Home is Where the Heart is

by Mack, Christie

  Jordan could see why Cassie always seemed so uninterested or too busy to chat to this woman, but nevertheless, he was polite toward her and smiled as genuinely as he could.

  “I’m sure she would be happy to help out. I will let her know.”

  The woman let out a dramatic sigh of relief, like she was completely counting on Cassie’s agreement to bake for them, and turned away from Jordan when she received the answer she was looking for. Could no one cook as well as Cassie?

  “Did I hear you offer Cassie’s baking skills to Emma?” Sierra stood behind him.

  Jordan turned back to her, startled by the astonishment in her voice. “I did. Why? Was it a wrong move?”

  She shrugged her shoulders and didn’t say anything.

  “I guess we’ll see soon if it was or not,” Jordan said cracking a smile, unsure now if Cassie was going to be upset with him.

  Sierra chuckled and reached up to wrap an arm around his shoulders, offering friendly support as they made their way out of the school.

  Jordan figured only time would tell, but what harm could it have been?

  “You did what?” Cassie questioned after hearing about Jordan’s impulsive decision to sign her up to bake for the gala. They were now standing in the kitchen of Cassie’s single-story home, after she allowed him to retrieve Jake from school that afternoon.

  He put Jake’s school bag down on the floor next to the island counter, then perched himself on the stool next to it.

  He folded his arms in front of him and asked, “Was it a bad move? I was kind of put on the spot. Besides, I know how much you love cooking; I thought you might like to do it.”

  “I love cooking, but not for a school with hundreds of children. Why do you think I have been avoiding Emma? She’s ruthless and brutal, and she knows how to get what she wants.”

  “Sorry, Cassie, I thought I was doing the right thing. But you’re right—she is ruthless and brutal.”

  Cassie waved him off. “It’s okay,” she said. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know how she is. Maybe I should have warned you what some of the mothers could be like. But it doesn’t change the situation…I still have to bake cookies.” Cassie frowned.

  “I know I’m not as good a cook as you, but I can help. We would get them done quicker with two people anyway.”

  For the first time in a very long while, Jordan saw Cassie smile, and her whole face was glowing. It was at this moment Jordan realized how beautiful his ex-girlfriend really was. She gave him butterflies still, and she didn’t even know it.

  “Okay, you’re on. Call me crazy, and I will probably end up regretting you helping me, but I’m going to take you up on your offer. Obviously, we have to do it tonight so they’re ready for school tomorrow.”

  Cassie went around to Jake’s bag and unloaded his lunch box. She never knew what she would find inside her son’s bag. There was always something she would find half-eaten, or a note from the teacher Jake forgot to tell her about.

  Jordan flexed his hands together. “What’s on the agenda tonight?” he asked her out of curiosity.

  She pulled her blonde locks into a high ponytail and responded, “I promised I would take Jake to the fair tonight. It’s always a lot of fun, and he loves it so much.”

  “Yeah, I remember how fun it used to be when we’d go together,” Jordan said.

  Cassie was reminded of the good times they had once shared. It seemed Jordan was reminiscing quite a lot too, and Cassie wondered whether he was hoping to rekindle the spark between them. She knew she was opening her life up so Jordan could be a part of their son’s, but that was it. She just wasn’t sure she could open herself up for the possibility of a reunion with Jordan. She didn’t know if her heart could handle the idea of breaking all over again, or at the very least, a long distance relationship. She knew those never worked out well, judging by how it had turned out for both Cassie and Jordan the first time around.

  Cassie was grateful she didn’t have to say anything back to Jordan when Jake came into the kitchen to join his parents.

  “Can Daddy come with us tonight?” Jake asked out of the blue.

  There was that word again. Daddy. Jake had actually called Jordan Daddy. It was becoming all too real for Jordan. The idea of being a father was sinking in because he didn’t have much of a choice than to realize he was suddenly a parent.

  “Please, Daddy?” Jake held onto the side of the countertop while looking up at his father, searching for an answer with eyes identical to Jordan’s.

  He looked at his son, and then over to Cassie, who couldn’t deny her son spending time with his father. She knew both Jake and Jordan yearned to make up for lost time together. She didn’t say a word, only nodded her head.

  Jordan looked back to his son. “I think it sounds like a lot of fun.”

  Jake jumped up and down excitedly, and when Jordan and Cassie were alone again, Jordan couldn’t help but ask if she were really okay with him joining them tonight. Cassie simply nodded her head again with a subtle yes.

  They would just have to see how fun tonight was going to be.

  Later that night, a little over an hour after they arrived at the fair family-style as many people would call it—and after Cassie had to hear Jake and Jordan talk about football the entire fifteen minutes it took to get there, which was beginning to become a repetitive subject for her—Cassie and Jordan caught up with Gabby and Nick. They had brought along Gabby’s parents, Mitch and Hazel, for a fun-filled night of fair rides, country music, dancing, and chit-chat, complete with bales of hay bordering the makeshift dance floor. Music by Lady Antebellum was blasting out of the speakers standing on either side of the dance floor.

  With Jake now sound asleep in Hazel’s arms, Cassie was surprised when Jordan asked her to dance, and she surprised Jordan when she didn’t say no, figuring she may as well make the most of the fun she was having. She couldn’t spoil the evening by turning down a dance with her ex-boyfriend. After all, it was just one dance.

  Jordan took Cassie’s hand in his, and she allowed him to lead her out to where everyone else was dancing. Soon after, Nick and Gabby joined them, and despite the obvious tension hanging between Nick and Gabby, Cassie noticed they had seemed to let it become a distant problem for the moment.

  Cassie swayed her body to the beat of the music, almost losing herself in the feel-good song as she and the others sang the lyrics. She was instantly reminded of high school, and the all the times she, Jordan, Nick, and Gabby attended one of the many fairs and school dances together as they conversed together with plenty of laughter and good ole high-spirited fun. Despite the changes in each of their lives, it was like they were transported back to the old days, remembering all the fun times they shared together like they were the only ones on the dance floor.

  Jordan’s touch on her skin sent vibrations up and down her body as he pulled her closer to him, and for a split second, when she gazed up at him, his striking brown eyes collided with her own like she was the only one important enough to let his gaze wander over tonight. And how could she not be? She looked unbelievably beautiful tonight, wearing a pink tank top, Daisy Duke shorts, and cowgirl boots.

  Soon though, their moment ended when the upbeat song came to an end and a slow ballad started playing out of the speakers.

  Damn! And just when she was beginning to feel in-the-zone.

  Cassie suddenly scanned the area for an exit, but to no avail. What she did find were the eyes of the townspeople surrounding the dance floor focused on her and Jordan. Tomorrow, everyone would be talking about two of them. They would be questioning whether Yellow Valley’s most talked about former-couple was an actual couple again.

  Cassie observed Nick dancing with a very pretty blonde while Gabby stalked to the side, obviously peeved Nick found someone else to dance with. Cassie wondered if she could be jealous; she definitely looked like she was, which was strange because Cassie had never known her best friend to be jealous of anybody. It wasn’t in
Gabby’s nature.

  Jordan held out his hand, asking for another dance with Cassie.

  “Do you want to dance?” he asked her as she stared at it. They stood in the middle of a sea of couples entwined and obviously very much in love with each of their partners. She and Jordan could pretend all they wanted, but deep down, Cassie knew she would never be that way with him. She couldn’t dance so close to him when all she wanted to do was shake away the feelings she was starting to discover she still had for him.

  She blinked twice, shaking her head. “No, thanks.” She looked past him over his shoulder to where Jake was with Gabby’s parents and noticed his sleeping form. She should really get him home to bed. It wasn’t a lie, but it definitely made the perfect excuse to get out of a dance with Jordan.

  “I need to get Jake home to bed.”

  Jordan nodded his head following her lead as she turned toward their son’s direction.

  “Besides, if I remember from all those dances in high school, you’re really not that good of a dancer. My toes will be forever grateful if I don’t dance with you.”

  Jordan looked at her with one of his cheeky grins. “I guess that’s why I play football instead of dancing. It's a good thing I've never been asked to participate in Dancing with the Stars." Jordan laughed at himself then changed the subject. "I’ll take y’all home, if you’d like?” His voice was raised slightly so he could be heard over the music.

  “Are you sure? You don’t have to. Gabby can give us a ride; she’s used to doing it anyway.”

  “It’s fine. I don’t mind…” Jordan trailed off, glancing over to where Nick was dancing with the leggy blonde-haired beauty “…besides, I don’t think I will be expecting Nick home anytime soon, so it will be nice to have some time to myself for a little while. It gives me time to think, and we do have cookies to bake. I didn’t forget I promised to help you since I got you into it in the first place.”

  Cassie looked torn. She didn’t know how much more time she could spend with the guy before she realized she wouldn’t be able to control those returning feelings she once felt for Jordan, despite knowing they would never really work anymore. It was proving to be more of a struggle than she initially thought.

  They made their way over to where Jake was laying on an oversized lawn chair with Mitch and Hazel.

  “We’re going to go now and get this little boy home to bed,” she said with a smile. “It’s getting late, and it’s past Jake’s bedtime.”

  Mitch and Hazel understood, both nodding their heads and returning smiles.

  “Do you need a lift home?” Mitch asked her.

  Cassie shook her head. “No, it’s okay. Jordan has already offered to take us home, but thanks anyways.” She meant it; they did enough for her already by including them as part of their family, and had since the day she moved into their house at the beginning of her senior year of high school, just so Cassie wouldn’t have to move and change schools following Cassie’s parents’ departure from town. Mitch and Hazel acted like surrogate parents for Cassie, and now Jake, stepping in when her own parents couldn’t, or lived too far away to do so.

  “I’ll see you next weekend at Jake’s game,” she added. They also attended every one of Jake’s baseball games, acting as his surrogate grandparents, and despite the fact they weren’t blood-related, she knew they loved being able to spoil him as if he were their own grandchild. Gabby was an only child, and it didn’t look like she was ready to settle down anytime soon.

  Hazel got up from her chair and wrapped her arms around Cassie in a strong embrace to say goodbye as Jordan lifted their son into his arms. Jake rested his sleepy little head on his shoulder.

  Hazel whispered into Cassie’s ear, telling her to be careful. Cassie knew too well what she meant by the comment. At the time of her break-up with Jordan, Hazel and Mitch, along with Nick and Gabby, had helped pick up the pieces of her broken heart, and then with the unexpected pregnancy. They were familiar with how much Cassie had struggled to make a life for her and Jake. They didn’t want to see Jordan come crashing her party, destroying everything she had built. She didn’t want that either. She knew how hard she’d worked to get to the place she was now. Life was good to her. She couldn’t and wouldn’t let something like Jordan’s return stir up old feelings from her past, making her question everything she had worked for.

  “I will,” Cassie whispered softly. “Thank you,” she said again, tears almost falling from her eyes, but she carefully held them back, not wanting to smudge the little mascara she had on or give people more of a reason to talk about her personal life. Enough was enough. She couldn’t be talked about more than she already was. Her life was just that—her life. She was determined to keep it that way, without people prying into her personal life wondering whether she and Jordan were getting back together or not, and for Cassie, if there were music playing in the background of her mind, it would be Taylor Swift singing about how they were never ever getting back together.

  Forty-five minutes after arriving home from the fair, Cassie generously accepted Jordan’s offer to carry their very tired little boy to bed while she rummaged through the cupboards in her kitchen, grabbing utensils, bowls, and pans, along with all the ingredients needed to bake cookies from scratch. Cassie did not believe in using a packet mix when they were so much more scrumptious with an actual recipe.

  Cassie and Jordan had both decided on chocolate chip cookies, knowing they would definitely be a crowd favorite at school. When he finished putting Jake to bed, he entered Cassie’s kitchen rolling up the sleeves of his light blue tailored shirt—which she thought he looked amazing in and really made his eyes pop—ready to get to work.

  Jordan clapped his hands together, indicating he was ready to start the process. “All right! What do you want me to do?”

  “You can plug in the KitchenAid,” said Cassie.

  “Where’s that?” he asked, and Cassie didn’t look shocked by his question.

  She laughed and answered, “It’s over in the corner next to the stove.” Cassie pointed to the dusty, pink cooking device. “You obviously don’t do a lot of baking in Miami.”

  Jordan pulled the mixer out from the corner and plugged the power cord into the wall socket.

  “Between games, training, and the gym, I don’t get a lot of time to cook, but I’m not that clueless in the kitchen; I know a little bit,” he said. “So what’s next?”

  Cassie cocked one eyebrow. “That’s funny. I just assumed you would use the microwave most of the time.” She gave him a playful shove.

  Jordan gently pushed her back. “Well, I do that too, but I can cook some meals. I’m not completely incompetent when it comes to using a kitchen wisely.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Cassie murmured to herself, then said aloud, “We simply pour some flour, eggs, oil, chocolate chips, butter, and a little bit of milk into the mixer and let it work its magic. My KitchenAid is a real lifesaver; it does almost all of the hard work for me.”

  Together, Cassie and Jordan combined the ingredients into the mixer and then turned it on, waiting until it was combined into a doughy ball so they could make smaller balls of the concoction. Cassie sprinkled some flour across two colorful cutting boards on the island countertop, while Jordan whipped the dough out of the mixer. Then he placed the two large mounds of the mixture in equal proportions onto the cutting boards.

  Before getting started with her half, she tied her hair loosely into a ponytail and a flowery-printed apron around her middle while watching Jordan dive straight into rolling the dough out, proving to be good with his hands…like she remembered.

  He realized she was watching him intently, and he paused mid-roll with a questioning look on his face. “Am I doing something wrong?” he asked her.

  Cassie shook her head, biting down on her bottom lip. “No, you can’t really make a mistake rolling cookie dough. You’re doing fine. I was just thinking I should probably take a picture of you actually doing some form of co
oking as proof that you can actually do it,” she said teasingly, letting out a little laugh.

  Jordan forgot how good it felt to hear his former girlfriend laugh. She was always so gorgeous when she was laughing, despite not being very funny at the moment.

  “Ha. You think you’re so funny,” Jordan stated sarcastically. “You’re laughing at me.”

  Cassie stuck out her tongue. “Oh, but I think I am. I’m hilarious. This situation is funny.”

  She had him there, and Jordan liked that they were learning to relax in each other’s company again. It reminded him of the old times they shared together six years ago. He missed that the most about Cassie, and despite the regrets and everything else that had happened since then, Jordan could not forget everything good about his past spent with her. After all, she did give him a wonderful and kind-hearted little boy. He had to thank her for raising their son as best as she could on her own. She was doing an admirable job as a single parent.

  He nudged her light-heartedly in her side. “I like this.”

  Cassie rolled up the sleeves of her button down shirt. “You like what? When I tease you? I like that too. See? I told you; I’m hilarious.”

  Jordan gave her a grin, rolling his eyes. “You did always think your jokes were a ball of laughter. I think you were the only one too, but I like being able to be myself around you.”

  “You mean up until now, you weren’t being yourself? I’m utterly shocked,” she joked, grabbing bits of dough and rolling them into balls, and then placing them on a prepared baking tray. She suddenly turned serious. “But I do know what you mean. I like it too. It is a good feeling.”