by Natalie Ann
“What do you think of this color?” Jordyn held up the color swatch in the hardware store.
By time Drew was done working yesterday, Jordyn had finished the living room and office on her own. Then, instead of going home when everyone else did, he helped her paint her dining room.
He’d gotten into the habit of leaving a change of clothes in his truck in case he spent the night, so he was glad he could just shower afterward and have a dinner in. He didn’t want to get too presumptuous and start leaving clothes at her house. They weren’t at that point yet.
He looked at the gray swatch of paint. “It’s not bad. Maybe go a shade darker so it has some more contrast to the gray tiles in your new bath when it’s done.”
He’d run home and showered and changed again this morning while she waited for him and then they ran to the hardware store to pick up paint for her bedroom and the rest of the bedrooms upstairs.
“I don’t want to paint all the rooms this color upstairs, but I don’t want a different color in each room either.”
“Just grab a neutral tan or yellow then. It’s easy enough to cover up in the future if you want.”
He looked around the store more and took note of all the Black Friday signs and Christmas decorations on display. He never thought much of the holidays really. He always knew he’d spend that time with his family. Even after his mother passed, he always spent it with his father and Brynn. In the last two years he’d spent all the holidays with the Harpers. “What are you doing for Thanksgiving?”
Jordyn looked up from where she was studying the yellow color swatches. “Where did that come from?”
He nodded his head to a blow up elf by the checkout counter. “It just popped into my head. I wondered what you were doing.”
He knew it wasn’t hard to figure out. She was all alone with the exception of him now.
“I’ll probably work, why?”
That was wrong and…sad. “Why don’t you spend it with me at the Harpers’?”
She frowned. “Define Harpers. You mean Brynn’s house?”
“No. Kaitlin and Ryan’s house actually. Isabel Harper and Ryan’s mother cook dinner for both sides of the family. Everyone gets together.”
She looked horrified. “Everyone, as in—how many people are you talking here?”
“I don’t know. Over thirty, maybe, with all the kids.”
“No way. I don’t know hardly anyone. And those I do know, it’s only briefly. That’s for family, Drew. I’m not family.”
“It’s not just for family. We aren’t all related.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she argued. “That is way too many people for me. How could you even think that? I barely made it through that Sunday dinner when I met Ben without shaking. Second of all, it’s just another day to me. Go be with your family.”
“I don’t want you to be alone that day. I remember the first few holidays after my mother died were the worst. You shouldn’t be alone.”
He didn’t want her to even consider the possibility. Not after he felt he broke through a wall with her yesterday.
“Drew, I wouldn’t have even realized it was Thanksgiving if you didn’t bring it up. My mother and I never did much anyway. She cooked or we went out to eat when I was younger. It was only the two of us always. That’s too much work for two people. We never really celebrated. It’s all good. Go be with your family that day and don’t worry about me,” she said again.
In good conscience he couldn’t leave her alone. As much as he wanted to be with his family, and it would feel odd if he wasn’t, he wasn’t letting her spend the day by herself either.
“How about you cook for me?” he asked sheepishly.
She snorted. “No. It’s too much work for two people.” She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “Go be with your family that day. Don’t worry about me. Besides, it’s still a few weeks away.”
“Then let’s go out to dinner and start our own tradition,” he said, not giving up until she agreed with him.
“Drew, you aren’t going to win this, so stop.”
***
Jordyn was still trying to figure out how she ended up in the restaurant with Drew, eating Thanksgiving dinner. She’d told him no every single time he’d brought it up and had intended to stick to her guns. She didn’t need company on the holiday. She was fine by herself.
Yet, here she was, with a pair of her nice dress pants on, heels and a pretty new top she bought, sitting across from Drew, who was dressed up more than she’d seen him before. Nothing major, just nice pants and a button-down shirt, but he still looked so handsome to her right now.
The last month was easily the best of her life. That was pretty sad when she thought about it. It wasn’t like anything special or magical had happened. She worked all the time, and when she wasn’t working, she was thinking about work…except for the times she spent with Drew.
They didn’t spend huge amounts of time together. At least not during the week. He was busy and so was she.
Her master bath, the final project she had contracted with Harper’s, was completed last week. He’d spent some time at her house working, and those days he ended up staying the night. But since then, he hadn’t been over as often during the week.
They did spend their weekends together though. Every Friday night all the way to Sunday afternoon. They were in a good rhythm and she was enjoying her time with him more than she remembered enjoying any other period of time in her life.
“How did you talk me into this?” she asked, still trying to figure it out in her head.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, sporting a knowing grin.
She snorted at him and didn’t bother to ask again. He wouldn’t answer, she learned that by now. She looked down at the menu and then back up again. “Would you be mad if I didn’t eat turkey today?”
“What? You have to,” he insisted.
“I don’t have to eat turkey today.”
“Well, no. But you should since it’s Thanksgiving,” he argued.
“True. I guess since I ended up here after I repeatedly said I wouldn’t, the least I can do is order something with turkey in it.”
“That’s the spirit.”
She stared at him, into his dark brown eyes looking warmer than ever. She’d never before had anyone go out of their way as Drew had with her. She didn’t know what to make of it. It all seemed so strange to her.
She never thought she’d fall in love. Never thought she’d be in a relationship like she was right now, yet here she sat across from a man too handsome to be with someone like her—someone who could barely show her face without blushing around people. Someone who was more comfortable behind closed doors and keeping company with her computers.
But Drew didn’t see that side of her. Ever, it seemed. Or if he did, he didn’t make a comment on it.
“What are you looking at?” he asked her.
“You.”
“I see that. Why are you looking at me?”
“You’re pretty hot, you know.”
He laughed. “You’ve said that to me before, but not in a while. Glad to know you still think it.”
She’d always think it. Just like she would always wonder how she ended up with him. “Do you need me to say it to you?” she asked, teasing him.
That was another thing: she’d never teased or flirted before but found she did it all the time with Drew, and she enjoyed doing it.
“Everyone likes to be told they’re hot,” he said, winking at her.
“Really? I never thought that before.” Of course she’d never thought it about herself and never expected anyone to even think it about her, let alone say it to her.
“I’ll tell you later tonight. Then I’ll show you.”
She felt her face flush right there in the restaurant and decided she’d better change the subject. This type of flirting and teasing was way out of her comfort zone.
The waitress came over and took thei
r orders and placed a glass of wine in front of her and a beer for Drew.
“I’ve never seen you drink anything alcoholic before,” he said.
“I don’t drink often, but I like wine once in a while. I drank too much the last time I had wine and have stayed away from it since.”
“You got drunk?” he said, feigning surprise. “Somehow I can’t picture you drunk. Are you a funny or a sad drunk?”
“That night, sad.”
“Want to talk about it?”
No, she didn’t. The last time she drank was the night she went through her mother’s belongings. She drank the entire bottle herself and cried herself to sleep that night. It wasn’t a night she wanted to remember.
“Not really.”
“Okay, we won’t talk about it.”
“Thanks. Thanks for everything, Drew.”
“You’re welcome, even though I’m not sure why you are thanking me for everything.”
She reached her hand over and held his. She didn’t often share her feelings or emotions with him this blatantly, but for some reason today she was feeling sentimental. She tried to be honest back. “You make me feel things I never thought I’d feel before. As much as it’s confusing, it’s also comforting.”
“You know what? You make me feel the same way.”
***
An hour later they were debating on if they were going to have dessert or not when Drew felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, he looked at the picture, his eyes softening, and he burst out laughing.
“What is it?” Jordyn asked.
He turned his phone around and showed her the picture. “It looks like Grace is having her first taste of mashed potatoes.”
Jordyn looked at the picture and giggled. “You should be with your family today. You shouldn’t be here with me,” she said, wiping the smile from her face.
“I wanted to be here with you today. If I didn’t, then I would have gone with my family.”
“It’s Grace’s first Thanksgiving. You shouldn’t have missed it. I should have insisted you go with them.”
“Jordyn, stop it. I’m a grown man and can make my own decisions in life. I wanted to spend the holiday with you. I’ll have plenty of holidays with Grace. Ones she will remember too.”
He watched as she nodded. The waitress came over to start clearing their plates and asked if they decided on whether they wanted dessert or not. Before he could answer, his phone went off again, this time with a picture of the table of desserts. “Actually I think we’re good, thanks.”
“I thought you wanted dessert,” Jordyn said when the waitress walked away.
“I do. And we’re going to get some.”
“We are? Where?”
“We’re going to see my niece, and no arguments.”
So Wrong
Jordyn stared up at the ceiling while the tears silently rolled down her cheeks. Drew was sleeping soundly next to her and she felt free to just let it all out. “You were so wrong, Mom,” she whispered.
The day had turned into one major rollercoaster for her. Dinner with Drew in the restaurant was nice. Almost too nice.
She was feeling emotions she’d never experienced before. She wasn’t sure what to do with them or where they would take her. It was early still, she knew, but she felt herself sliding closer and closer to Drew. Was she in love with him? She wasn’t sure. She didn’t know what being in love with someone felt like.
After dinner, and despite her protests, they ended up at Kaitlin and Ryan’s house. If she thought Brynn’s house was nice, it was nothing compared to Kaitlin’s. After she managed to close her mouth, Drew leaned over, and said, “It’s impressive, I know. Phil designed it and Alec and his crew built it.”
“Wow. This is spectacular.”
“It is.”
“I feel even more out of place right now,” she said, hedging, her nerves coming to the surface.
She desperately wanted to reach for his hand to hold, to have some type of anchor to calm her, but didn’t want him to think she was weak.
“Don’t. You’ve met a few of the Harpers already. Everyone is normal. Just relax.”
“Easy for you to say. You don’t get all flustered and start talking gibberish like I do.”
He’d put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “You don’t talk gibberish around me anymore. And you’re relaxing around everyone else. I see it, even if you don’t want to admit it.”
She snorted at him. She might have been relaxing, but that still didn’t mean she wanted to be here at this moment. For a holiday dinner, no less.
“Do they know we’re coming? We aren’t barging in on them, are we?”
“Don’t worry. I told Brynn we were on our way.”
“What if they’re still eating dinner?” she asked, trying to find any excuse she could to not be there.
“If they are, we will just pull up a seat and talk. Now, stop it,” he told her again, laughing at her frown.
Everyone had indeed finished eating dinner when they walked into the dining room. Most were sitting at the table talking, a few were cleaning off the plates, and the kids were running around. It wasn’t nearly as loud as she thought it might have been.
“Hey, everyone,” Drew shouted out as he walked in. “This is Jordyn Montgomery. Jordyn, this is everyone.”
“Nice, Drew,” Brynn said. “Jordyn, I’ll introduce you to everyone since Drew is more interested in heading toward the dessert table to check everything out.”
Thankfully Jordyn was good with names and she managed to remember them all, she thought. If not, she at least was able to pick out the Harpers from the Mathews side by looks.
“Jordyn, if you have a minute, slide over here.”
She turned to see Ben had made that statement. She was glad she’d met a good number of people in the room already. “Hi. It’s nice to see you again.”
He smiled at her. “I just wanted to update you. I haven’t ignored you or any of the research on Trent. I’ve left two messages for Patty. She hasn’t returned them yet.”
“She’s playing head games with you, Ben,” Presley, Ben’s wife, said. “You haven’t talked to her since Trent’s memorial and she probably feels this is her way of punishing you now that you’re reaching out.”
“It would be typical of Patty, but she’ll call. You know she will,” Ben said, running his hand over his wife’s growing belly.
“Really, don’t go out of your way if you’re feuding with her.”
Jordyn was appalled that Ben was doing this after hearing there might have been some issues in the past. Why would he go out of his way to help a stranger?
“We aren’t feuding. It’s complicated. But I’ll talk to her at some point. When I do, I’ll let you know.” His phone started to ring in his pocket and he excused himself.
Presley said, “Sit down in Ben’s seat. If that’s work, he could be a while. Ben told me about your situation. I hope that was okay?”
Jordyn sat down next to Presley. “It’s not a secret, really. It’s fine.”
“I’m sorry about what you’re going through, and I know this is your first big holiday without your mother. I’ve been there, so I understand.”
“Thanks. I’m sure it will get better. We didn’t really do much for Thanksgiving, so today isn’t bringing up any deep memories or emotions.”
“It’s not about the holiday or even today, trust me. Like you, I don’t have any family. Or I should say, I didn’t until I met Ben. Now I’ve got more family than I know what to do with.” Presley stopped and then looked around the room. “And you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Thanks for saying that.” Jordyn turned her head and tried to locate Drew, who seemed to have ditched her and was now playing with Grace.
“If you ever want to talk, please call me. Brynn has my number.”
Jordyn was flabbergasted over the offer from someone she’d just met. “I don’t understand why I
would need to talk,” she blurted out without thinking and then covered her mouth with her hand. “I’m sorry, that came out completely wrong.”
Presley patted her leg. “Don’t worry. Like I said, I was there too. My father died when I was young and my mother died when I was eighteen. I was alone long before she died though. Trust me, I get it and might understand you more than you think.”
Jordyn studied Presley for a moment and saw the sincerity in her eyes and the generosity of the offer she just extended.
“Want to hold my girl?” Drew said to Jordyn. She turned to see him tickling Grace’s belly. “Brynn said I’ve only got about thirty minutes before she needs a nap. Brynn is a little OCD about Grace’s schedule.”
Jordyn was momentarily frozen. She’d never held a baby before. Drew thrust Grace into her arms and she grabbed the wiggling baby fast, almost holding her out in front of her like she was a bomb and didn’t want to drop her.
“She won’t bite you. She doesn’t have teeth yet,” he said, snickering.
So she brought Grace in closer and settled her on her lap. “Hi, there,” she said, and wondered if it sounded as odd to anyone else as it did to her.
Grace looked at her with the same big brown eyes that Drew had, staring right at her—almost right through her. Then she reached out and grabbed a lock of Jordyn’s hair that had fallen across her chest and yanked.
“Sorry, she likes to pull hair. That’s why Brynn tries to tie hers back all the time. I should have warned you.” Drew leaned forward and untangled Grace’s hand from her hair.
“It’s okay. It didn’t hurt. You aren’t that tough yet,” Jordyn said, leaning her face closer to Grace’s and inhaling the fresh clean baby scent. Her heart was racing, and not from fear now, but something deeper and more meaningful, only she wasn’t sure what it was.
Brynn reached out for her daughter. “Let me take her off your hands, Jordyn. Kaitlin is cutting all the desserts and then everyone can go up and take their pick, buffet style.”
“She’s fine,” Jordyn assured her.
“Drew wants his dessert, and if I don’t steal Grace away, he is liable to feed her some of his and she isn’t ready for it.”