by Vaughn, Ann
“Exactly. Only, I didn’t want any of Wade’s money, so I’ve been putting it into a savings account for Cam.”
“That’s pretty cool. So, was Cam who you were shopping for this morning?”
“Yes. I was trying to get him one of the new PlayStations, but I hadn’t counted on all the people who were camped out for the last few days. I didn’t really think I would get one, but I thought I’d try.”
“I can help you out with that,” he said, pulling his phone from his pocket.
“Really?”
“I think so…hey, need a favor. New PlayStation. I need to get my hands on one. Can you track one down for me?” he said into his phone. He paused while listening, then took his phone from his ear and looked at Jenna. “I can have it here by Wednesday,” he told her.
“What?! Seriously?”
He winked at her. “I got connections, sweetheart. You want it?”
“Absolutely!”
“Yeah, that’s a go. Just have it come to the office. Thanks! I owe you. I’ll explain later. Yeah. See ya.”
He put his phone down, a huge grin on his face.
“OK, how’d you do that?”
“Melissa, who runs the offices at Orion Securities, is a computer genius with a ton of connections. She also got it for fifteen percent less than the store’s advertised Black Friday price.”
“Oh, my gosh!! That is awesome! Thank you so much! Is a check OK or do you want…”
“Check’s fine,” he told her, cutting her off.
“Wow. I’m just…floored. Cam will be so excited! Thank you.”
“My pleasure…seeing you smile like that, it’s worth it.”
Jenna blushed and was thankful when their food arrived. Throughout their meal, they talked about anything and everything that came to mind. Jenna was stunned at how easy conversation flowed with him. He was funny and intelligent, and she found herself more often that not, staring into his shining eyes, totally enraptured by his vivaciousness.
“I’m glad you agreed to come with me this morning, Jenna,” he told her when they’d driven back to the store parking lot.
“Thanks for inviting me. And for getting my purse back…and for the PlayStation.”
“You’re welcome. And just so you know, I had an ulterior motive for getting that PlayStation for you.”
“Oh yeah? And what would that be?”
“Get the PlayStation delivered to my office, now I got an excuse to see you again, Ms. Blackwell. And I really would, like to see you again, that is.”
Jenna laughed. “You did maneuver that quite well.”
“Yes, I did,” he agreed with a wink, “but I need your phone number and address.”
She shook her head and pulled her checkbook from her purse. “Both are right there on my check, Mr. Stanton.”
“Home phone or cell?” he asked, taking the check she handed him.
“Both,” she replied.
“Excellent.”
She found herself laughing yet again. “Well, I’d better get back home so Cam doesn’t start to worry. Thanks again, Riley. For everything.”
“You’re welcome, Jenna,” he said and she couldn’t stop the shiver that ran down her spine at hearing him say her name. With a parting smile to him, she hopped down from the huge monster truck and got into her SUV, waving to him as he drove away.
“Well, at least I know what my dreams will be like tonight,” she said to herself with a shake of her head, then put the truck in gear to head home to her son.
Chapter Two
Jenna thought about Riley on her whole ride home. He really was handsome, even though she’d never really been attracted to blonde men before. She’d always favored guys with dark hair, as Wade had been. Riley couldn’t be more different than Wade in almost every way, however. Riley was tall, blonde and from what she could tell, very muscular. His eyes sparkled with mirth and he smiled, a lot. She thought of the interaction between him and the surly restaurant owner, Mrs. Sheffield. He’d met her barb-for-barb, his eyes glittering and a huge grin on his face. It made her smile just to think of it. Wade, on the other hand, was a small in stature guy. He was only around five seven, and while he was muscular, he was very lean. Wade had dark hair that he wore on the longish side, while Riley’s blonde hair was short…not quite military style but close.
As she pulled into her driveway and eased into her garage, she thought it best to put thoughts of Riley Stanton from her mind. As handsome as he was, she knew that like with most men she’d met post divorce, once he found out that there was an ex and a young son, he’d conveniently forget all about her. She understood that and accepted it, and that was okay. She had Cam and that was all she needed.
The door to the garage opened and she saw the love of her life right there, looking still half asleep, ready to come out and help her unload groceries, where she told him she’d gone this morning. A smile touched her lips. She really did love that kid.
“Hey, buddy, nothing to unload.”
Cam looked at her, confused. “Didn’t you go to the grocery store?”
Jenna laughed, ruffling his hair as she walked past him. “Silly boy. It’s the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday. I went Christmas shopping.”
She watched his face light up. “Yeah? What’d you get me?”
“I’ll never tell,” she sing-songed.
“Aww, come on, Mom, gimme a hint.”
“My lips are sealed.”
“Really, Mom? How many bad movie and song references are you gonna throw at me?”
“Ha, ha, ha. You are funny. Go hit the showers. It’s Christmas tree time! I’ll pull it out along with all the decorations but you know we always end up having to replace some of the light strands. Go get ready so we can run to the store if we need to.”
“Can we go somewhere to eat for lunch?” he asked, hopeful.
Jenna inwardly groaned, thinking how full she was from breakfast. To Cam, though, she just smiled.
“We’ll see. Now, go clean up. We may need to make a stop at Sport Clips. That mop of yours is out-of-control!”
Cam ran his hand through his unruly hair and she had a sudden flash of Riley doing the same when he’d removed his baseball cap. Hmm. Interesting, she thought. She’d just met him and already he was creeping into her thoughts.
“Yeah, it is getting kinda long. But I can’t cut it today. Not until after my ride tomorrow.”
She sighed and watched Cam head toward the bathroom. She secretly hated that Cam liked to ride and race his dirt bike on the local track. She hated that he still desperately tried to gain his father’s attention by riding, though she did secretly love that, at age ten, Cam was already competing in and winning more competitions than Wade had at that age. As Wade Blackwell’s son, Cam attracted a lot of attention…and she was proud to say that he usually surpassed expectations. At the same time, however, she hated that Cam did something that so closely linked him to his father…it usually painted a huge target on his back.
She pulled their artificial tree from the box and began setting it up, fluffing the branches and getting everything just right. She’d just finished fluffing the lower branches when her phone chimed with a text message. Pulling it from her pocket, she couldn’t stop the little thrill she felt at seeing the text that popped up.
Thanks for breakfast. I would really like to see you again. Dinner?
“Oh, wow,” she whispered, sitting on the arm of her couch. She felt her heart race. He wanted to see her again! Her hands shaking, she hit reply.
I had a good time this morning. Thanks for inviting me. I can’t do dinner tonight, unfortunately. I can’t leave Cam home alone at night.
His reply was immediate. Bring Cam; I’d love to meet him.
Jenna gasped. Was he serious? And was she OK with bringing Cam into things right from the start? She hadn’t really dated since the divorce, just a couple of set-up type things, and none had called or shown interest after hearing that she had a child. She didn�
��t…
Don’t overthink this, Jenna. I’d love to get to know both of you.
She took a deep breath and bit her lip.
How about this: today is the day Cam and I put up our Christmas tree. We are going to run to the store in a little while to get some new light strands if needed and we always pick out new ornaments together. After that, we were going to do something for lunch then come home and decorate. You’re welcome to join us for all or part of the day.
I can be at your place in thirty minutes.
Jenna covered her mouth with her hand, shocked that he would want to do all of that with them. She pictured his face, his bright eyes and infectious grin. Was she really going to do this?
Great. See you then.
Looks like she was! She realized then that she needed to talk to Cam and tell him about what happened to her this morning, how she met Riley. Nervous, she began going through the bags of Christmas lights, waiting for Cam to come out. When he came in, freshly showered and wearing a Fox Racing baseball cap backward, she took a deep breath and decided to bite the bullet.
“Oh, hey, I didn’t tell you what happened to me this morning,” she said casually, “I was leaving the store and this group of punks stole my purse.”
“What?! Are you OK? Did they catch them?”
She smiled. “Yes, I’m fine. Fortunately, there was a guy who saw it happen in the parking lot. He chased the guys down and got mine and the other two ladies’ purses back. He’s a really nice guy, a former Navy SEAL.”
“Cool!”
“He was cool…and he’s going to come over here in about fifteen minutes to spend the day with us.”
Cam’s eyes bugged. “Really?”
Jenna nodded, studying him. “Yeah. Is that OK with you?”
Cam shrugged. “I don’t know…is it like, a date?”
“Not really…but, I had breakfast with him and I gotta admit, I like him.”
“Is he old? You said he was a former SEAL.”
“Well, he’s older than me but I don’t know his exact age.”
“Guess.”
She thought about it a minute. “I’d guess him to be five or six years older. I went to school with his younger brothers.”
“Cool.”
She studied him a moment longer. “That doesn’t bother you?”
“Mom, Dad has had like, a million girlfriends since y’all split up. You haven’t even had very many dates. You haven’t even acted like you wanted to date anyone, so if you wanna see someone now, that’s cool by me.”
She closed her eyes a moment and silently cursed Wade for exposing their son to his endless stream of girlfriends.
“I love you, Cam,” she said softly.
“Yeah, yeah. How many strands have you gone through already?” he asked, and his quick jump in subjects let her know that he really was okay with her possibly seeing someone.
While they were sorting through the massive strands of Christmas lights, the doorbell rang. Jenna met Cam’s gaze and then together they walked to the door. She took just a moment to calm her racing pulse, then opened the door. Riley stood there in jeans and a black long-sleeve Henley, no hat this time, a huge grin on his face.
“Hi, Riley, come in,” she greeted, stepping back for him to come inside. “This is my son, Cam. Cam, this is Riley Stanton.”
“Thanks for getting my Mom’s purse back,” Cam said, shaking hands with Riley.
“No problem. What have you got going on in here?” he asked, seeing the strings of Christmas lights stretched out on the floor.
“We’re checking to see which strands need to be replaced,” Cam explained, “so far, four need to be trashed.”
“You put all of those on your tree?” Riley asked, astonished.
“Mom likes a lot of lights.”
“I’ll say,” Riley chuckled. “Are you sure all these need to be replaced? Maybe they just need a new fuse,” he said, kneeling down and picking up the plug of one of those in the discard pile. He took his pocketknife out and opened the fuse chamber and pried the two little fuses out. Cam handed him a packet with new fuses and Riley replaced them. “Plug that in and see if it works.”
Cam did as Riley said and to Jenna’s amazement, the lights came on.
“Cool!” Cam said. “I never knew what those things were for!”
“Gather up all the fuse packets you can find and we’ll try replacing all of them,” he said to Cam.
“For the record,” Jenna said when Cam scampered off, “I’ve tried that before and never could get them to work.”
“It’s usually hit or miss with me, too…but gotta try!”
“You have a lot of experience with Christmas lights?”
“My mother is big into Christmas decorations and my dad likes to go all out with the outside decorations. My brothers and I got really good at hanging lights. I’m talking, my dad is like Chevy Chase in the Christmas Vacation movie.”
“That would be so cool,” Cam said, bringing a handful of fuse packets to Riley. “We put yard lights out, but Mom won’t let me get up on a ladder to hang lights on the house.”
“Even though you are the Man of the House, you’re still only ten years old, bud,” she told him.
“I could do it for you,” Riley offered, “if you’d like.”
“Mom!!! Can we? Please?” Cam asked, excited.
“Oh, Cam, Riley didn’t come here to work.”
Riley’s green eyes met her gaze, winking. “Hanging Christmas lights isn’t work, babe. It’s fun.”
Jenna had to suck in a sharp breath. Wade had never cared for Christmas decorations. She’d always had to beg him to participate.
“Would you like something to drink, Riley? Coke, water?”
“I’m good,” he said, handing Cam the next strand to test, but his eyes were on Jenna.
“OK, I’ll just…I’ll be right back,” she said, leaving.
Riley watched her go then looked over at Cam, brows raised in question.
“My dad never got into Christmas,” Cam said simply.
“Do you see your dad often?”
“Not during the circuit season. I’m supposed to go to him for Christmas but I told him I wanted to stay with Mom.”
Riley was aware of the change in the boy’s tone. He was more solemn when speaking about his father. Bit of a sore subject there, he noted.
“You don’t want to see your dad?”
“He’s always so busy with his girlfriend of the moment or his charity stuff. Whenever I’m there I’m usually stuck with whatever nanny he’s hired at the time. I’d rather just stay with Mom.”
Riley looked up when Jenna came back in. She fascinated him from the moment he saw her just before her purse had been stolen. He’d been walking up to the store and saw her as she walked out. She was really pretty in a girl-next-door sort of way. She wasn’t flashy or fake. She wore make up but just enough to enhance, not to detract from her face. Her hair was brunette with hints of red that shone in the sunlight and her eyes were a clear sky blue. She wasn’t tall, but she wasn’t short, either. He’d guess her to be around five six. Her cheekbones drew his eye every time. When she smiled, he found himself aching to run a thumb over the apple of her cheeks. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman affected him so. Probably never, if he were honest with himself.
The kid drew his interest, too. He was small for his age, built like his famous father. Riley had actually met Wade Blackwell once, a few years ago after he’d become famous. His brother, Trevor had gone to school with him, as Jenna had said, and they went to a Motocross event at Texas Stadium. Trev had taken him and Mike to meet Wade. Looking back, he found it odd that Jenna had been attracted to that guy in the first place. But then again, she’d been his high school girlfriend and heaven knew that everyone’s ideals changed from high school to adulthood.
“So, how many strings of lights do you think we will need for the outside of the house?” Jenna asked, breaking his thoughts.
“Depends on what type of lights and where all you want them,” Riley answered, handing Cam the last string to check.
“I want a lot of lights, Mom,” Cam said.
She laughed. “OK, bud, we’ll get lots of lights.
“Let’s go take a look at the outside and talk about what y’all want and then we can hit the stores.”
“Cool!” Cam said, high-fiving Riley as he hopped up from the floor.
“Are you sure about this?” Jenna asked Riley when he stood. “I know you didn’t plan on hanging Christmas lights today.”
“It’s fine, Jenna,” he assured her. “Like I said, hanging lights is fun. I don’t mind.”
They went outside and Riley took a few pictures of the front of her house with his phone, then they loaded up in his brother’s truck, which Cam thought was the coolest thing ever, and they headed into town. To Jenna’s surprise, they didn’t go to a big box store. He took them again into the heart of Old Town, to a small storefront that Jenna had never been into before.
“Riley Stanton!” an elderly man said when they stepped inside. “I heard you were back in town.”
“Yes, sir. How are you, Mr. Murray?”
“I’m good, I’m good. Who is this? I hadn’t heard you got married.”
Riley chuckled. “No, sir, not me! This is my friend, Jenna Blackwell and her son, Cameron.”
“Nice to meet you, young lady. This here is a really good young man,” he said, placing his hand on Riley’s shoulder. “Best worker I ever had.”
“You used to work here?” Cam asked, looking up at Riley.
“I did, when I was in high school. Mr. Murray, we’re looking to put some Christmas lights on Jenna’s house. We want to go all out, ain’t that right, Cam?”
“Heck yeah!” Cam laughed.
Mr. Murray chuckled. “Well, come on back to the Christmas room and let's see what we can find.”
“Christmas room?” Jenna whispered.
“Trust me, it’s worth it,” Riley said with a wink.
