One Day His (The Someday Series Book 2) (26 page)

BOOK: One Day His (The Someday Series Book 2)

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Jerry wrote that—I recognized his touch. But I couldn’t fault him. It was good material. Johanna, for one, seemed to be eating it up. She was scribbling notes as quickly as my mother could talk, and Peter was snapping shots.

It was such a relief to have the focus off me. I could tell that Johanna was going to be enthralled by the conversation with my mother for a while yet, so I chatted quietly with the girls and Jace as we ate. I didn’t want to disturb the conversation between Johanna and my mother and divert Johanna’s attention to me, but I also didn’t want the dinner to progress as if it were a spectator sport and the conversation between my mother and Johanna was the main event.

We continued that way throughout the rest of the meal, uneventfully and even somewhat pleasantly, and I started to breathe easier. By the time the dinner plates were taken away and dessert was about to be served, I was downright giddy. We were looking at half an hour tops until I was free. Yes! Woo hoo, even!

Just as Rachel set my pumpkin pie down in front of me and I looked up to thank her, the doorbell rang.
What? Who could that be?
You had to be on an approved list that was given to the security guard at the driveway gate in order to get onto the property. The girls had only gotten in this morning because Sandy had charmed the pants off (not literally—or at least I hope not literally) Roger, the security guard.

“I wonder who that could be,” I heard myself question out loud.

My mother cleared her throat. My eyes automatically shot to her, she was wearing a self-satisfied grin that made my gut clench.

She said, “Well, Cat, darling—I really wanted the
whole
family to be together at Thanksgiving.”

Wait. What was she talking about? We had no other family. For better or worse, we were it.

However, that was obviously not a subject I could pursue further with her in front of a room full of people, one of whom was a reporter, no less. I had to sit quietly and wait to see who might walk through that dining room door while my heart sank slowly into my stomach.

Oh. My. God.

Into the room, looking gorgeous and confident as usual (and making me feel dowdy and small by comparison—also as usual) strode Jace’s ex-girlfriend, Natalya.

Natalya and Jace had known each other since they were small children and dated on and off as adults. They had a long and complicated history, and Natalya had, in the past, possessed a unique ability to manipulate Jace based on his loyalty to her and his sense of responsibility. The promises he’d made to her in childhood—that he would watch out for her and always be there for her—he had still felt duty-bound to abide by in adulthood—far past the point when she should have been looking after herself and had stopped depending on him, using him instead.

When Jace and I had gotten together, she obviously hadn’t taken it well. It was Jace’s love for me and my love for him that had given him the strength to finally break free of Natalya’s bonds. Needless to say, she wasn’t my biggest fan. Also needless to say, she had pulled out all the stops in a campaign to get rid of me and get Jace back under her thumb. The last time we had seen her had been just before the trip to Southern California. She had been in a hospital bed after a ‘crying for attention’ suicide attempt.

Apparently, she had successfully convinced the doctors in charge of her case that she was no longer a danger to herself, because here she stood, looking triumphant.

“Natalya, what are you doing here?”

Until Jace spoke, I hadn’t realized how quiet the room had grown. His flat voice echoed throughout the dining room, giving off the effect of being much louder than it actually was.

Natalya looked at my mother affectionately, and it was my mother who answered. “Oh, I found her! And, of course, I immediately invited her here for Thanksgiving dinner! After all, like I was saying, Thanksgiving is for families, and I really wanted the whole family together.”

Jace’s voice was still equally as flat as he responded, “Natalya is no one’s family. Not in this room, anyway.”

My mother went on, glee evident in her voice. “Oh, no, of course not. But this young man certainly is.”

What? What young man was my mother talking about?

Natalya turned and coaxed a shy little boy of about three or four out from where he was hiding behind her legs. “Say hello,” she prompted him.

He stepped forward and waved reluctantly, then placed his hand down.

His hair was jet black, his eyes were bright blue, and he had an adorable spray of freckles across his nose. He looked exactly like….

I couldn’t breathe. My world stopped spinning and I couldn’t feel my limbs as my eyes shot to Jace, who looked even more shocked than I did. I heard myself ask, “Who is this?” Even though I hated the sound of it, I could hear the tremble in my voice.

My mother walked over to Natalya and the little boy. “This is Gavin,” she said, her voice every bit as strong as mine hadn’t been. She looked at Jace and added, a slow and satisfied smile spreading across her face confirmed my fear, “He’s Jace’s son.”

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