Twisted Up (Taking Chances #1) - Erin Nicholas Page 0,70

few years as her father gave up more and more work and focused on his golf game and fishing.

Thinking about it now, Jake suspected most of the money Heidi had given to Avery’s grandmother had come from the Montgomery bank accounts. No way would his father’s paycheck have been able to cover an extra three grand a month.

Instantly, Jake’s anger was back.

“Avery told me about how you shut her out after she graduated and Ruth threw her out,” he said bluntly. “What the hell? She trusted you. She needed you.”

Heidi didn’t react initially. She calmly turned and shut off the burner under the teakettle. Then she took a deep breath and faced Jake again. “You and Avery are getting close.”

“Yes, we are.”

Heidi’s eyebrows rose. “I don’t want you messing with her, Jake.”

Now his eyebrows rose. “Pardon me?” he asked, mimicking her words to him.

“Avery . . .” She trailed off and needed to clear her throat.

Jake frowned.

“Avery needs stability. She needs people who are sincere with her. She needs people who will be there for her. I think you need to leave her alone.”

Jake’s eyes widened and he felt his mouth drop open. “You’re telling me I need to leave her alone?”

Heidi crossed her arms and regarded her only son through narrowed eyes. “I would be thrilled if something would bring you back home for good. I’d be thrilled if you were the one to give Avery the stability and family she needs. Are you telling me that’s what’s happening?”

Back home for good.

The words hit him in the gut, and he had to pause a moment before responding. Home. He missed it. The town, his family, his friends. Kansas City was a long way from here. Washington, DC, was even farther.

He loved his visits to Chance. They always seemed too short, and they didn’t happen frequently enough. The first few years away from home had been good—he’d been busy with the Guard and training and then work. Max and Dillon had been there with him for part of that time, too, which helped. Then the first couple of years in Kansas City had been a thrill—the recognition of his talents, the attention to his work, important people calling him for input. But it wasn’t long before it became harder to say good-bye when the visit to Chance ended. His condo had started to feel lonelier, his social life had started to feel routine, and he’d found his thoughts wandering to Chance more often.

This past year had been the hardest of all. He didn’t think it was a coincidence that he’d kissed Avery again just before the yearnings for home had gotten stronger.

He loved his mom and dad. He missed them. But he was equally eager to see Avery when he came home.

That admission, however, would open a huge can of worms he wasn’t quite ready to deal with.

Jake shook off the softer thoughts of Avery and focused on the newer information he’d been given—namely, that his mother had broken Avery’s heart. “I want to know why you’re not giving her the family and stability she needs.”

Heidi looked at him for several seconds, a myriad of emotions crossing her face. “I thought it was the right thing to do at the time.”

“Turning her away when she needed you the most? Cutting her off? Hurting her? How was that possibly the right thing to do?” he demanded.

Heidi’s eyes filled with tears. “She needed to get away. Ruth was neglectful, at least, and emotionally abusive, at worst. I wanted Avery as far from that woman as she could get.”

Jake’s anger dissipated a little. He hadn’t known about Avery’s relationship with her grandmother in any detail, but the bit he’d heard tonight had him agreeing with his mother.

“But you wouldn’t even let her in the house? You told her to get in her car and leave.”

Heidi pulled in a shaky breath. “I did not handle that whole situation well at all,” she admitted. “I know that. I’ve regretted it so many times over the years. You had just left. Maybe thirty minutes before she showed up. I wanted so badly to grab her and hold on and beg her to stay. But I knew she would do exactly that. I knew she’d never go. She never had dreams, Jake, because her grandmother told her over and over that she wasn’t important, that how she felt and what she wanted didn’t matter, so she didn’t think she deserved to dream. She had to get out