She followed him into the living room, carrying their drinks and placing them on coasters on the coffee table while he set up TV trays. The fact that Mama Joy had actual TV trays spoke to the woman’s constant preparedness and ingenuity. Kerry could imagine her setting up the boys in there to watch TV and eat on special occasions but wanting them to not ruin the furniture, which was an old style but still in good condition, a testament to how well she’d kept her home even with four rambunctious boys growing up there.
She sat awkwardly, her hands clenched to the edge of the tray as Jesse flipped on the TV. He turned and looked at her. “Would you just relax and eat? These sandwiches have gotten cold enough. I thought you were hungry.”
“And whose fault was that?” Kerry said, looking over at him.
Jesse rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. You got me there. But hopefully it’s all taken care of.”
Kerry took a bite of her sandwich and gave him a skeptical look.
“Don’t give me that look. And I was just teasing back in the kitchen. I told Erika we’re coworkers and friends. Though I did let her know it wasn’t really her business what we were.”
Kerry frowned. “Don’t you think that was a little harsh?”
He bit into his sandwich and looked at her. “I didn’t like the tone she used with you. The assistant comment annoyed me.”
“It wasn’t a big deal,” Kerry said.
He nodded. “Maybe, but I still didn’t like it.”
Kerry grabbed a chip, suddenly wanting to fill her mouth with another flavor. She watched as Jesse ate and focused on the baseball game on the TV. He grimaced as the Yankees pitcher threw yet another low and outside ball to the batter.
“I know what you’re saying,” he suddenly blurted out. “But I am focused on work here. Besides, we made good progress today. I know you have to work tomorrow at the center. But I’ll continue. I have my checklist. We should be good.”
Kerry nodded. “Sure. We should be.”
There was a loud crack from the TV, and his attention was pulled forward. “You know,” he said, “maybe we should add a TV down in the shop.”
“What? Like in a barbershop?”
Jesse’s expression hardened. “No, I don’t mean like in a barbershop, funny girl. I just think it’s an easy and not all that expensive way to make a change.”
“But people come to the shop for a retreat. For an escape from their norm. How would having a TV help that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe we could show knitting videos.”
She blinked. It wasn’t like his idea was bad; it was just that she’d never seen a yarn shop with a TV. Though with Jesse’s penchant for avoiding boredom and how he seemed to hate silence, she had a feeling that if she didn’t agree to this, he’d end up watching TV on his phone during any of his off times anyway. “Who knows,” she finally said. “Maybe it could work.”
“Of course it will work,” he said with no small amount of finality. “It’s all going to work.” The last part seemed like more of a confirmation for himself than for her.
Kerry went to get another bite of her sandwich and realized it was gone. How did the time eating with him go by like that? He smiled at her. Shit. That’s how. She made a move to get up and take her trash into the kitchen when Jesse put out a hand to stop her. “You sit. I’ve got it.” He handed her the remote. “Here. Maybe find us something on Netflix if you’re up to it. I promised you the remote.”
“But—your game?” Kerry said, looking at the remote as if it were some sort of loaded weapon. Did he say Netflix? Was he using this to imply “Netflix and chill”?
Jesse pushed it into her hand, and she wrapped her fingers around the hard plastic.
“This game is all but over anyway. It’s no use watching when I already know the outcome.” He picked up their trash and disappeared into the kitchen.
Kerry let his words echo through her head as she scrolled through the Netflix menu. No use watching when he already knew the outcome. She couldn’t agree more. She finally put down the remote and headed off to Damian’s room. She’d do some knitting in there and watch something on her laptop. It was better that way. If she was chilling with Netflix, she’d do it her usual way . . . alone. Doing it on the couch next to Jesse was way too dangerous for her and her shaky hormones.
She passed Jesse on his way back to the living room and stretched in the most obviously-trying-to-be-nonchalant-and-failing way possible. “You know what, I’m a little tired. It has been a long day. I think I’m going to head off to bed.”
Jesse looked at her with concern in his eyes. “You sure? It’s still kind of early. Are you all right?”
Seriously? He was falling for this? Kerry nodded and gave him a smile. “I’m fine. Just tired. It’s been a lot for one weekend, and with work tomorrow and the kids, I need to get a little rest.”
She could see the slight disappointment as it fluttered across Jesse’s face, but he covered it quickly. “Okay, then. Rest well. I’ll stay up and hang out. Let me know if the TV is too loud for you.”
She held her hand up. “I’m sure it will be fine,” she said as she headed off to her—no, Damian’s room, she reminded herself. “Good night.”
“Let me know if you need anything,” he yelled behind her.
She turned and nodded.
“In the bathroom or anything.”
Kerry nodded again. “I’m good, Jes.”
“You’re good?”
She laughed this time before turning to Damian’s door. She stood there, not quite ready to end the moment. “And so are you,” Kerry mumbled as she stepped through the doorway and looked back at Jesse once more before closing the door behind herself.
17
Kerry shouldn’t have been surprised to find Jesse not in the kitchen but already in the shop the next morning with his feet up on the farmhouse table knitting away. She had planned on leaving early through the residence entrance, getting a coffee and roll on her way to her morning job at the community center, but when she heard a shuffle and saw that the light was on she turned to head down the stairs to the shop.
As she stepped closer, she marveled at the quickness of Jesse’s long, thick fingers and the fine, even quality of the stitches on his circular needles. He looked up at her with half-tired but still very sexy eyes. “Good morning,” he said, his voice thick and slightly gruff from lack of overnight use.
“Morning,” she said.
“What are you doing up so early?” she asked, then pointed to the almost-done hat on his needles. “Or did you even go to bed last night?”
He put the work in progress down and took a sip from the cup of coffee that was next to him. “I slept a little. Though not well.”
Good. Though she didn’t voice it out loud, she took some satisfaction in knowing she wasn’t the only person in the house not sleeping well. “Well, it looks like you were making good use of your time.” She stared at him again after taking in the cute little multicolored rolled-brim hat. “This little beauty going to anyone special?” she asked.
“No,” he said, stretching and pulling his tee across his muscles in a manner that was way too provocative so early in the morning for her not to be affected. Kerry swallowed.
“I was thinking of doing a bunch of them with some of our odd yarns. And we could do a display. Maybe hang them with clothespins so that we can sell them. The yarn is doing no good just sitting in the half-off basket. This way we can recoup the cost and hopefully bring new customers into the store.”
Kerry smiled. “I love that thinking. What a great idea!”
He blushed cutely before his expression clouded over. “It’s not such a big idea. And I wish it were enough, but at least it’s something.” He shrugged. “I’ve seen versions of it done all over the Internet.”
Kerry gave him a hard look. “So what, you’v
e seen it on the Internet? Ours will be unique to us. It’s not like their hats will be our hats. Don’t be such a downer.”
He made a face. “Our hats?”
“Well, you’ll need a bunch to make a decent display. And with fall coming soon enough, you’ll want to get it up. I can help you out. Maybe do some fingerless gloves too.”
He grinned. “Have time for a cup of coffee before you head to the center? I picked up a bagel, or we have buttered rolls from the corner store. But only if you have the time.”
Kerry walked over to the basket that held the yarns they had been stumped over what to do with yesterday. Her mind was already starting to click with excitement over how cute their new display would be.
“Kerry?” he asked, pulling her attention his way. “The coffee? Do you have time?”
She nodded but was already itching to get to work. “Oh yes, I have the time.”
* * *
Hard as it was to leave her new project behind, the community center called, and it was, for now at least, a steady paycheck.
Val practically scared the pee out of Kerry by unexpectedly greeting her at the door when she went to open it in the morning, treating Kerry more like must-see programming instead of her good friend and coworker. With Val’s overly friendly smile and super-nosy demeanor, for a minute Kerry thought she may have landed down in front of a Park Avenue doorman instead of her uptown homegirl. But there her friend was, causing Kerry to jump in surprise and pull out her earbuds as the door opened magically before Kerry could even grasp the handle.
“You scared the hell out of me,” Kerry said.
Val gave Kerry a quick up and down, then frowned and handed her one of the cups of coffee she was balancing. “Thanks,” Kerry said, taking the cup and a fast sip. She hadn’t gotten to finish her cup back at the shop, instead getting caught up with Jesse in talk about the hats and fingerless gloves, with the time for sipping and chewing flying by faster than she’d anticipated. Though it was already hot out, the warm liquid was still welcome in the coolness of the center.
Working, low-income parents couldn’t afford to send their kids to pricey summer camps, and if your utilities weren’t included in your rent, running the AC all day just wasn’t an option. Besides, who had the cash for ACs in each room when the novel idea of central air was a thing for the private houses of the burbs? The best you got around here was room to room, which meant most of the fam spending most of the day camping out in one room once the temps got past 80.
Usually taking to opposite extremes of being chilly and then overly hot, Kerry welcomed both the warmth and the air-conditioning this morning. She had awakened with the expected doubts she’d gone to bed with and had a restless night’s sleep, but after seeing Jesse this morning and hearing more of his ideas, she could admit to being slightly more hopeful about being able to get through this time with him and come out with both the shop thriving and their friendship, if you could call it that, still intact.
Kerry looked at Val and caught the fact that she was still frowning. “What’s with the face?” she said. “I said thanks for the coffee.”
Val did a quick finger point, roaming her manicured nails in the air around Kerry’s body and indicating her cropped pants, cap-sleeve top and knit vest. “Really? How did those pants and that shapeless top get in your bag? I don’t remember putting them in there.”
“So this is why you were at the door, to not only scare me but also do a uniform check? Are you going to start doing that with the kids too? Tell me, Teach, was I was supposed to wear my booty shorts to work today?”
Val made a face. “No, but you could have done a bit of cinching. Don’t you remember what I said about shooting your shot?”
Kerry started down the hall toward the art room. “And who am I shooting it with? Class 3B?”
“Ha ha, very funny,” Val answered. “But know I’ll be stopping by the shop and spot-checking. I mean it. You need to come out of that shell of yours and get your swerve on.”
“I swerve plenty. Thanks.”
Val stopped walking and stared at her. “Woman, please. You ain’t swerved in damned near a year.”
“It hasn’t been that long.”
“Maybe not, but you can’t count the past mistakes you’ve been with as anywhere close to a good swerve.” Kerry tilted her head as the thankfully now-faint memories of Paul and Brice before him filtered through her brain. Ugh, seemed she was barely any better than her mother when it came to partners. Another reason she should firmly and forcefully not listen to her heart and for sure not her body when it came to matters with Jesse. Better to stay safe and stay in her lane. Swerving was for drunks. And she didn’t need any more DUIs on her record.
“So from the looks of your outfit,” Val continued as they started back down the hall, “and the fact that you’re here on time, I can assume you got to bed nice and early and alone last night?”
Kerry gave her a look. “I guess I can say the same about you.”
Val laughed. “Okay, I get your point. Still, I didn’t even text you last night because I was hoping you’d not waste any time and dive in feetfirst and be too busy to answer.”
They walked into the classroom and Kerry stored her things. There were only a few minutes before the first kids would arrive. She’d already heard the early ones in the cafeteria, enjoying the free breakfast service. “Well, the early to bed part was right. I was pooped out after the weekend.” She smiled. “But I am excited about all Jesse’s plans for the shop.”
Val looked immediately bored. “Good for you.”
Kerry laughed. “Sorry this story isn’t going the way you’d hoped.”
Her friend shrugged. “Well, you could have called me. You knew I’d be wondering.”
“What are we, thirteen?”
Val made a face. “And what’s wrong with that? If you can’t be thirteen with me then who can you be thirteen with?”
She had a point. Val was just about the only person she could let her hair down with. Yes, Val was judgy and pushy, and she couldn’t give a crap about yarn and knitting, but her friend always had her back, and she had for years. That counted for something. She knew Val had her best, if not misguided, interests at heart.
Val sighed. “I guess it’s only me who’s stuck in the teen hormonal stage as a full-grown woman, because if I was under that roof, I’d be going crazy.”
“So why are you so hell-bent on torturing me if that’s how you feel?” Kerry asked.
Val looked at her guiltily. “I don’t know. I guess I figured one of us should have the time of her life. You’ve been around all those fine-assed men for all those years—it’s about time you tasted that forbidden fruit. Take one for the team.”
Kerry rolled her eyes. “Seriously, this is ridiculous, and none of their fruit is all that forbidden. Trust me. Each one of them has gotten around plenty. Hell, there was one woman I had to practically pull out Mama Joy’s all-straw broom yesterday to chase her off the porch. Luckily Jesse came back in time before things got heated, and he got rid of her himself.”
Val paused from where she was sorting supplies for the day. “Wait, he got rid of her? Are you telling me Jesse turned away another woman for you?”
“No, of course not for me,” Kerry said. “It was just that he’d brought us chopped cheese and the sandwiches were getting cold.”
Val grinned. “He bought you dinner?”
“Chopped cheese is hardly dinner.”
“You ate, heifer, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I ate.”
“Was it your last meal for the night?”
Kerry frowned. “Yeah, it was.”
“Did you pay? Did he ask you for sandwich money?”
Kerry didn’t like where this was going at all. “No, I didn’t pay, and no, he didn’t ask me for money, but—” She was cut off when Val raised a ha
nd to her face.
“Well then, he bought you dinner. That’s it, you and the cheap pretty bastard had a dinner date, and he dumped a surefire booty call to make it happen.”
Kerry was left blinking and stunned to temporary silence over Val’s logic as she watched the kids pile in for their morning lesson.
Most were happy and bubbly, but it was Errol’s slightly off demeanor that pulled her attention to full alert. She greeted each child but watched him especially as they worked on their summer reading murals. Thanks to Emily and her diligence, the kids had made their reading goals, and many had surpassed them, so they had lots of materials to pick from for their murals. But Kerry could see that Errol wasn’t himself, less talkative with both the girls and the boys. Even his answers to her were polite but shorter than normal when she’d asked why he’d chosen his book and subject, Benjamin Banneker. She wondered what was wrong but didn’t want to press him after he assured her all was fine.
Just as they were finishing their second class, their often-missing director, Linda Perkins, walked by with Mr. Watkins and another man. He was youngish. Early thirties. Brown skin, low-cut hair, broad shoulders and dark, deep-set eyes that seemed to see everything all at once. He had full lips that he held in a serious set, but as he passed the art room and looked in, he nodded at Kerry and Val, and those loose, stern lips transformed into something worldly once he broke into a smile. His whole face did, becoming bright and open and almost angelic. For a moment Kerry thought Val would legit swoon right there, but thankfully Linda Perkins was there to break the potential swoonation.
“Valencia, Kerry, this is Mr. Webb. He’ll be shadowing me this next week,” Linda started, her voice clipped, her words coming out tight as if she was holding something back.
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