She batted at his hand playfully, then grabbed his finger in her fist and pretended to bite it, snapping her white teeth together for effect.
“Yeah, you are good enough to take a bite out of.” He chuckled.
Marlene’s gaze darted over his shoulder, and she smiled, dropping his finger. “Oh! I’m sorry, I was so distracted by this cad, I didn’t realize you were there. What can I get for you?”
Ty straightened and turned to find a wide-eyed Jodi standing watching him with what looked a lot like horror.
“Um, just a refill on the coconut milk latte.” She swallowed uncomfortably, and for some inexplicable reason, Ty felt as though he was to blame for her discomfort.
Jodi ignored him. “I’m on the deck.” She gestured toward the doors and then turned on her heel and nearly ran outside.
“Okay, then,” Marlene murmured, looking at Ty from under her lashes. “You want your usual?”
“Yeah, that’d be great.” He paused, glancing around the room, where several empty tables sat waiting. “I’ll be—”
“On the deck. I know.” Marlene smiled at him indulgently, and he didn’t even bother trying to figure out what had just happened. All he knew was he needed to go to the deck, so he did.
When he got outside, he found a few more customers scattered around at the outdoor tables. Sitting at the table closest to the railing, typing furiously on an iPad, was Jodi, her hair in a knot on top of her head, secured with a pencil.
She was wearing a tank top with insets of lace and a swingy cotton skirt. Wisps of hair blew around her face, and her expression was determined at best, grim if he was being honest.
He wove around the other tables until he was standing over her. “Hey,” he said, resisting the urge to tuck a strand of hair back into her messy knot.
She glanced up and gave him a tight smile. “Hi.” Her gaze fell back to the screen.
Well, damn. “Do you mind if I sit for a minute?” he asked.
She glanced around at the many tables sitting empty nearby and raised an eyebrow, but acquiesced with a nod.
“So, I’m not sure what just happened, but I got a distinctly awkward vibe in there.” He gestured toward the café.
She sighed and leaned back in her chair. It put her breasts in a very prominent position, and Ty had to remind himself not to perve on the mother of his child, even though perving on the woman was the reason he had a child in the first place. Fuck, this stuff was complicated.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It was on me. I, uh, hadn’t really thought about the fact that you have a whole life, and not just one with Katie. I should have asked if you had a girlfriend. It’s perfectly logical you would, and I should have realized—”
“I don’t,” he said, his brain struggling to catch up. Was Jodi jealous? After all these years. The thought sent a little burst of cocky pride to his chest, and he stifled a grin.
“Oh. Well, in any case, I sort of conveniently keep overlooking the fact that you could, or you have—in the past—whatever. Katie has other women in her life, and some of them know her better than I do. Sorry, it hit me a little hard, but I’ll get over it.”
Oh. She wasn’t jealous over him, but over Katie. Yeah. That made sense. He rubbed at his chest, the pang of disappointment clear and unwelcome.
“Lynn, T.J., and Nina,” he said then, although why he felt the need to, he didn’t know. “They’re the only women she has in her life—the only ones she’s ever had. So it’s not a revolving door or anything.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Oh, no, I didn’t mean—”
“I know,” he answered, his chest still aching a touch. “I just wanted you to realize she has a family, not all sorts of…other people. I don’t have time—we don’t have time…” His voice faded as he struggled with what he was trying to convey.
“You’ve been careful with her, and responsible,” Jodi said softly. “Just like I knew you would be.”
“Yeah. That, I guess.” He chuckled, shaking his head.
Then the awkward silence descended as they both stared out at the beach and the ocean beyond, the waves crashing into the shore over and over again, the gulls screeching and diving after bits of food on the sand.
“And what about you?” he finally asked, because he couldn’t stand not to know. “Is there someone moving here with you? Anyone I need to know about who might have contact with Katie through you?”
“No,” she was quick to say, and his heart breathed a sigh of fucking relief. Only because he didn’t want strange men around his daughter. That was all.
“I’m single and planning to stay that way,” she said.
He raised an eyebrow and looked at her. “Forever? Even I haven’t made a declaration that permanent.”
She smiled and rolled her eyes. “Just because you haven’t introduced Katie to them doesn’t mean you’ve been without company. I know you.”
He laughed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re…you.” She waved a hand at him as though that explained it all. “You’re too…you know, to have been without friends all this time.”
He leaned forward, liking where this conversation was going. “Too ‘you know’?” he asked, his voice low and a touch rough.
She flushed, and he resisted touching her cheek to see if it felt hotter because of the pink color.
“Ty,” she said, leveling him with a no-nonsense look. “You’re a sexy twenty-something man. There’s no way you’ve gone five years without sex.”
He chuckled. If she only knew. It was a lot less frequent than she might guess.
“Sexy, huh?”
She rolled her eyes. “Katie wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t thought that at some point.”
He wanted to ask if she still did, if when she’d seen him the first time in all those years, her heart had skipped a beat the way his had. He wanted to know if she lay in bed at night sometimes and remembered the feel of his hands on her skin the way he remembered the feel of hers on him.
But he was traversing dangerous territory right now. While he was starting to believe that she really didn’t want anything beyond a chance to know Katie, he still couldn’t let his guard down. The fact was, Jodi could decide to try for custody at any point. She could pretend to only want to know Katie and then, once she’d gotten his daughter attached, she could go to court and take her from him. His guts twisted at the very thought of his baby being taken out of his home, living somewhere else, being cared for by anyone other than his own flesh and blood.
He leaned back stiffly, preparing to stand. “Well,” he said, “I’m glad we got a few more things out in the open. If things with you and Katie do develop, I’ll expect you to tell me if you’re seeing someone. I want to know about people she might come in contact with. We’re not in the habit of exposing her to just anyone. She’s only five, and extremely trusting because she’s never had a reason not to be.”
He saw the look of shock that crossed Jodi’s face and felt a pang of remorse, but it had to be said. He couldn’t forget that Katie was his job here, not falling back into lust with her mother.
“Of course,” Jodi answered quietly. “I would never put her in any situation that wasn’t safe and wasn’t approved by you.”
Ty nodded once, briskly. “I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.” Then he stood and walked inside the coffee shop, a bitter taste in his mouth, but resolve in his heart.
6
“I love this yard,” Nina said as she stood in the French doors looking out to the small lush garden.
“Thank you. I think it will be a great place for clients to sit and relax while they wait or after their appointment if they want to take a breath,” Jodi replied, setting another plate into the cabinet in the kitchen. Her small house had a living room with a dining room directly behind it. The kitchen sat next to that, with windows to the backyard to match the glass doors the dining room hosted.
“So, clients will come in from the s
ide gate, and then straight into your office?” Nina pointed to the L-shaped extension of the house that also had glass doors to the patio.
“Yes. That way, they’ll never go through the house, just in and out of the office. I have an awning to set up for rainy days so they can be protected. Luckily, everyone around here is used to the weather, so I don’t think they’ll mind if they have to sit outside for a few minutes to wait while I finish up another client.” She paused. “Of course, that’s assuming I get enough clients that there’s a wait.”
Nina walked into the kitchen, her hands resting on the shelf that her pregnant belly created. “None of that now. You’re not going to have doubts at this point.”
Jodi sighed. Ever since Ty had so abruptly ended their conversation that morning, she’d felt out of sorts, as if something was going to go wrong. And since she was supposed to meet Katie for the first time as her mother tomorrow, she really needed that feeling to go away.
“I wasn’t, but I don’t know, I’m feeling really anxious right now. Just ignore me. I’ll get over it.”
“Over what?” Lynn asked as she walked in through the back doors followed by a younger woman with long dark hair.
“You’re here!” Nina cried, grabbing the cute brunette and hugging her tightly.
“I am! The drive took forever, but we found some great pieces.”
Nina stood back, holding the younger woman’s hand. “Jodi, do you remember T.J., Vaughn’s wife?”
Jodi smiled, amazed at the girl who’d been a teenager the last time she’d seen her. “I remember T.J., but she wasn’t Vaughn’s wife then.”
She winked, and T.J. stepped forward to pull her into a hug. “It’s really nice to see you again, Jodi,” she said quietly.
“Thank you.” Jodi pulled away and smiled at Lynn.
“Well, this does my old-lady heart good,” Lynn said. “All these smart, beautiful young women my nephews found. Gives me hope for the world.”
Jodi flushed at being included. She was hardly Ty’s “find,” not the way the other two were, but God, some part of her rejoiced at being included—being part of a family.
“Now,” Lynn continued. “Where is all the unpacking I’ve been promised?”
“I really can’t thank you all enough for helping me,” Jodi said. “I didn’t think I had all that much stuff, but when the movers showed up yesterday, it looked endless.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” T.J. added. “Try doing all the unpacking while the place is still under construction. Every time I think I’ve found a spot for something, Vaughn tells me I have to move it because it’s in the way of a drywaller or an electrician. It’ll be so satisfying to put things away here and know that’s actually where they get to stay.”
“But the grand opening’s in just a few weeks, right?” Nina asked as she unwrapped a glass from newspaper and set it next to the sink.
“Yes, and Vaughn promises construction will be done enough beforehand so I can finally get everything settled.”
“This is the gallery I’ve been hearing about?” Jodi asked, picking up another box and setting it on top of the small kitchen table.
“Yes!” T.J. gushed. “We’re building an apartment above the gallery and remodeling the entire building, so it’s been a long process, but so exciting. We were just in San Francisco acquiring some new pieces for the opening show. It’s going to be spectacular.”
“It sounds like a really fun project,” Jodi answered. “I remember Ty telling me about Vaughn’s art when he was still in college.”
Lynn put an arm around T.J.’s shoulders. “His beautiful wife really helped him find his art again,” she said fondly.
T.J. smiled softly. “He had a lot to get through, but it’s all good now.”
Jodi watched the expressions on the other women’s faces and knew there was something she was missing, but didn’t want to be rude by asking.
Then Lynn turned to her. “You probably haven‘t heard about Vaughn’s accident, have you?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
Lynn sighed. “He was caught out in a terrible storm about a year and a half ago. He got caught under a big boulder in a landslide out on our land. Lost the lower half of his left leg.”
“Oh no!” Jodi gasped. “That’s terrible. How is he doing with it now?”
“I’m a physical therapist,” T.J. said. “So we’ve worked a lot. He’s got various prosthetics and does almost everything he did before. He’s developed some new pain in the last few weeks, but I’m sure we’ll find a solution to that eventually.”
Jodi didn’t say anything for a few minutes, and the conversation continued around her. Finally, she set a platter aside and looked at T.J. “I can help him.”
“Who?” T.J. asked absentmindedly as she washed a glass and handed it to Nina to dry.
“Vaughn. With his pain?”
Every eye in the room turned to look at her, and Jodi swallowed uncomfortably. “If he was okay with it, of course. I studied acupressure and some meditation techniques that have had really good results with patients who’ve suffered a traumatic injury.” Her voice faded as she felt her face get pink with heat. “I’m sorry, I overstepped. I shouldn’t have—”
“Well, looks like you just got your first client!” T.J. exclaimed. Lynn and Nina grinned, and Jodi felt gratitude bubble up.
“Really? You think he’d be willing to try it?”
T.J. snorted, and Nina smirked. “He’s willing to try whatever I tell him to. That’s how we work. He left me hanging for six years. That’s not the kind of thing a guy gets to come back from overnight.” She took her cell phone from her pocket and looked at it. “The way I figure, he has at least another two years of abject groveling and a couple of years of considerate cooperation beyond that. Maybe on our five-year anniversary, he can start being a pain in my ass again, but for now, he’s a kitten.”
Nina and Lynn both laughed, and Jodi couldn’t help but join them. “I’ll give you my business card before you go so he can set up an appointment then.”
“Perfect,” T.J. said. “Thank you so much for offering. Neither of us wanted him to use prescription painkillers, and it’s not a lot of pain, but it’s enough that it tires him out some days, and I hate to see him be uncomfortable.”
Jodi gave the other woman’s hand a squeeze. “We’ll try these techniques, and if those don’t work, I’ll research for more options. We can fix it, I feel certain of it.”
In fact, she guessed Vaughn’s mild pain was the one thing in her life she could fix for certain.
Saturday morning came early for Jodi. She’d tossed and turned most of the night, second-guessing all her choices, wondering if she was about to ruin the life of a perfectly beautiful little girl. Maybe Katie would be better off not knowing her? What if she disrupted Katie to the point that she started having trouble in school, or didn’t get along with other kids? What if all this was really only about making herself feel better and wasn’t the best thing for Katie at all?
An hour before she was supposed to meet Ty and Katie at the ice-cream stand, she walked into Lynn’s coffee shop, eyes bleary and heartsick with doubt. Lynn looked up from the receipts she was tallying and met Jodi’s gaze. “Uh-oh,” she said immediately. “Marlene?” she yelled over her shoulder. “I’ll be outside for a bit. Can you please come up front?”
“Sure thing!” Marlene called from the back of the restaurant. “I’ll be right there.
“Let me make you a drink,” Lynn said. “You go on outside.”
Jodi followed Lynn’s instructions, walking to the railing of the back deck and looking out at the water. She’s forgotten how prevalent it was here in Big Sur—the ocean, the sea air, the constant sound of waves. It was beautiful and frightening all at once, reminding you just how small and unimportant you really were. It put a lot of things into perspective, and Jodi really needed some perspective right then.
“Here you go.” Lynn set a mug down on the railing next to Jodi,
then leaned against it, her body turned sideways so she could watch Jodi’s face. “You don’t look so hot.” She didn’t mince words.
Jodi huffed out a bitter laugh. “I don’t feel so hot.”
“Tell me what’s going on?”
Jodi sighed, blinked back a tear, and turned to face the woman who was more motherly than her own mother had ever been.
“What if I’m not doing the right thing? What if this is bad for her? She’s so happy and perfect—” Jodi’s breath caught, and she stopped talking, squeezing her eyes shut.
“Hey,” Lynn said softly. “You know what?”
Jodi nodded to indicate she was listening but didn’t open her eyes, because she knew if she did, she’d cry, and she really didn’t want to cry right now.
“The fact that you’re this worried about it all? Tells me everything I need to know about your intentions.” Lynn put her hand over Jodi’s on the railing. “Sweetheart, you might not think you have the instincts of a mother, but I think you have them in spades. Leaving that child when you did wasn’t selfishness, it was the ultimate act of love. You couldn’t be what she needed, and so you gave her to people who could. And now that you’re back, you’re obviously more focused on what’s best for her than you are on what’s best for you.”
Jodi finally looked at the other woman, taking a long shuddering breath. “I don’t want to hurt her.”
“No parent ever does,” Lynn said, smiling warmly. “And yet everyone will. At some point, every parent will do something, say something, make some decision that hurts their child. But you know what? Children aren’t porcelain figurines. They don’t break every time they’re bumped. They bend and flex, grow and adjust, and they get over hurts the same way the rest of us do. You can bump her here and there. She’ll be okay.
“I’m not used to this much responsibility. It feels like my heart is going to explode when I think about all the ways I could screw up.”
Lynn laughed then. “Well, now you know how Ty feels every day of his life. The agony that poor man has gone through trying to do what’s right for that child.”
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