Sally stared at him for a moment. “That’s my favorite quote. I think everyone feels that way sometimes. They want love so badly, but no one ever feels that they’re quite good enough to be loved by someone worthwhile.” She sighed. “Did that even make sense?”
He nodded. “It did to me. And you’re worthy. You’re so worthy.”
Alison sighed from the backseat. “Wow. My uncle is quoting Cyrano to my English teacher. I can’t wait to tell Jessica!”
Jay groaned. “How could I forget she was back there?”
Sally laughed softly. “At least the kids at school don’t know you. They all know me! I’m the ogre, remember?”
He pulled onto the set, showing his drivers’ license to a security guard who was stationed at the drive. “Bob Bodefeld invited me, my niece, and Sally Jackson to come watch the filming tonight.”
The guard checked a clipboard and nodded. “Yes, sir.” He handed them each badges. “Just wear those the whole time you’re on the set. Mr. Bodefeld should be in his trailer.”
“Which one is it?” Jay asked, feeling a little overwhelmed. What was he doing there? He was just a rancher.
“Number three.”
Jay looked and saw the numbers on the buildings, then pulled up behind number three. He got out of the truck, walked to the trailer, and knocked on the door. May opened it wide. “I’m glad you guys came.”
Jay smiled. “I am too.” He looked over at the truck and saw that Sally and Alison were chatting with one another about something, so he took the opportunity he’d wanted. “I want to apologize if I ever made you feel like you weren’t wanted. I’d have happily raised you, May.”
Her eyes immediately welled with tears. She brushed one away with a laugh. “I’d blame it on pregnancy, but the truth is, I cry all the time for no reason anyway. Pregnancy hasn’t even made it worse!” She shook her head. “I’m sorry I misunderstood. I really am. I think you’re perfect for Aunt Sally, and I love the idea of you two being together again.” She leaned close and whispered, “Make sure you don’t blow it this time.”
He laughed. “I’ll do my best.”
She opened the door wide, inviting him in. “I drove all the way to Weatherford to get us a taco feast this afternoon.”
“Tacos? You really are going nuts for tacos, aren’t you?” Jay shook his head. He’d been sure Sally was exaggerating the taco obsession.
He heard a squeal from behind him, and immediately turned to see a petite blonde who was very obviously pregnant. “Did you say tacos?”
“Come on, Valerie! I brought enough for everyone!”
Alison and Sally walked over to the trailer, Alison hanging back a little. “I didn’t think I’d be this nervous,” she said in a whisper loud enough for him to hear.
“This is what you wanted, kiddo. Let’s go in and enjoy our tacos.” Jay put his hand on her shoulder, glad she was there. This was the first time he felt like he’d done something really good for her.
May saw Alison and grabbed her hand, pulling her into the trailer. “You need to get a taco before Valerie and I eat them all. We both have a bone-deep need for tacos right now.”
When Sally stepped into the trailer behind Alison, she saw that Amber was already there, sitting at the table eating a burger. “Hi, Amber.”
Amber smiled. “Hey, Sally. I refuse to be a part of another taco fest, so I requested a burger.”
“Sounds smart to me! This is Alison, a student of mine. And this is her uncle, Jay.”
“Hi, Alison. Hey, Jay. Bob told me he was bringing some people in to watch tonight. Kind of makes me wish I’d brought my little girl, Nicki, but she would have made it all chaos.” Amber set her burger down and stood up, offering her hand to Jay to shake. “Really glad to have you guys here.”
Alison stared at her for a minute before blurting, “You’re short.”
Amber laughed. “I am. Always have been. I was even shorter when I was a kid!”
Alison blushed. “Sorry. I guess I was expecting you to be kind of larger than life, if that makes any sense at all.”
“A little. We’re glad to have you here. We all think Sally’s pretty terrific—May tells us she is so often, we have to believe her, so we’re glad to have you and Jay as well.” She looked at Jay for a moment as if sizing him up. Finally, she held her hand out to him. “Be good to her. May needs her still.”
He frowned at that. “She does? I thought she was happy now.”
“She’s very happy, but she needs a grandmother for that little Amber she’s carrying.”
Bob stepped into the room and frowned. “We’re not naming our baby Amber, and you know it.”
“Whatever. I refuse to call her Bobbette.” Amber wrinkled her nose at Bob, making it clear to everyone in the room what she thought of the name.
“It’s a boy anyway.” Bob sat down and sighed when he saw the bag of tacos. “Tacos? Again?”
May pulled a burger out of a bag and handed it to him. “I got you and Amber burgers because you’re always complaining about the Great Taco Feast of 2016. How anyone could do that is beyond me…”
Sally shook her head at May. “The Great Taco Feast of 2016? You two have named your taco cravings?”
Valerie smiled. “I didn’t know, but I’m all for it!” She grabbed a taco and ate it quickly before turning to Jay. “It’s nice to meet you. Sorry about the taco, but you just don’t understand the cravings.”
Alison stared at Valerie for a moment. “You’re short too!”
Valerie just laughed. “Amber and I play sisters well because we’re just about the same size. I prefer the term ‘petite’ to short, though!”
The door opened, and Jesse walked in. He took one look at the table and groaned. “Tacos? Again?”
May pulled another burger out of her bag, which seemed to have no bottom. Sally raised an eyebrow. “How many more burgers do you have in your Mary Poppins bag?”
May shrugged. “I’m not sure. Why? Do you want one?”
Sally shook her head, laughing. “No, a taco is fine with me. Did you just get a bunch of each?”
“Sure. Why not? Drinks are in the fridge. Glasses to the right above the sink. Get something to drink and a burger or taco. I’m ensuring that babies don’t starve, and the people who love us don’t start to hate us for needing tacos.” May winked at Valerie, who grinned.
“You know, it was a lot harder to be pregnant before you started sharing cravings with me. Now it’s fun.” Valerie sat down and put her feet up on a chair.
Jesse looked at her feet. “I was about to sit there!”
“Good. You can rub my feet!”
Alison stared at all the actors she’d idolized for so long in disbelief. Finally, she leaned over and whispered to Sally, “They’re just like normal people.”
Sally laughed. “They are normal people!”
“Yeah, but they’re acting like normal people!”
“Is that a problem for you?”
Alison shrugged, obviously still mesmerized by the famous people around her.
Jay reached for a taco, unwrapping the paper around it. “I’m not too proud to eat tacos.”
Bob shook his head. “It’s not a pride thing. It’s a sick-of-tacos thing. May wants them three meals a day! She’s always got a Crock-Pot full of taco meat going, and she makes them for herself constantly.”
May shook her head. “Not constantly. I have to write!”
“Sorry. Almost constantly.”
“That sums it up nicely.” May continued to eat, ignoring her husband’s sigh. She looked back and forth between Sally and Jay. “You two aren’t engaged yet?”
Sally’s eyes widened. “No, of course not! Until Thursday, we hadn’t seen each other in over twenty years.”
May shrugged. “Bob proposed within a few hours of meeting me.”
“That was before I knew about the taco thing,” Bob grumbled.
“I asked Valerie to marry me less than thirty minutes after she b
roke up with her old boyfriend,” Jesse added, taking a bite of his burger.
“John proposed on the first date we’d had in over five years,” Amber added. “Jay, you really need to get with the program.”
Alison nodded. “Yeah, get with the program, Uncle Jay!”
“I refuse to ask her to marry me just because all you freaks have no idea how to do things the right way,” Jay finally said, not sure how to take them.
Jesse grinned at Jay. “You know, I’m impressed that you’re doing things your own way. Waiting more than a week to propose might be smart.”
Valerie glared at him. “Are you saying you don’t like how quickly we got married?”
“Of course not!” Jesse patted her knee. “We did what was right for us. Maybe Jay is shy or something.”
Sally grinned. “Actually, he is. He even blushes. It’s so cute!”
Jay glared at Sally. “Why did I agree to come here exactly?” He was honestly so happy to be spending time with her that he couldn’t even force himself to be angry.
“To make Alison happy.” Sally looked at Alison. “Are you happy now?”
Alison nodded slowly. “A little happy and a little scared. I’m trying to decide which emotion is stronger.” She reached for a taco. “Definitely hungry for tacos now.” She took a bite before adding, “I want autographs from everyone. No one at school believed me when I said I was going to come watch you film tonight.”
“Kids are idiots,” May said. “Present company excepted, of course.”
“I was hoping you’d add that last part, but yeah, they are idiots. No one quite understands. I mean, May and I are practically cousins, so that means Bob is practically my cousin. It’s like I’m part of the whole big Lazy Love family. You’re my people!”
There was laughter all around. Jesse looked at her. “You’ll get your autographs, but I’m not claiming you as a kid sister. I just got Amber married off, and I thought that was going to take forever.”
“Hey! No one asked you to marry me off!” Amber smacked Jesse on the shoulder. “Valerie, did you bring a poster?”
Valerie nodded. “There’s one on the counter.”
Amber walked over to the poster and held it up for Alison to see. It had the four main stars of the show. “We’ll all sign this, and I’m going to write a special note on the back.”
Alison nodded happily. “I’d love that! Thank you!” She looked around. “What about Anthony?”
Amber wrinkled her nose at the name of her current love interest on the show. “He’s not here. We don’t invite him to family stuff. Just you.”
“Works for me!”
When they left the set two hours later, Alison was staring down at the poster, her eyes shining with excitement. Not only had a dream come true by being able to watch the show getting filmed, but she’d taken selfies with each member of the cast, and she carried a signed poster with her. No one could deny that she’d been there for the special experience. She had proof!
Chapter Five
Wednesday evening, shortly before she was headed to bed, Sally’s phone rang, and when she looked at the display, she saw Jay’s name. Her stomach gave a little flutter as she swiped her finger across the screen and put it to her ear. “Hi, you.”
“Hey. What are you up to?”
His deep voice sent shivers through her, as usual. “I just finished grading a stack of essays, so I’m rewarding myself with two chapters of May’s latest book before I head to bed.” She set her Kindle down, giving him her full attention.
“Am I disturbing you?”
“I’d rather talk to you than read any book.” As soon as the words were out, she worried that they were coming too soon. She didn’t want to overwhelm him.
“Oh, really? Even Cyrano?”
She smiled. “You even top Cyrano in my book.”
“Wow. I’ll take that as a huge compliment.”
“How’s your gelding?”
“He’s lots better. Moving around without limping. I’ll give him a few more days, and then I think we’ll be ready to work again.” He paused for a moment. “I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner tomorrow night. Alison is going to spend the night with a girl from school, and I find myself free to see my special lady friend.”
“Ooh, I’m your special lady friend now? ‘Girlfriend’ does seem very juvenile. When you’re in your forties, you’re a special lady friend.” She couldn’t help grinning.
“Is that a yes or a no? I mean, it sounds like a yes to being my special lady friend, but is it a yes for dinner?”
“Well, I have this dance I need to chaperone…”
“You’re not going to rope me into that nonsense again! Nope, nope, nope. Dinner? I’ll even wear my nice boots … the ones without cow poop all over them.”
She laughed. “Yes, I’ll go to dinner with you. And if you’re getting all fancy and wearing the boots without cow poop, does that mean I need to wear my ball gown?”
“You have a ball gown?”
“Nope, but I have a nice dress that I got for May’s wedding.”
“How ’bout just jeans and a nice top?”
“Are you sure? Boots without cow poop rate at least a skirt, don’t they?” She loved teasing him so much. How had she lived through the past twenty-plus years without hearing his voice?
“I’m sure. Of course, if you want to wear a skirt, I have no problem staring at your legs.”
She blushed, glad he couldn’t see her face at that moment. “Oh, really? I’ll have to find a short skirt so you’ll have something to look at.” Her shortest skirt came to just past her knees, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.
Jay laughed. “You do that. I’ll pick you up around five. Does that work?”
“Sounds good to me.” When he didn’t say anything else for a moment, she whispered, “I missed you. So much.”
“Me too. G’night, Sally.”
“G’night, Jay.” She ended the call and hugged the phone to her. What would she do if he left again?
* * *
Jay stared at his phone with a grin. Sally was something else. Why hadn’t he looked her up as soon as he got back in town?
“You’re thinking about her again! How can you be in love with my English teacher?” Alison sounded like she was torn between being disgusted and amused.
He shrugged, knowing the goofy grin was still on his face. “I loved her a long time before she was your English teacher.”
Alison walked to the couch and sat beside him. “Are you going to marry her?”
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “What do you think? Would it bother you?”
Alison shrugged. “I think you two are silly in love. Anyone can see that.”
“I messed up by going to Alaska all those years ago. I should have listened to what she was telling me instead of getting my feelings hurt and running off. I’m not sure she’ll be able to forgive that.”
“I think she already has. She has this gooey look when she sees you. Like she’s about to melt all over. Trust me, that look isn’t there for anyone else. Even Mr. Ward, the new math teacher who’s crushing on her, gets the same look everyone else gets. Some of the boys say she’s never married because her looks turn men to ice.”
“There’s a math teacher crushing on her?” Jay asked, worried.
“I promise, Uncle Jay, she doesn’t know he exists. She loves you.” Alison shook her head. “She gets this look on her face when she’s teaching about Cyrano. It’s the only time anyone sees a real hint of the woman and not the teacher, if that makes any sense. She gets the same look when she sees you.”
Jay felt like an idiot talking about his love life with his fifteen-year-old niece, but who else could he talk to about it? “I’m taking her out on Friday night while you’re at your friend’s house.”
“Really? A real-live grown-up date without me? Please tell me you’re going to clean your cowboy boots.” She wrinkled her nose. “Trust me, no woman wa
nts to go on a date with a man who has cow manure on his boots.”
“I already promised I’d wear my good boots.”
She blinked at him a couple of times. “You have more than one pair?”
“Of course I do! I wore the good ones to your parents’ funeral.”
She looked sad for a moment. “I miss them.”
“I know you do. I wish I could bring them back, but I can’t.” He felt like he was completely lost in the world of teenage angst. He had no idea how to deal with it.
“I know.”
“I’ll do my best, but I make no promises when it comes to makeup and girly stuff.”
“Girly stuff? Really? I have friends I can go to for that. Or marry Miss Jackson, and then I can go to her.” Alison gave him an impish grin, and he shook his head.
“I’m not marrying her so you have someone to go to for girly stuff.” He sighed. “I don’t know that I’ll be able to get up the guts to propose again anyway.”
She made a face. “Do you still have the ring?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Can I see it?”
“Why?” he asked. “What are you thinking?”
“I just want to see what you picked out for her.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back.” Jay walked into his bedroom, found the ring where he’d hidden it in the medicine cabinet in his bathroom—he couldn’t imagine anyone ever looking there for anything—and took it back to her. It was a diamond solitaire, with a small stone. He couldn’t see Sally wearing anything too flashy. He put it in Alison’s hand and watched as his niece studied it.
She turned it over before nodding. “It’s perfect. It’s got the simple elegance that’s so much a part of her.”
He sighed. “That’s what I thought when I picked it out, but it’s been a long time. At this point, you probably know her better than I do.”
“I don’t know about that, Uncle Jay. I know her as a student. I watch her a lot because all the kids talk about your history with her, but I don’t know her as a person. I’ve gotten to know her better since she came here Saturday than I have in the couple of months in her classroom.”
Lost Love (Lazy Love Book 4) Page 5