Chapter Thirty-Seven
Linden
“This is Jack’s room, though I think he’s outgrown the bed,” Kay says, opening a bedroom door. Inside is a navy blue painted room with sailboat wallpaper bordering the ceiling, and a twin bed sitting in a wooden bed frame shaped like the helm of a ship.
There’s a toy trunk that looks like a pirate treasure chest, and a globe on the dresser. Avery goes straight to the telescope sitting next to the window.
“I see the moon?” Avery asks.
“Well, it’s not dark enough yet, but I might be able to show you later,” Jack says, kneeling next to her to look through it himself as he adjusts the sights.
“I always hoped he’d come home eventually,” Kay whispers next to me. She’s looking at him so tenderly it stirs emotion in my gut.
Here he has someone who loves him, but he’s been all alone for so long. “He said it’s been a long time.”
She motions for me to follow her to the other bedroom.
“I only saw him once or twice after they moved to South Dakota, but then when John and Hope passed, I stayed with him for a few weeks while we got their affairs in order. He was so broken at the funeral, I knew it would change him forever. That was the last time I saw him.”
“When he was 17?”
She nods sadly. “He’d send me a letter every few years, but even when the updates stopped, he’d send a Hallmark card with money. No note. No return postage. Nowhere for me to write back to.”
“When was the last time you got one of those?”
“Seven years ago.” She shakes out a pillow on the bed. “I never cared about the money he sent; I just worried about him. It’s the only way that I knew he was alive.”
“He shouldn’t have done that to you.”
She waves me off. “I didn’t take it personally. He was doing his best to exist in a world without his parents. He always had such a big heart, just like his dad did. He looks just like his mom, but he’s got both of their spirits.” She smiles to herself, thinking about it.
“I never thought John would settle down, but the minute he brought Hope home, I knew. They were soulmates, and Jack was a product of that. I never questioned it when they left for South Dakota. You will do anything to protect the people you love.” She looks at me deeply, paying special attention to the bruising on my face.
“He didn’t tell me why they moved to South Dakota.”
“Ah, well, it isn’t my place.”
“Right, of course.”
“I am so glad to have you guys here. I hope you’ll be comfortable.”
“I really appreciate you welcoming us into your home, but to be truthful, I feel safe wherever Jack is. And he felt sure that coming here was a good idea.”
A gentle smile lifts her features. “I always told him that this is his home, and whenever he was ready to come back I’d be here with open arms.”
“And you held true to your word,” Jack says from the doorway, making Kay smile harder.
“Oh, I just can’t believe you’re back.” She walks up to him and smooshes his cheeks like she would a little boy, and I stifle a giggle. “Now, put these sheets on these beds for your girls so they can rest.” The pile in her hand smacks him in the chest.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Actually, Jack’s the one who hasn’t slept in two days. I can do it,” I offer.
“Look at that… Already a team.” She winks and disappears from the room.
“Avery is enamored with the telescope,” he tells me without prompting because he knows I was about to wonder.
I step towards him and take the bedding from him before tossing it on the bed. He only looks slightly confused before I wrap my arms around his waist and press my cheek against his chest. “Thank you for bringing us here.”
I feel his chest deflate in relief as he returns my embrace, keeping me tucked tightly against him. We stand like that for a long time, until my leg starts to ache and I need to readjust my footing.
“Sit,” he prompts, directing me to a wooden chest against the wall with a flat top.
“I’m not used to being taken care of.”
“I know.” He starts making the bed up, and misses the smile on my face.
“Why did you bring us here, Jack?”
He hesitates slightly, but I know with confidence it isn’t because he’s preparing a lie, but because he is trying to formulate words as someone who doesn’t speak his mind often.
“All my other options were more similar to my last house. Four walls to hide inside, with hardly any furniture or anything but white paint. Which is fine when you’re undercover, but it’s no place for a little girl.
I wanted to bring you guys somewhere that was fitting for a family, and this was my first thought. ”
A family.
“Your ghost boss didn’t mind that you were bringing us to your childhood home?” I ask with a frog in my throat.
He shrugs. “I didn’t ask for permission. I didn’t tell anyone where I was taking you.”
“What? Why? Won’t you get in trouble?”
He shrugs again. “I wasn’t willing to risk any information getting out about our location. I don’t think any of them would betray me, but the more people who know, the more dangerous it becomes.”
“Jack, won’t you jeopardize your job by going off the radar?”
“Maybe.”
“And you don’t care?”
“Not really, no.”
There’s no distress in his voice, not a hiccup in his step as he makes the bed. He’s as cool as a cucumber, and I’m an anxiety-filled mortar about to go off.
“You can’t throw away your career for us,” I sputter.
He chuckles softly, shaking his head.
“This isn’t funny. I can’t be responsible for ruining someone else’s life.”
He stops what he’s doing, casually folding his arms over his chest. “I have money in the bank to live comfortably for the rest of my life. I don’t need the job. I needed purpose.”
“And you’ll risk losing that?”
“Linden, you don’t get it…” He says softly. “I was ready to throw everything away the night you kissed my cheek.”
I must look like a fish, my mouth opening and closing without making a sound.
“You never said anything…” I stand up, my body instinctively trying to pace, but stop short when pain shoots up my leg. “I never knew what you were thinking…”
“It was the hat,” he says almost teasingly, lifting some of the haze I’m under.
I take the hat that I’m still wearing off, and look at it before tossing it onto the freshly made bed. “No more hat. No more hiding.”
“I do like that hat, though,” he says, rounding the bed towards me.
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.” The distance left between us closes until I’m looking up at him.
“I know,” he whispers. “You and Avery can have this room. Get her to sleep tonight, and then you can drill me with questions. I’ll answer everything you’ve got.”
“Everything?” I challenge, narrowing my eyes.
He nods in agreement, but his eyes fall to where my hands flatten against his chest.
“I won’t be able to breathe until I know you trust me again,” he admits softly, but achingly serious as always. “Until I know you aren’t afraid of what I am.” His brows are knit so tight, I would be able to see his worry from a mile away.
“Breathe,” I utter, pulling his shirt. He lowers obediently until I can feel his breath against my lips. “I believe you.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” I add as his hand slides up my back, threading his fingers through my hair at the nape of my neck, pressing his forehead to mine. “I trust you, Jack. I always have. Even when I hated you for lying.”
He squeezes his eyes shut painfully and nods. “Do you still hate me?”
“Not even a little bit,” I breathe before he pulls me in the remaining millimeter, and captures my mouth hungrily.
This kiss isn’t gentle and unsure; it’s possessive and all-consuming, the way he holds me against him… I’ve never felt security like this in my entire life.
My arms snake around his neck and my hands claw through his hair, tugging him closer, needing him more than I’ve ever needed anything.
More than I’ve ever needed anyone. Because I’ve never let myself need someone like this.
He feels it too, the way his arms tighten around me, holding me impossibly closer. So much that all the weight on my foot disappears as he straightens, lifting me and pressing my back against the closed door.
My thighs cling to his waist as he licks a path down my neck, sucking my tender flesh as he finds his way back to my mouth. When my tongue swipes at his bottom lip, he opens to me right away, letting me dip into his mouth, and his hips jerk in response.
“Jack,” I moan, grinding against the hardness he’s buried between my legs.
“God, I could fuck you through the floor right now,” he growls, showing me exactly what he means with his powerful thrusts. “I need to show you exactly how fucking sorry I am about lying, and how badly I need you.”
When I blink into his eyes, I expect hooded, lust-filled pools to be looking back at me, but that isn’t what I see. I see soul-binding devotion.
“I need you, baby,” he pleads desperately, and I whimper when his mouth descends over the pulse in my throat.
“I brought you to my childhood home because I want you to know all of my memories. I want you to know everything about me,” he admits, cradling my cheek in his hand.
“I want to know everything. I want to know you,” I tell him, kissing him softly.
Sweet words lead to tender kisses, and my fingers through his hair have turned into a loving caress.
“I knew you were going to change my life the first night I saw you dancing in your kitchen.”
I gasp before laughing loudly. “You were spying on me!”
He looks slightly guilty, but not at all at the same time.
“That’s so wrong,” I whisper defenselessly because hearing him admit that he was watching me for his own selfish desires and not with malicious intent makes me hot and tingly inside.
“I liked watching you sleep.” This is when I should be slapping him across the face. “But I hated that fucking air mattress.”
This is messed up. So messed up.
“I needed you in my bed,” he whispers in my ear, making me moan.
“I could smell you on the sheets, and I loved it.”
His chest rumbles at my admission. “Trust me, baby. I can go on and on about how fucking obsessed I am. How fucking crazy you’ve made me.”
“Tonight,” I beg. I want to hear everything.
“It’s a date.”