Jarod's Heart (King Brothers Stories #2) (11 page)

“Fine, Mom. I’m sleeping. You should be asleep, too.”

“I mish you, baby.”

Yeah, right.
But Lauren could hear the pathetic sadness in her mother’s inebriated voice. The reasons for her mother’s late-night drunken calls always came down to her feeling sorry for herself.

“I know, Mom.”

“I’m a terrible muther. You disherved musch better ’an me.”

Lauren listened to her mother’s pathetic ramblings for another five minutes before she was able to get her off the phone.

Now awake, she wondered how Jarod was doing with Jessica, and whether he realized the importance of that blanket.

She automatically reached for Ribbit, a velvet beanbag frog that her dad had gotten for her when she was a little girl. Ribbit had accompanied her to every slumber party, every camping trip, and even to college. He’d especially been with her on every trip to social services. And now he was with her while she stayed in the Kings’ luxurious home. She understood Jessica’s need for something familiar, which was why she had helped her get that ragged blanket out of the dryer as fast as she could.

Leaning back on the soft pillows, she thought back to her childhood. As far back as she could remember, there’d been fighting and yelling, then the divorce, and finally her father’s funeral. She had no good memories of living with her parents, but she smiled at the happy memories she had shared with her two best friends, Julie and Josh. Their unwavering loyalty had gotten her through the worst times in her life. Although the Armstrongs and the Kings couldn’t do much to save her from her parents’ behavior, they had always been supportive, especially when the town had tried to paint her with the same brush as her parents’.

Not wanting to remember any more, she turned her focus back to the here and now. She wondered if Jarod slept in those boxers normally, or if he’d worn them in deference to the presence of his little girl.

Holy cow, the only thing that had kept her from wrapping herself around him was the tiny little girl he’d been carrying at the time. With a smile on her face, she imagined what it could have been like if he’d come downstairs alone.

THE NEXT TIME
she opened her eyes, it was six-thirty. She scrambled out of bed and into the shower. Breakfast on a weekday with the Kings was normally hectic, but it was doubly so this morning. The whole family had stayed the night, including Josh, who had a townhouse in the same development as her own, using bad weather as an excuse. But with a new little girl added to the ranks, it was obvious to Lauren that the family just wanted to get to know her better.

Upon entering the family dining room, the first thing that caught Lauren’s attention was the radiant smile on Camille’s sophisticated face. The older woman loved her family so much, it made Lauren’s heart swell. Many times while growing up, she had wished that Camille were her mother instead of the drunk that called her in the middle of the night from time to time. As she’d grown up, Jarod’s whole family had been something that she’d desperately wanted to emulate.

Jessica was hanging on Camille’s hip. She had her blanket and was dressed in the same clothes that she’d been wearing the day before. Her hair had been combed but was hanging loose in long waves down her back. She was quiet as she seemed to absorb everyone around her while she clung to her brand-new grandmother. And Camille, God bless her, was bustling around one-armed, getting breakfast for everyone, happier than Lauren had ever seen her before, which was saying something.

“Let me help you with that platter, Camille,” Lauren said, smiling at Jessica. “Good morning, sweet pea!”

“G’mornin’, Lorn,” she said with a quiet smile. “Me an’ Nana are fixin’ brefkist.”

“I see that,” she said as she put a strand of silky black hair behind a tiny ear.

The three of them set the platter of eggs and bacon on the table, where the men were gathered with their coffee, juice, and toast.

Lauren’s mouth began to water when Julie brought over a platter of her homemade cinnamon pancakes. Their delicious aroma wafted up to Lauren’s nose and made her stomach growl.

Camille had taken seat cushions from furniture in the family room and stacked them on the chair next to Jarod. She sat Jessica down on the cushions, and Jarod put a plate in front of his daughter. There was an open seat between Jessica and Josh, so Lauren took that spot. As soon as everyone was seated, Camille got down to business.

“I thought, after breakfast, I would take Jessica shopping. Do you have anything specific you want me to pick up for her, Jarod?”

“She needs everything, Mom.” Then he asked Jessica, “Do you have a favorite color?”

“Blue,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Well, that clears things up,” Jarod chuckled, lifting his shoulders in a negligent shrug.

He wasn’t fooling anyone. There were smiles around the table, but no one contradicted him because she did need everything.

“Good. Then after everyone is off to work and school,” she hugged Charlie, who always sat next to Camille, “Miss Jessica and I will head to town to fill her wardrobe. What do you say, sweetheart?”

Jessica smiled around a mouthful of pancakes and nodded her head.

Camille addressed Lauren and Julie, saying, “Later this evening, I’d like to get started on the Halloween decorations for our haunted castle and the centerpieces for St. Anthony’s harvest dinner. Are you girls planning on coming back tonight?”

“I’m free, Camille,” Lauren agreed.

“I found someone to rent out Julie’s house, so we thought we’d get packing this weekend,” Jason announced. “We’re just going to stay here from now on.”

“I’m kinda tired of going back and forth. Most of my stuff is already here, anyway,” Charlie explained before he crammed another helping of pancakes into his mouth.

“Really?” Lauren said, astonished. “I didn’t know you had decided to rent it out?”

“It’s really too small for all three of us. But I don’t want to get rid of it, either. It’s all I have left of my parents,” Julie said. “Besides, renting it out is extra income… .”

“Jujyfruit…” Jason warned.

James cleared his throat, “I’d rather have you here than in town. I’m glad you guys are moving in.”

Jason put his arm around Julie and smiled. “Glad to hear it, Dad, but we’ll only be underfoot until the new house is finished. I want to get the foundation poured before it gets too cold.”

The next few minutes were filled with construction talk that was over Lauren’s head. She shared a smile with Julie, who had never looked happier. Part of Jason’s inheritance was a parcel of land that would be subdivided off of James and Camille’s property. It overlooked Timbisha and the mountains to the west. It would be a lovely place for them to start a family.

Feeling a little like an outsider, Lauren asked, “What time do you want us back tonight?”

“As soon as you get off work would be great. Don’t keep her late, Jarod. I need Lauren’s help with these projects.”

Lauren noted Camille’s no-nonsense look.

“She’ll be here, Mom,” he smirked and then, to Lauren’s astonishment, he winked at her!

Shaking her head and hiding her smile, she helped Jessica finish with her plate and wiped the pancake syrup from the little girl’s chin.

Melancholy, unwanted and unbidden, was creeping into Lauren’s head. Her mother’s late-night call lingered in the recesses of her mind, reminding her, as they always did, that these wonderful people were not her own flesh and blood. They were a family she admired, but would never belong to. She needed to back off before she embarrassed herself.

“All right, I gotta run,” she said, and stood to take her plate to the dishwasher.

“Wanna lift? I’m heading out now as well,” Jarod offered. “If your plan is to come back right after work, we might as well carpool.”

She was so taken aback that she stared at him for a good five seconds before he grinned, helping her recover herself.

“No, I have errands of my own to run, so I’ll need my car today. But thanks, Sheriff.”

She turned her back on him while she loaded a few lingering dishes from the sink into the dishwasher. When she returned to the table for more dishes, he had his arms around his daughter, talking softly to her.

Jessica seemed apprehensive but listened to him intently. Lauren could see her pretty face concentrating on his every word and then a ghost of a smile on her sweet face.

She had to turn her head away from the private moment that father and daughter were sharing before the tears that threatened to appear spilled over.

Once she was in her car, she was able to breathe easier. She couldn’t remember a time when she was not in love with Jarod. He’d been all she had ever wanted from a very young age, and now, once again, he was involved with another woman—albeit a very small, younger woman who was sweeter than any creature she’d ever met, but involved nonetheless.

All of a sudden, Lauren’s heart leapt with the idea of being Jessica’s mommy. She wiped the single tear that had fallen down her cheek, admitting to herself that there was nothing she wanted more, except to be Jarod’s wife.

What did she know about being a mother? Her own was a complete mess. The only woman worth emulating was Camille, but since she was Jessica’s grandmother, wouldn’t Lauren just be a redundancy?

Not to mention that Jarod hadn’t asked her to be Jessica’s mommy.

I’m an idiot.

She pulled into a space in the parking lot and put on her administrative assistant façade. She needed routine, and hers was waiting for her in the boring county office. She hit the key fob, locking her car, and headed inside to deal with the dregs of the earth.

MARGUERITE WAS ALL
over him like a poisonous rash. She made her irritation known that she hadn’t been able to discover whom he’d met with last night, and Jarod wasn’t going to clue her in, either.

So far, the only person in the department who knew about Jessica was Lauren, and he wanted to keep it that way for now. The detective hadn’t told Jarod the whole story about Miranda’s death, and, being a cop himself, Jarod could tell when someone was withholding information. He’d be patient and wait for the other shoe to drop.

He grabbed some coffee from the break room and headed to his office, planning to stop by Lauren’s desk on the way. She was talking on the phone when he approached, so he signaled for her to head into his office when she was done. She gave him a nod of acknowledgement as he passed by.

He set his plain coffee mug on his desk and flopped into his desk chair. Taking a fortifying breath, he pulled Miranda’s file out of a drawer and opened it up. He searched through her arrest records. Something was nagging at him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. This was how his mind worked. He would get a gut feeling about something, and it would plague him persistently until he took it seriously.

His mother had called him stubborn as a child. He didn’t agree with her; rather, he thought of himself as logical. So when he got these feelings, he ignored them until he had something tangible to work with, which was usually why it took him longer than it should to solve his cases.

Lauren walked in and sat in front of his desk.

“What’s up?” she asked.

Before he could filter his mouth, he asked, “Do you think I’m stubborn?”

She laughed out loud before she smoothed her expression. Clearing her throat to stifle another giggle, she answered him with another question. “Do you want me to tell you what you want to hear, or do you want the truth?”