Adding Up to Marriage Page 19

  That got a snort. “Like hell. I do not know where my head’s been all these years, but for sure not where it was supposed to be.”

  Jewel held out her phone, staring at it a second before putting it back to her ear. Mama was still talking. “…after you gave me what-for in the restaurant the other day, I called Monty and cried bitterly about how you’d hurt me.”

  “I’m so sorry—”

  “No, hear me out. When I’d finally finished blubbering, he got real quiet for a while. Then he started asking some pointed questions—he’s got three grown kids of his own, so he’s got more of a handle on being a parent than I do, I guess—and long story short, he made me look at things from a different perspective. He pointed out the tighter I held on to you, the more likely you were to slip through my fingers entirely.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  Jewel hesitated, then said, “You sound…different.”

  “I feel different. Like Sleeping Beauty,” she laughed, “whose prince took his damn time getting here. But I’m thinking it was worth the wait.”

  “Wow. Monty…” Rolling her eyes, Jewel pushed out, “He sounds like a keeper.”

  Mama laughed softly. “That’s what I’m hoping. Oh, baby, you have nothing to apologize for, believe me. It was me who messed up, not you.” She paused. “But I’m curious—what was all that the other day about Keith and Aaron?”

  “So you don’t know?”

  “Honey, I haven’t exchanged word one with that man since I sent him packing. So, no—”

  “Wait—you sent him packing?”

  “You talk first. Then I’ll fill in the blanks.” Sure enough, after Jewel related the whole sad story, her mother sighed. “I knew how hard it was on you after Keith and I broke up, especially seeing how much you loved his little boy. I also know you blamed me for letting another daddy slip away. But when I found out Keith was cheating on me on all those business trips…that didn’t exactly sit well. So I kicked him out on his ass.”

  “Oh, Mama…” Jewel didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I had no idea.”

  “That was the plan.” She huffed a humorless laugh. “At the time I was almost more mad at myself than I was at Keith, for being a damned fool. Bad enough I already felt like you were the adult and I was the child, even if I had no idea how to fix that. So my pride wouldn’t let me admit I’d made another mistake. However, if you noticed I didn’t exactly go off and get married again right away.”

  “But…all those boyfriends…?”

  “Wanting to stay single is not the same thing as wanting to be alone. Even so, I wasn’t about to get hitched again until I was sure I’d made the right choice.”

  “And you’re sure about Monty?”

  “Yes,” Mama said, with more conviction than Jewel had ever heard before. “And I think if you’d meet him, you’d understand.”

  “Actually…I’d like that.”

  She heard her mother’s voice hitch. “You mean it?”

  “Of course I mean it. Whenever you want.”

  Mama hesitated, then said, “I know I’m repeating myself, but please don’t feel bad about what you said last week. I had it coming. I’ve had it coming for a long time. I know…I know I haven’t exactly been there for you the way a mama should, but…I’d like to try now. If it’s not too late, I mean.”

  Jewel scrubbed a tear off her cheek. “I’d like that, too. Could you…could you come up sometime? Like, soon?”

  She heard her mother talking to somebody, then come back on the line. “How’s this evening sound?”

  “This evening sounds great…” At the sound of a truck pulling up outside, she struggled to her feet, massaging her numb butt as she walked to the window. Seeing Noah’s pickup parked outside, she said, “Gotta go, looks like I’ve got company. See you soon.”

  “Love you, baby.”

  “I love you, too,” she said, really, truly meaning it as she watched Noah unfold himself from behind the steering wheel. Then Silas popped out of the other side and her heart started thumping like mad in her chest. But not from fear, from excitement. Anticipation. The thrill of being ready.

  Yeah, bring it, she thought, only to get another jolt when a moment later her stepbrother crawled out of the extended cab’s back, all long limbs and big grin, and for a moment Jewel thought she might faint dead on the spot.

  Trembling, she opened the door, vaguely aware of Silas grabbing Noah’s arm as Aaron loped up the walk, breaking into a full-out run before sprinting up the steps to grab Jewel around the waist.

  “What…? How…?” Her head spinning, she wriggled out of his grasp, looking up into that goofy, adorable face that hadn’t changed all that much since he was a toddler, truth be told.

  “I’m here for good!”

  “What?”

  “You heard me! I’m gonna stay with Silas’s and Noah’s folks until…” His gaze swung to the two brothers, still back by the truck, and Jewel’s gaze snagged in Silas’s, which ramped up her heart rate quite nicely, thank you. “At least,” Aaron said, his eyes on hers again, “until we figure out the next step.”

  “I don’t understand,” Jewel said over the dizziness.

  “Does it matter?”

  “Uh, yeah? Since I don’t want the feds coming after me for kidnapping. Or something.”

  Aaron’s brow furrowed. “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

  “Oh, sweetie…” Her eyes watering, she threw her arms around him—as best she could being a foot shorter and all—and gave him another hug. “Of course I’m happy, that goes without saying!” She let go. “But your dad—”

  “It was all Silas’s idea,” Noah shouted over, adding, after dodging Silas’s attempted smack on his arm, “it’s not like she’s never gonna find out, you know.”

  Honestly. “Find out what?”

  “Dude,” Aaron said, “Silas was awesome. He shows up at my house, right? Then tells my Dad he’s not leaving until Dad said it was okay for you and me to talk to each other again, and that if he tried to pull any of that ‘inappropriate relationship’ crap with you, he shouldn’t be surprised if the IRS decided to get in touch with him.”

  Jewel’s eyes bugged out. “You’re kidding?”

  “Nope. Then, while all this was going down? Witch Woman comes in, and her and Dad get into this humongous fight and the upshot was…” He shrugged. “He said if I wanted to go, he wouldn’t stop me. So Silas made him sign this paper saying he couldn’t change his mind…and here I am!”

  Jewel met Silas’s steady, hopeful gaze and wondered how she’d doubted for a single second that he loved her. “He…did all that?”

  “Man, he was like one of those action flick dudes, storming the place to rescue me. Except without the storming. Or any explosions or stuff.”

  “Aaron?” Noah called. “What do you say we get you over to Mom and Dad’s, let these two hash out a thing or two?” After another hug, the kid strode back to the truck, and Noah said, “And Jewel, you’re expected for dinner, Mom said no excuses allowed.”

  “Oh!” Jewel said, crashing back to earth with a nice, hard bounce. “I can’t, my mother’s on her way. With her new fiancé.”

  “So bring ’em along,” Noah said as Aaron climbed back into the truck. “The more, the crazier.”

  That would certainly be true, she thought as the truck disappeared in a burst of dust and dead leaves, leaving, when it all cleared, Silas standing in Eli’s yard and Jewel with about five gazillion questions.

  And one life-altering confession to make.

  Silas’s heart was thundering so hard Jewel could probably hear it from where she was. Which, at the moment, was much too far away.

  And although he had no doubt she’d grill him as to the hows and whys that led to her brother’s return, it was quite possible she’d never close that gap. And yet…the joy on her face when she hugged her brother had warmed Silas in a way few things ever had. Even if she couldn’t, or wouldn’
t change her mind about them, he at least had the satisfaction of knowing he’d done everything he could to make someone else happy.

  Anything else was buttercream icing on the cake.

  “I don’t suppose it occurred to you what an insane idea it was, going up there like that?” she said, obviously shivering, her voice floating to him on the soft breeze. Removing his jacket, Silas closed the gap himself to drape the garment over her shoulders, holding on to the lapels. To her.

  “Only every thirty seconds from the time I thought of it until, well…” He smiled down at her. “Until I saw you two together again and realized sometimes the most insane ideas are the best ones.”

  “But…” Her eyes searched his. “There was no guarantee Keith would’ve said yes. What if he hadn’t had anything to hide?”

  Boldly, Silas slipped his hands around Jewel’s waist and her hands landed on his chest and he thought, Yes. “All I could think of, after we…stopped seeing each other, was how nobody’s ever really done anything just for you. So I asked myself…what did you most want in the whole world?”

  Her eyes glittered. “And you thought of Aaron?”

  “Thought that might have a mite more impact than flowers and chocolates,” he said, and she giggled, and he realized how much he’d missed that giggle. How much he wanted to hear those giggles for the rest of his life.

  “But how did you find him?”

  “From the subscription label on that gaming mag he left here. Then I strong-armed Noah into being my wingman. Since he’s bigger than me.”

  She snorted. “Except Noah wouldn’t hurt a fly. Either.”

  “Yeah, but Keith didn’t know that. And seeing how much you were hurting…I had to do something, anything, to at least convince him to let Aaron communicate with you again. Not that I had any idea how I thought I was going to pull it off,” he added on a dry laugh, then drew her close again, inhaling something fruity this time. Nice. “I hate bullies, Jewel. Especially ones who enjoy making people miserable simply because it gives them some perverse sense of accomplishment. I know you were wrecked when Keith and your mother split, but believe me…it was for the best.”

  She was quiet for a moment, then said, “Yeah. I know that now. But at the time…” She sighed, then shifted to frown up at him. “Still. How on earth did you figure out that Keith cheated on his taxes?”

  “I didn’t.”

  Her eyes sparkled with something that made hope swell in his chest. “You were bluffing?”

  “More like, I took a calculated risk. That somebody who’d take character swipes like he did at you probably wasn’t scrupulously honest about his taxes. Especially someone with his own business with plenty of opportunity to cook the books. Judging by how pale he turned…bingo. Bullies all have soft underbellies, honey. Just have to figure out where they are.”

  “Wow.” Mischief sparkled in her eyes. “Sexy and smart. Impressive. But…you’re not really going to sic the IRS on him, are you?”

  “Not that it’s not tempting…but no. I shook loose what I needed, no point in being greedy. Or vindictive. Although when I saw for myself how Keith treated his own child, it was real tempting to go for the jugular, believe me.”

  “How sad,” Jewel said, cuddling closer again. Encouraged, Silas smiled.

  “In any case, what I hadn’t counted on was Keith’s significant other—‘other’ being the operative word, here—jumping on the opportunity to rid herself of a pesky, sullen teenager she’d never wanted, anyway.”

  “She’s really Witch Woman?”

  “Let’s just say she and Keith seem to be a perfect match.”

  Another chortle tickled his chest, followed by a sigh. “What hell that must’ve been for my brother.”

  “A hell that’s in his past now. My parents were in on this, which you’ve probably already figured out. In fact, kid’s got more people here who love him than he’ll know what to do with. Noah’s already itching to take him under his wing.”

  Still snuggled close, Jewel moaned. “God help us all.” Then she leaned back to look up at him, gratitude shining in her eyes, before softly grazing her knuckles across his late-day beard stubble. “So what happens now?”

  “You and my parents have joint temporary guardianship of Aaron until the courts can sort it all out for good. But nobody’s going to take him away from you again. At least, not until some cutie comes along and knocks the wind out of him.”

  Laughing, she grasped his hand and held it to her cheek, and his heart soared a little higher. “You’re right,” she said quietly. “Nobody’s ever done anything like that for me. Or for Aaron, either, I imagine. Ohmigosh…” She looked into his eyes. “I can’t believe you took such a huge chance.”

  “That Keith would give in—?”

  “On me,” Jewel whispered, smiling. “On us.”

  Silas took a breath. “That’s what you do when you love somebody.”

  “Maybe so,” she said, her eyes shiny. “But…while I’ll be forever grateful to for bringing Aaron back…that’s not the way to win my heart.”

  “But that’s not why I did it! No matter what Noah might tell you—”

  “I know,” she whispered, her eyes never leaving his. “Which is why…it’s yours. My heart, I mean. Turns out it wasn’t freedom I was looking for, after all. It was courage. And if, after everything I’ve put you through, you’re still willing to take a chance on me…I’d be ten kinds of fool not to return the favor.”

  Hardly daring to believe his ears, Silas stood there like a primo dork, staring at the woman. “I love you, honey. Although I could kick myself for not saying it sooner—”

  “Silas?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Shut up and kiss me.”

  So he did, until some yahoo drove by and honked his horn at them in some lame attempt at ruining the moment. Except that was followed by another kiss that was far sweeter, especially when Jewel said, “You don’t have to do anything to prove your love, Si. I knew that long before you brought my brother home. And what’s more, I trust it. I trust you. But most important…I trust myself. That I can do this. That my love isn’t going to go ‘poof,’ either. Because I won’t let it.”

  He thought he’d pop. “Wow.”

  “I know, right?” Giggling, she touched her forehead to his chest. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. But you know what?” Her eyes lifted again, clear and free and unconflicted. “Turns out I’d much rather have company while I’m at it.”

  Taking another huge chance—was this getting to be a habit or what?—Silas reached into his pocket and pulled out the modest diamond ring he’d picked up on a whim before they’d left Denver. When Jewel gasped, he quickly said, “This is only a token of how serious I am, if you’re not ready I completely understand. Sure, my parents eloped after they’d only known each other a month, but everyone thought they were crazy—”

  “Oh, no, you don’t.”

  “Oh. Okay,” he said, starting to slip the ring back into his pocket, only Jewel laughed and grabbed his arm.

  “No, goof. I mean—you want to propose, you do it right. Down on one knee.” She pointed to the floor in front of her. “Now.”

  “Damn, you’re bossy—”

  “And you might not want to miss your window of opportunity when I’m feeling all overcome with gratitude and such. Because you never know when such a moment might come around again. Might even have to wait, oh, ten minutes.”

  Chuckling, Silas eased himself down on one knee, wincing at the hard floorboard. “Jewel Jasper…will you marry me?”

  “You betcha—”

  “But there’s one condition.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. Aaron has to live with us or the deal’s off.”

  Grinning, Jewel threw her arms around him, throwing them both off balance and onto the porch floor where they laughed and kissed and kissed and laughed, not even noticing the sound of the car pulling up into the driveway until Jewel’s mother
called out, “Sugar, is there something you want to tell me?”

  Blushing furiously, Jewel scrambled backward off Silas, who didn’t look even remotely embarrassed as he hauled her to her feet…and hooked his arm protectively around her waist, and she thought, So this is what it feels like to have someone get your back. I like it.

  Because for the first time in her life, she felt truly safe, free to love and be loved without fear of either being taken advantage of or abandoned.

  Holy mackerel. What a rush.

  Jewel slowly lifted her left hand, letting the ring catch the light, and her mother squealed and clasped her hands together, then started toward Jewel, her arms extended.

  Not quite ready to leave the comforting circle of Silas’s arm, Jewel took in Kathryn’s slightly shorter hair and more subdued boot-length skirt and suede jacket—still gorgeous, still sexy, but in a manner far more befitting someone in her middle forties rather than a time-warped twentysomething.

  But it was the genuine smile, the kind brown eyes, beaming from the gangly, weathered-faced man scooting to keep up with her—the sun flashing off the sizeable chunk of turquoise in his bolo tie—that really snagged her attention, especially when he turned those eyes and that smile on her still-squealing mother, and it was clear as day the man was completely head-over-heels.

  Would it last? Who knew? But it occurred to Jewel that it wasn’t like we’re only given a certain number of chances to get something right, whether you were talking baking the perfect cheesecake—which Jewel had yet to conquer but she hadn’t given up—mastering a piece of music…or finding the right person to keep you sane. And a little bit crazy, too.

  Then she looked up and saw Silas looking at her exactly the same way Monty was at her mother, all that endless, bottomless, limitless love, and a great calm came over her, and she realized there was nothing saying it had to take umpteen tries to get it right, either.

  She stood on tiptoe to kiss her future husband—ohmigosh!—once more, then ran down the steps to hug her mother, her heart about to explode with happiness and the heady confidence that came with knowing that for the first time in her life everything was adding up exactly as it should.