Two hours later, Ethan returned to his office.
“This just came for you,” his assistant announced as he entered through the double doors.
He tore his thoughts off Jordin and skimmed the papers that were just handed to him. The white, sealed envelope caught his attention.
Bile rose up in Ethan’s throat. The letter was from his mother.
He stood stiffly in front of the huge window, his head reeling from the unexpected letter he was holding.
After a moment, Ethan tossed the letter into his wastebasket.
He sat down at his desk and began returning phone calls. It was better that he kept busy. It helped to focus on the business at hand.
His mother and her letter forgotten, Ethan spent the rest of the afternoon taking care of items on his checklist. If things continued along this vein, he would leave by five o’clock. He hadn’t been able to do that in a while.
Ethan didn’t leave his office until five thirty. He went by the house to see how much progress had been made in the renovations before heading to the hotel.
For the first time in a very long time, Ethan experienced the ache of loneliness.
Chapter 8
The next day, Jordin tucked her hair behind her ears as she spied Ethan walking toward her on Broad Street. She was once again taken with how utterly and completely handsome he was. Just as he seemed to take over any room he entered—Ethan seemed to take over the street as he strode along the sidewalk.
“It’s a crime for a man to look so good,” she murmured under her breath.
He broke into a huge smile as he shortened the distance between them. “Hey, beautiful.”
She greeted him with a hug. “Where are you headed?”
“I heard there was a nice little deli two blocks away,” Ethan responded. “I figured I’d give it a try.”
“Get the grilled chicken sandwich,” she suggested. “It’s delicious.”
“Where are you going?”
“To the courthouse.”
“Do you have time for lunch?” Ethan inquired.
She hated to turn him down, but she had eaten earlier. “I actually just had a salad, but thanks for the invitation.”
“I have another invite for you,” he announced. “My grand opening is coming up next week. I hope you plan on attending.”
Jordin smiled. “Definitely. Jadin and I have already made plans to be there.”
Ethan escorted her to the parking lot. “I’ll give you a call later to see if you’re up for some company.”
“Come on over,” Jordin stated. “I’m not doing anything special.”
“I’ll bring pizza.”
“Sounds great.”
The day could not come to an end soon enough for her. She and Ethan always had a good time together. They talked a lot about the past, but Jordin longed to know more about his years away. She didn’t want to push him too hard. She needed to make him comfortable enough to let down his guard around her completely.
The more time she spent with him, the more he seemed at ease.
In her heart, Jordin knew everything would work out perfectly. Ethan would wake up and realize that they belonged together.
She left work shortly after five.
Jordin had enough time to get home, shower and change into a pair of leggings beneath an oversize sweatshirt before Ethan arrived.
“Hey...” she greeted him with a smile, opening the door wide enough to let him enter.
“You still love pepperoni and bacon on your pizza?”
Jordin nodded. “I sure do.”
She already had plates on the table. “Let’s eat.”
“We need some music,” Ethan said.
“My iPod’s over there on the counter,” Jordin told him.
“You have Pandora?”
She laughed. “Yes. Who doesn’t?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. You tend to follow your own beat.”
“I’m not the only one,” she retorted as she placed two slices of pizza on her plate.
Ethan did the same.
Jordin blessed the food.
She bit into a slice. “I have missed this so much.”
He frowned. “You stopped eating pizza?”
“I’ve been eating veggie pizza—it’s what Jadin likes. When we have our girls’ night, we order that one. That’s about the only time I eat pizza these days.”
“I love this song...” Jordin began swaying to the music and singing. She gestured for Ethan to join her.
He wiped his mouth and chimed in for the chorus.
She rose to her feet and began dancing.
He followed suit.
“Ain’t no mountain high enough...” they sang in unison.
When the song ended, they returned to their chairs, collapsing in laughter.
“That used to be our song, remember?” Jordin asked.
“Every time I hear it, I think of you,” he confessed.
“What was the other song we used to sing...the one by The Jackson 5?”
“‘I’ll Be There.’”
Jordin grinned. “I love hearing you sing that song. You thought you were Michael Jackson.”
“No, I thought I sang it better than Michael,” Ethan said with a chuckle.
“You could’ve given him a run for his money.”
He threw back his head laughing. “That’s what I love about you, Jordin. You have always had my back. If I told you I could fly to the moon without a rocket—you’d encourage me to do it.”
“I’m your personal cheerleader,” she responded. “Ethan, I know you’d do the same for me. You even got a black eye for me. I told you I could handle that boy, but you had to be my hero.”
“How would it look if I’d let you try and fight that knucklehead? I got tired of him trying to push up on you. That day, he was trying to take you into the gym—I lost it.”
“My hero...” she murmured.
“Come to think of it, you saved me that time when that girl wanted to fight me because I didn’t want to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with her.”
“That’s right... I forgot her name but she was mad with you.”
“I wasn’t even rude when I turned her down. I just didn’t want to go.”
“I know,” Jordin stated. “You turned me down too. If you’d said yes to me, then I wouldn’t have had to threaten to knock her out when she started throwing rocks at you.”
Ethan laughed. “She had good aim too.”
Jordin nodded in agreement. “She tagged me one of those times.”
“So that’s the real reason you went after her,” he teased. “Because she hit you with a rock. I thought you were protecting me.”
Laughing, she shook her head no. “I was going to beat her down for the both of us.”
Ethan threw back his head and laughed. “That chick was crazy.”
“Yeah, I heard that the next day at school,” Jordin responded. “Everyone was saying how shocked they were to see me after tangling with her. I just knew she would be gunning for me but she didn’t—she stayed as far away from me as possible.” She chuckled. “Talk about thankful.”
Their eyes met and held.
“Those were the good old days, huh?”
“The good ol’ days,” she murmured softly.
* * *
Jordin spent most of the morning convincing her sister to attend the grand opening of Ethan’s Boot Camp Gym. “I told him that you and I planned to come together.”
“Why did you do that?”
“Jadin, you owe me for the night I went with you to that sushi restaurant.” They both discovered that they were not fans of this particular type of food. She didn’t regret the experience howeve
r. She enjoyed her time with her sister and they had tried something new together.
“Okay, I’ll go.”
Jordin sighed with relief. “You’re going to have a good time. I know how much you miss Michael and sitting at home alone is not going to make you feel any better.”
“You’re right, sis.”
“I’ll pick you up at three.”
“See you then,” Jadin replied.
Jordin padded barefoot to her walk-in closet after hanging up the telephone. She picked out a couple of outfits before deciding on one.
Three hours later, they were on their way to the gym.
“Thanks for coming with me, Jadin.”
“Not a problem,” she responded. “I’m really having a great time. I’ve already signed up for a class.”
When Ethan joined them, Jordin said, “This is a really nice gym.”
Jadin nodded in agreement. “It’s good to see you, Ethan.”
“Thank you for coming,” he said as he embraced Jadin.
“Congratulations, Ethan. I would sign up for membership if I were more exercise-minded.”
Jordin glanced at her sister. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you in a gym.”
“It’s been a couple of years,” Jadin confessed.
“My gyms are for those who want to take their workouts to the next level.”
“That’s definitely not me,” Jadin responded. “If you two don’t mind, I’m going to make my way over to the buffet table.”
When they were alone, Jordin glanced down at the schedule in her hand. “These programs seem pretty rigorous.”
“Still think that you’re up for boot camp?” Ethan asked, a grin on his face.
“Of course,” Jordin responded. “In fact, I want to try the cardio kickboxing class.” She was never one to back down from a challenge. “What is Tabata training?”
“It’s a high-intensity training technique,” Ethan explained. “We use twenty-second bursts of maximum-intensity work with a ten-second rest period. We repeat it eight times in a row. Tabata training can be done with barbells, kettlebells or just body-weight exercises.”
“I don’t think I’m ready for this class.”
He laughed. “That might be a good idea. Do you work out regularly?”
“I do,” she answered. “Three days a week.”
“What’s your routine?”
“I take kickboxing on Monday, cycling on Wednesday and aerobics on Friday.”
“Okay, sounds like you’re ready to go to the next level. If you’re serious about this, give Walter a call and he’ll schedule a session for you with one of our trainers.”
“I really want to give this a try.”
“I thought you and Jadin would be less identical as you got older, but looking at the two of you now—it’s the opposite.”
Jordin met his gaze. “Her hair is lighter than mine but other than that, we are mirror images.”
“I’m glad that you came.”
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else, Ethan.”
She looked up at him and found his attention was somewhere else.
“I can’t believe this...” he mumbled.
“What is it?” Jordin glanced over her shoulder.
“Lydia...”
Jordin turned around to find Ethan’s mother standing a few yards away.
“Excuse me. I need to take care of this,” he uttered.
Before she could respond, Ethan was gone. Jordin watched as he walked briskly across the floor toward his mother.
“Is that Mrs. Holbrooke?” Jadin asked, coming to stand beside her. “She’s so thin.”
“That’s her.”
“Ethan doesn’t seem happy at all about her being here.”
“Things between them are very strained and she really wants to work out her relationship with Ethan.”
“Unfortunately, he doesn’t appear to be interested,” Jadin stated. “He looks very angry with her.”
“That’s what makes this so sad,” Jordin responded. “She’s his mother and they need to talk so they can sort things out.”
Her eyes traveled the room, searching for Ethan, but he had disappeared off somewhere.
“Why don’t you go talk to him?” Jadin suggested.
“I think I will,” Jordin responded. “Grab some more to eat and I’ll be back shortly.”
She walked toward the office located at the back of the gym.
“I was just looking for you,” Jordin stated when she saw him inside.
“I needed to be alone for a moment,” he responded.
“Your mother is still here.”
Ethan released a soft sigh. “I guess there is no avoiding this.”
“Are you going to talk to her?” Jordin inquired.
He gave a slight nod. “I need to get this over with.”
“Why don’t you bring her back here?” Jordin suggested. “I’m sure you don’t want to have a discussion in front of your guests.”
Ethan agreed. “I’ll have Walter bring her back in a few minutes.”
“I’ll be with Jadin. Let me know if you want to talk after the opening.”
Ethan nodded.
Jordin hugged him. “It’s going to be fine.”
Deep down, she wasn’t so sure. Ethan was not happy at all over this turn of events. She prayed Lydia’s appearance had not ruined his celebration.
* * *
“What are you doing here?” Ethan demanded, attempting to keep his voice low when his mother entered the office.
His mother boldly met his gaze. “You refuse to take my calls, son.” She pulled on the dress she wore, which looked too big for her slight frame. She clutched a purse that had seen better days close to her chest.
“Then you should’ve taken the hint. Lydia, I’ve tried to make it clear that I don’t want to talk to you.”
She glanced over her shoulder, then back at him. “How can you treat me this way?”
“I’m not doing this right now,” he said in a loud whisper. “Please leave now or I will have security escort you out, Lydia. We have nothing to discuss.”
“Ethan, I’m your mother.”
“Let me make myself clear. I no longer need a mother. You had your chance and you chose Rob over your own son. Well, it’s too late to change that now.”
“Just give me a chance to explain.”
“I need to attend to my guests. I’m going to call you a taxi.” He took out his wallet and handed her fifty dollars. “This should more than cover the fare.”
“I didn’t come here for your money.”
“Do you have any cash?” he asked.
Lydia shook her head no.
“Take the money,” he insisted.
“I’ll leave for now, son, but I want you to know that I’m not giving up.”
“Do yourself a favor and go on with your life...without me. Walter will come get you when the taxi gets here.”
“I can’t,” she told him, a lone tear sliding down her cheek. “I will do whatever I have to do, Ethan. You may not need me but I need you in my life.”
“Why don’t you just call up Rob? Or is he still in prison?”
Before she could respond, Ethan walked out of the office.
He wanted nothing to do with her.
“Is everything okay?” Jordin asked when he walked up to her.
“It is now,” he responded. “I’ve called a taxi for Lydia.”
“Things looked very intense between you and your mother.”
“Hopefully, that’s the last time I’ll see her.”
Stunned by his words, Jordin gasped. “Ethan, you don’t mean that.”
He met her ga
ze. “Yes, I do.”
“She is your mother.”
He shrugged “I don’t need her in my life.”
Jordin could hear the pain in his voice, although Ethan was trying to sound nonchalant. Somewhere deep down, he still loved his mother very much. He was just too angry to realize it right now.
Her eyes traveled the room, searching for her sister. Jadin was near the buffet table talking to some guy who looked like a body builder. He was probably one of the trainers who worked here at the gym.
“You have any plans later?” he asked.
Jordin shook her head. “No, not a thing. What’s up?”
“I was thinking we could catch a movie or something.”
She looked up at him and smiled. “Sure.”
“We can see something near your house,” Ethan told her.
“That’s fine.”
Jordin and Jadin left half an hour later. During the drive home, Jordin said, “Looks like you made a new friend.”
“I guess you saw me talking to Jack. He seems like a nice guy.”
She gave her a sidelong glance. “Did he ask you out?”
Jadin smiled. “He did, but I turned him down. I told him that I was seeing someone.”
“I thought you and Michael were calling it quits.”
“We have,” her sister confirmed. “I’m not ready to start dating someone new, however.”
“Ethan and I are going to the movies later,” Jordin announced.
“I guess things are going well between you two.”
“Disappointed?” she asked with a chuckle.
Jadin laughed. “I’m not doing this with you. I know how much it thrills you to prove me wrong.”
After she dropped her sister off at home, Jordin made her way to her own house.
Ethan arrived just before seven o’clock.
She took one look at him and asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”
“About what?” he asked.
“What happened with your mother earlier,” Jordin responded. “We don’t have to go out anywhere if you’re not feeling up to it. We can order some food and just hang out here.”
“There’s not much to discuss,” Ethan said as he settled down on the sofa. “Lydia wants to pick up from where we left off and it’s not going to happen.”
“This shouldn’t come as a surprise to you since she’s your mom. Why are you being so stubborn about this, Ethan?”
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