Falling For You - January Cove Book 3 (18 page)

Jackson sighed and sat up in the bed. He hoped he wouldn
’
t wake Rebecca up as he tiptoed into the living room. The clock on the wall said it was seven in the morning. He was so sick of his life being consumed by work.
“
Well, John, that
’
s kind of a bummer. I was really looking forward to this deal, but with that much push back, perhaps it just wasn
’
t meant to be.
”

He heard John start yelling across the line, but he just didn
’
t care.
“
It
’
s frustrating for all involved, John, but I think I
’
m going to cut my losses here. Also, I won
’
t be available to take these kinds of emergency calls for much longer. I
’
ll be doing some of my work remotely, so I
’
ll be putting someone in charge someone shortly to deal with things like this.
”
Jackson hung up feeling empowered. He should have stood up for his spare time so much sooner.

“
Who was that?
”
Rebecca came waltzing in wearing a pink robe and rubbing her eyes. Apparently the phone call had woken her up.

“
I
’
m sorry. I didn
’
t mean to wake you up.
”

Rebecca approached him to give him a peck on the cheek.
“
It
’
s okay. I
’
m kind of hungry anyway. Plus, the coffee shop opens in a couple hours and Leo will be home.
”

Jackson pulled out his phone again and sent a quick text. He saw Rebecca giving him an inquisitive look and was glad when he got a reply almost immediately.
“
How would you like to see a Parker family breakfast? Mom
’
s cooking a big one to celebrate the engagement before everyone has to go back to work. I
’
ll have you back in time to open, okay?
”
Rebecca nodded, actually looking excited by the idea, and he gave her a love tap as she went to get dressed.

***

The Parker family house was abuzz with activity much like Thanksgiving, only some of the Parker kids were still in their pajamas. The table was already filled with eggs, bacon, ham, pancakes, and everything else anyone could possibly want for breakfast. Rebecca took a seat while Jackson got on the phone again. This time it was the Parker
’
s landline, and his sister Addison had called to check in with everyone. Apparently, they were trying to convince her to come stay for awhile. She could see that everyone was concerned about the only Parker daughter, but no one was quite sure what was going on.

Everyone was chatting and enjoying their meal when a knock came at the door. Rebecca offered to get it since everyone else seemed busy with each other. When she opened the door she saw a thin girl, probably in her mid or late twenties with flowing brown hair and way too much makeup on for her own good.
“
Um..hi,
”
the girl said,
“
I
’
m looking for Jackson Parker. Is he here?
”
The girl, who had a fairly thick accent, looked into the house and saw Jackson standing there on the phone. She blew past Rebecca uninvited and ran toward Jackson who was still on the phone. She heard the girl say something in another language; Italian perhaps, and then she froze. The girl jumped up and kissed Jackson straight on the lips.

The whole family at that point was staring in shock as the scene played out before them.
“
Addison, I
’
m going to have to call you back.
”
Jackson hung up the phone, and Rebecca shut the door. Something big was about to happen, and her heart was hanging on by a thread as she watched.

“
Roma, what the hell are you doing here? We broke up. How did you even find where I was?
”
Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief. This was a crazy ex come to haunt him. It wasn
’
t fun, but it wasn
’
t some big secret he was hiding from her either.

Roma went to grab a hold of Jackson
’
s neck, and he swiftly removed her hands.
“
Oh, Jackson, I miss you. You know I have my sources.
”
She smiled and kept stumbling all over Jackson. Rebecca wondered if she was drunk or just desperate. Pretty or not, she could clearly see why he had broken up with her.

“
Roma, I really don
’
t appreciate this. You see the beautiful redhead that opened the door for you, that
’
s my girlfriend. This is almost my whole family here, and you just came barging in on a breakfast meant to celebrate my brother
’
s engagement." Rebecca saw Roma glare at her as she backed a couple steps away from Jackson.

“
Oh. Well, we need to talk. Can we go somewhere a little more private?
”

“
If it will get you out of here faster, yes.
You have five minutes.
”
Jackson led her out the door past Rebecca, being sure to give her a peck on the cheek and mouth an apology to the on the way out.

Tessa came and grabbed her by the arm to sit her down with the rest of the family at the table. Mrs. Parker put some breakfast on her plate, and she started to pick at it with her fork. She was distracted, though, as she could hear an argument going on outside.

When Jackson came back in, he made a beeline for his mother and whispered something in her ear. Rebecca noticed she was pursing her lips. She turned around to see that Roma was sitting on the couch with her head in her hands.

After speaking with his mother he came up to Rebecca and led her outside. All of a sudden she felt very afraid of what he was about to tell her, and it turned out that it was with good reason.

“
First of all I want to apologize for that. We hadn
’
t really had the official conversation about past relationships, and this was not the way to find out about it. Roma and I weren
’
t all that serious. She
’
s actually a model, so she travels a lot. We were kind of off and on when she was in town, but her personality didn
’
t mesh well with mine, so I broke up with her a couple months ago. She kind of gets the impression sometimes that she
’
s the center of attention everywhere. Anyway, this is really hard for me to say but know that it
’
s not definitely for sure yet. She kind of just sprung this on me... She says that she
’
s pregnant, and that
’
s why she tracked me down and came here.
”
He pulled in a gasp of air as he finished.

Rebecca stood there for a moment trying to process what was just said. Her heart and stomach clearly knew because she could feel them drop to the ground, but it hadn
’
t quite hit her head yet. She had no idea how to handle this. Just last night she was giving in to her heart and her body because this man had given her reason to trust him,  but was that all going to go down the drain now? Even if it didn
’
t, what kind of life could they have together with her son and his child and his ex model girlfriend constantly running off to do photo shoots?
“
I think I
’
m going to walk home. Tell your mother thanks for breakfast, okay?
”
Rebecca took a deep breath and walked away from what might have been her future back to her coffee shop and troubled son; a representation of the single life she was doomed to keep living.

***

Jackson tried to follow Rebecca, but then he realized the mess that was waiting for him inside the house. Hopefully, Rebecca just needed some time to process and they could fix this later. Right now he had to figure out how a pregnant model ex girlfriend was going to fit into his life picture, especially now that things were becoming serious with Rebecca Evans; serious enough to uproot his job to stay with her.

Once he got back in the house, his mom was cleaning up in the kitchen with the other women, and the rest of the family had scattered to get ready to leave for home or work. He went to the living room and sat down next to Roma and saw that her mascara was running like she
’
d been crying.
“
Look, I understand how scary this must be for you, especially with your career and all, but let me make something clear. The relationship that I
’
m in is serious, and I have no intentions of ending it just because of this complication. However, if it turns out you are pregnant with my child I will be there financially if need be and to care for the child. That
’
s all though. We aren’t getting back together, Roma. Have you see a doctor yet?
”

“
No. I
’
ve been afraid to let the press catch on to this. It could ruin me.
”
Roma started crying again, afraid that her career was going to be over because of one mistake.

“
Well, then, let
’
s make an appointment here. I doubt the paparazzi is interested in January Cove. I
’
ll go with you if you want.
”

Mrs. Parker came busting in on their conversation.
“
Jackson, I think she needs some rest. The girl
’
s had a hard day. I
’
ll call Dr. Korin and make an appointment. Why don
’
t you give her some space and go sort things out in your own head? Roma, just go upstairs to the first door on the right. You can rest up in there, and we
’
ll figure all this out later, okay?
”
Jackson hoped his mother
’
s soothing voice would calm Roma
’
s nerves for now, but he got the feeling his mother had an ulterior motive. That suspicion was confirmed as soon as Roma left the room.
“
I smell something fishy here, son. I
’
ve told you before about the pitfalls of dating these sorts of girls. They
’
re dangerous. It could ruin what you have going with Rebecca. I mean, do you even know for sure that she
’
s pregnant? She could be playing you.
”

“
Whoa, mom, slow down. The appointment will tell us, and I don
’
t plan on this changing my relationship with Rebecca. However, I do have a responsibility if this child, if there is one, is my child.
”

“
Look, son, I love you, and I
’
d like to trust your judgment. I just don
’
t want you to miss out on the best thing that
’
s happened to you in years because some money loving floozy wants to scheme to get you back. Just be careful, okay?
”

Jackson nodded and decided to step out for awhile. He needed to clear his head and decide how to handle the situation. He had been planning on calling up to the office and arranging for a computer to be sent for him and an ad to be put up for a job listing for a manager. Then it dawned on him that Mark Tyner would be the perfect guy for the job. He knew Jackson well, and he certainly knew how to run the business. He had wanted to spend half his time working in January Cove so he could spend more time with Rebecca and Leo and have someone run things from the office for him. Like Kyle said, the business was built up really well by now, and he had plenty of people to take on some of his workload.

On the other hand, Roma was based in Atlanta, though she didn
’
t spend a lot of consistent time there. When he thought about it, he really didn
’
t even know what she
’
d do about traveling and her career once she was showing or after the baby was born. He got the feeling that he might be responsible for the child by himself while she went to photo shoots. In that case Atlanta wouldn
’
t really be ideal. A small town was better for a nice, slow childhood, and he
’
d have plenty of help with childcare while he worked.