Heather was speechless, staring between Krystal and Clementine with wide, wide eyes.
“Pretty sure that’s a yes,” Jace answered for her.
“Y-yes.” Heather nodded. “I’ll take the best care of her.”
“I know it.” Krystal gave Clementine a final pat, then followed her family into the room of big spenders and potential sponsors. Jace and Heather encountered a few stray fans on their way out of the stadium. Awkward or not, he signed the shirts and pics and notebooks held his way and posed for a pic or two. Clementine’s presence didn’t go unnoticed, so he hurried Heather along, thinking the little dog’s presence, with him, might be best avoided. They poked around his bus while the Three Kings did their thing. He had time to shower and pull on a favorite T-shirt, worn jeans, and a hometown feed store baseball cap.
“You don’t look like Mr. Fancy-Pants Jace Black anymore.” Heather sat on the floor, Clementine running back and forth across her legs, chasing her squeaky toy.
Jace looked down at his outfit. “I’ve worn this a hundred times.”
“Right. As Jace, my brother. Working two jobs, sweaty all the time. Leaves his dirty socks by the hamper—not in the hamper.” She smiled down at Clementine. “I’m not complaining. I love you either way.”
He shook his head. “Good, because I’m the same person. Your brother?”
Heather laughed as Clementine rolled onto her back. “It was weird. You didn’t look like you. I mean, you did, sort of, but you didn’t.”
He sat on the floor beside her. “How do you think I feel looking in the mirror?”
She patted his leg. “But you’re happy? Aren’t you?” She rubbed Clementine, but her brown eyes were searching his.
He nodded. “Of course I am.” For the first time in his life, he had a chance to make life easier for them.
“You sure?” Her voice broke. “I worry about you.”
“You don’t need to, you hear me?” He caught her hand in his. “It’s my job to worry about you, not the other way around.”
“I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work that way.” She squeezed his hand. “After Nikki and Ben…I guess I’m always going to worry about you.” Her head rested on his shoulder. “That’s not something a sister just forgets, seeing her brother like that.”
He’d been a mess after the accident. For weeks, he couldn’t let go of what should have happened. He should have remembered the milk and eggs Nikki had asked him to bring home. If he had, Nikki would never have packed Ben into his car seat and headed into town. But he hadn’t remembered. He’d been too tired to notice she wasn’t steady on her feet or the empty case of beer in the back of the pantry—until after. Her car swerved into oncoming traffic. They’d been hit, head-on, by a semitruck.
Ben had died on impact.
Nikki had hung on for three weeks, a bunch of wires and machines working to keep her alive. He’d never felt that kind of pain—or anger. At Nikki. At himself. When she died, he didn’t know what to feel or do or think. Work, and Heather, kept him going. To pay Nikki’s hospital bills and keep food on the table, he had to work doubles.
His biggest regret? Shutting out his little sister. He’d lost a wife and son. She’d lost her nephew. Heather had loved that boy with her whole heart. Losing him had gutted her, too.
He pressed a kiss to her temple. “I guess that’s what you do when you love someone. You worry.”
She nodded. “But if I know you’re happy, I won’t have to worry so much.”
“Then stop worrying, kiddo.” He pressed another kiss to her temple. It had been two years. Two years of shutting out the what-ifs and regrets and clinging to things worth protecting. The laughs and hugs and the feel of Ben in his arms… He didn’t want to forget any of that.
Days got easier and life kept on going.
Once Heather entered him in that television show, his world was stuck on fast-forward. Everything was different. What that meant, he wasn’t exactly sure. Not yet. But he wasn’t about to worry his little sister. Was he happy? He didn’t know. Was he thankful? Hell yes. That was enough. More than enough.
By the time Emmy Lou, Travis, and Krystal showed up, Jace had been ready to call it a night. He was an early-to-bed, early-to-rise man. It was way past his bedtime.
“You look beat,” Travis chuckled, leading them across the well-lit parking lot to the waiting black SUV.
“I am.” He didn’t argue.
“We can skip it, if you want.” Heather all but drooped with disappointment, still holding Clementine.
“Are you kidding?” He wrapped an arm around her. “I didn’t get all cleaned up for nothing.”
“I’m not sure you could call that cap clean,” Krystal replied.