Short Stop to Love

by A. M. Williams

  She decided to break the silence as they walked up to her brick apartment building.

  “Thank you for walking me back,” she said, smiling.

  “It was my pleasure. I’ll pick you up at eleven, don’t forget.”

  “I won’t,” she whispered.

  She opened the door to her building and glanced over her shoulder. Jeremy was still standing there watching her, his hands in his pocket. Meeting her look, he waved to her and smiled. She grinned in return and tried to quell the butterflies in her stomach as she shut the door behind her.

  She bound up the steps to her apartment, giddiness making her grin as she let herself in.

  “What’s got you so smiley?” Joann asked as she stepped from the kitchen.

  “I asked Jeremy out.”

  “What? You did? I didn’t think you were going to do it!”

  Keri blushed, her heart still beating fast from the encounter. “Well, I did.”

  “I take it from your face that he said yes?”

  Keri nodded, too excited to form words. Joann shrieked, ran to Keri and pulled her into a tight hug. “Oh my gosh! This is monumental! When are you going out? We can go shopping for something and get you all dolled up.”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “What’s tomorrow?” Joann asked, confused.

  “The date.”

  “You’re going out with him tomorrow?”

  Keri nodded. “Is that bad?”

  “Did you suggest this or did he?”

  “He did.”

  “If he suggested it, then he’s definitely interested because he didn’t waste any time locking you down. Did he say anything when he asked you?”

  “He just said he couldn’t wait.”

  Joann squealed in Keri’s ear. She winced and walked to her room and Joann followed heading straight for the closet.

  “I can’t wait,” Keri said, sitting on the edge of her bed.

  “What are you doing?” Joann asked, glancing at Keri over her shoulder. “We need to make sure we put together the right outfit.”

  Joann pulled clothes out of Keri’s closet discarding them haphazardly behind her.

  “He’s going to take me out on his boat.”

  Joann paused ransacking Keri’s closet to turn and face her. “He’s taking you on his boat? He owns a boat?!”

  “Yes?” Keri said, attempting to pile her clothes on her bed.

  “Lucky bitch,” Joann said with a fake glare. “Well, it’s going to be cold out there, so you’ll want to dress warm. Wear these jeans and boots. I have a cute sweater you can borrow I’ll help you style your hair tomorrow. You’re going to look hot.”

  Keri watched as Joann threw the aforementioned clothing at her before dashing into her own room and returning with the promised sweater. Joann continued to chatter. “I’m thinking tie your hair back so it doesn’t blow everywhere and super subtle makeup.”

  Keri knew if she didn’t get Joann out of her room that she’d be in there for an extended period going over her clothing options, makeup, and hair. She guided Joann out of her room and into the living room before moving into the kitchen to make tea. Throughout all this, Joann continued to talk and Keri tuned her out. Tea ready, Keri placed it on the the dining table and grasped Joann by the arms, making her pause in her advice giving.

  “Thank you for your help,” Keri said, pulling Joann to her for a hug. “But, I really need to get to sleep.”

  “Oh, right, sorry. I’m just so excited for you!”

  Keri smiled. “I know and that’s why I appreciate you helping me out. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Joann nodded as Keri turned to get her tea and slipped back into her room, shutting the door behind her.

  She breathed a sigh of relief once she was alone. Blessed silence. She placed her tea mug on the nightstand and looked at what Joann picked out for her to wear. It did look nice. She moved it all to her desk chair, laying it out. She quickly showered and put her fuzzy pajamas on.

  As she settled into her bed, her phone buzzed. She smiled as she read the text from Jeremy.

  Jeremy: Just checking that you haven’t changed your mind about tomorrow. :)

  Keri: Nope, still excited about it. You can’t keep me away.

  Jeremy: Good. Do you have any preference on wine for tomorrow?

  Keri: I’m not too good at the alcohol thing. I usually have whatever anyone else is having. So, whatever you pick is fine.

  Jeremy: Then I guess I’ll surprise you. Stick around me long enough and we’ll make you a connoisseur before you know it.

  Keri: We’ll have to see about that. I’ll enjoy the attempt, I’m sure.

  She didn’t hear from him anymore that night, but he consumed her dreams.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Keri

  “Wow. Impressive,” Keri said as Jeremy helped her step onto his boat At Ease. Keri’s eyes swept over the sparkling white hull, tracing the lettering on the back before turning her attention back to Jeremy. “Much more impressive than I first thought.”

  Jeremy laughed. “I’m glad. I wouldn’t want you disappointed with your outing today.”

  Keri smiled and followed Jeremy as he showed her around the boat. It was cold and windy, but it was a rare sunny winter day and Keri was excited to go out on the water. He spouted off several statistics about it and all Keri could remember is that it was 55 feet long. He showed her belowdecks briefly—pointing out the bathroom—before bringing her back up and helping her settle onto the outdoor couch. The boat was understated, but very nice. The seats were all leather and there was polished wood throughout. Keri was sure she could use the wood as a mirror if she wanted. Everything screamed money even if Jeremy didn’t flaunt his obvious wealth.

  She noticed the clear walls that were up around the outdoor seating area and asked, “What are these plastic things?”

  Jeremy glanced up. “Those are the all-weather flaps. Normally, I wouldn’t use them; I’d just bundle up. But, since I’m planning to anchor in the bay, I thought it might be nice to not be quite so exposed to the elements.”

  He handed her a cashmere blanket and set up a small outdoor heater, directing it toward her and turning it on. She smiled her thanks as she pulled the blanket over her lap, finding she was already warming up. Jeremy joined a man that just stepped onto the boat. She watched as they uncoiled ropes and prepared the boat for launch, eventually pushing away from the dock.

  The engines vibrated, and they slowly made their way toward the open water. The marina grew smaller and smaller until she could only just barely distinguish between the different boats. The Seattle skyline was a hazy blip in the distance. She could make out the Space Needle and a few of the taller buildings, but everything else was too indistinct.

  The splash of the water filled her ears and her eyes drank in the horizon. The boat skipped across the water and the steady movement lulled her over the water.

  The mainsail snapped and unfurled, catching the wind. The engine’s vibrations stopped, and she realized they were now sailing. Jeremy appeared and sat beside her, pulling part of the blanket over his legs. He placed an arm along the back of the couch they shared and they sat in silence as they glided across the water.

  Keri was very aware of his arm lightly brushing against the back of her neck. Gooseflesh raised along her neck at the inadvertent caresses as the boat rocked.

  “What do you think?” Jeremy asked, breaking their silence.

  “This is amazing,” Keri told him, smiling. “It’s so peaceful out here.”

  “It is. It’s one reason I love to come out here. I can forget about everything else and just… exist.”

  Her eyes flicked over to the man at the helm of the boat. “Who’s the guy?”

  Jeremy briefly looked at the man before looking back at Keri. “That’s my first mate Liam. He helps me keep the boat in shape and usually goes out with me when I sail.”

  “Do you have to have someone with you?”

  Jerem
y shrugged. “I could probably do it by myself, but it’s smart to have someone’s help just in case something happens.”

  “Oh, okay. That’s cool.”

  They lapsed into silence again. Keri turned herself to face Jeremy. “So, tell me about yourself. I know that you donate money to charity and that you volunteer, but I want to know more about Jeremy Glass and what makes him who he is.”

  Jeremy looked at her as he fidgeted and said nothing. She didn’t understand why he looked uncomfortable. It was normal to get to know your date, right?

  He cleared his throat and said, “Well, my mother is an elementary school teacher and my father is a politician. They’re both devoted to their jobs and show no sign of slowing down anytime soon. I have two siblings: a brother and a sister. My brother Troy is a businessman and owns his own IT company. My sister Emily is still trying to find herself.”

  Keri laughed. “Trying to find herself?”

  Jeremy chuckled. “Those are her words, not mine. She chooses something and throws herself wholeheartedly into it until something else comes along. For right now, she’s living at home with my parents and mooching for lack of a better word.”

  “So, that means you have no idea what’ll happen next?” she asked with a smile.

  Jeremy chuckled. “That sums it up. What about you?”

  “Well, you know part of my past. My mother abandoned me when I was younger. I haven’t seen her in, God, years. I was maybe eight? My father raised me and he was the best dad I could have asked for. He died a few months before I turned 18. CPS placed me in a group home that… didn’t work for me. So, I hopped from shelter to shelter, avoiding CPS.”

  “What was wrong with the group home?”

  Keri looked across the water, wanting to avoid answering the question. She didn’t like to think about her time at the group home. “I struggled to adjust to living there for a lot of reasons, the biggest of which was I entered the system while most of the kids there had been bouncing around for years. I automatically had a target on my back.”

  “And it was bad enough that you thought homeless shelters were a better choice?”

  “Yep.”

  Jeremy winced at her curtness and Keri sighed, realizing she was being too harsh. “I couldn’t stay in that home another day. I was fine; I survived, as you can see. It helped to shape me into the person I am today. That’s one reason volunteering is so important to me. I want to give back because, without those shelters and the people in them, I’m not sure I’d be where I am today.”

  Jeremy sighed. “I think we should talk about something else. It’s…”

  “Depressing?”

  “That’s a good word. Depressing.”

  “What’s one thing that helped you growing up?”

  Jeremy looked thoughtful. “Well, baseball has been the one constant in my life for as long as I can remember..”

  “Baseball? You don’t strike me as the baseball type.”

  “That’s quite the pun,” Jeremy teased. “I am very much the baseball type. It’s still a love of mine. Once I showed interest in the game, my parents enrolled me in the first league they could and the rest, as they say, is history.”

  “Were you any good?”

  “You could say that.” He was silent for a few beats. “What about yourself?”

  Keri bit her lip as she mulled it over. “For the longest time, it was books. I could lose myself in a good book for hours, not emerging until someone forced me to. But, after my dad died, I turned to writing. Carrying around a lot of books wasn’t ideal, but I could easily carry around a small journal. I started out writing things down daily, but then I started to write stories.”

  “Do you still write?”

  “I do. I still find solace in it. I hope to one day be published, but I’m not ready to share that part of me with the world just yet.”

  Jeremy nodded. “I can understand that.”

  They lapsed back into silence. “Are you hungry?” Jeremy eventually asked.

  “I could eat,” Keri said.

  “I’ll go get the food my housekeeper prepared for us earlier.”

  Before Keri could say anything, Jeremy disappeared below decks. She turned her gaze back to the water and let her mind wander. She thought of her brief time at the group home. She shuddered as she remembered the things the boys had done to her. She was lucky enough to escape relatively unscathed with her dignity and innocence intact. But, mentally, she was broken. It wasn’t until she started college that following fall that she sought professional help at the university’s health clinic. Her therapist helped her come to grips not only with what could have happened at the group home, and what happened with her mother and father.

  She heard clinking and turned to see Jeremy slowly making his way towards her with a tray laden with dishes, silverware, and wine glasses. He sat the tray down on a sideboard and retrieved a remote. He pressed a few buttons, and a table rose from the deck in front of her. She knew her eyes were bulging out of her head as it slowly moved into place.

  Once it stopped moving, Jeremy efficiently set the table and placed an ice bucket and wine bottle on top. He joined her again, he poured them each a glass of rosé before pulling the tray to them. He removed the foil that covered a large plate to show sandwiches cut into triangles. He uncovered other dishes, revealing fruit salad, fresh veggies, and chips.

  “The sandwiches are turkey and ham. I didn’t know what you liked, so I asked Ms. Burnam to make some choices.”

  “Ms. Burnam?”

  “Cindy Burnam. She’s my housekeeper. Without her, I’d probably starve.”

  Keri laughed, not doubt Jeremy’s words. “You’d be living off takeout, is that what you’re saying?”

  “Yep, takeout or trying to convince my mom to cook for me each night. Which sandwich would you like?”

  “Either is fine,” she said, smiling as she selected two triangles.

  They started eating, using the time to get to know each other better. While she thought she knew a lot about Jeremy from their time volunteering; she really didn’t. He loved to read and collected first editions of his favorite books. He hadn’t had a serious girlfriend since his college years.

  By the time they docked again in the late afternoon, their plates were gone and the bottle of wine was empty. Once they were moored, Jeremy helped Keri off the boat and to his car. Keri didn’t want the day to end. It was still fairly early and she wanted to enjoy more time with Jeremy.

  It seemed Jeremy was of the same mindset. He asked, “What do you say to hitting up a bookstore?”

  Keri smiled. “A bookstore? Do you know what you’re getting into?”

  “I can only imagine,” Jeremy told her with a smirk. “I’ll take my chances though.”

  With a chuckle, she agreed, and they set off toward a local bookstore. Upon pulling up, Keri had a face-splitting grin on her face. Though she worked in publishing and was around books throughout the day, she couldn’t help but still be excited at the prospect of wandering through a bookstore. It brought back memories of her Dad taking her to story time at the library and the bookstore, helping her pick out the first books she read by herself. Eventually, he would take her and find a seat, reading the newspaper until she came to find him with her choices for the day.

  Keri breathed deeply as she stepped in the store, reveling in the smell of the books.

  “Did you take a deep breath?” Jeremy asked.

  Keri blushed. “Yes. I love the smell of books.”

  Jeremy quirked a brow at her. “You love the smell of books?”

  “Yes,” Keri said defensively, “it’s one of the best smells.”

  Jeremy chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t think I realized until now just how much you loved books. I’m worried now.”

  Keri acted like she was wounded, staggering dramatically. “How you crush me.”

  Keri went to the bestsellers section, looking over the list and if any of the titles were from Next Page. She s
aw none, so she started a slow meander through the shelves, picking up books that interested her as she walked by.

  “You touch every book like you’re greeting a friend.”

  Keri jumped and faced Jeremy. She was so focused on the books in front of her, she forgot she was there with Jeremy. “Yeah, sorry. I like to see if any of our authors are featured and then I like to make a list of books I want to get copies of.”

  “You’ll come back and buy them?”

  Keri shrugged as she turned back to the table of books. “Some, yes. I’ll check out the library to see if they have any and I might check out some ebooks. It all depends. What about you?”

  “What about me?”

  Her eyes slid to him. He was intently looking at the back of a thick paperback. “Do you go book shopping often?”

  “Not really. If I want a book, I’ll usually order it. It’s easier.”

  “Easier? Who cares about easier! I’m all about the experience.”

  Jeremy shrugged but didn’t say anything. He followed studiously behind her, commenting on books she chose and starting a debate with her about others. Eventually, he wandered off and she was left to her own devices.

  Before she knew it, an hour had gone by and she had a list started of books to read in the coming weeks when she had a chance. She set out to find Jeremy and found him seated in a chair towards the back, looking over a book about sailing.

  “Sailing?” she asked.

  He glanced up. “Yes, I can’t help it. It’s one of my favorite pastimes, so I like to read up on it every so often.”

  “For you, maybe,” Keri scoffed. “I think it’d put me to sleep.”

  Jeremy laughed as he stood, tucking the book under his arm. “I can see where you’d think that. Let me put this back and we can go.”

  A short while later, they stood outside her apartment door.

  “Can I kiss you goodbye?” Jeremy asked, eyeing her lips.