Read Treasure on Lilac Lane: A Jewell Cove Novel for Free Online

dark brown, and his face was angular … at times it seemed harsh and unrelenting, especially when he had a shadow of stubble on it. Like now, when he clenched his jaw. His words were easily spoken but his face told the truth. He was hurting, and hurting badly.
    “I’m so sorry, Rick. I didn’t mean to be insensitive.” She paused, and then carefully asked, “What about your dad? Have you contacted him? I mean, now that your mom is gone…”
    He shook his head quickly. “You weren’t being insensitive,” he assured her. “And as far as my dad…” He hesitated, then let out a breath. “I haven’t spoken to him in years. And I don’t plan to either.”
    The harsh tone was startling and she stared at him. “But … he’s your father. I mean, I know he left you and your mom, but so much time has passed. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to get in touch.”
    Rick’s eyes blazed as he looked over at her. “He left and hasn’t bothered to stay in touch, ask about me, even pay any child support to my mom. I don’t owe him anything .”
    She understood his anger, but family was important. Particularly since Rick no longer had any. Perhaps if they could make amends …
    “Maybe not. Or maybe he just doesn’t know what to say after all this time. If you just—”
    “Look, Jess,” he interrupted sharply. “The truth is, I’ve known since second grade that I’m adopted. A year after that Graham left. So you see, he wasn’t my father in any sense of the word. So what’s the point in calling him up now?”
    “Adopted?” Shock rippled through her as her mouth dropped open. Granted, Rick had never really looked much like Roberta, but that didn’t really mean anything. “You’ve known all these years and never told anyone?”
    “Marian Foster arranged it. I was the last baby she helped place.”
    Nothing he could have said would have surprised her more than this. If there wasn’t even biology connecting him to his dad, she understood his hostility better. “I don’t know what to say.”
    “There’s nothing to say. It’s not like it makes any difference. My mom was my mom, and nothing will ever change that.” He looked sideways at her, then turned his attention back to the road.
    There was a beat of silence in which Jess saw Rick differently. He was clearly grieving for Roberta, and the way he spoke of her proved that he’d loved her very much. “What about your birth parents, Rick? You might have family out there somewhere.”
    “That’s not really on my radar at the moment. Maybe down the road I’ll reconsider, but I doubt it.” He stopped at a stop sign, and looked over at her again. “Being in the Marines taught me to look at things by taking them down to the lowest denominator. To keep things clear and straightforward. And the truth is that she was my mother. No one else. And that’s all there is to it.”
    And his declaration drove home the point that he was now all alone. She kept quiet, knowing the last thing he’d want was her pity.
    “Well, no decision has to be made right away. It’s probably better not to rush this sort of thing. Make rash decisions and all that.”
    He paused, and then blew out a big breath, relieving some of the tension that had marked their conversation. He winked at her. “Hey, haven’t you heard? Rash decisions are what I’m good at.”
    Jess blushed and looked away, staring out the window. It was no secret that Rick had enlisted out of the blue on his twenty-first birthday, surprising the heck out of everyone. Roberta especially had been distressed as he was her only child. But she’d been proud, too. Proud of him for serving his country. As they all were. He’d come home on leave, dressed in his uniform, looking heroic and strong and invincible.
    And then he’d come back after being discharged and rented a place, which wasn’t much more than a dump, instead of moving in with his mom. And proceeded to spend the majority of his disability pay at The Rusty