“I was, but I’ve got a sense something else is bothering you.”
I could picture her sitting in her rocking chair on the front porch. That’s where she always sat when it was time to have a talk with one of her boys. She said it was her thinking spot.
Knowing it wouldn’t do any good to try to pull one over on her, I held the phone away from my mouth. “Wren and Eli… whydon’t you head outside to finish your lunch? I’ll be out in just a few minutes when I’m done with my call.”
Eli left his lunch sitting on the table untouched, but Wren shoved hers back in her lunchbox and the two of them left the room.
“I can’t wait to kiss my grandbabies,” Mama Mae said. “I know they’ll be spending most of their time with Michelle’s mom and dad when you come visit but promise me I’ll get my hugs.”
“You know you will.” They were just as excited to see her as she was to see them. Didn’t matter that I was her foster son and we weren’t actually related by blood. She treated my kids like they were her own grandchildren because that’s how she viewed them.
“Good. Now that we’ve settled that, tell me why you haven’t returned my calls.”
“I’ve been busy.” It was the truth, just not all of it.
“And?” she prompted.
“And what?”
She sighed. “You can tell me, or I’ll call up one of your card playing friends. I’m sure Janice knows how to get ahold of those boys.”
“Fine. I met someone.”
“Sugar, you don’t sound like a man who’s flying high on the wings of love. What happened?”
I tilted my head back, wishing I hadn’t picked up the phone. I wasn’t ready to talk about Delaney to anyone, but especially not to the woman who raised me and could read me like a fucking book. “It didn’t work out.”
“And why’s that?” I could hear the rocking chair creak in the background. How many times had I sat on that front porch with her while waited for me to ‘fess up to what was bothering me? Too many times to count.
“Because I caught feelings. She was great with the kids. Got Wren to open up to her and even got her to open up to me a little bit more. She even impressed Eli. But then she got a job offer in New York. A good offer. I told her to take it. I didn’t want to be the one to hold her back or make her give up her dreams. You saw how well that worked out the last time I tried that tactic.”
Mama Mae let out a loud sigh. “Now, Jace. What’s this woman’s name?”
“Delaney.” Saying it out loud hollowed me out inside. Left just a shell where I could have sworn I’d had a beating heart a few days before.
“That’s a beautiful name. I bet she’s a beautiful woman.”
Damn, Mama Mae was twisting the knife I felt like I had lodged in my side. “She is.”
“Well, so was Michelle, but the two of them aren’t one and the same. We both know you and Michelle had no business getting married. The only thing you had in common was you both liked to push the rules and that got you in a whole lot of trouble.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
“You got scared, son. I raised you to be strong and to fight for what matters. Delaney matters. Don’t let your past keep you from going after the future you and those kids deserve.”
I rubbed my hand over my chest. It hadn’t stopped aching since the moment Delaney walked out the door. “What if it’s too late?”
“It’s never too late for true love, and you’ve got nothing to lose. Go after her. Give her a reason to stay.”
We hung up shortly after, but Mama Mae’s words kept ringing in my head. She was right. What I had with Delaney might be new, but it was worth fighting for.
I pushed back from the desk and grabbed my keys, hoping I wasn’t too late.
CHAPTER 13
DELANEY
I’d been backin New York for just a few days, but I’d left my heart in Tennessee. Jace didn’t want me. He didn’t want to try to make things work. Even though we hadn’t known each other very long, the feelings I had for him ran deeper and stretched longer than the whole Hudson River. I told myself I’d made the right move, but nothing about the hollow ache in my chest felt like the right anything.
