Page 29 of Agent of the Heart (Hearts in Hawthorne #3)
Chapter
Eighteen
J ace left the TTM offices just after ten on Saturday morning.
He’d been up since five, getting in a lengthy workout before showering and heading to the office to meet with a client in town for the weekend.
Tevin Wakeland’s Detroit Lions had an off-week, and so he had headed to Dallas to see his former high school play last night.
He was going to shoot a commercial while in town.
Penny and Elena would be overseeing things, but Jace had wanted to drop by and say hello.
He liked his clients to know he was hands on.
He did pull Elena aside, telling her to text him once the shoot finished.
“You’re not sticking around?” she asked, clearly surprised.
“I’m going up to Hawthorne to see my brother and sister-in-law for the day. I may not come back until tomorrow.”
She smiled at him. “Good for you, Jace. It’s nice that you’re not working the entire weekend. Time with Eli will be nice.” She hesitated. “Have you been in contact with Darby?”
“She’s back in KC. I may touch base with her this weekend.”
His assistant pursed her lips, looking unhappy. “If you screw this up, you know I’m going to take her side. Because she’ll be right.” Elena paused. “And I’ll be hell to work with. Just keep that in mind. Treat her right, Jace. Darby is a keeper.”
“Thanks for your advice, Dr. Elena. Let me know when our next therapy session is.”
She put fisted hands on her hips. “Therapy wouldn’t hurt, you know. You come with a lot of baggage, Jace. A lot . I don’t know what it is, but I know you well enough to get that you have a lot weighing on you. Connecting with Eli is a start, but you could use some professional guidance.”
“You better be glad I like your work so much because you’re crossing a line, Elena,” he cautioned. “Let’s leave my private life private.”
She sniffed and walked away, going back to Tevin and checking on him. Jace regretted bringing Darby to the office because he had kept much of his private life quiet. Sure, he had his professional biography on the agency’s website and LinkedIn, but no one really knew much about the real Jace.
Except for Darby.
He hoped Eli would, as well. He’d been able to open up to his brother and Autumn some, but he knew after years of being separated, it was going to take time to grow comfortable with his brother and vice versa. Fortunately, Eli seemed to be a patient guy, and Autumn was very encouraging.
Jace went to tell Tevin goodbye and ask if he needed anything.
“Nah. I’m good. You’ve really come through for me, Jace. I’m happy with my contract and the new endorsements. I may be sending a couple of guys your way soon. One is my favorite wide receiver. The other is a former teammate at LSU. I told them you’d take good care of them.”
“Happy to meet with them. I can fly to where they are. Zoom. FaceTime. Whatever they’re comfortable doing.”
“I’ll let ’em know,” Tevin said.
“Okay, I’m off. Going to see my brother and his new wife.”
“Have fun, man,” Tevin said. “Catch you later.”
He shook hands with Tevin and left, returning to his car. Traffic was light, and he made good time, reaching the outskirts of Hawthorne by eleven-twenty and Eli’s house by eleven-thirty.
The door opened, and Atticus came bounding toward him. He knelt and petted the rescue, telling him what a good boy he was. Eli ambled over, and Jace stood.
“You ever think about getting a dog?” his brother asked. “You sure seem to get along with Atticus.”
“No. Too busy.”
“That was my reason. I worked in my ER eighteen or more hours a day. Slept and showered at home and that was about it. I didn’t think it was fair to leave a dog all alone for so many hours. Now that I’ve got steady hours, though, Atticus has been really good company. He’s a gentle soul.”
“I’m sure he’ll be good around kids.” Jace paused. “I assume you’re already trying, even though you’re newlyweds.”
“We are,” Eli confirmed. “I’m thirty-four. Autumn is about to turn thirty. One thing we’re sure about is starting a family quickly.” He grinned. “And the trying for one is pretty fun. Come on in.”
They started toward the house, Atticus following them. Inside, Autumn greeted Jace, giving him a tight hug.
“Thank you for coming up,” she said. “We’re happy to have you any time.”
“Same with me. I’ve got room for you at my condo. If you want a taste of big city life again, you’re welcome to come down. We could have dinner. See a play. Or I could drag you to one of the many charity events I’m invited to.”
“That would be fun,” she said. “We’ll definitely take you up on it. Are you hungry?”
“I rarely eat breakfast. Yes, I’m definitely hungry.”
“We’re going to grab lunch at the local diner,” Eli said. “Then Autumn said you and I have got the entire afternoon together. I’m sure we’ll find some trouble to get ourselves in.”
They went to the Hawthorne town square and parked in front of Dizzy’s Diner.
Jace wasn’t about to admit that he’d never eaten in a diner.
His university professor parents had been snobs, belittling fast food joints and small Mom and Pop places in favor of fine dining experiences.
While he’d eaten his fair share of fast food while at A&M, Jace had never set foot inside a diner.
An older man greeted them. Eli even hugged him.
“Dizzy, I’d like you to meet my younger brother, Jace. Jace, this is Dizzy, the first friend I made in Hawthorne. He owns the place.”
The diner owner beamed at Jace and offered his hand.
“Nice to meet ya, Jace. Your brother wandered in here, looking lost as a lamb. I told him a little about Hawthorne, and he landed the job at Triple H. We’re so happy to have him here.
” Dizzy looked to Autumn. “And always glad to have you stop by, Autumn.” To Jace, he added, “Autumn’s parents have been eating here for decades. ”
Dizzy grabbed three menus from a stack near the register. “Let’s get you a booth and some good food.”
A server brought them three glasses of water, while Eli told Jace that while everything was good, he couldn’t go wrong with the chicken fried steak or meatloaf.
“I’ll take the meatloaf,” Jace said. “With green beans and squash.”
“No,” Eli said. “Trade one of those for the mashed potatoes. They’re out of this world.”
Dizzy waved his hand. “You can have those vegetables, plus a bowl of potatoes.”
Autumn and Eli ordered, and then Dizzy departed for the kitchen.
“He’s quite a character.”
“Dizzy’s got a heart of gold,” Eli said. “He was so friendly when I met him. It’s people like Dizzy that make Hawthorne special.”
The server returned with the iced teas they’d ordered, and ten minutes later, their food arrived. Jace tried the meatloaf first and sighed after the first bite.
“That’s amazing.”
“Keep eating,” Eli encouraged. “Everything is good.”
His brother was right, especially about the mashed potatoes, which were covered in a cream gravy speckled with black pepper.
After eating at Adelina’s and now Dizzy’s Diner, he realized there was something after all to a smaller establishment.
He could see Darby in a place like this, and a yearning for her washed over him.
When they finished their meals, Dizzy asked if they wanted dessert.
“I’m pretty full,” Jace said.
“Let’s split one. The three of us,” Autumn suggested. “You can’t leave Dizzy’s without trying a slice of pie.”
They talked it over and decided to go with the coconut cream pie. Between the three of them, he only had a few bites, but it was the perfect way to top off a meal.
Jace pulled out his credit card, but Eli waved it away, saying, “Dizzy won’t charge you for your meal. I’ll pay for ours.”
“Why wouldn’t he charge me?”
“Your first time eating here,” Autumn said. “Dizzy always comps a first meal. He just hopes you return for a second, third, and fourth.”
They told the diner owner goodbye and returned to the house, where Eli said, “I’d love to take you to Triple H and show you around. Are you up for a tour?”
He knew how proud his brother was of the hospital. “That sounds like a terrific idea, Eli.”
His brother kissed his wife. “We’ll be back.”
“It’ll be a while,” she warned Jace. “There’s a lot to see.”
“I’m eager to view everything,” he replied. “Even though Eli is involved in the medical field, he may show me something or I may see something that might transfer to my sports agency. I’m always looking for new ideas and different ways to approach things.”
“Y’all have fun,” Autumn said.
They took Jace’s two-seater this time, parking in the spot reserved for Eli.
Chuckling, he said, “Folks are going to wonder if I’m having a mid-life crisis a decade early if they see this fancy sports car parked here.”
“Maybe you should try driving one. I think you’d enjoy it. In fact, why don’t you drive us home?”
Eli shook his head. “As much as I’d want a baby like this, I want a human baby more. That means car seats—and this Porsche isn’t built for that.”
Once inside, Eli took Jace floor by floor.
The facility was clean and modern and didn’t have a trace of that hospital smell which permeated so many other medical buildings.
Everywhere they went, his brother greeted workers by name.
In turn, they all seemed happy to see him.
Usually, no one was glad to cross pass with the big boss, but it was apparent that Eli had made a positive impression on his staff, as well as the folks in Hawthorne.
Their final stop was his office. They sat for a few minutes, with Eli telling him some about the differences in the Hogan Health system verses other healthcare companies.
It wasn’t anything Jace didn’t already know, having received a thorough report from Crawford on Eli and his place of employment.
He listened all the same, interested in Eli’s take on things, happy to be in his brother’s company after decades apart.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to talk your ear off. Ready to go home?” Eli asked.
“Sure.”