Chapter 15
15
M ay and Helen had eyes full of questions, but their mouths stayed firmly shut. Considering they’d recently arrived, they knew the rule was to keep their noses out of others’ business unless invited, and they vanished back to their room after quiet good nights .
Jinx stared at the little boy for the longest time before giving Petra and Tansy hugs. “Do I need to give up my room?” she asked quietly.
“No,” Petra assured her. “That’s your room, and Dixie’s. Lock your door, and let us figure it out, okay?”
Jinx nodded then snapped her fingers. Dixie came alert, gliding silently at her heels as the teen slipped away.
Before Jake could demand what was going on, Tansy spoke. “Are you hungry? When did you two last eat?”
Melissa considered, but it was the little guy’s expression that clearly answered the question. Jake gestured to the main table. “Sit. Food first, then you can explain.”
Tansy bustled off to make up two plates. Declan, Aiden, and Petra settled in the living room, alert and wary as if ready to be Jake’s backup.
He really didn’t know which direction to turn. Just kept looking at the kid at the table and hoping something would eventually make sense.
“His name is Jeffrey,” Melissa offered quietly.
God. Jake’s throat tightened. “Hey, kiddo. We’ll get you something to eat right away.”
He turned to grab a glass of milk because that was safer than trying to speak. Of course, she’d named her boy Jeffrey. The name he’d talked about wanting to use to honour his stepdad.
If Tansy hadn’t bumped into his side, he might have stood staring into the fridge for long enough for someone else to notice. “Deep breath. You got this,” Tansy whispered. “I take it you know this woman?”
Dear God. She didn’t know.
He poured the milk with shaky hands into the glass on the counter before putting the jug down and meeting Tansy’s gaze. “That’s my ex-wife, Melissa.”
Tansy’s eyes widened briefly, but other than that fleeting tell, her expression didn’t budge. “Okay.”
No. Nothing about this was remotely okay.
The entire house felt still and silent, even as full as it was. Tansy slid food in front of Melissa and her son, putting the plates down without a word before returning to the kitchen and keeping herself busy.
Thank goodness part of his brain was still working, because he registered Tansy keeping ample distance between the two of them. Which was a hell no in his books. He might not know what was going on with Melissa, but he absolutely knew hiding the relationship between himself and Tansy would do more to upset than help with any awkward situation.
He’d gouge out his own eyeballs before he deliberately hurt Tansy.
He slipped to the kitchen counter, standing close enough their bodies touched. “I didn’t know she was coming.”
“I figured.” She stopped her busy work in the sink and met his gaze, forcing a smile to her lips. “Don’t worry about me. You do what you need to do.”
Which was enough of a go-ahead to slip his knuckles under her chin and lift her face far enough to press a sweet kiss to her lips. It was miles away from the heat they’d shared outside but exactly what was needed. Then he pressed their foreheads together. “I might need Declan to call the shots on this one.”
“He’s got your back,” Tansy agreed. She slid her hands around his waist, a deliberate connection and comfort all in one. “We all do, Jake. With every bit of us.”
Which made it easier to turn back to the table. Melissa’s gaze was steady on him and Tansy, calculation in her eyes. It wasn’t her Jake was worried about, though, but the little tyke next to her who hadn’t stopped eating except to take deep gulps of the milk before returning to shoveling food down his gullet.
“Declan? You want to join us?” Jake met his brother’s nod of approval as they pulled out chairs opposite where Melissa sat. “Finish your meal.”
Melissa pushed her plate away. “Don’t really have much of an appetite.”
Declan eyed Jeffrey. “Hey, kiddo. You want to watch a show while we talk with your mom?”
“You can take your plate,” Tansy said, standing to the side of him and curling her finger to motion him forward. “You want some more macaroni and cheese?”
The kid nodded, leaving the table willingly. Tansy had him settled in the living room at the coffee table, some Disney program clicked on with Aiden and Petra supervising.
“What’s going on?” Jake asked quietly.
His ex-wife took a deep breath and let it out, her shoulders sagging. “I had to leave. The guy I was living with started to make demands that I couldn’t deal with. Not with Jeffrey. I packed a few things and headed west. I didn’t have anywhere in mind, then I thought of you.”
Christ. “This guy you just left. Is he Jeffrey’s father?”
She shook her head. “That man is not in the picture. He never really was, and it’s better that way,” she admitted. “He didn’t want kids.”
So no angry ex would be following her to get back his child. Good and horrifying at the same time.
Melissa went on, quiet but steady now. “After he left, I was doing okay by myself. Had a good job hairdressing with a great daycare for Jeffrey. When I met Nathan, it seemed like a good situation. He didn’t mind that I had a kid, and he seemed gentle and understanding.”
Her voice broke on the last word.
Examining her face, Jake would’ve sworn she was telling the truth. Or at least the truth that she believed, which wasn’t necessarily the same thing. That had kind of always been the problem with Melissa.
“Where were you living?” Declan asked.
“Winnipeg.” She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and dabbed at her eyes.
“Why didn’t you go to your parents?” Jake knew his wife hadn’t always seen eye to eye with them, but it seemed under the circumstances that would’ve made more sense.
Melissa gave a bitter laugh. “I haven’t seen them in five years. Not since Jeffrey was born. They told me I made my mess, so I could live with it.”
With every word, Jake’s hands felt more and more tied. Again, if it’d only been her, he could have offered her temporary relief. Hell, he would’ve given her some money and told her to get her shit together somewhere else.
But there was a kid involved.
Jake turned to his brother. “Deck, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Out on the porch, the lingering cold of the tail end of winter surrounded them. It seemed suitable, Jake supposed. There was nothing warm and happy about this entire situation.
“Hell of a thing,” Declan muttered.
“I don’t want her here,” Jake said, “but the kid?—”
“I know.” Declan laid a hand on Jake’s shoulder. “This complicates things. I know we’re set up as a rescue, but there’s a level of trust involved for all the people who come here.”
Crap. “Melissa’s not done well at earning our trust.”
Declan shook his head. He considered for a moment and made a startling suggestion. “We’ll have to be smart to keep her from figuring out what we’re doing.”
“You want her to stay?” Jake sounded shocked, even to himself.
“Not sure we can turn her away. But we can reduce the interactions between her and the rest of the ranch hands.”
“Going to be tough to do with her living in the house with the ladies once I go back to my space under the art studio.”
Declan raised a brow. “I think instead of you leaving the house, we should put her in your apartment.”
For a moment, Jake hesitated, then the wisdom of the suggestion hit. “That makes sense. Because she’s got Jeffrey, that’ll give them more private space without adding a kid to the other ranch hands’ world.”
“We’ll help her out with groceries and that sort of thing, but she can cook for herself most of the time. And it will probably be less frightening for the kid than being shoved into a huge adult-dominated world.”
Jake sighed. “I still don’t like it, but I don’t know how much of that is who we’re dealing with rather than the whole messed up situation.”
“The whole thing sucks,” Declan agreed. “But if she’s here for a couple of weeks, we can manage.”
An uneasy feeling lingered in his stomach as they slipped into the house to inform Melissa of their decision. She took the news with a fresh bout of quiet tears. “Thank you. I’m really, really grateful.”
Jake headed to his apartment to grab the few things he might still need. The rest he pushed to the side of the closet, and when Declan brought Melissa and Jeffrey in, he was ready to get out of there as quickly as possible.
Ready to get back to the house and take Tansy into his arms to reassure himself all the dread and negativity that his memories were throwing at him were a thing of the past.
As soon as Melissa and her son had left the house with Declan, Tansy wilted like week-old lettuce.
Petra curled an arm around her, guiding her to the living room where Aiden waited. “That was not on the agenda.”
“It’s total bullshit,” Aiden agreed. He made a face. “I’m torn between not being able to believe that she showed up here and being one hundred percent convinced this is Melissa and status quo.”
“And yet, this is what High Water is about,” Tansy said slowly. “As long as Jake knows he’s got our support, he can willingly put up with some bullshit for the sake of a kid.”
Aiden and Petra both hesitated. “That’s a completely mature response,” Aiden offered. “I don’t know that I’m quite there yet.”
“Trust me, when Jake said she was his ex, I had an intense urge to do violence. But I’ve been a kid like that,” Tansy admitted. She met her friends’ eyes. “I would do a whole lot of bleeding to make a single kid’s world better.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” Petra said, but she petted Tansy’s shoulder as she got to her feet. “We’ll wait to hear the rest of the details from Jake and Declan.”
But after the guys came back from settling Melissa and Jeffrey in the apartment and the details they’d thought of were shared, there wasn’t much more to do than go to sleep and hope that the next day ran smoothly.
Jake followed Tansy into her bedroom. “I’m running on adrenaline and nerves,” he admitted. “I just want to hold you.”
“Works well for my agenda,” Tansy said, pulling him to the loveseat in the corner of the room. “Because I absolutely want to be held.”
They ended up lying on each other, sprawled on the loveseat with Tansy half on top of Jake. Her head rested on his chest, and the steady beat under her ear was soothing and comfortable and exactly what she needed to be able to ask some tough questions.
“Are you really okay with her being here?” she asked.
His chest rose under her and then fell slowly as he sighed in frustration. “I have no choice.”
“We always have choices,” Tansy said quietly. “Some options take more time, or money, or energy. That’s what my dad always says.”
Jake pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’m kicking my ass and simultaneously grateful for having been an idiot. Remember those letters that were haunting me? The ones stuffed in my journal that you said I should get rid of because they were—how did you phrase it?—being mean to me?”
She thought back before nodding slowly. “Yeah, I remember.”
“They were from Melissa. You were right to say I needed to let them go. And I had, because I wanted to make a total break from her to really concentrate on being with you .”
The sweetness of the comment washed over a layer of her concerns. “I’m glad to hear that. But how does that make you an idiot?”
“It meant Melissa knew where to find me, although I never did give her my address. I wonder how she knew where to go?” Confusion laced his voice. “I suppose that doesn’t matter now.”
“If she didn’t know where to find you, Jeffrey wouldn’t be here,” Tansy said. “That’s the part that you’re sort of grateful for, yes?”
“Yeah.”
They both lay quietly for a moment. Jake stroking her hair, Tansy’s hand pressed to his chest, fingers playing softly.
Her mind raced a million miles an hour. There were so many layers and so many ways that this could go wrong, but it came back to them not having many choices. They had to do something for Jeffrey’s sake.
With that clear, Tansy pushed aside the rest of her worries. She pressed up to hover over Jake and meet his gaze. “Let me practice my best rookie planning moves.”
Jake raised a brow.
“I know, bear with me. I’m a novice, but maybe it will help all of us get through the situation. Number one, we focus on Jeffrey. I will make things he likes to eat, and you can take him to see the animals, and in the meantime, we let Melissa do the adult things she needs to do to figure out the next step. But Jeffrey gets to be a kid.”
Jake wiggled back until he leaned against the armrest. The hopelessness on his expression brightened. “Okay. I like that.”
“Nice to get positive feedback from the master of the art,” Tansy teased. “Number two, while Melissa is doing her adult things, she does not get to be alone with any of the ranch hands. Which does mean some juggling, but if she’s only here for a couple of weeks, we can handle it.”
“Number three, Melissa doesn’t get to be alone with any of us either,” Jake suggested. He grimaced. “I hope she’ll be on her best behaviour, but in case she’s not, I don’t want her to spew her particularly toxic observations on anyone. You, Jinx?—”
“Add yourself to that list.” Tansy pressed a hand to his cheek. “Finally, number four, we get Declan and Kevin to deal with her adult decision-making checklist. Not you.”
“Brilliant. Although Declan and Kevin haven’t done anything to deserve it,” Jake teased.
“Enough planning. My brain is exhausted, and I really want to kiss you,” Tansy informed him as she rolled fully onto his chest.
“You did well for a rookie planner. I’m proud of you,” Jake assured her before somehow finding his feet and lifting her with him.
Tansy smothered a squeal, but a burst of laughter escaped as he tossed her on the bed. A moment later, he was on top of her, hands on either side of her torso, a wicked smile in place as he stared at her lips.
“Are you going to reward me?” she asked.
“No. I’m going to reward myself.”
Which, in the end, was the same thing.
Tansy crawled out of bed the next morning slightly achy in all the right spots and slipped into the kitchen with more enthusiasm than she had imagined possible. Not having to cook for Jake’s ex three times a day was definitely a point on the plus side.
In fact, she didn’t see anything of Melissa for three days. Hopefulness rose that the woman was actually taking advantage of the gift she’d been given and trying to be as little trouble as possible.
In the meantime, Jeffrey showed up at the house on a regular basis in the company of one of the Skye brothers. By the third time he arrived, he and Tansy had fallen into a sweet rhythm. She couldn’t always stop what she was doing, but she had plenty of experience getting others, old and young, to help in the kitchen.
Helen wandered into the kitchen early on Friday morning. She glanced around before heading to the counter where Tansy was piling muffins on a tray. “Can I help?”
“Be my guest.” Tansy stepped away and switched to cracking eggs into a bowl.
Quiet settled for a couple of minutes then Helen cleared her throat. “I don’t want to make trouble for anyone, but something happened, and I think I need to tell you.”
Tansy paused and turned all her attention on the older woman. “You okay?”
“Yes, but my wallet is missing two twenties.” Helen said it softly then met Tansy’s gaze straight on. “I’m certain of it. But if May took the cash, I don’t want to make a fuss. She needs it more than me. I thought you should know, though.”
“I’m sorry, Helen. If you want to put anything away, we do have a safe.”
“It’s fine, really,” Helen insisted. “I’ll be gone next week to my daughter’s. I’ll keep things close until then.” She eyed Tansy hard. “And don’t you dare offer to give me money out of your own wallet, you hear?”
Tansy offered her a hug instead. “I’ll talk to the guys. How about we arrange for a drawer with a private lock for every one of our guests in the future?”
“Good idea. Now, we should get back to work or breakfast will be late.”
There was always something new to learn around High Water, Tansy decided as she scrubbed dishes after breakfast and got working on the food needed for the next day’s retreat.
The spring was slow for bookings for the retreat house side of things, but Tansy didn’t mind. Not with the added stress of having Melissa around. But tomorrow they would have the local Girl Scout and Brownie pack in for activities from nine to five, and she wanted to get as much ready ahead of time as possible so her Saturday wasn’t so rushed.
Around nine thirty, the door opened and Jake’s firm voice echoed in a happy greeting. “Hello to the house.”
Jeffrey came rushing in. “Tansy,” he called excitedly.
“Hold up, cowpoke. Shoes off at the door,” Jake reminded him.
Jeffrey dropped to the floor, ripped his shoes off his feet, and all but threw them toward the wall. Dumping his coat on top, he rushed to join Tansy. “We making cookies today?”
“Cookies and, even better, veggie trays.” Tansy announced it as if she’d just promised him endless candy.
The little guy looked at her with suspicion before shrugging and heading to the stepstool that had migrated into the kitchen. He dragged it to the counter and climbed on top, thumping his hands on the countertop.
“Melissa has a couple of interviews in Calgary,” Jake informed her. “I already lined up to help Declan this morning, but Aiden and I can take care of the Jeffster this afternoon in case Melissa isn’t back until late.”
Tansy offered a wooden spoon to Jeffrey which he excitedly banged on the outside of the enormous cookie dough bowl. “Not a problem. I’m headed to my sister’s tonight at four o’clock, though. I promised to take care of my nieces and nephew while Ivy and Walker go to some school event. I’ll have the meal for High Water ready in crockpots for everyone to serve themselves—chili, buns, salad.”
“Want some company babysitting?” Jake asked.
She waggled her brows at him. “You’re a sucker for punishment. Of course you can come. You’ll make Carter’s evening.”
“I have an ulterior motive,” he assured her solemnly. “For supper, you’re making grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, yes?”
Tansy laughed. “It’s the number one request when I go over to babysit.” She glanced down at Jeffrey. “You know what, why don’t we bring him along? It’d be good for him to have playtime with other kids.”
Jake considered for a moment. “As long as you don’t think Ivy and Walker would mind. Melissa will be okay with it.”
Tansy worked hard to keep a smile on her face. It had only been three days, and she was already hyperaware that the amount of attention Melissa gave her son was nowhere near what Tansy considered sufficient.
It was fine to say they were caring for him to let the woman get things accomplished. But Melissa didn’t seem to want him around at all.
Tansy focused back on what she was in control of, which right now was offering Jake a heartfelt answer. “Then it’s a date.”
A happy whistle sounded as Jake stole his way across the floor to give her a kiss. When he bent and tussled Jeffrey’s hair affectionately, a hint of warning struck in Tansy’s gut.
It was good things were going smoothly, but there was a line she couldn’t cross. Falling in love with Jake? Well, she was most of the way there, to be honest.
Falling in love with an adorable little boy who could never be hers?
That would be a terrible idea.