by J. L. Leslie
“Oh, it is.”
He walks out in front of me, giving me a perfect view of his ass in his tight jeans. I lick my lips, knowing in a few days I can enjoy the full benefits of his body.
Yes, it’s scandalous, but I’m with him. Maybe it’s time I end things with Alex and really give this town something to talk about.
Chapter Thirty
Kaler
I hold Willow in front of me, her tiny arms wrapping around my arm. Jenna is behind me, her arms around my waist. Willow is tiny enough that the three of us can fit on the saddle perfectly. Besides, I don’t mind Jenna being pressed tightly against my back.
Willow clicks her tongue, doing her best to make the horse pick up speed, but I prefer a slow walk today. It’s too nice outside for anything fast.
“It’s beautiful here,” Jenna comments.
“This is Kipton’s land,” I tell her. “He’s really not home all that often but he has a house on the other side of this field. His neighbor has a farm and is getting a little old to take care of it on his own. Kipton pays some ranch hands to look after it and in return, he gets the perks of riding the horses and doing his rodeo training any time he wants. Fortunately for us, Kipton extended the generous offer for horse riding any time I want. I called today and he’s trying to earn my forgiveness, so here we are with Charlemagne.”
“I told you Willow was the outdoorsy type,” Jenna says.
“If there’s anything she loves more than fishing, it’s riding, but nothing tops the pink tutu she had to wear to school today.”
“I thought it was adorable with her cowgirl boots.”
“I even managed a bow,” I say proudly, and Willow beams up at me, knowing we’re talking about her.
“What would you think about Willow being taught by an aide?” Jenna asks me. “I mean, like a private tutor type of thing.”
I keep Charlemagne at a slow trot, curious as to where this is coming from. “Would she still be enrolled at Chapelwood Elementary?”
“No, the aide would teach her outside of the school.”
I glance over my shoulder at her. “Do you think that’s what I should do? Private tutoring instead of the public school environment?”
“It’s not up to me,” Jenna replies. “It was mentioned though, and Mr. Hawkins has scheduled a meeting for the parents to express their concerns about having her in the classroom with the other children. Claims there have been complaints, so I wanted you to know it’s an option for you in case you would prefer that.”
“What kind of complaints?”
“Jenna, I’m asking you what you think because I trust your opinion,” I admit, letting her news sink in. “When I enrolled Willow, I did it because I thought it would be good for her to be around other kids. That maybe they would push her to accomplish things she wasn’t accomplishing on her own. If you think she would benefit more from an aide, then I’ll check into it.”
“I don’t,” she says. “I mean, I don’t think she would benefit more from an aide and not being in school too. I love having Willow in my class and I think she interacts great with the other kids. She wants to do everything they’re doing and she’s honestly not very far behind them when it comes to the curriculum. I believe an aide might be beneficial to her, help her stay on target, but she won’t get the social aspect of school by being hidden away at home and the other kids won’t be exposed to her either and they need that too.”
“So, this is what had you upset this afternoon?”
“I really didn’t want to bring it up, but I don’t want to hide things from you, and I know you’ll be informed of the meeting,” she confesses. “It was mentioned that maybe I’m showing her favoritism because of our relationship.”
“Christ, if three pages of homework a night is favoritism then I hate to see what the other kids are having to do,” I joke and she laughs, resting her head against my shoulder. “I think Willow is great right where she is and if anyone disagrees, then that’s their problem. I’ll consider hiring an aide, but I’ll fight to keep her in the classroom. I know I have rights and I’ll fight for my daughter. The people in Chapelwood need to mind their own business.”
“They won’t,” she tells me. “We both know that. Everyone on my street will know you followed me home and then I left with you. They’ll be dying to know what we’re doing and exactly what my job description as your so-called nanny entails. They will all want to know what’s happening with me and Alex and I’ll be honest, I don’t know what’s going on with him anymore. Our last date was strained and awkward. We’ve talked on the phone, but we haven’t seen each other since. I need to just tell him. To break it off.”
“If that’s what you want, I won’t complain about that. As far as people being nosy about what you’re doing being my nanny, we’ll just have to start leaving your curtains open so they can see what your job entails,” I smirk.
“Mrs. Jones may have a stroke,” she replies dryly.
“She might give Mr. Jones a stroke when she suggests they do what she saw us doing!”
Jenna burst out laughing and I tell her to hold on. I keep a firm grip on Willow and tap the heel of my boot against the horse, nudging it into a light run. Willow laughs and squeals in delight and I know Jenna’s smiling without ever having to see her face.
Jenna
I’m holding Willow on my side and laughing at her making horse sounds when we walk into the pizza parlor. Of course, she wanted her favorite after working up an appetite on our ride. Kaler called a couple pepperoni pizzas in so he could just run in and grab them. With everything going on, we didn’t want to take the risk of dining in and being seen together. Unfortunately, me and Willow both needed a bathroom break so we all came inside and now I’m waiting with Kaler while he grabs the food, doing my best to stand behind him as though I’m just the next customer in line should someone see us.
“Nay-hay-hay!” Willow calls out, turning around to face me, and I copy her, making her fall into a fit of giggles.
“Jenna? Kaler?” a familiar voice sounds and Willow shrieks, calling for her “gwanny.”
She wiggles in my arms and I lower her to the floor so she can run over to Brynn’s mama. Her daddy stands beside her, his hands shoved in his pockets and a look of curiosity on his face.
His daughter’s best friend is here with his ex-son-in-law. I was playing with his granddaughter and laughing as though I have the right to be this close with her. To enjoy her laughter and smiles.
“Mr. Oakwood,” Kaler greets them. “Mrs. Oakwood.”
“What in the world is our sweet grandbaby talking about?” Mrs. Oakwood says, her eyes shifting between the two of us.
“She’s pretending to be a horse,” Kaler answers. “We just got in from riding.”
“Oh goodness, Kaler, how many times do we have to tell you how dangerous that is?” Mrs. Oakwood scolds.
“Willow loves it,” he responds. “And we’re safe. You should know I would never let anything happen to her.”
“It just scares me, is all,” she lets him know. “Now, when are you letting this sweetie come spend the night with her granny again?”
He shrugs. “You just tell me when and I’ll bring her over.”
“Bring her Friday night then,” Mr. Oakwood offers. “She can stay until Sunday and we’ll bring her to church.”
I don’t mention that I haven’t seen them at church or at all since I came back to Chapelwood. I wonder if they’re going to the Methodist church, but I don’t ask them. Pastor Jacobs style of preaching isn’t for everyone, after all.
“That’s fine,” Kaler agrees. “Tauren was supposed to babysit her Saturday while I pick up some supplies in Westmont but I’m sure he won’t mind if she comes there instead.”
“Tell him we used the grandparents’ card. Then you can have some time to yourself to do whatever it is you’ve been doing lately,” Mr. Oakwood says, clearly indicating that I’m what Kaler’s “been doing lately.”
I fe
el myself blushing, so I avert my gaze from his. I never expected to run into Brynn’s parents while being with Kaler. We’re being careless when we both know how complicated our relationship is.
Sure, we joked about giving this town something to talk about, but I don’t think either of us thought about how having the town talk about us would affect our families. Our friends. Neither of us have told them about what we’ve been doing.
“Jenna, you’ll have to come by the house soon so we can catch up,” Mrs. Oakwood suggests. “Maybe we can get Brynn to come down and make a day of it. That is, if the two of you are still friends.”
“Absolutely,” I respond, catching her implication immediately. “I talked with her not too long ago. Maybe she can make the trip.”
“I’ve been telling her Chapelwood isn’t too far from Tuscaloosa. She doesn’t make the trip often enough. I think it’s her turn to spoil Willow.”
Kaler steps over and takes Willow back but he doesn’t address Mrs. Oakwood’s comment. Willow starts waving goodbye and asking for “sizza” so Kaler politely tells them goodbye.
“See you soon, Jenna.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I join Kaler and Willow back at the counter, worried that the good moods we came in with will be shot to shit now, but he smiles over at me and asks if I want him to order us drinks too, not rattled at all.
When he smiles at me the way he is now, I can honestly say I don’t care what anyone else thinks because it’s clear what he’s thinking.
This is right. We are right together. It doesn’t matter how damn complicated it is.
Chapter Thirty-One
Kaler
I grab my takeout bag and hop out of my truck. Tauren’s truck is parked out front so I figure he needs something worked on. I turn the doorknob to go into the shop, but it’s locked. I fish my keys out of my pocket and open it up, pushing it open and stepping inside.
“Shit! Sorry!” I call out, retreating back outside.
I go sit on the back of my truck and eat my lunch, allowing Tauren to finish his meal before I go back in. Christ, I can’t believe I just walked in on my brother going down on the preacher’s daughter. On top of the car I’m working on.
I hear the door to the shop and see Tauren walk outside, Helene following behind him, her cheeks a deep shade of red. He opens the passenger door for her, and she gets in, avoiding eye contact with me.
“Dad said you were at lunch and he was going to the parts store. I thought I had some time before you got back,” Tauren explains.
“No need to explain,” I tell him. “Although I’m going to say this again. Screwing around with the preacher’s daughter is not a good idea.”
“We’re just fooling around,” he shrugs. “I haven’t deflowered her or anything.”
“Yet.”
Tauren grins. “I have to get her back to class. Her dad will be all over her if he finds out she skipped.”
“Tell her I said hello,” I smirk.
“Tell Jenna I said hello,” he shoots back, flipping me off as he jogs over to his truck.
I return the favor, shooting him a bird while he drives off. I grab my burger and head inside the shop, eating as I walk. I barely finish my lunch before I hear someone pulling up. I open the garage doors, letting whoever it is know we’re back open.
“Can you guys do brakes?” the voice calls out and I recognize Alex. He’s wearing a Wade’s Construction shirt, similar to the one Tauren had on.
“Yep,” I reply. “Probably be a few hours. You can wait or you can drop it off.”
“I’ll leave it. My girlfriend’s getting off work soon so I can get her to pick me up,” he says.
Girlfriend? That last I checked, Jenna was breaking things off with him. They’re barley even talking. Shit, I’ve been fucking her for weeks and I can’t even call her my girlfriend.
He ducks out from the garage, holding his phone to his ear. I’m not eavesdropping but I do hear him tell her he loves her. I’m dying to know if she said it back. Is Jenna playing me?
I motion for him to pull his truck into the garage. I’m fuming as he goes to sit on the bench, waiting for Jenna to come pick him up. He was supposed to be a cover-up for us. Someone she would hang out with so there wouldn’t be any gossip about what we’re doing. I guess she started falling for her own lies and I was falling for them too.
I work in silence, stewing the entire time. I consider punching the shit out of him, but I know that wouldn’t do any good. I consider asking him about Jenna, but decide against that as well.
A little while later when I hear another vehicle, I look outside, expecting to see a white Civic. Instead, a red Charger pulls up and a busty blonde gets out. I’m not sure where she works, but she’s obviously not a schoolteacher. Not the one I was thinking of anyway.
Jenna
I smile, doing my best to hold in my laughter as Kaler and I lie together in the hammock I have set up on my back porch. Willow is currently lying on the grass, fixated on a plastic windmill I stuck in the ground for her. Each time the wind catches it and makes it spin she gets all wide-eyed.
I’ve only been home for about an hour. Kaler basically followed me here from the school. Said we could spend a couple of hours together before he takes Willow to the Oakwoods. Then he’ll be back.
“It’s not funny,” Kaler says.
“It’s a little funny.”
“You’re not upset that he’s been lying to you?” he asks me. “That he probably planned on tapping that and then bailing?”
“I’m not upset at all because I knew he was lying to me about something,” I remind him. “In fact, it makes it easier for me. Besides, he was never going to “tap that” as you put it.”
“Okay, so you’re done with him, right? No more pretending to like that piece of crap.”
“No more,” I agree. “I was going to break things off with him, but I think I’ll just ghost him now.”
“He deserves to have his ass kicked.”
“Why?” I giggle. “Because he was cheating on the girl who was cheating on him?”
“This was different,” he defends.
I shake my head and change the subject, “Do you know that I’ve been asked by five people what I charge for babysitting? Apparently, when you’re a nanny, everyone thinks you’ll accept babysitting jobs too. I thought about taking a couple of them to earn some extra money on the side.”
“Am I not paying you enough?” Kaler grins, his arms going around me and holding me tight.
I start to answer him, but my eyes bulge when I see my grandma come around the side of my house. “Paying you for what exactly?”
I jump up, trying to look inconspicuous, and manage to fall out of the hammock and flat on my face. Kaler helps me up, asking if I’m okay. I manage to get to my feet and hurry off my porch so that I can see why my grandma is paying me an unexpected visit.
“Well, go ahead an answer me child. Paying you for what?” my grandma says, her arms crossed as she glares at Kaler who is now standing on my back porch.
“It’s just a joke, Grandma.”
“Just a joke. I see. Well, I tried to call your phone but you didn’t pick it up. Lula Jane Porter is in the hospital over in Dairyville. Your grandpa and I are driving over to see her. Didn’t want you to get worried if you tried to reach us and we weren’t home, but I see that you’ve got plenty to occupy you.”
I go after her when she steps away in a huff. “Grandma, it’s not what you think.”
“I think you’re going to bed with Brynn’s husband!” she scolds. “That’s what I think! And I know you were raised better than that!”
“He’s her ex-husband,” I clarify. “And we’re not doing anything wrong.”
She narrows her eyes at me and points back at Kaler. “If you weren’t doing anything wrong with him, then you wouldn’t feel the need to hide it!”
My grandma mumbles to herself as she leaves. Her words sting, making tears come to my eyes
and making me feel completely ashamed for what we’ve been doing.
“Jenna, she’s probably surprised, that’s all,” Kaler says, coming up behind me and tugging me to him.
Tears streak down my face as I cry in his arms. “She’s right, Kaler. We both know she’s right. We joked about giving this town something to talk about, but we still hid from everyone. We hid as though what we’re doing is dirty. That it’s wrong.”
“What we feel for each other is not wrong, Jenna!” he argues and I pull out of his grasp.
“And what exactly is that?” I ask him. “We don’t even know what we feel for each other because we’ve been too busy hiding it from everyone else!”
“I don’t give a shit about everyone else! I was trying to protect you!”
“I’m still getting hurt by this!” I tell him, motioning between us. “I don’t know if I can do this anymore!”
Without a word, Kaler turns his back on me. He picks up Willow, ignoring her cries, and walks away. Too bad he didn’t walk away sooner. Maybe then it wouldn’t hurt so badly.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Kaler
I told Jenna if she ever wanted to stop or if what we were doing didn’t feel right, then we would end it. I didn’t expect it to be so quickly though. For her to be ready to walk away when I’m nowhere near ready to end what we have.
I should’ve told her I was falling for her. Made that confession. Would it have changed anything? It damn sure doesn’t change who we are or the reason we even know one another. Things might be complicated but at the same time they’re easy with her. They feel right, no matter how wrong it’s supposed to be.
“Grab your bag,” I tell Willow when I open her door. She picks it up and hands it over to me. Her crying lasted all of two minutes, until I turned on the shark song she likes.
I get her out of the truck, putting her down so she can walk while I hold her hand. We’re at the Oakwoods, my former in-laws, and although I told them Willow could stay tonight, I’m regretting it. Her not being home means I’ll be alone. I’ll sit there and replay every moment of what happened with Jenna. Try to figure out a way to get her to change her mind, no matter the consequences.
