Free Jace: The Pride of the Double Deuce by Kathi S. Barton

until the last five entries. Date Holly had been the last thing he’d been able to check off.
    “ Bed her. Then wed her .” He stared at those two entries for a long time before he moved to the third thing he’d not marked off. He knew they were in the wrong order, but he just couldn’t bring himself to wed someone without at least trying them out. What if they were just not compatible in the bed? Jeff thought they’d have to be really bad if he was willing to give up the billions that Snow had, but he would be married to her for a long time. “ Have insurance put in my name. All of it. Well, that will do me no good without the other two, now will it?”
    The last two were much the same. Get her pregnant , which was chancy in and of itself. The child would inherit a great deal from the Snow foundation, but then Jeff wasn’t planning to die any time soon. And the last thing on the list, the one that bothered him a great deal, was kill Holly if she proves to be a nag .
    Jeff had toyed with adding another entry to the list for a long time, and now that there was someone else in the picture, he decided that it would have to go on a brand new list. Turning into the book a few pages, he started his new list. It was called Getting Holly back .
    He worked on his list for over two hours. It was just a rough draft by the time he realized he was hungry, but he worked on it while he fixed him some noodles and butter. He was low on funds again and had to wait until payday to be able to purchase some food stuff. Jeff decided to call his mom and tell her that she’d be a little short this week, as he had things come up.
    He dreaded talking to her almost as much as he did anyone. His mother could be biting at times when she felt he was slighting her in some way. He picked up the phone to call her just after he finished cleaning up his dinner mess.
    “You say you had something come up? I told you over and over to plan for these things, Jeffery. Over and over.” He told her he was sorry. “Well, it’s a good thing that one of us plans ahead. If I didn’t, then where would I be when you shorted your poor old mother a little pocket money?”
    “I’m sure you can manage for two weeks.” He wanted to ask her how she’d been saving for a rainy day, but didn’t. She more than likely wouldn’t tell him, and if she did, it would be a lie. “I’ll see if I can send you a little extra next time.”
    “You do that. You do that.” She was quiet for a little while, and he wondered if she’d fallen asleep. He was nearly ready to hang up when she spoke again. “You find you a rich wife yet? That one you’ve been bragging to me about? I’m looking forward to meeting her, Jeffery. To see you married will be the best thing for me. When you bringing her down?”
    “Soon.” She laughed a little, and he wondered if she was making fun of him or just happy about meeting Holly. “You haven’t told anyone, have you? About my girlfriend?”
    “Of course I haven’t. You told me to keep it to myself because of her connections, and I don’t blab. I only told Mary Ann and that Quinten woman, Sally. They were going on and on about their grandkids and I had nothing to share. They won’t tell anyone. I asked them not to.” Jeff closed his eyes. The entire state would know by now. “You bring her on down here and let me meet her. I’m looking forward to it.”
    Jeff hung up the phone a few minutes later and thought about how bad his day was going. First, the Holly incident, then the call to her dad. Now his mom. Looking around, he added that his room was fucked up, and he might be out of a job if he didn’t behave at work.
    “Just great. Just fucking great.” Jeff buried his face in his hands and sat there. Nothing had been this bad since he’d left college…been asked to leave college…all those years ago.
    ~~~
    “If you’re going to ask me what happened, I’m not going to answer you.” Jace glared at his brother as he nodded