Wrecked (Stories of Serendipity #8): #8 (22 page)

Renae came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron as her family filed in. Alyssa’s children, Sierra and Cayden ran to the Christmas tree with a chorus of squeals and began shaking presents, making piles of whose belonged to whom. Dalton was carrying his toddler son, Milo, who was leaning against his dad’s shoulder, shucking on his middle two fingers.

“Children, stay out of there until after dinner.” Her mother admonished sternly.

“They’re fine as long as they don’t start opening them.” Renae corrected, gently, as she took Milo from Dalton. Her mother made a face like she’d sucked on a lemon and Renae stifled a sigh. She couldn’t get frustrated this early in the game. She still had lots of criticisms to get through before the night was over. She passed Jason getting the casserole out of the oven, and he was humming the Carpenter’s
We’ve Only Just Begun
under his breath. She smiled to herself. At least someone had a sense of humor.

Alyssa came up to her and gave her a big squeeze as Renae was taking off her apron. “You look fabulous in that dress, Renae. I love it.” Lowering her voice, she asked, “How are things? You don’t look like you’re sleeping any better.”

Renae shrugged. “Things are okay, I guess.” Turning, she saw Jason was putting food on the table. “He’s making me crazy with all this taking care of the baby stuff.”

“Dalton’s been insane about it too. I think that’s just a man thing.”

“Yeah, well, at least you have a relationship with Dalton.” The words made her sound like a petty, jealous woman, which she wasn’t. If Jason didn’t want a relationship with her, she didn’t want one either. She wasn’t going to pine after a man just because he’d fathered her child. She’d wasted too many years of her life doing that already. She wasn’t about to start over now and do it again.

“Renae? What did you put in the Brussel Sprouts? I don’t smell the bacon.” Dalton was behind his mother, strapping Milo into the highchair, making a comical face at his mother’s back as she questioned Renae’s cooking abilities. She wondered what jabs she made about Dalton’s parenting skills on the way over.

“No, I used brown sugar and went for a sweet tart thing with the cranberries. I thought it might be healthier than bacon.”

“Hmph.” Her mother’s expression said she didn’t agree.

When they were all seated at the table and the dishes full of food were arranged, Mary finally smiled. “Now, this is nice. All of us together as a family. Cayden, will you lead the prayer, please?”

While Cayden blessed the food, Renae’s mind wandered to her mother’s words. Family. Jason was here, and earlier he’d claimed her family as his. Was she missing something? Was this the family of the twenty-first century? Unmarried fathers of the children at the table? Fathers who didn’t have anything to do with the mother besides one night of reckless bliss?

When Cayden said amen, she looked up to see everyone passing bowls and plates of food around, everyone except Jason, who was staring at her, an inscrutable expression on his face. When Sierra nudged him with the gravy boat, he snapped to attention and started filling his own plate.

“When does everybody find out what they’re having?” Kelly asked animatedly.

“We’re having babies, Kelly.” Alyssa answered, her mouth turned up wryly.

“Not for another month or two, hon. Sorry.”

“As long as it’s healthy. That’s all I’m praying for.” Mary interjected. “I worry about the older mothers. Women aren’t made to give birth this late in life.”

“Obviously, they are, or else we wouldn’t have two pregnant women at the table right now,” Jason provided.

“Well, it certainly was easier when I was younger,” Renae pointed out, reaching for the rolls.

“How so?” His fork froze over his food as he questioned her.

“My back didn’t hurt nearly as badly.”

“Your back is hurting? Why haven’t you said anything?”

“Oh, it looks like you’ve got a masseuse living with you now. Lucky dog,” Alyssa pointed out with a smile. Renae blushed. This was a family dinner, and suddenly her thoughts were anything but familial.

“Hey! I can be a masseuse!” Dalton said. “I’d love to get my hands on your body.” Apparently, she wasn’t the only one entertaining lusty thoughts.

“Awk-ward…” Kelly sing-songed.

Mary cleared her throat, demanding everyone’s attention and skillfully changed the topic of conversation. “Jason, where is Joe staying when he gets out of the hospital?”

Jason shrugged. “I’m not sure. My brother and I have been looking for a bigger place so I can stay with him. We haven’t had the best luck with caretakers for him, and he needs 24 hour supervision, or he will in the near future.”

Renae felt a surge of guilt mixed with trepidation, as she listened to him talk about his problems with his father. “I didn’t realize that.” Regret slammed into her at the realization he wasn’t staying throughout the pregnancy. She’d known he wasn’t, but it hadn’t clicked that his time in her home was soon coming to an end. That was good, wasn’t it?

After sending a knowing glance Renae’s way, which she couldn’t even begin to decipher, Mary smiled warmly at Jason. “I happen to have a vacant house and a soft spot for Joe. I’ll let you and him rent it for whatever you’re paying for his little apartment. Dalton is leasing the property for cattle right now, so the pastures and acreage don’t come with it, but the house is solid. Just needs painting.”

Milo squealed in delight at something he’d just put into his mouth, subverting everyone’s attention his way, but Renae kept her eyes on Jason, watching his reaction.

Eyes wide with wonder, he animatedly replied. “That would be awesome, Mrs. Colt. I’d really appreciate it. Thank you!”

“It’s big enough, if you needed it, for a nursery, and a guest room. It has four bedrooms, and the clubhouse the kids and their father built is still in the back. It’s the home Renae grew up in, you know.” Renae wasn’t sure what was going on in Mary’s mind, but there were definitely machinations behind her shrewd eyes.

“Well, I definitely appreciate that.” Jason took another bite, suddenly quiet.

Renae had mixed emotions about Mary offering Jason their house. On the one hand, it was sitting vacant, rotting with disuse, and Jason did need a place to put Joe when he was out of the hospital. On the other hand, offering up the homestead to him just seemed… intimate… for some reason. And bringing up a room for a nursery? What was that all about? Of course, he would probably need one if he was staying to be a part of the baby’s upbringing. But Renae hadn’t even thought about visitation rights. Would he want full custodial rights? Panic seized her insides at the thought. She didn’t think he would go that far, but he had been so angry.

The dinner passed by with animated conversation. Mary only criticized her food the one time but seemed appeased after she’d tasted everything. When they’d had dessert and the kids were crawling out of their skin, everybody migrated to the living room. Renae still had a feeling of uneasiness about the whole house conversation and the idea of losing custody of the baby that had planted itself in her mind. Jason, seeming oblivious, offered to make coffee for everybody and disappeared into the kitchen to brew some, returning a short time later with a tray full of cups.

Eyebrows raised, he joked, “What? You guys aren’t done yet?”

Mary sat back, tucking her skirt under her legs. “We waited for you.”

Surprise shone on his face, “You didn’t have to. I’m just decoration. You go ahead and have your family time. I’ll be doing refills and stuff.” He made a shooing gesture with his fingers. “Go ahead. Start opening.”

Cayden called out. “But you have presents!” He pointed to a small pile next to him.

Jason looked at Renae, dumfounded, and she shrugged and looked at Dalton, who winked at both of them while struggling to hold Milo in his lap.

“‘Tis the season.” He drawled. Renae had noticed since he’d moved back from Dallas a couple of years before, he’d acclimated to the slower lifestyle of Serendipity with ease. Taking over Dad’s cattle business after he’d died had done something to him.

Jason looked at Renae. “What’s the system? How do we do this?”

“We unwrap at our own pace, watching the kids tear through theirs and play.”

“Okay.”

The kids had already started ripping through paper, yelling thanks, and moving on to the next package. Renae was surprised to hear a ‘Thanks, Jason!’ after Cayden opened up a small Hot Wheels race track, then another ‘Thanks, Jason!’ after Sierra opened up a bracelet making kit. She looked over at him again and noticed him watching the kids with a funny smile on his face. She made note of the warmth that rushed through her at the sight of him. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad?

“Thanks, Jason!” Kelly exclaimed after opening a card with a gift card for a boutique in town. “I love that store!” She got up to walk over and hug him. “You’re the best!”

“Did you get everybody something?” Renae asked him.

He shrugged. “I’m hoping I didn’t miss anyone.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Of course I didn’t, but I did.”

He’d gotten her mother a scarf, hat and glove set in ruby red wool. He’d gotten Dalton a bottle of good whiskey. And he got Alyssa and Renae both a gift set of decaffeinated herbal teas.

“Are you going to open yours?” Alyssa asked Jason.

“Okay.” He began opening the small stack of gifts, exclaiming after each one was unveiled. Dalton had also bought him a bottle of good whiskey, and Alyssa had gotten him a gift card to the music store downtown.

Milo had gotten fussy, so Renae took him to lie in her bed and hopefully sleep while everyone finished opening presents. She returned to a living room of chaos where the kids had thrown paper everywhere.

Grabbing the picture books Mary had given them, they started trolling for laps to sit in. Dalton took Cayden, leaving Sierra wandering around, looking hopefully for an adult to read to her. Jason uncrossed his legs and patted a knee, sending her towards him at a trot. Renae watched with a bubbly feeling as he opened the book and began reading to her. The bubbly feeling dissipated quickly when she realized what he was doing.

He was turning her family against her. Until now, she hadn’t thought of this as a ‘me against him’ sort of battle, but that’s what it looked like now. When he became a dictator again, she wouldn’t be able to confide in a single person in this room without them telling her he was only looking out for her well-being.

Alyssa let out a huge yawn, shocking Mary into wakefulness.

“It’s time for us to go. We still have to get Mom back to the center.” Dalton managed agreeably.

Alyssa started the hugging round of goodbyes. “Dinner was amazing. You outdid yourself.”

“Yeah, I think even Mom liked it.” Dalton agreed before turning to Jason with a hand outstretched. “Welcome to the family, man. Take care of my sister, will ya? I really don’t like ass-kicking, but I’m game if you make me.”

Renae managed to roll her eyes without getting caught, but Daltons’ words only justified her previous feelings, even though he held his hands up in innocence. “Hey, I’m just here looking out for the baby.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Dalton echoed Renae’s thoughts, but where Renae was thinking that Jason was full of shit, Dalton was thinking he wanted back in Renae’s pants. Let them all think what they wanted, she wasn’t going to let Jason get any closer to her.

Mary was last up after the kids, and she hugged Renae tightly.

“I’m glad you came, Mom. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you too, dear. I’m glad I came. I was curious how this was all playing out.”

Renae chose to ignore the comment, knowing to disagree with her mother would be a fruitless endeavor.

Kelly helped Jason and Renae get all the dishes into the kitchen before declaring herself exhausted and saying she was going to bed. That left Jason and Renae with a sink full of dirty dishes.

“I’ll scrape, you load the dishwasher?” He offered. Renae shrugged, dead on her feet. She would have been fine with leaving everything until the morning, but he seemed determined.

With the two of them working, the dishes were quickly loaded into the dishwasher, and Renae couldn’t hold back her snarkiness any longer.

“Am I allowed a half a glass of wine to celebrate the end to a successful dinner party?”

“I don’t see why not. The literature supports that. I’ll fix it, you go sit down and put your feet up. I’ll bring it to you.” She contained her surprise at his agreeableness.

Relieved to not have anything else to do tonight, Renae slunk into the living room and shed her shoes, sitting in the platform rocker, propping her feet up on the footstool. Jason was in shortly with a glass of wine for her.

“Here you go.” His voice was a low murmur.

She took the glass and sipped it, closing her eyes against his piercing gaze. She felt him lift her feet and sit them in his lap, before he began stroking the soles of them.

“Does that feel good?”

She moaned softly in response and was tempted to succumb to the sensations.

“I know why you are doing all this,” she murmured softly.

“Doing all what?”

“Being so nice. You’re trying to get everybody on your side so I don’t have anyone to whine to when you turn back into Hitler.”

His fingers on her toes stilled, and she felt them clutch roughly before he released her.

“My parents’ families didn’t get along when I was growing up. Jodie and I had to listen to all sorts of crap they threw at each other. I don’t want that for my child.”

“So this is all about what’s best for the baby?” She took another sip, still not looking at him.

“Maybe. Ultimately, yes. Possibly what’s best for us as well.”

“Us? As in…?” She wanted him to finish the sentence. These were words she couldn’t put in his mouth.

He sighed heavily and put her feet back on the stool. She opened her eyes and watched as he stood and rubbed his neck, his eyes filled with storm clouds. “I don’t know yet, Renae. But that is my child in your belly, and I will take care of it no matter what it takes.” Turning on his heel, he walked quickly out of the room, but he stopped just short of the door and turned to her. “I’m hoping you’ll lighten up enough for us to figure the rest out.”