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Chase pushed away his plate. “Should I ask why Cass told you and not me?”
“Did you ever ask Cass about Summer’s background?”
“No.”
Jax pointed at him. “There ya go. I used to bug her about it.” He shrugged at Chase’s lifted brow. “She’s a good kid.
I always thought of her like a little sister.”
“Summer? Or Cass?”
“Summer,” he answered a little too quickly for Chase’s liking. Not that he wanted Jax to think of Summer in anything other than a sisterly way, but what about Cass?
Before Chase could ask exactly that, Jax waved his fork. “You want to hear the rest or what?”
“Go on.”
“They lived in the city and Summer was their only kid. I guess they spoiled her, like most parents do with their lonely only’s. The three of them were really close. And I suppose they had to be, considering that they basically only had each other, at least on Summer’s mom’s side. Summer’s grandparents shunned Summer’s mom for marrying someone they didn’t approve of, so that made the three of them that much tighter. Cass said Summer’s dad got in some trouble in high school. Fighting, that sort of thing.”
“Couldn’t have been that much trouble since I’ve seen pictures of her dad in his military uniform. She looks like him. Her eyes. Not the color, the shape.”
“Sounds like you’ve spent a lot of time looking at them.” Jax’s lips twitched.
“Go on, fuckwit.”
“From what I know, Mr. Maitland had a dry cleaning shop in the Bronx. Small place, but he did the best he could with it. One day some guys broke in and they got into it pretty bad. He was military, as you said, and he wasn’t about to let anyone harm his business.” Jax rubbed his hand over the back of his head. “The cops got there in time, but instead of them only taking out the punks who wouldn’t put down their weapons, they took out Summer’s dad too. One bullet to the heart.”
“Christ.” Chase sat back and shut his eyes.
“It gets worse. She was there. In the back. From what Cass said, Summer saw it all.”
Chase said nothing. No words came to mind. All he could think about was the girl he’d held in the night. How many times had she suffered through those nightmares alone?
And now she was going on the road, with no one to hold her when she went to sleep. No one who would care about her even a fraction as much as he did. He’d been her friend and he’d been her lover, and God knows he wanted to be more. He didn’t know much—okay, anything—about being in a healthy relationship, but she’d help him figure it out. If she wanted the same thing.
Only one way to find out.
Chase cleared his throat. “Her mom moved her to Yardley after that.”
“Yeah. They could’ve gone anywhere, but I guess she wanted Summer to grow up in a place with a friendly small town feeling. Plus, Yardley’s not far from where Summer’s grandparents on her dad’s side live. Well, lived. I think they’re dead now.”
“Why do you say they could’ve gone anywhere?”
“Because of the money.” Jax sighed. “Forgot that part, didn’t I? Her mom sued the city for wrongful death and they got a lot of cash. Not sure how much, but Summer won’t ever be hurting financially, best as I can tell.” His mouth tipped up. “Yet she’s getting freebie security from you. Think you might be sweet on the girl, Deuce.”
Chase fingered his fork. His appetite was officially gone. “Guess that explains the vintage Caddy. And how easily she could leave her job at Triple Scoop to take a chance on a singing career.”
“Yeah, I suppose it does. She’s a strong woman. Scary strong. She tells me she can take care of herself and I believe it. She’s taken tons of self-defense classes.”
“Yeah. She showed me some of her moves.” At Jax’s snort, Chase shook his head. “Sick bastard.”
“My point is she’s not the kind of chick you have to worry about. She has a good head, a firm backbone.” He grinned. “Ready fists and a willingness to use them.”
“Not arguing that. Any of it. It still doesn’t change that I want to be there for her. Not because she can’t take care of herself. I want her to know someone has her back.” Absently, he rubbed his thigh. Forever.
Jax threw his arm over the booth. “Sounds like you do know how you feel.”
“This isn’t some Hallmark moment. Life doesn’t work out like that. She’s about to live the dreams she’s always wanted. I don’t want to get in her way.”
