“I remember when we were little you’d come into the bedroom in the middle of the night and kiss us.”
Her mom smiled. “I hated those late shifts. I wanted to be the one to tuck my babies in at night. Instead you three had a babysitter doing it.”
Deanna reached out and patted her mom on the arm. “It worked out okay, though. You didn’t work those hours forever.”
“You’re right.” She took a deep breath, then exhaled. “The thing is, your dad used to worry something fierce. And since I wasn’t about to quit my job, he figured the next best thing was to take me back and forth to work every day. I fought him on it at first; then it dawned on me why he was doing it.”
“Why?”
“Because he didn’t want to lose me. I was his world. You kids and I were everything to him. He wasn’t trying to tell me how to live my life; he just didn’t want to lose me.” She shrugged. “Knowing that changed the way I looked at some of his actions.”
“And you think that’s the reason behind Jonas’s attitude?”
“Think about it, dear. Jonas is a loner. His own parents don’t seem to care if he lives or dies. Now he has you. Don’t you think he’d want to hang on to that with all he’s worth?”
Deanna could see her mother’s point. “So I’m supposed to shut up and deal?”
Her mother stiffened. “I didn’t say that. Hold your ground. Go head-to-head with him if you have to. Just don’t give up before you even have a chance to find out how good things could be between you. Some of my best years with your father were toward the end. Each day becomes important when you get older. Don’t give up the chance to know what that feels like because your pride is taking a beating.”
And this was why women went to their mothers for advice. “Mom?”
“Yes, dear?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, sweetheart,” she said, her voice growing a little unsteady. “You and the boys are the best thing to ever happen to your father and me.”
Deanna smiled. The rest of their conversation revolved around current events and the latest trends in fashion. By the time they left Java Rush, Deanna felt like she could take on the world. Or at least one stubborn ex-soldier.
18
When Jonas walked through the door of Phoenix-Wade Investigations, his mind was on his conversation with Deanna. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, and that’s exactly what he’d done. Damned if he could figure out a way to make it right, though. It was as if he was destined to mess up every time he opened his fool mouth around the woman. Their weekend had gone so well too. Damn it. A curse from across the room tore Jonas out of his miserable thoughts.
“Piece of crap,” Wade muttered as he pounded on the keys of his laptop.
Jonas chuckled. “It’s not the computer—it’s the user.”
Wade’s head shot up. “It’s about time you got here. It’s been a hell of a day so far.”
Jonas snorted. “I hear ya.” When he reached the side of Wade’s desk, he shoved at his shoulder and ordered, “Get up so I can see what damage you’ve done.”
Wade stood and raked a hand through his hair. “I’m like jinxed with this stupid thing. Whenever I touch it, something new screws up.”
As Jonas went to work fixing Wade’s computer—again—he asked, “So, tell me about this woman claiming to be Gracie’s sister.”
“Her name is Catherine Michaels. She called Gracie this morning and told her that she tracked her down through some letters she found.”
Jonas hit a few more keys, then turned the computer off. “Letters?” he asked as he waited for it to finish shutting down.
“Yeah. She says she never knew about them until recently. Apparently, Catherine’s adoptive mother had them stored away. Catherine found them when she began to deal with her parents’ estate. Catherine’s biological mother wrote the letters and sent them to Catherine’s adoptive parents.”
Jonas frowned. “And Catherine is claiming that the woman in the letters is not only her mother, but Gracie’s as well?”
“Yep.”
“Well, you have a name, at least. That’s a place to start. Anything else?”
“She gave us her address and phone number. She seemed to understand our need to look into her story.”