A Taste of Sugar Page 14

  “Really?” Jace couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice. His niece who used to bake mud pies and take pride in skinned knees had become quite the young lady, trading in her shin guards for high heels and sparkles. Not that Payton didn’t recently break the record for the fastest underarm pitch in three counties, but now she preferred to do it with painted lips and designer ponytails.

  Cal’s smile fell. “Payton’s friend Mason likes fishing, so she has a renewed interest in the sport. He goes out with us a lot.”

  Holy shit. “Payton has a boyfriend?” When did this happen? Even crazier, if Cal knew, then how was the punk still breathing?

  “Mason is a friend,” Cal stressed the word until Jace though he’d run out of air. “Who happens to be male. Which means they can hang out in large groups of friends or with other adults or me—”

  “You make them hang out with you?” Jace had forgotten how lethal his brother could look when he was pissy.

  “—but no dating until she turns sixteen.”

  Jace fought the urge to laugh—fought it hard because Mason must have a pretty big set if he was willing to take on hanging out with Psycho Dad. “You know her birthday is in seven months.”

  “Which is why I haven’t slept in over a year.” He laughed then tipped the bottle back.

  “Does it ever get easier?”

  “Nope,” Cal said, and Jace nodded. Neither spoke for a long moment, just silently stood there, sipping their beer. Two brothers and a lifetime of memories, staring out at the lake. “Been coming here every week for dinners for over a year, and I don’t think it will ever get easier.”

  That was not what Jace wanted to hear. Every time he came back to Sugar the pressure grew until he thought his head would blow right off. When he left, it got even worse. So he’d tried his best to stay away.

  Eyes still on the lake, Cal said, “But between you and me, I think you’ve made it a hell of a lot harder than it needs to be.”

  Jace waited for the lecture that usually followed, for Cal to point out that it was time to come home. But he just stood there, staring out at the lake and calmly sipping his beer.

  When his eyes had finally acclimated to the darkness, he noticed a flicker of light across the lake near one of the old peach orchards. It was Charlotte’s house, nestled between the trees, barely visible because of its isolated location. He couldn’t see her car or her porch swing, or much of her house for that matter, but if he squinted hard enough and looked through the distant branches, he could make out the soft glow of her kitchen window, which was illuminated from the inside.

  Jace looked at his watch and frowned. It was too early for her to call it a night. Unless her date had gone sensationally bad. That thought turned his frown right-side up. But the smile was short-lived, because what if it went sensationally good, and they’d skipped dinner altogether, heading home for dessert.

  And he wasn’t talking about the ice cream in the fucking freezer.

  Shit.

  “Everything working out okay?” Cal asked.

  “What?” Jace asked, a little startled because he had already pulled his keys out of his pocket. He looked at his brother and, hoping he came off more causal than he felt, tried to figure out if Hattie had spilled the beans already.

  Cal cocked his head. “The shop? What were you thinking about?”

  Right, the shop. The real reason for this little bonding moment. “That Brett has a big mouth.”

  “Brett’s worse than Hattie when it comes to gossip,” Cal said with a smile. “How do you think I keep tabs on Payton and her goings-on?”

  As long as he didn’t put that kind of detective work into figuring out Jace’s goings-on, they’d be good. Not that he had any goings-on at the moment, or even potential goings-on. But he was on a mission to change that. After he got rid of Dr. Fucking Perfect.

  “So the loan’s looking promising?” Cal asked.

  After receiving that letter from the recorder’s office it was looking better than it had in weeks. He’d be surprised it if wasn’t a done deal. “As long as it comes through by the beginning of the month, I’m good to go.”

  The longing grew stronger, gnawed at his gut. The prospect of distance didn’t hold the same power it once had.

  “Or you could stay,” Cal threw out.

  “Atlanta Motorsports is in Atlanta.” Atlanta had a lot going for it. In fact, it had everything he’d been looking for.

  Except Charlotte.

  “Open a shop here.”

  “I’m not just buying a building. I’m buying Dale’s client list. And the name.”

  “You have as many connections as Dale. If not more. Plus, people know your work, it carries more weight than a garage name,” Cal said as though it were that easy. As though Jace could just uproot the business and make a go at running a high-end car shop in the middle of truck country.

  “My network is in Atlanta,” Jace said. “And how many Shelbys do you see driving around Sugar County?”

  He knew how specialized Jace’s job was, knew that the best shot Jace had at making this a success was to use the connections he had and to be located around people who had the kind of cars he wanted to work on. Which were in Atlanta.

  “Your family is here,” Cal said. “You belong here. Always have, you’ve just been too busy to realize it.”

  “I’ve been busy building a career.” Rebuilding my life. “Just like you and Brett. I don’t hear you giving him shit for playing tournaments all over the world.”

  “Because he always comes home when he’s finished,” Cal said.

  “I’m back.” He avoided the word home, because it felt like a lie.

  “For how long? Two weeks? Three? Until it starts to get too hard and you bolt?” Cal slid Jace one of those all-knowing big brother BS looks and said, “Or until it starts to get too easy?”

  His brother was so fucking wrong. And since he’d heard the same thing from practically everyone else in his life as of late, he felt a riptide of fury and frustration roll through him. “Until I figure things out with the garage.”

  And with Charlotte.

  “Then it will be what? Another five years before we get you back?”

  “Atlanta is only a few hours away.” Something he had three weeks to convince Charlotte of. Because a few hours in the car didn’t mean that he wasn’t committed to her.

  “With your track record, you might as well have bought the Beverly Hills location.”

  Jesus, his family wouldn’t let up. Jace worked harder than anyone he knew. “If that’s what it takes to make it, then yeah.”

  “That’s a bullshit answer and you know it,” Cal said calmly, but it was apparent that neither of them felt calm right then. Jace felt like packing up and heading across the lake. “You’re good enough that people would ship you their engines wherever you live. Brett doesn’t have just anyone work on his clubs, he sends them to the guy in that pro shop in Arizona.”

  “Sending a set of clubs off to get tinkered with is a hell of a lot different than sending an engine. Or a fucking car,” Jace said, his emotions so close to the surface he felt them bubbling.

  “All I’m saying is that I miss you. We all do.” Cal let out a breath, and Jace watched as his brother’s frustration faded into something warmer. Sadder. “You’re a smart guy, Jace. If you wanted to make it work here then you’d figure it out.”

  A painful pulse started behind Jace’s eyes because that was the question of the hour. Did he want to make it work here in Sugar? Last week he would have said hell no. But after Atlanta, after this morning with Charlotte, he wasn’t sure. And that scared the shit out of him.

  “Just think about it,” Cal said. Brother-speak for I love you.

  Cal finished his beer in a gulp then jerked his head toward the house. “Now, if I don’t get you inside Joie will start fretting about dinner getting cold, then Brett will see we took the time to share a beer without him and lay into us both. And if you thought I was unhinged when
I became a dad, wait until you see him. Guy doesn’t get his beauty rest and he’s as hormonal as Payton.”

  And since the last thing Jace wanted to do was make tonight any harder on the people he loved, he finished his beer and offered a smile that was in complete contrast to everything he was feeling inside.

  He’d long ago learned that hiding the frustration and pain was easiest for everyone. And it was important to him that his brothers really believe he was happy. They’d lost as much as he had, maybe even more. Only they’d stuck around to piece the family back together.

  So, happy Jace in full affect, he walked up the back porch and into the house.

  He held that smile all the way down the hallway, past the dozens of pictures and memories, some of which he hadn’t thought about in years. Others, the newer ones, he hadn’t been around to create. And if that didn’t piss off his lungs, then walking into that kitchen and seeing his family all gathered in one place, looking happy and at peace, did.

  Joie was at the counter working on dinner with Hattie, who was mashing the potatoes and telling everyone the secret to fluffy spuds. Payton was snapping the beans with Brett, who was managing the salad and his baby girl. Lily Anne was managing to be the cutest kid ever with one slobbery hand balled up in her mouth while the other, quite the multitasker this one, was fisted in her daddy’s hair.

  “Uncle Jace,” Payton squealed, and rushed over, wrapping her arms around his neck. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and he noticed that her lips were all glossy, like pink shimmery gloss that a woman would wear. “You’re just in time to be my taste tester.”

  Jace cleared the emotion from his throat. “What am I tasting?” What he really wanted to ask was whose baking was he testing. The look on Brett’s face, the one that said run while you still can, told him his niece was the chef in question.

  Which meant heartburn, tooth chipping, or worse was highly possible.

  Payton was a disaster in the kitchen, but that didn’t stop her from trying. And trying. And, God help them all, trying. The poor kid couldn’t even manage to make Jell-O without starting a fire.

  “Butter pecan sandies. My favorite cookie for my favorite uncle,” she said with a proud smile that no one with a heart could say no to, especially her favorite uncle.

  “Did you hear that?” he said to the competition, who happened to be a born lady whisperer. “I’m her favorite.”

  “Have you tasted the cookies?” Brett asked, eyes on the cutting board. “No? Then I wouldn’t go bragging just yet.”

  “They’re good,” Payton defended, and tilted her head for effect, which only managed to bring his attention to all the freshly cut layers of blonde hair that swished over her shoulders. No more ponytail, his girl was sporting a stylish do fit for a co-ed. “My best batch yet.”

  “I bet they are.” Just like he bet she was sweetening him up, for what he wasn’t sure, but knowing his niece and that look, it was certain.

  “Thanks, baby,” he said, and kissed her on the top of the head, noticing he didn’t have to bend down all that far. Then he noticed her sandals, strappy and red with little gold clasps around the ankles and heels high enough to be considered strutting pumps.

  What the hell?

  “I’ll grab you one.” She fluttered toward the cooling rack.

  “How about you make me a plate and we’ll eat them on the porch swing after dinner, like we used to,” he said, wanting to have some one-on-one time with his niece, as well as giving his stomach time to prepare.

  Payton stopped and spun around, her face expressive. “Or we can go now.”

  “Or you can let the man take a breath before you start working your magic,” Hattie chided. “Plus, he’s got to get me that dish way up there.” Wasting no time putting Jace to work, she pointed to a platter on the top shelf.

  Balancing the case of beer in one hand, Jace easily grabbed the platter with the other. Setting it on the counter proved a little more difficult. Impossible, actually. It was like a raceway, with Payton going back and forth between her cookies and the oven, Brett placing salad fixings on the counter, and Joie moving all over the place. Jace felt like that sorry dingy out back, knocking up against the edge of the dock while his family ebbed and flowed as a unit.

  Chest a little tight, he handed the platter to Hattie directly and took a step back—and out of the way.

  Hattie locked on him, her white brows puckered as she studied him thoroughly. Jace leaned casually against the back wall, set the beer at his feet, and Hattie pursed her lips. “Do I need to pull that boot out of your backside?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Good to hear.” She set the platter on the counter with ease.

  Cal picked up the case of beer and slid it in the fridge. “What did you do now?”

  Nothing that he wanted to discuss in front of his entire family. Even though Jace wasn’t a big talker, there wasn’t much he kept from his brothers. But Charlotte, well, she was his. Always had been. And with gossip being what it was in this town, he didn’t feel like sharing. Plus, they were a long story, a story he’d promised that morning he wouldn’t share. Not that he would even know where to begin, since not a soul in that room, except his nosy grandmother, knew about their history.

  “What haven’t I done?” he joked right as Brett hurdled toward him.

  “Incoming,” Brett said, flying baby Lily and her gummy smile though the air, making all kinds of propeller noises—and making Jace’s chest her landing strip. “Hang with your uncle Jace for two seconds while Daddy gets the bread out of the oven,” he cooed.

  Lily Anne cooed back, then she giggled like everything in her world was right. Until Jace decided to get a better look at his niece and shifted her around to face him. She took one look at his scruffy face, her eyes went owly, and she let out a shriek that was car-alarm certified. Jace had to stretch his jaw just to pop his ears. He also had to move the baby out of kicking range, since her arms and legs were moving with intent. Not that anyone else seemed to notice, cue ball was wailing for all the woes in the world and the entire kitchen was business as usual.

  Jace bounced, swayed, hummed, paced, tutted like Hattie used to when he was a kid while salads were tossed, plates and platters made their way to the table, and Lily kept wailing. It was surreal.

  “Uh, bro, I think she’s broken,” Jace finally said, a thin sheen of sweat trickling down his back. Jace had spent time with exactly one baby over the years, Payton. And he was suddenly realizing that that was a lifetime and a pair of hooker heels ago.

  “Nah, she’s just teething,” Cal said.

  Teething? “She’s already teething?” He peeked in the kid’s mouth, which was wide open and midhowl, and yup, a sharp little white dagger poked through the front.

  “Next time you pass through she’ll be walking,” Cal said, sticking his finger in her mouth.

  Lily Anne instantly went silent, her eyes wide and assessing while she gummed the hell out of Cal’s finger.

  “And I’ll be driving,” Payton proclaimed, and Cal groaned something that, had Hattie heard, she would have gotten out the spoon.

  “Hey, Jace, welcome home,” Joie said, going on her toes to give him a sweet kiss on the cheek, and Lily one on the head. She looked at Cal and frowned. “Did you wash your hands?” Then to Brett, “Did he wash his hands?”

  Brett looked up from the oven. “Come on, man, there is a teething ring in the freezer.” He pointed with his mitted hand. “Like two feet from you.”

  Cal rolled his eyes and mouthed amateurs, but grabbed the teething ring and popped it in. Lily Anne continued to study Jace and to slurp, while a big stream of drool dripped off her chin and onto his shirt.

  “I saw that, Cal,” Joie said, picking up the brisket and making her way to the table. Brett intercepted her, trading in the heavy platter for the salad and giving her a kiss that made Payton gag.

  “Sorry I’m late,” Glory said. “Hey, Jace. You made it!”

  Jace turned a
round to say hey back, but Glory was busy saying her hey to Cal, who was busy tangling himself around his fiancée.

  “Gross,” Payton said, but she was grinning like it was Christmas morning and she’d found a bright pink convertible under the tree. And who could blame her? After a lifetime of waiting for her mom to show up, Payton was finally getting what she wanted—a real family.

  “Biscuits are done,” Hattie said, and before his grandmother could say Time to eat everyone was already around the table, napkins in their lap, his brothers making googly eyes at their women. And Jace was still leaning against the wall wondering what had just happened.

  Somehow over the past couple of years his brothers had found happiness. Managed to create the kind of homes their parents would have been proud of. And Jace was proud of them, too, he truly was. He just wondered what he was missing that they seemed to have figured out so easily. Over the past few years his brothers had found their way through the pain, managed to build amazing lives for themselves, and Jace was exactly where he’d been the day his parents died.

  Surrounded by family and love, but completely alone.

  Ignoring the urge to make up an excuse and head out, Jace did what he hadn’t been able to do in over a decade. He took his seat at the family table. At least he assumed it was his seat since it was the only vacant one, and it was in the same exact spot as it had been when he was a kid.

  Within seconds platters were being passed, Payton was talking about school, and Jace found himself silently in awe at the kind of connections that were happening. The kind that felt easy and warm and right. The kind you didn’t have to work at, that just came with being family. And he knew that if he just let go, made the decision to stay, then maybe he, too, could be a part of it.

  “Are you breathing yet?” Payton asked quietly, and Jace realized he wasn’t breathing at all. He just silently sat, taking everything in. Wondering what Payton would be doing next time he—how did Cal put it, right—blew through. If Lily Anne would really be walking. Hell, if something didn’t change she’d be talking. And he would have missed it.

  Who knew what else he’d miss? Not only with his family, but with Charlotte, who would have fit right in around his family’s table.