Falling For You - January Cove Book 3 (6 page)

"Come on, Addison. You and I both know that something is going on. You would never miss a Thanksgiving with the family if you were stateside. I'm your big brother. I can help you. Please just tell me what's wrong."

Addison didn't say anything for a moment and then he heard what he thought was a sniffle on the other end. "Jackson, I'm fine," she said through what sounded like tears.

"Why won't you let us help you?" he asked. He was aware that his tone sounded like he was begging, and he really was. He wanted to help his sister. All the brothers felt that way about her being the only girl.

"There's nothing to help me with. Really. Everything is fine. I've got things under control."

"Are you okay? Are you safe? Has someone hurt you?" Jackson started rattling off questions to her.

"I'm safe. No one is hurting me, I promise. I just need to be away right now. Please don't say anything to Mom. I don't want her worried about me."

"Too late. She's very worried about you, Addison. And now that I've talked to you, I'm worried too. If something is going on with your husband, you need to let me know about it. I can help you fix this."

"Jackson," she snapped. For the first time in their phone conversation, he heard his sister getting aggravated. She was usually a pretty feisty one anyway, so he was kind of glad to hear her backbone finally. "I'm not going to say it again. Everything is fine. Nothing to worry about. I've got things handled." There was a silence between brother and sister for a few moments before Jackson finally got the message that his sister wasn't ready to talk about whatever was going on with her.

"Okay. Just know that you can call me anytime, day or night. I will be there to help you. I promise."

"I know you will. You always have been. And I thank you for that. But I really need to take care of myself right now. I hope you can understand that. And please make up something to tell mother so that she's not worried about me. I can't take the guilt of her having another stroke just because she's worried about me."

"Alright. I hate lying to Mom, but I know it's for the best in this case. I'll tell her that something came up with Jim's job, and that finances are a little tight right now. I'll just tell her that you guys are too proud to ask for money to travel, so you're staying closer to home."

"Sounds like a good cover story. That will work. Thanks, Jackson."

"And, Addison, just know that I love you," Jackson said.

"I know. And I love you too. I'll be home soon. See you at Christmas," she said with her voice cracking before she hung up. Jackson sat there for a moment wondering if there was anything else that he could do, but Addison was a grown married woman who had made her requests clear. And he understood that himself because he didn't like people interfering in his life either. But as her older brother and stand-in father for most of her life, he was used to taking care of things for his little sister. Feeling like his hands were tied, he set his cell phone down on the dresser and started to get ready for the Thanksgiving festivities.

***

Rebecca wasn't sure that she had ever been more nervous in her life. It was silly really, after all that she and Leo had been through in their lives, but going to a Thanksgiving festivity with such a well-known family was making her a little more than jittery. Of course, being a coffee shop owner, she'd had more than her share of espresso this morning. That probably wasn't the best idea given the fact that she was already anxious.

"I don't get it. Why can't we just have sandwiches on the beach like we said we would?" Leo whined. Sometimes she wondered if he was two years old or fourteen years old.

"Because I'm trying to make a name for myself in this town, and my best customer invited us. So you will act right and be kind to these people. You will say thank you and you will be polite. You hear me?" She said putting her hands on his shoulders. She really hated this part of being a parent. Sometimes she was kind and meek like her mother was, and other times she had to be rough and tough like her father was. It was a very hard balancing act. She was never really sure that she was doing it right. It was times like this that she really missed having her husband there.

"Fine. Is it time to leave yet?" he asked looking down his cell phone.

"Actually, yes it is. We're going to walk there because it's just a couple of blocks over."

"Walk? Why can't we drive a car like normal people?" he said throwing his hands up in the air.

"Because it's one of the perks of small-town life, Leo. Get over it." She was tired of being so rough on him this morning, but he had started with his whining first thing in the morning. She just didn't understand him anymore. He had gone from being a sweet young boy to a hormonal teenage mass. She sure couldn't remember acting that way to her parents, although her father never would've allowed it. Again, she felt a momentary sense of loss when she thought about her husband. How he could've changed Leo's life. Would Leo be a better kid right now if his father was still alive? Was it even his fault that he was so angry right now?

She had tried a couple of times to talk to him about his anger issues lately, but he just went inward and started playing video games or texting on his phone. Maybe every parent of a teenager went through this at some point, but she was quite sure that she had seen parents out in public with their teenagers having a good time and interacting. That had stopped with Leo over the last year or so. She missed their close relationship, but she had absolutely no idea how to get it back.

Rebecca packed up the muffins that she had made to take to the Parker's and they headed downstairs and out the door. Their walk was quiet, with Leo texting on his phone as usual. Honestly, sometimes she thought about grabbing it out of his hands and flinging it out into traffic. Only there was no traffic in January Cove, so it wouldn't do much good. It would likely lay out in the street untouched for hours. It was a ghost town on Thanksgiving, and it wasn't busier on most days anyway.

"Leo, can you please stop texting? If you don't, I'm going to take that phone and put it in my purse for the rest of the day," she said raising an eyebrow to him as they walked. He rolled his eyes, sighed and shoved it in his pocket. The last thing he wanted to do was lose that phone, and she knew it.

"Why do you care so much what these people think anyway? They don't even know us. They don't even know our story," he said. She was shocked by him saying this, specifically the mention of "their story". What exactly did he think their story was?

"Because it's good to make new friends, Leo. This is our new beginning. I did this for you just as much as I did it for me."

"Yeah, right," he said.

"So you think I did this whole move for me? Trust me, Leo, it's very hard for someone my age to just pick up and leave everything they've known their whole life. I did this because I felt like we needed a fresh beginning somewhere without all the memories of what happened. Don't you like it here?" she asked exasperated.

"It's alright. Of course, I don't really care where we live. It's always the same."

"What do you mean?" she asked, finally excited that he seemed to be opening up. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders, grunted and stopped talking. She'd come so close to getting him to say something, anything. But he didn't. And they walked the rest of the way to the Parker's in silence.

When they arrived at the house, Rebecca felt her nerves cropping up all over again. Her palms were sweaty, and her heart was racing. What was it about hanging out with these people on such an innocuous holiday that was making her anxious? Maybe it was because she hadn't really been to any big family functions in years. She didn't really have any family, and she didn't like to impose on friends back in New York.

But this was different. They needed support, some kind of anchor in January Cove. She just needed something new, something to take her mind off her growing problems with her son and her floundering business.

"Remember, be nice," she said reminding her son by wagging her finger in his face. They walked up the steps and rang the bell, ready to have a big family Thanksgiving with a family they didn't know.

The door flung open, and a small petite blonde woman was standing there. She assumed that this was Adele Parker, the renowned real estate broker and perfect mother to the Parker kids.

"Welcome!" she said throwing her arms out and bringing Rebecca into a big hug. It took her aback because she hadn't felt the love of a mother in so many years, but Adele Parker wasn't her mother. It was a strange sensation that she couldn't place.

"Thank you for having us. I'm Rebecca Evans, and this is my son Leo." Rebecca pulled back from the hug and put her arm around her son's shoulders. Of course, Leo wiggled out from under her grasp and crossed his arms. For a moment, there was a spark of silence as Adele looked into Rebecca's eyes and then over at Leo. Rebecca was so embarrassed, but she tried to play it off and just smiled.

"Well, happy Thanksgiving. Come on in. Most of the family is already here, so let me introduce you." Adele led her and her son into the kitchen where everyone was standing around talking and laughing. Rebecca had never felt that kind of camaraderie in a family. Being an only child and losing her parents young, she had never been to big family functions. Their family was incredibly small, even when her parents were alive.

As she walked into the kitchen, her concerns were relieved when everyone welcomed her with open arms. There was no silence or strange looks being shot her way like she wasn't supposed to be there. Instead, everyone came up and either shook her hand or gave her a friendly hug. There was definitely something to be said for living in a small town. Southern hospitality at its best, she thought.

"Welcome," one of the women said. "I'm Tessa Reeves. I'm the newest member of the Parker family, I guess you could say. I'm dating Aaron, the youngest brother over there with the blonde hair." Aaron smiled at her from across the room and Tessa blew him a kiss which made it very obvious that they were newly in love.

"Oh give it a break. Gag," one of the men said. "I'm Brad. I'm one of the unattached brothers that my mother is trying to marry off." Rebecca had to laugh at that, and she immediately noticed how good-looking he was. In fact, all of the Parker men in the room were very good-looking, and Adele was a beautiful woman.

"He's just jealous that he doesn't have a woman right now," Kyle said pushing his way through the small crowd. "Listen, people, I invited Rebecca and her son so let's not show her how crazy our family really is." Everyone laughed and nodded their heads, and Rebecca felt immediately at home.  "This is Jenna, my girlfriend, and her daughter Kaitlyn."

"Hi, Jenna. Hello, Kaitlyn. Very nice to meet you. I'm Rebecca and this is Leo," she said. Leo stood there with his arms crossed only nodding his head when people said hello, completely disinterested. She wanted to smack him, but she figured that probably wouldn't be the best way to introduce herself to the Parker family.

"Where's Jackson?" Kyle said looking around.

"I don't know. I know he was upstairs making a phone call and taking a shower earlier, but I haven't seen him in a couple of hours," Adele said.

"Relax, I'm coming. The life of the party is
…
" Jackson said as he made his way down the stairs and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw red curls from across the room. Rebecca turned around and their eyes locked, but not in a good way.

Jackson felt like the breath of been completely sucked out of his lungs when he saw her. He'd had a hard time not thinking about her since yesterday, but he should have been livid. After all, she was rude to him and completely uninterested in his business.

"Rebecca, this is my brother Jackson. He lives in Atlanta, but he has graced us with his presence for the Thanksgiving holiday," Kyle said putting his arm around his brother. Jackson just stood frozen in place staring at Rebecca. She stared back, but he could tell that she was gritting her teeth as he could see her jaw clinching from across the room. Her son sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, much like Jackson did when he was stressed out.