Just Practicing (Hearts for Ransom Book 2)

by Georgia Evans

  Lance literally danced Mildred to her room for a nap. It had taken Jan a good half hour to convince Gertrude she was safe and could sit down and crochet again. She had one bootie for Jan’s baby girl finished. Just one more bootie and the mittens, and now maybe a bonnet, to go.

  Jan was exhausted when she pulled her car into the driveway. She decided to wait and put her car in the garage later. Although Seth had easily forgiven Bo, the teenager might still want to go to his grandma’s or somewhere else, and she didn’t want to have to depend on Bo to take him.

  She had the feeling Bo was ready to call this whole thing quits. He had just decided having Seth wasn’t worth the headache of being married to her and putting up with her mother. There was no concrete reason for this feeling. It was just there.

  When she first walked into the living room, she thought somebody had spilled something all over the place. And something smelled…strange. Then she looked closer and realized there were red rose petals spread all over the floor and furniture. She walked on into the dining room. Vase after vase of red roses covered all but a small portion of the table. And the smell was stronger.

  Jan walked into the kitchen and found Bo looking frazzled. He had a pan of what looked like spaghetti, but he had made such a mess of it, she wasn’t actually sure what it was.

  “What are you doing?” she asked him.

  “I’m trying to romance my wife.” Her heart started beating faster. “Before you married me, I lived on microwave dinners and take-home meals, so I don’t really know how to cook. I wanted to have everything perfect for you, but I guess I messed this up, too.”

  She saw the mixture of sincerity and frustration in his eyes and realized he was really trying to please her. She fell a little more in love with him on the spot.

  “Where’s Seth?”

  “He’s spending the night with Trevor,” Bo answered. “I hope that’s okay.”

  Jan walked over to the stove and turned the burner off. Then she moved the pan to the sink.

  She turned to face him. “I’m not that hungry. We can just skip dinner and go straight to dessert.” Jan reached up and put her arms around his shoulders. He lowered his head and she stood on her toes to kiss him.

  That was all it took. He swept her off her feet and carried her into the bedroom, where the covers were pulled back and the sheets covered with rose petals.

  They undressed each other between kisses, rushing almost as much as they had on their honeymoon, and were soon lying next to each other on the bed.

  “You are so beautiful.” He groaned as she nuzzled his neck. “I’ve missed making love to you so much…and not because you’re meeting my needs.” He gave her a long, deep kiss. “I…feel something for you.”

  As he made love to her, she felt the happiest she had in days. He hadn’t told her he loved her, but he had feelings for her. That could grow into love, couldn’t it?

  Jan only knew one thing for certain. She loved Bo with all her heart.

  The past couple of weeks had been the best time in Bo’s life. He felt closer to Jan than he had ever felt to another human being.

  Then, just by chance, he saw her driver’s license the day before. Her birthday was a week from Tuesday. He knew exactly what he wanted to get her.

  So, there he was, in the last place he ever expected to be—right outside Zimmers Jewelry store. He didn’t particularly want to do business with them, but he wanted the best, and this was where to get that.

  Abby had gone in and made sure Liz was out to lunch. He should have an hour to get in and out.

  “You ready?” Abby asked.

  He grinned at her. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “Just remember what Em says about Liz,” Abby warned him. “We can’t trust her.”

  “That’s part of the reason you’re with me. I’ll pick it out, and you can tell me if I’m doing okay. We’ll hurry.”

  Abby stuck her arm through his and giggled. “Let’s go. I feel like we’re on a secret mission.”

  “Then come on, Jane Bond. I really don’t want to see that woman.” Bo led her into the store.

  “I can’t decide whether I want Builders Creation or Bust a Block,” Seth told Jan, scrutinizing the two video games he was holding.

  “You’ve only saved enough of your allowance for one of them, so you’ll have to choose.” Bo had started giving Seth an allowance for keeping his room clean and helping out around the house. It had given Seth a sense of responsibility, and Jan wished she thought of it herself a long time ago.

  “Can I look at them a little longer?” he asked. “I don’t want to waste my money.”

  She smiled with pride. He was already managing his funds wisely. But she was about to die of thirst.

  “I really need something to drink,” she told him. “How about if I run to the food court and grab a soda while you make up your mind? I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay.” He nodded, never taking his eyes off the games.

  Shaking her head and smiling, she hurried out of the store and across the wide hall to the nearest fast food restaurant in the food court. After she bought a small soda and drank it right down, she walked back over to see if Seth had finally chosen a game.

  Her heart went in her throat when she saw none other than Liz Zimmers standing there talking to him. She almost ran to get to Seth.

  “Seth?” He was so pale his freckles stood out like they had last year when she first saw him. He was really upset. “What’s going on?” she demanded of Liz.

  The other woman presented her with the fakest smile Jan had ever seen. “Aren’t you going to congratulate me?” Liz backed away a few feet. “I’m going to have a baby.” She giggled. “I told Bo we should have used protection, but you must know how carried away he can get sometimes.”

  Jan was shocked speechless. Liz indeed appeared to be pregnant—very pregnant.

  Liz’s smile disappeared. “Now, Bo can be with me and his real son instead of common white trash and a worthless teenager.”

  That was too much. Jan didn’t care if Liz was pregnant. Her hand flew out and left a print across Liz’s face.

  “Get out of my sight,” Jan told Liz. “Before I forget I’m a lady and you’re pregnant and mop the floor with your sorry butt.”

  Liz held her hand over Jan’s handprint. “It’s lucky for Bo he won’t have to play house with the likes of you anymore.” Then she walked out of the store.

  “M…mom?” Seth’s eyes were open wide, and his face was white.

  Jan took the games from his lifeless hands and put them on the shelf. She had to get the two of them out of the mall now.

  Forgetting he was thirteen and too old for such things, Jan took his hand and led him to the nearest exit. Where had she parked? She couldn’t even remember which door they’d come in.

  She led Seth aimlessly between and around parked cars, her brain on auto pilot.

  He suddenly stopped, pulling her arm tight.

  “Is what she said true?” he demanded, his eyes filled with tears. “Is Dad…Bo gonna want to be with his real kid instead of me now?” A tear escaped and ran down his face.

  Before she could think of what to say, a soft voice said her name. She blindly turned to find Emily standing there.

  “I saw you wandering around. Is everything okay?” She looked at Seth, who was openly crying.

  Jan was numb. “Liz…Zimmers is pregnant. She says it’s Bo’s baby.”

  “What?” Emily’s mouth dropped open. “Are you sure?”

  Jan nodded. “She’s pretty far along.”

  “Dad…Bo will want to be with her and his real kid instead of Mom and me,” Seth said miserably.

  Emily placed her hand on Seth’s shoulder. “You know that no matter what happens, Bo loves you.”

  He shook his head. “Not like his real kid. He just won’t.”

  “Do you…I can’t find my car.” Jan didn’t feel anything.

  “You don’t need to drive right no
w, anyway,” Emily told her. “I’ll take both of you. I think we should drop Seth off at his grandma’s, so you can go home and talk to Bo. I just don’t believe this. You can’t trust a word she says.”

  As Jan mindlessly followed Emily and Seth to Emily’s car, Jan remembered Bo and her sharing with each other that neither of them ever had unprotected sex with another person. If what Liz Zimmers said was true, maybe it was Bo’s word she couldn’t trust.

  Her mind just couldn’t grasp it. Another woman was having her husband’s baby.

  Bo hated afternoon away games. Thankfully, the Slammers only had a few on their summer schedule. He had to go in early enough to ruin Saturday morning, and here it was, almost bedtime when he got home. He didn’t blame Jan and Seth for deciding to go shopping instead of to the game.

  He pulled his truck into the garage beside Jan’s car. Her car was pretty old. Maybe they should look into trading it in for a newer model.

  It wasn’t until a few minutes later when he was walking into the living room he realized the house was pitch black. He turned lights on as he went through the rooms. Surely Jan and Seth weren’t already in bed. Seth had been excited about spending part of his allowance on a new video game, so Bo expected to see the teenager in front of the television, engrossed in it.

  He flipped the switch and turned the living room light on. Jan was sitting on the couch.

  “Why were you sitting in the dark?” he asked. “Did you get too worn out shopping to get up and turn the light on?”

  She silently shook her head. Then he got a good look at her face. She wasn’t all right.

  He moved toward her.

  “Jan, what’s wrong? Is Seth okay?” He started to walk to Seth’s bedroom.

  “He’s not here.” Her voice was nearly a monotone.

  “Where is he?” Seth had to be all right. He just had to be.

  “He’s at my mom’s.”

  “Oh.” He waited on her to say something else, but she just sat there. “Jan, talk to me. What’s going on?” Bo was as close to panicking as he’d ever been. There was something drastically wrong with his wife.

  “Liz…We ran into Liz Zimmers at the mall today.”

  His blood began to boil immediately. “She better not have talked to either one of you like she talked to Seth at the zoo. What did she do? I’ll go talk to Seth and fix it, I promise. Just tell me what she said.”

  Jan’s gaze lifted and she finally looked into his eyes. “She’s pregnant. She says it’s your baby. She told Seth you could be with her and your real son, instead of playing house with common white trash and a worthless teenager.”

  “What?!” He couldn’t have heard any of that correctly.

  “Liz Zimmers is having a baby. Your baby.”

  His knees gave out, and he dropped to the floor in front of her. “You can’t believe that, Jan. I’ve been faithful to you. And I hadn’t even been with her for a couple of months before you and I got together. There’s no way it’s my baby.”

  “She looks like she’s at least seven months along.” Jan had yet to show any emotion.

  His mind raced. He and Liz had still been in an exclusive relationship seven months ago. “It still can’t be my baby. I always used protection with her…always.”

  “No form of birth control is one-hundred percent effective.”

  Bo was going to be sick. He just couldn’t believe it.

  As her words sank in and the possibilities hit him, he became desperate.

  “Even if, by some freak chance, it’s my baby, it doesn’t change anything between us. You and Seth are my family.”

  There were tears in her eyes. She was starting to respond to him. “You can’t abandon your own child, Bo. It isn’t in you.”

  His stomach churned harder. “Then I’ll take financial responsibility and get joint custody…I still won’t be with her. I’m going to be with you and Seth. That’s not going to change.”

  “I thought about that,” she sadly admitted. “No matter how you worked it out, she would always be in your life. And I can’t expose Seth to that woman ever again. She has nearly destroyed him twice.” Tears started rolling down her cheeks.

  “Jan…I can’t lose you or Seth…please.” Bo pleaded.

  “You know I’m right.”

  He swallowed hard. “What…what are you planning on doing?” This couldn’t be happening.

  “Seth and I will live with my mother until I can find a place for the two of us.” She was still crying. “I won’t contest a divorce, or ask anything of you.”

  He was going to beg her to stay with him. Then it hit him. If Liz was really carrying his child, Jan was right. There would be no way of protecting Seth from that vindictive witch’s tongue. And the boy would be better off without Bo than to be exposed to Liz Zimmers.

  “She told me…when I broke it off with her.” He looked at Jan. “I’d be sorrier than I could imagine. I guess she finally accomplished her goal.” There was no way he would ever be with Liz, but he couldn’t leave a defenseless child without his protection either. If the baby was his, he’d have to get joint custody.

  Jan started to stand up, but then sank back down. “Bo…” Her eyes tore straight into his soul.

  “Jan…” He leaned forward and kissed her. He kissed her like there was no tomorrow, because for them, it didn’t look like there was. She didn’t resist when he slid onto his back and pulled her down to rest on top of him.

  There, on their living room floor, they slowly undressed and tenderly made love. He memorized every curve and freckle. This was the woman he was meant to be with. No matter what, there would never be anybody else for him. He would be alone.

  All the time they made love, he held on to the hope that somehow this would all work out. He would hold on to that hope with all his might, like he was holding on to Jan at that moment.

  After they were sated, they fell asleep in each other’s arms. Bo woke up a couple of hours later to an empty house. He laid there and did something he didn’t remember ever doing before in his life. He cried.

  “Come sit down,” Jan urged Seth, scooting over and making room for him on the edge of her bed.

  Seth, a wary expression on his face, walked into the bedroom Jan was using at her mom’s house and sat beside her. Jan had thought long and hard about it, and knew what she needed to tell him.

  “You know that Bo loves you, no matter what, right?” she asked him, searching his eyes.

  He slowly nodded. “But not as much as his real kid.”

  “Love doesn’t work like that,” she told him. “Bo does love you that much. This is something beyond his control.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You know how women get pregnant,” she started. He nodded. “Liz got pregnant before Bo made us into a real family. He didn’t mean to have a baby with her.” She hoped she was saying this right. “He wants to be with us and have our family like it’s always been, but he has to take care of the baby.”

  Seth scooted forward. “Then why can’t he just take care of the baby and stay with us?”

  “Because that woman…Liz…would always be in our lives. I can’t let…I won’t let her be around you—ever again. She hurts you with words.”

  “Like my dad did,” Seth said sadly.

  “I won’t let her,” Jan repeated firmly. “That’s why Bo can’t be with us. We can’t have him without her touching our lives in some way. Even if it’s just a little, she’ll find ways to hurt you.”

  “I know.”

  She took his face in her hands. “Do you remember what I promised you the first night you spent in my house?”

  He nodded. “I never have to be afraid of anybody ever again, because you and Bo will protect me.”

  “This is the only way we can protect you—to be apart.” Jan fought back her tears. She had to be strong for him.

  “Okay. I understand.” He pulled his face out of her hands and buried it in the crook of her neck. “I just wish we
could be with Bo.” The words were muffled against her chest.

  “So do I.”

  “I’m sorry.” Patsy stood in the door. “I don’t mean to interrupt.”

  Seth straightened up, and they both looked at his grandmother.

  “I understand that whatever you’re dealing with is a private family matter, and I’m not going to try and pry anything out of either of you. I promise.” Jan saw the tears in her mom’s eyes as she spoke. “I just wondered if I could help. I thought maybe if I called Margaret Ryman and asked if Trevor could go with us, Seth and I could go to World of Wonders today. Whatever is going on won’t get better just from sitting and thinking about it.”

  Jan stood up and walked over to her mom. “Thank you,” she said before giving her a hug. “I think that’s just what Seth needs.” She looked over her shoulder at the teenager. “Doesn’t that sound good, Seth?”

  He stood up and wiped his eyes with the tail of his t-shirt. “Will you ride the Monster with me, Grandma?”

  “If it won’t give me a heart attack.” The three of them shared a sad laugh.

  Seth followed his grandma out of the room.

  Jan was just walking back to her bed when she was attacked from behind. Seth wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly. “I love you, Mom.”

  She turned in his arms and hugged him back. “I love you, too.” Jan kissed his cheek. “Now, go and have fun with Grandma and Trevor.”

  “Okay.” His grin looked a little stronger before he turned and left her room.

  Jan sat on her bed, lost in thought for what seemed like hours. Her mom and Seth had called out their goodbyes and left quite a while ago, but she still hadn’t moved. How could fate have been so cruel? If nothing else, Seth didn’t deserve this mess.

  Her mom’s doorbell rang. Since her mom was a very social person and had made numerous friends since moving to Ransom, Jan had no idea who would be there when she answered the door. She was surprised to find Emily.

  “Come in.” Jan stepped back so her friend could walk into the living room. “Can I get you something to drink? Or would you like…”