Believe Me (Hearts for Ransom Book 3) (18 page)

She was so shocked she couldn’t move. Had that been her imagination, or was it something else? Could that have been a memory?

Surprised by the abrupt end of her kiss, Mason leaned his head back and looked up at her. “Are you all right?”

“I’m just tired.” That’s what it had to be. No matter how attractive she found him, she would never be like that with any man. Not even Mason. “Thank you all again.”

She walked back over to Spencer, who silently accepted his coat from Abby and put it on. At least he wasn’t trying to act impervious to the cold weather.

“Come on.” Claire’s heart broke when, once again, her son didn’t even look at her. Instead, his eyes flew to the still scowling Bo before the sullen teenager turned and headed toward the door.

Still wary, Claire stayed at her son’s heels.

Mason watched them leave.

Bo let out a low whistle. “I never thought I’d see this.”

“What?”

A triumphant grin lit Bo’s face. “Mason Wright is in love.”

Mason’s gaze didn’t waver. “Know what, Bo?” He wasn’t going to deny it. “You were right, my friend. Being in love doesn’t bite.”

There were chuckles among them as they all told him goodbye. He sat and watched his friends leave before turning and heading his chair down what now seemed like the Grand Canyon of halls. Although he distracted himself by counting the unappealing gray floor tiles, he was barely able to make it back to his room. It was with even more unhappiness he realized Sandra was right behind him.

“You have been in that chair for entirely too long, young man,” she scolded, “and Nina said you didn’t tell her you were leaving this time, so just what did you think you were—” She reminded Mason of the little boy in
Home Alone
when she smacked her cheeks. “Your eye! You have a black eye.”

As tired as he was, he couldn’t resist. He lifted his hands to his face. “I do?”

Her hands flew to her hips, and if her eyebrows went any lower, they would be a mustache. “Just how did you get a black eye?”

Mason grimaced. “You guys should put a warning sign on 168—Harve Timbers is plumb grouchy if you eat one of his pudding cups.”

“Harve hit—” Her eyes narrowed. “Very funny, Mr. Wright. You can tell more of your ridiculous jokes while we’re getting you to bed and putting some ice on that eye. Then, I suppose it will be up to me to discover the truth.”

He decided the other patients already suffered enough without being grilled by this woman. “A visitor hit me, and I deserved it. End of story.”

“Who—”

“I’m sorry, Sandra, but that is none of your business. Now, didn’t you say something about moving me to my bed?”

For the first time since Mason met her, the gruff nurse appeared chagrined. Of course, that lasted about fifty-three seconds before her frown was firmly back in place. “I will go find somebody to help me get you into bed.”

Mason heard her talking as she turned and headed out the door. “Brawls in the hospital. What’s next, I ask you. Spitting contests?” Even from the hall, she was audible. “Young men today have no manners. Their Papas should have spanked their bot…” Her voice tapered off as she walked away, but Mason wondered what the other patients and staff thought about a nurse stomping through the halls and carrying on like that.

His mind returned to the people he cared about. No matter how angry he was or what he said, Spencer loved his mom. Mason knew the young man would come around.

But as for his own relationship with Spencer, he had no idea if he could fix it. Mason just hoped if only one thing he’d told Spencer had stuck in the teenager’s head, it would be that Mason would give his name to
both
of Claire’s children. He hadn’t just gone and fallen in love with the woman. He’d gone and fallen in love with the whole family.

Enough! Claire never really needed to discipline her son before, but he had yet to utter a single word since Bo brought him back the day before.

She slammed open his bedroom door and walked in. Spencer lay on his bed, hands behind his head, just staring at the ceiling.

“Spencer Eugene Hadley, I have had it with this nonsense! This—the way you’re acting—is unacceptable. So, you found out something that upset you. Then you need to man up and discuss it with me like a fifteen-year-old, instead of pouting like Bo says you are.” She spoke calmly, but firmly, keeping her voice down so she wouldn’t wake his sleeping sister. “Now, either you get your butt out to the kitchen table so we can talk this through, or you can plan on spending a lot of time in this bedroom you seem to have grown so fond of. Because if you’re going to act like a child, I’m going to treat you like one. You’ll go to school and come straight home every day. That’s it. I’m going out there, and I hope you make a wise decision and follow me.”

Claire was surprised when she sat down and saw Spencer take his usual seat at the table. Her heart was beating so hard, she hadn’t heard him.

“Okay,” she told him. “No more secrets. Ask me anything you want to know.”

He looked at her. Was he going to speak or not? What could she actually do if he didn’t?

He finally asked, “Do you love Mason?”

“No,” she answered, “but I’d like to see if I can. I like him very much and find him attractive. What else?”

“Does Mason love you?” Spencer’s gaze was sharp.

“I don’t know,” she honestly told him. “He expressed interest in seeing if we can build a relationship, so he must at least feel the way I do.”

“Why did you have sex with Mason?”

Claire wasn’t sure how to answer. She told him no more secrets, but some things were private. He didn’t need all the details. Especially, since after what happened when she kissed Mason, she was no longer confident of the details herself.

“One night when you were gone, I stayed at the bar after work. Some co-workers invited me, but I  could have said no.”

“You got drunk.”

“Not intentionally, but that’s not an excuse. You know I never do anything like that, so even the small amount I drank was too much.” His expression didn’t change. “Mason was here when I got home. He was waiting to ask me if he could surprise you with your World of Wonders trip.”

“So, you had sex.”

This was one of the hardest hurdles she’d faced. “We kissed, and then, it…just happened.”

Spencer finally showed some emotions—suspicion and doubt. “Have you been sneaking around with him this whole time?”

What he must have thought! “Of course not. We were only together that one time. Please believe me, Spencer. Only once.”

“Why wouldn’t you let Mason be Zoey’s dad?”

She didn’t want to give Spencer any further reason to dislike Mason, but she wasn’t going to lie to her son. “Mason didn’t used to be a…righteous man. I didn’t want him to be a part of Zoey’s life.”

Her chest ached when she saw tears well in his eyes. “If Mason wasn’t a good man, why did you let him be in my life?”

Spencer was smart; he would understand if she told him the truth. “I didn’t know about Mason at first, and by the time I found out, it was too late. The two of you had grown too close for me to hurt you by kicking him out of your life.” He had to see reason. “Besides, when it comes to you, Mason has always been a good man, hasn’t he?”

He reluctantly nodded. “Are you still gonna date him?”

“Yes.”

“Then he’ll stop being my big brother.” A lone tear broke free and trailed down his cheek.

“What makes you think that?”

Spencer glanced at Zoey’s empty high chair. “He’ll have you and his real kid. He won’t have time for me.”

Claire suddenly felt an emotion she had never dealt with before when it came to her son. She was angry. “You know what? You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. You know perfectly well Mason couldn’t love you more even if you were his ‘real’ son. He risked everything because he loves you so much he couldn’t lie to you anymore.”

Spencer started to speak, but she didn’t let him. She wasn’t finished yet.

“In case you didn’t notice, a man who still can’t take care of himself and was so exhausted he could barely sit up, organized a search party to find you. And that was with the disadvantage of having only one good eye to use. How can you sit there and say Mason won’t have time for you?”

The tears broke free from his eyes and her big, strong son began sobbing. He stood up and walked over to fall on his knees in front of her.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” he got out between sobs. “I didn’t mean any of those awful things I said to you, and I shouldn’t have acted the way I did.” He buried his face in her lap.

This was the boy she knew—her son—her pride and joy. Anger disappeared at the flip of a switch. “I love you so much, Spencer.” Unable to hug him the way she wanted, she rubbed his back. “I never meant to hurt you like I have. I didn’t think about the effect Mason being Zoey’s father would have on you until it was too late.”

After Spencer had taken a couple of minutes to gain control, he lifted his head and smiled shakily. “Zoey looks just like Mason, doesn’t she?”

Claire ruffled his hair and sighed. “I’m having a sign made.”

His smile disappeared in confusion. “What kind of sign?”

“Pictures of your sister and Mason side-by-side with the words,
yes, she looks like him.
” Claire smiled ruefully. “Very much.”

A light burnt deep within his blue eyes. “I wish I was Mason’s real son.”

“So does Mason,” she assured him. “He told me he would adopt you if the two of us end up together.” Spence didn’t need to know about the awkward proposal and resultant fallout.

Spencer slowly smiled. “Mom, he told me he’d give both of your kids his name in a heartbeat. He does love me, doesn’t he?”

She placed a hand on each side of his face. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

“I have to go tell Mason I’m sorry.” He stood up. “Can we go see him?”

Claire looked at the clock. “It’s getting late. Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve. Why don’t we give him his Christmas present early?”

He grinned at her. “I know just what I’m going to give him.”

So did she.

Jan Daniels couldn’t seem to stop laughing. “I can’t believe you had a dog tag engraved with
This Bites
for Bo,” she told Mason.

“Maybe Bo can just flash that instead of saying it all the time,” Mason suggested dryly. “It would be a shame if those were Lucy’s first words.”

As though she heard her name, the sleeping baby in Mason’s arms wrinkled her tiny nose and wiggled around. He was surprised when, after Jan laid the baby on his bed to take off her snowsuit, she placed Lucy carefully in his arms. She promptly yawned and fell asleep. Maybe he bored babies.

Laughter filled the room as Bo put on his present and began whipping the dog tag out and holding it up.

“Just practicing,” he announced, winking at his wife. Mason didn’t particularly want to know the connotation between practicing and Bo’s wife.

Rolling his eyes at his dad, Seth walked over to Mason. “Thanks for the mitt.” He held it up and slid his hand inside. “Look, Dad.” Bo dropped his dog tag and gave his attention to Seth. “You said I was going to need a new one before next season.”

“Yeah, I did,” Bo agreed. “And we’ll have plenty of time to get that one broken in before you start using it.” Bo smiled at Mason, gratitude on his face.

Mason looked around the crowded room. All the Slammers and their families were there to celebrate an early Christmas with him, and he was enjoying himself. Glancing down at Lucy, he couldn’t help but wish Claire and her kids were there, and it was Zoey lying in his arms.

Abby caught his eye. She held her megaphone, looking at it with confusion on her face.

Brody saw it and burst out laughing. “Mason is rescuing the ballgame announcers!”

Abby frowned as everybody else joined in with Brody’s laughter. Then as comprehension lit her eyes, she smiled.

“This’ll work fine.” Blonde ringlets bounced when she nodded. “If one of those women gets too close to my man, I’ll give her one chance to read the fine print over here,” she pointed to the words Mason had ordered printed, “and if that doesn’t work, I’ll let her have it in the ear.” She giggled. “If she still doesn’t get it, I can accidentally whack her upside the head.” She smiled gleefully.

Emily sighed and shook her head. “Only Abby.”

Logan cleared his throat. “Can I have everybody’s attention for a minute?”

The group stopped talking and stared at Logan. Mason could see curiosity on the men’s faces and happiness on the ladies’. He knew what was coming.

Logan put his arm around his beaming wife. “Emily and I are going to have a baby.”

Words of congratulations and teasing erupted from the group. Remembering he wasn’t already supposed to know, he carefully made his way to Logan and Emily.

“Your baby will have some of the best parents in the world,” he told them.

Emily leaned down and kissed his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered in his ear.

He winked at her as she straightened back up.

“Let me take Daddy’s little sleeping beauty off your hands.” Bo, having walked up beside Mason, actually cooed. Instead of laughing, Mason knew now why a father talked like that. He released the small child as her father picked her up and cradled her in one arm. That was another lucky child.

Of course, so was Henry. The five-year-old had sat on the floor to play the hand-held video game Mason bought him and not looked up from it once. After hunkering down next to him for a minute, Matt stood and gave Mason a thumbs up. It looked like he did okay with his gifts.

“Have you seen Claire or Spencer?” He pulled his gaze away from Henry and looked at Emily, who had pulled a chair over to sit beside him.

He shook his head. “Not since they left on Saturday.”

She frowned. “I’m sorry, Mason.”

He forced a smile. “That’s okay. They have a lot of stuff to work through, and I don’t want to add to the mix. I have to believe Spence will come around.”

“I’m sure he will.” Emily’s encouraging smile seemed sincere.

It was over an hour later when everybody except Logan and Emily had wished him a Merry Christmas and left. Jesse and Betsy had left as soon as they exchanged gifts with him, so they could head to Illinois. After a few startled looks from a few of the men, most notably Jake Landon, everybody seemed to accept her as Jesse’s girlfriend and treated her just like they did the other women. She gave Mason a hug after she opened the simple charm bracelet Jennifer picked up for him as a last minute gift. The only charms on it were a small desk and a computer. He figured she could add to it as she went along.

A sharp rap on the door ended his ponderings.

Instead of calling out an invitation to enter, Mason turned his chair to face his visitors.

“You sit still,” Emily ordered. “I’ve got it.”

Right before she got there, it opened to admit a man about Mason’s height, but not as stocky, and a slightly taller, slender woman, both with dark hair. They were dressed in clothes Mason knew for a fact had never hung on a rack. The two of them reeked of money.

“Mason James,” the woman said in a strident voice.

“What do you want, Mother?” Mason asked wearily. He knew what they wanted. What they always wanted.

“That’s no way to greet your mother,” his father said with his usual cold manner.

“What are you doing here?” Mason wasn’t playing nice with these two people.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friends?” His mother looked disdainfully at Logan and Emily.

Mason didn’t want to, but he could see the bewilderment written all over his friends’ faces. “Logan and Emily Taylor, this is Vincent and Cassandra Wright…my parents.” He came dangerously close to using a different word.

Emily’s mouth dropped open. “VC Wright Corporation?” she asked incredulously.

His father stood straighter, every bit the affronted celebrity, “Of course.” He always thought everybody should automatically recognize him. The man’s ego was that big.

“The hospital gets most of our equipment from your company,” Emily politely said.

Mason realized his two best friends had just discovered his big secret. His parents were stinking rotten rich.

“So, cut to the chase, Father,” Mason said abruptly. “Why are you here?”

“We heard about your accident.” His father cast a sideways glance at the Taylors. “You really should have called us, so we could care for you.”

Mason rolled his eyes. “You mean, so you could hire an expensive nursing staff and brag about how you’re taking care of your poor, misguided son.”

The older man suddenly became irate. “Surely, this has knocked some sense into your head. This is not the lifestyle to which you were born. You must be ready to stop hammering nails for bourgeois, and take your place in the corporation. It’s where you belong.”

Mason saw the embarrassment on Logan and Emily’s faces and wished more than ever his legs were functioning. He would have cheerfully kicked his father out of the room. He felt his own anger overtake him.

“I am where I belong. I not only build houses for common people, I’m a common person myself. And I like it this way. I have a life I love. You should be happy for me.”

“But you have the trust fund—” his mother reminded him.

He spoke with biting sarcasm. “That’s right. I’m going to inherit a lot of money when I turn thirty. I forgot.”

“I sincerely hope you’ll make better use of it than you have the money your grandmother left you,” his father told him.

So, the multi-millionaire had delved into Mason’s personal records, which infuriated him. “What I do, or don’t do, with my money is none of your business, Father.” He had listened to enough. “You can leave now.”

“But the trust fund…you need us. You’ll come home with us.” His mother’s fake motherly attitude made Mason want to harf all over her designer shoes.

Instead, he snorted. “When Father gets a seven-dollar haircut.” He leveled his gaze at the man. “How about if I save you the cost of whoever you hired to illegally snoop into my finances? When I get that money, I plan on investing some of it in a construction company I’m interested in—hopefully become a partner.” He glanced at a stunned Logan. “And I’m going to donate the rest to a couple of charities I want to support.”

His father sputtered. “You can’t do that.”

“I have a top-notch attorney who says I can.” He figuratively dusted off his hands. “Now, if that’s all you wanted, the door is right behind you.”

“But, you’re our son,” his mother protested.

“I’m a piece of property,” he coldly stated. “Neither of you has ever cared about me as a person. You only care about how things look to those snobs you call friends. You’re here because you can’t have them thinking your own flesh and blood chooses to live among middle class people rather than stay with you. That’s the way it’s always been.”

His father raised a finger and shook it. “You’ll be sorry you’ve thrown all your wealth and status away someday.”

Mason automatically thought of Claire and the kids. “I have found something a lot more valuable than money, but I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

His mother finally broke and showed her true nature. “Don’t think you’ll just crawl back, and we’ll welcome you with open arms,” she hissed. “This is your last chance.”

“And this is your last chance to leave before I call and have security escort you out of the building. The staff is good about keeping their patients from being harassed.”

“You are not our son!” his mother exclaimed, right before she turned and walked haughtily out the door, with his father right behind her.

Mason sighed. “Don’t I wish.”

He turned to Logan and Emily. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“No,” Emily said. “I’m sorry you have such cold, unfeeling parents. You deserve better.”

Mason turned to Logan, who still looked stupefied. “Hey.” He waved his hand like a student in a classroom. “I’m still the same blockhead who managed to honk everyone off at one time or another.”

Logan seemed to shake himself out of his daze. A slow grin spread across his face.

“Partners, huh?” he asked.

“I’m twenty-eight,” Mason reminded him. “You have a year and a half to get used to the idea of Taylor-Wright Construction. Maybe we could call it T & W Construction.”

Logan walked over and shook Mason’s hand. “A year and a half—sounds good to me.”

“I hope you know I’m not ever going to be able to appreciate our VC Wright equipment like I used to,” Emily informed him.

Mason had dealt with the situation for a long time. He knew how to help her with that problem.

“Think of the people who actually design the machines and put them together. My father sits in an office and decides how the money he makes should be spent. I bet if you took him through the hospital, he wouldn’t even recognize his own products. That’s how far out of the loop he is.”

She seemed hesitant before meeting Mason’s gaze. “He said something about your grandmother having left you money. Mason, are you rich?”

Mason felt himself blush. “My grandma did leave me some money. As my father said, I blew a lot of it going through my teen years, but there’s still plenty to fall back on if I need to.” He looked guiltily at Logan. “That’s why I told you I didn’t need any help with my bills while I’m in here.”

Emily smiled at him, a sort of relief on her face.

“This is the first time in five years I’ve touched it.” Mason was proud of his lifestyle. “I live off my salary, and that’s how I want it to be.”

Logan slowly nodded. “It’s kind of like if Em and I needed to dip into the money her parents left—probably not nearly the same amount, but we’re keeping it in case of an emergency.”

“Exactly.” He still had a favor to ask. “Can we keep my parentage between us? I don’t need my friends thinking I’m somebody I’m not. I’ve already lived that way too long.”

“We won’t tell a soul,” Emily assured him.

“Not a word to anybody,” Logan promised.

“Thank you.” He couldn’t keep back the yawn.

“We’re going to leave and let you get some rest.” Emily, observant as always, must have seen how tired he was. “The nurse will be bringing your dinner soon, anyway.”