Chapter 27 Following The Rules
FOLLOWING THE RULES
Four days later, Jayce was pulling into his lawyer’s office in Charlotte for the closing of his condo.
Could he have done it electronically and saved himself this trip? Yeah, he could have.
But he’d been texting with Henry and a few other staff in the marketing department for the two months he’d been gone.
It felt like two years and he didn’t miss it.
He’d promised them he’d stop in to go over a few things when he was here, but the closing had been put off a few times between the buyer’s bank and their attorney.
The texts from Henry and others in his department hadn’t lessened like he’d hoped. Each ping was a reminder, part balm and part wound. Knowing he wasn’t so easily replaced fed his ego, sure, but it still scraped against his pride that it was over.
That his career in this field hadn’t ended the way he wanted.
It was still on his terms, but others might think otherwise.
He hadn’t asked, hadn’t wanted to know what could be whispered in the halls of his old job. Best to let it lie.
He told himself he was better off now, and deep down he knew it was true. Still, he couldn’t ignore that so much of his life had once felt right here. The memories, the laughter, more than a decade of what he’d thought was his best life. Ego again? Most likely.
But lately, he realized that maybe his best wasn’t behind him after all. Maybe it was standing right in front of him, waiting for him to be brave enough to reach for it. Not just with his new career, but with a woman he might have been waiting for and never knew.
Some of his internal struggle of failure was diminishing. He had to get over himself. He let no one see it, and could be that was part of the stress he had in his life.
Should his job have been easier than it was in his mind? More like fun and less like work?
There were so many things he was wrong about.
He shut his car off, got out and walked into the building, gave his name and was shown to a conference room where a young couple was sitting by themselves.
“Hi,” he said, putting his hand out. “I’m Jayce McCarthy.”
The guy stood up. “Mason Brown and my wife, Katie. We’re buying your condo.”
“I figured as much,” he said. “Hope it gives you some good memories like it did me.”
“We’re excited,” Katie said. “It’s a much nicer place than we’ve been in and a shorter commute. Can I ask why you’re leaving it?”
“I moved back home to Durham,” he said. “I’ve got another job there.”
“Oh good,” Mason said. “So not a problem in the building? I know you probably wouldn’t tell me that, but we’ve tried to find out. We’ve had some terrible neighbors in the past and it’s a risk you take.”
“Honestly,” he said, “I was on the road a lot, but when I was home, I never noticed anything. No voices through walls or things like that. Do people talk loudly in the hallway at times? Sure, but nothing that sticks out at odd times.”
“I told you,” Katie said. “This place is too nice to allow those things.”
He wasn’t so sure of that because he’d heard others complaining in the past about loud neighbors blasting music. You couldn’t always pick your neighbors and even if they were good, it didn’t mean it’d stay that way.
A risk he was taking by moving into Jocelyn’s when her house was done. But she’d tell him if there were issues.
Anything was worth having his own space.
His parents were great, he couldn’t complain there, but he was too old to be staying in his childhood bedroom much longer.
Not that he thought having his own space would give him more time with Farrah. That made little difference since it had more to do with Archer.
And as much as he’d love to stay the night with her, it was her call and he was following the rules in front of him.
He turned when his attorney came in with someone else. He assumed it was the buyer’s attorney. The closing was quick and he was handed over a check for the remaining amount after they’d paid off his mortgage.
The six figures was sweet to see and he’d be running to the bank to get that deposited quickly.
Thirty minutes later, he was leaving the bank and on the way to the Hornets’ office. Walking in and getting a visitor pass felt…odd and distant.
“Jayce,” Corrie said. “It’s so good to see you. Tell me you’re coming back, please?”
“No,” he said. “Sorry. Just stopping in to talk to Henry since I was in town.”
“I, for one, miss your smiling face. I was stunned when I found out you were leaving. It felt like it came out of left field. No one believes what was said.” Corrie leaned in.
“Well, those who believed changed their minds when Levi broke up with McKayla. Guess Levi hated feeling like a fool when he saw proof that you were working.”
“Not my problem,” he said. Not something he wanted to discuss either. “And it wasn’t the reason I left. Not fully. It was the wind pulling the trigger but not the cause for the loaded gun.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Sometimes you just need to make a change.”
“What are you doing now?”
The last thing he wanted to do was sit here and chat. His phone went off and he looked at his watch. “That’s Henry asking if I’m here.”
“Sorry,” Corrie said, handing over the pass and asking him to sign on the screen in front of him.
He knew the routine and did it, then walked up the stairs to the offices over the elevator like always. Again, didn’t feel any warmth or pride being here now. Probably a good thing, making the move feel like the right decision.
He passed a few more people who wanted to stop and talk, but he politely moved on.
Thoughts of missing this quickly evaporated from his mind. The ten minutes it used to take for him to go from the front door to his office, then the next twenty beginning his job.
Everyone wanted to chat, see how his weekend or night was, even look for gossip.
Did he feed into that back then? He hadn’t thought he did. He was positive he was always coy and maybe that was why everyone asked so much hoping he’d slip.
Two months and he was out of practice.
He liked his routine better.
His new office in Durham was smaller now. A lot of employees, sure, but most were on-site.
There were maybe twenty in the office if he really counted and he hadn’t. Hadn’t gotten all that close with anyone either and no one tried.
He walked in the door, waved, got to his office and spent more time chatting with his family and it was only work related.
Crazy how accomplished it felt for him when he thought he had it all before and realized half of his days were spent wasting time blowing smoke up each other’s asses.
“There he is,” Henry said. “Come in, shut the door.”
Jayce moved in and did as Henry said, then sat in the chair across from his old boss’s desk. “How are things going?”
“They’d be better if you came back.”
“You’re joking,” he said.
“No,” Henry said. “We want you back. Kylie didn’t work out. I didn’t think she would, but they gave her a chance. She couldn’t keep up and pissed a few people off by getting snappy. Can’t do that.”
It wasn’t for everyone to put a friendly face on ninety-nine percent of the time. And Kylie had never played nice one day that she’d worked under him so he wasn’t surprised some power would go to her head.
“How did Kylie take her not working out?”
“She doesn’t know yet,” Henry said, smirking. “We are trying to get things in place, but she’s pushing too many buttons.”
Even if he wanted to come back, which he didn’t, the last thing he’d want was another rumor going around that he was the reason Kylie was getting canned.
“That sounds like a ‘you’ problem,” he said.
“Come on, Jayce. Everyone knows you did a great job. They realized they had probably taken advantage of your willingness and half the responsibilities would be removed again. Just your same job, more money.”
Before he could say no, Henry slid a piece of paper in front of him. He was reaching out of curiosity.
His eyebrow rose over the thirty-thousand-dollar raise, which didn’t include travel expenses. Half the time he didn’t spend nearly what they gave him in stipends.
Only twenty thousand more from what he was making now.
Working not nearly the number of hours, weekends and nights off, less stress and a woman he wanted in his life, not to mention being a stand-in father that he thought he was excelling at more than imaginable.
None of those things could have a monetary value.
“This is a substantial offer, but I’m good,” he said, sliding it back.
“I knew you’d play hard. Between us, I’ve got the okay to jump it another fifteen.”
“It’s not about money,” he said.
“It’s always about money,” Henry said, laughing.
Did he used to think that way? He hadn’t thought so.
Maybe he had, back then. The more he earned, the easier it was to slip into the illusion that he belonged, that he could blend in with everyone else living the so-called good life.
Smiles at parties, dinners out, trips that looked perfect on the outside.
He’d been showing off when what really mattered was just showing up.
And that was exactly what he was doing now. Showing up.
For work. For his family.
For Farrah and Archer.
The stress was a different kind and made him feel good about himself rather than sick.
There was a knock at the door, then it opened. “Jayce,” Logan said, lifting his hand to shake. One of the team’s star players. “Dude, we’ve missed you. I heard you were stopping in and came to see how things were going.”
He stood and shook with Logan, got the bro half hug that he’d never gotten before from the man. Did they go out and have some drinks and good times in the past? Yep, they had. But he was just one of many hanging out, not really fitting in.
Jayce turned to see Henry’s smirk and knew damn well this was all part of it. Bringing in the pressure that he didn’t want or need in his life.
All it did was push him back rather than lunge him forward.
“Things are going well,” he said. “You’d be surprised how nice it is to slow down some.”
“Are you working? I haven’t heard where you were or what you were doing,” Logan said. “Some are saying you’re scouting out other teams. Say it isn’t so.”
“It isn’t so,” he said, grinning. “No worries there.” Did he tell them what he was doing now?
There was no reason not to. It wasn’t as if he was embarrassed over it.
Not like he’d thought he’d feel as a kid and why he didn’t want a part of it.
“I’m heading up the marketing and communication for McCarthy Construction. ”
“Your family business?” Logan asked. “Doing what? Selling homes or something?”
Henry laughed. “Jayce’s parents have one of the biggest construction firms in North Carolina. I believe they might have had a hand in this building years ago.”
“They did,” he said. “When the addition was put on fifteen years ago.”
He’d been in college and thought it was cool. Got to come here over the summer and check it out, hoping to catch sight of players. He had and it was one of the best experiences of his life.
Why hadn’t he remembered that until now?
“Sounds like a boring job to me,” Logan said, pumping his grin higher. “Bet you aren’t on the road much, let alone hanging out with us.”
“I’m not,” he said. “But we all have to grow up at some point.”
He caught the shake of Henry’s head to Logan. “It was good seeing you anyway.”
“Nice try,” Jayce said when the door shut on Logan.
“What?” He wasn’t buying the innocent look. “Word got around you were stopping in to help on a few things.”
Not help. Just show them where a few things were. They saw it differently.
“If Levi shows up here to act like we are friends, I’m out the door and you’re on your own,” he said straight faced.
Henry picked his phone up and sent a text. “No worries. Let’s go see what everyone else is doing and then we’ll let you get on your way.”
“Thanks.”
“You can’t blame me for trying,” Henry said.
“No. You need to do what is right for you, the same for me.”
“I don’t think that’s right for you, Jayce,” Henry said. “I’ve known you for over a decade. I know the type of person you are and you live for the action. A few months of quiet is a good thing, but in a few more, you might not think so and the opportunity could be gone. Don’t forget that.”
“Doesn’t seem like you’re going to let me,” he mumbled.