Page 6 of Agent of the Heart (Hearts in Hawthorne #3)

Chapter

Three

J ace pulled up to the Hawthorne Inn and cut the engine to his Porsche. He sat for a moment, wondering if he were doing the right thing by coming to Hawthorne.

After being disappointed in barely missing out on meeting Eli in Houston, he had decided to bide his time.

Since Eli was starting a new job, Jace didn’t want to barge into his brother’s new life and upset the proverbial applecart.

Instead, he forced all thoughts of Eli to the back of his mind, doubling down at work and focusing on his current clients, as well as trying to sign new ones.

Still, he contacted Crawford and told the investigator to keep an eye on Eli for six months. He wanted his brother settled before making contact with him.

Crawford had met with Jace two weeks ago, his report thorough, as always.

Eli was thriving in his job as the medical director for Hogan Health Hawthorne.

He was well thought of in the community and by his superiors at Hogan’s corporate headquarters in Austin.

He had begun a relationship with an employee at the hospital, Autumn Sutherland, and it looked to be serious.

Crawford had even done a background check on Autumn, learning she was a nurse in Houston for years, though not at the same hospital Eli had worked.

She’d been hired to be the Director of Nursing at the new hospital.

Autumn had roots in Hawthorne, with her father being the superintendent of schools and her mother the head librarian at the city’s public library.

Jace actually knew who Autumn was—because her brother was a client of his.

West Sutherland had recently retired from the NFL and had taken a job as an assistant coach at the high school he’d graduated from.

When its head coach suffered a heart attack and decided to retire, West had been tapped to take the reins of Hawthorne High School’s football program.

West was still a client of Jace’s, having promotional deals in place for the next few years, but they hadn’t spoken in several months.

It truly was a small world, with West’s little sister now dating Jace’s older brother.

He got out of his sports car and retrieved a weekender bag before entering the inn. Thankfully, there had been a cancelation, which had allowed him to book a room for this Labor Day weekend. He didn’t know if he’d stay the entire time.

It would depend upon how his meeting with Eli went. Whenever that occurred.

Jace still didn’t know how to approach his brother.

Whether Eli would even remember him or not.

He tried not to pin his hopes on their meeting turning out to be successful.

At worst, Eli would want to have nothing to do with him, and Jace could walk away, knowing he’d at least tried to rekindle a relationship with his older brother.

At best, Eli would welcome him, with the possibility of them having a future relationship.

He checked in and received his room key, an actual key that fit into the lock of a door.

The inn was over one hundred years old and had originally been the family residence of an oil baron.

The family had died out after a few generations, with the house falling into disrepair.

It was only within the last five years that it had been purchased and turned into a successful B&B.

“We do have a Sunday brunch, Mr. Tanner,” the desk clerk informed him. “It is included in the price of your room. If you’d like to take advantage of it, just let me know. I can reserve a table for you.”

“Thank you. I’ll think about it.”

Going upstairs, he quickly unpacked and changed into jeans and a polo shirt.

He’d made sure to bring one in green since the Hawks had a home game tonight.

Eli was the physician on call at the stadium and would be on the sidelines.

Jace planned to attend the game and study his brother, trying to learn more about him than what Crawford’s report had revealed or what Jace had read about Eli on the internet.

He returned to the desk, asking the clerk how far the stadium was from the inn.

“I’d walk to Hawks Field if I were you, Mr. Tanner. Usually, it’s about a five-minute drive, but with it being the first home game tonight, the place’ll be packed. You could bypass the traffic on the road and get there in about fifteen minutes on foot.”

The clerk gave him directions, and Jace set out, seeing the game started in just under an hour.

He’d already driven around the town when he’d arrived, even passing by Eli’s house, which was a perk provided to him by Hogan Health.

It was a beautiful Colonial, with a well-manicured lawn and large oak tree in the front yard, a far cry from the ratty apartments they’d lived in growing up.

He quickly found the masses headed toward the football stadium, which was located next to Hawthorne High School.

The desk clerk’s advice had been on target, and Jace was able to reach the stadium without trouble.

He saw several groups of people standing by, chatting.

Some even tailgated in the parking lot. He kept an eye out for Eli but never saw him.

West would have been in the stadium for hours, seeing his team through warmups and then giving them a final pep talk in the locker room before they took to the field.

Not wanting to stick out, he stopped at the concession stand and bought a Dr Pepper and bag of popcorn before finding a spot near the top of the bleachers. From here, he had a great view of the field.

He also spotted Eli talking with West Sutherland.

The two men conversed congenially. Jace assumed since West’s sister was dating Eli, they had met on more than one occasion. West was, hands down, Jace’s favorite client. It made him feel good to see West so comfortable in Eli’s presence.

He continued to watch Eli after West took to the field to supervise drills.

His brother was also taking in everything, talking with others, walking around.

Eli even ventured over to the other team’s bench and introduced himself to the coach.

The more he saw of Eli, the more eager Jace became to approach him.

Searching the crowd, he spotted Autumn Sutherland’s auburn hair.

She was standing with a woman who had to be her twin.

Jace recalled West mentioning his younger sisters were twins.

While they favored one another in the face, Autumn was several inches shorter and curvier than Summer, who had honey blond hair and a willowy frame.

They took a seat and then a few minutes later, waved to two other women, who mounted the stairs and joined them.

He heard someone call out to the tall one with raven hair and realized she was Kelby, West’s new wife.

But it was the woman with her that really drew his attention.

The sunlight hit her caramel hair, causing it to gleam with an array of colors.

She was compact, with a small frame to go along with her small breasts and waist. But even from several rows up, he saw her radiant smile and lively eyes.

She was pretty, but it was more the vivacious spirit that seemed to fill her that made her even more attractive.

This would be a woman worth getting to know.

And Jace rarely bothered learning much about any woman.

He had dated only casually over the years.

Though his good looks drew women to him easily, he had never wanted to be tied down to one woman.

Work was his focus, and he believed females were a mere distraction.

When he did go out for social engagements, it was always with a different beautiful woman on his arm.

Most had little to no personality and only wanted to be seen with him because of who he was, hoping they might have access to his impressive stable of clients.

He watched the woman as she took a seat with West’s wife and two sisters. It was odd, being so intrigued with a stranger. Perhaps when he met Eli, he would also be introduced to Autumn.

And this woman.

Turning his attention again to his brother, Jace suddenly felt a chill race along his spine.

Eli must have sensed his presence somehow, because he turned and began searching the stands in earnest. Immediately, Jace lifted the Dr Pepper, placing it so that it blocked most of his face.

He took a long drag on the straw, drinking until the entire soft drink was gone, a loud sucking noise alerting him his cup was empty.

Lowering the paper cup, he saw Eli had turned away.

Still, it spooked him—so much that he changed seats, moving from the center of the field down to the five-yard line. He kept near the top of the stands, though. People quickly filled in the seats around him, the game ready to begin.

Jace had wanted to play football, but his parents were against it.

They thought the sport too violent, fussing over him.

He convinced them to let him go out for basketball, and he’d played guard both in middle school and high school.

His parents had no interest in sports and had never attended a single game he’d played in.

Sometimes, he marveled at the fact that they had wanted another child when they spent a vast majority of their time ignoring him.

During the fourth quarter, the Hawthorne quarterback went down with an injury.

Eli raced onto the field, immediately rendering aid to the player.

After several minutes, the teen was carted off the field, with Eli accompanying him to the locker room.

The back-up went in and didn’t seem to have any jitters.

Eli appeared again, and the Hawks won the game handily.

Jace blended into the crowd, leaving the stadium. Ironically, he wound up only a few feet behind his mystery woman and Summer Sutherland, who accompanied an older couple. He heard Summer call the woman Darby .

It suited her.

He bypassed the traffic, returning to the Hawthorne Inn on foot. He went up to his room and stripped off the clothes he’d worn to the game. Feeling sticky after hours in the humidity, he jumped into the shower. It might be September, but Texas was still hot as hell.

He dried off and checked his email, a habit he couldn’t seem to break.

He responded to a few and then sent a text to Crawford, who preferred receiving those to an email.

Jace asked if Crawford had learned anything new about Eli that was worth sharing and told Crawford he would approach his brother tomorrow.

Tonight had helped Jace make up his mind.

He would talk to Eli and see if there was anything between them.

He would try not to be disappointed if nothing came of their conversation.

As he turned back the covers, his cell dinged and he picked it up, seeing Crawford had replied.

Source just informed me that Eli applied for a marriage license today with Autumn Sutherland. Will find out when ceremony is and let you know.

It surprised him that his brother was marrying so quickly.

Eli hadn’t known Autumn long. Then again, Jace knew next to nothing about his brother’s personal life.

Eli hadn’t seemed to have much of one before he left his job managing the ER in Houston.

Maybe his new job and living in a small town had changed his brother’s way of thinking.

Jace fell asleep, clinging to hope that Eli might want his brother in his life.