Just Practicing (Hearts for Ransom Book 2)

by Georgia Evans

  “Goodbye, Liz.” He walked through the door of his house and slammed it behind him.

  He could hear her tires squealing as she pulled onto the road and drove away.

  His thoughts returned to Seth and Jan as he worked on his house. He just hoped her mother didn’t prove to be a problem. Jan didn’t deserve that.

  “Hands to yourself, Leonard!” Jan found herself practically yelling at the old man after he pinched her backside for at least the fifth time. She was probably going to have a bruise.

  “Want to play cards with me?” Raymond asked her. He loved to play pinochle and was notorious for blatantly cheating.

  “Why don’t you ask Samuel and Albert if they’ll play you and Leonard a game?” she suggested in a more normal tone of voice. At least she’d get a respite from Leonard’s grabby hands.

  “Okay.” Raymond was their most cheerful and agreeable resident. On their last community outing, he stood and held a lively conversation with another customer, not minding one bit when Mildred rudely pointed out he was speaking to a mannequin. He even told it to have a nice day before rejoining the others.

  Jan felt bad for losing her temper with Leonard. She actually loved her job and the residents under her care. Each one of them, even the cantankerous Mildred, held a special place in her heart.

  “You okay?” Lance asked, having just settled Mildred in her favorite chair to watch an episode of Dr. Phil. Dr. Phil didn’t know it, but Mildred was going to marry him some day. She flat out refused to believe he was already spoken for, insisting his wife was only an actress on the show.

  “I’ll be fine,” Jan replied. “Will you make sure the men are all set at the card table? Raymond is getting a game of pinochle going.” Jan gestured toward the hallway. “I need to check on Gertrude and Claudia. They’ve both been napping for almost an hour. Sammi complains that they don’t go to bed until after midnight if we let them sleep much longer than that.” Jan left Lance organizing the men at the table as she headed toward room three.

  Sammi was one of the nurses on the evening shift. She and Teresa had worked together nearly as long as Jan and Lance. Poor Sammi had a huge crush on Lance, though, and although he was friendly toward the heavyset young lady, he failed to show any romantic interest in her.

  Teresa, at thirty-three, was the oldest nurse on staff in the Senior Living unit at Mercy House. She was the senior nurse, but chose to work second shift so she could be at home with her children during the day, while her husband, Rob, worked. Jan didn’t blame them for working it out like that. She’d resort to those measures, too, if she had five children under the age of seven—two of whom were still in diapers.

  She had done her best to stay busy all day, trying to keep her mind off her situation at home. Seth and his grandmother hit it off right from the start. Jan found herself wanting to believe and trust her mother for her nephew’s sake, if nothing else, but there was just too much history.

  She walked into the room and found Gertrude already awake.

  “I need to use the bathroom, please,” she said as she managed to stand up from the bed.

  “Come on, then. We’ll go real quick before I wake up Claudia.” Jan walked beside Gertrude and stood outside the door as the sweet old lady used the toilet. Jan heard the water running, so at least she wouldn’t have to battle with Gertrude to persuade her to wash her hands. That was the only problem they ever had with Gertrude. For some reason, she had spells when she flat out refused to wash her hands or take a bath. Sammi told her it had taken both her and Teresa to get her to bathe several times, and then it was only by reminding her Leroy would like to see her more if she smelled good. Leroy was her most regular invisible visitor. He was her sweetheart.

  After Gertrude came out of the bathroom, Jan decided to go ahead and take her to the rec room before waking Claudia up.

  “Can I crochet today?” Gertrude asked.

  “You sure can,” Jan answered. “What are you making this time?”

  “I’m making a sweater for your baby.” Gertrude put her arm around Jan’s back.

  “I bet you mean Teresa’s baby,” Jan gently corrected her. “I don’t have a baby. I have Seth. He’s a big boy. Do you remember when he’s come in to visit a couple of times?”

  Gertrude nodded. “I remember that handsome boy with the red hair, but I’m crocheting a pink sweater for the baby girl you’re going to have.”

  Jan knew it was useless to argue with her. Once Gertrude had an idea in her head, it usually stayed there. In fact, Jan would undoubtedly be the recipient of a pink baby sweater once Gertrude finished it.

  “Lance, Gertrude is going to sit over here and crochet.” She helped the old lady get settled in her favorite rocking chair by the window and handed her the basket with her yarn and crochet hook. She was all set.

  Lance looked up from the card game he had been watching and winked at Gertrude. “I’m keeping an eye on you, pretty lady.”

  Gertrude blushed a becoming shade of pink as she straightened her snow white hair. She smiled shyly at Lance before she picked up her yarn and began working on the tiny sweater.

  “Claudia and I will be right back.” Jan made sure Lance heard her before she turned back toward the rooms. She found a sound asleep Claudia in room two. It took Jan several gentle shakes and increasingly louder repetitions of the resident’s name before Jan was finally able to rouse her.

  After escorting her to the restroom and getting her settled next to Mildred, Jan walked over to Lance.

  “I have this covered if you want to take your afternoon break,” she told him. It was two o’clock.

  He gave her a worried look. “You sure you’re okay?”

  She gave him the best smile she could muster and nodded. “I’m fine.”

  He turned and walked down the hall, toward the staff break room.

  “I bought my wife a new spade, and I paid ten dollars for it.” Raymond had just told Leonard to pass the ten of spades to him.

  Leonard grinned as he exchanged four cards with his partner. He must have had the card. Albert and Samuel sat, blissfully unaware of the fact the other two men were cheating. Or else they were so used to it they didn’t care anymore.

  She left them playing cards and walked over to see how Mildred and Claudia were doing. Dr. Phil was interviewing a woman who had been bilked out of her life savings by a man posing as somebody else on the internet. Jan wondered how much of the show the women understood. Mildred’s eyes never left Dr. Phil.

  During a commercial, she asked Mildred, “Is it a good show today?”

  Mildred smiled brightly at her. “They’ve shown Dr. Phil seventy-two times already.”

  Oh boy. She was counting the times Dr. Phil was on-screen. Heaven help that man if he ever visited a store in Ransom, Indiana during one of the unit’s weekly outings. Mildred would probably shanghai him with her cane.

  “Does Lance know you’re watching another man?” Jan teased.

  Mildred nodded. “You’ve got to keep men guessing, don’t you know? They take you for granted if you don’t.”

  “Walter!” Claudia cried.

  Jan turned and looked to see Claudia’s husband walking into the room. His smile brightened when he realized his wife recognized him. Sometimes she didn’t, and he left practically in tears.

  Can I take my wife for a walk?” he asked Jan. “It’s a beautiful day, and the roses are in bloom.” He was referring to the wide sidewalk that wound around amidst the most picturesque flower garden Jan had ever seen.

  “I think that would be nice,” she told him. “Why don’t you sit on the swing while you’re out there?” There was a padded porch swing mounted in the middle of the garden.

  “Would you like that, sweetheart?” he asked Claudia, taking her arm and linking it with his.

  Her smile lit up her face as she nodded at her husband of sixty-seven years. Jan felt a hitch in her breathing when she saw the look of adoration that passed between the couple.

 
; She wanted a love like that, but would she ever find one? Where? When?

  Jan took a deep breath. She needed a reality check. After all, she was young. In five years, when Seth was eighteen and off to college, she’d only be twenty-eight…still young enough to get married and have a family. Why did she feel the need to rush things? Had parenting Seth brought out a maternal instinct in her earlier than it would have normally appeared?

  She mused about it off and on during the rest of the uneventful afternoon. It was soon four o’clock, and having been replaced by Sammi and Teresa, she and Lance walked to the parking lot.

  She was about to open the door of her old, but well maintained, Cavalier when Lance put his hand on her arm and stopped her.

  “What’s going on, Jan?” he asked, his green eyes clouded with concern. “I know something is wrong. You haven’t been yourself all day.”

  Jan hadn’t talked to anybody since her mother’s visit the day before. And Lance was her friend.

  “My mother has come back into my life—after more than four years,” she said. “I had a…she was a terrible mother. Now, protective services tell me she’s sober, and they want me to let her be in Seth’s life. I’m scared, Lance. What if she hurts him like she did me?”

  He pulled her into his arms. “She can’t hurt him like she hurt you.” He drew back and looked into her eyes. “You know why?” He paused. “Because Seth has one of the strongest women I’ve ever known looking out for him. He has you.”

  “You should see them together, Lance. Seth already loves her, just like that. And she seems to be a totally different person than the woman who…didn’t raise me. They’re bonding so fast, I feel helpless to stop it.”

  “Maybe it’s not a bad thing. You said protective services have investigated her?” She nodded. “Wouldn’t they make absolutely sure she was fit to be around him before they suggested it?” She nodded again. “There you have it. What harm could come from her being in his life?”

  Jan fought her tears. “She said…if I don’t have a man in my life for Seth to…emulate…I’m too young to do it on my own.”

  Lance’s gaze remained steady as he looked into her eyes. “Let me fix that for you, Jan. Let me be that man.” He pulled her closer and lowered his face. She stood still, unsure what to do as he kissed her lips—softly at first, but then firmer. She felt him gently nip her lower lip before pressing firmly against hers. Then the kiss became something else. He pulled her flush against him and kissed her with unbridled passion, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

  A little uncomfortable now, she finally managed to pull her mouth free from his. He leaned back in and brushed his lips across hers before slowly releasing her.

  “See how good it would be for us,” he whispered. He gave her a small smile. His voice was gentle when he spoke again. “I’m not going to push you, Jan. You’ve got enough on your plate. Just remember I’m here. And now you know what I’m offering. I’d do anything for you.”

  He reached behind her and opened the car door. She mindlessly slid behind the wheel before he closed the door.

  She felt his kiss on her lips during the whole drive home. It had been a good kiss. Why didn’t it make her…feel more? Was there something wrong with her?

  Cold reality set in when she pulled into the drive next to her mother’s car. As Jan got out of her car, Patsy stood up from the porch swing.

  “I’m not breaking your rules. Seth’s not home, and I’ve only been here a few minutes, waiting on you. I just waited on the porch instead of in my car. I hope that’s okay.”

  Jan was full of conflicting emotions. And now, even though it was unintentional, Lance had added to the mess.

  “Do you plan on surprising me like this every evening?” she finally asked.

  Patsy smiled uncertainly. “I just couldn’t stay away. I want my family. I know I don’t deserve you—neither of you, but now that I’ve met you both, it’s too much, asking me to stay away. Please, Janet, give me the chance. I won’t ever come over without you being home. I want you to see me with Seth and learn to trust me. I can even help. You must be exhausted after being on your feet all day. I’ve learned to cook, you know. I can fix dinner for all of us if you want to meet at my house.”

  Now that was too much too soon. “Not yet.” That was as good of an answer as Jan was going to give her. “You can come here…as long as I’m home. But I’ve managed to take care of our meals just fine. I don’t see any need to change Seth’s routine. He needs consistency.”

  “I understand,” her mother said sadly. “He didn’t have that with his father, did he?”

  Jan shook her head. “We never talk about that man. He hurt Seth, both physically and emotionally, maybe from the day he was born. I’m pretty sure for as long as Seth can remember. Bo and I have done everything we can to replace the horror of Seth’s first twelve years of life with respect and love. We both parent him.” It wasn’t until Jan was finished speaking she realized how much she had just reinforced her mother’s belief that she and Bo were a couple. Was she digging herself into a hole?

  “When can I meet Bo?”

  “I’m not sure,” Jan hedged. “He’s pretty busy during the week, with ball practice and all. Plus, he’s just about finished building his house, so he’s putting in a lot of time on that. It’ll probably be a while before you meet him.”

  Patsy’s gaze sharpened. “How is he taking such an active role in Seth’s life if he’s that busy?”

  Oh, what a tangled web… “He makes time for Seth. And I told you about our Sundays.”

  “Aunt Jan, Mrs. Harper and I baked cookies today. She sent some home with…Grandma!” Seth sprinted to the porch and gave his grandmother a one-armed hug.

  “Hi, Seth,” she greeted him, obviously touched by his exuberant welcome. “Do you spend a lot of time with Mrs. Harper?”

  Seth was already on his way to give Jan a kiss on the cheek and hand her the cookies. “I help her out while Aunt Jan’s at work. She’s like a…grandma to me.”

  “I see.” Was that disapproval or disappointment in her mother’s eyes? Jan didn’t wait to find out.

  “You’re welcome to go with Seth and meet Mrs. Harper. I’m sure you’ll like her. She has quite a bit of trouble getting around anymore, or I’d have her come for dinner.” Maybe if her mother saw that the other lady was so much older, she wouldn’t feel threatened by her relationship with Seth.

  That suggestion seemed to appease Patsy.

  “Seth, why don’t you take your grandma over to tell Mrs. Harper thank you for the cookies, while I go in and get dinner started?”

  Seth grinned and took his grandma’s hand. “It’s this house back here, Grandma.”

  Jan stood and watched as he led her around the side of the house. What was she going to do about this so-called relationship between her and Bo when her mother found out the truth? Maybe if Lance was in the picture…But she wasn’t sure how she felt about Lance, and she didn’t want to use him.

  A very confused woman went into her house to change clothes and begin dinner.

  “Where’s Seth?” Logan asked as they bagged their equipment in the dugout. “It’s not like him to miss practice. We could have used him with Jake out again.”

  Bo frowned. “His grandma is at his house. Jan called and said she’s probably going to be there every evening for a while. I guess she’s excited about getting to know her only grandchild.”

  Logan gave Bo a curious look. “Why do you look like that’s bad news? It seems to me the more people who care about Seth, the better.”

  “Haven’t you talked to Emily or Abby lately?”

  “Not about Seth.”

  “Abby told me Jan’s mother could decide she wants custody of Seth and take him away from Jan. I don’t know what she’d do if that happened. I don’t know what I’d do if that happened. I…we can’t lose that boy, Logan. You know what he means to me.”

  “What is Jan’s mother like?” Logan asked.

/>   Bo sat down on the bench. “She bit as a mom. From the way Jan talked, Jan raised herself and took care of her drunken mother, to boot. Now the protective services have investigated her and say she’s a changed woman, dried out and sober for over four years. It has to be hard for Jan to believe her mother could change that much. I wish I could be there to help her with this.”

  Logan’s eyebrows raised. “Why can’t you?”

  “I screwed up,” Bo admitted. “Remember how I wanted Liz to like Seth?”

  Logan nodded.

  “I talked Jan into letting me take Seth with Liz and me to the zoo…on a family Sunday.” Everybody on the Slammers knew what a family Sunday was for him. “I left the two of them alone and got back just in time to hear Liz talking to Seth. She was…I didn’t know she was capable of being that cruel. I ended our day right away, and after I dropped Liz off I talked to Seth. I thought everything was okay.”

  “I assume it wasn’t.”

  Bo shook his head. “Jan drilled me a new one. Seth was still upset about it a whole week later. He told her Liz reminded him of how his father used to talk to him. She’s furious with me because I hadn’t told her. She should have known so she could talk to him and keep him from feeling that way for a whole flippin’ week.”

  “Nobody’s perfect.” Logan seemed surprised by Jan’s anger. “So she yelled at you; she’ll get over it.”

  Bo wished that’s all Jan had done. “She’s called off family Sundays. I feel like a divorced father or somethin’. I get him in the early part of the day, and she gets him in the afternoon and evening. I should have told her.”

  Logan scanned the diamond for a minute, seemingly lost in thought. “Bo, why don’t you make amends? I bet if you talk to Jan and offer to help show her mother Seth is being taken care of, it’ll go a long way in making things right between you. If her mother is looking for things to complain about, she won’t have the lack of a man in Seth’s life to use once you show up.”

  Bo considered Logan’s suggestion. It began to grow on him. “I’m going to call…no. I’m going over to see Jan tomorrow after she gets home from work. I’ll tell her we need to present a united front to show her mother Seth is being taken care of—better than anybody else can do it.” He grinned at his friend. “Thanks, Logan. Your idea doesn’t bite.”