by Bree Verity
To her surprise, she actually found that she really did need a coffee. Her throat was dry, obviously from talking to so many different parents across the afternoon. Definitely not from the presence of the incredibly hot guy sitting across from her. She drank a bigger mouthful, and sighed in bliss, letting her head drop back. “I needed that.”
Faith elbowed her dad and indicated Desiree with a nod of her head. “Caffeine addiction.” She and Jack nodded sadly, and Desire noted just how much alike they were. She laughed at their twin response, but defended her position nonetheless.
“What? Plenty of people love their coffee.”
“Yeah, but plenty of people stop at one. Instead of seven.”
“Seven?” Jack’s brows raised in mock astonishment. “I’m surprised you ain’t sloshing.”
“You’re funny, Daddy.” Faith giggled, but then her voice and face turned serious. “Now, what have y’all been saying about me?”
“I was telling your Dad how awesome you were. I just didn’t want you to get all big headed about it.”
Faith looked pleased, but replied, “Sure. Whatever. Keep your grown up secrets then.”
“We will, honey. We will.” Jack pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss on the temple. Faith giggled again and looked so happy and comfortable there in her father’s lap, Desiree couldn’t help but grin at the adorable tableau they presented. Jack caught her eye, and smiled in response. Desiree’s heart did a quick flip flop.
“Just keep it in mind, Mr Duncan. That’s all I ask.” So saying, Desiree stood up, and Jack, after standing Faith back on her feet, did the same. They shook hands again. “A pleasure to meet you.” Once again, to her mortification, she could feel her face redden.
“And you, Ma’am,” he replied, making a movement like he was tipping a Stetson. “Come on Faith, let’s go pick up the boys.”
“Bye Miss Jackson!” Faith walked away hand in hand with her dad, throwing the remark over her shoulder. Desiree didn’t reply, but had to smile as she watched them go. They even had the same walk.
Unthinkingly, Desiree zeroed in on Jack’s arse. It was delicious. She thought about that smile, the promise of muscles under the shirt, the way he interacted with his daughter, and how she could hear his vulnerability when he talked about his kids, and she fell in love, just a little.
Don’t be a dickhead, Des. He’s not even your type.
But somewhere in the back of her mind, Desiree wondered whether he was.
CHAPTER TWO.
She’s your daughter’s teacher for God’s sake. Pull yourself together.
With Faith seated beside him plugged into her iPhone, Jack drove toward the twin’s day care centre, cursing himself thoroughly.
She's not your type, Jack.
When he first saw Desiree, he was a little taken aback with her tattoos and piercings, although he kept his thoughts hidden behind a pleasant facade. It didn’t do to judge people before you knew them. Desiree had turned out to be caring and sympathetic. She seemed to have amazing rapport with Faith, which Jack was relieved about. And he knew she had really helped his daughter through some difficult times.
He knew Desiree hadn’t meant to be accusing, but her words bit at him, mainly because he knew they were true. He wasn’t there for Faith, or the twins. And his guilt over that ate at him constantly.
His thoughts turned to her blush when retracting her hand. She didn’t seem the kind of woman to blush easily, but it was very attractive on her.
It had been a while since Jack had been with a woman, what with traveling and caring for the kids. So it was no surprise to him that the blush of a beautiful woman had his body hardening. He thought about her sympathetic green eyes as she listened to his tale of woe, her hand resting over his. Her lovely oval face with its look of concern. And he wondered whether under the desk she had long, smooth legs that matched what was on show above the desk.
Stop it, Jack. Jesus. Your daughter is sitting right there beside you.
He glanced over at Faith. She was busily texting one of her friends, or instagramming or whatever it was kids did these days instead of having actual conversations. She hadn’t noticed the colour creeping up his neck and into his face, nor the shortening of his breath. Thank the Lord.
With a sigh, he stopped at the lights, and poked Faith. She looked at him questioningly, and he indicated that she should take the earphones out of her ears, which she did, albeit begrudgingly.
“How was school today?” he asked.
Faith glanced back at her iPhone screen, and said, “Fine.”
“That’s not an answer.” He raised an eyebrow at her, and she blew out an impatient breath and turned off her phone, looking back up at her dad.
“It was fine, Dad.”
“And what about you, chickadee? How are you doing?”
Faith shrugged. “Yeah, okay. I just…”
“Yeah?”
“I guess everything is harder than it was before.”
“I know. And I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to be sorry Dad.” A sad smile crossed her face. “I just wish Mama would come back.”
Like that’s going to happen.
Susan had left them to take up a position as a resident in a posh, private North Shore hospital in Sydney. There was no way she would be returning to her previous life. She had made that very clear during the few times Jack had spoken to her.
And even if she did express a desire to come back, Jack wasn’t sure he could ever forgive her for abandoning her family the way she did. If it had been just Jack, it would have been different. But she left three confused and terrified children behind as well, and in Jack’s mind, that was unforgivable.
Jack didn’t know how to reassure his daughter, and it tore him up inside. He couldn’t feed her platitudes; she was far too smart for that. So he just rubbed her arm and when she turned back to him, gave her a smile that was more of a grimace. She grimaced back, and resumed looking out of the window. A few moments later, she put her earphones back in, and switched her iPhone back on. Jack sighed, and went back to driving.
They pulled into the day care parking lot and Jack got out of the car. Pushing the door open, Jack was greeted by two mini whirlwinds.
“Dad! We made pancakes!”
“I drew on Tommy’s picture and he yelled at me!”
“I played in the cubby!”
“We went outside on the oval!”
The day care supervisor hurried over to Jack, as she did every day. She stood a little too close and smiled at him a little too fondly and he returned the smile uncomfortably, feeling like a side of beef being sized up for the table. “The boys were really good today,” she said warmly.
Jack threw a real smile at his sons, then with a quick glance at her name tag, said, “Thanks Janine. I hope they weren’t too much of a handful.”
“Never,” Janine said, scruffling Danny’s hair. He ducked out from under her hand and said loudly, “Can we go now Dad?”
Jack said, “Sure, buddy. Grab your bags, and we can get on home.”
After signing the boys out, Jack hustled them out to the car. They got in, both of them talking non-stop as if they were trying to outdo each other. Jack checked their seat belts, then returned to the driver’s seat.
Faith turned around to ask the boys how their day had been. They told her all the things they had told Jack, only she engaged them – asking for more details and being suitably impressed with their childish accomplishments.
He felt a pang of unexpected pride in his kids. Life had dealt them a fairly harsh blow this past eighteen months, but they had rallied. Plenty of people had told him that kids were resilient, but they didn’t tell him how much it would hurt to watch them needing to develop that resilience. A lump formed in his throat as he listened to his little tribe chatting amongst themselves, relaxed and happy to see each other.
He blinked away tears and took a deep breath, before shouting, “McDonald's for dinner!”
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His words were drowned out by the enthusiastic “Yay!” from his three amazing kids.
CHAPTER THREE.
Desiree wished she could feel the same contentment that her best friend Lydia found when they went to Greens & Co. Lydia loved everything about the Leederville cafe, but when Desiree looked around, all she saw was outmoded décor, uncomfortable furniture and pretentious people. The walls looked like someone had barfed posters all over them, and the hundreds of paper globes above them were an inferno waiting to happen.
We have got to talk Lydia into changing cafes. This place is a dump.
Even so, Desiree had to admit that Greens had seen its fair share of the life moments of Desiree, Lydia and their other best friend, Penny. From the end of high school to university, from heartbreak to success, boyfriends, girlfriends, (in Desiree’s case anyway; she went through an experimental phase), families, jobs and careers. They had laughed, cried and talked about everything at Greens.
And now, Lydia was telling them about a date she made with a guy she met at a gallery. Lydia was, as always, in two minds whether she should ring the guy back and cancel. And as always, Desiree and Penny were making sure she would go.
“Just go,” Desiree said, impatience creeping into her voice. “It’s only dinner. And he’s taking you to Tres Circe.” The guy must really be trying to impress, taking her to one of Perth’s top restaurants.
“Never heard of it,” said Lydia dismissively.
“Seriously?” Penny said, her eyes widening in disbelief. “Then you’ll have an even better time.”
“Why?”
Penny started to answer, but Desiree tapped her on the arm before she could say anything. Penny swung around to face Desiree, her expression questioning, but Desiree spoke to Lydia. “We might just let you find that out for yourself.”
“You know I don’t do surprises. You know I have everything nice and neat and comfortable.”
“Well, luvvie,” said Desiree, swinging an arm around her shoulders and giving her a squeeze. “It’s time for you to get down and dirty and totally uncomfortable.”
Lydia threw her a dirty look and Desiree beamed into her face. Pulling herself out from under Desiree’s arm, Lydia said, “Fine. I’ll go. But if it’s a disaster, I’m blaming you guys.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Desiree tried to sit back against the low couch, to no avail. That was another problem with Greens. The couches gave no back support at all, unless you slouched so your backside was very nearly at the edge of the seat. For someone tall like Desiree, relaxing on the couches here simply wasn’t even an option. She wriggled, casting a glare at Lydia and Penny.
“How was your day, Pen?” Lydia turned her back on Desiree.
“We got this massive shipment of active wear and it is amazing,” Penny said, her eyes shining. She was the pin up girl for active wear, but thankfully, Penny was actually into exercise. She wasn’t one of those people who wore yoga pants to try to pretend they were into fitness, but who you usually caught scoffing donuts or drinking milkshakes. Penny was the real deal, with a science degree and a bad habit of telling everyone the bad stuff that was in their food. However, even Penny had a weakness. She loved cake, and Desiree delighted in teasing her about over and over again.
As the other two droned on about sports gear, one of the most boring subjects in the world, Desiree toyed with her charm bracelet and thought about how lucky she was for the friends she had. They had been her cheerleaders when her parents were too busy to notice, her support when her parents were fighting over yet another one of her dad’s affairs and her sounding board when she needed to talk things through. She loved them every bit as much, if not more, than her real sister. Smiling she looked down to find the charms she had bought to represent each of them - theater masks for Penny, and a stiletto for Lydia.
“Rehearsals tonight for the new show,” Penny groaned, as if it was a total chore for her go there. It wasn’t. Penny loved community theater.
“Is Marc going to be involved this time around?” Lydia asked.
“Yeah, he’s going to assist me again. Thank god. He’s worth his weight in gold backstage.” Penny smiled at Lydia, and Desiree wondered if Penny realised how much of a crush Marc had on her. She was pretty clueless when it came to guys. But you would think sneaking around backstage in the dark, Marc would have ample opportunity to pull Penny aside into a corner and whisper sweet nothings. Ah well, if he didn’t take the chances that came his way, more fool him.
Desiree’s mind wandered again, thinking about each of them, and how their love lives were shaping up. There was Penny with her guy right in front of her that she couldn’t see; then there was Lydia with her date that she wasn’t sure she wanted to go on; then there was Desiree.
Who had been thinking far too much about the gorgeous father of one of her students. And knowing there was no future there. But thinking about him anyway.
She sighed loudly. The other two looked at her inquisitively. She said “All our love lives are really fucked up.”
“Why?” Lydia said. “What’s wrong with yours?”
Shit. I should probably have kept that little insight to myself.
“What’s right with it?” she said, and Lydia nodded sympathetically. Penny wasn’t so easily put off.
“Come on Desiree, out with it. You don’t make a comment like that without there being a reason behind it.”
At Desiree’s hesitation, Lydia joined in. “Yeah, Des. You don’t get to tease us about our guy problems without us being allowed to tease you about yours.”
“Fine.” Desiree weighed up what she wanted to tell her friends about Jack. She picked up her cup and took a sip, but all it did was delay the inevitable. Her two friends watched her expectantly, and she resigned herself to having to confess.
“There’s this guy I met.”
“Yay,” Penny said, clapping her hands and bouncing on the couch.
“And he is hot. No, I don’t mean just hot. I mean fucking-volcano-hot.”
“Okay.” Lydia was giving her the get-on-with-it gesture, rolling her hands over each other.
“Only he’s the father of one of my students. I met him the other day at parent teacher night.”
Lydia frowned. “Is he single?”
“Of course.” Desiree threw her a dark look. “Jesus, Lydia, I know I’m a bit out there, but I don’t go around stealing other people’s husbands.”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Bad question.” She furrowed her brows. “So what’s the problem?”
She threw her hands open. “He’s the father of one of my students.”
“I say go for it,” Penny struck in.
“It is awkward though,” Lydia replied, turning to Penny. “How is she supposed to objectively judge the schoolwork of the student if she’s sleeping with their dad?”
“Whoa, hang on a second,” Desiree said, laughing and putting her hands up. “It’s a pretty big jump from connection to sleeping with.”
“Not for you,” Lydia said.
And it was true, reflected Desiree. She did tend to jump into bed with her various potentials pretty quickly. Desiree didn’t really do relationships. She was more of a love-em-and-leave-em kind of gal. A product of her parent’s fucked up marriage.
“Well, I think it’s gorgeous and romantic,” Penny said, and Desiree smiled at her fondly. Penny was a sucker for a good love story. “What about if you ask your student?”
Desiree snorted with laughter. “Oh yeah, how good would that look? ‘Kid, I’d like to bone your Daddy. Are you gonna be okay with that?’”
“Hmmm,” Lydia said. “You’re right you know.”
“About what?”
“All of our love lives being really fucked up.”
“Well,” Penny said cheerily, “at least we have each other, right?”
Desiree agreed halfheartedly. She did love her friends to bits, but they were hardly a good replacement for a man.
“Maybe I should scr
ew his brains out, and then it will all be over and done with and we can all go back to normal.”
“That’s a great idea,” Penny said far too enthusiastically. “And if you don’t hit it off, no one ever needs to be the wiser.”
“Yeah, but what if they do hit it off?” Lydia asked.
“Then you deal with that when it comes up.”
“Well, that’s a bit short-sighted. You need to have a contingency.”
When Desiree realised they were serious, she cut in. “Jesus, guys. I was only joking. It’s a shit idea. And I won’t be doing it.”
“So what are you going to do then?” Penny and Lydia looked at her, the question bright in their eyes.
“Seriously?” Desiree sighed. “I have no idea.”
CHAPTER FOUR.
Jack rubbed his eyes for the fifth time, glancing at the clock. It was past midnight.
Shit.
Trying to read the paper he had been asked to report on the following morning was proving to be almost impossible. He had gotten most of the way through it, but now the letters kept blurring and coalescing into a face.
Desiree.
He had puzzled over her since he met her, which was just a few days ago, but felt like years. He smiled at the memory of the shy flush to her delicate features when she pulled her hand away from his. That kind of girl surely wasn’t shy.
She wasn’t his type at all. His type was blonde, for one, and busty. Desiree was very far from blonde and, well, from what he’d seen she stacked up alright, but no-one would ever call her busty.
And quite apart from that, she needed to be someone he could see hanging with his family. His kids came first.
From the look of her, Desiree was not a kid person. Yes, she taught high school kids, but he couldn’t really see her donning a frilly apron and making cookies with the boys. He grinned, imagining her goth look mutating the image of the nineteen-fifties housewife that flew into his head. The beautifully coiffed hair making way for short, spiky black locks. The red and white polka dot dress changing into a black shroud. The canisters of flour and sugar on the bench changing into glass beakers, roiling with smoke-producing potions. All the light seeping out of the scene, leaving a greenish-grey overtone to the whole.