Late Monday evening, Ace shook his head as his beloved Boston Harbor faded from view. To avoid seeing Talise at the airport, he purposely booked a later flight on American Airlines. So despite what he told his mother, his bags didn’t fly free.
Not an emotional man, Ace took a deep breath to keep from mourning the loss of those things dear to his heart. Swallowing hard, he whispered goodbye to the seven-time Major League Baseball World Series Champion Red Sox, the National Hockey League World Champion Boston Bruins, the National Basketball Association World Champs Boston Celtics, and so many other places and things he would miss.
At the very least, he was representing Beantown by wearing his Red Sox jersey. Ace’s mind went to this coming fall when he wouldn’t be there to attend one of the New England Patriots’ home games at Gillette Stadium. Hopefully, they were on the St. Louis Rams’ schedule to play.
Lastly, he would miss the conniving Ms. Talise Rogers. In the past, Ace had faced guns, survived knife attacks, and spent extended stays in a couple of Boston area jails, but this present situation was foreign to him. Leave it to a gorgeous woman to cause him to run scared out of town. His name might as well be Samson.
Ace exhaled and shook his head at the flight attendant offering drinks. It was Talise’s fault that he had to take these drastic measures. He guessed she hadn’t heard the rumor that no woman would ever claim this Jamieson man. She might as well dispense with her phantom pregnancy. Her plan to trap him backfired.
With her looks, smarts, and personality, Talise could find another sucker and start the game over. Either she was that good or he’d been too gullible. He had given her the benefit of the doubt because she was possibly the “one,” but she blew it, trying to snag him.
As with all the others, Ace wasn’t bluffing. He was voluntarily entering into the MIAB program. Unlike a person in the Witness Protection Plan, who always had to watch his back, he didn’t have a care in the world as part of the elite Missing in Action Brother club. Ace closed his eyes and reclined his seat.
By the time his plane landed in St. Louis two and a half hours later, he was restless. While dozing, he dreamt he was a father of twenty children. That would have broken his old man’s record of the eleven that he knew about.
“Whew,” he commented to himself.
Shaking off the nightmare, Ace regained his composure before disembarking the plane. As he strolled through Lambert Airport, he commanded the attention of every woman who made eye contact.
When he approached the baggage claim area, Kidd was leaning up against the wall with his arms folded. His lips curled with a hint of a smile, but his stare was menacing.
Both brothers were buffed, but Kidd had thickened since his marriage to Eva Savoy two years ago. Standing by his side, his wife was all smiles and waves. Eva was pretty, but Talise was stunning.
Within an arm’s reach, Kidd engulfed Ace in a bear hug. His brother’s grip was as if it had been ten years since they last saw each other instead of six months. Height-for-height and muscle-for-muscle, it was a duel of strength.
“Break it up.” Eva separated them before either brother could declare a winner. She swatted at Kidd before giving Ace a welcoming hug. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Finally. I can’t believe it took a woman to get you here.” Kidd barked out, adding a laugh that caught the attention of several nearby passengers. Eva shushed him.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Ace sat behind his desk in his spacious new office. He checked his cell phone for the third time—nothing. Talise’s appointment with the doctor was sometime that day. Would she tell him the truth if she wasn’t pregnant? When her theatrics tugged at his emotions, it bothered him, yet he restrained himself from returning her calls.
Feigning she was scared and worried, Talise had asked him to call her. “I just need to hear your voice,” her message had said. Since then, there had been nothing. No more texts or voice messages. Her absence was foreign to him after four months of exclusive dating.
Ace wanted to reach out to her, but he had to break off their relationship cold turkey. He had hoped settling in as a senior accountant at Healthcare Concepts’ corporate office would be an adequate distraction. As it turned out, keeping busy worked for his mental faculties, but his heart was empty.
After only a few days, Ace was close to finishing his initial project. Already, he was the center of the office gossip and wore the label “smart and sexy.” Undeniably, the variety of attractive female coworkers made a man want to come to work in the mornings. What a selection, with a number of flavors to choose from: Latina, Black, White, Asian, or tantalizing blends.
One would think the beauties would keep his mind from drifting back to Talise. To date, Ace had turned down a lunch offer, a happy hour invitation, and a home-cooked meal. He got his fill of home cooking at Kidd’s, and he could go to a sports bar alone to get smashed. As for lunch, he wasn’t playing into that so soon.
Later that evening at Kidd’s house, he tried to unwind. His transition had gone rather smoothly. The day after Ace arrived, he had settled into his brother’s spare bedroom without a hitch.
“It’s so good to have you finally move here with your brother,” Eva told him. “Make yourself at home. We’ll respect your privacy, but a word of wisdom. If any unpleasant odors seep from under your door, smelling like leftovers or unattended clothes, I’m busting in. When I house clean, things sometimes wind up missing,” she said, smiling innocently.
His brother had already warned him that Eva was a neat freak. “Word to the wise,” Kidd mouthed, standing behind his wife.
An hour or so later, things were cool. Kidd was yelling at St. Louis Cardinals’ pitcher Adam Wainwright to change up his swing. Eva seemed to ignore the ruckus, disappearing into the lower level to her hobby room. For some reason, she collected bridal magazines. Did somebody need to tell the woman her wedding was over? Ace didn’t even want to know the story behind that one.
The next thing Ace knew, Kidd suddenly leaped from the sofa. He was poised to run toward the flat screen television and coax Wainwright to throw a fast ball and end the dragged out inning. Ace couldn’t care less about the Redbirds. His mind drifted to the time he took Talise to the Red Sox’s first game of the season. They had dressed alike in the hometown gear.
Why did his day always begin and end with thoughts of her? She couldn’t be pregnant. Ace Jamieson always protected himself.