Jarod's Heart (King Brothers Stories #2) (8 page)

Jessica’s blue eyes met Jarod’s and studied his face while Jarod studied hers.

In a voice almost too quiet to hear, she whispered, “Ah-right.”

She gave the book back to the woman, to whom Jarod had not been introduced, and hopped off the bench. She turned to the miniature backpack that was on the bench and put it on her back like a pro. Then she picked up the dirtiest blue blanket that Jarod had ever seen and clung to it for dear life. She turned and looked up at Jarod expectantly.

It was clear that his little girl had been passed around from person to person since her birth, and that this was not her first rodeo when it came to being dumped with someone new. He wondered if she even knew what it meant that he was her father.

He wanted to break things.

He wanted to howl at the moon and then kill his ex-wife all over again.

J
essica was quiet on the ride home. In fact, she hadn’t said much at all since they’d left the station.

She was safely ensconced in a state-appointed car seat in the back of the cruiser, the well-worn blue blanket clutched tightly in her small fists. He could see her in the review mirror as she gazed out the window at the passing landscape.

Her temporary caregivers had dressed her in skinny jeans with pink sparkles on the pockets that were too big for her small body; the legs were rolled up at the ankles, showing off her pink sneakers. He could see a white collar under her pink zip-up hoodie, which was also too big for her, and the cuffs were rolled up, thick and bulky, at her wrists. Her dark hair had been divided into two long braids with neon-colored hair ties on the ends. The child-sized backpack lay next to her on the back seat. The dirty blanket and the backpack were her only possessions.

Her shiny, dark hair, the same color as Miranda’s, set off her deep-blue eyes, which were the same eyes he saw every morning staring back at him in the bathroom mirror, or when he looked at his own father.

He focused again on the road, trying not to let the anger set in, when he heard a small sniffle from behind him. He met her gaze in the rearview mirror. She stared back at him with a tear trailing down her rosy cheek and a quiver in her bottom lip.

“Am I ’rested?” she whispered.

Jarod swallowed the lump in his throat. “No, Darlin’. Why would you think that?”

She wiped her nose on the dirty blanket and whispered back, “Mommy and Big Mike hadda ride in the back seat of the policeman’s car when they got ’rested.”

Jarod ground his teeth together in an effort to keep his anger at bay. He didn’t want to frighten her. He could only guess at all the horrible things this sweet little girl,
his child
, had seen in her short life.

He took a deep, calming breath through his nose. “Who’s Big Mike?” he asked, to distract them both from the circumstances. Of course, she was referring to Michael Trapp, the bastard who had dealt meth to Miranda and killed her in his car.

“He’s mommy’s slumber party friend,” she explained quietly.

Jarod closed his eyes for a moment. This kept getting better and better. He was afraid to ask her more, but he had to know. “Did your mom have a lot…” He hesitated a moment by clearing his throat, “…of slumber parties?”

She nodded the affirmative, her eyes round as saucers and very serious. “Uh huh.”

“Where were you when mommy had her parties?” He tried his damnedest to keep the wretched anger from seeping into his voice. Unfortunately, the last word came out as a growl, and her tiny shoulders hunched up to her ears anyway.

“In my secret house with Teddy.” Another tear rolled down her pretty face. “Teddy couldn’t come with me.” She squeezed her blanket even tighter.

Jarod’s heart ached at the thought of his own flesh and blood being taken away from the only home she knew, even if it was most likely a living hell. It made him even madder that she mourned the loss of her “teddy” and that the clothes on her back weren’t even hers. All she had was the dirty blue blanket that she clung to for dear life. She’d come to him with nothing, and it was killing him.

At a loss for words, he concentrated on the road and getting them safely home to his family. When he pulled into the driveway, he squirmed a bit at seeing Lauren’s car, which was parked in what was slowly becoming her normal parking space. She’d been spending quite a bit of time at the estate lately, working with his mother and Julie on the wedding.

His mother, Camille, had set Lauren up with her own room, so she didn’t have to drive home late when they got carried away in the craft room (better known to him and his brothers as the Room of Doom), where his mother ran her business. It was Camille’s way of appeasing her own guilt at monopolizing so much of Lauren’s time, and, if he was being honest with himself, he was glad she wasn’t driving home alone late on those nights as well.

He parked in his normal spot between the barn and the main house and shut off the engine. He heard an intake of breath from the back seat, a small, excited gasp before he heard Jessica’s small voice exclaim, “Horsies!”

He grinned when he opened the door to unbuckle her from her car seat and helped her out of the cruiser.

“Do you like horses?” he asked as he set her tiny feet on the ground. This was the first time that she seemed a little happy, and it changed her entire sweet face.

“Yes,” she said seriously.

“Well, after we get you settled in, maybe we can go out to the barn and visit them. What do you say?”

She looked up at him with those big blue eyes and a sweet smile on her delicate face. “Yes please!” she said and did a little hop.

He laughed and took her hand in his. His heart swelled in his chest when her tiny fingers tried to grip onto his large hand as they walked to the mud room. He had to keep his stride small so that her short legs could keep up with his pace.

Though he had grown up here, he still referred to the estate as his parents’ home. The main house was massive. The mud/utility room had more square footage than some living rooms he’d seen and contained more than just a washer and dryer. There were a variety of items, including a vacuum, a broom, an iron, and an ironing board. There were cubbies for shoes, and hooks for coats, and benches to sit on to remove dirty footwear, either from chores or play. There was a large washbasin and cupboards with a myriad of household items.

This room led into the “small” family dining room and kitchen. The house had two, the other being commercial sized. Jarod’s father had constructed it so that his mom could entertain properly for business and social events.

Laughter could be heard in the next room as they approached the doorway. Jessica stopped in her tracks and clutched her blanket to her chest. Gone was her happy smile, replaced with the same wary expression she’d worn since she’d arrived at the station.

He knelt down on one knee in front of her. “It’s okay, Darlin’.”

“I don’t like slumber parties.” She was shaking her head at him, her eyes huge and luminous.

“This isn’t a slumber party, Jessica. This is my family. And guess what? This is your family, too,” he said softly.

“Mommy said family don’t like me.”

He saw red and he growled, “Mommy was wrong.”

“How d’ya know?” she whispered.

He touched her chin, rubbing his thumb across her baby-soft skin. He waited for her to meet his eyes. “Because I’m your family now, and I like you very much.”

She smiled and he scooped her up in his arms. She was feather-light and was almost swallowed up by his big body. She held tight to that blanket as he strode through the doorway and into the dining room.

Everyone stopped and stared when they saw what he held in his arms. His mother recovered first.

“Who do you have there, Jarod?” she asked as she approached them with a big smile on her face.

Jessica tensed up in his arms. He rubbed her back in a circular motion to offer comfort. She was so small that his big hand spanned her entire body.

His mother still wore a smile, but now a puzzled crinkle formed on her brow.

He cleared his throat, feeling nervous all of a sudden.

“This is Jessica Rose King. She’s my daughter.”

Jarod watched their different reactions to the stunning news. Josh’s jaw hung open on its hinges, Lauren gasped, his father’s eyebrows were stuck in his hairline, and his poor mother covered her mouth with her hand. Slowly, their shocked expressions morphed into watery smiles.

Jessica sniffled again and her lip began to quiver once more. That’s when his mother remembered herself and slowly approached them, with tears in her emerald green eyes and a tender smile on her face.

“Hello, Jessica. I am your grandmother,” she said, her voice cracking on the last word.

Jessica, still wary, whispered, “’Lo.”

“Would you like something to eat?” As always, his mom’s go-to plan in times of great emotion, whether it be happiness, stress, or shock, was always food.

Jessica shook her head and leaned closer to Jarod’s shoulder.

“We’ve had a lot of surprises today, but Jessica said she’d like to see the horses after she gets settled in, isn’t that right, Darlin’?”

“Uh huh,” she answered quietly, in her sweet little girl voice.

“Well, Jarod, why don’t you take a seat at the table, and I’ll bring your plate and a little something for this angel you’ve brought home to me.” His mother smiled and went to the kitchen. She had her back to them, but her irregular breathing was a dead giveaway that she was crying.

He completely understood how she felt.

Lauren pulled out the chair next to her for them to sit down. She was grinning from ear to ear, her surprised blue eyes shining in welcome invitation.

“Hello, Jessie. My name is Lauren, and I work with your daddy.” She held out her hand to the little girl, as if she were an adult. He kind of liked her easy way with his daughter.

To Jarod’s surprise, Jessica slowly let go of her blanket with one small hand and let Lauren shake it. He took in a relieved breath, meeting Lauren’s gaze with gratefulness. Something passed between them that he wouldn’t name, but it was a good sort of something that made him want to hug her for all she was worth.

His father sat in stunned silence, watching Jessica’s every move as if she were some kind of mythical creature. Used to boys, James didn’t know what to do with a little girl, Jarod was sure. God knew that he didn’t have a clue himself.

Josh kept looking from one face to another with a big, stupid grin on his face. Finally, he chuckled, which startled Jessica. Jarod frowned at his baby brother, but Josh ignored him as usual and took one of Jessica’s tiny hands into his own. “I guess that makes me your Uncle Josh.”

Josh, ever the ladies’ man, had an infectious smile to which even frightened little girls weren’t immune.

Jessica smiled back. “’Lo, Hunkle Josh.”

“After dinner, I’ll show you the horses with your daddy, okay?”

“’Kay,” she whispered, revealing one small dimple in her rosy cheek, which eased Jarod’s tension a bit.

His mother placed a warmed plate of food in front of him, along with a small matching plate that contained some macaroni and cheese and some apple slices. She smoothed her hand down one of Jessica’s long, dark braids, unable to stop herself from touching the little girl. Jarod understood his mother’s need to touch. Now that Jessica was allowing him to hold her, he was having trouble letting go; he wasn’t sure whether she was real or not. He was perfectly happy with her sitting in his lap while they ate. She seemed perfectly happy being there anyway.

James finally spoke up. “Well, young lady, I guess that makes me your grandpa, but you can call me Papa if you’d like. That’s what I called my grandfather when I was your age.” He smiled, and everyone at the table ignored the tears that clung to his lashes.

Jessica smiled back at her papa, but her attention was on the small plate in front of her. She wouldn’t let go of her blanket, though, and Jarod was concerned that she was still afraid.

Before he could come up with a solution, Lauren picked up an apple slice and handed it to Jessica. She took it with a smile. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Jarod leaned into her ear and asked, “Have you eaten anything today, Darlin’?”