by Rachel Hanna
Jackson shook his head and was about to protest about being on a date, but who was he trying to fool? He was lecturing this woman’s son, he couldn’t stop thinking about being alone with her, and he’d brought wine to an island picnic. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t miss my little brother getting engaged for the world.” Jackson put Kyle in a headlock and gave him a quick noogie as they made their way over to the girls.
Jackson got a glimpse of the shine of the ring on Jenna’s left hand and the smile on Rebecca’s face while looking at it. It sent a shiver down his spine as he imagined a similar scene between him and Rebecca. He felt like he needed to hit his head on a wall because he obviously wasn’t thinking clearly.
He walked up to Jenna and gave her a hug. “I’m so glad you finally get to be an official part of the family, Jenna. It’s been a long time coming.” Jenna smiled warmly, clearly elated and caught up in the moment. He could see streaks on her face where she’d been crying.
“Oh, thanks Jackson. I feel the same way. I just love all of you so much.” She fanned herself, about to break down again. Kyle put his arm around her, and he could see that Leo and Rebecca were packing up the picnic basket. These two love birds needed some time to revel in their new engagement.
“Well, we’re going to leave you two to it. Enjoy this moment. It’s once in a lifetime right?” As Jackson said that, Rebecca appeared at his side, smiling, but he noticed how it didn’t quite reach her eyes. He figured that she was probably remembering when her husband proposed to her. He couldn’t imagine experiencing a moment like that only to lose the person. No wonder she and her son had some problems. Not that he didn’t have problems of his own.
“Oh, we will. By the way, Rebecca, Tessa volunteered to watch the shop for a bit. I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t wait any longer to do this. Today just felt right, you know?” Kyle said apologetically.
“No need to apologize, Kyle. I’m sure Tessa is great at making coffee. Congratulations to the both of you.” Jackson took a deep breath and grabbed Rebecca’s free hand, prompting the other three in their company to raise their eyebrows at him. He ignored it and tried his best not to sweat bullets all over her palm as he led her back to the ferry, which was already waiting since Kyle had obviously brought it over with Jenna.
* * *
Rebecca looked down at her hand entwined with Jackson’s. It was weird because she saw it but couldn’t really feel it because she was so nervous. However, she decided not to let go this time as they climbed onto the ferry and sat down next to each other.
She looked around for Leo and saw that he was already engrossed in his cell phone. She sighed, realizing some battles couldn’t be won, but at least he had been willing to throw the ball around with Jackson without too much of a fuss. It made her wonder what they had talked about.
The ride back to the main land was very quiet for the both of them. She couldn’t tell if it was from nerves or to avoid ruining the moment. It was at least a welcome distraction from the thoughts that had been going through her head when she saw that Kyle had proposed. It made her remember her own engagement with her husband, and it made her chest ache a little to think about it.
On the other hand it also made her think about the fact that she really hadn’t dated a whole lot since his death, and she couldn’t imagine as much as he’d loved her that he’d want her miserable and alone forever. Plus, a man would be good in both their lives. Maybe it was time to seize the moment with this Jackson Parker, lest something great passed her by for good.
After the ferry pulled in, she let Leo get ahead of them and climb out before she turned to Jackson and planted a kiss right on his lips. At first he seemed surprised, but then he relaxed into it, opening his mouth slightly. His breath smelled like wine, and though his lips were chapped, they were appealing and strong. She found herself getting lost for a moment not having been able to feel like this for so long. Shocked at herself, she still wasn’t able to pull away quickly.
The faraway sound of her son making a retching noise brought her back to reality and made her blush. She was embarrassed, but as she looked into Jackson’s eyes, she realized he was just as attracted to her as she was to him. At least she hadn’t crossed her signals.
She smiled at him but let her hand slip out of his to catch up with her son. Clearly there was some damage control to be done. She caught up to him and put her arm around him. “Hey, kiddo.”
Leo stopped walking for a moment and looked up at her. “Mom, please tell me we aren’t about to have the birds and bees talk or something.” Taken aback a little, Rebecca laughed.
“Yeah, I guess it would be a little late in life for that one, Leo. I just wanted to say sorry that you had to see that. I know it’s not really cool to watch your mom kiss some stranger.”
Leo stopped her. “Mom, I get it. You like him, he likes you. It’s fine. If you need to have a date or something, I can go play video games at home or at a friend’s house. Just don’t get all mushy in front of me now, okay?” Surprised by his words, Rebecca hugged him.
She all of a sudden felt a weight lift off her shoulders, and she felt the freedom to feel something for someone again, particularly this successful business man with perfect black hair and a strong football arm.
Chapter 11
They reached Jolt sooner than Jackson anticipated, and he couldn’t help but feel bummed that the date that he had just realized actually was a date, was about to be over with. He hadn’t gotten any true alone time with Rebecca.
He watched her as she walked inside of her coffee shop, and they both were shocked to see how busy it was. Tessa seemed to be handling the influx of customers with pizazz, but Rebecca looked a little embarrassed. She rushed to get behind the counter and help Tessa out. Left standing there alone, Leo walked up to Jackson and held out his hand to shake.
Temporarily taken aback by Leo’s almost complete turn around in attitude, it took Jackson a minute to grab his hand to shake. He was even more surprised when Leo, with quite a bit of strength for a boy his age, yanked Jackson’s arm so that he could whisper in his ear. “Come back at closing, Jackson. I’ll convince her that I can find something else to do.” Then, Leo winked and walked away.
Jackson waved at Tessa and Rebecca, but they were both too busy to notice and made his way out of Jolt. He decided to go spend some time with his family and think about what he really wanted in his life.
* * *
Rebecca was sweating when her shift was over, and Tessa noticed it.
“Rebecca, why don’t you take a breather? You look beat,” Tessa said laughing.
“It’s not normally this busy. I don’t know what happened,” Rebecca said leaning against the counter.
“Well, I might have had a little to do with that...”
“Huh?”
“Aaron runs an RV park, you know. Well, I made some quick flyers this morning and he has been handing them out to his guests. A lot of these people are tourists,” she said waving across the filled coffee shop. Rebecca’s eyes welled with tears. She had never seen people who would rally around a perfect stranger like this before.
“Tessa, what a sweet thing to do. Please thank Aaron for me too. The extra income always helps,” she said, not wanting to give away just how much it helped. “If you want to go now...”
“Oh, no. It’s fine. I’ve kind of enjoyed this. I see why you love this place,” Tessa said smiling. “Why don’t you go freshen up. I know you must want to get out of those clothes you’ve been wearing all day.”
Rebecca did want to get out of the clothes. She tried to avoid smelling under her arms until she was out of sight and halfway up the stairs. Yep, she needed a change of clothing before she scared everyone in town off.
As she went upstairs, she saw Leo sitting on the sofa watching music videos on his laptop. Curiosity about what happened at the island was killing her, so she changed her clothes and sat down next to him.
“Yes?” he said with a laugh as h
is mother stared over his shoulder.
“I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute?”
“I guess so,” he said in a typical teenage tone. Shockingly, he pushed the laptop aside and turned toward her.
“I’ve just got to ask... What happened today?” she asked, jumping straight to the point.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you hated Jackson Parker, and now you seem to be okay with him.”
“He’s not so bad, I guess,” he said shrugging his shoulders.
“Leo, I want you to know that anytime you ever want to talk about your Dad, you can talk to me.” There, she said it.
“Seriously?” The shocked tone of his voice broke her heart. Had he believed he couldn’t come to her?
“Of course, honey. If I ever gave you the impression that you couldn’t talk to me about your father, I’m so sorry. It was just so hard to talk about him, and I didn’t want to bring it up and make you sad.”
“Mom, I never knew him. It’s hard to be sad about a man I never met. And when people talked about him, you seemed sad. So I stopped bringing him up.”
“Is that why you’ve been angry lately?”
“I guess. Maybe. I mean, I see my friends with their fathers and I feel like it isn’t fair that mine was taken. I might have taken it out on you, but I know it’s not your fault. The worst part has been watching you, though,” he said looking down.
“Watching me? What do you mean?”
“Watching you not have a life. Not have a husband. Not move forward. I felt stuck because you were stuck.” The words coming from his mouth stunned her. He wasn’t always the most eloquent kid, but what he’d just said was so telling. She reached out and hugged him close, and he didn’t back away for once.
“Oh, Leo, I’m so sorry. You’re right. I’ve been stuck for twelve years. I’ve been stuck on a day. One day out of thousands of days. That’s not fair to you,” she said through quiet sobs.
“It’s not fair to you either, Mom,” he whispered. She nodded into his shoulder, unable to speak.
After a few moments, she pulled back and quickly wiped her eyes. “Okay, what would you like to know?”
“About what?”
“About your father. Ask me anything,” she said smiling.
“What did you love about him?” he asked crossing his arms and sitting back against the sofa.
“Wow, so many things... His eyes, his strong hands, his sense of humor, the way he took care of his little family, his sense of style, the way he made meatloaf...”
“Meatloaf?” Leo asked with a chuckle.
“Oh, yes, he made the best meatloaf...” she started, and spent the next thirty minutes telling Leo more than he’d ever known about his father. And more weight was lifted from both of their shoulders.
* * *
That evening, Jackson showed up at Jolt in his finest suit with a yellow rose in hand. He was going to do his very best to not allow her to say no to him.
It was Tessa who let him in since Rebecca was turned around cleaning off the counter. Jackson smiled at Tessa and walked around to stand in front of Rebecca. When she looked up, she appeared almost startled. Her face had a few beads of sweat, and her hair had fallen down into her eyes from a hard day’s work. He actually found it to be cute, but like most women, she didn’t appreciate a man seeing her like that.
“Jackson, I wasn’t expecting you! You look fancy. What’s the occasion?” She asked the question in between puffs. Jackson remained cool and collected as he handed her the rose, making her blush. Her fair skin always gave her away, and he loved it.
“I was thinking that I might take you for a nice dinner. Just the two of us.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Jackson. I mean, I’m not sure if I can leave Leo alone here.” Leo came to back him up, just as he said he would. He must’ve been listening in because he came running down the stairs.
“Mom, it’s fine. Jeremy wants to do a raid tonight, so I’ll be on the Xbox anyway.” Rebecca sighed and put her hand on her hip. The tension in the room was heavy as everyone realized Rebecca was about to come up with a new reason to protest. Luckily, Tessa swooped in and grabbed the rag out of Rebecca’s hand.
“You go ahead and get ready, hon. I’ll finish up here. You don’t want to keep this handsome man waiting, do you?”
Jackson saw Rebecca glance back and forth between all three of them, and held his breath. This was the moment of truth.
She finally surrendered and smiled at him then headed up the stairs to get dressed. Leo gave Jackson the thumbs up before following behind her.
“You know, Tessa, I think I like you more and more every day. I should give Aaron a big hug for bringing you into our lives.” Tessa laughed and shook her head before finishing up closing procedures.
In record time compared to any other woman Jackson had ever dated, Rebecca came tumbling down the stairs. She was a vision, her red hair down and straightened wearing strappy black heels and purple strapless dress. Her skin looked glowing in the now partially dark coffee shop, and he couldn’t wait to have her on his arm.
* * *
Rebecca knew that she really should feel embarrassed and guilty that she’d allowed a complete stranger to run and close her coffee shop on a busy day and that she was now leaving her son alone for the first time since moving, but all she could think about was the handsome man sitting in the seat across from her.
He had brought her to one of the nicest restaurants in the area. She’d passed it a couple times and heard the locals talking about it, but of course, she’d never been able to afford to go. It was a high end seafood joint with décor all over the walls that definitely had an aquatic feel. The lights were dim, and the glass window at the back allowed for an unobstructed view of the beautiful ocean.
Luckily, the menu did not list the prices of the food because if it did, she’d probably have a heart attack and then insist on going somewhere more reasonable, but she was going to allow herself to enjoy something just one time.
The waiter came up dressed in black and white, and Jackson immediately ordered the house wine and an appetizer of shrimp scampi. For a moment it made her think of her husband. He’d been the exact opposite; totally indecisive. She made many decisions for him and her both because he was a very laid back and shy person. Jackson clearly was a take charge kind of man.
She silently told herself to stop comparing Jackson to her late husband, but it was easier said than done. Hopefully, their differences would prove to help her get away from that thinking.
Jackson smiled apologetically at her having just caught him ordering for them both. “I’m sorry. It’s just a really bad habit I have. You’re just so unlike the other women I’ve dated, and I wasn’t sure if you’d like to order or not.”
“Breathe, Jackson. It’s not a big deal. It’s nice not making decisions sometimes, but just don’t get the wrong idea about me. I’m no pushover.” She pointed her finger at him in mock anger, and they both broke into laughter which they quickly quieted as the waiter came up with their wine glasses. She hadn’t gotten to drink a lot of wine lately, but she loved it. Back in New York, before the tragedy, she and her husband had even belonged to a wine tasting group for a short time.
It was funny how she measured life in terms of the terrorist attack. Never as a little girl would she have imagined that she would have been caught up in one of the most infamous days in history, but here she was. Her life had been separated into “before the attack” and “after the attack”.
Rebecca swiftly moved to place the napkin across her lap like everyone else in the restaurant. Ironically, even living right there near New York City, she hadn’t spent much time in expensive restaurants. Looking around she felt dressed down compared to the others. She knew that wasn’t logical since she was wearing her nicest dress, but she still felt out of place. This small town sure knew how to dress up.
When she looked up at Jackson he was smelling his wine, somet
hing she’d only ever seen people do in movies. She stifled a laugh as the waiter walked away, leaving the bottle at the table for them. Jackson noticed her looking at him and got a little red in the face before taking a large swig of the wine into his mouth and sloshing it around.
His world was obviously so different from hers, and she wondered just for a moment why he chose her to date. It’s not like Atlanta wouldn’t be full of women that seemed more his type, but then again, he grew up quickly in a small, friendly beach town. Maybe city girls weren’t really his thing. Which was probably unfortunate for him since he worked at a large business in the city. Rebecca found herself feeling suddenly very grateful and lucky that he’d spent so much time raising his siblings and then working. Otherwise, she probably wouldn’t have a chance with this brilliant man because he’d be taken by now.
The waiter brought the shrimp out and asked to take their order. Jackson ordered for her again, asking for the ahi tuna. This would be a new experience for her since she’d never tried sushi or anything close before. She’d never really felt like spending that kind of time or money on something she wasn’t absolutely sure she’d like. This was a night for indulgence, though, and she planned to enjoy it as such.
“So, tell me more about yourself, Jackson,” she demanded boldly. Jackson dropped the shrimp he’d been about to eat in surprise making Rebecca laugh.
“Well, what would you like to know?”
“Anything, really. I mean, it’s a date, so we’re supposed to get to know each other.”
Jackson scratched his head. “Well, my favorite color is blue. Football is my favorite sport. I did terrible on my SATs, and I am a work-a-holic. Oh, and I love seafood.” Jackson grinned mischievously and took a huge bite of shrimp.