She nodded and took a bite of her sandwich. Neither of us said anything for several moments. I tried not to fidget as I thought about Lexi. She truly was a part of my past, even if she didn’t want to stay there. I hoped Zoe realized that, or realized it soon.
I wanted nothing to do with my ex.
“Do you have questions?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “No, not really.” She shrugged. “I might later, once I’ve thought about things. I just want to say that your ex seems like she’s something else, though.”
I nodded. “That nicely sums it up.” I grinned at her. “Can we change the subject?”
She laughed and nodded. “Yeah, of course.”
“What was it like growing up here? It seems so… quaint. Kinda like Mayberry.”
Zoe shrugged. “I guess it is like Mayberry? It’s just… a small town. I have nothing to compare it to, really. I’ve lived here my entire life.”
I arched my brow. “You’ve lived nowhere else?”
She shook her head. “Nah. I looked at going away for college, but could never decide on anything, so I enrolled in the community college. Got my associate's. I haven’t gone back for a bachelor’s.”
I studied her for a few moments. “And you don’t regret it?”
She shook her head again. “Not really. My sister, she was the one that wanted to go out and live somewhere new, experience all there was. Me? I was happy to stay here with what I knew.”
As I slowly chewed my next bite, I considered if I wanted to ask about her sister or not.
“She went off to college?”
Zoe winced and dropped her gaze to the table.
“You don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want.”
She looked at me and smiled softly. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but any talk of Jewel is… bittersweet.”
“How so?”
She blew out a breath and sipped her drink. “Well. As you know, I’ve got custody of my nephew, Noah. He’s her son.”
I nodded, and she continued. “Jewel was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago.”
I sucked in a breath at her words, but Zoe kept talking.
“At first, they thought they’d caught it quick enough. But scans showed a different story. It had already spread. They did surgery and started treatments. But nothing worked.”
Her voice cracked on that last sentence. I reached across the table to touch her hand. I wanted to comfort her, but wasn’t sure how, considering we were still getting to know each other.
She cleared her throat and clutched a napkin in her fist.
“She was told that she didn’t have long. She held on for a year after she was told they couldn’t do anything. In that year, we tried to prepare for what we knew was coming.”
She brought the napkin up to her face to dab it, and she looked at me as she continued. “She told me she wanted me to look after Noah, who was twelve at that point. She died when he was thirteen. As bad as it sounds, it was a relief for all of us because she’d been in so much pain at the end and there was nothing we could do to make it better.”
She sniffled and dabbed at her face while I watched.
I didn’t know what to say. Of all the things she could have said, that wasn’t something that even crossed my mind.
“How old was she?”
“Thirty-three.”
I winced. Too young for something like that.
Zoe blew out a shaky breath. “Can I get a minute?”
I nodded and released her hand, watching as she walked into the bathroom. I scrubbed a hand over my face.
Of all the things we could have talked about today, we’d laid out two serious topics.
I blew out a breath and watched the bathroom door, willing her to come back out so we could continue our conversation.
25
Zoe
In the harsh light of the bathroom, I winced at the redness around my eyes. I wet a paper towel and dabbed at my eyes, hoping it would go down before I rejoined Jacob in the dining room.
I blew out a breath as I tossed the wet towel and grabbed a dry one to blot the wetness from my face.
What was I thinking, telling him all that?
It wasn’t like Jewel dying was a secret, but it wasn’t something that I enjoyed talking about all that much. It was depressing, and it made people either look at me with sadness or pity.
I was twenty-six years old when I had to step up and figure out how to parent a teenager. He was half my age, and I didn’t feel like I was adult enough to raise Noah.
But two years down the road and we were getting through it.
I checked myself in the mirror as I tossed my paper towel and sighed. It would have to do. It was obvious I’d been crying, but other than that, it wasn’t too bad.
I pulled my phone from my dress pocket, thankful I had the forethought to grab it before getting up.
I pulled up Cass’s contact information and pressed call, sucking on my bottom lip as I waited for her to pick up. If she picked up.
“Hey, aren’t you at breakfast right now?”
“Yeah.” My voice cracked.
“What the hell happened? Are you crying?”
“No, not anymore.”
“Why were you?” she asked.
I blew out a breath. “Jacob was telling me about his ex, who is a piece of work it sounds like. I hope I never meet her. But then he asked about Jewel, and it just got to me.”
Cass sucked in a breath. “Oh, yeah. I can see why you’d be crying. Are you sitting at the table with him?
I shook my head. “No, I’m hiding in the bathroom.”
Cass laughed. “At least he’s not sitting across from you. Why’d you call?”
“I don’t know.” I pushed a hand through my hair, sighing. “I just needed to hear someone tell me I’m not a basket case for sneaking into the bathroom after talking about my dead sister.”
“Girl, you know you’re not. Now stop hiding in the bathroom.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Call me later. Love ya,” Cass said before hanging up before I could say anything else.
I slipped my phone back in my pocket, did one last mirror check, and knew I needed to get back out there.
I pushed through the door and back into the dining room, noting it was fuller than when we’d first gotten there.
I wound through the tables and slid back into my side of the booth, shooting Jacob what I hoped was a grin.
“You okay?”
I shrugged. “Yeah.”
I was, but I wasn’t. It was always sad talking about Jewel.
“We don’t have to talk about it—“ he started, and I held my hand up.
“No, I want to. I don’t talk about her enough. It’s just hard to remember how she was before she got sick and then compare it to what it was like toward the end.”
Jacob nodded, but said nothing.
I studied his face, trying to see what look he was giving me. But he wasn’t giving me one. He looked open and ready to talk about whatever I wanted.
An invisible weight lifted from my shoulders at the realization that he wasn’t looking at me with pity. He was looking at me like he wanted to know more.
“Should I just start at the beginning?”
Jacob nodded. “If you’d like.”
I blew out a breath before I started.
“Well. She went off to Duke for college.”
Jacob snorted, and I flashed a grin at him. I knew he’d think that was funny since he went to Carolina.
“Her high school sweetheart followed. She got pregnant at the start of her sophomore year and gave birth toward the end.”
I paused and swallowed thickly at the memories. “She wanted to come home, but my parents wanted her to get her education. Looking back, I honestly don’t know how we all made it work. I was a teenager in high school, my parents had their coffee shop, and Jewel was in school full-time on an academic scholarship. But somehow, we did.
Jewel moved home and commuted to Duke, cramming as many classes in as she could so she could finish on time.”
“What about the father?”
I snorted. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t even want to think his name, that’s how much of a dick he was.
“At first, he was excited at the thought of a kid with Jewel. They’d been together since their freshman year in high school. But once Noah was here, and he realized how hard it was, he realized he wasn’t cut out to be a parent. So he signed his rights away.”
Jacob winced. “Really?”
I nodded. “Yep. Jewel didn’t even have to ask. He just showed up one day with the papers, said he couldn’t do it, and left. I see him around town sometimes. He usually runs the other way, and he definitely doesn’t come into the Java Hut.”
Jacob chuckled. “I’d hope not. He might be poisoned.”
I shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. He wouldn’t get served though, that’s for sure.”
“Has he ever asked about Noah?”
I shook my head. “Nope. We’ve actually run into him a few times while we’ve been out, but he usually tries to get away from us before that happens. The few times we’ve been in close proximity, it’s like Noah isn’t even there.”
“Does Noah know who he is?”
I nodded. “Yeah. It was a huge thing when Noah was old enough to ask about his dad. Jewel didn’t want to tell him, but my parents and I thought Noah should know. We argued about it for months until Jewel finally gave in and told Noah about his dad. This was about a year before she was diagnosed.”
“Wow, shit timing.”
“You got that right.” I shook my head and sipped my drink. “He was so mad that day. He was mad for weeks, really. Then when she got sick, it got worse.”
“How has he been with… everything?”
I shrugged. “It depends on the day. He’s a great kid, and he’s resilient, but don’t tell him that. He hates that word. That’s the word that was thrown at him the entire time Jewel was dying and I can see why he wouldn’t want to hear it.”
Jacob winced. “Yeah. I’ll make a point to not say anything.”
We lapsed into silence again.
I cleared my throat. “Well, now that we’ve thoroughly depressed ourselves, would you like to talk about something else?”
He laughed. “Yeah, whatever you want.” He sipped his drink and balled his paper up. “So, you didn’t go to school. And you work at… a bank?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Not exactly my dream job, but it’s a job.”
“What is your dream job?”
I grimaced. “I don’t know.”
He arched a brow, and I continued. “My parents wanted my sister and me to take the coffee shop over, but Jewel got a marketing degree and worked at a firm out of Raleigh.”
“And you?”
I laughed. “I… honestly don’t know. Do I enjoy the coffee shop? Yeah.” I shrugged. “But I don’t know that’s what I want to do with the rest of my life, you know?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I get you. I got lucky. I knew baseball was my passion and if I could make a go of it, I wanted to.”
“What would you have done if you hadn’t?”
“Well. This might surprise you, but I got a degree in journalism. So probably broadcasting, sports if possible.”
I said nothing for a moment. “Really?” I finally asked.
I didn’t know why I was surprised, but I was.
He nodded. “Yeah. I enjoy writing, and I enjoy analyzing plays and reading over stats. Makes sense.”
“Huh.”
Now that he’d explained it, I could see it.
“So you’d be the sports dude on the nightly news?”
Jacob laughed and shook his head. “Nah. I’d rather be someone behind the scenes.”
I tilted my head to the side. “I can see that, too.”
We chatted for a while longer while I finished up breakfast. Then I checked my watch and winced. “I gotta head out. I need to get Noah from the coffee shop and then head home.”
He nodded and stood, grabbing our trash.
I followed him as he tossed everything, and then into the parking lot.
“Breakfast was great,” I told him as we walked to my car.
“It was. A third date in the cards?”
I turned to face him and pretended to think about it, scrunching my face up. “Well…”
“Really?” he asked with a grin.
I dropped the facade and smiled. “No. Yes, I’d love a third date.”
“I’ll look at my schedule and we can talk.”
I nodded. “Sounds great.”
We stared at each other for a few beats before he leaned in. I held my breath again, waiting to see if I’d get another forehead kiss or if his lips would land somewhere else today.
His lips brushed mine in the barest hint of a kiss, and I sighed, my eyes falling closed as goosebumps broke out over my body.
He took that as permission to deepen the kiss and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me into him as he slanted his lips over mine.
I clutched the front of his shirt as he nipped at my bottom, then my top lip, before sucking my bottom lip into his mouth.
I trembled at the sensation, and I wasn’t even embarrassed to admit that when he pulled back a few moments later, my lips trailed him, wanting him to continue.
He chuckled. “Good to see you liked that,” he whispered.
I opened my eyes and immediately saw his smirk. And I didn’t even care. That kiss was the type of first kiss you wanted.
“I’ll talk to you later,” he said, lightly kissing the tip of my nose and releasing me.
I nodded and, in a daze, turned to my car and climbed in.
Much like our first date, he waited until I was out of my spot and pulling away before he went to his own car.
Once I was on the way home, I pressed one of my hands to my lips and shivered at the memory of Jacob kissing me.
If that was what a kiss from him was like, what would sex be like?
I couldn’t wait to find out.
26
Zoe
“Spill,” Liv hissed as we walked to lunch the next day.
I grinned. I couldn’t help it.
“That face tells me so much, but I want details about why it’s there!”
I mimed locking my lips with a key as we walked, and she groaned.
But she said nothing else as we continued walking outside. I felt more comfortable talking about Jacob and our budding relationship outside, where I could see if someone was listening in.
I also didn’t want to be reprimanded by someone for gossiping or having personal conversations.
Once we were at a table and our food was in front of us, Liv said, “Come on! I gotta know!”
I laughed and shook my head. “There’s not much to tell.” I shrugged.
“Bullshit!” Liv shook her head and took an angry bite of her sandwich, chewing quickly while spearing me with her gaze. “If nothing happened, you wouldn’t look like that.”
She pointed at me and twirled her finger in a circle to show me what she meant. “You wouldn’t look smug and like you had a secret.”
My cheeks heated. “I don’t look like that!”
Liv arched a brow. “You don’t? Please. You totally have the look of someone that got some this weekend.”
“I do not! And I did not!” I pressed my hands to my cheeks.
Liv grinned triumphantly. “You’re right. You didn’t. I just needed confirmation of that.”
I glared at her and took a bite of my sandwich. “Really?”
She nodded. “Yeah, really. You’re so tight-lipped about him and what you do together. I have to pry shit out of you. Just tell me and this would be easier.”
I shrugged. “There’s really not much to tell. We met for breakfast. He told me about his divorce, I told him about my sister.”
Liv’s mouth dropped open, showing me her half-eaten bite of
food. I scrunched my nose. “Liv, seriously.”
She snapped her mouth closed and chewed quickly, coughing as she swallowed. “He told you about his divorce?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Just about how she asked for it, but he didn’t want it initially. But he’s over it.”
Liv arched a brow, but said nothing for a moment. “And you believe him?” she asked.
I nodded. “I do. I don’t think he would ask me out if he wasn’t over her. Do you?”
Liv shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe? Guys are weird. He could use you to make her jealous?”
I thought about that and shook my head. “You can think that, but I really don’t think he’s like that. He seems super straight forward. My friend, Cass, and some other people haven’t hinted that he wants her back either. If anything, I feel like there was a feeling of relief when they got divorced.”
Liv made a face I couldn’t quite interpret, but I didn’t get a chance to ask her about it because Lexi and another woman were walking toward us.
I cleared my throat. “What did you get up to this weekend?” I asked.
Liv’s brow furrowed, and I jerked my gaze toward Lexi.
Liv’s eyes widened before she answered my question. We kept the topics light for the rest of the lunch and went back inside a few minutes before our break was over.
As I settled back onto my stool, I remembered Liv wanted to tell me something the previous week, but hadn’t.
I glanced around and called her name. She scooted my way. “What’s up?”
“Didn’t you want to tell me something last week?”
She blanched. “Yeah, but it’s not a big deal.”
I studied my friend and noticed she was squirming in her seat. “You sure?”
She nodded. “Oh, yeah. It was something so unimportant, I forgot what it was about.”
Before I could say anything else, she rolled away from me.
I rolled back to my station, but studied her from the corner of my eye. Something was fishy there, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.
But there was a customer coming my way, so I had to shelve that thought for later.
The Slider (Boys of Summer Book 5) Page 12