Chapter Three
Jacob
“How many days are you off now?” I look up from my desk and see Monica standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. She’s been with me since I took over the sheriff’s office after my father died suddenly four years ago. I was already the second in command at that point, so it was a no-brainer I would take over for him.
My eyes roam up and down as she stands there in a tight black skirt and white silk shirt. She is way overdressed for working in the office, and she doesn’t even hide the fact that she wants to be under me. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without seeing you.” She twirls her bleached blond hair around her finger.
I lean back in the chair, the squeak coming out of the wooden chair that once belonged to my father. “I’m sure you’ll be fine.” I smile at her. “Besides, I think that Grady is on all weekend.” Grady is my second in command. We graduated from the academy together and started on the same day. He’s had a hard-on for Monica since the day she sauntered in here.
“I have a couple of things to do before I head out,” she says, turning around and walking away. My eyes go straight to her ass. Fuck, I need to get laid. Looking down at my hands, the right and the left, I wonder which one is going to get lucky tonight.
The phone on my desk beeps, and I look down and see that it’s Casey.
Casey: We need to talk.
I toss my phone down, not even interested in what he has to say. My relationship with him ended the day he took Kallie away from me. My hands clench into fists just thinking about her. The woman who I used to love with everything I had, but now I hate more than anyone in the world. My phone beeps again, and it’s him again.
Casey: I’m not fucking around with you.
I shake my head and answer him back.
Jacob: I don’t want or need to hear what you have to say.
I press send while another text comes in from Beau.
Beau: What time is the game tonight?
I answer him right away.
Jacob: Six p.m. is kickoff.
Beau: See you there.
I run my hands over my face, my back protesting the movement. I have the next four days off, and I plan to sleep all day long. When my phone beeps again, I groan.
Savannah: Hey, I got called in to the bar. Can I drop Ethan off early?
Jacob: I’m at the station.
Savannah: Be right there.
I put my phone on the desk and look over at the picture of me and my son. His smile is everything. He is everything. My mind goes to a place I never let it go.
On prom night eight years ago, Kallie sat next to me, looking more beautiful than ever. With her face done up in light makeup and her long blond hair curled at the bottom, I couldn’t wait to take her back to the barn where I had a special surprise for her. The little black box in my suit jacket pocket suddenly felt heavy. From as far back as I could remember, there wasn’t a memory that I had—good or bad—that didn’t have Kallie in it. But when she finally admitted that she loved me, everything just came together. I loved her. She was everything to me.
We got to the school, and I wanted to leave, but I had promised her a dance. I didn’t even see Savannah when we pulled up, but she stepped out of the shadows, and I saw right away that she was crying.
Savannah, Beau, and I had always had a special bond. Beau as my best friend and Savannah as the pain in the butt who never left our side. She was always the kid picked on because her mother was the help. She would get hand-me-downs and be known as “a boy” since she always dressed in hand-me-downs that either Beau or Liam wore. Beau and I were always saving her one way or another.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her right away, looking around to see if someone was around her.
“I’m in trouble,” she said, her voice shaking. “So much trouble.”
“What do you mean?” I asked her while people walked around us all dressed up.
“I don’t know how it happened,” she said and then sobbed, and I took her in my arms.
“It’s going to be okay.” I rubbed her hair. “Whatever it is, it’s going to be okay.”
“I’m pregnant,” she said, and I let go of her, stepping back.
“Oh my God.” My hand flew to my mouth. “Who?”
“I …” She looked down at the ground and sobbed out again. “I can’t tell you that.”
“What are you going to do?” I asked her as I ran my hand through my hair. This was crazy because she was already looked down at all the time.
“I know that you and Kallie are going away, but if you can just …” she said at the same time I started to shake my head.
“You can’t be serious.” I gasped out at her. “I can’t. Think about this for a second, Savannah. You have to tell the father.” I tried to reason with her.
“I can’t.” She shook her head and put her hand on her stomach.
“Then you have to think about maybe adoption.” I tried to make her see, but it just got her even more hysterical. I was almost at my wits’ end. “What about perhaps …” I didn’t want to say the words, but she read between the lines.
“You can’t seriously be saying this,” Savannah hissed. “I can’t.”
“Hey.” I heard Kallie’s voice from behind me, and I knew it was going to just blow up. “Is everything okay?” she asked, looking first at Savannah and then at me, and my eyes avoided hers. I couldn’t look at her. “What’s going on?” Her voice was frantic at one point, and she called my name. “Jacob.” I knew then and there my life would change. I just didn’t know if I would survive it.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, and it was as if she knew that her life would be changed also. Her body started to shake, and I called her name. “Kallie.” I took a step forward, but she just took a step backward away from me. “I can explain.”
I watched her eyes go blank. I watched her shut down in front of me, and then I heard Beau shouting. I looked at him, and for one second, I wished he got here first. That he was the one who Savannah went to. “Someone had better say something and something fast.” He wrapped his arm around Kallie as she started to shake.
“Say it.” She looked at me, so broken, so helpless. It was like I was looking in a mirror.
“She’s pregnant.” I said the words that would forever change the path of my life. She looked at me, waiting for me to tell her that it wasn’t mine and assure her that I would never do that to her. I thought she would know. I thought she would have had enough faith in me and our love to automatically know that wasn’t true. I prayed that she saw what was in my eyes. That I loved her all the way down to my soul. “I’m so sorry.”
“Oh my God,” she said, her knees buckling under her, and she got sick on the sidewalk. The tears rushed out of me as my heart broke and my chest got tight, so tight I didn’t think I would be able to breathe.
“Kallie. Please, baby,” I pleaded with her while she looked up and shouted.
“No!” Her hand shot up and blocked me from her.
“Kallie, let me take you somewhere, and I can explain.” I almost got on my knees and begged her, and all she could do was look at Savannah, who stood there crying.