Page 38 of Subtracting the Heart

Ford patted him on the ass as he walked by. “I saw a jar of blackberry jam in the cupboard. Can you somehow melt it down to make syrup? We used to have a cook who made blackberry syrup for me when I was a kid and I love it.” Cade nodded. He’d give the man anything he wanted—and the other one as well.

Ford’s footsteps on the stairs shot Cade into action. He went to the cabinet and found the jar of blackberry preserves that the Yankee called “jam.” He was sure it was simple to break it down to liquid form, so he pulled out a saucepan and gathered other ingredients.

Yelling echoed in the stairwell, so Cade stopped to listen, noticing it didn’t get louder. Then suddenly there were feet hammering down the stairs. Ashton ran into the kitchen in a pairof pajama pants and a Chicago sweatshirt, holding out a piece of paper.

“What’s wrong?” The look on his brother’s face startled him.

Before the boy could answer he broke down, moving into Cade’s embrace. Cade held his sobbing brother. Ford’s expression showed alarm when he walked in with a ten-dollar bill and an empty box of kitchen trash can liners.

“What happened? Where are the boys?”

Ashton pulled away and handed the note to Ford before he burrowed further into Cade’s chest, his sobs loud as they stood in the kitchen. Cade studied Ford, seeing tears in his eyes. He cleared his throat and began reading the note.

Of course, they were inconsolable by the time he got to the end. Cade read the letter to himself, trying to understand why they felt the need to leave.

He finally looked at Ford. “Why’d they leave? Did we do something wrong?” He reached for a paper towel and tore it in half, handing a piece to Ashton to dry his eyes and nose.

Ford took Cade’s piece and dried his own eyes. “We gave them time and space to regroup. Their leaving was a way of claiming back their independence. Look, it would have been easy for them to stay here and let us take care of them, but those boys weren’t used to this kind of treatment, and they weren’t the type to take advantage.” Ford’s words rang true.

“I’m worried about them.” Cade’s stomach flipped at the idea of those young men wandering the streets of Chicago alone.

Ford placed his hand on Cade’s cheek, which was comforting. “I know we’re sorry to see them gone and we’ll worry about them, but they are adults, and they did what they thought was best for them. Hopefully, we’ll hear from them in the future, and God willing, the letters they wrote to the DA will help your case.”

Cade hugged Ash again before he sat the boy down at the table so he could pour him a glass of juice. “Orange or apple?” He pulled both containers from the fridge.

“Do you think Kevin will ever think about me?” Ash stared into space.

Cade glanced at Ford and saw a tender smile. They both knew his brother was dealing with his first case of heartbreak. It wasn’t anything Kevin did, really, except kiss the youth on New Year’s, but Cade remembered how easily a crush could sneak up on you when you were that age.

“I’d bet he’ll think about you for years to come, Ash. You want to help me make some French toast?”

“I will. I’ll be back.” The boy hurried up the stairs.

Cade turned to Ford, who smiled and pulled him into his arms. “Our little boy is suffering from his first crush. We have to be careful with him. I remember my first crush. It was an older boy on the track team, Sterling Monroe. I went out for track myfreshman year because he was the captain. I guess I’ve always been attracted to athletes. That explains a lot about me being so attracted to Jackson.”

“My first crush was Isaac Stein. His father was Jewish, and his mother was Presbyterian. They got divorced and couldn’t decide how to raise the poor guy, so they sent him to the same school I went to. He insisted on being called Izzy, which I thought was the coolest name in the world. He was a junior when I was a freshman, and he was crazy about the theater. I went to every production that year, and I even considered converting to Judaism.” Cade’s admission brought a hearty laugh from Ford.

“I’m sure Hudson would have loved to hear that one,” Ford joked.

“Oh, he’d have had a heart attack. Unfortunately for me, Izzy ran off with the drama teacher, Mr. Grange, and didn’t finish his senior year of school. Of course, I was crushed back then. My next crush was on a guy on the basketball team. I found out that most of the guys on our sports teams were all about the cheerleaders from the sister school, so I just gave up on love. I had a few one-nighters in college as I was sorting myself before… Well, I get what you mean about that first crush. That’s one you don’t forget.” Cade smiled at the memories.

They both sighed as Ash came rushing back in. “Are we gonna eat or what? What time is Sasquatch getting home?”

Cade glanced at the clock to see it was just a little after eight and the game wasn’t on until noon. Just as he was putting the first pieces of French toast on the griddle, Ford’s phone chimed from the counter. He picked it up and smiled, reading the message from Jax.

Sports fans, I’m gonna be a guest on the pregame show. Tune in… Channel Five. Happy New Year to all of you. Love you, Cajun

The three of them laughed. It sounded like Jackson was in a good mood, and Cade was glad. He wouldn’t lie and say he wasn’t concerned about how Jax would handle being at the game and not being able to participate, but it sounded as if, maybe, he’d be just fine.

“We’re lucky to have one of the co-captains for the Breeze with us when we come back. We’re going to ask him about last Sunday’s game with Washington and whether he thought he was a target. What does next season look like for him, and the press coverage swirling around his personal life. Come back for The Ragin’ Cajun, Jackson Delacroix. This is Sunday Gameday,” the host stated.

Cade and Ford smirked at each other as the three of them settled into the recliners in the media room to watch the game. They’d prepared popcorn and root beer, their eyes glued to the big screen. “You think he’ll say anything about his personal life?”

Ford laughed, passing the bowl to Ashton. “He’ll allude to us just to see what the commentators try to get him to say. He loves to play cat and mouse with the media. He’s not going to say anything that would hurt us, I promise you.” Cade nodded at Ford’s assessment, swigging his root beer from the bottle.

After the break, Ash turned up the volume. They could see a clean-shaven Jax sitting in a chair at the large desk the four hosts shared, all former football players. The lead host looked at the camera and smiled brightly, showing teeth that looked like white Chiclets gum.

“Welcome back. Let’s catch up with the standings as we head into the last week of the season.”

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