Jack's Surrender (Holiday Cove 5)

It took two days, but I finally gave up on trying to convince myself that I could be a New Yorker. I missed home. I missed the sound of the ocean in my window at night instead of traffic. It was the city that never sleeps and I was tired. I’d seen Ellis Island, the Empire State Building, Fifth Avenue. I wandered Central Park and the trendy little shops and cafes close to my apartment in Brooklyn.

I was tired of the city. In fact, I hated it.

My next flight wasn’t for another week, so I decided that rather than mope around and feel sorry for myself, I’d hop on the next flight to LA and go see Aaron and Gemma. So I packed a bag, took a cab to the airport, and used my connections to get a first-class seat on the redeye to LAX.

The Camaro was locked up in a storage unit while I was in New York, so once I arrived, I grabbed a rental car. I picked out a sporty little number but it didn’t have quite the same satisfying giddy up on the scenic route to Holiday Cove. Still, the sight of the ocean out the windshield and the fresh ocean air piped through the sunroof was more than enough to make up for the fact that I had to take the winding curves a little slower.

Originally, I’d planned to go straight to Aaron and Gemma’s, but when I took the exit, my internal auto-pilot took over and I found myself on the road that wound through the neighborhood Holly and I used to live in. Well, technically that she still lived in…

As I approached the four-way stop before the house, I knew I should go straight. The little voice inside my head was screaming, begging for me to keep going. My heart didn’t listen. I turned right and crept down the street. It looked the same as it had when I’d left. Not that I expected change. The same cars were in all the driveways, the fire hydrant on the corner, and the same kids playing in the cul-de-sac at the end, their bikes and soccer balls and remote controlled cars all scattered over the street.

My stomach clenched as I got close enough to see the house Holly and I’d bought together all those months before. The tight knot cinched even tighter at the sight of a blue pickup truck parked beside Holly’s SUV in the driveway.

“What the fuck…” I hissed. I didn’t recognize the truck. The blinds were drawn so I couldn’t see inside the living room and it was too light outside to tell which rooms were occupied. I wondered if the truck had been parked there all night.

Fury bubbled up inside me and then quickly turned to nausea. I gunned the rental and sped out of the neighborhood, nearly blowing a stop sign on the way.

I flew across town and up the hillside to Aaron’s house and parked in his driveway. The only thing that eased my anger was the sight of a floppy-eared yellow Lab racing in my direction. A smile broke across my face and I jumped out of the car. Princess launched herself at me, her tongue and tail flying franticly and wild. I sank down to one knee and rubbed her ears. “Hey, girl! I missed you too!”

“Princess, what the hell—” Aaron’s voice boomed but stopped short when he came around the side of the house and saw Princess and me on the ground. “Boomer? What the hell are you doing here?”

I laughed and kept petting Princess. “Hello to you too, buddy.”

Aaron rolled his eyes. “I’m happy you’re here. Just confused. Did I know you were coming?”

“Not at all. Spur of the moment thing.”

Aaron grinned. “New York driving you crazy already?”

I hated admitting he was right.

He laughed at the hem-haw expression on my face. “I called it! You’re not a city boy, Boom. Come on, I was just making some breakfast.”

“And by you, you actually mean Gemma?”

Aaron gave a sheepish grin and snapped his fingers for Princess. “Come on, girl. Tell your dad to get his ass in the house. I want my damn waffles.”

I chuckled and followed after him. “Yes, sir!”

Gemma was indeed the one working at the stove, cracking eggs into a cast iron pan as sweet smelling steam poured from a hot waffle maker at the other end of the counter. “Jack?” she said, her eyebrows raised.

“Morning, Gemma. You mind having a house guest for a few days?”

She laughed. “Not at all. You can take Aaron off my hands so I can get something done around here.”

Aaron stepped behind her and grabbed her hips. He lowered his lips to her ear and whispered something that made her giggle. I moved to the other side of the kitchen, turning my back on the happy couple, and busied myself with the coffee pot.