Back to the Top (Ross Records) (3) (20 page)

“And I didn’t mean to argue with you,” he said, running hands through his hair – hair that was so like mine. “I just couldn’t stand back and say nothing. Of course, I never thought it would result in us barely speaking.”

“I made a mistake,” I admitted. “A huge mistake. But, luckily for me, I got out of there before it could get worse.”

“But he hit you,” Seth said.

I nodded.

He sighed, a loud, angry sigh. “If I ever see that bastard, I’ll probably go to jail.”

“Don’t start with all the manly crap. I’ve heard enough from Jake and the others.”

“It’s not a manly thing,” he protested. “You’re my little sister. I’m supposed to look out for you, even if you’re not ten anymore.”

I laughed, feeling as if a lead weight had been hefted out of my heart. “I know. I’d feel the same way if some woman did something like that to you.”

He cracked a grin so familiar that my heart twisted. “I’m sorry that I blew up at you. I guess I went about things the wrong way. I just don’t want this shit with Brad to interfere with our family any more than he already has.”

I moved over to throw my arms around his neck. “I’ve missed you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, hugging me back.

“It’s about damn time.”

We broke apart to find Caroline standing in the doorway, Jake and Maggie behind her.

“I was about to kick Bella’s ass in a game of pool,” Seth said, climbing to his feet. “Maybe we can play teams?”

“Sure,” Jake said, his black bandana now on Maggie’s head.

“What are you doing to my niece?” I asked as I tried to take her from Jake’s arms. She clung to his neck; burying her face in his shoulder.

“She liked it,” he shrugged. “Doesn’t she look cool?”

***

My grandfather returned home that evening, just in time to join us for dinner. It was a lively affair, full of conversation and laughter. Tension still hung in the air, but far enough up that it didn’t interfere with our meal.

After dinner, Jake took our bags up to my old bedroom, which had been turned into a beautiful guest room, complete with a vase of fresh cut flowers on my old, refinished dresser. The comforter was a light blue, matching the floral print wallpaper and the blue curtains.

“I’m surprised you’ll sleep with me in your parents’ house,” Jake said with a smirk.

“Calm down, tiger,” I said. “We’ll just be sleeping, that’s all.”

“Of course, angel,” he said, dropping a kiss on the top of my head before we trudged back down to the living room to engage in a board game. My father, a sucker for family game nights, was thrilled to have everyone under his roof, playing games that had seen better days. It almost made me feel normal again.

When the little party broke up, I headed for my room, but before Jake could follow, my grandfather summoned him into my father’s office. Fearing the worst, I went upstairs alone, slipping into bed, unable to sleep. I had no clue why my grandfather would want to speak to Jake as they hadn’t really had what I would consider a close relationship in the past.

An hour later, Jake opened the door, his face a little pale. I sat straight up, the book I’d been trying to read falling to the floor.

“Are you okay?” I asked. “What happened?”

“Nothing, Iz,” he said, stripping to his boxers. He slid into bed beside me. “He just wanted to talk.”

“About what?” I asked, my curiosity and concern overwhelming.

Turning out the light on the table beside the bed, Jake rolled to his side, propping his head with his hand. “He wanted to talk about addiction.”

“Addiction?” I asked.

He nodded, brushing the hair out of my face. “Yes. He’s an addict, too, you know. He’s addicted to gambling. Just like drugs got me into trouble, gambling got him into trouble.”

“Wow,” I muttered. “I hadn’t thought of it like that.”

He dropped his head to the pillow, slipping an arm around my waist. “There are different forms of addiction. We just talked for awhile about it and how we’re working through it. He’s going to meetings, you know.”

“He is?” I asked.

“Yep. And they’ll help. They helped me.”

“Did it help both of you to talk tonight?” I asked.

“Yes. It sucks to be an addict – it’s a helpless feeling,” he explained. “It helps to talk to counselors and stuff, but when an addict sits down with another addict – be it a drug addict or a gambling addict or whatever – it’s totally different. They know – they’ve been there. They know how you feel.”

I scooted closer, realizing just how hard Jake and my grandfather had struggled. It wasn’t like they could just quit and be done – once that addiction had set in, it sank its claws inside and didn’t let go.

“I’m glad, then, that you two talked,” I said.

“Me, too,” Jake said. “He’s worried, too, about what your parents think of him. I urged him to sit down and talk to them once the weekend is over and everyone goes home.”

“Is he going to?” I asked, my heart wrenching for my poor grandfather.

“He said he would,” Jake said. “But it’s up to him to start the conversation.”

I closed my eyes, muttering a quick prayer for my healing family. Jake snuggled closer, tightening his hold on me.

“Iz?”

“Yes.”

He kissed my cheek. “I love your little niece. She’s adorable.”

“Yes, she is,” I agreed.

He continued to pepper my cheek with kisses. “You know, Ronnie has a kid, Seth has a kid, and now Matt and Greta will have a kid.”

I tensed. “What are you getting at?”

“Nothing,” he said. He kissed me again and then stilled, the air quiet around us. “Well, just, you know, that I want one.”

“Want what?” I asked.

“A kid.”

I sucked in a breath. “Jake.”

“Not now, of course,” he said. “But someday.”

I bit my lip. Yes, I wanted Jake’s child, but not now. I had to get my life figured out before I could bring a child into it.

But then, I hadn’t been exactly careful lately, either. When I’d left Brad’s, I hadn’t taken anything but my purse. The little pills I took every morning were still in the medicine cabinet in my bathroom. I just hadn’t gotten around to refilling them since I’d been at Jake’s.

And we hadn’t been angelic, either. The little physical break we’d taken hadn’t lasted long.

“No comment?” he asked.

I rolled to my side and kissed him. “I would like a child, too, but not right now. Let’s just get our lives settled first, huh?”

“Absolutely,” he said, rolling on top of me to pelt me with kisses, making me giggle. He placed one last, lingering kiss on my lips before returning to his side of the bed. “I love you, Iz.”

“I love you, too,” I whispered before closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep.

Sixteen

The next few days passed in a blur. Once we returned to Jake’s, I began work on the flowerbeds only to be interrupted Monday by Jake announcing that he’d be leaving earlier than planned.

“What do you mean?” I asked, removing the dirty gardening gloves from my hands. I stood, swiping at my knees before facing him. “When are you leaving?”

“In the morning,” he said, wincing at the pained look that must have flitted across my face. “Sorry, Iz, but Rob had to move the shoot up a few days.”

Dropping my gardening spade into the dirt, I nodded. “I understand. You’ve got a job to do.”

He ran his hands up and down my arms. “Yeah, but I hate leaving you when we just got back together. You know, you can still come with me.”

“I know,” I said, biting my lip. I considered it for a moment and then remembered Cammy coming on Friday. “I think I’ll hang out here. Maybe, if you’re not back by the time Cammy leaves, I’ll come.”

“Okay,” he said, letting his hands fall to mine. He laced our fingers together. “I’ll be working a lot but you can shop or sit on the beach or something.”

Pulling a face, I wrested one hand free to place on his chest. “Yes, I know you will be. I remember how you get when working on a video. And it’s twice as bad when Rob Ross is involved. That’s why it’s probably a good reason why I stay home – you’d work twenty hours a day and I’d never see you.”

Snorting, he pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “Probably. I’ll tell you what – if we finish early, I’ll fly you out and we’ll spend a few days in LA. How’s that sound?”

“Great,” I said. “It’s a plan.”

I followed him into the house where I washed my hands in the powder room before joining him in the kitchen to make sandwiches. After eating our simple lunch on the deck, we went upstairs to pack Jake for his trip.

“I hate packing,” Jake said from the foot of the bed. He sat, remote control in hand, and watched as I gathered underwear and socks for his suitcase.

“I see that,” I grumbled as I crossed the room to the closet. “Best to just do it and get it done.”

“Yep,” he said, his eyes on a baseball game on TV. “Damn. That was so not a strike!”

“What shirts do you want?” I asked, flipping through the clothes in the closet.

“Just some t-shirts,” he mumbled. “Oh! Nice hit!”

Peering out of the closet, I raised a brow. “You don’t want something nice in case you, I don’t know, go to a nice restaurant or a dinner meeting or something?”

“Nah,” he said, scooting back onto the bed. “If I do need something, I’ll pick it up.”

Clucking my tongue, I left the closet in order to gather up t-shirts and jeans. “You know, you have a lot of clothes already, it’s a shame to buy something new just because.”

He shrugged. “I should get rid of some of that stuff. I don’t wear it. I’ll donate it to charity or something.”

“Good idea,” I said, dumping an armful of clothes on the bed. “Don’t overtax yourself packing.”

“Huh?” he asked, leaning forward as the batter smacked the ball to centerfield. “Drop, drop, drop. Ah damn. He crushed it.”

“Jake,” I said in a firm tone.

“Yeah?” he asked as the game went to a commercial. “What’s the problem?”

“Is this okay?”

He glanced at the pile of clothing, lifting a shoulder. “It’s fine, angel. Whatever. Hey, thanks for doing this for me.”

“You’re welcome,” I said as I neatly placed everything in the suitcase. Something inside of me wilted at the thought of Jake being gone, but I shook it off. I remembered years ago when he’d told me that if we couldn’t make it apart, we’d never make it together.

His arms snaked around my waist and my body instinctively pressed against him. “I’m going to miss you, Iz. But it’s only ten days.”

“I know,” I sighed. “It’s just that we’ve been together over a month, now, and I’m used to you being around. But, I suppose I should get used to it.”

“Why is that?” he asked.

“Because you’ll be going on tour again, soon,” I said. “Or going out of town for appearances or video shoots.”

“Yeah,” he said, kissing the hollow at the base of my neck. “But you don’t always have to stay home. You can come with me.”

“I know,” I said, turning to wrap my arms around his neck. “But you know what the best part of you leaving and me staying here?”

“What’s that?” he asked, kissing below my ear and running his lips toward mine.

“Saying goodbye,” I said, pressing my mouth to his. “And saying hello.”

“I like how you think,” he said, sweeping me up in his arms and dropping me on the bed. “Let’s get to work on that goodbye right now.”

***

After Jake left the next morning, I wandered outside to the flat of impatiens and petunias waiting for me. The pretty purples and pinks did little to inspire me so I sat on a chair, staring at the ripples in the lake at the end of the dock. BK sat at the end of the wooden structure, watching the ducks glide across the water, possibly considering jumping in after them.

Sighing, I couldn’t summon the energy to get out of the chair. My mind was on Jake, probably flying overhead by now, and how I would get along without him.

“Stop, Isabella,” I groaned. “Since when have you ever needed a man around all the time to be happy?”

That comment dragged Brad to the forefront of my mind. Brad, who thought that, once he put a ring on my finger, I should be indebted to him. Brad, who thought that I was his inferior. Brad and his stupid interviews and appearances that painted my family in a bad light. Brad who thought that he’d won another battle.

My eyes widened as I recalled the horde of reporters in front of my parents’ house and the one familiar face.

“He hasn’t won,” I mumbled as I scrambled out of the chair, scraping it against the wood. BK turned at the noise and trotted after me as I raced into the house and to Jake’s office. I booted up Jake’s laptop and did a people search. It only took a moment to find what I was looking for and another moment to locate my phone.

She answered on the third ring.

“This is Karen Lange with the
Central Indiana Report.”