by E. H. Lyon
I sigh, “We have a lot to talk about, but now I guess you should focus on your sister being here.”
“You’re right, we do have a lot to talk about.” His fingers slide the length of my arm.
Deciding I should break the ice, I add softly, “I am happy you get to see her,” and I mean it in all sincerity. But I still feel heavy and a little numb.
“Since there are no more secrets, then I would be happier if you and Sam stayed to have dinner with us.” And he eyes me with a pleading look.
No matter what confusion I’m feeling, I can’t deny that in this moment he may need me more than I need assurance. Stepping towards him, I wrap an arm around his side opposite Sam. Hugging him deeply.
“We would love to,” I reply, leaning into his chest as he kisses my forehead. Our eyes tell us we need to talk more, but I want to focus on this current moment.
In the ladies’ room, I look at myself in the mirror. As I smudge away my messy makeup, I notice Melanie come in, and she slows her walk as she comes to the sink. Looking at her, I notice her more. Early to mid-twenties, beautiful, blond, and her eyes… yeah, she is Leo’s sister.
“Hey,” she seems rather chipper.
“Hi,” it comes out neutral from me.
“I guess you’re the Jess,” Melanie smiles.
“And you are Melanie?” I offer a smile. After all, it’s not her fault her brother didn’t share this news with me sooner.
Melanie turns to lean against the sink to talk to me as I finish fluffing my hair.
“I feel bad if I got my brother—wow, weird to say that—in trouble.” She seems genuine and she seems to still be adjusting to the state of surprise from the news of having a brother.
“It’s not your fault. Leo just didn’t convey to me about—”
“I know, and that’s my doing. I said maybe he shouldn’t get too excited about having a sister as I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know about my long-lost family. We are total opposites.”
“What changed your mind?” I ask as I lean my side against the sink to look at her.
“Leo… we met a few times in the last year. I was doing volunteer work in South America for a few weeks and he found me, but then I had radio silence while he was getting nearly killed by cows, figuring out his life, becoming a better man, yadda yadda. But we continued to talk via messages when he arrived back, and since he has been back we also call every week in the evening after I finish work.”
It clicks in my head. “I always thought he had a work call in the evening.”
She nods. “He kind of jumped right onto the big brother train. But something tells me that you experienced that with the daddy train too. The way he talks about family is kind of persuasive.” She tilts her head to the side with a humorous look.
“That’s Leo. Jumps right in without thought, and yeah, he can be persuasive. But strange he talks about his family, he isn’t close with his father.”
Melanie laughs. “That’s not who he considers his family. You must know that.”
I look at her a bit taken aback that she insinuates Sam and me, but at the same time my heart warms as it’s true—we are his family.
“You know he speaks about you all the time. From the first moment I met him, actually.”
My forehead forms lines. “But you already met a year ago, no?”
“Exactly. He talked about the one that got away, how he would come back a better man, and I maybe shouldn’t be telling you this, but when he came back to Sage Creek and found out the news, well…”
She smiles at me as she shows me her phone screen.
A message from Leo dated the night he found out about Sam.
Leo: So, sis, guess who’s a dad? Me! Crazy, but perfect.
Me: Whoa! That’s news. Congrats. Uhm, the mother?
Leo: Exactly who it should be. Always knew I would end up with Jess. She was always going to be my one and only.
My body reacts with an unguarded smile forming as the back door of my heart opens. I wasn’t his yet then, but then my mind goes down a quick trip on memory lane and remember how all our moments added up.
He seemed to have always known, and I was just in denial, because I think I also knew that maybe—just maybe—it was always going to be him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Leo
Melanie and Jess are laughing about something. I have no idea what. They came out of the ladies’ room like two people who’ve known each other for years. We grab a table in the hotel restaurant and talk about Sage Creek, Sam, and music.
Holding Sam in my lap, I let him eat a few pieces of dinner rolls.
“Jess has some seriously good music tastes. The playlist in your house must be insane,” Melanie is definitely excited.
Not even 15 minutes in and Melanie worships Jess. I don’t blame her, I choose wisely when it comes to my romantic conquests. Just had to wait longer for this one.
“Jess does have a thing for music,” I pierce Jess’s eyes with my own and get a little lost. I just want to hold her after this afternoon, because I royally screwed up on my communication. I was trying to do the right thing for everyone involved, just didn’t think it through.
“So, physical therapy?” Jess asks Melanie. “That’s kind of cool. And you’re looking at positions out here?”
James paid for Melanie’s college, but that isn’t enough in my book. He still needs to support her in other ways too. I offered that she could have my penthouse apartment since I never sold it. It should be done with its upgrades soon anyhow. Then she mentioned she might be interested as she was looking at jobs out here for a change of scene.
“Yeah. I have some time to figure out if it is really what I want to do it, but I have a few interviews tomorrow,” Melanie explains before taking a sip of water.
“A bit far from your home if you live up north. Your mom must be going crazy at the idea of you moving,” Jess comments.
“Maybe, but I am an adult now. Plus, she knows this guy is watching me like a hawk.” Melanie points to me with her thumb.
I let out a soft smile.
Jess locks her eyes with mine and I am certain she wants to crawl into my arms. “Yeah, once you get in his sight then he does kind of hook you in.”
“So now that I see you both together in person, can I ask how you got together? And don’t say Sam, because that’s the easy version.” Melanie grins as she grabs a dinner roll.
My lips quirk as I think to myself. “It was a few years ago. Max, my best friend, was having a party at his house. Jess took the drink that Max was handing to me and looked at me knowingly with such a devilish grin before drinking it and walked away. I watched her every move, because she drove me crazy from that very moment.” I let my eyes settle on Jess as we are reminded that our feelings go a bit further back than that night in the bar.
“Ooh and then?” Melanie requests, excited, and slightly drums the table as she waits in anticipation.
Jess’s mouth opens as my gaze doesn’t leave hers.
“Your brother drove me crazy. But I always thought I didn’t have a chance, wasn’t his type. He was known to, erm, be friendly with the ladies. The opposite of who he probably would want you to date now. Still, he was the type of guy that if you started something with him, you would fall hard and fast. That can be scary.”
I wonder if that is the reason we danced around each other. If that is her big block that kept making her put distance between us.
She continues, “So, I pretended not to be interested, even pretended to despise him a little. Even though I couldn’t escape him due to our mutual friends. We continued to annoy each other. Every now and then we would glance at each other like we had something between us. Then one night our electricity was too much,” she admits with full honesty.
Our gaze not breaking. If I could, I would crawl across the table to slowly kiss her.
“Maybe we should end the story there. My sister needs the G-rated version,” I give a loving smirk on
my face.
Jess tilts her head to the side and grins, licking her teeth under her closed lips to block her blushing face.
“And now I have a nephew. Can I hold him again?” Melanie is excited and genuinely a cool kid.
I’m about to hand over Sam to Melanie but refrain as my eyes lock on someone walking towards our booth. Immediately, I curse, and Jess looks at me worried. Her hand meets her forehead in frustration. James.
James clears his throat and approaches our table. Poor Melanie’s face turns blank.
“Well, isn’t this a picture,” James says softly.
Jess and I look at each other.
“What do you want, James?” I let out with a sigh.
“Molly mentioned to my assistant that you might—you both—might be here.” He indicates to Melanie and me.
“And?”
“Maybe we could all talk?” James asks, and to my surprise I can hear he is genuine.
“I think it depends on your intentions—there is a young one at the table,” Jess says directly to James.
James holds his hands up. “Yes. I understand. I think it would be good to clear the air.”
I am about to snap, but Jess places her hand on mine and gives it a squeeze.
“Pull up a chair,” I say lazily and take a swig of the scotch glass that I have slowly been nursing over two hours.
“Maybe we can start with a turned leaf,” James requests to all our disbelief. “I have perhaps been wrong in some of my ways,” he says, looking at the table.
Jess meets her eyes with my own.
“That’s one way of putting it,” I mutter as I give Sam to Jess just in case I need to get my fists out for this one.
“I already apologized to Jessica. But I really do mean it when I say I’m happy it is you that Leo has found himself with and not—”
Jess holds her hand up.
“James. Really don’t want to go into this again with you,” Jess cuts in, now grabbing my scotch glass and taking a sip.
“I know you would never lie to—”
“Still here, James,” Jess says, annoyed and trying to move the topic on.
“And I’m sorry, Melanie,” James admits. Jess and I look at Melanie who is having trouble digesting the situation. “Perhaps we can talk?”
Jess intervenes and talks directly to Melanie, placing a hand on her arm. “Whatever you want. We can stay right here, or we can sit right over there while you two talk. Or you don’t need to talk at all.”
Melanie nods and I am so grateful Jess is here.
A few minutes later, Jess and I are sitting at the bar with Sam asleep in his stroller. Watching James and Melanie talk a few tables away. Jess and I both order a strong scotch.
“Well. This is a new one. Drinking the hard stuff at the bar, with a baby asleep at our feet and your father apologizing to your long-lost sister.” Jess drinks from her glass.
I have to admire how she’s remaining calm and can still make my mouth crack a grin even in these situations.
“This day needs to end. It is not going as planned in any way,” I groan and take a swig of my alcoholic beverage.
Jess puts a hand on mine and our eyes meet.
“Are you also wanting an apology from him?” she asks, tilting her head and studying me.
“Out of everything that has happened recently, him apologizing for hurting my mother and spiraling everything else into action for my departure is… not high on my list, actually.” I look at her hand on the bar and let my finger draw circles on the back of it. “An apology won’t fix anything, and truthfully, my priority when I returned became Sam and you.”
“You are not him. It’s a different situation, if that’s where your mind went,” she assures me, and I look at her. “Your father chose not to be involved in Melanie’s life or at least not so involved. That’s not you. You stepped up from day one. You have nothing to prove to anyone, especially not him.”
It amazes me how I am always reminded that under her feistiness and wit Jess has this soft side to put everything in perspective with so much care.
There is a brief moment of silence.
“I am sorry for earlier,” she apologizes, and my eyes meet hers. “The idea of you with someone else drives me insane. Like it always has.”
“Always has?” I lean to the side at her confirmation that she has now admitted a few times.
“Yeah, always… from the moment I met you,” she confesses, and I move so I can cradle her face in my hands and look at her on the same level. “It’s true. Even before that night, there was constantly something between us, and having Sam was the universe’s way of telling us.”
“It was… I know I didn’t handle this situation right. I should have communicated with you about Melanie visiting. Hell, I should have communicated that I have an unexpected sister. I didn’t mean for it to be a secret. The last thing I would want you to think is that you’re not the only one for me. I want to share these things with you.”
“I know. I may not be giving you the adult dialogue award of the year, but I get it. I mean, where maybe your head space was at. And it is hard. All of this. We—you and I—had a lot of rough water to navigate. It isn’t easy to do this with a baby. Or with you travelling so much for work. Or our epic personal flaws that seem to want to make this more complicated.” She looks at her glass.
“Yet, you said that you knew I was the type of guy that you would fall hard and fast for. Was that truth or fiction?”
Her eyes flutter and her tongue glides along her teeth as her fingers find the back of my hand to touch. “You know my answer,” she confesses. “But my head is a little overwhelmed right now. I mean, you’re back, Leo. And I didn’t plan on agreeing to try with you. Nor did I plan for you to buy a house, and yes, I know that topic still needs attention. It’s so many things. Maybe we can say we tried and that’s all it was supposed to be. Without discussing things up front then it won’t work, and we have a co-parenting relationship to think about.”
“I know you have a lot to take in. I know I am pushing my luck, but I think I have an idea to help.” I touch her arm to comfort her and I know I’m hanging on by a thread.
Her eyes peer up to me curiously.
“You should go home and get some sleep. I will stay here longer to talk with Melanie. Maybe I’ll even sleep in the spare room so you can think in peace. Tomorrow, Max was going to give me the keys for the house, and after, if you want to go all in like the original plan, then meet me at this little hotel a few hours away for the weekend.”
Now she looks at me, mystified.
“I was going to surprise you, but those surprises aren’t boding too well for me.” The side of my mouth cracks to a partial grin. “You, me—away from Sam and everyone. Just us. All in, and we can figure everything else out. But only if you show up.”
“How do you know I’ll show up?” She looks at me still baffled.
“It’s a chance I’m going to take.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Leo
Max handed me the keys and we did a run-through of the house. Even if Jess doesn’t want to live here, at least it’s a good investment. Modern, big, open, and floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto the heated pool, jacuzzi, and back onto the forest that gives privacy. Of course, there is space for a little play area for Sam with a sandbox and little slide. We could build a treehouse there when he’s older too.
Max told me to wait here while he went to check the gas meter to note the reading on the paperwork. He could have gone to Timbuktu and I wouldn’t have noticed as my mind and heart were in a muddled mess as I tried to concentrate. When I got a phone call, I answered, and within a minute I was in negotiation with someone as I looked outside at the swimming pool and yard.
My pulse quickens when I could swear the subtle click of heels catches my attention. Quickly, I tie up my call and end it. When I turn around, my smile forms and I take in the view.
Jess is standing there with a
bottle of champagne hanging in one hand. I can’t help but notice her short skirt and tights, her librarian sweater that is sexier than intended. And her fingers. Those long soft fingers wrapping around her necklace—the one I gave her—as she plays with it.
She gives me an admiring look. “You really know how to negotiate, huh? I heard you working your magic on the phone. You really can be demanding and commanding,” she admires as I loosen my tie since I’m done with work today.
“You only now just figured that out?” I walk slowly towards her.
She grins. “No. I’ve always known. But since you’ve been back and since Sam entered the picture, you’re softer.”
I let my tongue circle my mouth as I’m amused by her comment.
“You sound disappointed.” I take the champagne bottle from her hand.
“No. Just, you’re different when you’re working. You used to be that way with me.”
“Ahh. You mean when you thought I was an asshole?”
She laughs. “Oh, you mean, when you messed with my work, serial dated, and were pretty much impossible to be around?” she counters.
I smile. “I was that way, because I was trying to get what I wanted.” I take her hand and kiss it seductively.
She pulls her hand away to tease me. “Yes, and Leo always gets what he wants.” She is mocking and a little jaunty.
I step to her and brush her hair to her side to kiss her neck before letting my lips travel up to her earlobe.
“You’re here,” I whisper with surprise.
“Yeah, Max isn’t checking the meter, he left. I needed him to stall,” she explains.
“What for?”
She smiles as she inhales a deep breath. “I’ve been falling for you this whole time, if that wasn’t clear yet.” Her eyes meet mine as our foreheads touch and we breathe into one another’s space.
“Happy you finally caught up with me.”
