Chapter 4
Chapter Four
H allie Holiday had never spoken in a soft voice.
Jace’s heart leapt into his throat as he glanced back at Decker and Sweetie to see if they’d overheard. Thankfully, they were too engrossed in each other to be paying attention—not to mention the band Liberty and Belle had hired was loud. The other people dancing around them hadn’t seemed to overhear either.
Jace had dodged a bullet. But since Hallie had always been unpredictable, he wasn’t willing to chance her blurting anything else out. Taking her hand, he quickly pulled her off the dance floor and outside. Once they were on the side of the barn, he turned to her.
“What the hell are you doing, Hallie?”
She jerked her hand from him. “That’s a good question, Jace. But it should be directed at you. What the hell are you doing still mooning over my sister?”
“I wasn’t mooning over your sister.” But it was a lie and Hallie knew it.
She glared at him. “Maybe mooning isn’t the right word. Maybe acting like a lovesick idiot is a more fitting description. Do you or do you not still have feelings for my sister?”
It was hard to lie when staring into those knowing green eyes. He looked away and sighed. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” She forced a sharp laugh. “That is such bullshit. You know. You just don’t want to look like the pathetic asshole you are.”
That hurt. It was one thing to think he was a pathetic asshole and another for the girl who had once idolized him to think it. And she wasn’t done yet assaulting his character.
“And to think that I almost felt sorry for you that you couldn’t play football anymore. But you’re just an arrogant jerk who is used to everyone bowing down and kissing your ass. It makes me sick to my stomach that I had sex with you.”
“Jesus, Hallie.” He glanced around. “Lower your voice.”
“Right. We need to keep that a secret. We wouldn’t want anyone to know you had sex with the little sister of the woman you’re still in love with.” He cringed, but she didn’t let up. “Because that’s why you had sex with me, isn’t it, Jace? I look like Sweetie.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. I know you were a straight-A student. Sweetie and I look enough alike that you wouldn’t have to pretend too hard.”
He stared at her as anger flared. “Wait one damn second. That had nothing to do with us having sex.”
“Then why did you have sex with me?”
“The same reason you had sex with me. We were drunk and not thinking clearly. I don’t even remember most of it.” It was a lie, but a necessary one. “I doubt you do either.”
She glared at him. “Not a second. And I thank my lucky stars for that.” He didn’t know why he felt like he’d been punched hard in the gut. Since when had she gotten so good at reading him? “What?” she said. “Is Jace the Ace’s ego bruised? Can’t you accept that there are women in the world who don’t put you on a pedestal? I’m sure all the Junkies in your fan club would remember a night with you until the day they die. They probably never wash their sheets again after you have sex with them.”
“Stop, Hallie.”
“Why? Does it bother you that I know you’ve had sex with a lot of women? News flash, Jace! There are pictures all over the internet of you with supermodels and Canadian actresses. It didn’t look to me like you were suffering from a broken heart. Just to appease my curiosity, how many women have you been with since Sweetie broke it off with you? Five? Ten? A baker’s dozen?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Oh, but it is.” She stepped closer, her green eyes flashing with anger. “It’s my business when you show up to my sisters’ wedding and start acting all pitiful like Sweetie and Decker did you wrong. That’s bullshit and you know it! If someone did someone wrong, it was you doing Sweetie wrong. You never truly cared about her. All you ever cared about was football. Now that you don’t have that anymore, you’ve decided to blame your heartache on Sweetie and Decker. Well, grow up, Jace Carson! Sweetie and Decker didn’t screw up your life. They just found love and grabbed it with both hands. And if you can’t be happy for them, then you need to get the hell out of Wilder and never come back.”
She whirled to leave, then stopped and turned back around. “One more thing.” The punch she landed in his solar plexus had him bending over and sucking wind.
It took him a while to catch his breath. He stared at the toes of his boots as Hallie’s words circled around and around in his head. He had come to the wedding feeling like a pathetic fool. It looked like he would leave feeling even worse. Because now he wasn’t the only one who knew how far he’d fallen.
“That one reminds me a lot of myself.”
Jace recognized the smoker’s rasp immediately. He straightened as Mrs. Stokes separated herself from the shadows cast by the huge oak tree. He squeezed his eyes closed and mentally cussed. Could this night get any worse? When he opened them, she was standing much closer, holding up a cigarette.
“You wouldn’t have a lighter on you, would you? It seems Corbin stole mine out of my purse—but left my pack of cigarettes. Which is just plain cold hearted.”
Jace cleared the fear from his throat. “Sorry, but I don’t.”
She shrugged. “I probably should quit anyway. It’s getting harder and harder to find a man who doesn’t mind a little smoke swirling around his head after a good roll in the sack.”
A spark of hope that she hadn’t overheard what he and Hallie had been discussing flickered to life. Mrs. Stokes was old and she had been standing a good distance away.
But that hope was quickly doused when she spoke.
“Speaking of rolls in the sack, what were you thinking having sex with Sweetie’s little sister?” She placed the unlit cigarette in her mouth and inhaled deeply. “Even I know that having sex with your ex-lover’s sibling is pushing the boundaries of bedroom etiquette.”
He scrambled for a reply and came up with nothing. Of course, Mrs. Stokes didn’t need one. She had always been good at carrying on conversations by herself.
“Although you and Sweetie were too young to be called lovers. You were just two clueless teenagers fumbling around in the back seat of a truck. I remember my first boyfriend well. Jerry was what young folks now call hot. I loved the hell out of that boy.” She took another deep exhalation and blew out nothing but air. “Or I think I did. Sometimes the sentimental part of your brain takes all your memories and turns the emotions attached to those memories into more than they were.”
He should have kept his mouth shut, but he was damned tired of women telling him what he felt.
“I loved Sweetie.”
“I didn’t say you didn’t. That was Hallie. And I don’t think she was saying you never loved Sweetie. She was saying you never loved her as much as you loved football. I agree with that. You wouldn’t have been the quarterback you were if you’d let romance interfere with the game.” She studied him. “I guess now that you can no longer play, you’re regretting that. But regret is like a pimple. You usually don’t think too much about having it until it’s right there in the center of your forehead. Then the only thing you can do about it is squeeze out all the pus and hope it doesn’t leave a scar.”
She took another puff on her cigarette before she tucked it into the inside pocket of her mink stole. “Now I better get back inside. I don’t care if it is his wedding day, I’m going to cuss Corbin up one side and down the other. No man should ever go through a woman’s purse.” She pointed at him and winked. “Let that be a lesson to you.” She went to walk past him, but he stopped her.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything about what you overheard, Ms. Stokes. We both know how hurtful gossip can be. While I don’t plan to stay in Wilder, Hallie is.”
She patted his arm. “I’m glad you care about her. And I won’t say a word. Although Hallie’s not the type to let a little gossip hurt her. She’s got spunk that one. More spunk than an ex-football player who can’t face the people of his town because of hurt pride.” After delivering the verbal blow, she disappeared around the side of the barn.
Once she was gone, he sat down in the old rope swing hanging from the oak tree and released his breath.
Did everyone know he was a loser?
He’d come to the wedding to apologize for being a drunken idiot and he’d only thoroughly convinced Hallie that he was an idiot . . . and that he had used her to fulfill some kind of sick fantasy he had about her sister.
She was wrong.
He hadn’t thought of Sweetie once after the initial shock of first seeing Hallie. Nor did images of Sweetie ever get mixed in with the images of Hallie that kept popping into his brain. A part of him wanted to head back into the reception and tell her that. The other part was too afraid. He was still reeling from her brutal honesty and didn’t think he could take any more.
From her or the rest of the townsfolk.
Besides, she had pretty much told him to hit the road. And she was right. If he couldn’t hide his emotions from her, there was no way he could keep them hidden from Sweetie and Decker.
God, he was pathetic.
Getting up from the swing, he headed for his truck. He didn’t even make it two feet past the barn before he was stopped.
“Hey, Jace.”
He turned to see Melba Wadley. It was too dark to see what she was holding, but he didn’t have to see it to know what it was. Melba fostered abused or abandoned animals and was always trying to find them homes. Jace didn’t doubt for a second that he was about to get hit up.
“You aren’t leavin’, are you?” She moved closer and Jace finally got a good look at the huge black cat she held in her arms. A truly pathetic-looking cat. Its fur was patchy and one ear looked like it had been bitten off.
Jace couldn’t help feeling a pang of pity or reaching out to stroke the cat’s head. The cat immediately pushed against his hand. “Hey, there, buddy.”
“Jelly Roll,” Melba said. “Like the country singer, he’s been through some tough times, but he hasn’t lost his big heart.”
Jace nodded as he continued to stroke the cat’s head. “He seems like a sweetheart. But just so you know, I can’t take him, Mel. Not when I’m not sure where I’m going to be living.”
“Oh, that’s okay. He’s not for you. I have someone else in mind for him. I just wanted to say hi before you took off.” She smiled. “You know if you’re looking for a place to live, Wilder’s a nice town.”
He gave the cat one final scratch before he lowered his hand. “It is, but I’m not quite ready to settle down in one place yet.”
Melba nodded. “Well, when you are ready, don’t forget about us.”
He didn’t know why a lump formed in his throat. “I won’t.” He tipped his hat. “See you, Mel. I hope you find a good home for Jelly Roll.” He turned and headed to his truck that he’d parked down the road behind the long line of other cars and trucks. He had almost made his getaway when Decker called his name.
“Jace!”
He thought about pretending like he didn’t hear him, but he figured he’d been enough of an ass for one night. He turned and waited for Decker to catch up with him.
“You’re leaving?”
He nodded. “Yeah. It’s a long drive to Galveston.”
“You can stay the night with us.”
The last thing Jace wanted to do was stay in the house Decker had inherited from their grandparents with him and Sweetie. “Thanks for the offer, but I told my mama I was going to be there tonight. She’ll worry if I don’t show up.”
Decker stared at him. “There are these things called phones, Jace. Maybe you’ve heard of them.” When Jace didn’t say anything, he sighed. “Are you ever gonna forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive, Deck.” He meant that. He didn’t blame Decker for being smarter than he was and hanging on tight to Sweetie.
“Then stay the night. You can call your mama. I know she’ll understand. In fact, she’ll be thrilled. She’s been hoping we can mend our fences.”
Jace wished he could. But while he didn’t have problems with Decker, he still had problems seeing him with Sweetie. Tonight had been a perfect example. He’d been fine until he’d seen them dancing together and looking so happy and in love. The pain he’d felt had been real. He couldn’t explain it and he sure as hell didn’t want to feel it. But he couldn’t help it. And since he was already struggling with the pain of losing football, he couldn’t deal with the pain of losing love too.
“Look, Deck. I really appreciate the offer. I’ll take you up on it some time. Just not now. I just . . . can’t now.”
Decker’s eyes turned sad before he nodded. “Okay, Jace. I’ll let it go.” He leaned in and pulled him in for a hard hug. “I love you, man.”
Jace held him tight. “I love you too.” He thumped him on the back before he drew away. “I’ll call you.”
“No you won’t. I’m always the one who calls you.”
Jace smiled weakly. “Okay. Call me.”
“You’re damn right I will. I mean it, Jace. I’m not gonna let you hide from me.”
“As if I could. You were always better at hide-and-seek than I was. You even found me when I hid in Nana’s chest. I thought no one would find me hiding under all of her skeins of yarn.”
“I didn’t. When I opened it the first time, I didn’t see you at all.”
“Then how did you figure it out?”
Decker grinned. “Papa ratted you out. I think he figured you won at everything else, he’d help me win at hide-and-seek.”
Jace had won more than Decker had, mostly because Decker hadn’t played sports or enjoyed competing. Maybe that’s what was so upsetting. Decker had never cared about winning. And yet, he’d won when it counted.
He thumped Decker on the arm. “I’ll be seeing you, cuz.”
Decker’s smile faded. “I hope so.”
With nothing else to say, Jace turned and headed to his truck.