After the breakfast things are cleared away, we settle the boys in the den watching cartoons with Hugo while Jax, my parents, Molly and I sit around the table to figure out the fastest way out of the mess we all seem to be stuck in the middle of.
“So, let me get this straight,” Molly says, brushing a thick lock of blonde hair from her eyes. “Not only did somebody beat your father half to death and tell him that you were responsible, they also videoed you and Lucia with another woman, blackmailed Lucia’s father and then tried to make it look like you were conspiring with the other woman to get your hands on the five million? Is that about it?”
I gasp in a breath. She pretty much nailed it. Everything that happened does seem to point to Jax being the real target here. “Don’t forget the picture of Jax and Shannon too,” I add. “That was taken at least a year and half ago.”
Molly frowns but she nods her head in agreement. “You think it was someone we know? Here in Dallas?”
“Well, whoever took those pictures of me and Shannon had to have known about the two of us…”
“It wasn’t exactly a secret, honey,” Molly says with a shake of her head. “The whole town knew about you two.”
“Could Shannon be behind this?” I ask.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” my mom adds with a nod.
“She couldn’t have taken the picture of the two of them though,” my father says.
“No, but she could have had someone else take it,” I offer.
Jax nods his head. “She also has a crib like the one my dad went looking for on the night he was attacked, and he placed the ad in her mom’s store, so she knew all about it.”
“But she’s happy with Ed now,” Molly says with a frown. “Why would she do that?”
“Beats me,” Jax rubs a hand over his jaw.
“Who is Ed?” my father asks.
“Ed Sawyer. Local vet. Moved here four or five years ago. He and Shannon got together about eighteen months ago…”
“Before or after that photograph was taken?” I ask.
“After,” Jax insists.
My father looks between Jax and Molly. “And where was he before he came here?”
“I have no idea,” Molly says with a shake of her head.
“I’ll find out by the end of the day,” Jax says.
“No, I can deal with that,” my father replies.
Jax arches an eyebrow at him. “You sure?”
“I think I’ve learned enough from you over the years to find out a little more about Ed. Besides, I need you tracking that money, because I see why we’re looking into the possibility of Shannon or Ed being involved here, I mean jealousy is the oldest motive there is, right? But, I feel like this is bigger than that. This is deeper than a spurned ex-lover or a jealous husband.”
“I agree, amigo,” Jax says with a nod. “There’s something bigger going on here.”
“Where is that money right now?” my father asks him.
“As we suspected, sitting in offshore accounts. It bounced through eight in total and now it’s spread across four,” Jax replies.
“But you can trace those accounts eventually?”
“Yes. But it will take a few days.”
“We need to find whoever has those videos too,” I remind them. “They could still be right here in town. I mean if they’ve been here all this time anyway.”
“Yes, we do,” my father agrees. “Who has access to this ranch, Molly?”
“Well, it’s private property, but it’s huge and I suppose anyone could sneak in here under the cover of night. We don’t have fancy security systems because we’ve never really needed em.”
“Yeah, well that’s gonna change,” Jax mutters.
“But you have workers here, right?” my father goes on. “And regular visitors.”
“Yes. We have ranch hands. I’ve had the same six for the past three years, two of them for much longer than that. Four of them live in the bunk house and the other two live with their wives and babies in town. We have delivery trucks. A horse trainer. Shannon and Ed also come here a lot to check on the horses. She’s a veterinary nurse, that’s how she and Ed met. They were friends for a long time.”
“Well, we already have Shannon and Ed in our crosshairs. What about the ranch hands? They have free access to the whole property, right? Any of them a problem?”
“No,” Molly insists with a shake of her head. “They all came to work here straight from high school. They’re good boys.”
“We can’t rule anyone out, Molly,” Jax says to her and she sighs but she nods her head.
“I’ll go speak to them this morning while you’re at the hospital,” my father says.
Jax arches an eyebrow at him. “They’re just kids, amigo.”
“So? I can be diplomatic,” he insists.
“Kind of like using a jackhammer to crack a peanut though, Papi,” I chuckle.
My mom laughs softly too. “I have to agree with our daughter on this one.”
“I’ll take Molly with me. She’ll keep me in line, right?”
My mom puts her hand on his shoulder. “I still think there’s something not right about Ed. How about you and I look into him, and Hugo can go with Molly to speak to the ranch hands. If they did see anything that might help, then we don’t want to scare them off, do we? And, whilst you are the most incredible man I know,” she places her hand on his cheek, “you’re also kind of terrifying.”
He shrugs his shoulders, pleased with her assessment of him. “Fine. Hugo and Molly deal with the ranch hands.”
Molly’s cheeks flush slightly but she nods her agreement.
“You and I will look into Ed and Shannon while Jax and Lucia are at the hospital. Anything else you need me to do, amigo?” my father asks Jax, making me smile.
This is his way of making things right between them, of showing him that he would still do anything for him. I have to admit, the guilt I feel at coming between the two of them still weighs heavy on me. But as they sit across from each other now, working together, it’s clear they have nothing but love and respect for one another, and it makes my heart swell in my chest.
“If you get time, you could look into those photographs of Toni and me. If you can figure out the restaurant, then you could get their CCTV and cross reference the dates to prove they’re fake.”
“We know they’re fake. We don’t need proof, Jax,” I tell him and my father nods in agreement.
Jax sighs deeply, taking my hand and squeezing it in his before he turns back to my father. “See if you can dig up some CCTV from anywhere in town that might help then? Or better still talk to the bar owner,” he suggests. “Now, if there was ever a situation where a jackhammer was needed to crack a peanut, that would be it.”
“Why? Is he an asshole?” my father asks.
“Kind of. When I went to speak to him, the sheriff arrived not five minutes after, which was a hell of a coincidence if you ask me. And that guy is looking for an excuse to toss me into a cell, so I had to back off.”
“I’ll drop by and see what he has to say then.”
“Be careful,” my mom warns him. “That goes for all of you,” she adds as she looks at the rest of us. “We have no idea who we’re dealing with yet, but we do know they’re willing to go to extreme lengths to get what they want.”
“I always am, princess,” my father says before kissing her forehead and making her blush. I swear they are like a pair of lovestruck teenagers.
“We will be, Mom,” I assure her.
A little over an hour later, I’m walking down the hospital corridor with Jax’s hand in mine while he carries an overly excited Matthias in his arms.
“Does this kid ever stop talking,” he whispers in my ear while Matthias goes on talking about how cool it is to have his very own bedroom at the barn house and whether he thinks Harvey will allow Blue to sleep there sometimes.
“Nope. You already know that, cowboy. You sure you want to add another one into the mix so soon?”
He lets go of my hand and wraps his arm around my waist instead.
“One hundred fucking percent,” he growls and my insides flutter.
“Are you guys even listening to me?” Matthias says with a sigh, and I realize somewhere in his incessant chatter he must have asked us a question.
Jax winks at me before he turns his face toward our son. “Of course we are buddy.”
“So can we just get our own puppy instead, a Dallas dog?” Matthias asks with a cheeky grin.
“A Dallas dog?” I ask.
“Yeah, for when we’re here. A puppy just like Blue?”
“But won’t he miss us when we’re in LA?” Jax says. “And wouldn’t you miss him too?”
Matthias’s face falls. “Oh, yeah,” he whispers.
Jax tickles him, making him laugh again. “So, if we did get a puppy like Blue, he’d have to live with us in LA and Dallas, wouldn’t he?”
At this, Matthias squeals with delight. “Yes, he would. Can we get a puppy then? Please, Momma?”
I roll my eyes at my husband. “Did you just promise our son a puppy?”
“No,” he grins at me. “I said if we got a dog, is all.”
“We’ll see, munchkin,” I tell him.
“Okay,” he pouts and Jax whispers something in his ear that makes him giggle.
“You just promised him a puppy, didn’t you?” I nudge him in the ribs.
“I would never,” he says with a chuckle as he pulls me tighter.
“Is this how it’s going to be, cowboy? You teaming up with our kids against me?”
He gives me a kiss on the cheek. “I will always be on your team, angel. Promise.”
“Why is Harvey in here, Jax?” Matthias asks as he looks around at the strange surroundings. I realize he’s never been in a hospital before, not even when he was born. He arrived quickly and unexpectedly at my parent’s house back in LA.
“He got hurt, buddy. But he’s going to be just fine and he’ll be able to come home real soon.”
“How did he get hurt?” he asks, his eyes wide and innocent as he looks into his father’s face. God, I want so much to protect him from everything that is bad in this world.
“He was doing something nice for me and somebody didn’t like it so they hurt him.”
“But why?”
Jax looks to me and I nod for him to go on. I would love for our son to think that the world is only full of good and kind people, but the reality is that it’s not. In our family, he’s going to learn that sooner than other kids, but he needs to know that not everybody is a good person. “Sometimes people hurt other people. Because they’re scared, or greedy, or just plain mean. Or maybe because they hurt someone they care about.”
“Did Harvey hurt someone?”
I feel the tension in Jax at that question. Harvey hurt him and his mom so badly. “No, buddy,” he whispers. “And your mom and I would never let anyone hurt you. You know that, right?”
“Yeah,” he rolls his eyes.
“Good,” Jax puts him on his feet as we reach Harvey’s room. “Now there’s gonna be a whole lot of machines in here and things that you’ve not seen before, but they’re all just making Harvey better, okay?”
“Okay,” Matthias smiles as he curls his fingers around Jax’s.
I follow the two of them into the room. Harvey is awake and the smile on his face when he sees Matthias almost lights up the whole room.
“Look out, here comes trouble,” Harvey chuckles as he beckons my son toward him.
Matthias runs to the bed and clambers on.
“Be careful,” I shout.
“Leave him be. He’s fine,” Harvey insists.
“Does your face hurt?” Matthias asks as he gets himself comfortable on the bed.
“Naw,” Harvey shakes his head. He looks so much more alert that he did in the early hours of this morning.
“When are you coming home?”
“Soon as I can. Maybe a few days. Hey, have you been looking after Blue for me?”
“Well, I only got here yesterday, but yeah, I took him out for his pee this morning, and then I helped Aunt Molly with his food. He slept by my bed too. I think he’s kinda sad. He misses you.”
“I miss him too,” Harvey says as tears prick his eyes. “But he has you here now, so I’m sure he won’t be too sad.”
“Hey, I made you something,” Matthias says as he reaches into the pocket of his jeans and pulls out a pebble.
“Did you know about that?” Jax whispers to me.
“Nope,” I say, watching intently as Harvey examines the small rock. It has something painted on it in red, but I can’t see it from here. But suddenly Harvey’s eyes are brimming with tears and he puts a hand over his face.
“My nana helped me make it. It’s okay if I call you that, right?” Matthias asks.
Harvey’s chest starts heaving as his body is wracked with sobs.
“What the fuck does that say?” Jax mutters as we both walk to the bed.
Harvey is clutching the stone in his hand while Matthias stares at him.
“Did I do something wrong, Dad?” he asks Jax who puts a hand on his shoulder.
“No, son. But, what did you paint on your rock?”
Harvey wipes his eyes and opens his mouth to speak but his words are choked by another sob.
“Grandpa,” Matthias whispers. “Harvey is your daddy, and you’re my daddy, so he’s my grandpa like Papa, right?”
“That’s right,” Jax replies before he plants a soft kiss on the top of our son’s head.
Harvey takes Matthias’s hand in his. “That is the best gift I’ve ever gotten.” he sniffs. “Thank you.”
At this praise, Matthias beams proudly and I watch the three of them. Three generations. I’m happy that my son has another grandparent in his life. As far as I’m concerned, the more people that love him, the better. But mostly I’m happy that Jax is allowing his father back into his life. He deserves to be surrounded with people who love him too.
When Matthias has asked Harvey at least two dozen questions and told him all about his and Jax’s plan to get a puppy just like Blue, I take him with me to get him a juice box and the rest of us a coffee. I know that Jax needs to speak to him without Matthias around.
“That was a really sweet thing you did for Grandpa Harvey,” I say as I hold his little hand in mine and we walk through the hallways to find the cafeteria.
“I wanted to make him something he could keep forever,” he says with a proud smile. “Rocks last forever, you know?”
“They do, huh?”
“Yup.”
“You know what else lasts forever?” I ask him.
“What?” he blinks up at me.
“A momma’s kisses,” I pick him up and smother his face with kisses, making him giggle.
“No they don’t,” he squeals.
“Oh yes they do.” I insist. “Once a momma kisses her child, she creates a special kind of magic. You can still feel it forever.”
“You can?” he asks, his eyes wide.
“Yup. Whenever you want to feel your momma’s kiss, you just close your eyes and put your hand right here,” I place his little hand over his heart. “Then you remember real hard and you’ll feel it.”
He scrunches his eyes tightly closed and I press a feather light kiss on his cheek. “Wow. I do feel it,” he says.
I hug him tighter and smile. Yep, I could definitely handle a few more of these.
