Seasons (29 page)

They finally reached a truce, realizing that her need for independence, and his need to protect, made it a temporary one.
They both knew this would be an ongoing issue.

“Are you working today?”

“No, I took the day off.”

“Will you come back to the office with me? I could really use your help. Your hard work yesterday helped me get relocated
a lot quicker. But now, I need your help getting the new office unpacked and set up. Besides that, there’s a line of people
waiting to kick my butt if I don’t bring you back with me.”

“I guess so. But I’m not promising how long I’ll stay. Have you heard anything from Linda today?”

“No! And I confess I’m concerned about what she might do next. She’s crazy. That’s another reason I’d like to keep you close
to me. If I didn’t have so much to do today, we’d go and file charges against her, but hopefully we’ll be able to do it tomorrow.”

“I’m not afraid of her.”

“I know you’re not,” he said with a sardonic look. “I’ve heard several versions of how you took her down. But I am scared,
and I don’t intend for her to get close enough to you to hurt you.”

“Here we go again!” Jaci said in exasperation. “I can take care of myself, Jason!”

“Maybe. Come on, ride with me.”

Tired of arguing, she almost agreed, but the thought of not having her own transportation so she could leave when she got
ready prompted her to say, “No, I’ll drive myself.”

When he began to argue she retaliated, “Look, you’d better be glad I’ve agreed to go with you. Don’t make me change my mind.”

I
t’s almost Christmas!
Maxie thought peevishly as he headed toward Jacetta’s house. Randi made him wait all this time before contacting him. Despite
his efforts, he hadn’t been able to force a meeting with his daughter until she and her mother were good and ready. He pestered
Jacetta, leaving messages that she never responded to, or if she happened to answer when he called, she only said, “I’m out
of it, it’s between you and Randi,” before hanging up. His demands that she at least talk to him and tell him what was going
on went unanswered.

The only thing that pleased him was their agreement to meet at Jacetta’s house. That was right up his alley. He couldn’t have
planned it better himself.

Finally, he would have the opportunity not only to meet his daughter and grandchildren, but also to satisfy his curiosity
about Jacetta. He really wanted to see the woman who had teased his senses with that husky, sexy voice for months. He pressed
down a little harder on the accelerator, anxious to get there.

He found his way to Jacetta’s street and noticed there were cars already parked in the driveway and along the street in front
of the house. Oh well, he thought. Looks like a real party’s going on. He rang the doorbell and waited.

A beautiful, curvaceous woman dressed in navy capri pants with a navy and gold matching top opened the door and motioned him
in. Silky, thick, reddish-brown hair hung to her shoulders in loose curls, and skin that had the look and smoothness of honey
tempted him to reach out and touch it.
Wow! Who is this?
he thought to himself. He entered the foyer and looked to his immediate left through an archway that led into a spacious
formal living room, where several adults were laughing and talking as they ate from plates piled high with food. He followed
the woman farther into the house, admiring her shapely legs and still wondering who she was.

They entered a family room occupied by more people. On the opposite wall, sliding patio doors provided a view of the backyard,
where he saw a large swimming pool. It was too cold to swim, but the yard was full of activity—people playing a loud game
of volleyball and children running around getting in their way. He could hear a baby crying somewhere in the house as he searched
faces, trying to pick Jacetta and Randi out of the crowd.

“Randi!” The woman who had let him in stuck her head around the door leading into the hallway and called out in a loud voice,
“Maxie’s here.”

His head snapped around as he looked closely at the woman. Shock registered on his face as he asked, “Jacetta?” He couldn’t
believe the beautiful woman standing before him was the same woman he remembered only vaguely.

A dramatic change had taken place in her appearance. Gone was the chubbiness, the short Afro hairstyle, the bad complexion.
The woman didn’t say anything, simply stared back at him from large green eyes set in a heart-shaped face with high cheekbones
and a flawless complexion. The bow-shaped, kissable lips tempted him to lean down and taste them. But before that thought
could take root, a tall muscular man stood up from the sofa and stepped between him and Jacetta, effectively blocking his
view and his haywire temptations.

“I’m J.P. Gilmore. And, yes, this is Jacetta, but she’s known as Jaci to all her family and friends now.” He slipped a possessive
arm around Jaci’s slender waist as he spoke. “Randi and the baby will be out in a moment. You want to have a seat or help
yourself to some food or refreshments?”

Maxie realized the man was effectively staking his claim. He sat down in the recliner in the corner directly behind him. Noticing
all eyes were focused on the interchange among himself, the man, and Jaci, he sought a way to divert the attention from them.
“No thanks. I’m fine right now.” Ignoring J.P., he spoke to Jaci. “Nice home you have here, Jaci. I’m sure your neighbor across
the street told you I came by to see you a while back. How long have you lived here?”

“Ten years,” she answered, and made no other effort to continue the conversation.

“Looks like a pretty nice neighborhood. Quiet and peaceful.”
Not like my drug-infested, run-down neighborhood,
he thought to himself.

“It is.”

He was floundering. The next question in his mind was, do you live here alone? But he thought better of asking it, with the
Gilmore guy standing there watching him like a hawk. He was wondering what to say or do next, when a slender younger man stepped
up to him, hand extended.

“Hi, I’m John, Randi’s husband. Our son Sean is running around outside in the backyard. If you want, I’ll take you out and
introduce you. Randi’s changing the baby, so she might be a while.”

That sounded like a good plan to Maxie. He didn’t particularly want to go outside, but anywhere was better than this tension-filled
room. He stood and followed John through the patio doors.

His son-in-law called to a little boy engaged in some kind of game with a teenage boy and another child. The boy looked when
he heard his name and frowned as his daddy told him to come.

He shook his head. “No.”

“Sean, come here. You can go back in a minute.” John walked across the patio, took the little boy from the teenager who had
scooped him up, and walked back over to Maxie.

“Sean, this man is Mommy’s daddy. He’s your other papa.”

The little boy looked at Maxie and shook his head emphatically. “No!”

“Remember, Mommy told you about your other papa.”

The little boy looked at Maxie again, then said, “P’ay pease.” He pointed to the other children running around the yard, anxious
to get back into the game.

“Hey, little fella, come talk to me.” Maxie reached out to take the child from John, but Sean cowered, hugging his daddy close.
Maxie dropped his arms, a strange feeling of disappointment settling in his heart.

“Nice-looking little fellow,” Maxie said to John.

John looked at Maxie with a shrug of his shoulders, turned, and put Sean down. Sean’s plump little legs immediately went into
action as he ran back to the other children.

“Yeah. Some say he looks just like his mother. Of course, me and my folks all think he looks like me. I guess he just looks
like himself.”

Maxie sat down in one of the lawn chairs under the covered patio.
Nice,
he thought, looking around the yard. Even without the pool, it was a nice yard.

The patio door opened and a young woman who had to be Randi walked out. She looked so much like Jacetta they could have been
sisters. She walked over to him. “Hi, I’m Randi.”

Maxie searched her face in an effort to decipher her feelings, but like her mother, Randi had a closed, distant expression.

Giving her his most charming smile, he took her hand in his and held it. “You don’t know how much I’ve looked forward to this.
If I’d had my way, we wouldn’t be meeting for the first time today. I’ve tried but . . . Well, you have to ask your mother
about that. She’s the one who . . .”

“Uh, Uh! Stop right there!” Randi said. Snatching her hand out of his and putting her finger in his face, she calmly continued.
“Let’s get this understood right now. I don’t want to hear any negative remarks about my mother. You see, when I was fifteen,
we drove all over Dallas and made numerous phone calls looking for you. And that was just the last time. Every time I asked
my mom about you, she tried to find you. My mom never put you down or said anything negative about you to me. But I’m not
stupid. I know how we had to struggle and how hard my mother had to work to take care of us. And I know who wasn’t there to
help. So don’t even try that, mister.”

As Maxie stood there with his mouth hanging open, Randi continued her barrage. “My mother has asked that we leave her out
of any relationship we establish. I promised her I would. I’m letting you know right now, if you want to get to know me and
your grandchildren, I don’t even want to hear her name coming out of your mouth. I don’t need you in my life now, but I’ve
been taught to forgive and to love everyone. That’s what I’m trying to do. I hope you comprehend what I’m saying. If you can’t
handle it, then you’d better leave right now.”

His daughter’s words rattled him. The self-assured young woman made it clear, he could take a hike off of a short pier as
far as she was concerned. And for one of a very few times in his life, Maxie was at a complete loss for an appropriate response.
“I wasn’t trying to put your mother down. I was just saying . . .”

“Yes, you were!” both Randi and John stated. Several pairs of eyes were riveted on them by now and the young man playing with
Sean came to stand next to Randi, looking at him with an angry expression.

“Want me to throw him out, Randi?”

“Nooo! Patrick, just be cool, I’m okay.”

Patrick threw him a dirty look, then took a few steps away and stood leaning against one of the patio posts, where he continued
to toss threatening looks at Maxie.

“Who is that?” Maxie asked.

“My brother,” Randi calmly answered.

Surprise and other questioning expressions ran across Maxie’s face.
Brother?
George hadn’t mentioned Jacetta having another child! Oh man. This was getting more complicated than he expected. But nobody
was throwing him out until he got ready to go, he thought to himself, remembering the beautiful woman inside who was now called
Jaci.

“I didn’t know Jaci had any other children.”

“Patrick is my stepbrother.” Randi didn’t know why she stopped short of saying, “to be.” She and Patrick met each other only
months ago, but they quickly formed an easy alliance and friendship with one another, jokingly plotting how they could push
their parents over the broom.

“Ohhhh . . .” Maxie responded, still with a puzzled look but not saying anything else.

The door opened again and Gilmore stepped out. “Pat! Come here a minute.”

With a look on his face that said he knew he was in trouble, Patrick walked slowly toward his dad and followed the man inside.

“Is that his . . . ?” Maxie began.

“Uh, uh, uh.” Randi held her hand up. “Remember. This is about you and me. Anything else is none of your business.”

P
at, what do you think you’re doing out there? I would have left your butt at home if I had known you were going to come over
here and jump into something that’s none of your business.”

“But, Pop, that dude was . . .”

“No, no. Now we all talked about this before anybody else got here and decided to let Randi deal with her father. Now if you
can’t do any better, you’d better go ahead and leave.”

“Okay, okay!” Patrick answered quickly, not ready to leave. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not gonna let him bad-talk Jaci.
And all I was saying was that I would throw his behind out of here.”

“I know that, son.” J.P. was proud of Patrick for wanting to defend Jaci. It showed how deeply he felt about her. “But Pat,
let me look out for Jaci, okay? I’m an old man, but I’m up to it.”

“Yeah, okay. But I’ma keep my eye on him. That dude is slick, Pop.”

“Another word and you’re out of here. And I’m keeping my eye on you.”

W
ith the help of Jason, her cousin C.J., and Lena, Jaci worked to replenish the quickly disappearing food. As she carried on,
she fought tumultuous emotions. Jaci didn’t like the idea of Maxie’s coming to her house to meet her daughter and grandchildren,
but she had been outvoted by Randi and Jason. She would rather have had Maxie go to Randi’s house for the meeting, leaving
her totally out of it. But both Randi and Jason, after listening to Maxie’s persistent messages on her answering machine,
felt that a big part of Maxie’s insistence on this visit was about Jaci, not about meeting his daughter.

Jaci agreed with them that Maxie probably wanted to satisfy his curiosity about her and reluctantly agreed with their plan.
Both Randi and Jason were so protective of her that they didn’t want her to go through a scene with Maxie alone. So here they
were—in the midst of a face-off with tensions so thick they couldn’t be cut with a sharp knife.

Jaci watched from the kitchen window as Randi spoke to Maxie. Although she couldn’t hear what Randi said, she could tell by
the expression on her face that Maxie had said something to upset her. And when Patrick ran over to them, she knew things
were not going well. She motioned to Jason to come to the window. He got there in time to see Patrick giving Maxie a dirty
look before walking away.