by Moody, Diane
She turned to face him. “Good morning, Jason. You okay?” she asked quietly.
“You better watch your mouth, Jason,” Marissa said. “This girl can cook. I’m here to tell you that’s the best omelet I’ve ever had. Girl, where did you learn to cook like that?”
Hannah cracked another egg into the bowl. “When you’re a starving college student, you learn to work with the cheapest possible ingredients. Eggs top the list. You should see what I can do with four-for-a-dollar mac and cheese.”
“Uh-oh,” Jason interrupted. “I do believe you’re trying to come onto me now. Because I love mac and cheese.”
Hannah wagged her head. “I know, I know—it was in all those teen magazines. My mom used to hassle me because all I ever ate was mac and cheese until she found out it was her beloved Jason McKenzie’s favorite dish.”
“Your mom is a fan?” He barked a laugh.
“Afraid so. She’s hopeless. She took me to my first concert when you guys were on tour in Dallas and she’s been hooked ever since. Even has all your music on her iPod. Listens to it all the time. But I drew the line when she put your poster in her and Dad’s master bedroom.”
His eyes popped. “Your mom has my poster in her bedroom?”
Hannah turned around to face him, tilting her head. “Jason?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know what the word ‘gullible’ means?”
“Got that right,” Marissa teased.
The grin on his face drooped. “Oh. No poster?”
Hannah picked up his hand and patted it. “No poster. Sorry, Jason. She really did have it bad for you. But then, what do you expect after writing a song like A Mother’s Love? Every mother on the planet thought you were the perfect son.”
“That’s because none of them had to pick up after him,” Laura quipped, taking the plate Hannah handed her. She reached for a piece of toast and took a bite as she stood. “I’m going to eat in the den while I read the paper, if you all will excuse me. After all, I’m on vacation now, too.”
Jason snatched a chunk of cheddar then whined like a spoiled brat. “Where’s my omelet?”
“I’m outta here too.” Marissa put her empty plate in the sink. “Gevin’s slept long enough. He’s still sprawled out on the floor in the loft where I left him last night. I hope it’s okay I snuck down the hall and found an empty bed to sleep in.”
“Of course it is, Marissa.” Frank said. “We’re always happy to have you.”
“Thanks, Frank. Well, we need to go back over to his mom and dad’s house for a while. Though I have to admit, that houseful of cousins and munchkins makes this place a sanctuary. Don’t be surprised if we show back up. But thanks for letting us crash here.” Marissa gave Hannah a hug, Jason a longer one with a kiss on the cheek, then turned to leave the room.
“You and Gevin be careful out on those roads, Marissa.”
“We will, Frank. See you guys later.”
Frank stood, pushed his chair back, and began clearing the table. “Oh, and Jason, a word of advice, son. Keep the cook happy.” He deposited the dirty dishes in the sink, then leaned over his son’s shoulder whispering, “Two words: Tommy Joe.”
As his father left the room, Jason lifted his brows, searching Hannah’s face. “Tommy Joe? Something I should know?”
She laughed. “I guess not. Let’s just say it’s on a ‘need-to-know’ basis.”
Alone with Jason for the first time that morning, Hannah started rinsing some of the dishes. “I told your mom you’d do the dishes for her. She was delighted.” Jason snapped her with a dish towel. “Ouch? Well, good morning to you too!”
“Don’t be kissing up to my mama, Hannah,” he chided.
She looked up at him, surprised at the tone of his voice. For a second her heart stopped. Then his face broke into his world-famous smile and she breathed again.
“You actually thought I was serious?” he teased, stacking the dirty plates beside the sink. “Now who’s gullible?”
Silence.
“Hannah?”
She tried to smile. “Yeah?”
“It was a joke. You know it was.”
She detected a sincere pleading in his eyes before turning her attention back to the dishes. “Jason, look—the last couple of days have been . . . unbelievable. I mean, I still don’t totally know what’s happening. How I got here, why I’m here with you and your family. But you’ve got to look at all this from my point of view. Two days ago I was just a college student trying to make ends meet working in a grocery store. Suddenly, I find myself in this make-believe world . . . but I’m still me. And when you said that just now about kissing up to your mom, I don’t know, it just felt like an insult.”
“But I didn’t mean anything by it. Trust me on that.”
“I know, but I also know how many girls and women out there probably have kissed up to you and your family and the other guys over all these years.” She felt the agitation brewing inside. “The thing is, I don’t feel like a groupie anymore, Jason. I’m not a little kid anymore. And this feels like . . . I mean, it seems like . . . only—”
“Only what?”
She paused, leaning over to put a wet glass in the dishwasher. “Only I don’t know! How could I possibly know what all this means? Where all this is going? It’s only been two days, Jason. Two days. And I feel like my life has forever changed. Like I’ll never be the same.”
He folded his arms across his chest, leaning against the counter beside her. He stared at his tennis shoes with absent eyes. “I know.”
She waited. Nothing. “You know . . . ?”
He looked up at her. “I know what you mean.”
His gaze penetrated her soul. If she didn’t know better, thoughts were exchanged between them in spite of the silence.
She looked back at her soapy hands, blinking back tears she refused. “Why me, Jason? I’m a nobody. I’m just a girl who used to be sitting up in the nosebleed section at your concert a few years ago. Just one in a million. So why me? Why exactly am I here?” She was embarrassed to hear the words tumbling out of her mouth. She looked up and noticed a smile slowly warming his face.
His arms still folded, he reached over to pinch the sleeve of her sweats. “Truth?”
“Truth,” she whispered as her pulse began to slow.
He pulled her toward him as she quickly wiped her hands on a hand towel. “First of all, don’t ever—and I mean ever—refer to yourself as a nobody. Okay?”
She pressed her lips together for a moment. “Okay.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist. “And second—the truth is, I have no idea what’s going on. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. So many women, Hannah . . . I’d be lying if I said it was otherwise. Everywhere we go. But I never get involved with any of them. They just hang around. That’s it. I promise you, it isn’t anything like the tabloids portray. At least not in my case. I’ve gone out with a few—I told you that last night. The rest are just faces I don’t even remember. I never took any of it seriously. Well, with the exception of Jennifer, of course.
“But this—with you dropping into my life like this . . . I don’t have a clue. It was the last thing I expected to happen. But it has.” He tipped her chin with his finger, their faces mere inches apart. “And I’ve gotta tell you, I like it. A lot. It feels right. And trust me—you are anything but ‘a nobody.’ If I wanted to get involved with a celebrity, I would. But I don’t. Not ever again.” His eyebrows spiked high on his forehead. A familiar expression she’d already learned to love.
“Just lose the ‘kissing up’ comments, okay?” she whispered.
“Okay,” he mouthed silently.
“So what are we going to do today? Have you talked to Gevin yet?” She put the last dish in the dishwasher and closed it.
Jason drew in a deep breath. “No, I was going to, but I decided to blow it all off today. Until we talk to the rest of the guys, I want to pretend it never came up. Call me immature, c
all me in denial, but I just don’t want to think about it.”
“You didn’t sleep last night, did you?”
“What gave it away? The bags under my eyes? Did I just snore through our conversation here? What?”
“Just a guess. But if you didn’t sleep, maybe you should take me home and come back here for some rest.”
“No way. That’s the last thing I want to do. If I lie around all day, I’ll go nuts. Let’s go to a movie this afternoon. Maybe we can sneak in without too much hassle. I’ll do the sunglasses and hat routine. And there’s an Italian place here that I love. They’re very discreet. I’ve got my own booth in the back. It’s like heaven for me there. What d’ya say?”
“Works for me. Think I should wear a hat and sunglasses too? I wouldn’t want anyone to recognize me.”
His smile widened across his face. “You learn quick. Now let’s get outta here.”
“Well, it was worth a try!” Hannah screamed over the shrieks of the five adolescent girls surrounding Jason. He shrugged, resigning himself to the outburst around him. The young fans apparently spotted them as they left the theatre through a back exit.
Just then, a rotund redhead shot an elbow into Hannah’s side, shoving her aside to get closer to her idol. “Jason! I love you! Sign my mitten! Please, please, please?!” The screaming continued with an unbelievable barrage of requests and adoration. Hannah stood aside, watching with amusement. Jason gave them his full attention, signing their purses and coats and bare hands. No wonder they loved him so much. Occasionally he came up for air and flashed her a smile.
Finally, he pulled himself free and reached for Hannah’s hand, tugging her along as he took off running for his Escalade. Two freckle-faced twins hung onto the hem of his jacket, sliding across the icy pavement behind him.
“Don’t leave, Jason!”
“Who’s the girl?”
“Is that Jennifer?”
“Don’t go! Please don’t go!”
“Jason, come back!”
“WE LOVE YOU, JASON!”
They broke free, making a daring dash for the SUV they’d hidden behind a dry cleaner’s next door. They jumped in and Jason roared the engine, the Escalade spinning a full 360 degree circle before stopping.
Hannah screamed. “Ahhhh! Jason! Be careful!”
“Whoa! That was GREAT!”
“What—the girls or the wheelie?”
“Yeee-hawwww! The wheelie, of course!”
“You know you’re crazy, don’t you?” She tried to catch her breath, laughing in the process.
“Is there any other way to be?”
“But I have to admit you were awesome with those kids. They adore you!”
“Yeah. Just call me kiddy bait. Me and Barney the dinosaur, we’re right up there together at the top of the list.”
“I’m just glad you’re not fat and purple.” She rubbed her mittens together, squinting to see out the window. “You sure you won’t get mobbed at this restaurant?”
“Not a chance. Patty takes care of me. What are you hungry for? You like calzones?”
“Cheese only?”
“Is there any other way?”
An hour later, calzone crumbs dotted their plates, their glasses empty after two refills. Hannah had to agree, the food was outstanding. And his personally-proclaimed private booth in the back kept them secluded just as he’d said. They’d had no interruptions except for Patty’s undivided attention. Jason wiped his mouth and sat back in the booth. “I’m stuffed,” he moaned, rubbing his stomach. “I’ll have to run ten miles to get this off my gut.”
“Pssst! Max! Come back here!” A throaty whisper beckoned him from the kitchen.
“Max?” Hannah mouthed.
He grinned. “That’s Patty’s nickname for me. McKenzie. Max. Somehow she decided Max would be her cover for me and it just stuck. C’mon.” He took her by the hand, leading her through the swinging doors into the hot kitchen. The strong scent of Italian spices filled the cramped room.
Patty hugged him again, patting him on the back like a child. “I just love this guy! He’s like one of my own. I could just eat him up!” She laughed, pinching both his cheeks.
“I-wuv-woo-hoo, Paee.”
Hannah laughed at his pitiful attempt to talk.
“Sing for me!” Patty wiped her hands on her apron as she stepped into her tiny office. “Pull up the soap, Max.”
Jason grunted as he tugged a twenty-gallon drum of institutional detergent to the center of the room. Hannah found a pink vinyl chair in a corner and sat down. Patty emerged from her tiny office with a beat-up guitar case, handing it to Jason. “Max here gave me this years ago. It was his first guitar. I was hoping my Tony would learn to play, but all he plays is video games. Such a waste! So I keep it here for Max whenever he stops by. Go on, play me something sweet.” She hopped up to sit on the counter, her legs swinging back and forth.
“Patty makes me work for my food when I come here. Won’t take my money but always makes me sing. How about some U2? You up for a little Bono tune?” He started playing one of the group’s classic tunes.
“No, no, no!” Patty groaned. “If I wanted Bono, I’d call Bono. I want Max.”
Jason threw his head back laughing. “Oh, okay. U2, no Bono, huh? Then how about a little Rascal Flatts? I do a mean version of Bless the Broken Road. He sang the famous lyrics matching lead singer Gary Levox’s exact tone and style.
“Stop! Honestly, Max—I’ll never feed you again. I mean it! Now sing to me. Your songs. Don’t make me hurt you.” Patty forced a playful scowl.
His fingers strummed the guitar. He stopped to tune a couple of strings, then strummed again. The chords of the familiar song drifted around them making Hannah smile. One of her favorite Blue love songs . . .
There simply are no words
To tell you how I feel,
There simply isn’t time
To share what’s in my heart . . .
Patty moved to the music, at times closing her eyes and mouthing the words along with her Max.
A hundred songs of love,
Or a thousand years together
Could never be enough.
So it all comes down to this,
A quiet, simple kiss
A quiet, simple kiss.
She watched his fingers flying along the neck of the old guitar, a more classical version than the original recording. Hannah sang silently, drinking in the moment of this private concert, blushing at the memory of those words on Christmas Eve. He winked at her, a sly smile on his lips. He remembered too.
If only I could play for you
The symphony inside my soul
You’d hear the secret melody
A lyric just for you from me . . .
Patty and Hannah joined the sweet chorus, harmonizing the parts they knew so well.
But a hundred songs of love,
Or a thousand years together
Could never be enough.
So it all comes down to this,
A quiet, simple kiss
A quiet, simple kiss.
“Whoa, you guys are bad.” Jason shook his head, lowering the guitar into its case. “I mean, you really stink.”
“Hey!” Patty hopped off the counter and thumped him on the back of his head. “You just get on outta here, Max. Nobody talks to me like that. Go on—get outta here. I mean it!”
She put her arm around Hannah as they walked out of the kitchen. “Listen, Hannah, you come back anytime. You and me, we’ll put together a singing act all our own. We don’t need him,” she fussed, jabbing a thumb at Jason.
“Patty, don’t you be filling her head with that stuff,” he warned. He whisked Hannah away from Patty, then grabbed their coats as they passed their booth. “We’ll be back! But Patty?”
“Yeah?”
“Stick to cooking. You sing like a frog!”
Chapter 9
The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough now gone, two empty bowls coated with melted
ice cream sat on the table between them. Hannah sat across from Jason at the tiny table in her kitchen.
“You said yourself when the ride was over, you’d know when to get off. Well, something like that. So maybe it’s just time, Jason.”
He tapped his spoon against the bowl with nervous agitation, his elbows resting on the table. Hannah could feel his anxiety. She leaned back in her chair, stretching her legs out under the table. Jason shifted his legs so they rested against hers. Unfortunately, one of his legs was bouncing in rhythm with the spoon.
His silence made her uncomfortable. Extremely uncomfortable.
Finally he dropped the spoon. He raked his hair with both hands letting out a frustrated growl. “No. No, it’s not time. That’s just it! Don’t you think I would know it in my gut if it was? Wouldn’t I have some inkling in my soul? Something? I mean, this hit me broadside. I had no clue it was coming! And I’m not gonna let it happen, Hannah,” he snapped, shoving his chair back. “I’m not.”
“Jason—”
“No, listen to me, Hannah. I told you—I stay tuned in to God. I really do. I’m not just saying it to sound like some righteous jerk. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve known I could never make it without God. Ask my mom. She’ll tell you. The guys will too—it’s just part of my life. I know it doesn’t fit with the industry we’re in, but it’s just who I am.
“And ever since this Blue thing happened, I’ve had my head on my shoulders, facing it straight out.” He was roaming the small room, idly picking up utensils, an oven mitt, anything he came across. “I swear it, Hannah. From the beginning, I laid this whole thing at God’s feet and said, ‘it’s all Yours.’ So don’t you think I would have known something was coming? Don’t you think I should have had some kind of inner alert or . . . or feeling that something was about to happen? Like shouldn’t God have given me some kind of clue?”
The total bewilderment on his face alarmed her. “I don’t know, Jason. God’s God. He doesn’t have to do anything.” She cringed at the tone of her sheepish response.
He started wiping the counter with a dishrag in wide, angry circles. “But still, think about it. I haven’t exactly turned my back on Him, y’know? Or, I don’t know, maybe I have. Maybe I just thought I was staying tuned in to Him. Maybe I screwed up and didn’t even realize it.”