informed her she had to go with him to San Diego for the weekend. The excuse he used this time was he needed her help to finalize the paperwork for the sale of a racehorse. The problem with this scenario? She wasn’t needed.
She and Bob both knew this, but he continued to force her on all of these trips she shouldn’t have to deal with. The extra money it brought in was so good she wasn’t able to say no. So staring blankly at his receding hairline, because if she looked directly into his shit-brown eyes she knew he would notice the I hate you vibes shooting out of her retinas, she agreed with a simple, “When do we leave?”
When she’d called Roxi back to let her know lunch was out of the question, she discovered her mom wasn’t able to keep Ashlyn. Jace was just going to keep her for the entire afternoon.
The only highlight of the day had been when she had made it to her child development class and discovered her professor managed to get her an interview for a teaching job at a private school. The downside, the school was in Nashville and the interview was in two weeks. She had calculated her budget to allow her a trip into Nashville and the day off of work all while standing with her new favorite professor. This was the opportunity she’d been waiting for and the chance she would be able to give her daughter the life they both deserved.
When she had walked out into the cool spring evening, she couldn’t wait to tell Jace her news, but the thirty minutes she waited for him caused all the stress and anxiety of her day to multiply again with the images of an accident holding them up. She’d tried his cell and her house number without success. Eventually she’d come to the realization if she wanted to get home, she’d have to call a cab.
The chauffeured drive home should have been relaxing, but without knowing what she was going to find when she got there, all she could manage to do was pray nothing was wrong. The alternative to a catastrophic accident was Jace had forgotten about her. She honestly didn’t know if she could handle the fact he found her forgettable. Especially since he found his way into her thoughts regularly. The truth, she thought of him constantly.
As the cab pulled up to the front of her little house, Ava hurriedly paid, giving the driver the fifty-dollar bill Jace had left for her that morning. Luckily, she saved money when a friend dropped her off at school on her lunch hour. Rushing up the front walk, she noticed all of the furniture normally on the porch was now sitting in the front yard. Panic set in as she imaged scenarios that would have required the removal of the furniture.
Everything was locked up like Fort Knox. She managed with shaky fingers to enter the house to discover a disaster zone. Frantically she searched every room for either Jace or Ashlyn, calling out their names. When she entered the family room, her heart began to pound out of her chest at the image that lay before her.
Jace sprawled across the couch in a T-shirt and jeans with his shoes still on. The man who played a physical sport that took all of his mental and physical capabilities looked to be exhausted, yet content with Ashlyn lying against his side between the cushions and his chest. The image caused the anger and worry that had built on her ride home to dissipate.
After a few minutes of watching the child of her heart and the man of her dreams snuggle in sleep, she gave in to the need to touch her daughter and reached across a chest so broad she felt tremors course through her body. Memories of her hands roaming over his body came back with clarity. The images that played out in her memory, like a movie, had her hesitating before she cleared her mind and began to pick her daughter up.
****
Somehow, fifteen minutes turned into two hours, and the next thing Jace saw was Ava standing over him attempting to pry her sleeping daughter from the crevice between him and the couch. He relished the sight of her
She and Bob both knew this, but he continued to force her on all of these trips she shouldn’t have to deal with. The extra money it brought in was so good she wasn’t able to say no. So staring blankly at his receding hairline, because if she looked directly into his shit-brown eyes she knew he would notice the I hate you vibes shooting out of her retinas, she agreed with a simple, “When do we leave?”
When she’d called Roxi back to let her know lunch was out of the question, she discovered her mom wasn’t able to keep Ashlyn. Jace was just going to keep her for the entire afternoon.
The only highlight of the day had been when she had made it to her child development class and discovered her professor managed to get her an interview for a teaching job at a private school. The downside, the school was in Nashville and the interview was in two weeks. She had calculated her budget to allow her a trip into Nashville and the day off of work all while standing with her new favorite professor. This was the opportunity she’d been waiting for and the chance she would be able to give her daughter the life they both deserved.
When she had walked out into the cool spring evening, she couldn’t wait to tell Jace her news, but the thirty minutes she waited for him caused all the stress and anxiety of her day to multiply again with the images of an accident holding them up. She’d tried his cell and her house number without success. Eventually she’d come to the realization if she wanted to get home, she’d have to call a cab.
The chauffeured drive home should have been relaxing, but without knowing what she was going to find when she got there, all she could manage to do was pray nothing was wrong. The alternative to a catastrophic accident was Jace had forgotten about her. She honestly didn’t know if she could handle the fact he found her forgettable. Especially since he found his way into her thoughts regularly. The truth, she thought of him constantly.
As the cab pulled up to the front of her little house, Ava hurriedly paid, giving the driver the fifty-dollar bill Jace had left for her that morning. Luckily, she saved money when a friend dropped her off at school on her lunch hour. Rushing up the front walk, she noticed all of the furniture normally on the porch was now sitting in the front yard. Panic set in as she imaged scenarios that would have required the removal of the furniture.
Everything was locked up like Fort Knox. She managed with shaky fingers to enter the house to discover a disaster zone. Frantically she searched every room for either Jace or Ashlyn, calling out their names. When she entered the family room, her heart began to pound out of her chest at the image that lay before her.
Jace sprawled across the couch in a T-shirt and jeans with his shoes still on. The man who played a physical sport that took all of his mental and physical capabilities looked to be exhausted, yet content with Ashlyn lying against his side between the cushions and his chest. The image caused the anger and worry that had built on her ride home to dissipate.
After a few minutes of watching the child of her heart and the man of her dreams snuggle in sleep, she gave in to the need to touch her daughter and reached across a chest so broad she felt tremors course through her body. Memories of her hands roaming over his body came back with clarity. The images that played out in her memory, like a movie, had her hesitating before she cleared her mind and began to pick her daughter up.
****
Somehow, fifteen minutes turned into two hours, and the next thing Jace saw was Ava standing over him attempting to pry her sleeping daughter from the crevice between him and the couch. He relished the sight of her
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