Chapter 34 Jack
JACK
Yesterday morning, Janie had looked like shit.
Blotchy skin, puffy eyes with purple halfmoons, a tired droop to her shoulders.
I’d hated seeing her like that, knowing I was the source of her sleepless night.
Not that I’d had it any easier. I hadn’t slept a wink, tossing and turning as I replayed every word of our argument in my head. I’d looked like shit, too.
But this morning Janie did not look like shit.
Her pale skin was as creamy as ever, and while the shadows remained, the puffiness around her eyes was gone.
Her copper hair was up in a ponytail and she was dressed for work in ass-hugging jeans and a pretty army-green, scoop-neck blouse that seemed purposefully created to torture me.
She looked like she’d actually slept, even if she hadn’t managed a full eight hours.
I still looked like shit.
“Here you go, Maya.” I slid the plate of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of her like I wasn’t drooling over her mother. “Do you want some juice?”
“Yes, please.”
“I’ll get it.” Janie pulled a glass from the cabinet and pivoted to the fridge, red ponytail arcing behind her. I followed it like she had me on a leash. She raised an eyebrow without looking at me as she poured the orange juice. “Do you want some?”
I didn’t, but there was literally no other reason for me to be hovering over her like this. I felt like a pimply teenager talking to the homecoming queen. “Yes, please.”
She handed over the carton and slipped past me. Our arms brushed. I put the juice back in the fridge without using it.
“I can make you a plate,” I offered. “There’s plenty more food.”
“Oh.” Her gaze darted around the kitchen. Everywhere but at me. “Sure, that would be great.”
I really wanted her to look at me. But she was still mad, and I didn’t blame her.
I fixed plates for both of us and met her at the table.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
When she finally looked at me, I wished she hadn’t.
There was so much heartbreak in her big brown eyes.
Heartbreak I had put there. If I could turn back time, I would have smacked myself upside the head.
Why the hell hadn’t I simply told her I was a part-owner of the bar, and offered to make her a manager?
Because she wouldn’t want that dynamic between us.
She would have said no, and I thought I knew what was best for her.
Shit.
Something shifted in her eyes as we stared at each other. She chewed the inside of her cheek in that way she had when she was working through something in her mind. I badly wanted to know what it was.
“Mother,” Maya said. “Speaking of bacon, you’re not eating yours.”
Janie blinked down at her untouched food. A wry smile curved her lips. I watched her slip into mom mode like she was donning armor. When she turned to her daughter, there was no trace of sadness anywhere. “I’m getting to it, ladybug. If you want more bacon, you have to finish your eggs first.”
Maya sighed. “I’m not really hungry anymore. I just like the crunch.”
Janie laughed. “It’s the best part.” She took a bite of eggs. Good. She spent mornings in the office, but she was on her feet all afternoon once the bar opened. She needed the fuel. “So, what wonderful things do you have planned for today?”
“I want to go to the zoo.”
Janie lifted an eyebrow at me. “What do you think, Jack?”
I think I’m so in love with you it hurts. I matched her cheerful tone. “Sounds fun.”
“Great. I’ll buy tickets.”
Maya shot up from her chair. “I’ll go get ready.”
“We’re not leaving for another hour, at least,” I called as she darted down the hallway. Rush hour traffic heading into Denver was something I preferred to avoid at all costs.
“Jack.”
Janie’s soft voice had me snapping to attention. “Yeah?”
“You weren’t wrong.” She picked up her fork, set it down again.
“All those things you said. You weren’t wrong.
” She pursed her lips. “I wasn’t either, for the record.
That was a shitty thing you did. But…” She sighed.
“For anyone else, maybe it would have been a nice gesture. I know you meant well.”
“I was out of line,” I said bluntly.
She pointed her fork at me. “You absolutely were. But you weren’t wrong.”
My heart thumped hard. I couldn’t breathe for hoping. “So what now?”
She chewed her cheek like she was weighing her next words carefully. “I spoke to Brax yesterday about the trust and the contract I signed. We’re meeting with Rupert, my parents, and their lawyers on Friday.”
Janie sure did have a knack for surprising me. I had so many questions, but with things the way they were between us, it wasn’t my place to ask. I wished I knew what was going on inside that brain of hers. What she was feeling. What she was thinking.
“What can I do to help?” I asked.
Apparently that was the wrong question because her lips flattened. “Stay out of it. I need to do this on my own.” She paused. “Well, I need to do this with Brax, but still on my own, if that makes sense.”
“It does.” I still hated it. If she would just let me—
“Jack,” she warned because the woman was a damn mind reader.
Shit. “I won’t interfere. I’ll handcuff myself if I have to.”
She eyed me suspiciously. “You know how to get out of handcuffs, don’t you.”
“Well…yeah,” I admitted.
She swallowed a laugh. “Anyway. We don’t have anyone to cover my usual shift at the bar, so the Painted Cat will be closed for the morning. It will be fine. The bar doesn’t get busy until after five anyway. I might be home early. Brax doesn’t expect the meeting to go past one or two.”
“I’ll handle it,” I said before I could stop myself.
“Jack.”
“Janie, it’s a scheduling issue at my bar.
The Painted Cat is my business.” And so was Janie, whether she admitted it or not.
“One way or another, your shift and Maya will both be covered. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but you have a whole pack of friends who would do anything for you.
Me, included. So let us help with this one little thing. Let me handle it.”
Her expression softened as she considered. “All right,” she said at last. “Thank you.”
I pushed from my chair. “Wait a minute. I have something for you.” I grabbed the deck of cards from the drawer and flipped through them until I found the cards I needed. “Here. For luck.”
She looked at the cards and then back to me. “Four aces? How is that lucky?”
“Because when you’re holding all the aces, you can’t lose.”