“What’s the rush, pal? We need to catch up.” Donny slapped Jace’s shoulder again. “For old times’ sake.”
Jace clenched his teeth. If Babcock whacked him again, there would be trouble.
“Of course you do. You two sit down and talk. I’ll get some tea.” Kitty bustled from the room, leaving Jace alone with his nightmare.
“What are you really doing here?” he growled softly.
“Now, Jacey boy, mi amigo. Is that any way to greet an old friend?” Babcock held up two fingers. “Scouts’ honor. My intentions are on the up-and-up. I saw you on TV and figured I’d come down and say hello.”
“You’ve said hello. Now say goodbye.”
“Jace, Jace, Jace. You’re starting to hurt my feelings. We were good buddies back then. Remember? You and me against the world. Not that I’m one to collect on old debts, but I saved your hide a time or two.”
Dark shame flushed through Jace’s system. The place on his side began to ache the way it did when he remembered.
“I appreciate it, Donny, I do. But I’m not that stupid kid anymore. I’m a new man, with a good life.” Fourteen years of being the best man he knew how to be, of seeking God with all his heart. Of paying penance with every breath in his body.
“And you don’t want anyone messing it up. I’m cool with that. I didn’t come here to cause trouble for you, Jacey boy.”
“Why did you come?”
The toothy smile came again. “To do you a favor.”
The sound of soft footsteps stopped the conversation. Jace paced to the door and opened it for Kitty. She carried a tray with two glasses of tea and a plate of cookies. His heart pinched at the kindness. This was the life he’d chosen, the life he’d worked for. Donny was right. He didn’t want anyone destroying the respect and friendships he’d gained in Redemption. And Donny’s presence threatened everything.
Was he selfish to want him gone? After Donny had been there when he needed him most?
“Let me take that,” he said.
Kitty’s mouth curved. “Thank you, Jace.”
She relinquished the tea and stepped into the room, bringing her fresh rose scent along.
“You shouldn’t have bothered. I need to go.” He fought to keep his tone easy. “I have an appointment with Samuel Case to bid a job.”
He normally wouldn’t have explained himself, but today he needed an excuse to get out of here and think.
“But you have a guest.”
“No problem, Miss Wainright. Jace and I can reminisce at his place. We were just discussing my accommodations and he insisted I stay at his house for a few days.” Babcock turned glittery brown eyes on Jace. “Right, Jace?”
The blatant lie took him aback, but he wasn’t ready to call Donny’s bluff. Not in front of Kitty. The man knew too much. And he was bound to have a deeper motive for showing up after all this time. Jace had an obligation to himself and to his adopted town to find out what it was.
“You can follow me out to the house.”
“No, no, go ahead and bid your job. Old Donny will sit here and enjoy his tea with Miss Wainright. I’ll be along later.”
“You don’t know where I live.”
Donny winked. “I’ll find you.”
Jace’s gut tightened. Until he knew what Donny was up to, if anything, he didn’t like leaving him alone with Kitty. But he’d backed himself into a corner and could do little else.
On legs shaky with adrenaline, he headed to his truck and prayed all the way to Samuel Case’s antique shop.
He should be working, had plenty to do, but Jace couldn’t relax until he found out what Donny Babcock was doing in Redemption, Oklahoma. By the time he arrived home from his appointment with Samuel Case, he was drenched in sweat. Worry sweat.
He let himself in through the side door and was met by a delighted puppy. Milo, a beagle mix of some sort with curly ears and soft brown eyes, thought Jace was the sun and the moon.
“Got any presents for me to clean up?”
They were working on house training, and he should probably crate the pup during his absences but he couldn’t. The floors were hardwood. They’d clean. No living creature should be locked in a cage.
The dog wiggled harder, mouth open, eyes dancing along with his feet and tail. If a dog could throw out his back, Milo would manage.
Jace crouched on his toes and gathered the bundle of warmth and love against his chest. A few minutes with Milo and he could almost forget his worries.
But not quite. He had a lot to lose with Donny Babcock in town.
With Milo dogging his heels, he paced the gleaming wood floor of his living room. He’d spent hours perfecting this shine. Hours stripping away the old carpet and the old finishes. Layer after layer until he’d uncovered the stunning solid oak flooring, made even more beautiful by age. Someone had told him he should put down area rugs but he couldn’t bring himself to cover something this beautiful.
Wood was his passion and nothing fired him up like a piece perfected by age just waiting for the hand of a master craftsman. He frequented estate sales and old barns in search of pieces like the banister now curving toward the second story of the Queen Anne he called home.
He ran a hand over the silky banister. Gary Henderson had taught him to appreciate fine wood, and he’d taught him the skills needed to build a business and a life. He’d also taught him about Jesus. The day Jace had been assigned to Gary’s woodshop class had been a blessing he would never take for granted. It was God, pure and simple, trying to help a messed-up kid.
“You should have known Gary,” he told Milo who’d jogged up the stairs to be on eye level with his master.
Jace had taken Gary’s shop class to get out of real work. Or so he’d thought. Eighteen years old, he’d been so scared back then any safe place was welcome. And Gary’s woodshop was safe. The master builder saw to that. No one monkeyed around under Gary’s watch.
“I would be dead without Gary.”
He believed the sentiment with his whole heart. With Gary’s guidance he’d become a real man instead of a punk kid destined for the cemetery. Gary had been the one who’d urged him to leave the city and start fresh in a place where no one would judge him by anything except his workmanship and character. He’d done that. He’d made Gary proud.
He blew out a worried breath.
More than anything today, he needed to talk to his mentor and friend.
He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and paced some more. Milo hippity-hopped down the stairs and followed.
Gary was gone. Died two years after Jace moved to Redemption to start over.
“God, you see my dilemma. Guide me.” Jace wasn’t a big talker to anyone else, but God already knew all his faults and mistakes anyway. And the dog thought every word was meant for him. Milo plopped down on his bottom, one leg sticking straight out as he cocked his head to listen. “Why has Donny Babcock tracked me down? After all this time, it can’t be good. It can’t be.”
He headed into the kitchen, oblivious for once to the granite counters and the warm patina of the hand-lathed cabinets. He should eat something but his stomach gnawed with anxiety.
He thought of Kitty and the gnawing got worse. He shouldn’t have left her alone with Babcock. Even if Donny had saved him from a knife-happy convict and certain slaughter, he’d been shady, always working a deal. A con in a building full of cons. Jace didn’t want Kitty hurt by anyone,