Razing Kayne (25 page)

“I'm right here.” Luann smiled at Kayne and Jess. “These little girls burrowed in
with us last night.” Luann looked down at Grace, whom she held on one hip.

“Oh, Grace.” Jess sighed.

“I scared of monster,” Grace said.
“Wanted Kayne.”
Grace reached out, and Kayne willingly took her into his arms.

“But she settled for us,” Luann said, completing the transfer.

Jess knew there had been a lot of turmoil because of the custody battle, but it didn't
explain why her children were suddenly seeing shadows. When she
glanced
Kayne's direction, his thoughts were easily readable. It worried him too.

TWENTY-SIX

The following Monday, Kayne, Isabelle, and Gracie headed to Phoenix on a top-secret
mission. Over the past week, Kayne had managed to compile five of the kids’ favorite
bedtime stories with their unwitting help. Maddy had been the one to provide the fifth
story. She’d inadvertently mentioned that Jess had a favorite too—one that she rarely
told the children because it made her sad. When asked, Maddy explained that the story
told of a tiny caterpillar that never became a butterfly. As Maddy shared the story,
he realized it had been written for Amy, the child Jess had miscarried. Kayne had
debated long and hard about including it, but knew in his heart the book would be
incomplete without it.

After some extensive research, he’d located a reputable company that would take the
stories and pair them with illustrations Kayne provided to produce a full color hardbound
anthology. The editor working on it had emailed him a tentative layout and a list
of suggestions for the illustration’s themes. With list in hand, they were headed
to a high-quality art supply store.

Kayne had been drawing since he was a small child, had even made money selling some
of his art, but he wanted the majority of the artwork to come from the children at
Darcy's Kids. He wanted each child to draw and color a picture that would be included
as a page in the book. Kayne would then provide some key illustrations for the cover
and the title page for each of the five stories. He already had four of the drawings;
he just needed to complete the last one, which would probably prove to be the most
difficult. Kayne picked up the needed supplies, bought the
girls
lunch, and headed back to Payson, arriving right on time to pick up Maddy, Ash, and
Tiffany from school.

With the help of several volunteers, they’d managed to get every one of the kids to
complete a piece to be included.

Darcy stopped next to him. “What an incredible idea, Kayne.” He’d never met anyone
so genuinely happy and bubbly and energetic. Not even Jess. “And to include all the
kids in this is ...thank you. Jess is going to be thrilled.”

Kayne sure hoped so. He carefully laid special sheets of paper between each of the
drawings and placed them in a rigid, waterproof envelope. Tomorrow, the package would
be couriered to the printer.

***

“Mama, we're home,” Kayne called, late that afternoon, trying to wipe the Cheshire
Cat
grin off his face as he stepped into the kitchen, following the scent of whatever
Jess was making for dinner.

She turned to him, a look of worry on her face. “Where have you been?”

“I had some things to do, so I took the little girls along with me. Is everything
okay, here?”

“You've been gone all day,” she mumbled, turning back towards the stove.

“I'm sorry, if I made you worry.” He stepped in behind her and wrapped his arms around
her, resting his chin on her shoulder. He got the impression it was about more than
their being gone all day. “I wish you'd called.”

He felt her release a heavy sigh. “I didn't want to interrupt whatever you were doing.”

“Jess, you can call me whenever you feel like it. I have nothing to hide.” Okay, so
a little white lie, but surprises didn't count. “If I don't answer, like if I'm on
duty, I'll call you back as soon as I can. If it's urgent, just keep trying, okay?”

Jess nodded. She lifted a lid and stirred something that looked and smelled suspiciously
like chili. “We received a bunch of hang up calls on the home phone this morning.”

“How many is a bunch?”

“A dozen or so.”
She shrugged.
“All out of area or unavailable on caller ID.”

“That's a little too many to be a wrong number or a telemarketer. They didn't say
anything?”

She shook her head, causing her hair to tickle his nose. “No, just dead air for a
moment, then
a disconnect
.”

Kayne scooped it out of the way and nuzzled her neck. “You should have called me.”

“I didn't want to invade your privacy.”

Kayne didn’t manage to bite back the sigh. “I'm not him,” he said.

Jess flinched.

He wrapped her tighter, all but enveloping her with his body. “I hear what you don't
say, baby. I see how you avoid my phone if it rings, even when it's right next to
you. I don't mind you telling any woman who would call that I'm taken, not that I
think there are any who’d care.”

Kayne leaned down, intending for a gentle kiss, but, God, her lips were incredible—lush
and sweet from whatever she'd been cooking—cinnamon rolls, or maybe her baked apples.
Either way, it was as much of an incentive as the woman herself to go back for another
kiss, and another, until he finally asked, “Can we sneak away for a bit?”

“Kayne!”
She laughed and shoved half-heartedly at his chest. “You have a one-track mind.”

When it came to
her, that
was pretty much the truth. He sighed dramatically. “Okay, fine, I can wait till later.
Maybe.”

She laughed.

He gave her a mock scowl. “You wouldn't find it funny if you had zipper tracks permanently
pressed into your dick.”

“If I had a
dick
to get zipper marks in, you wouldn't be trying to get into my pants.” She giggled.

God almighty, he loved it when she laughed. And that dimple did him in. He swooped
in and kissed it, flicking his tongue into the indention, and she laughed harder,
making him smile.

He brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “You are so incredibly beautiful,”
he whispered.

“Nice try. You're still not getting any before the kids go to bed.” She nibbled that
bottom lip.

He hadn't meant it as a come on, but he knew when to retreat, and he could tell Jess
was feeling pressured, something he never wanted between them. He lifted the pot lid
and took a whiff. “So what's for dinner?”

Jess
tsked
. “And here I thought you were different,” she said in mock disapproval.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm just like every other man, lusting after great food
and better sex.” He let his eyes roam down her body to make it clear it was sex with
her he was thinking about and took delight in watching a rosy blush wash across her
cheeks.

“Last time I checked, lust was a sin,” a familiar masculine voice said out of nowhere.

Kayne glanced up to see Cody standing in the archway, barely managing to conceal his
hatred. How the hell had he gotten into the house unannounced? It was clear from Jess's
reaction she hadn't known he was here either.

“Only when you're lusting after someone else's wife.”
Kayne wrapped a possessive arm around Jess
.
“When it's your own, it's a privilege bundled in with the marriage vows.”

Jess patted Kayne’s hand. “Cody, what are you doing here?”

“Stopped in to pick up Tiffany for my mom.
Apparently, Kayne took her over to Darcy's with your kids today. Didn't he tell you?”

Kayne shot Cody a warning glare. Darcy had come up with some story to keep Jess away
and dissuade her from trying to plan the Mother's Day Brunch. The only thing the kids
knew was that they were drawing pictures for a book, but he didn't even want Jess
to know that much. Of course, Cody ignored him, rat-bastard-belligerent-hose-monkey
that he was.

Jess looked up at Kayne questioningly. “Why'd you take the kids to Darcy's?”

“To work on a project for Mother's day.”
Anything but the truth would come back to bite him.

“Thank you.” Jess stretched up to brush her lips across Kayne's, and he bent to meet
her halfway.

Kayne had a feeling Cody wasn't done trying to stir the pot, and sure enough, a moment
later he said, “Who was the leggy brunette, there with you? Man she was swimsuit model
hot with those big breasts and mile long legs.
Kinda reminded me of your wife.”
Kayne felt Jess tense in his arms. The ones he'd purposefully kept around her, perhaps
a little too possessively.

He was tempted to play stupid, but opted for the truth. “I can only assume you're
referring to one of the volunteers, though none of them looked like Jessica.”

“I meant the dead one,” Cody snapped.

“I didn’t realize you knew my late wife,” Kayne challenged.

Something unidentifiable crossed Cody’s face, but it was quickly masked. “I don’t
recall saying I had. You showed us a picture of her. It’s clear she had a model’s
body, just like the chick today.”

Kayne released an exasperated sighed. “I don’t even know her name. I had no interest
in finding out.”

“She sure seemed interested in you,” Cody said.

“Hello, have you looked at my husband? She'd have to be dead not to appreciate this.”
Jess patted his chest appreciatively. .

“Baby, you don't have to defend me. You'll note he didn't say I was into her, just
the opposite.” He wanted Jess to realize that she was it for him. He was all-in on
making this relationship permanent. He wanted her to realize that and wanted the same
thing from her in return.

Whatever happened to the good old days of note passing?
Do you like me? Circle yes or no.
Why was love so complicated?

TWENTY-SEVEN

Mother's day dawned bright and shiny and full of hope. Jess couldn't help but appreciate
it all the more—for the simple fact that Gracie was still in her life. Moreover, Kayne
had been very thoughtful by helping the kids make and serve her breakfast in bed,
something that had never happened before, not even when Jarred had been alive. Kayne
had then proceeded to keep the kids entertained and, eventually, get them ready for
church, giving Jess plenty of time to pamper herself with the new bath set full of
wonderful, expensive, salts, beads, oils, and other incredible lotions and potions
that the children had gifted her.

As she sat in church next to Kayne, his arm wrapped possessively around her shoulder,
she had to fight back tears of happiness. The past week had been near perfect. Kayne
was as attentive as a father and husband as he was a lover, and sometimes, in the
depths of the night, after hours of lovemaking, when she was wrapped snugly in his
arms, she would swear the steady cadence of his heart sounding in her ear spoke of
forever with each passing beat. Today, sitting next to him, with him, watching their
children sing the various songs of the Mother's Day program, she heard it again.
Their children?
Yes, somehow that sounded right. Somewhere along the way they had all become his
too. She prayed he didn't break their hearts.

When they arrived at Darcy's Kids, the parking lot was nearly full. All the families
that hadn’t attended church were already there, along with those who'd left right
away. Jess had been reluctant to come, but Kayne had insisted. Jess knew she shouldn't
allow her feelings to be hurt, but she truly didn't understand why Darcy hadn't allowed
her to plan the brunch. She couldn't help but wonder if she'd done something to offend
her, but all Darcy would say was that someone else had volunteered to handle it, so
Jess would have the opportunity to sit back and enjoy it.

Jess was more than a little surprised when she walked in. Obviously Darcy had somehow
managed to have the event professionally catered. There were tables of buffet-style
food, and Joe Sutton stood manning the grill. Truth be told, if Jess didn't know better,
it looked exactly like something she would have planned.

Darcy stepped up onto a makeshift stage. “Everyone, I'd like your attention, please.
I'd like to take a moment and thank the person that made all of this possible. Normally,
our dear Jess coordinates this event and so many others throughout the year. I have
to admit, I was a little surprised when someone else stepped forward and insisted
they be allowed to plan this year's Mother's Day brunch. I think, looking around;
everyone will agree they did a superb job. Jess just may have some future competition.
I guess she's lucky she married the guy
.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Kayne Dobrescu.
Kayne, if you'd like to come forward, I know you have a quick presentation you'd
like to make before we get started on this wonderful food.”

Jess could do little more than stare dumbfounded as Kayne stepped forward, giving
her a sheepish smile, not quite able to look her in the eyes. “I cannot take sole
credit. I have discovered, the hard way, that what Jess could accomplish single-handedly,
required me and a small army. I'd like to thank some people who've become pretty special
friends to me over the past few weeks: Del St. Phillips, Joe Sutton, and Trace St.
Moritz. I also need to thank Ms. Tiffany Johnson…
and
last, but certainly not least, the smartest, sweetest, most loving little girl a
father could have. She has definitely lived up to the meaning of her name: Magnificent.
Thank you, Madalina. Without your help none of this would have been possible.”

Jess turned to Maddy, whose cheeks were stained bright red. “You did all of this?”

“Shh...
listen
.” Maddy pointed toward Kayne.

Kayne blew out a heavy breath. “You have no idea how difficult it is to find the perfect
gift for someone like Jess, especially on Mother's Day. She is her children's North
Star. She leads them with love and patience. She doesn’t force conformity on them,
but encourages them to be independent, creative, inspired beings. Jess's love for
them shows in everything she does, a love so strong that even the everyday bedtime
story wasn't good enough. But Jess's love doesn't stop with just her own children.
It extends to the ones here at Darcy's Kids and in her volunteer work within the children's
classrooms at school.”

Kayne fiddled with his tie. “How, might you ask, does one keep up with someone like
Jess? The truth is they don't.” Kayne gave a self-deprecating grin. “I have a phone
app that sends me her schedule and updates me as it changes. Let me tell you, it changes
a lot. But with all she does, her children always come first.”

He walked over to a stack of boxes sitting on a chair and pulled a book out before
turning back to the crowd. “So, for the best Mama I've ever known...I present to her,
her very own published book of bedtime stories.” He held the book up for everyone
to see.

Kayne turned to her and stretched out his hand in a gesture for her to step forward
and take it. “Jessica.”

Jess couldn't move. “You did this?
For me?”
For a guy who claimed he wasn't any good at words, he'd just floored her.
Her bedtime stories?
In a book
?
She didn't even try and wipe away the tears that streamed down her face.

“See for yourself.” He closed the distance to stand
beside
her holding out the book for her to take.

Kayne addressed the room. “There are five very special stories in here along with
illustrations done by our very own children here at Darcy's Kids.”

Her hands trembling violently, Jess reached out and took the beautiful hardcover book.
She traced her hand across the title and her name. Slowly, she opened it and began
turning pages. She tried to read the dedication page, but, unable to see through her
tears, stopped, closed the book, and wrapped her arms tightly around Kayne, who enfolded
her in his.

Kayne leaned in and spoke softly. “May I read it out loud?”

Jess could only nod.

“There are two dedications. The first is Jessica’s. To my precious children, Madalina,
Ashur, Isabelle, and Grace, No mother could love her children more than I love you.
Each of you is truly a gift from God that I cherish more than anything else in this
world.
And to Amy Sarah, my Beloved Princess.
I only held you once, but you live on forever in my heart. Even you have a story.”

Kayne paused and
bussed
her temple before continuing. “The second dedication is from Darcy’s kids. I may
call you Mom, Grandma, Aunt, or some other name, the title doesn’t matter to my heart.
It only knows that it loves you.
Happy Mother’s Day.”

Jess couldn’t fathom how he'd accomplished this. Not only had he included all the
children here at Darcy’s Kids, he’d included Amy in the dedication, expressing everything
that she would have wanted to say, had she done so herself.

Jess turned at the sound of Darcy’s voice. “What an incredible Mother’s Day tribute.
Kayne, thank you.
Now, if the children will please form a line, I’ll start passing out books.”

“It's almost perfect,” Jess managed to whisper.

***

Kayne tensed, wondering where he’d gone wrong.
“Almost?”

She looked at him, those whiskey-colored eyes shimmering with tears. “My last name
is Dobrescu, not Hallstatt,” she said firmly.

God he loved her. Did she realize that? Did she have the slightest clue of the power
she held over him
?
He slowly lowered his head and kissed her. The thought exhilarated as much as it terrified
him. He swore he'd never allow this to happen again, and yet it had struck him like
a sniper’s bullet to the chest; he'd never seen it coming. And with Jess it was so
much more deadly, because he not only loved her, he was in-love with her, which left
him without any Kevlar protection.

It wasn't until the cat calls started that he realized he'd let the kiss and his emotions
get out of hand. He ripped his lips from hers and tucked her into his heaving chest.

A movement caught Kayne's eye, and he looked up to see a stranger holding Grace, and
she was crying. Kayne recognized the man from the first day he'd visited Darcy's Kids.
He couldn't explain it, but his survival instincts were screaming that something was
seriously wrong.

“Sit down, look at your book. I'll be right back,” Kayne said to Jess, never taking
his eyes off the stranger. Perhaps it was nothing, but he headed toward the exit to
intercept, in case the guy headed that way. The man hadn't moved far by the time Kayne
reached him, and he was speaking to Grace, his words too low for Kayne to hear.

“Hey, sweetheart, what happened?” Kayne stepped right into the guy’s path and pulled
Gracie out of the stranger’s arms.

“I think she fell. I couldn't understand her and didn't know who she belonged to.”
The guy all but vibrated nervous energy that he was trying desperately to hide. He
glanced once over Kayne's shoulder, and Kayne couldn't help but think he was judging
the distance to the exit.

“Thanks, I'm her father. I got it from here,” Kayne said firmly, looking the man square
in the eye. “I take it you have family here?”

“Yeah, right over there.” He pointed the buffet tables.

“Then why don't you go be with them and stay away from my children.”

The guy held up his hands in surrender. “Look, I didn't do anything—” 

“Stay away from my children,” Kayne reiterated.

Kayne watched as the man walked up to a lady in line and started speaking with her.
Perhaps he'd overreacted, but he'd rather make a fool of himself a dozen times over
than allow something to happen to any of his kids ever again.

Kayne made Gracie a plate and set her next to Maddy. “Sweet-pea, don’t let Gracie
out of your sight.”

“Okay, Papa.” Maddy smiled up at him tentatively.

Papa?
Oh, boy! Kayne was surprised to find that hearing that word again didn’t hurt as
badly as he’d expected
.
He gave Maddy a reassuring smile and a wink
.
He could do this.

***

Jess had wanted to protest when Kayne offered to go get her food, but she hadn't been
able to resist looking through the book, so she’d nodded in agreement. The title page
of the first story had a beautiful full color drawing of Maddy kneeling at her window,
staring up at the North Star. But there was no artist's signature from what she could
see. She continued turning pages, looking at each of the children's drawings and the
names signed in the artwork.

The next title page showed Ashur dangling precariously off the edge of the bed with
a Transformer in his hand. Then Isabelle dancing on her bed with Teddy, her white
nightgown billowing out around her, and then Gracie balled up in Jess's arms, her
head against her shoulder,
her
hand over Jess's heart as she rocked Grace to sleep.

“Here you go.” Kayne placed the plate and a drink in front of her.

Jess grabbed his hand to keep him from leaving, and he sat down, straddling the bench
behind her. He took her in his arms, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“How did...who did these drawings?” She pointed to the one of her holding Gracie.
She knew no one had ever taken a picture of her rocking their daughter.

His hold loosened by a fraction. “You don't like them?” He sounded uncertain.
Disappointed.

“I love them, they're beautiful.” She flipped through to the last story. When she
saw the page she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She opted for both.

“How?”

Jess felt him shrug. “I found the albums with baby pictures of you and Jarred and
used those as a reference.”

A beautiful, curly-haired angel with Jess's eyes and stubborn chin, and sporting Jarred's
mischievous smile sat atop the headboard watching over Jess as she slept. Amy’s beautiful
face was smudged with dirt, the hem of her gown torn, her halo askance, and her wings
were more pixie-like than angelic. She was absolutely perfect.

Jess looked at him over her shoulder. “
You
drew these?”

“Yeah.”
He shrugged as if it were no big deal.

How sad that she hadn't know he could draw, much less do something as incredible as
this.

“I don't know what to say,” Jess admitted. She'd always wondered what Amy would have
looked like, and now, looking at this drawing, seeing so much of Jarred and herself
looking back, she knew in her heart this was it
.
Kayne had made her real.

“That you're not mad?” he asked quietly.

“Mad at you?
Over all this?”
Jess pulled her gaze away from the book to Kayne's vulnerable eyes. Mad was the furthest
thing from her mind. “This is...” She paused to trace her hand over Amy's image. “No
one has ever done anything like this for me.
No one
.
Ever,
” Jess admitted, tears welling in her eyes all over again. “This is...I have no words.”
And she didn't, at least not ones she could say aloud, so she simply kissed him and
hoped he'd understand.