by Taylor Hart
He nodded.
She grinned. “I like to ask people questions right after they take a bite of food. It helps you judge who has manners.”
For a second, he thought she was a little crazy. Then he realized she was teasing him. He let out a light laugh and took a sip of his Coke. It was interesting to him that he’d never known this woman. He lived across the street from her, and he was only now realizing she was kinda funny. It was refreshing actually. To have a conversation with a woman who didn’t want something from him. Other then his mother, most women circled him at PR events like a vultures getting ready to swoop down on a dead carcass.
She took another bite, washing it down with pop and cleared her throat. “I had a business thing at the university today. I was kind of nervous, so I kept telling myself no matter how it ended, I would come here. Then it would still be a good day.”
It took him a bit off guard to realize he hadn’t thought about someone else’s life in a while. Even though he didn’t really know this woman, he found himself interested. “How did the meeting go?” he asked.
“Oh.” She let out a breath. “I blew it. But it’s fine.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
Her shoulder lifted in a half shrug. “They said I don’t have enough qualifications to be a teacher. Their loss, right?” She flashed a smile, but he could tell she was covering up a bit of disappointment.
“Yeah, their loss.” He studied her. “What did you want to teach?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. They asked me to come in and interview because I help companies manage their social media, and they want to help their students gain practical skills to help them make money.”
He frowned. “So why didn’t they hire you?”
She sighed. “They want me to have a doctorate.” She shrugged. “I’m good enough to make money, but not good enough to teach people.”
Letting out a soft snort, he shrugged. “The bureaucracy of it all.”
“Yeah.” A slow smile filled her face. “Hey, I’m good enough at my job to know they’re missing out.”
He laughed. That was refreshing. Stacy was so insecure. He used to have to work to build her up for hours on end. “Nice.”
“At least, that’s how I self-talk myself.”
“What is that?”
“Self-talk?” Her eyes widened. “You’ve never heard of talking to yourself in the way you need it? Some people give themselves affirmations; some people focus on gratitude. I do all of it.” She smiled. “I’m kind of a self-improvement junkie.”
“This is all Greek to me.”
“Oh. You should look up Cooper Harrison. Seriously, he’s a total self-help guru. I attended one of his seminars in Jackson, Wyoming last year.” She snapped her fingers. “That’s what you should do, especially on the heels of what you’re going through. Go to a seminar. Get some strategies and tools for dealing with the crap you’re going through. He’s good friends with Cameron Cruz. I’m surprised you don’t know who he is.”
Cameron Cruz. Irritation wove through him and he thought of the YouTube clip that had pretty much gone viral where Cameron and Hyde were laying into him.
Seeming to read his mind, she frowned too. “Sorry, I saw the clip.”
Rolling his eyes, he let out a breath. “Yeah, I’m not really in the good old boys club at the moment.”
Hesitating, she gave him a quick once-over then waved off the matter and began cleaning up her tray. “Sorry, I just love that stuff. Really. You should do a morning ritual of gratitude. It helps. A ton. The greatest wealth builders in the world do gratitude rituals. It would totally help your game. I know it would.”
“Like praying?” he asked, thinking of how he hadn’t prayed since he was a kid.
She shook her head. “Kind of. It can be. It’s extreme focus on the good in your life. It’s talking to God about everything you appreciate, or could appreciate, big or small.”
“Hmm, gratitude.” He didn’t think he had that much to be grateful for at the moment, but he didn’t say that.
She winked at him in encouragement. “You’ll get the hang of it. YouTube Cooper Harrison. I mean it. You can’t go wrong.”
“Okay.” Even as he agreed, he knew he wouldn’t.
“You don’t believe me.” She crossed her arms.
Disgust, mostly toward himself, soured his good mood. “In case you haven’t noticed, my life is kind of in shambles. I haven’t been able to catch a pass, and now my wife left me. Heard she cheated on me. Course she didn’t tell me that.”
“But you still have something to be grateful for.” Quietly, she insisted. “Or maybe you’re more selfish then I thought.”
That stung. He glared at her. He didn’t need her mumbo jumbo. He had enough coaches trying to tell him how to run his life at the moment. “Whatever.”
For a few moments, she didn’t say anything, and he focused on his sandwich. When he worked up the nerve to look at her again, she was frowning at him.
“What?” He felt like a kid whose mother was mad at him.
She shook her head. “Man, you’re spoiled. Look.” She wagged her finger at him. “I didn’t tell you about the nonprofit I work with—Integrate Colorado. I’m part of a team that helps refugees who have come to our city to settle and integrate into our culture.”
Having no idea what this had to do with him and his problems, he gave her a blank stare and took another bite of sandwich. “Okay, why is this important to me?” he asked through the food.
She looked ticked. “Right now, there’s a family who came from Somalia. They had to leave their country because terrorists took over their town, wrecking their home. Two of their children were killed by the Taliban.” Her eyes glistened with tears.
He paused then shrugged. “Look, I give a lot of money to charitable organizations, not to mention how much I pay in taxes.”
Scowling deeper, her lips pinched together. “This family has been in our country for two years, and there are programs that help them get an apartment, but most of these people can hardly pay the rent. Even with both the mother and father working, many end up not having heat. Not having beds to sleep on or furniture. The family I’m helping this week doesn’t have beds for their six children. And do you know what? When I went to talk to the parents, they said they were grateful. Grateful.” She said emphatically, her blue eyes widening passionately. “The kids take turns sleeping in the parents’ bed, and they are grateful to be safe.”
He didn’t know how to respond.
“They are grateful for the oranges and apples they get from the center every week. You would think we were giving them jewels by how happy they are with a simple apple in their hands. The middle son still consumes the apple too fast because he remembers not having food for long periods of time.”
He hadn’t known these families were in Denver. A bit of shame crawled up his throat.
“You sit here, having everything, anything you could possibly want to eat, and are you grateful?”
The question hung in the air. He didn’t know what to say. Most people didn’t talk to him like this. Probably only his mother to be honest.
“Sure, your supermodel wife cheated on you. Sure, you’re in a slump on the field. Sure, you could focus on all the bad. You could. But maybe if you were grateful, for all the little things in your life, those little things could grow to be bigger than all the bad things.”
He didn’t even know this woman’s name, and she was lecturing him about selfishness. Unbelievable. “O-kay.” Their eyes locked.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing. Look ...” What was her name? “You don’t understand.”
Frowning, she took another sip. “You don’t know my name, do you?”
How did she decipher that from this conversation? “Whatever.”
With a bitter laugh, she shook her head. “This is unbelievable. Tim and I had you guys over for dinner. We’ve been neighbors for two years.”
Glaring at him, she rolled her eyes. “No. Whatever, it’s fine.” She waved a hand in the air. “Obviously, you have yourself to focus on, right?”
It irritated him, the way she acted all superior. Who was she anyway? Nobody. He didn’t respond to her provoking though.
Suddenly, her mouth dropped open like she’d forgotten something. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry.” She rubbed her forehead and coughed. “I can’t believe I just said all that to you.”
It looked like she would bolt, but she didn’t move.
After he stuffed another bite of sandwich in his mouth, he stood. “Look, thanks for the cookies.” He gathered up his dirty napkins.
“Did you know about Stacy?”
The question took him by surprise. He paused. “Not until she handed me the divorce papers.” Now, his hand started to tremble, and he put his tray back down.
Regret crossed her face, and she closed her eyes.
“Did you know?” He watched as she winced, and his hands shook harder. “You did.”
She released a tortured breath. “I’m sorry. I sit in the front of the house and work. I saw some things. Cars. Men.”
His mouth felt dry. “You should have told me.” What kind of sideshow had that looked like from her vantage point? “Never mind,” he said, knocking his chair over as he pushed away from the table. The food felt like lead in the pit of his gut. “I have to go.”
Chapter 3
Later that night, Addison stood in the kitchen sautéing veggies and chicken on the stove. A pot of rice sat ready to be served. The garage door sounded, and she half listened to Tim putting his bike away.
It had perplexed her, the chance encounter with Jace at Cubbies. It had actually ticked her off that he didn’t remember her name. Typical for a guy like that. Maybe that was the whole reason Stacy divorced him, his inattention to detail.
She cut off that train of thought, knowing that wasn’t the reason. She’d seen a spread about them on the Internet, detailing some alleged affairs Stacy might have had. Heck, she had seen more of them herself.
For some stupid reason, she’d trolled the news for stories about him. Never having thought of herself as a pop culture junkie, she hated that there was part of her that needed to know. It was normal for her to be intrigued, right? Maybe a little less normal to dip into voyeurism though.
Guilt assaulted her. She shouldn’t even be thinking about Jace Harding.
A few minutes later, Tim walked in holding out an opened piece of mail and studying it with annoying focus. That’s who Tim was—a single-minded person.
Addison had the food on the table and a smile on her face. This was something she liked to do for him, for them. She made dinner every night so they could reconnect after a long day. Except half of the time he was too busy to share dinner.
When he didn’t look up, she said, “Hey, honey.”
For a few more seconds, he didn’t say anything, and when he finally looked up, it looked like he was coming out of a different world. “Hey.”
“Ready to eat?”
“Oh.” He sighed. “Dang it, I had a big lunch and wanted to get in some time on the business.”
Always the business on top of his regular job. She couldn’t hold the smile.
Tim surveyed her. “Are you okay?”
She thought about how she made sure Jace sat at a different table, about how he looked so heartbroken about his wife leaving. Once again, she wondered if Tim even notice if she left? Would he be relieved if she wasn’t there to demand time away from his precious business? “Fine.” She turned and took a bite of dinner.
“Okay, good.” He hesitated briefly, but his phone buzzed before he could say anything else, pulling his attention away. “Hey, dude. Yeah, I’m going to go look at it right now.” He padded down the hall to his office.
The office he said couldn’t be turned into a baby room.
Sitting there, eating her vegetables, she thought about the fact that her period was a week late. Sadly, she didn’t know if she should be excited or not.
Pulling out her phone, she pressed Laura’s number.
“Did you get the job?” Laura asked without saying hello first.
“Nope.” Addison sighed, feeling tears bud into her eyes. “But the worst part of today is that I made a nice dinner and wanted to tell Tim the good news, but he just brushed it off for his other business.” She spit the last word out pathetically.
“Ah, I’m sorry.” Laura’s voice was sympathetic.
Unwanted tears fell down her cheeks.
“Listen, I’m done here. How about I drive out to your part of town and we get some ice cream?”
Gratitude washed through her, and she sniffed, standing and beginning to gather up the plates. “Are you sure your hubby won’t mind?” Unlike Tim, Laura’s husband was a stickler for eating dinner together.
“Sam will be fine. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
Addison put the dishes down on the counter and got some Tupperware out. She would eat the meal tomorrow for lunch. She was already feeling better, knowing Laura was coming. “What would I do without a best friend like you?”
Chapter 4
Jace pounded the “For sale” sign into the ground in front of his house. It felt good to be moving on. He’d bought an apartment suite in the center of Denver earlier in the week and couldn’t wait to leave this house behind.
His teammate Frankie stood next to him. “Good riddance to Stacy. I never liked her anyway.”
Of course he had to say that. That was loyalty.
“Yeah.” Jace’s voice didn’t sound as certain as he felt. His eyes flicked across the street. He couldn’t see Addison. He’d remembered her name later that night and wished he could text her or something and apologize for being so rude.
What was wrong with him? It did make him seem like some prima donna not to remember her name.
“Was your mom ticked you’ve been shutting her out?” Frankie asked, looking at his phone.
He sighed. “Man, I know I should have gone over sooner. I just couldn’t. She just texted me and said we should come over for dinner tonight.”
Frankie grinned. “Your mom always goes the extra mile, man.”
Jace smiled. “You always use me for Mom’s cooking—have since college. I think she even cut your crusts off for you last time.”
Giving him a nod, Frankie smiled. “She loves me.”
He was still staring at Addison’s house. It was probably a good thing he was moving. He felt like a fool for trying to sit by her the other day.
He had actually taken her advise and looked up Cooper Harrison. He’d been doing the gratitude affirmations and kind of praying. Surprisingly, he’d started going through the little details in his life he was grateful for. She was right. It did make him feel better, but it was still probably a good thing he was leaving the neighborhood.
“There’s some chick staring at you,” Frankie said.
Turning, Jace saw her through the window. The curtains made it difficult to see, but he knew she was there.
“Kinda creepy. Do you know her?”
Without thinking, Jace took off for her house, stopping on the doorstep.
Frankie didn’t follow.
He rang the doorbell. A couple of seconds later, she swung open the door.
Unlike the other day at Cubbies, she wasn’t dressed up. She wore jeans, no shoes, and a black top that showed off her figure. “H-hey.”
Lifting his brows at her, he gave her a soft smile. “Addison.”
Unsure if she was happy to have him standing on her porch or not, she crossed her arms. “You remembered.”
As if he’d accomplished something like stepping on the moon, his grin widened. “I remembered.”
She quirked her lip, but her gaze drifted past him. “I saw your sign.”
“Yep.” He gestured back to it. “Just got it up.” He didn’t know this woman, but it was odd how he felt like she was the most familiar person. Like she’d been the blurred setting in a picture and now had been brought into extreme focus. She was pretty in that girl-next-door way. Blonde with a smattering of freckles. Her straight hair hung loose down her back, glistening in the sun, and he felt guilty for even noticing. For heaven’s sake, she was married. And he was technically still married, too. This attraction for her had to stop.
“Well, if you came for more cookies, it’s not baking day.”
He caught the teasing in her voice and felt himself relax. This was ridiculous, how much he actually liked the neighbor who had been there the whole time, who he’d hardly noticed or remembered before she brought him cookies. “No. Thank you though. Those were delicious. I came to tell you goodbye and that I looked up Cooper Harrison.”
Her eyes lit up. “You did?”
“I did. I’ve been doing a couple of minutes of gratitude each day. You were right. I do have a lot to be grateful for.” Okay, now his heart had picked up speed, and he felt a bit nervous.
“I’m happy for you.”
“Maybe sometime I’ll get down to your center.”
She shook her finger at him. “You know, I heard about a mysterious furniture order that came in for that family specifically—the one from Somalia with six kids.”
“Hmm. I’m glad that worked out.” He couldn’t stop the half grin on his face. Yeah, he was proud of himself, and it had felt good to help someone, even if it was only buying furniture.
Their eyes held for a few minutes. Then she nodded. “Well, good luck to you, Jace Harding.” She winked at him. “Just remember to catch that winning touchdown, okay? Go Storm.” She said the last part with weak enthusiasm.
There was something about her that made him not want to walk away. After all, he was just getting to know her. His world had exploded, and they weren’t going to be neighbors anymore. It was stupid and pointless. She had a life already—one that was still perfectly intact. Giving her a mock salute, he turned away. “Goodbye, Addison.”
