by Jolie, Meg
“So you should be relieved, right? Why don’t you look relieved?”
“It’s not a sure thing. But then if it is, I have no idea how I’m going to get my stuff moved. It’s not like my bed fits in my car,” she explained. The small house had come mostly furnished. The bed, however, had only been a twin size. She’d splurged and spent one of her precious paychecks on a queen size bed. A bed she now had no way of moving.
He shrugged. “It’ll fit in my truck.”
She shook her head. “I would never ask—”
“You didn’t have to ask,” he interrupted. “I’m offering. Besides, if you have to head back to school, if I get to help you move, it’ll let me spend an extra day with you.”
“You really wouldn’t mind?” she wondered. It would be a huge relief to not have to worry about lining someone else up.
He scoffed at her. “Carly, there isn’t much I wouldn’t do for you. So in the grand scheme of things? Helping you move some furniture is barely a blip on the radar.”
She wasn’t sure how to respond to that so she took a sip of her wine instead. They hadn’t talked too much about what would happen when she went back to school. She wasn’t going to bring it up now. The time would come soon enough. As it was, an entire week of her break had already passed.
She was surprised when Jesse skipped over the next five months in his conversation and went straight to her graduation.
“So, what do you plan to do when you’re done with school?” It was another thing they hadn’t discussed.
She grinned at him. “Look for a job, I suppose.”
“Where?”
There was no mistaking the intent behind his question. With each passing night that Carly spent with him, she felt her hesitancy to open up to him fade a little bit more. She found she was allowing herself to believe that a future with Jesse might be possible.
He mistook her silent revelation for hesitation.
“Please tell me that you’re considering moving back to Lanford,” he quietly pressed.
Please tell me something,” she volleyed back to him. “Please tell me this is for real. Please promise me that you’re not just messing with my head. I realize that if you are, I probably deserve it. I just don’t think my heart could take it.”
He reached across the table and took both of her hands in his. His piercing gaze bore into her intently. “Have I ever lied to you, Cricket? Ever?”
She knew that he hadn’t. Not when she was fifteen. Not now. He’d never been dishonest with her. Sometimes bluntly honest, but honest. Other times, he’d been evasive but he’d never lied. “I promise you, Carly. I want to be with you. Only you. I’ll say it however many times you need me to say it.”
Out of nowhere she felt the subtle prickle of tears behind her eyes. She gave him a little nod. “You know, you’re really making me rethink my entire future,” she admitted.
He gave her hands a squeeze as he smiled at her. “Then it sounds like we’re finally getting somewhere.”
~*~*~
Carly knew she was smiling like a lovesick schoolgirl when she traipsed down the stairs the next morning. After dinner, they’d gone to a movie. A sappy, romantic chick-flick that Jesse assured her—to her amusement—was a perfect first-date movie.
He had her home just a little before midnight. She had tried to convince him that he was taking his ‘do-over’ just a little too far. She hadn’t realized that when he said he wanted to take things slow this time, he meant it.
With a smile on his face, he’d refused her request to go back to his house after the movie. He’d brought her home with a promise to call in the morning. Carly had briefly started to wonder if maybe he wasn’t attracted to her the way he used to be. In the past, he never would’ve refused a request from her to sleep over.
That worry quickly faded during his goodnight kiss. Jesse had probably meant to keep the kiss short and sweet. Carly hadn’t let that happen. She had drawn him in with that kiss. Her hands had done some wandering. In no time, the kiss had gotten completely out of control. She found herself in his lap and she had irrefutable proof that he was still plenty attracted to her.
Jesse had gently pushed her away with a groan and a great deal of self-restraint.
“You two made up.”
Carly spun around in the foyer at the sound of her mom’s voice. It had unpleasantly cut through her memory of the night before. “What?”
Margo raised an eyebrow at her. “You made up. Didn’t you? You and Nolan.”
Any trace of a smile fell from Carly’s face. “Why would you think that?”
“Because I’ve seen that look before. It’s the look you have when—” Margo abruptly cut herself off. She groaned and treated Carly to a scowl. Her voice was laden with disgust. “Oh, Carly. That’s the look you have when some guy has piqued your interest. If you didn’t make-up with Nolan, please do not tell me that you’ve been out gallivanting already. Already?!”
“I was just thinking about my nieces,” Carly ground out. Yes, it was a lie. She’d been thinking about Jesse. She refused to feel guilty about the untruth. She wouldn’t have to lie if Margo didn’t always make it so damn hard to tell the truth.
“Did your nieces send you that gorgeous bouquet? The one on top of your dresser?” Margo asked as she followed her daughter into the kitchen.
Carly cringed, realizing there was no point in lying. Besides, she decided, she’d already disappointed her mom immensely with the break-up. Maybe it was best to just get it all out there now. Let all of that disappointment fester together.
“You were in my room?” It was foolish to ask but the words slipped out.
“It’s my house,” Margo curtly pointed out. “I have every right to be in that room.”
Carly didn’t respond because she knew her mom was right. Instead, she went to the fridge in search of some juice.
“Who is the bouquet from?”
“Jesse,” Carly muttered.
Margo exhaled her disappointment. “So, you’re back to him again? How long do you think it’s going to last this time?”
Carly closed the refrigerator door without extracting anything. She turned to face Margo instead. With a small shrug she told her, “I don’t know Mom. I’m hoping maybe forever this time.”
Margo looked horrified over the admission. “Do you expect me to believe that things are serious between the two of you this time? You’ve only been back in town a week. How could you and Jesse possibly be—” She cut herself off again as her eyes widened in displeasure. “Did Nolan leave you because of Jesse?”
Carly stared at her mom in stunned amazement. Margo couldn’t mean what Carly thought she meant by that. And yet, Carly was sure she heard the veiled accusation loud and clear.
“Were you carrying on with Jesse while you were engaged?” she demanded.
Carly gave her mom a sharp shake of her head. “No. No! Is that what you think of me?! Do you really think that I’d be unfaithful to my fiancé?!”
Margo wasn’t intimidated by Carly’s exasperation. Unapologetically, she pushed ahead with the conversation. “You have been known for your unscrupulous actions. So don’t blame me if the thought crossed my mind. I mean, honestly Carly,” she hissed. “How can you be seeing someone else already? Did you just run straight to Jesse’s arms? The thought makes me sick.”
“You’re right,” Carly said flatly. “My dating life is going to be such a scandal. I’m bringing embarrassment upon my family. I should probably purchase a scarlet letter for my chest. Oh, the horror of it all.”
Margo narrowed her eyes, not sure what to make of her daughter’s blasé sarcasm. “Carly, do not mock me. If there is a scandal, it’s entirely of your own making.”
“There won’t be a scandal. I didn’t do anything wrong. You don’t believe me, do you?” she accused.
“When it comes to you, I never know what to believe,” Margo informed her. “But the fact that you and Jesse are already tangled up in another one o
f your pseudo-relationships sure does make me wonder.”
“Unbelievable!” Carly cried as she threw her hands up in the air. Part of her wanted to tell Margo that she was wrong. Yet she knew her mom well enough to know that it would be a waste of breath. Her mom would believe what she wanted to believe. She always did. The only thing that might change her mind was time. Sometimes, not even that. However, Carly was not going to let the accusation stand. “I have never been unfaithful to anyone! Ever! It is not my fault that Nolan changed his mind!”
“Carly,” Margo said with forced patience, “there must have been something that made that man change his mind.”
“I don’t have to listen to this,” Carly quietly said. Her mother’s implication was clear. She must’ve done something wrong to make Nolan change his mind. Clearly, in Margo’s eyes, Carly was to blame for all of this.
“You do have to admit that you have a habit of bouncing from one relationship to another,” Margo pointed out.
Carly knew it would be pointless to point out that she had realized, too late, that her relationship with Nolan was a relationship she never should’ve been in to begin with. Not wanting to further the verbal confrontation, she began making her way out of the kitchen. She instinctively knew that there was no chance at any reasonable conversation with her mom today.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Margo demanded.
Carly stopped at the foot of the stairs. With a great deal of forced calm, she told Margo her newly created plans. “First, I’m going to shower and get ready to start my day. After that, I’m going to spend some time with family that doesn’t think of me as white trash.”
12
“Are you sleeping?” Jesse asked a few days later. His tone belied his disbelief. “It’s almost 4:00. In the afternoon!”
Carly let out a loud, unapologetic yawn into her phone. “Yes, I was sleeping. I didn’t get home until after 7:00 this morning.”
She stretched as she tried to blink herself awake. The ringing of her phone had pulled her from a deep sleep. She hadn’t been avoiding Jesse completely but she had let Margo’s words get to her. She hated the fact that her mom had been right about one thing. She did have a habit of bouncing from one relationship to the next. A few days away from Jesse had been good for her. She realized that she missed him in a way that she never had before.
She was met with a brief silence. Then in a measured tone Jesse said, “You were out all night.”
She smiled at the jealousy she heard there. “I sure was.”
When she was met with another round of silence she decided to quickly end whatever thoughts Jesse was surely coming to. No more games. But teasing for a few minutes had been fun.
“I stayed at Quinn and Luke’s,” she explained. “They are both so wiped out lately. I offered to stay, since I’m a night person and them…well, not so much. I took care of the girls, both of them,” she said proudly. “All night. So Quinn and Luke could finally sleep all night. I didn’t sleep at all because I swear if one of those girls wasn’t awake, the other one was. And sometimes they both were.”
She could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “You stayed up all night taking care of babies?”
“Yes,” she said, smiling back. “It was exhausting but so worth it. I haven’t spent that much time with them before.”
He chuckled. “I bet Quinn and Luke really appreciated that.”
Carly smiled. “Oh, yeah. You have no idea.”
When she had first offered to watch the twins for a little bit, she’d told them she wanted to do it so they could go out. Like a date night.
“We don’t want to go out,” Luke had said dully.
“We want to sleep,” Quinn had clarified.
So instead of her initial offer of a few hours, she’d changed that offer to overnight. Carly had nearly had to beg, proving that she wanted to do it for herself as much as she wanted to do it for them. Yes, she thought they deserved some sleep. But she also really wanted to see her nieces. And if she could make that happen and help Quinn and Luke out, why not?
Quinn had wandered downstairs once. Carly had not been able to physically banish her because she’d been pinned down in the rocking chair, a baby in each arm. But she’d verbally shooed her sister away, assuring Quinn that she had it under control.
And while it had been tiring, she’d loved every second of it.
When her sister had shuffled into the kitchen early this morning, she looked more rested than Carly had seen her since the start of winter break. Carly had insisted on picking another night to watch the girls before she went back to school. Quinn had been too grateful to even try to decline.
“Did you enjoy yourself?” he wondered.
Carly smiled drowsily. “I never thought I was cut out to be a mom. Then Carter came along. And now Lydia and Adela and I just can’t get enough of them. I would give anything to have that someday.” Her eyes flew open as she realized what she’d just confessed in her sleepy state.
Before she could even think of a way to try to take the words back, she heard Jesse say, “Yeah, me too.” Before she could ponder that too deeply he added on, “Are you rested now?”
“I am,” Carly said as she flung her covers off and swung her legs around the bed.
“Do you want to come over? When I get off work?”
Carly groaned. “I’d love to. But I promised Carter I’d be back tonight with pizza for everyone. I don’t want to disappoint him.”
“After?” Jesse suggested.
“Definitely,” Carly agreed with a smile.
“Okay. I need to get back to work. But I’ll see you then.”
~*~*~
A light snowfall was fluttering down when Carly pulled into Jesse’s driveway. His house looked surprisingly dark. His truck wasn’t out front, but that was nothing new. He typically parked it in the garage, especially in the wintertime.
She did a quick check of her make-up in the rearview mirror and decided it was acceptable. Then she alighted from the warmth of her car. The air had a bitter chill to it so she hurriedly made her way up to the house. For just a moment, she worried that she’d misunderstood. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to come here. Or maybe he hadn’t meant tonight. There was also the possibility that something had come up but surely he would’ve called or sent a text. Just the thought of one more night without seeing him sent a shot of disappointment through her.
Before any of those thoughts could take hold too firmly, the front door opened.
“Hey, Cricket,” he said. “I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to show up.” He pulled her into a hug and nuzzled her neck before she even had a chance to take her jacket off.
“Sorry,” she said. “I know I’m running a little late. Carter accidentally knocked the babies’ formula off the counter. The top came off the canister and it spilled out all over the floor. It was the only can they had so Luke had to run to the store to get more. I decided to stay with Quinn so I could clean up the mess. Also, both girls were awake and hungry and Carter needed a bath so he could get to bed.”
Jesse released her as he chuckled. “They really have their hands full, don’t they?”
She nodded as she smiled. “They do. For the most part, they have it completely under control. I’ve never seen the two of them so happy.”
“Good,” Jesse said as he took her coat from her. “If anyone deserves it, it’s those two.” He put her coat on the coat rack and then reached for her hand so he could lead her into the living room.
“I know I’m a little late, but you weren’t sleeping already were you?” she asked. “When I first pulled up and realized all the lights were off I was worried that maybe you weren’t home. Oh…!” She exclaimed, finding the answer for herself.
As they rounded the corner into the living room, she realized Jesse had a fire blazing in the fireplace. The light of the flickering flames danced across the room. There was a quilt spread out in front of the blaze. A pile of pillows h
ad been tossed down as well.
“Well. If this doesn’t look like a seduction waiting to happen, I don’t know what does,” Carly said as she cocked an eyebrow at him.
Jesse laughed. “That’s the last thing this is. Come here.” He led her to the quilt and lowed himself onto it as she followed his lead. “This? This is a night of just us. Talking, hanging out, just enjoying each other’s company or whatever.” He leaned over to the hearth where Carly now realized he had several items spread out. He reached for a thermos. “Hot cocoa,” he said with a smug smile. “Your favorite. Or, at least that’s what Quinn said when she gave me her recipe. I thought since you had dinner with them, you could have dessert with me.” He pointed to the other items.
Carly turned to him; sure she had a silly smile on her face. “You want to make s’mores?”
He hesitated as if rethinking everything. “This is completely lame, isn’t it?” he looked abashed.
She quickly shook her head. “It’s not. It might just be the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“Well that’s just sad,” Jesse said with a little laugh.
For the next half hour, Jesse carefully roasted marshmallows while Carly assembled the desserts. She ate so many of the sticky concoctions she felt like she was going to burst. They finally both agreed they couldn’t eat another one and Jesse set everything aside.
“This wasn’t a lame idea at all,” she said after she licked her fingers clean for the last time. “It was a delicious idea.”
“I’m glad you approve,” he murmured as he pulled her close.
“I do,” she said as she pushed him down into the pillows. He went willingly, pulling her along with him. He grinned up at her as he gazed into her face, his hands sliding down her backside until they were cupping her bottom, pulling her in close. She felt her heart begin an out of control beat at the sight of him. The amber glow of the fire lent a softness to his expression that began to melt her. One hand slid up the back of her shirt, resting on the bare skin at the small of her back. That was all the encouragement Carly needed to place her mouth on his. He willingly accepted the kiss. While his hands caressed her backside, hers slid up into his hair. He let out a little sound of contentment as she ran her fingers through it.
