26

Jada had fallen asleep. Maddox was enjoying having her snuggled up against him, could smell the scent of her hair under his chin and feel the slight weight of the hand placed possessively on his chest, when he caught Tobias watching him.

“You’re happy, aren’t you,” he murmured.

Maddox nodded. Making love to Jada in those two frenzied encounters had been wonderful. He could never deny that, couldn’t say flat out that he preferred this kind of evening. But there was a certain contentment that went with having her come over to spend some time with him, even if it didn’t involve sex. He’d never thought this would happen, especially while Tobias was in town. He was almost afraid to trust it. In his mind, hanging out watching TV together in Silver Springs didn’t come with the picture she’d painted of a “torrid affair.” But he was glad it did.

She’d seemed happy herself. She’d been friendly to Tobias all evening, hadn’t even mentioned her family. The three of them had played dominoes and watched Saturday Night Live and then put on a movie about a guy who was searching for artifacts in the jungles of Africa, which put her right to sleep.

Keeping his voice barely above a whisper, Tobias asked, “What do you think prompted her to come over? I mean...it was barely nine thirty when she got here. And she parked right behind you. It’s not like she’s trying to hide anything.”

“I can only guess it was your apology.” He smiled at his brother. “Thanks for that.”

When Tobias smiled back, Maddox felt even better. That Jada would show up and treat him so well made a difference in his life, too.

The movie ended fifteen minutes later, so he nudged Jada. “Can you stay over?”

She blinked up at him.

“Jada?” He could tell she wasn’t quite awake, but he loved the dreamy smile she gave him.

“What’d you say?”

“Can you stay over?”

She sobered as full consciousness descended. “No, not tonight. I have to get back to Tiffany’s. Maya’s there.”

“Why are you both staying at Tiffany’s?” he asked. “I hope it’s just for fun...”

“No, I moved out of my mother’s house on Monday.”

He felt a moment of uncertainty. “Why?”

“I couldn’t take it anymore.”

“You weren’t getting along?”

“No.”

“Do you need a place to stay?”

Her grin slanted sideways. “Are you going to let me move in here—with the two of you?”

“If you don’t have any other option.”

She touched his face as if she believed him. “I’ve got options. Tiff will let us stay there until I can find a place.”

“Let me know if you need any help moving.”

She got up and twisted her hair into a fresh knot at her nape. “I don’t have much to move, but okay.”

When she said good-night to Tobias, there was an awkward moment when they acted as though they didn’t know whether to hug each other, but Jada must’ve decided that was going too far for their first night together because she gave him a little wave instead.

Maddox was happy that she’d been able to come over and treat him so kindly. He didn’t expect anything more.

He took her hand as he walked her out. “Tonight was really great,” he said.

They stopped at her car and she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. “I think so, too.”

“This wasn’t really what I was expecting of a ‘torrid affair,’ but...”

She laughed. “You can have a little more ‘torrid’ at the beach.”

“So we’re still on?”

“Of course. But we’ll have to put it off by one week, if that’s okay. Now that I’ve moved, I have fewer options for Maya. She can stay with her best friend, but they won’t be in town this weekend.”

“That’s fine. No problem.” He kissed her again before reluctantly letting her go. “But it’ll be tough to wait.”

“For me, too,” she said, but then she caught him before he could walk into the house. “Maddox?”

He turned around.

“Can you tell me one thing?”

“What’s that?”

She lowered her voice. “What did Tobias do to get his sentence lengthened when he was in prison?”

He walked back to her. “Who told you about that?”

“My dad, before he died.”

“He didn’t know why?”

“Not yet. And if he found out, he died before he could tell me.”

“I see.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Well...it’s like this. There’s a hierarchy in prison, right? When you go in, you’re tested to see where you’re going to fall in that hierarchy. Will you be one of those who call the shots, or will you fall a little lower on the pecking order? When Tobias first went in, he had to face a prison full of much older men, most of them hardened criminals, and that meant he had to fight to avoid being victimized.”

“So he got into a fight?”

“He got into a lot of fights. But not because he wanted to. There was this one dude who, for some reason, really had it out for him. He fixated on Tobias from the beginning. To this day, Tobias doesn’t know why. But one afternoon, while they were exercising in the yard, he came at Tobias with a homemade knife—what they call a shank—and Tobias wrestled it away and stabbed him.”

She couldn’t help but grimace at the picture he painted. “So they both got in trouble.”

“Not really. Tobias got the blame since the other guy was the one who nearly died, and there was this other inmate, a friend of the guy who got stabbed, who claimed Tobias started it.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“I know that might make you afraid of him. But he had to defend himself to establish boundaries, and that cost him a few extra years. I hope you understand.”

She thought it over, along with what she’d seen of Tobias when he apologized to Atticus and how he’d behaved tonight. “I do believe you,” she said.

“So how was it?”

Maya was in the shower the following morning when Tiffany whispered that question to Jada.

Jada smiled as she stood at the stove, stirring the oatmeal she was making for breakfast. Tiffany insisted she didn’t want breakfast, especially oatmeal, but she was making coffee. “Perfect,” she whispered.

Tiffany moved closer to her. “It wasn’t awkward to see Tobias?”

“A little. As handsome as he is, it would be easy to believe he’s a decent guy simply because he looks the part. But I’m trying not to be that easily swayed by something that could mean nothing.”

“Do you think he’s more handsome than Maddox?” she asked in surprise.

“No one’s more handsome than Maddox,” Jada replied with a laugh. “But I could see where some women might disagree with me. Tobias is a bit rough around the edges, has that ‘bad boy’ look and feel, what with those prison tattoos and those mysterious green eyes. When he looks at you, you get the feeling there’s so much going on inside his head, but he doesn’t share much of what he’s thinking.”

“Did you get the impression it was hard for him to see you?”

“I could tell he didn’t know what to do with himself. But he was very respectful. I had to insist he stay and relax because he kept wanting to leave so that Maddox and I could be alone.”

“So you liked him.”

Tiffany had a way of netting everything out. “I did,” she admitted.

“Do you know what he did to get his sentence lengthened?”

“I do now. I asked Maddox last night. He told me it was because someone tried to jump him with a knife and ended up getting the worst of it.”

“Do you believe him?”

“I do. But maybe that’s because I want to give him another chance. Do you think I’m being too gullible?”

“If so, I’m just as gullible. That apology at the Blue Suede Shoe seemed pretty sincere. I could tell he was fighting tears.”

“I got that impression, too. Still, I don’t want to alienate my family any further by befriending him if he’s not worth the sacrifice.”

Tiffany poured her first cup of coffee. “I’ve been thinking about that.”

“You sound worried.”

“I am.” She poured a second cup for Jada and set it by the stove. “Maybe I’ve been too encouraging when it comes to the Richardson brothers. I’m a soft touch, quick to forgive. But say you and Maddox get together and then it all blows up after a few months because you realize he’s not the man you thought he was. Then you won’t have your family or Maddox.”

Jada listened to be sure the shower was still running and Maya couldn’t overhear them. “On the other hand, I haven’t been very close to my family for the past thirteen years. So it won’t be all that new.”

“Trust me, it’ll be worse, because you can’t just pick up and leave. Maya really likes it here. Maddox could even try to stop you from moving because it’ll affect his visitation.”

Jada slid the pan of oatmeal off the burner and turned off the stove. “But I’ve got to tell him, don’t I? I was thinking about trying to do it when we go to the beach.”

“No way.” Tiffany shook her head. “Don’t. It’s too soon to even begin to guess how he might react.”

“But the longer I go, the harder it’s going to get.”

“But if you tell him, your mother may never forgive you. The same goes for Maddox and Maya.”

Jada winced as she thought of the possible consequences. The stakes were so high. “I’m not sure I care about my mother’s reaction.”

“You say that now, but come on. Family is family.”

“They are the reason I’m in this mess. I’m beginning to wonder if I shouldn’t have defied my parents from the start.”

“You made the best decision you could at the time. You were only eighteen. Maddox wasn’t ready to get married, couldn’t have taken care of a family.”

They heard the water go off, so Tiffany picked up her cup and headed over to the breakfast table. “Anyway, all I’m trying to say is that you’ve waited this long. A few more months can’t make it any worse.”

Jada wasn’t sure she believed that. Every time she saw Maddox and didn’t tell him, it felt like more of a betrayal. His feelings should matter, too. “We’ll see,” she said with a sigh.

Maya was sitting on the couch beside Jada, letting Tiffany paint her toenails that evening, when Jada got a text from Atticus.

Fortunately, Tiffany and Maya were engaged in a lively discussion about boys and school and the fact that New Horizons had cooking classes and horses and voice lessons. They didn’t seem to be paying attention to Jada or her phone. Still, to be safe, she got up and went into the bathroom. She didn’t want Maya to ask who was texting her or what Uncle Atticus was saying. She was trying not to talk about her family at all, because she didn’t want to drag her daughter through the upset she was feeling.

Not mad. Fed up, she wrote back once she was alone.

Maybe their mother needed to have a little more confidence in him, but Jada didn’t have it in her to type that. For all the anger she felt, she didn’t want to hurt her little brother. I’m not worried about you succeeding, Atticus. I know you’ll do great. Anyway, I’ve tried to be sensitive to what Mom’s going through. You saw how hard I was trying.

How did she respond to this? Jada wished she could call him. It was hard texting such lengthy responses. But she was worried Maya might overhear her talking to him.

There. She’d done it. She’d told the truth, even put it in writing.

She held her breath as she stared at the ellipses that meant he was typing a response.

She waited but he didn’t finish that sentence, so she prodded him. What?

She waited for his response to that, but when she didn’t receive one, she typed a question mark and sent it.

You’re gambling a lot on this guy, he finally wrote. Let’s hope you’re right and not Mom.

“Amen,” she whispered.

Her family was falling apart, and, once again, the Richardson brothers were to blame.

Susan stared out the front windshield, a death grip on the steering wheel, as she raced over to Uriah’s tangerine orchard. She had a few things to say to Maddox and Tobias, and she didn’t care whether they liked it. Maybe if she’d been stronger and drawn a hard line when Jada first started dating Maddox thirteen years ago, a boy with his background and absolutely nothing to offer, instead of trying to be tolerant and flexible, Atticus would still have the use of his legs. She didn’t want to face the same kind of regret for not standing up and fighting harder to protect her family this time around.

Her phone buzzed, drawing her attention to where it lay on the console between the seats of her older-model Lexus, but she made no move to reach for it. Her son’s face and number had popped up, were now glowing as brightly as her instrument panel in the dark interior, so she knew who it was. She would’ve been able to guess even if she couldn’t see her phone. Atticus had been calling her nonstop since she’d stormed out of the house after she’d arrived home, already tired from work and still angry from the argument she’d had with Jada three days ago, to hear that he was going to pay Maddox and Tobias a visit sometime in the next few days, as soon as he could gather the nerve, and tell them that he forgave them both. Although he’d broken into tears as he spoke those words, said he was glad they’d come back to Silver Springs because it was forcing him to face his anger and resentment, which he felt he had to overcome if he was ever to move on and be truly happy, she didn’t buy it. No doubt Jada had put him up to what he was doing. She must’ve been crying on his shoulder, trying to elicit sympathy. And he was softhearted enough for it to work. He didn’t understand the domino effect forgiving Maddox and Tobias would have on the future for all of them.

“You’re not getting her back,” she muttered to Maddox, even though she hadn’t yet reached his house. She wouldn’t allow her daughter to be with someone who’d cost her family so much, not under any circumstances.

The ringing of her phone stopped and started up again. Atticus. He wouldn’t give up.

Finally, just as she reached the edge of town, she answered. “What is it?” she snapped.

“What are you doing? Where are you going?”

“That’s none of your business.” She squinted against the lights of oncoming traffic. She didn’t have the energy for this kind of emotional turmoil. It had been so busy at the shop today that, even with Atticus there to help her, she’d worked nearly twelve hours. Now she ached all over. Getting stressed and exhausted caused her lupus to flare up. She hadn’t been doing well since Jada moved out. But she couldn’t let that stop her tonight. She had to act fast, or this thing would get too far ahead of her.

“Mom, please don’t do anything that will hurt Jada.”

“Hurt Jada! I’m trying to protect her. Maya, too.”

“By making it impossible for Jada to be with Maddox? How will that help?”

“Do you know what kind of mother he comes from? She’s part of the reason his brother’s an ex-con! Do you really want your sister to be associated with people like that? Do you want Maya’s father to be someone like that? Her grandmother a drug addict, and her uncle a dangerous ex-con—the man who shot you? Think of her, for crying out loud!”

“I am thinking of her. So is Jada. Maddox isn’t his mother or his brother. You have to judge him in his own right.”

“Yeah, well, he got your sister pregnant at seventeen years old. It’s because of him she married Eric and was so unhappy. It’s because of him she doesn’t have an education. And it’s because of him, taking her to parties where drugs and alcohol were present, that you can’t walk!”

“Mom, if you’re going to Maddox’s house, please stop. I feel bad for him and Jada. If they still love each other, they deserve the chance to be together—regardless of the rest of us.”

“Two people who are responsible for what they did don’t deserve anything.”

“Mom, listen to me! Just...don’t!” he said, and then she hung up. The way he was speaking to her—so demanding, as if there’d be an “or else” attached if she continued the conversation—wasn’t something she would tolerate. She’d been so good to him, nursed him through his injury and waited on him hand and foot ever since. She deserved more loyalty than he was showing her. That was for damn sure.

“See what’s happening?” she mumbled, smacking her steering wheel. “Those bastards are already tearing us apart again.”

She fishtailed as she pulled into the drive; she was going too fast when the turn came up. But she managed to bring the car under control before slamming on the brakes, cutting the engine and jumping out. Thanks to the rich earth and so many trees, the air just outside of town felt ten degrees cooler. She was glad of that; she was so upset she was damp with sweat.

The rap of her knock seemed to echo against the starry sky overhead. She was breathing heavily as she waited, completely focused on the fight ahead, but she could still hear the croak of a frog nearby and smell the fecund scent of the orchard all around her.

The door opened and an adult Tobias filled the gap. She hadn’t seen him since his trial, but she’d spent every day in the courtroom, and she’d read a statement before the judge, asking for the maximum sentence when it was all over. So she knew he knew who she was.

He didn’t speak. An expression of resolution, which indicated he thought it might one day come to this, stole over his face. He didn’t shut the door, either. He stood there expectantly. Although she could sense that he was wary, there was a respectful, deferential air about him, too. That almost disarmed her. But then she thought about the likelihood of Jada coming forward to tell Maddox Maya was his daughter, of being forever tied to these people who’d cost her so much, if she didn’t do something, and felt her resolve return. “Get your brother,” she bit out. “I have something to say to the both of you.”

“Maddox didn’t have anything to do with what happened. If you’re here to take some form of retribution, I’m the one you want,” he said, stepping outside and closing the door behind him.

“Get Maddox,” she said again. “I want to speak to him, too.”

“He never did anything wrong.”

Everyone seemed so ready to stand up for him. But she blamed Maddox for what happened even more than Tobias. After all, it was his involvement with Jada that’d started the whole thing. He’d also left Jada pregnant at seventeen, which had derailed her life, too. “According to you, maybe.”

Tobias had seemed so tractable, so penitent, in those first few seconds that it surprised her when he shook his head. “No. If you have something to say, you need to say it to me and leave him out of it. I’m the one who deserves it.”

Something inside her snapped. Susan wasn’t sure exactly what she said next, but she started screaming and crying and, for the first time in her life, physically attacking someone. She raked her fingernails down his cheeks and hit him wherever she could. She even kicked him.

He never reacted, never even put up his hands to block her. The only thing he did was move to keep her from reaching the door when she’d try to go around him to get to Maddox.

“This is between us,” he’d say, his voice soft, calm, but stubborn.

The door opened, anyway, and, finally, there stood Maddox.

“What’s going on?” He looked from her to Tobias and back again.

She’d hurt her hand striking his brother, and she was already so exhausted she could barely stand, but she gave Maddox the most baleful glare she could summon. “You leave my daughter alone. I won’t allow a piece of trash like you to ruin her life again. Do you understand me? Stay away from her. Don’t you come near my granddaughter, either! I know you’re probably already trying to get back in Jada’s pants, you miserable, worthless—”

“Whoa, whoa!” she heard someone say and turned to see Uriah. She’d been making such a racket that he’d heard the fracas and come out of his house. “You need to get off my property, now, or I’m going to call the police.”

“On me?” She pointed helplessly at Maddox and Tobias. It was them who had to go. But then she saw the situation through Uriah’s eyes—Maddox and Tobias standing there, Tobias’s handsome face bleeding because of how deeply she’d scratched him—and knew it was obvious that neither one of them had so much as lifted their voices or put up a hand to stop her, let alone harm her.

“Yes, you,” Uriah said. “I’m sorry for what you’ve been through, Mrs. Brooks. I’m sorry for your boy, too. But this isn’t the way to handle it. Here, let me help you to your car.”

He reached out to take her hand and guide her back over the gravel road, but she refused to let him. She wiped her tears and shook a finger at the Richardson brothers. “You two leave my family alone,” she said. “You’ve done enough. Do you hear me? We don’t need you back in our lives, messing it up all over again. What are you thinking? Even if you get Jada back, she could never truly be happy without her family. Especially with the family you have to offer her!”

“I said, that’s enough,” Uriah told her, and this time he took firm hold of her arm and escorted her to the car and was unwilling to let go until she was behind the wheel.

“Don’t ever come back,” he said and shut the door.