Finding Happily-Ever-After Read online

  Her mother was making it up as she went along, Jewel concluded, and the more she reacted to what was being said, the more liberties with the truth her mother was going to take.

  “No, I certainly don’t,” she answered with a serious expression. “Just make sure that Joel gets to class and then remember to pick him up. I’m not sure how long we’ll be—and don’t,” she emphasized pointedly, “tell me to stay the night.”

  Cecilia allowed a touch of despair to enter her voice. “If I have to tell you that, then somewhere along the line I must have gone horribly wrong with your education.”

  “Your heart’s in the right place, Mom,” Jewel acknowledged, changing lanes to avoid a slow-moving vehicle, “but your methodology could use a lot of work. Every time you push, I get the overwhelming desire to dig in my heels.”

  Cecilia frowned. “Even if you miss out on the perfect relationship?”

  “Even then.” And then she relented slightly. “I didn’t say my reaction was a good one, just that I had it.” Her mother sighed and Jewel could almost hear the older woman shaking her head. But they’d arrived at Joel’s house. Despite the dauntingly long drive that loomed ahead of her, most of it probably in soul-depressing traffic, Jewel cheered herself up with the fact that she wasn’t going to have to deal with her mother’s penchant for matchmaking for the rest of the day.

  Stopping the car, she got out and crossed to the front door. Her mother was right behind her.

  Having heard them drive up, Chris opened the door less than half a minute later. “Thanks for doing this, Cecilia.”

  “My pleasure entirely, Chris,” she responded with feeling. “And don’t feel you have to come rushing back right away,” the woman added. “Joel and I will be just fine holding down the fort until you’re here again.”

  “Where are you going?” Joel wanted to know, drawn to the doorway by the sound of their voices. It was still early and he’d just finished eating breakfast. He didn’t need to get ready for school for another twenty minutes.

  “Just a little road trip, Joel,” Jewel told the boy, opting for the simplest explanation. She’d forgotten how curious he’d become, asking questions until he was satisfied.

  “A little road trip to where?”

  “Las Vegas,” Chris told him.

  “Did you know that they have over a thousand chapels in Las Vegas?” Cecilia asked innocently.

  Jewel had never bothered doing a head count of the number of chapels in the gambling capital of the country. “I’m sure it’s not that many, Mother,” Jewel replied tersely, giving her a warning look.

  Her mother smiled in response, completely ignoring the “back off” look in her daughter’s eyes. “All it takes is one.”

  Fighting back a wave of embarrassment as she debated whether or not to commit justifiable homicide, Jewel looked at the man she’d come to pick up.

  “Let’s go before the traffic gets really bad,” she said, although she knew it was already too late for that. It was Friday and there were always people trying to get a jump on a long weekend. The traffic would most likely be bumper to bumper.

  Unaware of traffic patterns when it came to Vegas, Chris nodded, pausing only to say a few parting words to Joel. “You be good, Joel, and do whatever Mrs. Parnell tells you to do.”

  “She lets me call her Cecilia,” Joel told him happily.

  “I’m letting you call her Mrs. Parnell,” Chris pointed out, his meaning clear.

  “Yes, sir. Mrs. Parnell,” Joel repeated.

  “Grandma might be a compromise,” Cecilia suggested, not quite managing to carry off an in no cent expression.

  “In what universe?” Jewel challenged, then held up her hand before her mother could utter a comeback. “Never mind. I’m not getting sucked into a debate. We have to go.”

  Cecilia placed a delicate hand to her chest. “Why Jewel, whatever do you mean?”

  Jewel gave her a dark look, but made no reply other than a generic, “See you later,” which she actually directed toward Joel before turning on her heel and hurrying out to her vehicle in the driveway.

  Chris had just barely made it into the car before she was pulling out of the driveway. She wanted to get away before her mother could say something else to embarrass her beyond all measure.

  “You’ll have to forgive my mother,” she told him, straightening the steering wheel and throwing the car into Drive. “I think she overdosed on her ‘Pushy Mom’ pills today.”

  “I hadn’t noticed.” Chris meant to keep the grin to himself, but he failed, undermining his words to the contrary.

  She didn’t have to look; she could hear the grin in his voice. “And if I believe that, you have a bridge you’d like to sell me.”

  He laughed. “No, no bridge. Actually, I’m rather grateful to your mother.”

  This was going to be good, she thought. “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

  “Other than the fact that she recommended you as a private investigator, her ‘innocent’ remarks did manage to get my mind off the reason for this little road trip in the first place.” He didn’t want to contemplate the fact that, despite Jewel’s assurances to the contrary, there was a very real possibility that things could go horribly wrong.

  Jewel stole a quick glance in his direction. “Worried?”

  “Yes.” There was no point in denying it. “Very,” he added.

  “Don’t be.” Taking her right hand off the wheel, she patted his knee reassuringly. “Everything’s going to turn out just fine.”

  If only he could believe that. “I forgot, you’re an optimist.”

  “Only way to face life,” Jewel answered him with feeling.

  “And if Ray decides that he wants to have Joel come live with him?” Despite all his efforts, he couldn’t shake himself free of that scenario.

  “If it comes to that, optimist or not, I’m also very good at pointing out the downside of things,” she assured him. “By the time I get finished with the man, he’ll be making an appointment to get a vasectomy within the hour. And you can be sure that he’ll be more than willing to sign the legal document I have in my purse.”

  He remembered what she’d said last night. “Then you did get it?”

  “We wouldn’t be going if I hadn’t.” Kate hadn’t exactly been overjoyed to have Jewel pop up on her doorstep at almost midnight last night, but once she’d been filled in, Kate had understood and forgiven her for her inopportune timing. As had Jackson. “It’s all nice and legal and signs over all parental rights to you.”

  “You do think of everything.” There was admiration in his voice.

  The corners of her mouth curved. “God knows I try,” she told him.

  Chris laughed softly and she caught herself reveling in the sound before she silently told herself she had to stop doing that, stop absorbing little bits and pieces of things he did, things he said. Women in love did things like that and that wasn’t her. She had her feet firmly planted on the ground, Jewel insisted, and knew what she was doing.

  Having fun until the fun ran out.

  “I’m going to hold you to that,” Chris was saying.

  “Fine.” As long as you hold me, I don’t care what the reason is.

  The thought galloped through Jewel’s mind before she could stop it. It made her nervous.

  Because it made her vulnerable.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Lucky Lady sounded more like a name for an up-and-coming racehorse than a casino, but that was the name the refurbished establishment’s new owner had affixed to it. His hope, no doubt, was that luck would indeed materialize, luring a healthy crowd of second-tier gamblers away from the bigger casinos that tended to lavish attention only on very high rollers.

  Business, Jewel had learned in her quick investigation, was only fair to moderate. It was the kind of place that someone like Ray Johnson, a.k.a. Dennis Carter, could safely get lost in.

  They reached Vegas at a little after one in the afternoon. The high density of t
raffic migrating from Southern California to the city known for sin and glitter had made the journey particularly draining, especially when it came to a complete standstill.

  Entering the city, Jewel turned on her GPS unit. The pathfinding machine glibly told them where to turn and when, allowing Jewel to take in some of the scenery, instead of exclusively searching for street names. What she viewed made her decide that the city’s mesmerizing magic only came out after sundown. Vegas in the day time looked like an aging showgirl. What the night successfully hid, the daylight brought out, accentuating the telltale flaws that time had etched.

  “Are you sure you got the right name?” Chris asked, looking at the front of one lesser-known casino after an other as they drove past them. “I’ve never heard of the Lucky Lady.”

  Neither had she until she’d done a little more research. The high-end casinos were the ones that garnered publicity, but gambling was an across-the-board, equal opportunity addiction and opportunists made the most of it, providing avenues for the rich and the definitely-not-rich alike.

  “When was the last time you were in Vegas?” Jewel asked.

  Chris paused, trying to remember. “Six, seven years ago,” he finally admitted. “Maybe a little longer.” He’d gone to attend a convention for university physics professors. He’d come away thinking too much energy was being wasted in one place, but he kept that to himself.

  “Things change here daily,” she told him. “A year ago, the Lucky Lady was called the Royal Flush or something equally inane. Ray—or Dennis, take your pick—hasn’t exactly come up in the world, but at least he’s working now.” Coming to a red light, she turned to look at him. “Want to stop for lunch first?” she offered.

  He shook his head. He doubted if he could have kept it down. But then it occurred to him that he wasn’t the only one to consider here. “Unless you do,” he amended.

  She was hungry, but she could wait. “Business before pleasure,” she replied. The light turned green. “According to the map I looked at earlier—”

  “Turn right, here,” a disembodied voice instructed. “Final destination on right.”

  “This must be the place,” she murmured.

  There was one lone valet in a somewhat rumpled uniform sitting on a stool against the wall. When he saw them pull up, he came alive and hurried over to the sedan.

  Ordinarily, it was against her basic principles to have someone else do for her what she was perfectly capable of doing for herself. But parking here, even in the daytime, would be tough for a seasoned magician to pull off. Jewel surrendered her vehicle and her keys to the gawky valet who looked as if he’d only begun to shave that morning, accepting a receipt in return.

  “Park it near the front,” she told the valet. “We won’t be long.”

  The look on the tall, thin young man’s face told her that he might be unseasoned, but he’d heard that before. With effort, he slid his long frame into the vehicle and murmured, “Yes, ma’am.”

  She and Chris walked up to the front doors of the casino in strained silence. She stopped just before entering and looked at him. “Ready?”

  No, he wasn’t. He would rather have skipped this entirely and just continued with this new life that had been thrust upon him, but he knew that Jewel was right. Not notifying Ray or securing legal custody of his nephew would leave him open to a life fraught with unease. He’d be forever waiting for the other shoe to drop without having so much as a clue when that might be.

  “Let’s get this over with,” he answered.

  She nodded, noting that he’d deliberately avoided repeating the word that she had used. Jewel went in first.

  They worked their way past the squadron of machines affectionately—and not so affectionately—referred to as one-armed bandits. The minute she spotted the bar, Jewel picked up her pace and crossed to it. Any bartender worth his paycheck knew everyone.

  The stocky bartender stopped massaging the slick countertop as she approached and gave her his best smile. “What’s your pleasure, little lady?”

  “Information,” Jewel replied with a smile that matched his. She took out a photograph of Ray she’d printed up from the DMV archives. “Does this man work here?”

  The bartender shook his head, clearly about to plead ignorance, when his eyes caught the twenty peeking out from behind the photograph she’d laid down on the bar. Picking up the photograph, he took a closer look.

  “Yeah, that’s Dennis.” Setting the photograph back down, he closed his hand around the twenty.

  “Is he here today?” Chris asked.

  “Saw him earlier,” the other man confirmed, then pointed off to the right. “He’s over there, at the blackjack table. Dealing,” he added.

  Jewel slipped the photograph back into her pocket. “Thanks.”

  “Come by anytime,” the bartender told her as she walked away. “I’ll give you a drink on the house.”

  “That’s probably not all he’ll give you,” she heard Chris mutter under his breath.

  It took an effort for her to suppress the grin that rose to her lips. It almost sounded as if Chris were jealous. But she knew better. Jealousy was for people in a relationship. They were just two ships docked at the same port for a limited time, and she was going to have to keep reminding herself of that until it sank in. Especially since everything appeared to be coming to an end.

  As they approached the blackjack table, she noted that Joel’s father seemed to be struggling not to appear as bored as he obviously was. Currently, there were two men at his table. One looked as if he’d spent his life perched on a stool at one casino or another, and the other was a couple of decades younger, wet behind the ears and searching for his fifteen minutes with Lady Luck. Both men were watching Ray deal as if their very lives depended on the next turn of the card.

  Six-four and stocky—he’d obviously gained weight since he and Rita were an item—with dark hair and small, narrow eyes, Ray looked up as Jewel came to the table. Interest instantly flared in his gaze.

  “Take a seat,” he told her, his tone low and velvety.

  “We came to talk,” Chris said, taking his place beside her.

  Ray’s seductive smile instantly faded. His eyes darted around the two people, as if he expected to see someone else with them. It didn’t take much to figure out who it was he was expecting.

  Looking around, he called out to someone just to his left. “Kelly, can you take over for me for a few minutes?”

  The woman looked annoyed and on the verge of saying no when her eyes came to rest on Chris. An appreciative smile slowly worked its way through the frown.

  “Sure, why not?” The smile faded when the man who had caught her attention moved away from the table at the same time that the dealer did.

  “How did you find me?” Ray hissed at Chris the moment he’d placed enough space between himself and the other casino employees.

  “The credit goes to Jewel,” Chris told him, nodding at the woman beside him.

  Anger rumbled in Ray’s voice and colored his features. “I haven’t got any money for Rita or the kid, if that’s what you’re here about. I’m barely getting by—and I’ve got a wife to support. I’ve got a decent enough life now. I ain’t going back.”

  “I’m very happy for you,” Chris said flatly, his expression conveying the exact opposite.

  “I ain’t going back,” Ray repeated with more feeling. “You can’t make me.”

  “No one wants you to go back,” Jewel assured him, wondering what it was that Chris’s sister ever saw in this Neanderthal.

  “Then what are you doing here? And where’s Rita?” he asked suspiciously, obviously still thinking she might pop up at any moment.

  “Rita died.” She could hear the pain in Chris’s voice, even though his expression never changed. Rita’s ex seemed to be oblivious to it, apparently unaffected by the news.

  “Died? Of what?” he asked suspiciously.

  “A brain aneurysm,” Jewel answered.
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br />   “Yeah, well, that’s too bad.” Ray shrugged carelessly as he glanced back toward his table and the disgruntled woman who was covering for him. “We’ve all got to go sometime. Look, I’ve got to get back to the table. I’ve al ready taken my break. They don’t like you to abuse the rules here.”

  But Chris wasn’t about to let him go just yet. They had unfinished business. “Aren’t you even going to ask about Joel?” he demanded.

  Ray shrugged again. “What about him?” he asked indifferently. And then his eyes narrowed as a realization occurred to him. “Is that why you’re here? To pawn the little wimp off on me?” His mouth twisted as if the very thought of dealing with his son repelled him. “Well, you can just forget about it. My wife’s pregnant. She’s expecting twins.” It was obvious that the news was not a source for celebration for him. “I’ve got more than I can handle.”

  “We’ll make this quick and painless,” Jewel said, getting in his way as he tried to leave again. Fishing around in her purse, she grabbed and held up the papers that Kate had drawn up for her. “Just sign this and you can go on with your life.”

  Ray frowned as he regarded the document suspiciously. “What’s that?”

  “Legal papers pertaining to your parental rights to Joel.” For the sake of brevity, she summarized the contents. “It says that you’re giving them up freely.”

  Ray’s dark eyes darted back and forth from his former brother-in-law to Jewel. “And then I’m not responsible for him anymore?”

  “And then you’re not responsible for him anymore,” Jewel guaranteed, nodding her head.

  “Hell, yes, I’ll sign it. Give me something to write with,” he declared eagerly, feeling his pockets as he searched for a pen.

  Taking one out of his breast pocket, Chris thrust it into Ray’s hand. “Here.”

  Ray looked around for a surface to write on, and Jewel turned around, offering up her back for him to use. He lost no time in signing the papers.

  “Done,” Ray declared, giving her the document and Chris the pen. “Now get the hell away from me before I get in trouble,” he snapped.

  The look Chris gave him could have shot daggers. “Gladly,” he bit off.