Page 40 of The Sweet Life

His mother rolled her eyes, and Sage growled, stepping around Jake to get in his mother’s face.

Jake put a hand on her arm. “Sage—”

She shook him off, her entire focus on the woman before her, hoping to land a few verbal blows of her own. If Jake wouldn’t stand up for himself, she’d stand up for him and, in doing so, prove to him that he’d deserved Alice’s love and everything she’d given to him. “He’s a lawyer now. Did you know that? He’s got a law practice, a farm, money in the bank, and people who love him. What do you have?”

A mean right hook.

Sage wrapped some ice in a kitchen towel and handed it to Jake. “You didn’t have to jump in front of me. I was putting up my arm to block her punch.”

“Right, because that worked out so well with Winthrop.” He gently pressed the ice-filled towel to her eye. “You need it more than I do.”

“It’s been two days. My eye’s hardly swollen, just a lovely shade of purple.” She pushed on Jake’s arm, trying to guide the ice-filled towel to his eye.

“I’m fine, okay? She barely clipped me.” He tossed the towel and ice into the kitchen sink.

“Are you fine, though? That was a lot, Jake. I know she’s your mother, but you should have called the police. You still could?” she said, framing it as a question so he’d hopefully reconsider pressing charges.

“It was a lot.” His lips twitched. “But I had you to protect—”

“Are you making fun of me?”

“No.” He took her hand and drew her close, putting his arms around her. “I appreciated you standing up for me even if I didn’t need or want you to.”

“But you weren’t doing anything. You weren’t standing up for yourself, and I hated it. I hated seeing you standing there taking everything she said as if you believed—”

“Hey, look at me.” He framed her face with his hands. “Just because I didn’t want or need you to stand up for me doesn’t mean I didn’t appreciate it. I did. I do. It meant a lot, you defending me.”

“Why didn’t you stand up to her? Let her know what a shitty mother she was and—”

“Because it wouldn’t matter what I said. She had an agenda, and until she got to say what she said, she wasn’t going anywhere. It ends faster if I just stay quiet.”

“You can’t tell me you weren’t upset, Jake. I saw your face when you walked in here.”

“You’re right, I was.” He lifted his hand, tracing the faded outline of the bruise around her eye with the tip of his finger, then tucking her hair behind her ear. “I didn’t want you to be reminded of the kid I used to be or where I came from.”

“Jake, it didn’t matter to me who your parents were or where you lived or even that you were on the fast road to a life of crime.”

He tapped her nose lightly with his finger. “Liar. You had a list of statistics on the likelihood I’d end up in jail that you quoted every time you got ticked at me, and you got ticked at me a lot.”

She groaned, bringing her forehead to his chest. “Don’t remind me.”

He laughed. “Don’t feel too guilty. I gave as good as I got.”

“Yeah, you did.” She looked around the kitchen, the memories flooding in. “I don’t know how Alice put up with us. You were always teasing her.”

“She loved it.” He smiled as if remembering the fun they’d had, and then his smile faded.

“What’s wrong?”

“With everything that went down on Friday, I forgot I hadn’t shared the results of the coroner’s report with you. That’s why I’d come to see you.”

“You said I had to sign papers for the sale.”

“I lied. I wanted to tell you face-to-face. I kept waiting for you to tell me just to scan them.”

“I did wonder why you had to bring them to me, but then I got distracted by something else.” She searched his face. “What did the coroner say?”

“Alice had cancer. I talked to her doctor after I got the report. Alice got the diagnosis about twelve years ago.”

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