"Are your parents cowboys?" Gary asks me.

I shake my head. "No, sir."

"Good." He nods more to himself than to us. "Now that we've established how no one here is a cowboy, you need to sell that shack in Texas and move back here where you belong."

It takes me a minute to realize what he means. Our apartment isn't a shack, not that he's even seen it, and besides, we don't own it so we can't sell it.

"I was thinking of renting it out," Jace says without missing a beat. Only then do I understand the full meaning of Gary's suggestion. The beautiful two story home in Salt Gap, Texas is not anything close to being a shack. But it was Jace's grandfather's house before he died and left it to Jace and I know that Gary didn't get along with his father. So I guess in his eyes, the gorgeous home is just a shack.

"We don't live there," I say. "We have an apartment in Mixon."

"I know, but I'm talking about Jace's inheritance. You need to get rid of it, Son. It's just wasting your time right now."

"I think renting it out is a nice idea," Julie interjects, placing a hand on her husband's arm. "It'll be a nice source of secondary income."

Gary shakes his head. "I'd be happier if the d.a.m.n place was gone for good."

"Unfortunately for you, honey, this is not your decision." I don't have to be related to her to know that she's giving him a look that says shut up right now.

Jace lets out an exasperated sigh. Something tells me this isn't the first time he's had a conversation like this with his dad. I don't know what happened to end Gary's relationship with Jace's grandfather, but it's a little sad that the man can't just get over it already.

The awkwardness has reached epic proportions. It would be easy to excuse myself and say I need to use the restroom. I could take my time walking there and back and hopefully when I returned, the conversation would have changed.

"Excuse me for a minute," I begin, sliding my chair out from the table. "I need to use the restroom." I go to stand up, but the waitress rushes up and blocks my exit. Only when I look up, I realize she's not a waitress at all. She's just some girl.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt your dinner," she says, staring straight at Jace as she speaks.

"No worries at all, Ashley," Gary says with a ma.s.sive smile on his face that wasn't there a few moments earlier. "It's good to see you, girl."

"Thanks, Mr. Adams," the girl gushes. "Hey, Jace."

The way she says his name makes my heart stop. Immediately, a stab of painful awareness pierces into me. This is not some type of girl who stops Jace in a parking lot and tells him she loves watching him race. She's not going to smile and blush and ask him for an autograph or a picture to post on her Facebook. This girl knows him. She used to, at least.

She places her hand on the back of his chair when he turns around to greet her. He looks a little surprised to see her, but surprise isn't the worst expression he could have. For all I know, she could be his cousin or something. He gives her a tight-lipped smile. "Hey, Ashley."

Definitely not a cousin.

She puts her hands on her hips like she's about to gripe at him for something stupid like drinking from the milk carton. "So are you finally back here for good?"

Jace snorts a little laugh. "Nah, not right now."

"Why not?" She's whining like a twelve-year-old girl. I roll my eyes and lean back in my chair. No one notices my own prominent display of acting like a child, probably because everyone's eyes are on this chick. She's dressed like a teenager, in tight jeans with rhinestones all over the pockets and a skimpy tank top that shows so much cleavage, you can tell there's totally a push up bra under there. But the fine lines around her eyes and the creases around her lips when she smiles makes her look older. I can't really pin her age, but the way she's smiling at Jace would make me hate her even if she were old enough to be his grandmother.

I'm startled out of my silent fuming over this girl when Julie taps my arm. "Honey, weren't you going to the restroom?"

I shake my head. Funny how the urge to pee can completely disappear and be replaced with an animalistic urge to rip another woman's head off. "I think I'll stay and meet Jace's new friend."

I say it a little louder than necessary, hoping it reaches my fiance and gives him the hint to introduce me. But I don't think he even hears me. Julie's eyebrows crinkle together. "Ashley's not a new friend. They've known each other for years."

"Good to know," I say. Jace still hasn't introduced me. You want to know why? Because he's wrapped up in a conversation with this Ashley girl and he hasn't even bothered to look in my direction since she showed up. Did he forget about me?

"Jace." I don't really mean to say it out loud, but maybe I do. When he turns toward me, eyebrows lifted, I realize I don't have a single thing to say. At least not anything I could say in front of other people. "Um, where's the restroom?" It's a dumb question, but it's the first thing that comes to mind. He motions toward the front of the restaurant. "I think it's near the door."

Ashley jiggles her hand which is still on the back of his chair. The dozen golden bangles around her wrist dance around, clanking together in what I can only a.s.sume is the tune to the national anthem of s.k.a.n.ks. "Oh, Jacey!" Ashley touches her arm, bouncing on her heels. "I can't believe I forgot to tell you about Kristen!"

And just like that, Jace's attention is back on this girl who everyone seems to know but no one is introducing to me. I grab my fork and press it into the tablecloth, trying like h.e.l.l not to listen to the stupid c.r.a.p Ashley is rambling on about. She says something about a girl named Kristen who got into some fancy dance academy and then I don't hear the rest because I take out my phone and text Becca.

Me: So we're getting dinner and some b.i.t.c.h comes up and is talking to Jace and his whole family. She knows them apparently.

Becca: It's probably a family friend? Prob not a big deal, Bay Me: Is tall, gorgeous and blonde not a big deal?

Becca: You're gorgeous and blonde!

Me: I'm dirty-blonde.

Becca: Who cares? Jace is with you. So stop worrying. Stress isn't good for you.

I know she's right and I know she's trying to help. But it doesn't really help. I just want someone to side with me and tell me I'm not crazy for hating this girl who is interrupting our dinner. If I had any guts, I'd just introduce myself to her, let her know I'm Jace's fiance. And if I was really bold, I'd ask her to leave.

Ashley's voice filters back in my mind and I glance up and find that she's still talking like some kind of unstoppable children's talking Elmo. "So you guys should totally come by and see my art, okay? I won't take no for an answer."

Her art? I look around at the faces of Jace's family and they're all nodding and smiling and saying what a great idea it is. "What are ya'll talking about?" I ask, looking exclusively at Jace and not at the s.k.a.n.k hovering around behind his chair.

"Ashley invited us to her photography exhibit."

"Oh, that's too bad because we're leaving tomorrow." I give him a tight-lipped smile.

He nods. "Yeah but our flight isn't until five, so we have some time."

I never take my eyes off of him. I know everyone is staring at me but I don't care. "We can't make it."

"Sure you can," Gary says, holding up his wine gla.s.s when the server pa.s.ses by. "We'll stop by on our way to the airport."

"Jacey, that would be awesome!" Ashley squeals. "You have to see those shots of you I tookyou look amazing. I'll make you a CD tonight so you can have them, okay? Just make sure you give the credit to me."

"Jesus Christ," I mutter under my breath. There are a million questions I will ask Jace once we are back home in privacy, things such as who the h.e.l.l is this b.i.t.c.h and why did she take photos of you? But right now, I am so livid I will surely explode if I don't get the h.e.l.l out of here. My chair slides backward and I stand up sharply. "I have to pee," I announce just before I walk away. Luckily the anger boiling inside of me keeps any hint of tears far far away. I am nowhere close to crying. I'm more likely to punch a random stranger in the face.

Once I'm inside the bathroom, I take out my phone and open it to Becca's text. Now I know what to say that will put her back on my side, however irrational my side may be.

Me: She keeps calling him Jacey.

Becca: What a b.i.t.c.h!

Chapter 16.

Our brief visit with Jace's parents flies by much sooner than I had antic.i.p.ated. Now that it's the morning of our last day here, I'm not so sure Sacramento is all it's cracked up to be. I stand on the second floor balcony, sipping on some hot chocolate and watching the sun rise in the distance. Sure, the scenery is beautiful but the people are beautiful, too. And they all seem to have a thing for my boyfriend. Well, at least the ones that I've met. As I look around the ma.s.sive house and take in the scenery, all I feel is a deep longing for home.

I don't feel safe here. I feel exposed and ignored at the same time. Jace had spent most of last night cuddling up to me and making not-so-subtle attempts to get me naked. But the last thing I wanted to do was have s.e.x with someone who had spent a good deal of the night before chatting with some blonde chick he never bothered introducing to me.

I take in a deep breath and sigh. I'm still p.i.s.sed about that. The whole time that Ashley chick was talking to us, he never once decided to bring me into the conversation. That is so unlike him. I probably should have swallowed my pride and brought it up last night, had him explain it all to me and tell me that she was no one to worry about. But I let my anger and annoyance rule and instead, I fell asleep early to avoid talking to Jace.

And now I'm awake at the crack of dawn. It wouldn't have been fun to lie in bed next to the man who ignored me while talking to that Ashley girl. I try to tell myself that it was all some misunderstanding, because every single time I get upset about something like this, it always ends up being a misunderstanding. But my brain refuses to believe things like that.

When my hot chocolate is gone, I slip back inside and rinse out my cup in the kitchen. I make sure the bag from my hot chocolate mix is in the trash and that the place looks as immaculate as it was when I first walked in this morning. As far as I know, everyone in the house is still asleep.

With nothing else to do, I walk up the stairs and slip back out on the balcony. Not even a minute later, the sliding gla.s.s door creaks open, startling me so much I jump. I turn around expecting Jace.

"Oh!" I say when it is most definitely not Jace standing on the balcony with me. "I'm sorry, I hope I didn't wake you."

"Nope, you're fine," Julie says, pulling a metal chair away from the wall and sliding it to where I'm standing. She holds a coffee mug steady while she wipes the morning dew from the chair and sits down. "I love drinking my coffee out here in the mornings."

"It's a pretty view," I say. I wonder how long I have to stay around out here before I can politely excuse myself and go back to the room I'm sharing with Jace. Not that there's anything wrong with Julie, but I am so not in the mood to talk to anyone right now.

"Are you feeling well?" Julie asks, glancing from my eyes to my stomach.

I nod. "I don't really get morning sickness. Usually I get sick in the afternoons."

"Oh, well that's no good for your flight," she says, furrowing her brows. "You should see if they'll let you change your flight date. Maybe something for early tomorrow morning."

I shake my head so furiously I fear it might fall off. "No, that's fine. I'll be fine."

"Don't want to stick around?" she asks. Her eyes give me a coy look over the rim of her coffee mug. "Are you missing home?"

"More than you know," I say quietly.

"Aww, is it really that bad? You guys don't have the puppy yet, do you?"

"No. Wait, what? Why would we have a puppy?"

She makes the motion of zipping her lips closed. "No reason. I just thought maybe ya'll had a pet or something to get back home to. Kennels are expensive around here. I don't know about down there in Texas..."

"Did Jace tell you I want a puppy?" We had talked about it a few weeks ago when Jace's schedule had picked up a lot in preparation for the national motocross races. I was home by myself a lot and wanted to get a puppy or a kitten for companionship while he was away. He kind of shot down that idea instantly. He said a pet would be fun for a short while but then taking care of it and a baby would drive me insane. I had agreed and told him that he was right; a baby and a puppy that would need training and daily walks would be a difficult responsibility to handle. But I still wanted one. I'm always thinking about bringing it up again and sometimes I drop hints by leaving my computer screen open to the local pet shelter's adoption page, or making a big deal when I see photos of cute puppies online. Jace is a rock though. When he's made up his mind, he won't budge.

"He might have mentioned something about you wanting one," she says. "I was just trying to think of reasons why you're ready to go home so quickly. We love having you here, you know." She leans forward in her chair and lowers her voice. "And forget all of Gary's bulls.h.i.t about selling that house in Salt Gap. If Jace wants to keep it, then let him. He doesn't need to do something he doesn't want to do just because his father wants him to."

"Good to know," I say. "Jace doesn't really talk about that house much. But I wouldn't want him to sell it. It's where we met."

Even though I am still mad at him, my heart melts a bit when I remember the day I met him. It wasn't exactly love at first sight, but I did think he was crazy hot, walking around shirtless and sweaty from riding his dirt bike in the back yard. He was a guy who had his s.h.i.t togetherat least that's what it had seemed like. Turns out he had just as many holes in his life as I had in mine. Together we make a whole person. And soon we'll have another person to share our lives with.

"My G.o.d, you are adorable," Julie says, pressing her hand to her heart.

"What do you mean?"

"The look on your face right now was..." She shakes her head slightly while taking another sip of her coffee. "You really love my son. There's no denying that."

"I didn't know anyone was denying it," I say with a shy smile.

"No, of course not. I am so happy for you, dear."

"Thank you," I say, feeling a mixture of happiness and awkwardness at our intimate conversation.

"It's too bad you can't stay longer," she says. "There are so many places in California that I'd love to show you."

"Maybe we can come back another time," I say.

"You better come back! I hope to see my grandbaby as much as possible. I'd even love it if you and the baby came over and spent weeks with me while Jace was working his b.u.t.t off in Texas."

I smile at the sentiment. I know she's just exaggerating, but it's a cool thing to hear. "Can I ask you something?" I swallow and then quickly add, "About Jace?"

She tries to sip from her coffee mug, but there's no more left. "Of course. What's up?"

I kind of want to shrink back and tell her never mind. Avoiding the pressing question in my head might work for a little bit, but eventually it would come right back to haunt me until I found out the answer. "That Ashley girl...who is she? Did they used to date or something?"

Julie's eyes seem to widen in surprise and then relax a bit as she takes in my questions. "I thought you were acting weird at dinner last night. Did you ask Jace about her?"

I shake my head and look toward the wooden floor beneath my toes. "No, but he didn't even introduce me to her. That was the worst part. Usually he introduces me to everyone. Usually he seems proud about it."

"Ashley is a...unique person," Julie begins. She sets her coffee mug on the balcony railing and I wonder if she's taking her time talking because she's trying to lessen the blow of telling me that Ashley was his former soul mate or something. "She never really knew how to pick up on signs and well, Jace isn't good at saying no, I guess."

If I didn't have morning sickness before, I do now. "What exactly does that mean? They dated because Jace couldn't say no?"

She shakes her head. "No, dear. They never dated. But we've known her since she and Jace were little kids out at the motocross track. Her dad runs the races so we were always over there visiting and the kids played in the sand when they were little. She always wanted to play with Jace and he was always so annoyed with her."

This makes me smile, but tales of little kids hardly equates to how they are around each other today. "Jace doesn't seem like someone who would be friends with a person he didn't like," I say. I hope the tone in my voice doesn't make me sound like I'm being disrespectful, but her backstory so far isn't helping calm my fears.

"No, he normally isn't that kind of a person," Julie says with a nod. "But I think he felt sorry for her. Ashley was always a super eager little kid and then when they were about thirteen, she obviously had a big crush on him and she followed him around the track like crazy. At one point she started telling everyone she was his girlfriend. Oh man, you should have seen how angry he got. I remember him stomping back to our truck at the races, his face all red and his jaw clenched tightly. I asked him what was wrong and he said that all the boys he raced with were making fun of him for being Ashley's boyfriend. Apparently that was the first time he had heard that she declared them boyfriend and girlfriend."

As she's telling me the story, it dawns on me that Jace must have a pretty close relationship with his mom. I would never have told my mom those kinds of things when I was kid. I don't really tell her much about my life now. It's not that I don't want her to know it's just...weird.

Julie's eyes roam over the horizon as she talks. "You should have seen how mad he was. Ashley and her dad had already left for the day but he spent the entire week waiting until the next race so he could yell at her for lying about being his girlfriend. He wanted to embarra.s.s her in front of her friends the same way his friends had embarra.s.sed him." She sighs and her face softens into something like regret. "Of course then when the weekend came, Ashley wasn't there. We found out that she'd had a tumor on her lung. It was cancer. She had to have surgery and chemo and when she finally did come back to the track, she didn't have any hair. He wasn't about to yell at her then."

"Well whatever happened with the rumors she started?" I asked.

Julie shrugged. "I think he told her privately something about how she can't tell people they were dating when they weren't. Then of course, she begged him to be her boyfriend and he told her was he too busy for girls." Julie snorted in laughter. "That was his excuse for a long, long time. He was going to be a professional racer. He didn't have time for girls. Of course he would have had time if he didn't spend every waking moment of his life on a dirt bike. For a while there I thought I'd never get grandkids." Her lips purse into a smile and she reaches forward and squeezes my shoulder. "Luckily my fears have been resolved now."

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but well, we're already talking and no one else is around so it's kind of the perfect moment to speak my heart. "Are you really not mad about this?" I gesture to my stomach which looks much smaller under folds of fabric from Jace's t-shirt that I stole to use as pajamas. "I mean...we're young and we're not married yet and..."

"Bayleigh, you listen to me." Julie's eyes flicker with an expression I can't quite place. It's a little scary, but not in the traditional sense. "Gary and I raised Jace to be the man he is today and I trust him quite a bit. I would trust him with my life. He makes good decisions and I've only known you a few days but I can tell he made a good decision with you. So no, I'm not mad about your pregnancy. Why on earth would I be mad about gaining a precious grandson?"

I don't even realize I'm crying until I blink and tears fall down my cheeks. Then, as if that tiny teardrop managed to rip open all of the emotions I'd been holding back, I burst into tears. Julie's out of her chair in an instant, her warm arms encircling me in the most mothering way possible. "Oh, honey," I hear her murmur into my hair. "Everything will be just fine, I promise."