by A. J. Downey
Jared returned quickly, just as Marc and I were settling into our meals. He came back in with a six pack of bottles, holding them up triumphantly. Out of his pocket, he pulled out a Mountain Mist and passed it to Marc. That made me smile.
“Hey, thanks,” Mark declared, just before shoveling a spork full of fried rice into his mouth.
Dinner was a fairly quiet affair – there wasn’t much talk. I think all of us were tired, and Marc? While he had what seemed to be boundless energy, he was laser focused on getting back upstairs to do whatever it was he was going to do.
“May I be excused?” he asked me, and I blinked a little surprised. Usually I just got a ‘thanks Mom’ before he jumped up from the table and disappeared.
“Sure,” I said.
“Thanks, Mom!” He did just that, bounding to his feet and making strides with his long, lanky legs to the stairs. I swore by the sound of things, he took them two at a time.
I turned back and startled when I realized Jared’s hazel eyes were fixed on me, twinkling with amusement.
“Sorry,” I murmured, blushing.
“For what? You raised a good kid,” he said.
I blushed a little harder.
“He is a good kid,” I said, glowing with pride.
“Angry as hell at his father, though. Got a mighty big chip on his shoulder where that’s concerned.” I sighed.
“Speaking of concerns…” I murmured and smiled faintly.
“What’s the story there, if you don’t mind my asking?”
I sighed and felt my shoulders sag in almost defeat.
“Ben, Marc’s father, and I were teenagers when we had him. I mean, we were both in college. Both of us having graduated early, but still – seventeen.” I gave a lopsided smile and a one-shouldered shrug.
“Happens to the best of us,” Jared said, shrugging one shoulder lightly. There was no judgment on his face at all.
“You have kids?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
“No. No kids, never been married… was engaged once,” he admitted. “Didn’t work out.” He shrugged and put his hands down from where he had them steepled before him, leaning back in his chair and propping his hands on top of his thighs. He reached for his bottle on the edge of the table and was the picture of cool, calm, collected, and in control.
Heat unfurled in my belly, and I looked away, fixing my eyes on my plate.
“Anyway,” I said. “Ben and I got married, we had Marc, and despite all the odds, we both graduated on time. I had a scholarship and grants that got me through most of the way, and Ben took student loans, but we both got our bachelor’s in architecture. Ben was really great, and he got an offer from a firm in Georgia right away, but he would only accept if they looked at my designs too and, well, they liked us both and we moved across the country.”
“Oh yeah? So, is this like coming home or whatever? I mean, are you from here?” he asked.
“Oh, sort of. Oregon originally, but my dad was tired of the income tax, so he and my mom retired here in Washington.”
“Gotcha.” Jared nodded thoughtfully. “I take it things didn’t work out with Marc’s dad?”
I smoothed my lips together, the vault doors in my mind groaning, fit to burst.
“I’d really rather not talk about it, if that’s alright,” I said unhappily.
“Hey, that’s no problem,” Jared said and sighed. “It’s getting late,” he said reluctantly. “See you sometime tomorrow morning?” he asked.
I nodded. “That would be great.”
“Okay, try to have a good night,” he said, getting to his feet. “And don’t you worry about a thing. I’m sure everything is going to work out okay.”
I pasted on a brave smile and despite not believing it, said, anyway, “Thank you.”
“No problem,” he said. “See you sometime tomorrow morning.” He saw himself out.
I groaned and scrubbed my face with my hands, sighing out and staring at the wreckage of Chinese food cartons and paper plates across the table.
At least I’d remembered trash cans and trash bags at the store today.
6
Glass Jaw…
“You just met this chick,” Mav said, taking a sip of whatever liquor he had in his glass.
“I did,” I said, nodding. “At the same time, hello, Pot…” I raised my eyebrows at him and he smirked.
“Touché, brother. Touché,” he said and sighed, but he was smiling.
“Colorado, huh?” he asked.
“Yup.”
“I’ll reach out to the boys out there and see what can be done. You got the info?” he asked.
I pulled my notepad out of my inside pocket and flipped to the page with the moving company’s info and tore it out. I passed it to Mav who looked it over, his eyebrows going up.
“Really, now? Where did these fucktards learn customer service?”
“Dunno, but I advocate beating some fuckin’ sense into that guy.”
“I second that notion,” he said. “I’ll see what I can do.” Mav was cool, too cool and I knew what that level of frosty meant. “You want direct confirmation?” he asked.
“It’d be nice,” I agreed.
“Good deal.” He dropped the leaf of paper from my notebook onto his desk beside his phone and looked me over appraisingly.
“Hope she’s worth it, bro. Never known you to go out on a limb for a broad like this before.”
I nodded. “I hope she is too,” I said, thinking about Cadence. “I’ve got a gut feeling she is, though,” I said.
He nodded.
“Always trust your gut.”
“Somehow I thought you’d say that,” I said grinning.
“Go on, get out of here. I think we got the rest of this shit handled.”
I nodded. “Thanks, bro.”
I got to my feet, and it took some effort. Fuck, I was tired.
The ride home from the club felt longer than usual and was filled with thoughts of the melancholy woman and the brave front she put on to the world. I think the only person on the planet wearier than me right this minute had to be her.
I could see it in her face, in every smooth line and curve of her body through clothes that probably fit a little looser than they had when she’d bought ‘em. I knew buying a house was stressful, and I knew fuckin’ Hilary made it exponentially more stressful than that – but there was something else there. I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was.
I barely kicked off my boots before I flopped on my back onto my bed. I was too tired to fuck with anything else, but as I lay there, hands on my chest, staring at the ceiling, sleep eluded me. Instead, every time I closed my eyes, a pair of haunting green eyes so full of pain it’d like to break my own heart drifted up in front of my mind’s eye.
Cadence Mitchell was an enigma; one I’d like to unravel if I could. Beautiful, tougher than she gave herself credit for, but withdrawn and sort of skittish. Except when it came to her boy – then she was a mama bear if I ever saw one. There was flint and steel in her eyes when I’d brought him up in casual conversation – mentioned the chip he had on his shoulder.
Eventually, my mind ran down, and I was able to sleep. Still, it felt like only the blink of an eye and my alarm was going off to get my ass up for another day.
When I got to Cadence’s place, I pulled down her back alley in my truck, the back loaded with what I needed to work under her fireplace down in her basement. She was coming out the back door, lookin’ annoyed and harried – her boy dragging ass behind her, looking as morose as a teen his age could be.
I pulled to the end of the slight turn around, past her patch of back lawn and threw my truck into ‘park,’ popping the door so I could try to catch what she was saying to the kid.
“…if you wanted me to drive you, all you had to do was ask, Marc. You didn’t have to go through this whole production of missing the bus. I wouldn’t have been mad, honey.”
“I didn’t miss the
bus on purpose, Mom. I swear, it was an accident!”
“Oh, Jared! Hi – um – let me let you in.”
“It’s okay. I can see you’re in a hurry,” I told her. “I have some stuff to unload and do out here. Just go and I can get in when you come back.”
She gave me a look like I was saving her life.
“Hi, Jared,” Marc said with a wave.
“Get in the car,” Cadence said to her son sharply and I chuckled.
“See you after school, Marc.”
“If I survive the ride,” he said with a grin.
“Marc!” his mother barked as she got in on the driver’s side.
He got in and she started the car. I could see her giving a classic mom lecture through the windshield as they pulled out of the driveway.
I chuckled and got to work hauling out boards and setting up my saw on the tailgate of my truck.
She returned, I don’t know, probably around fifteen minutes later.
“I am so sorry!” she called out as soon as she got her door open. I laughed and shook my head.
“It’s alright. I was a kid his age once too. I sort of know how it goes. I mean, I’m kind of surprised I remember back that far,” I said, squinting in her direction for effect. “But I do.”
“Well, I brought coffee… an apology? Peace offering? I didn’t know what you liked, so I hope you don’t mind – I just got a drip, but I have sugar packets here and there’s some creamer in the house. I just got the basics yesterday but forgot the coffeemaker was with the movers.”
I laughed and said, “Much appreciated, Ms. Mitchell. You moved to the land of coffee stands on every corner and a shop mid-block too, so you won’t be lacking for caffeine any time soon.”
“I can see that!” she said, eyes wide like she was a little overwhelmed by the caffeine offerings around here. She ducked back into her car to retrieve the coffees she’d brought.
“Can’t beat the Pacific Northwest – Washington in particular – for a few things,” I said as she walked toward me. She was gorgeous, drop-dead gorgeous, and she was still in her pajamas – a pair of vertically striped, blue-and-white, drawstring bottoms and a white tee that hugged the curves of her breasts. She wasn’t wearing a bra, but she was a woman that was blessed with the ability to forgo one. Still, it was a chilly late spring morning, and I appreciated the stiff peaks her nipples made under the white cotton of the tee. My dick did too, rising to have a look of its own.
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” she asked, thankfully not noticing the bulge taking up residence in the front of my jeans which God’s honest truth, the way my Johnson was situated, didn’t feel that great.
“The coffee offerings, craft beer, apples, and some of the freshest and best damned salmon and seafood you could ever hope to put in your face,” I answered, taking the offered paper cup with its plastic sippy lid.
She raised a deep chestnut and perfectly arced brow and said, “I hadn’t considered those things. They all sound pretty good, actually.”
“I know of several good places to go and indulge in any of them,” I said casually.
“You’ll have to let me know of a few,” she said with a half-smile that bore some more of that sadness that sat on her slim shoulders. “Right now, I am going to be late for an online video meeting with my new firm, so if you don’t mind, I can let you into the house and you can help yourself to whatever you need for your coffee in the kitchen?”
“Yes, ma’am. That’s just fine by me.”
“Please, for the last time, call me Cadence.”
“Sure thing, Cadence,” I said, tasting her name. I liked the way it felt in my mouth. If I had my way, I’d find out if she tasted just as sweet but there was plenty of time for that later.
“Like I said,” she called over her shoulder, “just help yourself.”
“I sure will,” I assured her. She went straight for what would be her room and shut the door. By the time I finished stirring cream and a hint of sugar into my Sasquatch Coffee Stand coffee, her door had opened, and I listened to her move straight down the hall to what would be her office and that door shut.
I drank my brew and wondered how long I should give her before I started working downstairs. What had to be done was gonna get loud, and I didn’t want to fuck up her meeting. I still had shit to do outside, but not a lot. So, to give her some time, I made some calls that needed to be made while I sipped my coffee, smiling to myself that she’d thought of me when she’d picked up her own.
7
Cadence…
About twenty minutes after the meeting with my new boss online, a light rapping fell at what would be my new office door if I had anything more in here than my chair, my art cart, and my drafting table – which thank God, I at least had those things.
“Yes?” I called out curiously.
Jared poked his head in.
“Sorry to bother, I just wanted to make sure you were off your call before I started down there. It’s gonna get loud.”
“Oh, yes! Thank you for checking,” I said and he nodded, then paused and looked me over.
“Everything alright?” he asked. I forced a smile and nodded.
“Oh, yes. My boss is being extremely accommodating,” I said.
“Is that why when you say that, you look like you’ve just sucked on a lemon?” he asked with a chuckle.
I rolled my eyes and dropped my face into one of my palms.
“I feel so guilty!” I said honestly, before covering my mouth in dismay.
“How’s that?” he asked curiously, leaning a shoulder up against the doorway, letting the door swing into the room.
I shook my head. It wasn’t his problem. It was mine… but Lord, this new firm was being accommodating. I was supposed to be in the office, but they were letting me work from home, what with all the unmitigated chaos surrounding this move.
“It’s cool,” he said, pushing off the frame. “You don’t have to get into it. Just thought it might be nice to have someone to vent to if you needed it.”
I dropped my hand away from my mouth and a genuine smile took up residence there.
“Thank you,” I said. “You’ve been very kind and accommodating, too.”
“It’s no problem,” he said. “Believe me, I may not get all of it, but I’ve dealt with Hilary enough to get the gist of it all. You’ve got a long list left on that buyer’s report of repairs and shit to do. You let me know, and maybe I could take some of them off your plate at a reasonable rate.”
I stared at him for a long moment and relief washed over me.
“That would be really great,” I said.
“Talk about it later?” he asked and lightly punched the doorjamb twice.
“Absolutely. I’m going to try and get some designs done, get ahead, you know?”
He nodded. “Sorry in advance for the noise,” he said.
I waved him off. “It needs to get done,” I said as kindly as I could make it.
“Yeah, it really does,” he agreed. He slipped out of the doorway, leaving it vacant. I stared for a long time at the empty portal where he’d stood, eyes glazed and unfocused.
God, I needed to get it together!
With a sigh, I spun on my seat and stared at the top of my drafting table.
First things first, I needed my bond paper to draw out my plans and make the dream a reality.
“When did you last eat or take a break?” His voice was low and gentle from the doorway but still unexpected. I shot toward the roof and let out a yelp, pressing my hand to my chest. My heart thundered beneath it.
“Shit! Sorry, I thought you heard me coming!” he cried, and I turned around to find his posture mirroring mine, hand to his chest as he laughed, breathing a bit heavy from his startlement.
He was one seriously fine specimen of a man, Jesus.
My eyes drifted over him from his short cropped dark brown hair speckled with sawdust to his broad shoulders wrapped in its faded red tee, the sleeves hugging hi
s muscular biceps. His body tapered down to narrow lean hips and powerful thighs pressed at the denim of butter soft, well-worn jeans.
I blushed faintly and swallowed hard, my eyes just a little bit wide as I asked, “What did you ask me?”
“I asked when you last ate anything was,” he said, and that crooked grin made me blush that much harder. It, along with his smiling hazel eyes, said that he’d seen me checking him out and that he was pleased by it.
I was so not ready for any of that business.
“Last night at dinner, why?” I asked.
His brows crushed down in a frown.
“It’s after noon. Come on. I know a place nearby that’s good and you need to eat.”
“I don’t know…” I hedged, looking at the time. “Marc is going to be home from school soon.”
“What time does he get home?” he asked.
“Around three o’clock. I really should be here.”
“He’s seventeen and that’s over an hour from now. Come on. Let’s get you some food and I promise I’ll have you back here in a flash.”
I hesitated just a moment longer, realizing my stomach was not happy with me, burning with that ravenous sensation that said I had gone way too long and then some between meals.
“Okay,” I agreed and got up, sending a text to Marc, anyway, to let him know I might be out when he got home and asking if he was okay with that and to answer me between classes.
My phone went off a second later with an it’s fine mom accompanied by an eye rolling emoji.
I smiled to myself and shook my head.
“Little shit,” I muttered.
“What’s that?” Jared asked, looking back over his shoulder at me.
“My son! Not you! Oh, my God.”
He laughed at me and held out a hand to indicate I should go ahead of him into the dining room and head toward the back. I plucked my purse and keys off the dining room table.
“So how is it downstairs?” I asked as he opened the back door for me, which was sweet but not necessary.
I locked up behind us as he said, “All done for the most part.”