Promises (9 page)

“Because Arnie got into my house.”  Reaching under the dashboard, Jason popped the bonnet.

“Really?”  Luke didn’t shift from his position against the side of the car.  “Bet that was a surprise first thing in the morning.”

“It was a surprise last night.”

“You woke up with his furry bum in your face?”  Luke gave a snort of laughter.  “I’d have paid to see that.”

“Actually, I surprised Izzy and her friend contemplating breaking into my house to rescue Arnie.”

“Breaking in?  That’d be something to - wait a minute.” Luke frowned.  “Did this friend have red hair and an attitude?”

“Don’t know about an attitude, but yeah, she’s a redhead.”

“Mikki.”  Luke shook his head.  “Figured she’d be trying to break in.”

“You obviously know her.”

“Know her?  That woman is a menace.”  Luke followed Jason into the garage.

That was interesting.  “So what’d she do to you?”

“Do to me?”  Luke grabbed the deep tray used to catch the old engine oil.  “That woman almost ruined me.”

Jason picked up the tools he needed and headed back outside.  “What happened?”

“I did a landscaping quote for her grandmother and Mikki saw it.  I was right there when she called me a thieving hound and said she knew someone who could do it for half the cost.”

Jason grinned.

“The worst thing was, her grandmother listened to her.”

“Mikki’s a landscaper?”

“No, she’s a menace.  Didn’t you hear that part?”

Jason gave a ‘continue’ gesture with his hand.

Luke dropped the tray with a scowl.  “The landscaper Mikki knew was her then-boyfriend’s brother-in-law, and a bloody joke.  Or more precisely, a blight on the landscaping profession.  He buggered up that yard good and proper.”  Luke’s grin was pure evil joy.  “Her grandmother rang me up pleading for help.”

“You get enjoyment a lot from making old ladies beg?”

“No, from telling her I’d do it only if Mikki asked me.”

“And she refused?”

“I made Mikki beg.”  Luke’s grin grew more wolfish.

Jason flicked a glance over the items required for the service.  “She doesn’t seem like the begging type.”

“She’s not, and that’s why it was so good.  Her grandmother insisted on me doing it and Mikki, who’d mucked it up bloody royally, had to listen.”  He rubbed his hands together.  “One of the highlights of my life.”

Amused, Jason watched his cousin.  “You really enjoyed making her beg?”

“Bloody oath.”

“How come I didn’t know about this?”

“Mikki doesn’t hang in the same circles as me.”

“I wonder why.”

“No accounting for taste.”

“And what happened hardly equates as almost ruining you.”

“Jason, anyone who mentions ‘half price’ has the chance to ruin my business.”

“Reputation keeps businesses afloat.”

“Whatever.”  Luke stuck his hands in his pockets.

Jason eyed him.

“I’m helping,” Luke assured him.

Last time he’d said that, Luke had sat on the step drinking Iced Coffee and gossipping while Jason had done the dirty work.  For a man who made his living in dirt, Luke was surprisingly fussy about oil and grease.

Jason jerked a thumb at the car.  “Your car.”

“I’m impressed you noticed.”  Luke disappeared into the house, came back out seconds later to pop the tab on a can of Coke.  “You haven’t started yet?”

“You in a hurry?”

“Got a date tonight.”

So had Jason’s mother.  That thought had a slight frown crease his brow.

“Oh, sweetheart.”  Luke made a sympathetic face.  “I’ll take you out next weekend, I promise.”

Jason flipped him the bird.

Dropping down onto the step, Luke took a mouthful of Coke and sighed blissfully.  “This is the life.”

It really was no use.

Shaking his head, Jason started the service on his cousin’s car, letting Luke’s voice wash over him as he conversed about anything and everything.  He really didn’t mind, not when Luke was more likely to stuff up the job and make it take twice as long.  One thing Jason liked was tinkering with cars.

Glancing at the house next door, he wondered what Izzy did to unwind.  Maybe he’d find out one day.  Then again…he frowned as he worked automatically.  It’d been awhile since he’d dated, he never got serious with girls, just had a date here, a date there, nothing more.  Serious dating he’d never been into, not when he’d been a troublemaker back in Gully’s Fall.  It wasn’t helped by his reputation and the fact that decent women hadn’t been of interest to him - apart from one who’d been way out of his league back then.  He’d been young, troubled, and well on his way to earning gaol time in his near future.

His mother always said the day Brand had raised a hand to her had been both a curse and a blessing - a curse because it meant that her son had taken after his father, a blessing because it got her and Jason out of there and to a new beginning and a new life.

But Jason had to wonder, just how far did the apple fall from the rotten tree?  If push came to shove, would he find more of his father in him than he wanted?  Jesus, just the thought of raising a hand to a woman turned his stomach, the memories of his smart-alec, degrading taunts at women enough to make him cringe, the way he’d treated them as little more than a soft body to shove into to relieve his lust bringing a sour taste to his mouth now, but still he feared what might be in his genes.

To be truthful, that was probably why he’d never cared that no woman interested him much.  Getting serious meant facing doubts and fears he didn’t want to.  Goddamn truth.

“Hey.”  Luke squatted down beside the car to nudge Jason’s leg.  “You okay under there?  Not dead or anything, are you?”

The diversion was so very bloody welcome.  “Worried it’ll reflect on your reputation?”

“More worried that the car is half serviced, no oil, and I’ll have to hire a car for my date tonight.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be done on time.”

There was silence for several seconds, then, “You spaced out a bit there, mate.  Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine.”

“You sure?  ‘Cause you can tell me anything, right?”

“My balls have been a bit itchy lately-”  He stopped with a chuckle as Luke gave his leg a light kick.  “Hey, man, you asked.”

“Never again.  Just never again.”

Grinning, Jason went back to work, but not before casting the fence between his house and Izzy’s a look.  Maybe keeping his distance was a wise thing for now.

Luke hung around until after lunch before heading home to do some chores and get ready for his date.

Jason worked on the banister he’d started the previous weekend, replacing railings that wobbled, steps that bowed under his feet and squeaked, and finally polished it all.  By the time he’d finished it was shiny and as good as new.

Satisfied, he showered and left the house, intent on heading over to his uncle’s to meet his mother’s date.  Talk about a strange situation.

Sticking the key in the work utes door, he glanced over to see an old sedan parked on the side of the road in front of Izzy’s house.  Someone sat in the driver’s seat, their profile turned towards the house, but in the growing gloom he couldn’t make out if it was a man or woman.

Izzy’s house was dark, so she was probably out.

Getting into the ute Jason started the engine then waited, watching curiously as the car continued to idle beside the kerb.  Suddenly the headlights flashed on and the car pulled away.  With inbred cautiousness - labelled paranoia by his younger cousin, Blue - Jason watched it turn onto the main road at the end of the street and disappear from sight before he reversed out of the driveway.

When he walked into his uncle’s house at precisely six thirty, it was to find his uncle sitting at the big kitchen table reading the newspaper with his empty dinner plate pushed aside.  At the corner of the table sat the thumping big Bible that had pride of place.

One of the first things he’d learned upon living with his uncle and cousins was that there were rules you were expected to follow.  The rules were few, simple, and etched in concrete.  No swearing at the dinner table, respect each other, do your chores, and don’t take the Lord’s name in vain.  Uncle Harris didn’t care if you cracked a dirty joke, squabbled, or even got into fisticuffs, but you did it all away from the kitchen table.  That table was made for family to sit around and share their day and worries as they ate.  It was neutral territory and a safe zone.

Jason grew to love that safe zone.  His days sharing meals at that table had warmed the cold corners of his lonely, lost heart.  In the six years since he and Lora had arrived, the young men of the household had gotten their own homes and left, leaving Lora and Harris in the big, old house, but nothing changed.  It was still Uncle Harris’s house, Uncle Harris’s rules, and it was the first real home Jason had ever known and still cherished.  Every man who left came back often for a cuppa, for meals, to visit, to talk.  It was home.

“G’day, son.”  Uncle Harris pointed to the chair opposite him.

“Hi.”  Jason sat down.

“Here to check your mother’s date?”

It was still the weirdest, creepiest thing he’d ever heard.  “Just want to meet him.”

Uncle Harris glanced up, a smile in his warm eyes.  “Yep.”

Jason tapped his fingertips on the table.

Uncle Harris’s gravely voice filled the room.  “Lora’s really looking forward to this.”

Jason didn’t have to guess what he meant.  “I won’t stuff it up for her.”

Uncle Harris’s gaze was steady.

“Just want to meet him,” Jason added.

The gaze remained steady.

Jason met that gaze just as steadily.

“Good.”  Uncle Harris nodded.  “You want a hot coffee or something?”

“No thanks.”

Closing the newspaper, Uncle Harris leaned back in the chair.  “Been working on the house?”

Glad to have the conversation return to something normal, Jason filled his uncle in on what he’d done and planned to continue with the next day.

“Sounds good, son.”  Uncle Harris looked towards the hallway as the doorbell rang.  “Reckon that’s Jim.  You mind getting the door?”  Never mind the fact that Jason was already halfway across the kitchen, his uncle didn’t let one ounce of amusement enter his voice.

Opening the door, Jason looked up. And up.  Holy crap, the hulking man at the door surely couldn’t be his mother’s date?  He had a cauliflower ear, a broken nose, and an old scar going right through his left eyebrow down to his left ear.  Smaller scars pocked his face.  He was big, swarthy, with what was once undoubtedly a trim, muscular figure going a little soft.  In one hand he held a small bouquet of violets.

“Hi,” the big bruiser greeted.  “I’m Jim Mason.”

Oh great.  Jason’s eyes narrowed a little.  “Jason.”

Jim’s battered face creased in pleasure.  “Lora’s son.  She’s told me a lot about you.”  One big hand stuck out.  “Pleased to meet you, Jason.  I’ve been looking forward to it.”

A hand like a leg of ham swallowed his, squeezed enthusiastically and pumped vigorously.

Jason managed to crack a small smile.  “She’s spoken about you, too.” 
Once
.

“She’s a good woman.”

“Yeah.”  Jason’s jaw tightened.  “A very good woman.”

Jim looked down at him, the ruined eyebrow rising slowly, understanding crossing his face.  “Do we need to talk?”

The blunt question might have caught anyone else off-guard, but Jason didn’t hesitate.  “My mother is a very good woman.  I just want you to remember that.  She has a lot of family who care about her.  She has me.”

Jim nodded slowly.  “I hear you.”

Bugger it, he knew he’d promised not to say too much, but Jason couldn’t help it.  He’d seen her hurt both physically, emtionally and mentally so many times in the past, no way was he going to allow it to again start.

Blocking the doorway, he said quietly, “You hurt her just once, in any way, and I will be on you so fast you won’t know what hit you.”

To anyone listening it probably sounded ludicrous.  Jason was strong but lean, whereas Jim had a bear-like height and build.  On the other hand, Jason knew from experience that size didn’t always matter in a fight - as long as one knew how to fight dirty, or how to quickly get the upper hand.  Didn’t always work, mind you, but it didn’t always fail, either.  For his mother, he’d take the risk.

Jim considered Jason for several seconds before he stuck out his big hand once more.  “I swear I will never hurt her.”

Jason considered him in turn.  There was a light of respect in Jim’s eyes and steadiness to his gaze that Jason liked, but he reserved judgement.  He gave Jim’s hand another shake.  “Okay.” 
We’ll see how it goes, Jimbo. 
Plus he liked the fact the man hadn’t called him ‘son’ and tried to be all gosh-fatherly.  That would have been really creepy.