by Kahlen Aymes
My mind was racing for a way to make it work. “Is Ben working this weekend? Can he drive you down? I can call travel and get them to switch out your plane ticket for him to use flying back.”
“That would be great, but he works the overnight shift on Saturday, and I don’t know if he can get anyone to take his shift.”
“Shit,” I murmured, my mind searching for a way around it. I knew how important it was to have Dylan with her.
“It’s very kind of you to think of me, but I don’t know how I can work it out.
“Hold on.” I got up and went into the dining room where my laptop was sitting on one end of the table, along with a stack of bills and the notebook I used to keep my research notes in. I flipped open the computer and quickly called up MapQuest, looking at the driving directions between Jackson Hole and Atlanta. I quickly looked at the route. It was interstate the entire way. “It’s about a twenty-six-hour drive. There is plenty of time to get you here between Friday and Sunday.”
“Twenty-six hours,” she said defeated. “I guess I can drive myself,” she said, more excited now. “I can stay in a motel half-way down.”
Something inside me felt protective of both her and her son. I resisted her solution. “It will be too hard to deal with a small child on such a long trip. I know. Remi is a handful during road trips. It’s either excitement or boredom overload.” I chuckled.
“He’d have to adjust, that’s all.”
My eyes traced the route on the map. “You’ll be exhausted, too,” I said absently. “Halfway will be Omaha. You take I-90 East until you hit Sioux Falls and then I-29 South into Omaha.”
“I have to pack up the rest of his things. He won’t be happy leaving his friends so abruptly.”
“Kids are resilient. Can Ben drive with you until Omaha? You can be there by late tomorrow night, and I can meet you there on Saturday morning. Ben can fly out with plenty of time to spare for his shift, and I’ll drive with you the rest of the way.”
“That’s sweet of you, but you don’t need to do that,” Missy protested quietly. “How will it look? What will Bryan say?”
“He won’t even know, but he wouldn’t give a damn either way. All he cares about is that I’m in Connecticut on Sunday night and you’re in the office on Monday. Trust me on this.”
She was silent for a beat. “I really appreciate all you’re trying to do, but— it’s too much, Jensen. You’ll be so tired Sunday when you have to go to work. I can’t expect this from a man I barely know.”
“I understand your hesitation, but I’m telling you, I want to do this for you, Missy.” Her insecurities were rearing, and I guessed that she was hesitant about being alone with me, even if her son was with her. “I’ll bring Remi with me so she and Dylan can get acquainted, and we’ll drive back Saturday. No overnights.” I tried to waylay all of her objections. “It will give us a chance to talk, and the kids will get to know each other better. Will your brother agree?”
“He’s pretty protective. I’m not sure he’ll trust someone he hasn’t met.”
“You can trust me, Missy. If you do, he will, too. Do you?”
“Yes. I’m not sure why, but I do.” Her voice held the slightest tremor as she became more emotional.
I wanted her to trust me more than I’d ever wanted anything; other than Remi to be cured of leukemia. “It will get easier.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.” In reality, I had no fucking clue if being around me would get any easier because I didn’t know what she’d gone through to make her fear men. She had real fear, and the cold bravado she projected at first impression was the result. That son of a bitch must have really hurt her, and I was more determined than ever to find out what happened; when she was ready to tell me.
“You go a long way for a play date,” she said with a tearful laugh.
My heart filled with happiness. Missy was letting me help her, and it was a baby step toward the trust I wanted to build between us. A playful chuckle burst from me. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
MISSY
Jensen had arranged everything, and Ben had reluctantly agreed, though it took a lot of talking to convince him to trust that Dylan and I would be safe with Jensen.
Nicole, the manager of the ESPN travel department, had been happy to efficiently and quickly exchange my ticket to Atlanta for one from Omaha to Jackson Hole for Ben. She put us up in the Hilton, near Eppley Airfield in Omaha, on Friday night, as well. She explained that it was only a short distance from the terminal and very nice. The airport in Omaha was one of the easiest to navigate that I’d ever seen.
It was a warm late September day with a bright blue, cloudless sky. I couldn’t believe that we were waiting for Jensen and Remi to walk up the ramp from the hub at the south end of the airport. Ben had checked in and had his boarding pass and would be going through security and would be flying out on the same airline. It all seemed surreal.
My stomach was full of butterflies, and it must have shown on my face because my brother noticed. “Are you sure about this, sis? How well do you know this guy?”
Dylan was sitting on his lap on one of the upholstered chairs near a Hudson newsstand. There was a coffee Kiosk directly nearby where we’d gotten breakfast. Dylan happily munched on half of a glazed donut. Normally, I wouldn’t allow him to have two, but it was Ben’s second one, and when he offered to share it with Dylan, I didn’t have the heart to say no. Ben was about to fly out of our lives and sadness was written all over my little boy.
“We’ve discussed this. If I’m worried, it’s due to Derrick, not Jensen. I trust him.” I offered a nervous smile. Ben and I had talked at length about Jensen on the way down to Omaha, and Jensen had put me in touch with Teagan, who Facetimed with me last night at the hotel. Teagan was beautiful and welcoming, and Remi, who she called over for a second to introduce her to Dylan, was adorable and precocious.
“What makes you so sure?” Ben was skeptical. His expression was a mixture of wry sarcasm and worry.
I shrugged. “I guess… he’s the polar opposite of someone else.”
“He could be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
I shook my head and reached out to squeeze my brother’s forearm. “I don’t think so.”
“Okay, but you keep in touch with me via text once an hour. I mean it, and when you get down there if that bastard, Derrick, shows up, I’ll be there as soon as I can fly out.”
I put my arm around Ben’s broad shoulders and laid my head on the one closest to me. “You’re an amazing big brother, Ben.”
He held Dylan on his knee with one arm and slid the other around me. “You’re my baby sister. If anything happens to you, I’ll be down there to beat someone’s ass.”
I let out a small laugh. “That won’t be necessary.”
It was only a few minutes until Jensen’s plane arrived and he and a beautiful little girl were walking hand-in-hand up the long, curved ramp toward us. Remi was looking up at Jensen and chattering away, and his face was graced with a brilliant and indulgent smile as he nodded and spoke to her. I stood up. “There they are,” I murmured, excitement racing through me.
There was an increase in volume as the din of the voices of passengers came up and met their loved ones and friends, but my eyes locked on Jensen, and I couldn’t help but grin when his blue gaze finally found mine.
He bent down a bit as they moved forward and pointed at the three of us. “There they are,” he said as they approached.
I felt Ben rise to stand close beside me, picking up my son off his lap to set him down.
Remi had on a pretty pink top, jeans and tennis shoes; a similar outfit to what I’d dressed Dylan in this morning, though he insisted on wearing the ESPN football jersey that Jensen had sent home with me.
Jensen was also wearing jeans topped with an un-tucked white Henley with the sleeves shoved up over his forearms. I couldn’t help but notice how the shirt hugged his muscular form underneath, showing t
he curves of his biceps and the outline of his pecs. I cleared my throat and put my hand on Dylan’s back. He was licking the last of the donut glaze off of his fingers, and I wished I’d given him a napkin.
I smiled nervously. “Hey. Did you guys have a good trip?”
Remi nodded and piped up. “We had some air pockets, but those are fun!” Her green eyes sparkled above her rosy cheeks.
I couldn’t help but grin, remembering Jensen telling me about Remi’s air pockets on our flight from Atlanta to L.A. His eyebrows rose and he mouthed. “Told ya.” He was so handsome that he took my breath away, and I was unprepared for it.
“I’m Ben. Missy’s brother.” Ben held out his hand to Jensen who quickly took it in a firm handshake.
“Glad to meet you.” I could see Ben was sizing up Jensen, who knew it and seemed completely unperturbed. They were both about the same height and could look each other in the eye.
“You, too,” Ben answered.
“This is Remi.” Jensen picked her up and held her with one arm beneath her bottom. “My little munchkin.” My heart couldn’t help but swell at the sight of the two of them. Remi’s arm went easily around his neck. The little girl’s hair was in ringlets and pulled off her face with a sparkly pink barrette. He looked down at Dylan with a warm expression. “You must be Dylan. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Jensen had a duffel slung over one shoulder, and Remi still in his arms, but he reached out to ruffle Dylan’s dark blond hair with his free hand.
Dylan stood between my brother and me, looking up at Jensen with curious blue eyes, with one arm around Ben’s thigh. He was a little scared, and I hoped Remi’s secure exuberance would rub off on him.
Jensen’s eyes flashed up to meet mine. “It’s good to see you. Remi, this is Missy, Ben, and Dylan. What do you say?”
“Nice to meet you,” she said with a grin. To our surprise, she held out her little hand to Ben and me. It was hard to imagine this vibrant little thing sick with leukemia. When she finished her adult introductions, she leaned in to half-whisper in Jensen’s ear. “Jensey, you gotta let me down if I’m gonna talk to that boy.” She pointed at Dylan.
“Oh, yes, ma’am. What was I thinking?” he answered, setting her on her feet.
She walked the few feet to Dylan. “Hello. My name is Remi. Do you wanna be friends with me?”
“Hi,” he said, hesitantly. “I’m Dylan. I’ve never had a friend who’s a girl before.”
“We don’t got cooties, ya know,” she said, annoyed.
Jensen’s expression was apologetic. “Be nice, Remi. What time is your flight, Ben?”
“I have to go now. I just heard my boarding call. Take care of these two,” Ben said to Jensen.
“No worries. I will.”
Ben enveloped me in a tight embrace and then kissed my cheek. “Take care of yourself and remember what I said.”
“I will. I love you. Thank you, Ben.” My eyes implored him. “I mean it. For everything.”
“What’s a big brother for?”
When he squatted down to Dylan’s level, my son was fighting to hold back his tears. “Hey,” Ben said softly, nudging Dylan’s chin. My eyes started to sting. I wasn’t sure how he was going to get along without his Uncle Ben. The two had become so close. “You’re the man of the house now, and I’m counting on you to take good care of your mom.”
Dylan sniffed. “Okay, Uncle Ben. I will.”
Ben pulled him between his bent knees and rubbed Dylan’s back through the football jersey. “Why don’t you tell Jensen all about your friends? I bet he’ll play football with you sometimes, too.”
His little chin trembled, and two big tears fell from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. “It won’t be the suh-same,” he stuttered.
My heart was breaking for my son, and I had to wipe away a few of my own tears. Jensen’s hand landed on the middle of my back and moved up to squeeze my shoulder in a show of support. It didn’t feel alien to have him touch me, offering comfort, because I was drawn to him. I wished I could fall right into his arms and cry my eyes out.
“Sure, I will! I might even get my friends to join in with their kids,” Jensen added. “We’ll have a real game and a picnic in the park.”
“Doesn’t that sound fun? I’ll be so jealous; I’ll have to visit real soon so I can play, too.” Ben’s voice was starting to tighten as he held my little son in his arms, and he looked up at me with sad eyes. He cleared his throat. “Listen, buddy, I have to go, or I’ll miss my flight. I’ll Facetime with you, tonight, okay?”
Dylan sniffed and stood near me after Ben had released him. I reached out and ran a hand over the back of his head as Ben got to his feet. “Okay.”
He hugged me again and shook Jensen’s hand. “It was very nice to meet you, Little Miss Remi. You two have fun on the trip.” Remi curtsied and smiled beguilingly at Ben who was totally won over. “She’s a doll,” he said to Jensen, then turned to me. “I love you. Be good.”
“We love you, too.” My throat felt thick, but I did my best to push down my sadness. I offered a tumultuous smile as Ben took three steps backward.
“Call me when you get to Atlanta,” he winked at me, and then turned and walked down the same ramp Remi and Jensen had come up, only minutes before. Ben stopped to wait at the security checkpoint that would take him down to the terminal.
I sucked in a big breath. This was it. The start of a new life.
My son turned and buried his face in my stomach and his arms wrapped around my waist. My hands instantly went into his silky hair as he cried. “It’s okay, sweetheart.”
Remi came over and touched Dylan on the shoulder. “Yeah! We’re gonna have fun!” Remi said. “You’ll see! We have a pool with a slide and everything!”
“It’s too cold to swim in fall.” Dylan, who had separated from me, eyed Remi with skepticism.
“Not in Atlanta, silly. Even if it snows, the pool is warm. It steams like a bowl of soup.”
Dylan’s eyes got wide as saucers. It appeared Remi had succeeded in distracting him from his sadness. “Really?”
“Yeah!”
“Cool! Mom, can we swim when we get there?” He was excited, and he wore an exuberant expression.
I sighed in relief. “If Remi’s mom says it’s alright.”
“She will,” Remi assured. “Do you need floaties? I got one pair is all, so we might need to get some for you.”
Dylan frowned. “No way. I don’t need floaties.” He rolled his eyes. “My Uncle Ben taught me how to swim at the YMCA.”
“Are you ready to go?” Jensen asked, his duffel still slung over his shoulder. “We still have thirteen hours in front of us.”
I nodded but groaned at the thought. Yesterday left me exhausted. “The car is in the garage.”
It wasn’t long before we’d walked across the road into the short-term parking garage and loaded the bags into the trunk of the car, and we were driving back to the hotel parking lot to pick up the small U-Haul trailer that Ben had disconnected the night before.
The kids were chattering from the backseat, and I got out to help Jensen, but he didn’t need me. I found myself watching his muscles work beneath his shirt as he lifted the fully loaded trailer hitch over the ball on the back of the car. It had to be heavy as hell, and his muscles bulged with the effort, though he didn’t seem to struggle. He proceeded to get to work, hooking up the three chains and cranking the handle on the hitch tight. In no time, Jensen had it completely attached to the back of my older model Lexus.
I was embarrassed that I found his show of strength so attractive and looked away even though he was concentrating on the trailer and didn’t see my face.
What was I doing? If I weren’t careful, I’d be making an utter fool of myself in a matter of minutes. It had been so long since I’d wanted a man, that I didn’t know how to handle it.
The back window of the Lexus rolled down, and Dylan was out the window to his waist. “Hey, Mom! We’re hun
gry, and Remi has to go to the bathroom.”
“Oh,” I looked around. The obvious answer was the bathroom in the lobby of the hotel and lunch at the restaurant there. “Okay.”
I walked over and opened the backseat door and motioned for the kids to pile out. “Grab your coats.” The air temperature was cool, but Jensen wasn’t wearing a coat and was completely unaware of the direction of events. “Jensen, Remi has to use the bathroom, so I’m going to take her inside. Do you want to grab a bite to eat before we get on the road? The hotel has a nice restaurant.”
“We ate there last night,” Dylan added.
Jensen straightened after completing his task. “Sure.” He looked around the parking lot. “There aren’t a lot of cars here, so I’ll just stop in and tell the front desk we’ll be taking this out of the lot soon.”
“Jensey, I have to go potty!” Remi reminded urgently.
“I’ll take you, Remi,” I said, holding out my hand. “Dylan, do you have to go, or do you want to go with Jensen?”
He crossed his arms adamantly, and I was sure that even if he was in danger of peeing his pants, there was no way he would go into a woman’s bathroom with Remi and me. I didn’t feel safe letting him go into the men’s alone and Jensen read the concern on my face.
Jensen’s hand came down on Dylan’s shoulder. “We men will stick together and meet you in the restaurant. Cool?”
I glanced at Dylan who nodded. “Cool,” he repeated.
My eyebrow rose in surprise. He was taking to Jensen much better than I’d believed he would. The man in question smirked and nodded toward the entrance. “Shall we? Ladies first.”
In the large lobby, Jensen and Dylan walked in one direction, and I took Remi in another. She was looking up into my face, studying me the entire time until I pushed open the oversized mahogany door to the women’s restroom.
“What is it, Remi?”
“Oh, nothing. You’re just real pretty. I like your yellow hair. It’s just like Cinderella.”
My face split into a genuine smile. Yellow must be her word for blonde. “Thank you. I think you’re just beautiful, too.” I tapped the tip of her upturned nose with my index finger. “Do you need help, honey?”
