Chapter 13
Oooh, Jett knew she was in big trouble.
The only question was, how would Trask manifest his anger?
Over the course of the meal, she’d watched his face go from relaxed, to cautious, to wanting to rip someone’s head off.
That someone being her.
In the larger scheme of things, however, Jett figured she’d won. She had the approval of both Trask’s parents and his partners in Diver Downeast to join the company, which made her heart sing. A new opportunity in life was always uplifting.
What she didn’t have—which was a bummer—was that underlying smoky regard that Trask had been sending her way all day, causing heat to kindle in her lower regions. He’d deliberately switched off that fire…or perhaps he was currently using it to stoke his ire.
Unacceptable.
How could she turn things around with him?
She already had enough strikes against her by being the exact opposite of the women she assumed he normally let into his life. She was flighty, unorganized, and now she’d gone and bucked his authority as well, which was clearly a huge no-no.
That meant he was either going to go apeshit on her, or try like hell to undermine her determination to work for Diver Downeast, making her head home with her tail between her legs.
The latter was a hard “no”, but the former…
Hmmm. A little vexation might be fun.
She dared voice her concerns to Ellen Sothard after Trask went outside to walk the dogs and retrieve her go-bag from his truck, as she and his mother headed for the kitchen.
“Why does Trask seem so…uptight all the time?” she asked as they began scraping and rinsing dishes to go in the dishwasher.
Maybe it was a question she shouldn’t ask of the man’s mother, but she figured if anyone had answers about Trask, it would be the matriarch of the family.
Ellen gave her a knowing smile. “I’m glad you asked. Trask is actually a very, very good man, but he’s extremely complicated. It’s my belief, however, that for the right person, he’ll be worth the effort in the end,” she offered with a lift of her brow.
Was Jett’s attraction to Trask that obvious?
Duh.
Jett had never been one to try and hide her true feelings.
“Okay. You got me,” she admitted. “But now I sense a story coming.”
“Indeed, you do,” Ellen began. “Here it is in a nutshell.
When Trask was a little boy, he was very precocious.
As an only child for the first seven years of his life, he got away with anything and everything.
Guy and I were so enthralled with our handsome first-born, that we failed to curb his more… impulsive behaviors.
“He ran rampant. He spoke his mind. And I can’t count the number of times he got in trouble at school and we had to be called in. Someday, I’ll regale you with all the brilliant but naughty things he pulled.”
Jett would hold the woman to it.
“Then Vincent came along,” Ellen continued. “And a year later, Kyle arrived, followed quickly by Mason, Julian, Spencer, and Buck. Seifer, of course, was my surprise baby, ten years after the bulk of my brood… But I digress.”
“Take your time,” Jett told her. She was enjoying this.
Ellen regrouped. “Once Trask’s siblings started coming along, my precocious boy changed.
Without being asked, he shouldered the role of big-brother-protector, and carried out those self-imposed duties, seriously.
Don’t get me wrong. He still got himself into hot water every now and again, but as the baby-bathtub incident indicates, his hijinks had toned way down.
“He may have forgotten, but the real reason we grounded him for that incident, was because he’d walked his seven-year-old brother three miles to the water that day, then left him to his own devices while Trask attempted his shenanigans.
Even though we knew Trask wouldn’t deliberately put Vince in harm’s way, that lapse was still unacceptable.
“If we’d known at the time that our punishment would alter Trask’s whole outlook on life; that he’d become so…
vested in the ethics, truth, and honesty he felt he’d let lapse with his brother, we would have toned down the punishment.
But as it was, we gave him far too long, alone at home, to contemplate his crime, and it skewed the way he approached everything from that point on. ”
“That must have been tough to watch,” Jett empathized.
“It was, but it’s also where we failed him.
We didn’t do anything to nip it in the bud.
Mostly because I was overwhelmed with five other boys and pregnant with Buck at the time.
It was our mistake, but his change of attitude actually seemed like a blessing at that juncture,” she recalled with a sigh.
“It wasn’t until a year later in high school that we began to see how overwhelmingly serious he’d become.
He strove to be perfect at everything he did.
He not only took on more of a role of champion to all his brothers, but he became their chief disciplinarian when they did things of which we were not aware. ”
“So he turned into an adult well before his time,” Jett speculated.
“He did. But as concerned as we were, when he told us he was joining the Marines, we knew that his moral compass and his dedication to the rules would serve him well,” she revealed.
“Unfortunately, he never softened at all after that. He became even more…regimented as he rose through the ranks, until we have the man you see today. Except now there are additional shadows behind his eyes, and I have no idea what those are.” She sighed.
“My mischievous boy, much to my sadness, is long gone and nowhere to be found.”
Ellen turned solemn eyes to hers. “Can I be honest with you?”
“Of course.” Jett didn’t know whether Ellen was about to pull the rug out from under her where the offer of a room was concerned, but if she was, Jett understood. Still, if that were the case, she was determined to find another place to stay so she could take the job.
“I saw something in Trask tonight when he looked at you. Something I haven’t seen in him in years.”
Jett swallowed. Hard. Which way would this go?
“He seemed…intrigued, and more than a little off kilter.” She laughed, seemingly surprised. “And believe me, ‘off kilter’ is not a term I normally associate with my always-in-control son.”
“Sooo,” Jett questioned tentatively. “Is that a good or a bad thing?”
Now Ellen grinned at her. “Oh, it’s good. Very, very good. Trask has needed someone like you up in his business for a long time; someone who doesn’t put up with his bossy, cranky side. Also, someone who challenges him about the seriousness of life, which I noticed you did tonight, spectacularly.”
Ellen suddenly became serious. “Do me a favor, though. Don’t let his intensity get to you.
Don’t let him wear your spirit down. If you find yourself trying to change anything about yourself because of him, walk away.
It wouldn’t be right for him to snuff out the light I see in you. But…” She hesitated.
“But what,” Jett encouraged.
“But if it’s possible without losing yourself, can you please stick around and keep at him? I have a feeling if you don’t back down, both you and he will be pleasantly surprised.”
“Either that or we’ll end up killing each other,” Jett snorted.
Ellen became suffused with smiles again. “Well, you know what they say, don’t you?”
“That opposites attract?” Jett guessed.
“Well, that, but I was going to say ‘there’s a fine line between love and hate’.”
Jett sighed as she put the last dish in the machine. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see which one it turns out to be.”
Ellen wiped her hands on a dishtowel, clearly finished with that subject, and became all motherly-business. “The two front rooms upstairs are made up and ready. There’s a bathroom in the hallway between them that you’ll have to share with Trask, but I’m sure you’ll manage just fine.”
Had there been a hint of innuendo in Ellen’s voice?
“And just to let you know, Guy and I have a suite on the first floor toward the back of the house. We can’t hear a thing once we’ve shut our door for the night.”
Hah. The woman was getting impudent.
She was basically telling Jett that she and Trask had free rein once they made their way up from the first floor.
Amazing.
Although maybe not.
Trask was, after all, forty-seven years old, and his parents had probably given up a long time ago that he’d find someone who could put up with his bossy ass. Ellen might be seeing Jett as her last hope.
Jett gave her a wink. “I’ll take all that you’ve said into consideration, but don’t expect miracles. Right now, I’m pretty sure I’m at the top of Trask’s crap-list.”
“That’s because you confuse him,” Ellen countered with surety. “Just keep doing what you’re doing and be yourself. Things will work out the way they’re supposed to in the end.”
Linking her arm with Jett’s, Ellen led her back into the huge, informal dining room, where Trask and his father were standing, chit-chatting.
Had Trask perked up at the sight of her, or was she reading into things now that Ellen had put possibilities into her head?
Of course, the initial expression she thought she’d seen was quickly masked with one of pique.
Right.
“I’ve already taken the dogs out, and got them settled in the heated mudroom,” Trask clipped.
Jett walked over and glanced through the glass to where her two pups were, indeed, conked out on their beds. The poor babies. They’d had a long day.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely.
“Are you ready to head up?” he continued. “I’m thinking you’ll need to get back to Portsmouth in the morning so you can arrange to wrap things up there before you come north again.” He sounded…put out.