“It wasn’t just me. It was a decision your father and I both made,” Julie told him, her voice steady despite the emotion Jack could see in her eyes. “And it was worth every penny.”
“Just tell me!” It took everything Jack had not to explode. Right now, he was on the edge of losing everything. And now his mother and father had a dark secret involving him and Jane. A secret that his ex-wife apparently knew about.
“Thirty years ago, Pamela was going to use Jane to extort the inn from us,” Julie blurted out.
The words hit Jack like a physical blow. He stared at his mother, unable to process what he’d just heard.
“I overheard her speaking to Victor on the phone,” Julie continued, the words coming faster now as if she needed to get them all out. “After not being able to get her father declared insane and take over his company, she was coming after the inn. This was going to be Victor’s first real estate development project.”
“What?” Jack felt like that was the only word he knew right now as his world started to tilt.
“It was not long after your father’s first heart attack,” Julie told him. “He was still in the hospital, and we didn’t know how severe it was yet. You and Pamela had just separated, and she was moving out of the suite you three shared upstairs. The one Holly, Charlie, and Trinityare in now.”
“I know where we lived while I was trying to get on my feet after college, Mom,” Jack said, his voice coming out harsher than he intended. His mind was reeling. “Why or even how would she use Jane? She’d already agreed I could have full custody of Jane.”
“She changed her mind when your father nearly died,” Julie said, her voice hardening. “She realized that when James was gone, you’d inherit the inn, not me. You’re the Christmas bloodline.”
Julie swallowed hard. “She told Victor that the one thing you loved more than the inn and your family was Jane. That you would do anything to keep her, and the custody papers hadn’t been drawn up yet.” Her eyes flashed with disgust and anger. “She laughed and said, ‘Trust me, Jack won’t want his little brat growing up as a Martin and calling Victor Daddy.’“
Rage flooded through Jack, hot and immediate. The blood pounded in his ears. “You’ve kept this from me for all these years.”
Julie nodded and continued, her voice steady despite the emotion. “She went on to tell Victor that she’d sent the nanny out with Jane and that Victor must meet the woman at the beach and take Jane.”
“Was that the day the nanny quit?” Jack breathed, memories clicking into place. Things that hadn’t made sense the day Pamela had abruptly left thirty years ago suddenly crystallized with horrifying clarity. “She was in tears and apologetic when Igot home that day. Then she ran off, and we never saw her again.”
“I fired her,” Julie said bluntly. “The nitwit was about to hand Jane over to a stranger who walked up to her and told her that Pamela had sent him to get Jane.”
Julie’s expression softened slightly. “Luckily, Mrs. Hurling was on her way to the inn and saw what was happening. She stepped in and saved Jane.”
“That’s the day you offered Mrs. Hurling a job here as well,” Jack realized, more pieces falling into place.
“She was recently widowed and needed something to ease the heartache and help financially with her kids,” Julie confirmed. “She’d also just stopped your wife from kidnapping your daughter. It seemed like a natural fit.”
That crazy, chaotic day started to make sense now. The nanny quitting in tears. Mrs. Hurling suddenly taking over the breakfast kitchen. And Pamela finally, finally agreeing to leave after weeks of dragging her feet and making everything awkward. Especially difficult timing with his father having just had a heart attack, and Jack suddenly having to help run the inn, finalizing his studies, trying to build a business, while also caring for a three-year-old daughter.
“You got Pamela to finally leave the inn,” Jack said slowly.
“Yes,” Julie nodded.
“Did you threaten her with legal proceedingsfor attempted kidnapping?” Jack asked, but his gut screamed it wasn’t that simple, whatever his mother was confessing to right now.
“No,” Julie shook her head. “It wasn’t that easy to get rid of that viper.”
She raised her chin a little higher, and Jack recognized that expression. His mother was preparing to defend a decision she knew he wouldn’t like.
“Once Mrs. Hurling had thwarted Pamela’s attempt to have Victor kidnap Jane and extort you for the inn, I approached her. I was ready to go to the police. And she told me it wasn’t kidnapping if she was trying to get her child the only way possible. She threatened to make it very difficult for you to ever see Jane again. She said she’d go to the judge and tell him we were trying to take her daughter away from her. That she’d do whatever it took.”
“I...” Jack was beyond livid. He couldn’t believe what his mother was telling him. What she’d kept from him for thirty years.
“Let me finish,” Julie said firmly. “I told her she’d never get the inn. That James would find a way, and even if it cut his heart to pieces, he’d disinherit Jane if he had to, to ensure Pamela never got her hands on this place.”
“Why is she so obsessed with this place?” Jack asked, though he wasn’t sure he wanted the answer.
“I don’t know, love.” Then Julie continued. “Pamela then said she’d just make things up with you and ensure that never happened. I was so furious. All I wanted was for her to be out ofyour and Jane’s lives for good. So I snapped. I asked her how much it would take for her to go away and never darken your doorway again.”
Shock ripped through Jack. “Mom, no.”
He realized where this was going, and the implications made him feel sick.
