Tracked by Trouble (Bad Boys Need Love, Too #3) (6 page)

“Yeah,” Zed said, feeling his stomach churn.  “I, uh, I need to grab something out of the truck,” he said, wanting to escape the love fest, of which he felt no part. He quickly peeled his mom’s arm from around him and strode away.

“Geez, Mom,” his sister could be heard to say. “Lawson’s not the only member of this family who counts.”

“I know,” her mom said. “Zed takes thing too…”

Those were the last words he said before letting the front door slam behind him with a satisfying thwack. “What is it today, Ma? Too seriously? Sensitively? Personally?” He shook his head wishing this day would be over and he could be pouring his angst into training for the triathlon, and making his nephew proud. He at least had that going for him—a great relationship with his sister’s and other brother’s kids.

Zed stared at the throng of people, wishing he could disappear. By noon, the yard and house had filled to the brim with partygoers, from the women who wanted to woo Lawson, to friends and family. The late May weather had gone from pouring rain yesterday, to warm and sunny today, as if even the weather gods were shining down on Lawson’s big day, making the yard look fantastic.

“And why wouldn’t it?” Zed muttered. “It’s my design. Not that it matters or anything,
Mom
.” Wanting to drown his sour mood, he snagged a beer from the tray of a young, stressed looking guy his mom hired to serve food and drinks. He unscrewed the cap and took a long swallow.

One woman, a pretty brunette Zed had been crushing on a year ago, sauntered up to him. He tensed. Next to Lawson, she was one of the last people he wanted to see today.

“Hey, Zed,” she said, a twinkle in her eye. “Haven’t seen you around much.” She put a finger on his chest and traced something. Could have been a heart, but Zed wasn’t certain.

He wrapped his fingers around her single digit and removed it from his chest, taking a step back. “I thought you and Lawson hooked up.”

She shrugged. “We did. It was nothing. And then he went back on tour to the battlefield. We could…” Again her shoulder lifted. “You know.”

“No, thanks, Nora. I’ve moved on.”

“Too bad.” She eyed him speculatively for a moment. “Dating anyone?”

“Not at the moment. Too busy.” His thoughts slid to Beck, then evaporated like a puff of dust. No contact usually meant no interest.

A slow smile crept on her face. “I could help you change your mind,” she said, stepping closer.

“Nah. Not interested. Too much going on. Thanks, though,” he added, not wanting to hurt her feelings. “You were…” He couldn’t think of what to add to the sentence so he merely smiled.

She pressed her lips together. “Where is he, anyway? All these people here on his behalf, he’d better show up.” Her head turned when a big truck rolled up the road. “Who’s
that
?” she said, eyeing the driver. Her eyes seemed to turn into those of an interested predator. She licked her lips.

“Jace Savage.”

“Ooh, I always wanted to get with him.”

“And his wife and baby.”

She stared at him like he’d turned into a lizard, her face wrinkling in some disgusted countenance. “You guys,” she said, swishing her hand in front of her face. She turned and stalked away.

“Us guys,” Zed said, mimicking her hand movement. “Us guys what?” Zed felt instant relief nothing had ever really happened between them except lukewarm sex. He strode over to the truck as Jace pulled into the designated dirt parking next to the house.

“Wow, big party, huh?” Jace said, stepping from the cab. He opened the smaller back door to his passenger seating in the roomy super cab.

“Unca Zed!” Marni exclaimed, an eager smile on her pretty face. The green ribbons tied in her curls bobbed and her matching green dress rustled as she wiggled.

“You look so pretty,” Zed said, reaching for her.

“Her pretty dress will be covered with dirt, her ribbons will be gone in, I’d say, fifteen minutes tops.” Zoé brushed at nothing on the child’s dress, as if in anticipation.

Marni pushed her hand away. “No.
My
dress.”

The word dress sound like “dess.”  Zed chuckled.

“Yes, your dress,” Zoé said with a sigh. “We’re in the terrible two phase.” She smiled at Zed, then rolled her eyes. “Where’s your scary brother?”

“Not here yet. Wanting to make a late appearance, no doubt. Looks like I see him down the road.” Zed squinted at the dark, glossy green Jeep Wrangler barreling up the one lane street like a bullet flying through the trees. He flinched.

One partygoer yelled, “Here he comes!” and everyone started to gather as if a celebrity was making his way up the road.

“Wow, the guy stirs the crowds, huh?” Jace said, grabbing a beer for himself as the attendant walked by. “Hey, not so fast,” he told the tense looking guy as he walked away.

The young male did an about face. “Huh?”

“My wife.” Jace pointed to Zoé. “She needs one, too.”

“Oh, sorry.” He hustled over to Zoé and handed her a frosty brew.

“You’re doing fine,” Jace said, smiling.

The young guy smiled gratefully, squared his shoulders and stepped through the crowd.

“Thanks, honey.” Zoé smiled up at her husband, twisting off the top of her beverage.

“We’d better not over-do on the booze before training,” he said to Zed.

“How much qualifies for an over-do?”

“I’ll keep you posted, depending on how the day progresses. This looks to be fun.”

“Define fun,” Zed said before pulling from his bottle of amber ale. His gaze trained on the tall, military-cut male emerging from the Jeep to cheers and salutations. Clad in uniform, he looked like that cartoon character, Buzz Lightyear, complete with huge, square jaw. The only thing missing was his spacesuit. “The king has arrived.”

“What the hell did he do to make you despise him?” Jace asked.

“Oh, it won’t take long to see how everyone fawns over him, especially my mom. Ever since dad died she’s taken this unnatural regard toward him. And…” He hesitated, not sure how much he should reveal.

Jace cocked his head and studied Zed. “And what?”

“And we had a rather unpleasant incident last year when he was on leave. Look, I don’t want to talk about it right now, okay? It’s family stuff.” He didn’t ever want to talk about it, if he had his way. It was the one thing that had him considering a life of chemical dependency after the accident.

Zoé came up and put her arm around his waist. “We’re part of your family, now, too.”

“True enough.  I do spend a fair amount of time with you two since me and Jace made up.”

“Want me to take him out for you?” Jace flexed one of his impressive muscles.

Zed scoffed. “No, Waldo don’t need no bodyguard,” he said in a half joke.

He managed to avoid his brother for most of the afternoon, as everyone ate, drank, oohed and ahhed over his brother’s numerous accomplishments and his tales of daring on the battlefield. Zed eavesdropped from the corner, resentment stewing in his gut, knowing the true story of the incident that supposedly earned him the Medal of Honor.
The one I can’t tell anyone, ever.

Shortly before he intended to leave, as he emerged from the bathroom, Zed couldn’t, however, avoid his mom grabbing him and pulling him toward the wretched Wall of Honor.

“Honey, say something about your brother’s accomplishments and then we’ll take a family photo.”

Instant dread washed over Zed like a flash freeze. “Nah, not feeling it.”

“Come on, Caitlin and the others are waiting. I know you can come up with the perfect thing to say.”

“You do it, Ma.” He wanted to add,
he’s the perfect son you’re in love with,
but bit back the words. He caught Jace and Zoé’s eyes as he passed them and gave them pleading looks.

They immediately turned and started to follow, curious looks on their faces.

His mom pulled him toward the gathering standing by the fucking Wall of Honor.

Grayson, Caitlin, and Lawson all turned to look at him.

Caitlin appeared sympathetic.

Grayson simply looked like Grayson, the straight-laced accountant. He gave Zed a stiff smile and nodded. Grayson, a quiet guy and the loner of the family, didn’t like these shows of family unity simply because he didn’t like the attention.

Lawson gave Zed a murderous sneer, followed by a brilliant, shark-like smile as a cover-up. “There’s Waldo, I knew we’d find him,” the bastard said. He stood tall and erect like a G.I. Joe action figure, right down to the sculpted veins in his arms and the plastic looking face. He had a woman at each side, neither of whom Zed recognized. They each tittered when he called Zed Waldo.

“Fuck off,” Zed said, under his breath.

“What’s that? I didn’t really catch that.” His brother’s grin grew wider. “You’ll have to speak up.”

“What, lost your hearing in the war, as well as your sense of decency?”

“Boys,” his mom said in a stern tone, her blue eyes sparking. “That’s no way to speak to a war hero, Zed.” She reached out a hand for Caitlin and Grayson and pulled them close to Zed. “Now, Zed will say something to honor Lawson, while you present the certificate, Caitlin.”

“I
don’t
want to be the one to talk, Ma,” Zed said, more forcefully than he’d intended.

Lawson’s narrowed eyes conveyed all kinds of hatred as he glared at Zed.

Zed wanted to flatten the guy. His fingers curled into fists.

“The certificate’s already hanging on the wall,” Grayson said, stating the obvious, as he often did. “Why do we need to present it again?”

“I’ll say something,” Caitlin quickly interjected, glancing at Zed. She held Cerise, whose small head rested on Caitlin’s shoulder. “You hold the certificate, Grayson. Zed can simply be present. If he doesn’t want to talk, he doesn’t have to talk, Mom.”

Zed gave her a look of gratitude. She knew more than anyone about the stress between him and Lawson. She didn’t know the whole of it, however, and she didn’t need to know. He had no intention of starting a family feud with his lunatic brother.

His mom’s eyes crinkled in concern, eyeing Zed with one of her sympathetic gazes, like the poor dear just couldn’t get his life together.

It didn’t matter what he did, how much he did it, how much success he had in his life, his mom always seemed to regard him as the ten-year-old geeky, sensitive kid who studied hard as a child and got into trouble a lot when he was in his late teens and early twenties. And “couldn’t”—not wouldn’t, or simply hadn’t found the right woman—
couldn’t
find a wife, like that should be his sole purpose in life and he had something seriously wrong with him.

“Is everything okay, honey?”

“It’s fine. I’m not in the mood to talk.”

“Mom, let him be,” Caitlin said. “Look, Jeff’s got the camera and he’s ready. My kids are going ballistic in the corner playing with their new friend Marni. Grayson’s kids are out in the back wreaking havoc and we need to move things along.”

His mom’s mouth fell open. “This is a special moment.”

Ever the soother, Caitlin continued. “Of course, it is. We all know how much it means to you. Now you take your place next to Lawson and let’s get this show on the road.”

“Yeah, and I have to get to the gym. I’m starting my triathlon training today.”

“You’re leaving?” his mom practically whimpered.

“I’m participating in the race for Rickie’s school, remember? That’s something you might be proud of me for.” Zed instantly regretted his words, realizing the moment was becoming a family scene, complete with onlookers.

“I’m sorry, dear, I’ve been so wrapped up in your brother’s return. Of course, I’m proud of your efforts.”

“My
efforts
?” Zed’s face fell. “Not my accomplishments, but my
efforts?
”

His brother’s booming voice interrupted, saying, “It’s hard to be proud of someone who’s done so many things he’s not proud of.”

“What are you talking about? What have
I
done that’s so despicable? So what if I partied a lot and…” He started to say
and screwed a woman or fifteen,
but didn’t want to embarrass his mother. He’d also have added,
at least I don’t have the man-whore legacy of Jace,
but that wouldn’t win him any points either. Zed’s gut boiled with rage. “I can’t believe you said that, Lawless,” he said quietly. “We
all
have things we’re not proud of, even you.
Especially
you.”

His brother’s face paled for a second, but as usual, he quickly recovered with Marine-like precision, grinned his evil grin, and said, “Mom, I appreciate all you’ve done to get this party together. Let’s take the photo so my brother here can get on with his heroic attempts to redeem himself.”

Attempts? Fucking attempts? Like vain attempts?
Zed’s anger grew so intense, he thought he’d have a heart attack, same as his dad. He dragged his hand through his hair, his eyes casting about for support. He didn’t want to cause a scene in front of all these people. He caught sight of Jace, shaking his head slightly at him in warning.

Jace twirled his finger in a “let’s get this moving” moment, and added a quick thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the front door.

The rest of the hour proceeded in a numb blur. Zed smiled for the camera, barely heard the platitudes his sister spewed toward Lawson, and then, slipped away without saying goodbye to Ma. He figured his mom wouldn’t miss him. Not with Lawson around to fawn over.

He clomped to the dirt lot with Zoé, Jace, and Marni, his insides starting to make room for breathing to occur.

“Holy fucking shit,” Jace said, when they’d reached the truck. “That scene with the photo was intense.”