Good Wood (Carved Hearts) Read online

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  Good Wood

  Copyright © 2014 by L.G. Pace III & Michelle Pace

  Cover designer: Robin Harper. Wicked By Design.

  https://www.facebook.com/WickedByDesignRobinHarper

  Cover model: Ruby Franco

  https://www.facebook.com/RubyFrancoPage

  Formatting by JT Formatting

  All rights reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products, bands, and/or restaurants referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Title Page

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Coming Soon

  Acknowledgments

  About the Authors

  THE FLASHING LIGHTS of the helipad blinded me, but they barely penetrated my anguished haze. I was so lost inside my own head that I didn’t really see them. The crushing weight of three officers held me in place, pinning me down to the cold concrete. The biggest cop ground my skull against the unyielding surface. Another held my left arm, while a third wrestled my right into handcuffs. There was no need for them to put so much effort into my arrest. At this point, one of them could have easily cuffed me. Not that I blamed them for being cautious. I had initially put up quite a struggle, but now all my strength was gone. It had abandoned me like blood running from a gaping chest wound. The ragged sobs that racked my entire body consumed all my energy. Part of me wished they would just shoot me and put me out of my misery.

  Looking back on it now, I realize I was already in a state of shock. I guess having your entire world turned upside down in an instant has a tendency to do that. Only a day earlier, I was blissfully unaware of what fate held in store. My wife, Jessica, had gone on maternity leave early and had been using the time to get the house ready for our new arrival. Eight months pregnant with our son, she’d become almost frantic in her preparations. One day she’d insist we needed to put in a stock of cloth diapers and the next day she wanted to drive an hour to get a special blender for making our own organic baby food. The doctor assured me that it was perfectly normal. Every woman goes through a nesting process. I told the doc that the way she was going our nest was going to be bigger than the Grand Canyon.

  Just before we found out we were pregnant, Jess had convinced me it was time to start my woodworking business. From the early days of my apprenticeship, I had been doing custom woodcraft for people. As the jobs had gotten more complicated, I had struggled to keep up with demand. Jessica convinced me to find a space to use for a full service woodworking shop. There was a cheap building that had been fire damaged. The bones were solid, but it needed a lot of restoration. The ground floor would be my workshop and there were two income apartments on the second floor.

  It took a lot of nights and weekends, not to mention trading some woodworking for plumbing and electrical work, but I finally got the place in shape. The downstairs was mostly workshop with a small retail area up front. Jess had told me to put that in at the last minute. Her thinking was that it made sense to have a place to meet with customers and transact business in addition to having a full shop. That was my Jessica, chock full of good business sense. The upstairs we roughed out and made ready for finish work. I procrastinated on completing the apartments figuring there would be plenty of time later. And I wasn’t hurting for money.

  When the pregnancy news came, the apartments were the last thing on my mind. Along with starting the new business, I was still working as a contractor on construction jobs. Between all of that and trying to spend time with Jessica, I was in desperate need of a rest. So the apartments went to the bottom of my priority list. Even with all the horror stories my friends Mac and Mason told me about sleep deprivation, the month or so I planned to take off when Jessica gave birth beckoned me like paradise.

  Since we found out we were expecting, I’d been doing everything I could to make sure I’d have the time I needed with Jessica and little Jack. I’d given up pretty much everything extracurricular, to the horror of my buddies, but it was more than worth it. Watching daily as her belly grew, just made my growing responsibilities undeniable.

  I had two weeks of work left and everything was stacking up. There were last minute changes to customer build plans. I had suppliers claiming they hadn’t been paid. And then there were the people trying to bid me out of my time off. Some of the offers were just plain senseless. One lady from England wanted me to recreate a hand carved chest of drawers from solid walnut. But she wanted it in three weeks. The guy I referred her to told me if Jess got tired of me, he would have my babies as long as I kept sending that type of work his way.

  I’d decided to go home early hoping to surprise Jess with her favorite meal, Joe’s Famous Homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs. It was one of the few things I could do in the kitchen that didn’t involve a fire extinguisher. I’d hit the Farmer’s Market for a few ingredients: fresh mushrooms, herbs, heirloom tomatoes and some grass fed beef from an organic butcher. My girl had always been a health-nut, and pregnancy had only made her more militant about the ingredients she put into her body. As I came in, she was on the phone but spun toward me, fumbling to hang up and greet me with a kiss.

  “Hey there, big boy, I wasn’t expecting you home for hours. What a pleasant surprise.” Setting the bags aside, I swept her gently up into my arms and smothered her in gentle kisses. I saved my last kiss for the protruding baby bump peeking out of the hem of her t-shirt.

  “Hey, Sunshine, I got tired of all the crazy and decided you deserved a little pampering tonight. I brought dinner.”

  Glancing down at the bags on the floor, her eyes went wide. “You’re making me spaghetti?” The last word transformed into a squeal of joy. Jumping into my arms, she proceeded to kiss me long and hard. As she released me, she looked at me with a mock scowl. “I’m already way too fat!” I shot her a grin and shook my head.

  “No, Jack’s fat. You still have a boney ass.” I pinched her on the aforementioned ass and her green eyes twinkled in a naughty manner. It was a good thing that the meat was packed with dry ice, becau
se it was a while before I made it back to the kitchen. By the time the sauce was simmering, she had showered and was perched on a stool watching me work.

  “Mmmmmm, there’s really nothing sexier than a half-naked man cooking dinner.” She delivered this proclamation with a distractingly sexy drawl and I slipped between her legs for several more tantalizing kisses. Then the timer went off signaling the food was done and I sat down to enjoy a wonderful meal with the woman I loved. It was a simple, but glorious moment stolen from time.

  After our early dinner, Jessica told me that her friend Bethany was on her way over for a visit. One of the few “issues” that she and I had was Bethany. Beth was a spoiled rotten rich girl who always seemed to find a backhanded way of insulting me every time she saw me. Jessica knew that I thought spending time with her friend was right up there with me putting a nail through my own hand. Seeing the look of annoyance in my eye she laughed and threw her arms around my neck.

  “Don’t pout, Joe! I think you should try and finish up your projects at the shop this evening. Didn’t you say you needed to put a last coat of varnish on the crib or something?” I smirked down at her. She blinked innocently up at me from under her blonde bangs, but she knew me better than I did. I’d always been transparent to her, and she was always so good at reading me.

  “Yes, I need to put on several layers of oil and beeswax. It is a lot safer for the baby than a toxic varnish.” I snuck a kiss and then nuzzled her neck. “Yeah, I should try and get that done. How long is she going to be here?”

  “Probably late. I figured we would have our last big girl talk before the baby gets here. You know how she is, if I don’t put in the time now she’ll be a pain in the ass later.” I laughed and nodded. I’d never understood why someone as together as Jess would be friends with a neurotic mess like Bethany, the martini luncheon queen. But they’d been together since grade school, so maybe she’d slowly gotten worse with age.

  “Well, that should give me plenty of time. There are a few things besides the crib I could work on.” The knowing eye roll she gave me made me smile. The last time she came to the workshop, I’d shown her a toddler bed I had designed. Six separate wood blocks hollowed out and shaped just so. Once I had them primed and painted, they would fit together into the coolest red racecar. I had a few things I had to tweak to make sure that everything was balanced so they fit together correctly.

  “My sexy work-a-holic. I figured that you’d find something to keep yourself busy.” She smiled her sweet all-American girl smile and planted kiss after kiss on me. I thought we might be headed back to the bedroom again, but we were interrupted by a curt knock on the door. I made my escape giving the ice queen Bethany my best fake smile on the way out.

  The crib took no time at all to finish. When I pulled out the racecar bed, I had an epiphany. Shaving a few bits here and there it slid together perfectly. I touched up the paint and left everything to dry figuring I could sneak back in the following week and do another full coat. Traffic was unusually light and I pulled into our driveway just in time to see Jessica locking the door as if on her way out. She looked up in surprise as I slipped out of the truck.

  “Hey hon. I didn’t expect you back so soon.” Jess was normally calm and together, but she seemed a bit agitated. I cocked my head sideways and looked at her curiously.

  “I figured things out faster than I thought I would. Did Bethany leave early?” Jessica flushed and fumbled her keys, dropping them to the ground.

  “Yeah, she ended up getting a call and had to go into work.”

  “Oh. So where were you going?” I picked up the keys and handed them back to her. She placed a hand on her naval and turned away from me. She paused for a second jingling through her keys before replying

  “Nowhere special. I was just going to go out to Amy’s for some ice cream. I had a craving.” Sliding my hands under her arms I hugged her from behind and nuzzled her neck.

  “I can drive you over if you like. Or I could go get it.” Turning the key in the lock she reached back and pulled me by the belt.

  “Something sounds a little more appetizing than ice cream right now,” she growled as she pulled me into the dark house. An hour later, I lay completely exhausted on our mussed bed with her head resting on my shoulder and my hand on her baby bump. Between long hours and our blissful exertions, I was hovering at the edge of sleep. I drifted off to Jessica’s slow heartbeat and the wiggling of little Jack under my hand.

  The bed was cold when I woke sometime later. Groggy, I reached for Jessica and my hand closed on an empty bed sheet. Jolting awake, I snapped on the lamp. I was alone in the room. Stumbling to my feet I checked the bathroom first. She wasn’t there. An unsettling feeling of panic began to bloom inside my chest. As I rushed through the house, each empty room caused my anxiety to climb. I nearly fell down the stairs on my way to the ground floor. Her car wasn’t in the driveway. I stood there for a few minutes like an idiot staring out the window at her empty parking space.

  Bethany. The thought crossed my mind and I nearly flew back up the stairs to grab my cell phone. I had to call that bitch four times before she finally deigned to answer her phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Bethany. It’s Joe. Is Jessica over there?”

  “Jess? No. What? Why would she be here?” I burned a few thousand gallon barrels of patience not screaming into the phone.

  “I just woke up and she isn’t here. Do you know where she is? Did she mention anything about going anywhere when you two talked earlier?” I hated the way my voice sounded. It was border line crazy man. But I couldn’t help it.

  “She said she was going out before you got back.” Before I could respond, my phone beeped. Looking at it I saw an incoming call from Jessica.

  “She’s calling. I have to go.” Without another word I hung up on her stupid ass. Clicking the answer icon, I tried to keep my voice calm. “Jess, baby? Where are you?” There was a pause on the other end and then a male voice answered me.

  “Sir? This is James Simms. I’m a flight medic with Austin-Travis County EMS. You are listed as the emergency contact in my patient’s phone.”

  “Why do you have my wife’s phone? A flight medic? What the hell is going on?” My worry blossomed into full blown dread.

  “Mr. Jensen, I’m here with your wife. She’s been in a car accident. We are en route by air transport to UMC at Breckenridge. I need you to tell me if your wife is allergic to anything or has any medications that she cannot take.” Something inside me snapped and I started rattling off information to him like a robot. Without warning, he hung up on me. I stared at the phone like it was the devil himself. Turning, I ran out of the house to my truck, not even stopping to put on shoes or a shirt.

  As I tore down the road, I dialed my phone one handed. The second person programmed into my speed dial, was my sister, Tamryn. She picked up on the first ring.

  “Joe! What’s wrong?” That was Tamryn-so together that even woken out of a dead sleep she was ready for anything. I whipped around a car that was doing the speed limit and barely missed clipping a Yellow Cab as I fishtailed back into my lane.

  “Tamz,” I used my childhood nickname for her-something I hadn’t done since we were still living with our parents. “Jess….she was in an accident. They are airlifting her to Breckenridge. I’m on my way there.” My voice broke and I couldn’t say another word. A sob snuck out of my throat and I heard her sharp intake of breath.

  “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” She was gone before I could think to reply. I hung the phone up and dropped it as I ripped the wheel to the right. I barely missed mowing down a motorcycle cop. I ignored the flashing lights and set a new land speed record across town. Halfway to my destination, two cop cars tried to block my way. I drove around them, through an empty parking lot and was back on the road without slowing.

  When I pulled into the emergency room entrance, I didn’t even bother with the keys; I just left the engine running and jumped out. I sa
w a helicopter in the sky getting closer. Racing into the building I slipped through a security door trailing two doctors. They stopped at a bank of elevators. To their right I saw a door for stairs and went through it without stopping. Taking the stairs two and three at a time I charged up toward the roof. My lungs burned as I worked my legs like the pistons of an engine.

  By the time I reached the top floor, I was going on pure adrenaline. A painful stitch had started a few floors below the top and I was having trouble breathing. When I got to the roof access, I found a locked door. Grabbing it, I yanked with all my strength and felt the metal bend in the frame. It popped loose just as I felt a muscle in my arm begin to give. Running out onto the roof, I saw the helicopter just touching down. A crowd with a gurney rushed toward it. Three cops and two security guards came out of another doorway and barreled toward me.

  “Freeze! Get down on the ground! Down on the ground!”

  “Show me your hands! Down, down, down. Get on the ground!”

  Their shouts seemed like they were coming from another world. The doors to the helicopter opened and a bloodstained figure was loaded onto the waiting gurney. In a flurry of activity, they raced back towards the building entrance. One of the officers grabbed my right arm. I shook him off and started towards the figure on the gurney. The other two officers grabbed me hard. With effort, I managed to move forward, their shouts ringing in my ears.

  Several faces in the team surrounding the gurney glanced up, registering concern and alarm. The third officer, this one much stronger, dug in his heels and tried to take me down from behind. Between the three of them they couldn’t drop me and with them hanging on to me they couldn’t taser me. My forward momentum halted, I fought hard, throwing one of them off. At that moment, the crowd parted and I saw her face. Jessica. Up until that instant, some small part of me had been hoping against all reason that this was all just some huge mistake. But seeing her bruised and bloodied face shattered that illusion like a pane of glass. The officers wrestled with me, fighting to take me down. Muscles straining, I lifted my body with the three officers bearing down on me.