“It’s so beautiful. Thank you.”
He knelt down beside the chair, taking my hand. I saw his eyes glisten with a few tears. “I want you to know how happy I am. You’re here with me. We’re in our house together. I’ve wanted this for so long and I finally get it. I finally get to have this with you.”
“This makes me happy too.”
“I know you’ve givin’ up stuff to be here with me.”
“No,” I leaned forward, kissing him softly. “Never think that. I am here because this is the way it’s supposed to be.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.” I touched his cheek, feeling the stubble under my fingers.
Jess pulled me up from the chair, and I followed him into the living room as the candles twinkled around us. Falling back against our new couch, I let him take off my shirt. He pressed his lips to my bare skin, kissing down my breasts toward my stomach. He pulled my jeans slowly over my hips. Looping his fingers around my white panties, he tugged the cotton fabric down to my ankles. My heart beat fast in my chest as I watched Jess take off his clothes until he was completely naked. He crawled on top of me, slipping between my thighs.
I smiled at the intense look on his sweet face. “Our guests will never sit on this couch if they know your nasty ass was on it.”
“You like my ass.” He grinned before kissing my lips. His tongue brushed over the freckle on the bottom one. He kissed me harder, as I locked my ankles around his waist. I drifted away under the light of a hundred candles, letting his body touch me in every way possible. I would never get tired of this with Jess. I would never get tired of how it felt to really be us.
Chapter 49
When I was twenty-six…
Two weeks after we moved into the house, I drove on the dirt road to the highway for a show in Austin. I turned the fancy satellite radio in my new Tahoe to a station I programmed just to torment the fire out of Jess. I felt a little sad being gone, even for just a few days. He was so imbedded under my skin that I felt a little nauseous being apart.
As I drove down the road, I saw the child first, not the woman, walking on highway between Arlis and Granby. He was a dark-haired boy around four or five years old, clutching a beat-up teddy bear under his arm, following behind the broken-down woman. She had dark stains on the legs of her jeans and a dirty shirt with holes. The November air was rather chilly and neither of them wore a coat.
I felt a catch in my throat as I drove past, seeing the pair fade in the rear-view mirror. I was alone and a little afraid to pull over for strangers. This world was not a nice world anymore, but something took control like I’d never even had a decision in the matter. Clenching the steering wheel, I pulled over making a quick U-turn. I parked on the side of the road, watching from the safety of my large truck
She was a short woman, about five feet tall. Her dirty hair was fastened in a ratty clump against her neck. She never looked in my direction, but I knew she saw me. I read the thoughts etched into her face. She didn’t want some rich woman in the fancy truck interfering in their lives. She figured I was sitting inside, laughing or bored with fleeting curiosity.
The pit of my stomach shook. I wasn’t bored or spoiled with unnecessary shit. I swore that I would never be that person when I married Jess. Opening the door, I jumped out, feeling the ground under my trusty gray, canvas shoes. I walked toward the travelers; foot in front of the other until I stood directly in their path.
She looked at me with narrow and angry eyes. Pin pricks shot down my spine, seeing the familiar grit of her jaw. I knew this face very well. It was the same face I saw in the mirror for about sixteen years; a permanent look of hatred and pride that manifested so deep it couldn’t be contained.
They needed my help. I would get a backlash of hatred. She would not willingly take my assistance. Knowing the likely outcome, I could live with it. They needed me more than I needed their gratitude.
Make her hate the Masons as much as you did. Make her angry. Make her want somethin’ better.
A jolt slammed into my chest. It finally made sense. I understood why the Masons just didn’t have it in them to walk the other way. Why they just couldn’t leave Henry and Alex Tanner, sitting in their car in the hospital parking lot. How Mrs. Eva Lynn Mason, with her proper pearl necklace, didn’t give a damn what others thought of her. She didn’t need my love and approval to know our move to Sprayberry was the right decision. She never cared one bit I hated the Masons as long as my father and I had a roof over our heads.
The magnitude of the moment struck me hard and deep. I stuck out my hand trying to play it casual, which seemed impossible considering I faced the defining moment of my life.
“Hi. I’m Alex Mason. It’s getting pretty cold out here. I was just on my way to get some hot chocolate at Jeeter’s. Want a ride into town?”
Her gaze shifted to me and back to the car. I saw the distain in her sneer; a wordless glare that said I don’t need pity from some rich bitch. A small voice spoke up softly from behind. “Do they have marshmallows?”
“Anything you want. Jeeter’s even has whipped cream.” I saw his eyes light up when I mentioned the last part. “What’s your name?”
“Eddy del Torro. And that’s my momma, Vanessa.”
Chapter 50
Yesterday, 11:34 a.m.
Sitting in the back corner, I took another bite of the gooey pizza. A piece of pepperoni stuck to the roof of my mouth. I used my tongue to pry it free. Definitely not even in the top fifty best I had ever eaten, but the food wasn’t the point. I watched them; out of sight and out of mind. I preferred it that way.
Eight children, ranging from roughly seven to ten years old, ran from one loud game to another. The basketball toss seemed to be their favorite. The kids belonged to a home in the south section of Dallas. They were here today because I sponsored the trip to Mario’s Pizza Land. Well in truth, the three full hours of semi-edible goo and arcade madness, came courtesy of the Mason List.
When I officially assumed responsibility of Jess's grand idea, I intended to mark an item off the old sheet and continue to the next one. This entry for carnival tickets, held three tally marks. Jess would laugh in my face when I returned to Sprayberry. My rules so I could break them as many times as I wished.
I wiped the grease off my lips and gathered up the trash. After three days away, I felt a stab of homesickness. It was strange to think I had once left him over two years and yet, I couldn’t stand to be gone a couple of days. I traveled more than I planned but I just couldn’t stop. The Mason List took on a mind of its own. The ideas came faster than I could even process.
Vanessa del Torro and her son Eddy became my first project. She was a tough one to crack; the girl had ten times the hatred and mistrust than the younger version of me. Caroline gave Vanessa a job at Jeeter’s. I checked off the list, my father’s hardware store job. A few months later, I added riding lessons when I got Eddie a horse.