by Rachel Hanna
Adele had been making his father's favorite meal, spaghetti, and Jackson had to run to turn off the meat sauce before it burned. Looking back, it was probably his first act as man of the house. Take care of mom. Take care of the kids. Make sure the house doesn't burn down.
The sheriff explained that his father had been killed in a car accident about two miles from home; two miles. Jackson remembered hearing the sirens when they went by about an hour before the sheriff showed up. He never imagined they were for his father.
Shaking his head to release the memories, he pulled into the January Cove city limits and stopped at the pier. He had to get himself together before he got to his mother's house. He was the rock of the family, and he couldn't let them see him upset.
He walked slowly down the pier, listening to the crashing of the waves and smelling the salty ocean air. The ocean calmed him, soothed old wounds. It was a salve for his problems, but even the ocean couldn't change what his life had become lately. Always a bit of a workaholic, he'd allowed his job to take the place of everything in his life. He knew logically that he should have more. He should be more. But he felt stuck for the first time in his life.
***
"Leo, I just don't understand this. We moved all the way here, but your grades are still slipping. This isn't okay." Rebecca said with a sigh as her apparently disinterested son slouched in the kitchen chair beside her. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Nothing." Leo was the epitome of a fourteen year old boy who had lost his way. Raised without his father, he'd always ached for a man in his life. Rebecca had only dated one man, and that was only for three months. When he didn't measure up to what she used to have with Tom, she broke it off. She wondered if she would ever find a man who would love her the way Tom did.
"It's not nothing. Don't you have dreams for the future? Don't you want to make good grades and go to college?" she asked, exasperated at his lack of enthusiasm for school.
"College is for nerds."
"No it's not. What do you think you're going to do with your life if you keep getting grades like this?" She tried so hard not to push him, probably out of guilt. But she was growing tired and frustrated, and tough love seemed like a route she hadn't taken yet.
"I'll be a professional skateboarder. Or maybe a football player," he said flipping a ball of paper across the table. "Can I go now? I'm supposed to text Gina."
"Who's Gina?" Rebecca asked, alarmed that he might be getting involved with girls now.
"Relax, Mom. She's just a friend of mine who likes to play the same online game I do."
Rebecca wasn't sure she bought his answer, but she was too tired to argue.
"Leo, these grades have to come up or I'm going to start taking things, starting with that cell phone in your hand," she said sharply. Her sudden change in tone got his attention for a moment, but then he looked back down at his phone. "Did you hear me?" she asked as she grabbed the phone from his hand.
"Yes, Mom! Jeez, can we be done with this conversation now?" he growled at her. She sighed and nodded as he stood up and walked to his room, slamming the door behind him. The failed quiz and test sitting on her kitchen table made her stomach churn. He was a smart kid, but it was like he'd stopped caring. He had no direction at all, and she felt like the worst mother on the planet.
It hadn't started this way. Tom was going to be the perfect father. He was tall and strong and authoritative. Leo had only been two when his father died, but it was almost as if he'd never adjusted to life without a Dad. No one to throw the ball with. No one to explain girls to him. No one to teach him how to treat women or be a gentleman. It was one of the reasons she'd moved to the South. She had hoped that some of that supposed Southern chivalry would wear off on him.
She and Tom had had a whirlwind romance, and they had a wonderful life all planned out. Until that day; the day she couldn't think about. Every single year when the anniversary of his death came around, she found an excuse to stay home, curled up in bed. Twelve years had passed, but it didn't get any easier. She was no longer grieving Tom, but the life that she had lost that day too: the future that had been taken with him to his grave. All of her plans and hopes and dreams had vanished in an instant, and there was no one to blame or take out her anger on. She just had to forge ahead with Leo by her side, and now she wondered if she'd made so many mistakes raising him that he was scarred for life.
She walked outside of their small apartment above the coffee shop and stood on the terrace facing the ocean across the street. She breathed in the salty air and closed her eyes. Would January Cove prove to heal her and her son, or was she forever hopeless?
***
Jackson drove through the square noticing a couple of new businesses that had opened since he was there last. The ice cream place had changed its name to Scoops, and the old coffee shop looked like it was undergoing a transformation also. He decided he needed to try it out before he left town again, but it was getting late and his mother was waiting for him.
He pulled up to her house and felt a little bit of peace for the first time in a while. There was just something about coming home again.
Before he could put his car in park, Adele came running from the house; arms open wide and a big grin on her face.
"My baby!" she squealed as he opened the door and pulled her into a long hug. Jackson was the tallest of the Parker men, and his mother was as petite as they came so he always felt like a bear squeezing a defenseless kitten when he hugged her.
"Momma," he said kissing her on top of the head. "Well, you certainly look a lot better than the last time I saw you," he said referring to her short hospital stay.
"Oh, well, you know me. I bounce back pretty quickly, son," she said smiling up at him and putting her arm around his waist. "Kyle, Aaron, come get your brother's bags. My baby's home!" she yelled to his brothers who were coming down the front steps. Both of them laughed and rolled their eyes.
"Mom's favorite son has arrived," Aaron said as he shook his brother's hand.
"Well, I am the most handsome," Jackson said with a shrug.
"I'd have to disagree on that one," Jenna said coming down the stairs. Kyle's girlfriend and her daughter had become a big part of the Parker family, and Jackson had known Jenna for years. She was like a sister to him already.
"Hey, Jenna. Good to see you again," he said hugging her and ruffling little Kaitlyn's hair. "Where's this Tessa I've been hearing about?"
"She's inside stirring the pot of chili I made," Adele said.
"Chili for Thanksgiving?" Jackson said with a laugh.
"No, silly, I'm freezing it for after Thanksgiving," Adele said. "It's turkey and all the fixings for Thanksgiving."
Aaron and Kyle grabbed Jackson's bags and headed inside while Adele took her time strolling with her oldest son. He felt guilty that she was so excited to see him. It meant that he'd failed her by not coming home more often. She was getting older, and he didn't want to have regrets about not seeing her enough.
"So, where's Addison?" Jackson asked as they made it inside. He immediately took in the sights and sounds of home. He could smell his mother's famous peach cobbler mixed with her even more famous stuffing.
Adele shook her head and sighed. "She and Jim are on a trip to Greece right now. You know that girl never stays home. I miss her so..."
"I'll have a talk with her," Jackson said under his breath. His duties as head of the family always stuck with him even though he lived hours away.
"No, honey, don't. I have a feeling something isn't right with her and Jim right now. No need to rock the boat. She'll come home when she feels the time is right. I talked to her just this morning, and she texts me all the time, but I sure would like to put my arms around all of my babies for Thanksgiving."
"You must be Jackson." He turned to see a new face standing in the living room. "I'm Tessa Reeves," she said with a smile. "And this is my son, Tyler." The adorable little boy grinned and ran into Aaron's arms. It was so s
trange to see his youngest brother, the boy he'd helped raise himself, holding a child that was basically his own now.
"Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you," Jackson said with a wink toward his little brother. "Glad you've decided to put up with this guy." He squeezed Aaron's shoulder.
"Oh, he's not so bad," she said, almost gushing with love. Jackson wondered for a moment what that might feel like to have a woman, a real woman, love him for who he was.
The next few hours were filled with laughter as everyone talked about what had been going on in their lives recently. For Jackson, it was bittersweet. He loved the interaction with his family and the women who were now going to become family, but he wished that he had something new about his life to share.
All of his stories were work related, and he was tired of that being the only topic of conversation he could contribute. He heard about Aaron learning to be a father to Tyler and Kyle, taking Kaitlyn on her first fishing trip. All of these were memories that should be his as the oldest child in the family, but he had nothing to say.
It wasn't their fault, of course. He was so happy for all of them, but he wanted something more for himself. Maybe he had been shortsighted by spending all this time at work. In essence, he was putting his head in the sand. Now in his late thirties, he feared that the woman of his dreams had already found someone else. If he believed in the idea of soul mates, maybe his soul mate had already moved on because he had taken so long to come to his senses.
"So are you still dating that hot Italian model?" his brother Brad asked him. Brad had arrived late to the party, but that was customary for his younger brother. He was never on time for anything which was probably why he was a contractor. Weren't they always behind on something?
"No, that ended recently. I couldn't stand her whining anymore." Jackson was aware that the room got quieter as the women glared at him. "Seriously, ladies, she whined about something all the time. She was a model, and not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer." Finally, the women started to laugh and he felt redeemed.
"Still, I wish you would settle down with someone. I worry about you being all alone up there in Atlanta," Adele said. He could tell that she was worried about him, and that was why he loved his mother so much. She truly cared about the happiness of all of her children.
"I'm fine, mother. I'm busy with my work most of the time anyway, so I don't really have a lot of time for a serious relationship right now." Jackson patted his mother's leg, but he knew she could see right through him. Yes, he was busy with work but only by choice. He had a staff of people who could do a lot of what he did every day, but it was his outlet. His escape from a life that he didn't think he would be living at this stage.
At this time of his life, he expected to be where a lot of his friends were; married, kids, family vacations, and tossing the football in the front yard with their sons. Instead, he was up to his elbows in real estate contracts most of the time with the occasional date with a woman of no real substance.
The crazy thing was that he knew a lot of men would be happy with his life. He had a great company, plenty of money and good looks. He could get women any time he wanted, but that wasn't enough for him anymore. Coming home had only driven that point even harder into his brain. He wanted to be in love like his brothers were, and the fact made him irritated with himself. He wished that he could just block it all out and not care about falling in love with some woman who was going to likely tear his world apart.
Chapter 3
Rebecca Evans opened her coffee shop the morning before Thanksgiving just like any other day. A lot of businesses in town had already closed for the holiday, but she couldn't afford to do that. Every penny counted when it came to raising her son and keeping them afloat in their tiny apartment above the coffee shop.
She was surprised when the doorbell dinged letting her know that her first customer of the day had arrived. It was her new friend, Kyle Parker, and she was happy to see him. He had given her hope that maybe living in January Cove would be the thing that turned her and her son's lives around.
"Good morning, Rebecca!" he said.
"Good morning. I'm surprised to see you here on the day before Thanksgiving. It seems like January Cove is a ghost town today," she said walking up to the cash register.
"Yeah, people tend to close down early during the week of Thanksgiving. That's why I was glad to see you open because I definitely need a cup of coffee this morning."
"Late night last night?" she asked cocking an eyebrow upward.
"Yes, but not for the reasons you think. My girlfriend and I were at my mother's house with most of my siblings, and we tend to stay up until the wee hours of the morning laughing and talking." Rebecca felt sad inside for a moment that she didn't have a family like that to lean on. All she had was her son and her elderly aunt Mary who lived up north.
"That sounds like a lot of fun. I don't have any siblings or any family really, so I can't imagine what that must be like. How many brothers and sisters do you have?"
"One sister and three brothers. It can get pretty rowdy pretty fast," he said with a laugh. "My sister wasn't there, but my girlfriend and my brother's girlfriend were there, so that more than made up for it."
"So what can I get for you? Black coffee?" He nodded and she started making moves to get his beverage. Kyle stared at her for moment, and she turned around to find him looking at her intently. "What?" she asked with a slight smile on her face.
"What are you and your son doing for Thanksgiving?"
"Well, we are going to make some sandwiches and maybe sit on the beach." She tried not to make eye contact with him because she didn't want anyone taking pity on her and her son.
"Oh no you're not."
"Excuse me?" she said as she rang in his drink order and took his money.
"The Parker family is not about to allow our newest January Cove resident and her son to miss out on a huge family Thanksgiving."
"Listen, Kyle, I appreciate it but…"
"I won't take no for an answer. Just ask my girlfriend. I always end up getting what I want, so it's better that you don't argue with me. Besides, my mother always makes way more food than she needs to. It's like she's feeding an army."
"I don't want to impose…"
Kyle leaned into the counter and stared into her eyes. "Rebecca, this is your new start. You're going to need support in this community, so please accept my invitation. Lunch is at noon tomorrow. Here's the address," he said writing it down on a Jolt napkin.
"Thank you. We will gladly accept your invitation." She smiled at him and put the address in the pocket of her apron. "Is there anything I can bring?"
"Nope. Everything is taken care of. Consider it a nice vacation from working for a day."
With that, Kyle waved and headed back out onto the sidewalk leaving Rebecca standing there wondering how her son would react to going to Thanksgiving dinner with a huge family he'd never met before. She could only pray that he behaved himself and didn't make her look like the world's worst mother.
***
While the women were busy preparing the rest of Thanksgiving dinner for the next day, Jackson decided to take a walk around his old stomping grounds. He'd already been to the pier, but then he remembered that there was that new coffee shop in town. If there was one thing Jackson loved, it was a good cup of coffee.
He figured the place would probably be closed as it was the day before Thanksgiving, but he decided to give it a try. Maybe they had sandwiches or something he could eat for lunch as he was starting to get very hungry. He would have gone back home to eat, but the women had made it very clear to stay out of the kitchen or risk death by spatula.
Kyle had taken Kaitlyn out to fly her kite, and although he invited Jackson to come along, he just didn't feel like it today. He wanted to be alone and with his thoughts, which was probably a big mistake in the first place. Aaron was at the campground finishing up some last minute business before heading back over to their moth
er's house for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Of course, Jenna and Tessa were busy helping his mother get the food prepared. And who knew what Brad was up to.
Left on his own, Jackson strolled up Main Street looking in the windows of all of the businesses he had seen since he was a child. The hardware store was still there and looked much like it did thirty years ago. The ice cream shop had changed names, but it didn't look any different inside. They still had a real soda fountain which was something you just didn't see anymore.
The ringing of his cell phone stopped him in his tracks as he strolled down memory lane, literally.
"Hello?"
"Jackson?"
