He’d kicked off his shoes and was chewing on his socks by the time I unloaded the car. I stood there for fifteen minutes, making him put his own shoes and socks on. Sure, it would’ve been easier for me to do it for him, and sometimes I did, but that didn’t help him learn anything.
The smell of fresh pine hit me as we walked in the front door. We rushed to plug in the tree because it was the most beautiful thing in the house. I loved that it was filled only with ornaments from my childhood and Ty’s, with a few filler balls and bells here and there that had belonged to my mom. It seemed like everyone had gone all white lights or themed tree these days, but not us; we liked the colors.
We began our afternoon chores together, following our usual routine.
First stop for Ty: the potty. It was a work in progress. Then we danced along to Yo Gabba Gabba’s: “There’s a Party in My Tummy” song because that was what we did every day. After DJ Lance dismissed us, we looked at our homework, which was tracing circles. I held my hand over Ty’s and guided him. All he was interested in was eating the crayons.
“Eat, hungry,” he said.
“Again? Okay, do you want pasta or ham?”
“Fish.”
I did a double take. He rarely expressed his wants without prompting, so I was taken aback. “Fish sticks it is!” I grabbed them and popped them in the oven. It took fifteen minutes to cook them, so I entertained him with the “tickle monster.”
The tickle monster was something that had carried over from my childhood to his. I used to be the victim, but now I was the monster. I drew up my hands in claws and chased after him until he was backed into a corner. Then I tickled him silly. He loved it. Always had.
After he ate, it was the dreaded bath time. All of the sudden, baths were awful to him. He used to love them and then, one day, nope. What should’ve taken five minutes took a half-hour and a lot of energy on my part.
Ty required all of my attention. He’d never watched television like a typical child. Because of that, I usually didn’t eat or shower until after he was asleep.
We played a little, then we snuggled and talked about our day. I talked, he listened. This was my favorite part of the day. Just holding my son and enjoying what a sweet, loving child I’d been given was enough to erase any bad that the day had brought.
We were snuggled up in the rocking chair for about fifteen minutes before I remembered that I’d told Jake to swing by around nine. I glanced around the house, wondering why on earth I’d said that. It looked like a tornado had hit this place.
I jumped up and started singing the “cleanup” song, hoping for a little help from Ty. He put his blocks away, organized by color, of course, while I frantically threw stray shirts, shoes, and toys in the guest bedroom.
“Ty, I need you to sit in your seat so I can jump in the shower really quick.”
“Popsicle?”
“Yeah, okay, you can have a Popsicle but only if you sit in your seat for a few minutes.”
I jumped in the shower, not bothering to do anything but wash my hair, run a soapy cloth over my body, and rinse. I didn’t even bother with product, so my curls were completely untamed.
I got Ty to sleep without incident, right on time at eight. With his music playing and the white noise fan going, I hoped Jake and I could talk without waking him, even though I had no idea what I would say to him.
Seven years without a word.
He’d stayed away, and I’d thought I was better for it, until I saw him today. The feeling of his arms around me… It felt like home. It sounded crazy even in my mind, but it was true. Jake had always felt that way to me. After this long, I thought that would’ve faded, but I guess I’d been wrong.
I was just about to throw on something other than my pajamas and robe when there was a loud banging on the door. I ran to grab it to keep it from waking Ty.
“Hey there.” Lauren stood there dressed to the nines, complete with stilettos.
“Lauren, what the—”
“I rang your doorbell.”
“I disconnected that thing after Ty was born. What are you doing here?”
“Just thought I’d drop by. We just don’t get to hang out much at work.”
Yeah, because we have nothing in common and you’re a child.
“It’s not a good time; I’m expecting company.”
“Oh, that’s right. Jackson Jacobs. I totally forgot! Is he here?” She glanced over my shoulder into the house.
“No, he isn’t.”
“Well good, that’ll give us some time to chat while we wait.”
“Listen, Lauren, I know what you’re doing.”
“Do you now?”
“I’m not stupid. Obviously, you want a hookup.”
“Well, if what you said is true, then you and Jackson are just friends, so what do you care?”
“I don’t, not in the slightest. But it’s the first time I’ve seen him in seven years, so if you want a hookup, then I’ll be happy to tell him, but you aren’t staying.”
“Fine.” She snapped her gum. “But you better mention me, girlie.”
I agreed with an eye roll as she clicked off my porch with a grunt.
I’d gone back inside to get changed when there was another knock. I swung the door open fully prepared to go ballistic on Lauren, but Jake stood before me with a bag in each hand.
“You’re early,” I said, pulling my long, thin, gray robe together.
“Sorry, I’m just eager to catch up. Can I come in?”
“I’m not really dressed yet…”
“So what.” He pushed by me like a day hadn’t passed since we were best buds. “You act like I’ve never seen you in your PJ’s.” I closed the door behind him as he plopped down on my worn couch, making himself at home. “Besides, I’ve come bearing gifts.” He raised both bags.
“Oh Lord.” I eyed the six-pack of Zima he lifted from the first bag and a pack of Jolly Ranchers from the other. “You did not go there.”
“Oh yes, I did.” He twisted the top from one bottle, steadying it between his knees while he opened the Jolly Ranchers. “Strawberry, right?”
“Yeah, but I don’t really drink much anymore since—”
“That crazy night in Cancun. Yeah, yeah, so you puked on the bus, got lost and ended up in the Mexican ghetto. You survived. Come on, for old time’s sake.” He held out the bottle, with the fizzing candy in the bottom, and I took it. I grabbed another bottle and dropped in sour apple for him.
He smiled. “You remember!”
“I remember everything,” I said. “What’s more surprising is that you remember, Mr. People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive 2015.” I sat down Indian style in front of him on the floor.
“So you do keep up with me, heh?”
“Don’t start with that ‘heh’ crap. You’re just as southern as I am. And yes, occasionally I see you in the tabloids while I’m standing in the checkout line at the grocery store. That’s all.”
He raised one skeptical eyebrow.
“So anyway,” I said, changing the subject, “what brings you out a whole week and a half before Christmas? Don’t you usually just come for Christmas Eve supper and stay on to open presents?”
He shrugged. “I dunno. I just don’t have anywhere else to be.”
“No Hollywood shindigs? No movie openings in Hong Kong?”
“Nope.” He tilted up his bottle. “To rekindled friendships.”
I paused for a second but bumped my bottle to his then took a swig of the tangy liquid. The taste brought back so many memories.
“What happened to what’s her face? Will she be joining you for the Lewis family Christmas festivities?”
“Yeah, Mom would just love that. Besides, Lacy and I broke up.”
“Oh, sorry,” I told him. “How long were you with that one?”
“Don’t say ‘that one’ like I go through women like socks.”
“Well, if the sock fits…”
“Shut up.”
/> “Ooo, you really liked her, huh?”
“About as much as I’ve liked any of them, I suppose. What about you? Any prospects?”
“How did you know I was single?” I glanced away, ashamed.
“Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Look away like you failed. George’s issues aren’t your fault.” I was shocked that he would bring up George’s issues so casually. His mother must’ve told him what happened. “Don’t look at me like that. I hear about things. I’m from California, not Mars.”
“You’re from Alabama,” I corrected. “It says so right on your IMDB page.”
“You do check on me!” He pointed his finger accusingly.
“Okay, fine! I check on you…occasionally. But only to make sure you’re not in rehab or something, like, so Hollywood.”
He rolled his eyes at that. I didn’t think anything of it when he got up and started toward the kitchen until he said, “What’s with all the toys? You babysit or something?”
He didn’t know about Ty? How could that be?
“Ah…It’s getting late, Jake. I have work tomorrow.”
“Late? You said be here at nine, and it’s just now nine.”
“I wasn’t thinking. I was so surprised to see you.”
“Yeah, that makes two of us. Why are you working at Joe’s anyway?”
“Your mom really didn’t tell you anything?”
“Only where to find you.”
I frowned because I didn’t know why she would do that. She had respected the fact that I didn’t want to see Jake. I’d asked her every year not to send him my way. After thinking on it, it hit me. I had asked her every year but this one. I’d meant to call her a week ago, to ask her to keep Jake away, but I got distracted. She must’ve just jumped at the opportunity. I knew she wanted us to be close again, but wow. A heads-up would’ve been nice. Although had she warned me, I would’ve said no.
“A lot has changed since you left, Jake.”
“I can see that. What happened to school?”
“That’s a long story,”
“I have all night, all week…” He sat back down with the paper towel he’d gotten from the kitchen. He folded it, making himself a little coaster. How Jake of him.
“Like I said, I have work in the morning so…”
“Can we do dinner tomorrow?”
“Don’t you have anything better to do than harass me?”
“Nope, my schedule is wide open.”
“I don’t know. Just call me tomorrow.”
“I don’t have your number, duh. If I had your number, I would’ve been calling you for the past seven years.”
“Nice try, but I didn’t change it until five years ago.” He looked perplexed but didn’t say anything. I jotted down my number on his paper towel and handed it to him. “Go on now. I’ve got to get some sleep.”
“Why can’t I just crash on the couch? What’s the big deal?” he said over his shoulder as I pushed him to the door.
“We aren’t teenagers anymore.”
“We aren’t eighty either.”
“Just not tonight, okay?”
“Okay, but don’t change your number again. I’m not letting you blow me off again.”
“I didn’t blow you off!”
“Whatever, I’ll call you tomorrow.”
He was still talking when I closed the door. I peeked through the blinds and watched him walk to the car. The man was a millionaire, or I guessed he was with all the movies he’d made, and he was riding around town in his mom’s minivan. Couldn’t help but laugh at that.
Chapter 2
How was I going to explain how much things had changed to Jake? How could I tell him about what had happened between George and me? Something that would’ve been so natural a decade ago felt foreign to me now. I hadn’t had a friend like Jake since he’d left; I hadn’t been that close to anyone, not even my husband, and seeing him again stirred something inside me.
I knew if I were to get into the story about George, Jake would pull me into his side, shove my head on his shoulder, and urge me to cry, but I wasn’t that girl anymore. I was stronger now, and Jake hadn’t been there when I had really needed him. He’d been in Turkey or Hungary or Timbuktu. Anywhere but with me.
A few months after George and I had married, Jake had just dropped me like a sack of potatoes. He had just stopped calling. I had tried to call him a few times, leaving messages with his roommates, but he hadn’t called me back so I had given up. He’d landed his first movie role co-starring America’s Sweetheart. His success was imminent, but I had never imagined he would drop me. Losing his friendship was like losing a part of me. And then, when he hadn’t shown up five years ago, when I’d needed him more than ever, I was heartbroken. That was the reason I’d asked his mom not to encourage him to see me. I had gone even further and asked her to ask him to stay away. I didn’t want to feel that hurt again.
Momma Lewis and I were still close though. She’d been like a second mother to me. She cooked a feast every Sunday after church, and Ty and I went over to eat with her. She’d been lonely, too, since Jake had moved away. Her husband had traded her in for a newer model right when Jake was about to graduate from Yale.
I lay in bed tossing and turning, sort of wishing Jake had crashed on the couch so I could just go wake him up to talk about nothing. But I couldn’t do that. I had Ty, and his needs came before my own. I couldn’t just let a guy he didn’t know take over his space. It wouldn’t be right.
I was shocked to learn that Momma Lewis hadn’t told Jake about Ty. Honestly, I was shocked that she hadn’t told Jake anything about me. I guess she’d omitted my business from their conversations all together. He couldn’t have been that interested, or he would’ve found me sooner.
My alarm sounded a little after five in the morning, and by alarm, I meant Ty. I hadn’t had use for an alarm clock in years. I trusted him to wake me up in time for work.
Ty and I said our morning prayers before I hit the coffee maker. I tossed his lunch together and began packing his things. Aunt Julie was planning on picking him up from school today. He would spend the weekend with her, and then they would go to Huntsville. I would drive up on Thursday to go to the Space and Rocket Center with them. That was the plan, anyway. I took a moment to consider that impact on our budget but pushed that thought to the side. One issue at a time; one day at a time.
Ty loved going to Aunt Julie’s. Her house had become his playground. He was spoiled rotten over there, and I loved it because he got to have all the things I couldn’t afford to buy for him.
I knew if I had asked them to pay for Ty’s trip they would have, but I hated to ask them for anything extra when they already did so much.
We made it to school without incident. I kissed my bug and wished him a good day before whispering that Aunt Julie would be picking him up. “Aa Ju-ie!!” He ran, yelling.
Lauren met me at the door of the diner before I could even take off my coat. “What did he say?”
“Who?” I played dumb.
“Jackson! You didn’t mention me? You promised!” She stomped her foot childishly.
I wasn’t surprised since she herself was a child in my eyes. She hadn’t had any real world experience.
“I’m sorry, Lauren. How about this? I’ll make sure you get a date with him before he leaves town.”
“A date? Like a real date?”
“Yep.”
She pulled me into an awkward hug and squealed in my ear so loudly I wanted to slap her.
“I’m going on a date with Jackson Jacobs, bitches!” she yelled at our coworkers. Needless to say, Lauren wasn’t a favorite among her peers. Jo Ann and I shared a look and an eye roll before we manned our stations.
Jo Ann was a middle-aged woman putting her daughter through college. I guessed if I had a good friend, it would be Jo Ann. She was the only person I talked to outside of Momma Lewis and my family. She and I shared a lot but not everyth
ing. She didn’t know about George.
This was a small town, but fortunately, I’d managed to keep that skeleton in the closet since I’d changed jobs. I even went back to using my maiden name. No one at Joe’s knew, and I wanted to keep it that way. I’d hated the suspicious looks I got from those who knew. Even the friends I’d had then didn’t believe me when I had told them, honestly, that I hadn’t any idea what George had been doing. I guess that was why I hadn’t bothered with close friends after that. I had turned my back on every decent friend I’d had when their trust in me wavered. You think you know people…
My phone dinged with a text message, and I was horrified. No one ever texted me except the school. I jerked my phone out of my apron pocket and started trotting for my purse, thinking Ty must’ve been having a meltdown or was sick or…my thoughts ran wild.
I opened the text.
Hey, Curly Sue. What’s for dinner? Relief washed over me as I realized it was just Jake.
I texted back. Hey, douche, this is a prepaid. Call me later. I’m working. FYI: Curly Sue hasn’t been funny since we were twelve, and I didn’t say I could do dinner tonight. Just call me after work. I get off at two.
I closed the cheap flip phone, but it dinged again. Did he not know what prepaid meant? …Probably not. I opened it. First of all, Curly Sue is still funny. Secondly, why can’t you do dinner? Hot date? There was a little wink face put beside it. Seriously?
I. Don’t. Text.
I. Do. And since you’re my only friend in town, then you’re going to have to deal.
I just didn’t respond. It dinged a couple of more times, but I didn’t read them. The diner was so crowded by nine in the morning there was a wait. Only one explanation for that…I silently thanked Jake for the extra tips I would get because of his appearance the day before.
After the lunch rush, I sat down and pulled off my sneakers to rub my feet. I hadn’t been that busy since the Talladega NASCAR race.
“Kate, package for you!” Lauren yelled.
“A package? Just sign for it.”
“Yeah, um, no. Get over here. I’m not your secretary.”
Love Reconnected (Hollywood Series Book 1) Page 2