting to see the kids. How do you want this to go?”

“How do I want it to go?” Jace thought it was obvious, but Sawyer the journalist had a habit of asking a million and one questions. “I want her to get in her car, turn around, and drive back to wherever she came from.”

“What about Travis and Grady?”

“Travis is adamant that he doesn’t want to see her and Grady . . .”

“And Grady what?”

“He says he doesn’t want to see her, but I’m not so sure of that,” Jace said.

Sawyer sighed. “She’s his mother, Jace.”

“I know.” Jace pinched the bridge of his nose. Why did this have to be so damned complicated? “Remember Grady’s birthday party? I think it was his sixth or seventh. Mary Ann and I had just separated and she was living in some crappy apartment in Roseville. She promised Grady she would come for the party, promised him that afterward she, Grady, and Travis could do something special, just the three of them, to celebrate. And then she never showed up. The entire party, Grady stood by the window, watching for her, waiting for her. Later, after I finally managed to reach her, her excuse was she’d caught a cold and didn’t want to get everyone sick.” He cursed under his breath. “I don’t want that happening again. I don’t want her setting the kids up for disappointment. Because the one thing I know definitively about Mary Ann is she’s not a mother any child can depend on.”

“I remember.” Sawyer nodded, but he looked contemplative. “I’m pretty new at this fatherhood thing. But experience tells me that you can’t always protect your children from disappointment, Jace, as much as you want to. It’s a cold, hard fact of life that there will always be someone out there who does a number on you. Look at Tuff. His late mother makes Mary Ann look like a saint by comparison.”

Tuff’s mother was a drunk and had turned on her son in the worst way imaginable. And he had no one to look after him. That wasn’t the case with Travis and Grady. As long as Jace had breath left in him, he’d protect his sons with his life.

“So the bottom line is that you’re with Cash on this,” Jace said. “I should leave it to my lawyer to deal with.”

“Yes. If your objective is to keep her from seeing Grady, I think you should do this by the book. But before you do anything, you should find out what the kids want. What they really want. It’s bigger than what you want, Jace. Try to remember that.”

“Yep,” was his only response because deep down inside he knew Sawyer was right.

But that didn’t stop him from getting in his truck and driving straight for Miners Road.