How many times did a man need to make the same mistake before he learned his lesson and changed his ways? He might be drawn to Aja, might even be curious enough to dip his toe in that particular pool, but diving right in off the highest board wasn’t in Jackson’s plans.
“As far as I remember it, Lana wasn’t the only one who taught me women shouldn’t be trusted. Margie was the first to drive that lesson home.”
“Your mother—”
“Margie.” Jackson hadn’t thought of her as a mother since they day she told ten-year-old Jackson to watch his five-year-old brother while she went to the market for an afternoon milk run. His father found him hours later, standing at the door, waiting for her after Jacob’s shift ended at the sheriff’s office.
Jacob took a slow breath before rising from his perch on the sofa. He walked over to Jackson, his steps careful and his gaze steady, before placing a strong hand on his shoulder. “Yes, Margie left, and Lana put you through hell. But, Son, don’t let them be the reason you don’t let anybody else in.”
Jacob’s words made logical sense. But they did little to reassure him.
“If you really believed that, why haven’t you let anyone else in? Why didn’t you remarry?”
Jackson watched as Jacob’s eyes widened, and an odd combination of sadness and surprise filled his deep-brown eyes.
“Daddy, I’m sorry. My mouth gets away from me sometimes.”
Jacob squeezed Jackson’s shoulder, the motion more comforting than punitive. “I didn’t remarry or let you boys meet every woman I kept time with after Margie left, because I didn’t think it right. I didn’t want the two of you getting attached if things didn’t work out. You being unaware of it doesn’t mean I never found someone else to love.”
Jackson canted his head to the side and stared at his father. He cataloged the tiny twinkle of a spark in his father’s eyes and wondered what he was seeing.
A few seconds more of the wheels in his head spinning, and the answer was painted in a clear vision across his father’s face.He’s happy?“You’re seeing someone, aren’t you?”
Jacob dropped his hand and walked to the window, staring out as if it held the answer to all the important questions in life. “I’ve been seeing someone for the last twenty-five years. We both had reason to keep things between us. But now, those reasons make little sense anymore. I love her. I want to marry her.”
“Do I at least get to meet her?”
“Do you really want to?”
Jackson wanted to be hurt, offended by the question his father posed. But deep down he knew he couldn’t. After Lana, he’d spent the last eight years avoiding being part of anyone else’s happiness.
He ran his fingers over the tense muscles in his neck and rubbed. When his father turned from the window, he wore a deep glow that shone from the inside outward. At that moment, all the anger caged in Jackson’s chest dissipated into a gentle calm. It spilled from his heart, through his great vessels, and buried itself deep within his bones. “I’d be honored to meet her if you want me to.”
A crooked grin softened his father’s features, casting a rejuvenating glow on his aging skin. “I’d like that very much. But you know what I’d like even more?”
“What’s that, Daddy?”
“For you to find someone to love you the way my lady friend loves me. You need that, Jackson. Don’t wait ’til you’re my age to realize it. And looking at how that young lady smiles at you when you speak, I’d say she’s probably the right person to teach you how nice caring about someone can be.”
Jackson didn’t have a lot of time to think about all his father had shared with him. He could hear his brother’s and Aja’s footsteps overhead, headed back to the staircase. Within moments, the sultry tones of her voice became more pronounced as she walked down the hall, coming ever closer to the great room.
She stepped inside the room, and he watched her face blossom into a bright canvas of rose-tinted, silky brown skin. A familiar mixture of anticipation and nervousness tumbled through him.
When their eyes met again, Jackson knew one thing. He might not be able to let himself have what his father had found, but maybe there was something between him and Aja Everett that he wanted to explore. There were two things he needed to consider, however. Would he let it happen? And would it be such a bad thing if he did?
Chapter 12
Jackson waved at the disappearing SUV as it moved toward the front gates of the property.
He watched as his brother turned the vehicle to the right onto the main road until it was no longer in his sight. With Aja having an afternoon meeting with her employees, Jackson headed straight for Colton and Storm’s bunkhouse for a check-in of his own.
A few moments later, he tapped on their door and waited for Storm to let him in.
“How did it go?”
“Good,” Jackson responded as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He followed Storm back into the kitchen where Colton sat sipping a glass of iced water. “She seemed agreeable to the suggestions Jacob and Kip made.”
Storm pulled a glass from the cabinet and pressed it to the ice maker/water filter compartment in the freezer door of the double-sided fridge. “When does their crew return to install the security system?”
