by Rachel Hanna
Jackson sighed and sat up in the bed. He hoped he wouldn’t wake Rebecca up as he tiptoed into the living room. The clock on the wall said it was seven in the morning. He was so sick of his life being consumed by work. “Well, John, that’s kind of a bummer. I was really looking forward to this deal, but with that much push back, perhaps it just wasn’t meant to be.”
He heard John start yelling across the line, but he just didn’t care. “It’s frustrating for all involved, John, but I think I’m going to cut my losses here. Also, I won’t be available to take these kinds of emergency calls for much longer. I’ll be doing some of my work remotely, so I’ll be putting someone in charge someone shortly to deal with things like this.” Jackson hung up feeling empowered. He should have stood up for his spare time so much sooner.
“Who was that?” Rebecca came waltzing in wearing a pink robe and rubbing her eyes. Apparently the phone call had woken her up.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
Rebecca approached him to give him a peck on the cheek. “It’s okay. I’m kind of hungry anyway. Plus, the coffee shop opens in a couple hours and Leo will be home.”
Jackson pulled out his phone again and sent a quick text. He saw Rebecca giving him an inquisitive look and was glad when he got a reply almost immediately. “How would you like to see a Parker family breakfast? Mom’s cooking a big one to celebrate the engagement before everyone has to go back to work. I’ll have you back in time to open, okay?” Rebecca nodded, actually looking excited by the idea, and he gave her a love tap as she went to get dressed.
***
The Parker family house was abuzz with activity much like Thanksgiving, only some of the Parker kids were still in their pajamas. The table was already filled with eggs, bacon, ham, pancakes, and everything else anyone could possibly want for breakfast. Rebecca took a seat while Jackson got on the phone again. This time it was the Parker’s landline, and his sister Addison had called to check in with everyone. Apparently, they were trying to convince her to come stay for awhile. She could see that everyone was concerned about the only Parker daughter, but no one was quite sure what was going on.
Everyone was chatting and enjoying their meal when a knock came at the door. Rebecca offered to get it since everyone else seemed busy with each other. When she opened the door she saw a thin girl, probably in her mid or late twenties with flowing brown hair and way too much makeup on for her own good. “Um..hi,” the girl said, “I’m looking for Jackson Parker. Is he here?” The girl, who had a fairly thick accent, looked into the house and saw Jackson standing there on the phone. She blew past Rebecca uninvited and ran toward Jackson who was still on the phone. She heard the girl say something in another language; Italian perhaps, and then she froze. The girl jumped up and kissed Jackson straight on the lips.
The whole family at that point was staring in shock as the scene played out before them. “Addison, I’m going to have to call you back.” Jackson hung up the phone, and Rebecca shut the door. Something big was about to happen, and her heart was hanging on by a thread as she watched.
“Roma, what the hell are you doing here? We broke up. How did you even find where I was?” Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief. This was a crazy ex come to haunt him. It wasn’t fun, but it wasn’t some big secret he was hiding from her either.
Roma went to grab a hold of Jackson’s neck, and he swiftly removed her hands. “Oh, Jackson, I miss you. You know I have my sources.” She smiled and kept stumbling all over Jackson. Rebecca wondered if she was drunk or just desperate. Pretty or not, she could clearly see why he had broken up with her.
“Roma, I really don’t appreciate this. You see the beautiful redhead that opened the door for you, that’s my girlfriend. This is almost my whole family here, and you just came barging in on a breakfast meant to celebrate my brother’s engagement." Rebecca saw Roma glare at her as she backed a couple steps away from Jackson.
“Oh. Well, we need to talk. Can we go somewhere a little more private?”
“If it will get you out of here faster, yes. You have five minutes.” Jackson led her out the door past Rebecca, being sure to give her a peck on the cheek and mouth an apology to the on the way out.
Tessa came and grabbed her by the arm to sit her down with the rest of the family at the table. Mrs. Parker put some breakfast on her plate, and she started to pick at it with her fork. She was distracted, though, as she could hear an argument going on outside.
When Jackson came back in, he made a beeline for his mother and whispered something in her ear. Rebecca noticed she was pursing her lips. She turned around to see that Roma was sitting on the couch with her head in her hands.
After speaking with his mother he came up to Rebecca and led her outside. All of a sudden she felt very afraid of what he was about to tell her, and it turned out that it was with good reason.
“First of all I want to apologize for that. We hadn’t really had the official conversation about past relationships, and this was not the way to find out about it. Roma and I weren’t all that serious. She’s actually a model, so she travels a lot. We were kind of off and on when she was in town, but her personality didn’t mesh well with mine, so I broke up with her a couple months ago. She kind of gets the impression sometimes that she’s the center of attention everywhere. Anyway, this is really hard for me to say but know that it’s not definitely for sure yet. She kind of just sprung this on me... She says that she’s pregnant, and that’s why she tracked me down and came here.” He pulled in a gasp of air as he finished.
Rebecca stood there for a moment trying to process what was just said. Her heart and stomach clearly knew because she could feel them drop to the ground, but it hadn’t quite hit her head yet. She had no idea how to handle this. Just last night she was giving in to her heart and her body because this man had given her reason to trust him, but was that all going to go down the drain now? Even if it didn’t, what kind of life could they have together with her son and his child and his ex model girlfriend constantly running off to do photo shoots? “I think I’m going to walk home. Tell your mother thanks for breakfast, okay?” Rebecca took a deep breath and walked away from what might have been her future back to her coffee shop and troubled son; a representation of the single life she was doomed to keep living.
***
Jackson tried to follow Rebecca, but then he realized the mess that was waiting for him inside the house. Hopefully, Rebecca just needed some time to process and they could fix this later. Right now he had to figure out how a pregnant model ex girlfriend was going to fit into his life picture, especially now that things were becoming serious with Rebecca Evans; serious enough to uproot his job to stay with her.
Once he got back in the house, his mom was cleaning up in the kitchen with the other women, and the rest of the family had scattered to get ready to leave for home or work. He went to the living room and sat down next to Roma and saw that her mascara was running like she’d been crying. “Look, I understand how scary this must be for you, especially with your career and all, but let me make something clear. The relationship that I’m in is serious, and I have no intentions of ending it just because of this complication. However, if it turns out you are pregnant with my child I will be there financially if need be and to care for the child. That’s all though. We aren’t getting back together, Roma. Have you see a doctor yet?”
“No. I’ve been afraid to let the press catch on to this. It could ruin me.” Roma started crying again, afraid that her career was going to be over because of one mistake.
“Well, then, let’s make an appointment here. I doubt the paparazzi is interested in January Cove. I’ll go with you if you want.”
Mrs. Parker came busting in on their conversation. “Jackson, I think she needs some rest. The girl’s had a hard day. I’ll call Dr. Korin and make an appointment. Why don’t you give her some space and go sort things out in your own head? Roma, just go upstairs to the first door on the right. You can rest
up in there, and we’ll figure all this out later, okay?” Jackson hoped his mother’s soothing voice would calm Roma’s nerves for now, but he got the feeling his mother had an ulterior motive. That suspicion was confirmed as soon as Roma left the room. “I smell something fishy here, son. I’ve told you before about the pitfalls of dating these sorts of girls. They’re dangerous. It could ruin what you have going with Rebecca. I mean, do you even know for sure that she’s pregnant? She could be playing you.”
“Whoa, mom, slow down. The appointment will tell us, and I don’t plan on this changing my relationship with Rebecca. However, I do have a responsibility if this child, if there is one, is my child.”
“Look, son, I love you, and I’d like to trust your judgment. I just don’t want you to miss out on the best thing that’s happened to you in years because some money loving floozy wants to scheme to get you back. Just be careful, okay?”
Jackson nodded and decided to step out for awhile. He needed to clear his head and decide how to handle the situation. He had been planning on calling up to the office and arranging for a computer to be sent for him and an ad to be put up for a job listing for a manager. Then it dawned on him that Mark Tyner would be the perfect guy for the job. He knew Jackson well, and he certainly knew how to run the business. He had wanted to spend half his time working in January Cove so he could spend more time with Rebecca and Leo and have someone run things from the office for him. Like Kyle said, the business was built up really well by now, and he had plenty of people to take on some of his workload.
On the other hand, Roma was based in Atlanta, though she didn’t spend a lot of consistent time there. When he thought about it, he really didn’t even know what she’d do about traveling and her career once she was showing or after the baby was born. He got the feeling that he might be responsible for the child by himself while she went to photo shoots. In that case Atlanta wouldn’t really be ideal. A small town was better for a nice, slow childhood, and he’d have plenty of help with childcare while he worked.
It looked like either way his plan to make his home base in January Cove might just be the smartest option for everyone involved.
Jackson found himself approaching Jolt without thinking about it. His heart had obviously led him there without him knowing. He glanced inside to see just a couple of customers standing at the counter waiting on coffee. Rebecca’s back was to him, and he watched her make quick work of the drink orders, rushing around the counter. He could tell she was stressed by the way she was holding herself, shoulders and back completely stiff. If she worked all day like that she’d probably need a massage. Maybe that would be his way back in tonight.
Leo was sitting at a table in the far back corner, on his phone like usual. Apparently he’d come home from his friend’s house already. He felt guilty he hadn’t talked to him in a couple of days now. He somehow felt responsible for this teenager that wasn’t his, something that was really hard to handle when he supposedly had a child of his own on the way. He was beginning to understand why Rebecca had run off after the news that morning.
Chapter 14
Rebecca tried to smile as customers came and went, but she got the feeling she wasn’t fooling anyone, not even her son. He had already asked her a million questions that morning after he got home and saw the mood she was in. He had since tried to get information out of her about how Jackson screwed up and was trying to convince her that she should forgive him. Leo was obviously as easily attached to this guy as she was, which made her feel even worse about what was going on. Could Leo afford to lose his male role model?
When her last customer walked out, she made the mistake of peeking outside. Just across the sidewalk she could see Jackson looking back in at her and Leo. He was afraid to come in, it looked like, and probably for good reason. He’d tangled himself up with the wrong girl and ruined the lovely evening they’d had. She was embarrassed that she’d fallen for the type of guy that would get involved with such an indulgent young girl and make a mistake.
She watched as he tried to flash a smile and wave at her, but she ignored it. She really couldn’t afford to get in any deeper right now. It had already gone too far, and she wasn’t really in the mood to discuss a plan about sharing a guy with a model and a brand new baby. Leo, however, did not have a problem waving back. This somehow led Jackson to the thought that coming into the shop was a good idea.
“Hi Rebecca,” he cleared his throat and said sheepishly.
Leo stood up from his seat and walked up to him to shake his hand. “Hey Jackson, what’s up?”
“Not a whole lot buddy. Hey, would you mind giving your mom and me a moment?” Leo looked confused but nodded and went to man the register. Rebecca stood there for a moment not wanting to allow any excuses or pleading to change her mind about what was best for her and her son, but she felt bad that he was just standing there alone waiting on her.
She took a seat at the back of the shop as another customer came in for a simple cup of coffee. Hopefully Leo could handle it okay because she was probably about to get into the middle of something very difficult.
“Rebecca, I know how everything must seem right now. It isn’t an ideal situation, but if she is pregnant, she’s only a couple months along. There is no reason to make any rash decisions right now. We have no idea what she’ll end up deciding to do. She’s a model, a shallow one to be honest. She may not even want to be a mother. Can we just pretend like for now nothing has changed?”
Appalled, Rebecca shook her head. “First of all, I don’t really like the way you’re suggesting that you’d be okay with her killing or giving up your child. I would hope that even if she wasn’t mature enough to handle it, you would be.”
“No, Rebecca, that’s not what I was saying at all. Damn it, this has been a shock to me, so maybe I’m not expressing myself well. I would never want her to kill or give up my child. I’m just saying that she is very self absorbed, and she may get to make a lot of decisions that I won’t have a say in. That scares the crap out of me, to be honest. Roma is not the person I would want in charge of a baby, especially mine.”
“Let’s be honest. You got involved with a young, beautiful girl. You say she’s shallow, but what does that make you if you got involved enough with her to get her pregnant? I am clearly not the right woman for you. You may feel excited now, experiencing something different, but you have a ‘type’ it seems, and that type is not me. Besides, if she does decide to keep it, she can offer you something I can’t; a whole family. My family is broken. Leo is not your real son, and I will always love a man that’s no longer with us, no matter how I feel about you. She’s free to love you fully and give you your own child.”
“Rebecca, I am not in love with Roma. I am in love with you. I know it would be rough, but I feel like you are worth fighting for.” Rebecca was floored by his confession of love. This was not how she pictured a man telling her he loved her; amidst a fight about him knocking up some model. She began to tear up, and she couldn’t take it anymore. In her heart, she knew it was love, although she couldn’t understand how it happened so fast. Was she being silly and immature herself?
“I’m sorry, Jackson, but I can’t put my family through that kind of thing. I should never have gotten involved with you. Our lives are very different, and it just isn’t a good fit. I had an amazing time with you, and I appreciate all you have done for us. I have a coffee shop to run now.” She wiped her eyes and headed back for the counter without another word. She hoped he’d get the idea that he was dismissed so she could be free to break down the way she knew she would any minute now.
Luckily, with a tear welling from his own eye, Jackson slinked out of Jolt without another word.
“Mom! I can’t believe you just did that! He told you he loved you, and you just let him walk away like that? Why did you even bring him into our lives if you were just going to chase him away?” Rebecca could hear Leo’s voice crack as he yelled at her, and it broke her heart to know that he w
as holding back tears just as hard as she was trying to.
“I know you don’t understand, Leo, but it’s for the better. It’s not the kind of life either of us would want.”
“Mom, I understand perfectly. I heard you. I get it; some girl showed up and said she was pregnant with his baby. You know, mom, girls in the city did this all the time. They’d say they were pregnant to trap some guy. I’ve seen it on movies and talk shows. Sometimes, they were pregnant, but it was usually someone else’s. She’s a model right? She’s probably a slut or a gold-digger.”
“Leo! That’s a terrible thing to say. We don’t generalize people just because of their profession...” Rebecca chided, pointing her finger at her son.
“Either way, you could chase her away instead of him. Whether you want to admit it or not, you love him too. Why do adults have to make things so hard?” Leo stomped his way up the stairs, and Rebecca tried to breathe and carry on with her work. Customers were starting to come in for the morning rush, and she had to pull it together.
***
When Jackson got back to his mother’s house, another surprise was waiting for him. His sister Addison came flying at him for a hug as soon as he walked in the door. “Addison, I thought you weren’t going to be here for another few days! What’s going on? Is my favorite brother-in-law here?”