Page 27 of Burning Love (Looking For Love #7)

REALLY FEEL FOR HIM

“ Y ou’re home early,” her mother said when she walked through the kitchen.

She could have entered through the downstairs, but she needed to vent and her mother was around for it.

“I am. I’m mad too.”

“Oh boy. Did you and Jace get in a fight?”

“Nope. He pissed me off and I left.”

Her mother lifted her eyebrows. “Do you need some wine for this?”

She debated for a minute. “Sure. I could use a glass.”

Aileen jumped up from where she was sitting in the family room, went to the wine fridge, and pulled a bottle out.

She grabbed the glasses and set them on the counter. Then Talia went in search of something fattening to snack on.

There were packaged cookies in the pantry so she pulled them out, then snatched the glass out of her mother’s hand and flopped on the couch and took a healthy sip.

“Are you going to tell me what is going on?”

“If I don’t, you’ll keep asking me.”

“Talia. If you didn’t want someone to talk to, you would have gone into your apartment through the downstairs.”

“And you would have known I was early and come down to see what was wrong anyway. I saved us both a step.”

Her mother laughed. “Yes, you did. So, save us even more and tell me.”

Might as well start at the beginning.

“West and Braylon found out that Jace was a center picture in a calendar for the fire department years ago.”

“Oh, my God. Now I remember where I saw him.”

“What?” she screeched. It was too much to think her mother might be ogling her boyfriend.

Yep, she said it again. Boyfriend.

Not just the guy she was dating.

Sleeping with.

Nope, the one she realized she was changing her feelings for.

She was going to have to give him a heads up so he could decide where to go.

The fact she stormed out tonight might have just decided it anyway.

He probably wouldn’t want to deal with it.

Her mother laughed. “I bought it years ago as they were raising money.”

“I never saw it.”

“It was in my office at work. But what’s the big deal? It was a work thing. I’ll have to give West a piece of my mind for getting upset over that. Even pulling Braylon into it.”

“I already did. By the end of the call Braylon was fine and West seemed to be. I know the age thing was the first part, but then the picture upset them more. There were a lot of comments about him from women and they were more concerned he was a playboy.”

“He’s thirty-seven, extremely good looking, and has never had a serious relationship. I’d say they have a right to be concerned.”

“You set me up,” she said, pointing her finger at her mother. “Just like you do everyone else. You wanted them to look into him and get on my case.”

Her mother smirked. “You’re defending Jace.”

Her shoulder slumped. “You’re so sneaky.”

“I wanted you to admit to yourself what you really feel for him.”

“I almost know how I feel. Or was starting to feel.”

“But now you’re not?” her mother asked. “What happened?”

She debated telling her mother. She knew she could trust her if it mattered.

This mattered.

“You’ll keep this to yourself?”

“Do I have to?” her mother asked.

“Yes. You’ve got to promise me this. It’s private and personal in Jace’s life. Not horrible, but still personal.”

“Fine. I’ll keep quiet.”

She told her mother about Jace’s mother and what happened in his life. “Isn’t that just horrible? What his mother did and then how wonderful his father was.”

“As a mother, I will tell you that I’d do anything to keep my children safe. To keep them with me. Maybe Stella felt threatened.”

“I don’t know. I didn’t say that and wouldn’t. It’s not my place and I wasn’t there.”

“That’s where you’re so much more mature than anyone gives you credit for, Talia. You know enough to be supportive and not judgmental.”

“Thank you, Mom,” she said, moving over to give her mother a hug. “Tell West that.”

“Your brother knows, but he’s always going to feel protective of you. All your brothers will.”

“Elias wasn’t bad.”

“I expected him to be worse. He’s been your biggest champion. You’ve proven yourself to your siblings and me where and when it matters. Let’s get back to you and Jace. He’s having a bad day. He opens up to you. And I have to say I’m a little stunned over that.”

“I was too. I think so was he. But he kept talking. He didn’t want me to see how upset it made him, but I couldn’t hold back my emotions either. What a great guy his father is.”

“Very much so. It takes a special person to do what Dean did. An even more special person for Lauren. That could have easily caused a rift in their marriage. I’m not so sure I’d be that accepting to find out that my husband had a secret child out there.”

“You would have been fine once you realized your husband didn’t even know.”

“I think you’re right. Move onto what the fight was about.”

“It wasn’t a fight, just me losing my patience with him. He told me his father brought up his family would like to meet me.”

“And he doesn’t want them to?”

“We didn’t get that far,” she admitted.

“I swear, Talia. It’s like pulling teeth.”

“I told him about my call with West.”

“Oh. Was he annoyed about that?”

“Boy, you don’t let me get this out before you ask more questions.”

She put her wine down and went for the cookies and tore them open.

“I can’t help it. Give me one of those.”

Talia gave her mother two of the hard chocolate chip cookies. It reminded her of the day she wanted to make cookies when she came home from traveling and Jace appeared in her life.

She started to sniffle and then cry.

“I’m sorry. I’m so confused. I’m never this confused.”

“Yes, you are. You’re an emotional creature like me. I used to burst into tears all the time at your age for no reason.”

“Really? And I’ve got a reason.”

“I had one too. I was alone in a foreign country with kids to raise by myself. Your father was there, but not around much. We lived in the States when he was deployed, but overseas, we were on base and it was lonely.”

“Which is why you had so many kids. I know. But you made those choices even if it was hard. Jace makes his choices too and they suck.”

She could see her mother was getting frustrated by the curling of her lips. “What choice did he make?”

“He says I’m better than him. Not the money or anything. That he’s damaged and I’m just a better person than he is. It’s like he opened this door to let me walk in tonight and before I get out of one room, he blocked me by throwing up that wall.”

“That’s frustrating. And degrading to himself. He shouldn’t think so little of himself for decisions his mother made.”

“I said that. Then I stormed out after telling him he self-sabotages himself to think he’s damaged rather than looking at all he’s accomplished. That he had to get out of his own head.”

“And that’s when the door hit you on the ass on the way out?”

“Pretty much. I was wrong, wasn’t I?”

“Nope. You were one hundred percent correct. It sounds like he had no tough love from his father because they didn’t want to rock the boat after all the turmoil in his life,” her mother said.

“I don’t think that was a bad way to go about things for Jace back then.”

“No. But it continued. He was allowed to wallow in his guilt.”

“I think his father told him to let it go today. Maybe it had something to do with me in Jace’s life. I don’t know.”

“Then look at it that way. That his family knows how he is and they are supporting your presence in their son’s life,” her mother said.

“They haven’t even met me. Only Kelsey for about ten minutes, if that.”

“But they know Jace and maybe they are seeing a change in him. I’m not sure what to tell you, Talia, other than he opened up to you tonight. You think he threw a wall up, but you dumped the concrete at his feet to build it stronger.”

She absorbed what her mother said, then reached for another cookie.

Shit!