Everybody Falls (21 page)

"Oh, thank God," she said and our eyes caught. "Thank you, Lace. You may not realize it, but you're saving him."

"Saving him?" I asked incredulously. "Me?"

She released my hand and brought hers to cup my face. "Oh yes, sweet girl. He's got it crazy bad for you and you, being the delightful thing you are, are helping to become himself again. The real Jax he used to be. Something I haven't seen since he was my little man."

I didn't know what to say.

She grabbed a tissue from beneath the sleeve of her cardigan, wiping her eyes and face.

"Now, why don't you show me how to bake these bad boys," she suggested when she was done, levering herself out of the cushions and reaching for my hand.

Chapter 17

While the croissants were baking, Edie, which she insisted I call her, brought out two huge photo albums and placed them on the old, scarred breakfast table.

Jax had left a few minutes before, dragging me out of the house to walk with him down to the garage, his lips meeting mine every few steps.

"You'll be here when I get back?" he asked finally.

"Lord willing and the creek don't rise," I answered back, echoing something Grandma Lilly was fond of saying.

"What?" he said with a chuckle, his eyes shining down into mine. "I don't even know what that means."

"That means yes, honey," I whispered, going up on tiptoe to kiss him again. I got a soft pat on my ass in response.

When the croissants were done cooking, Edie opened the first of the well-packed scrap books.

"I thought you might like to see what Jax was like when he was a little fella," she said, the love for him so evident in her face, in her soft smile.

I bent over the page, my heart catching on the little black-haired boy with the big, brown eyes looking out at me. He had been gorgeous even when he was small.

The pictures, which often included Denny in motion, captured moments which Edie or her husband had thought were picture worthy. Jax at the piano while Denny twirled; Jax sitting on the back steps while Denny was jumping off the top step; Jax asleep in his car seat, Denny climbing over to the front part of the car.

"Denny was a rascal, wasn't he?" she said fondly, her head bent over the page. "Jax, though, he was my joy, my shadow."

I nodded, seeing how Jax's personality, that calm charm, was clear as day even in just snapshots.

My cell, tucked in my back pocket vibrated.

"Excuse me, Edie. It's the bakery," I explained and moved out onto the screened-in porch to take the call.

"Yeah, Beth, what's up?" I asked.

"We've got a problem, Lacey," I heard Beth say, her voice high and shaking.

"What. What is it?" I asked quickly, my heart beginning to pound.

"There's a whole mess of people with cameras shoved into the store and an array of news vans on the street. They're trying to reach either you or Jax," she explained and, honest to God, she sounded scared. Her voice dropped as she continued. "It wasn't me, Lace. You've gotta believe it wasn't me."

I heard the phone move as it was shuffled. The next voice I heard was Sarge.

"Lacey, girl, we've got paparazzi surrounding the place. What do you want us to do?" he asked, even his voice sounding tight.

Peaches in cream.

"Oh, crap," I moaned.

"What?" I heard Edie yelp from behind me. I moved the phone away from my mouth and explained as fast and as simply as I could. "Paparazzi. Bakery. Asking for me or Jack."

"Shit," she drawled and I saw her body begin to tense.

"Get everyone out and lock the doors. Announce that we are closing early," I instructed. "Call the police if you feel the need and hang in the kitchen until you feel safe."

"Got it, Lace," Sarge growled. "What about the stock?"

"Screw the stock," I growled right back. "You guys before the stock, right?"

"Clear. But, girl, you've gotta stay away, understand?" His voice held a warning note. I was trying to imagine what they were seeing yet, honestly, I couldn't catch a mental picture that equated to how his voice sounded.

"I get you, Sarge. Keep our Beth out of it, though," I directed.

"I'll handle it. Call me later and keep his ass out of sight," he shot back.

"Thanks. Will do," I said around the lump in my throat. My employees were freaking out because of a bunch of publicity hounds had invaded our space looking for me and my boyfriend.

Shit on a chocolate covered graham cracker!

"I sent Jax a text asking him to come home. They should be finishing anyway," Edie said after I'd hung up and tucked my phone back in my pocket.

I reached for her and felt her gather me in for a tight hug.

"Do you think it'd be on TV?" I asked.

"Let's go look," she suggested, pulling away and walking determinedly down the hall.

Oh yeah. It was on TV, on all the local stations anyway.

There were even aerial views of my street and we could hear the thumping of a helicopter from here at the farm.

"We're here at Lacey's Bakery on the south side of Old Town Auburn where Jax Wynter is reported to be holding up with his current lover, a Miss Lacey Emerson, owner of Lacey's Bakery. Reports have it that he and Miss Emerson, a complete unknown, have been…" the pretty, young reporter was talking earnestly into the camera.

She's just doing her job
, I reminded myself, however having our business being splashed over the TV pissed me right off.

Edie muted the television.

"Lace? He may be in a bad place when he gets home," Edie said, turning worried eyes to me. "He hates this stuff and…"

"I know, honey," I said back, grabbing for her hands.

We heard the truck pulling down the driveway. I raced out of the house to meet him as the garage door slowly closed.

"Inside now!" I yelled and scanned the skies to ensure no helicopter hovered over the farm to get a glimpse of him or me.

"What?" he said, his smile of greeting fading. I saw him look up, trying to see what I was looking for.

"Paparazzi are at the bakery," I explained, grabbing his arm and pulling him back towards the house.

"What the fuck!" he exploded and began to run across the yard, tugging me with him. "Is Gram okay?"

"Worried, but good," I panted. He was moving fast.

I was right behind him as he raced into the house, down the hall before skidding to a stop in front of the much shorter woman. I caught a glimpse of her worried eyes that shot to us as we careened into the room.

"You alright, Grams?" he asked tenderly as he carefully gathered her against his chest.

"Yeah, Hot Stuff," I heard her murmur. "But, Lacey's people are trapped in the shop and she's going to have to scrap her stock."

Jack moved his eyes to me before reaching out a hand, pulling me into his side after tucking his grandmother into the other. I watched as his eyes went to the TV and saw the chaos displayed.

"Motherfucker," he moaned, his voice almost a whisper.

"Beth said it wasn't her who told," I said, trying to keep my voice even. He needed calm and steady. "I don't know how it got out."

"It doesn't matter now, does it?" he asked ruefully. "It's out and they've dragged you into it, Baby."

I don't think I've ever heard anyone sound so contrite, so damn sorry, before in my life.

He was blaming himself.

"Who called?" he asked finally.

"Beth, originally. She was freaking out, so Sarge came on the phone and…" I recounted.

"Let me talk to Sarge," Jack interrupted firmly and I pulled my cell out.

"Yeah, Lace?" I heard him answer.

"Jack wants to talk to you," I announced before handing the phone to my man.

"Sarge? Yeah. Talk to me, Dude. Uh-huh. Yeah. Did you call the cops? Okay. You feel comfortable getting stuff put away?"

I heard Jack chuckle.

"Publicity slut! Yeah. We owe you, Sarge. Yeah. Late."

Jack handed me back my phone and gently, oh so gently, led his Grams to the sofa before he sat down next to her. His eyes came to me.

"The cops are there and moved everyone off the porch of the mall. While they were doing that, Beth snuck out the back and Sarge stayed in the kitchen. He says he'll put everything away and it'll all be good."

"Why'd you laugh?" I asked quietly, amazed that he wasn't coming unglued.

I sure was.

"Because he said that he'd welcome having his picture back in the news. That'd been a long damn time since anyone found his hard-rock ass pretty enough to snap," Jack said and he chuckled again.

Edie and I joined in, finding the words just as funny as he had when Sarge first said them.

Jack shifted and pulled his cell out of his back pocket.

"Program my phone, Tiger," he instructed. "I want your cell, the bakery and Sarge in there just as fast as your fingers can move, okay?"

He turned to the older woman sitting, pressed up against him. "You need your pills, Pretty?"

"No, darling," she replied, gazing up at him. "I'm good. Just worried about you and Lacey."

"We're good, Grams," he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, patting her upper arm. "Aren't we, Lace?"

I dragged my eyes up to his and plastered a smile on my face as I paused in loading the numbers he'd requested. "Yeah, we're good. It's all good, Edie."

I actually wasn't, yet seeing the care and concern that was in Jack's eyes, I was willing to go along with it. She looked a little pale, but seemed to be doing okay.

"Let's let this go for the moment, alright?" he said, reaching for the remote and turning the TV off.

I handed him back his phone and watched as he scrolled down the screen. A few seconds later, my cell vibrated.

"That's mine, Lace. Add it to your contacts except don't use my name, alright?" he instructed before scrolling again. "Sarge? Jax. This is my cell, but don't add my real name to the contact. What? What the fuck do I care what you call me? Dirtbag! Whatever floats your wood, Dude. Yeah. Late."

He was still smiling as he tucked his phone away, shaking his head.

"What?" I asked.

"I can't repeat it, Lace. I gotta tell you, Sarge has a wicked imagination when it comes to contact names," he said, that smile staying in place.

"You okay, Jax?" his grandmother asked, her eyes huge behind her glasses.

"More than good, Grams," he said, turning towards her. "I've got my two best girls, in the same place, at the same time and all to myself. What's not good about that?"

I saw her breathe a sigh of relief.

"How about I start on lunch, then," she said, pulling herself to the edge of the couch and standing up.

"Sounds good," he replied. I saw him hold his hand steady and firm, allowing her to use him as leverage when she stood.

When she was out of the room and we could hear the fridge opening and closing, Jack shot his eyes to mine.

"Is she really okay, Lace?" he asked, his voice sharp with concern.

I moved from the chair to sit next to him on the couch.

"Seems to be. She was more worried about you and your reaction to all of this," I explained, keeping my voice low.

"She has heart issues," he advised, just as low. "Pretty severe ones. We need to keep her calm and evened out, okay?"

"Absolutely, honey," I agreed.

My back pocket vibrated again.

Aw, cream cheese with strawberries.

It was Ricki.

"Hey, Ricks, what's up," I answered.

Her squeal was so loud I had to pull the phone from my ear.

"He was at your bakery? Ohmigod. Ohmigod. Ohmigod," she panted. "Did you see him? Did he talk or just point in that badass, rocker way? Is he as gorgeous as the poster?"

"Slow down," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Tell me everything, Lace! Absolutely everything!" Her voice was still too loud and I was sure that I'd lost the hearing in one ear.

I saw Jax roll his eyes too, before he left the living room going towards the kitchen. Probably to check on Grams.

I paused. I wanted to be truthful yet now was not the time, nor the place to have this particular conversation.

"I didn't wait on him, Ricks," I said, glad I wasn't lying. If I needed to, I would. "I took the morning off and Beth was the one that called me about it."

"This thing they're saying about you being his lover, though…" she asked, except I wouldn't let her finish.

"C'mon, Ricks. If I was with Jax Wynter do you honestly think I would write it across the sky?" I asked. And that, too, wasn't a lie. I wasn't denying I was with him, just only saying I wouldn't announce it to the world. "Honestly, I don't know any more than you do."

"Well, crap. Here I was all excited that my best friend was doing the nasty with the God of Rock. Oh! They just got another sighting. I've got to go, Lace," she announced before she disconnected.