No Regrets (Bomar Boys #1) (28 page)

Then she thought about Auto’s sons. It had been years since she saw them but she remembered them nonetheless. She tried to imagine the boys she’d known of standing right next to her boyfriend and the visual sent a shiver up her spine.

They resembled just as much as they did Remy. Half-brothers. Cousins. God, if it were true, it really was a mess.

She winced, “There’s no way of proving that Auto’s their dad.”

“Probably not.”

“And he’s never claimed them.”

“Definitely not.”

“So, it might not be true.” She clung to that possibility for Cash’s sake.

She didn’t want this to be something else he had to deal with. Something he had to overcome. He was close to his uncle, or at least as close as he was to anyone in his family other than his twin. If he found out that Auto might be his dad and that the older man hadn’t ever told him, let alone claimed him, she had no idea how he would react.

“Might not be.” Terri shrugged again, “Who knows what sort of trouble Chrissy was getting herself into even back then, my point was, that family is all mixed up with secrets and lies. They’re trouble Jemma and I want you to stay away from them.”

She frowned, hard, “No.”

“Darling…”

“No. I won’t stay away from Cash, not because of some stupid gossip from twenty plus years ago. I don’t care what his last name is. I don’t care who his parents are. I wouldn’t care if he’d been raised by monkeys in the jungle and English was his second language. I love him and nothing is going to change that.”

Terri’s face fell and Jemma sat up straighter. Why were they even talking about this? It didn’t matter. Not to her. It might matter to Cash though.

“Nothing I can say is going to change your mind is it?”

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Jemma forced a smile for her mother’s benefit, “And no, the answer is no. You’re not going to change my mind about Cash or about leaving Old Settlers. I’m staying so you can either get on board or you can continue to be a person I only see on special occasions. Your choice.”

“Don’t get sassy with me. I can see that you’re going to be stubborn about this so I’ll back off, for now.”

“I guess that’s all I can ask for.”

Terri took a long sip of her drink and she seemed to be choosing her next words carefully before she spoke, “I just want you to be careful with that boy okay? I worry about you. He broke your heart once and I don’t want to see that happen again.”

It was the most honest moment they’d shared since they sat down so Jemma nodded, “Thank you for worrying about me.”

“You’re my daughter. Of course I worry. I only want the best for you.”

Her grin was real this time when she spoke, “Then you and Cash should get along just fine because he says that’s all he wants for me too.”

That earned her an eye roll and she fought a laugh, certain she was the only girl in the world with a mother that rolled her eyes at her.

“So tell me darling, if you’re planning to stay in town, what sort of job are you looking for?”

Jemma smirked as she dipped a fry into the ketchup on her plate. From life changing gossip to talk of something as mundane as job hunting. Terri really was backing off. She decided to take that small bit of good fortune and run with it, dropping all talk of Cash and the Bomar family seemed like a good idea right about now.

“Well, Sky has been nice enough to offer me a spot in her shop if I want it.”

“Doing hair?” Terri looked mystified and Jemma laughed.

“God no! Nobody would trust me with that.” She shook her head, “For my jewelry. She said I can sell my jewelry out of her shop.”

“Well that was sweet of her.”

“Yes, it was.”

“I’m glad you’re still working on your jewelry. You always enjoyed it and you were so good at it.” Terri held out her wrist, “I still wear the piece you gave me for Mother’s Day years ago.”

Jemma was so surprised she reached for her mother’s wrist before she could stop herself. Sure enough, just as she said, the small silver and leather bracelet was there amid the flashy Michael Kors watch and David Yurman bangles. She ran her finger over it and then looked at her mother.

“You actually wear it?”

“Rarely take it off darling.” Terri patted her hand and pulled her wrist back.

Jemma smiled softly. The distance between herself and her mother had always been so wide she thought there was no way to cross it. She’d assumed the bracelet, like everything else she’d ever given her, had been stuffed into a drawer and forgotten about but it hadn’t. Her mother wore it right alongside her expensive jewelry and seemed proud of it, because her daughter had made it for her.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“It’s beautiful. All of your jewelry is.” Terri sighed, “I wish you’d find somewhere to sell it where you could make a career out of it. I hardly think putting it out at Skylar’s salon will earn you enough to make a living no matter how good you are.”

“I know.” She shrugged, “But it’s mostly a hobby, something I enjoy doing. I think if I made it a career I might lose that.”

“So you’re looking for a job still?”

Jemma played with a fry, not meeting her mother’s gaze, “Uh… yeah, that’s actually why I asked you to meet me. I wanted to make sure you were okay with it before I agreed. Dewey asked that I talk to you before…”

“Dewey?” Her mother sat upright at the mention of her husband, just as Jemma had known she would. “You talked to Dewey about a job?”

“Yes.”

“He didn’t tell me that.”

“I know. I asked him not to say anything until I had a chance to talk to you and tell you I was staying.”

Terri frowned and Jemma winced. She’d known that her mother wasn’t going to like that she’d gone to Dewey without her knowledge. Mostly though she thought Terri wouldn’t like that her husband had known her daughter’s plans before she did.

“I wanted to be the one to tell you I was staying in town.” She rushed forward when her mother’s lips pursed, “He hasn’t agreed to give me a job yet. He said I had to talk to you first. But there are a couple of openings at the school.”

“Teaching?”

She gave a sad shake of her head, “No. I don’t have my certificate to teach in Oklahoma. It would be a job in the administration office.”

“You were going to teach though, after college, is that something you still want to do?”

An old longing she’d all but forgotten about rose up inside her, just as it had when she spoke to Dewey about a job last week. Now that she was reclaiming her life her old passions were coming back. Loving Cash. Making her jewelry. Wanting to teach.

“Yeah, I’m looking into taking some classes to get my certificate but in the meantime, I need a job.”

“Okay.” Terri nodded, thoughtfully, “In that case, I think you should take the job.”

Jemma smiled, “You do?”

“I always wanted you to use your degree, Jemma. You racked up too many student loans getting it to simply put it up on a shelf.” Her mother smiled back at her, “If you’re going to work on getting your teaching certificate then it only makes sense for you to work at the school so you can transition when the time comes.”

She breathed out a sigh of relief, “You’re okay with me taking the job?”

Terri sighed, shrugged and shifted in her chair, “I would prefer you took some more time to think it over before deciding to give up your entire life elsewhere. I want more for you than I think you can get in this town or with that boy of yours. But you’ve made it clear that you don’t want the same things I want for you so… what can I do but try to support you? You’re stubborn and you got it from me.”

Jemma softened at the clear show of support. All of her life she’d told herself that her mother didn’t understand her but that wasn’t entirely true. She and Terri were different in a lot of ways but they were alike too. She was stubborn and clearly her mother understood that she wasn’t going to change her mind about what she wanted.

“Thank you.”

“I know we’ve had our differences but I love and support you Jemma.”

“I love you too Mom.”

Terri blew her a kiss and a wink across the table, “Mom. Hmm, what have I told you about calling me that in public? It makes me sound old.”

Jemma laughed. It was a long running joke between them. Terri had claimed to be too young to be a mother for years. She’d taken great pleasure in calling her Mom and she thought in reality that Terri liked the word just as much.

“Just do me a favor and tell me you’re using protection because I’m not ready to be a grandmother.”

“Mom!” Jemma squealed with shock and horror.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’m completely serious. I’m too young to be a grandma and that boy of yours is a Bomar in one way or another. They reproduce like rabbits, just look at how many of them there are running around.”

“Oh. My. God.” She cringed and covered her face, “We are not having this discussion.”

Terri laughed, “Well, now that I’ve succeeded in embarrassing you. I think my job as a mother is done.”

Jemma shook her head, laughing and pretending to choke on her fries, all the while avoiding her mother’s eyes. Because Terri had meant it as a joke but the truth was, Jemma had been thinking all morning about just that thing, ever since she and Cash had knowingly and purposefully had unprotected sex.

It was a choice she’d made, that they had made, and she didn’t regret it.

The birth control was probably still in her system. She’d been on it for years. Four weeks off wouldn’t make that huge of a difference, probably. She’d wait for her period to make sure before she transferred her prescription and started it up again and if she wasn’t pregnant, she’d take it as a sign that now wasn’t the time and take the pills. And if she was… well, if she was then that was just the way things were meant to be.

“Jemma?”

“Hmm?” She glanced up to find her mother looking at her.

“Where’d you go space cadet? I lost you there for a minute.”

“Nowhere. I’m here. Sorry, just thinking about everything I have to do.”

“Uh huh.” Terri drawled, “I’m sure it had nothing to do with that boy of yours standing out front.”

“What? Where?” Jemma jerked up, her gaze darting to the window that covered the front of the little burger shack.

Her lips pulled up into a smile as soon as she saw that her mother was right. Cash stood outside in the parking lot a few feet away. He was talking to someone that looked disturbingly like him and she darted her eyes between them, cataloging the similarities. From this distance it was impossible for her to tell but she thought it was Royce, or Bentley, she couldn’t be sure. She hadn’t seen either of them in five years, at least. But the man was clearly a Bomar with that big build and strong jawline and he looked about the right age to be one of them.

“Cash is here.” She grinned, her eyes going back to the man that had always drawn her eye.

“So it would seem.” Her mother snorted. “Did you invite him to join us?”

“No.” She shook her head, “I didn’t tell him where we were going.”

Terri gave an amused hum, “Well, why don’t you go out and see if he’d like to eat with us?”

“Really?”

“Yes. Really.” Terri laughed, “Lord you’re smiling like a pig in warm mud. I guess you really do love him.”

Jemma rolled her eyes at the southernism, “I really do.”

“Then go catch him because it looks like he’s leaving.”

She pushed out of her seat and noticed her mother was right. Cash had clapped his cousin on the shoulder and was already turning to leave. She darted up between the tables and pushed out the door, wondering what he was up to. He hadn’t come inside to eat and wasn’t carrying takeout which was strange.

“Cash!” She called out as she hit the gravel. “Cash, wait.”

He turned around at the sound of his name and she almost paused. His eyes were dark, his face shrouded in his mask. She’d missed the tension in his body through the window but she didn’t miss it now. Something was wrong and she could have stopped, could have slowed her step and asked him what was wrong but she didn’t.

“Jem?” His head titled, as if he was surprised to see her.

She grinned as she raced into his arms and leapt, knowing full well he would catch her, which he did. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he caught her at the waist. She wrapped her legs around his hips and his hands slid to her ass to steady her. He expelled a harsh breath as their bodies collided and he stepped back before regaining his balance, a grin lighting his face when he looked at her again.

“Hey baby.” She pressed a light kiss against his lips.

“Hey yourself.” He chuckled, his gaze darting around when someone let out a whistle, “Hell of greeting but we’re getting stares. Hop down babe.”

“Nope. Don’t think so.” She locked her ankles together behind his back when he started to push her away.

“Jem, people are watching.”

She glanced around and shrugged. He was right. Royce, at least she was pretty sure it was Royce, had stopped a few feet away and was grinning at them. Several others in the busy parking lot had stopped what they were doing to watch as well. And she was certain if she looked through the glass that everyone inside was watching them as well.