“He was a jerk. I was there during the aftermath of every fight. When he would stand you up to go out with the guys or the times he’d go incommunicado…”
“I get it. I remember that too,” she nodded, but Shelly was on a roll and there was no stopping her.
“And let’s not forget what happened after we got back from Seattle.”
“I know....” she put the peonies she’d been working with aside onto the wooden table and placed her hand over Shelly’s.
“Even if your dad…”
“Shell, I love you. I remember all of that. I also remember the good that was better than good. It was great. Honestly? I can’t be angry that he walked away.”
“What?”
“It was thirty-five years ago. It’s not like I held my breath for him. I have two great kids and my marriage with Kevin wasn’t bad. I have my flower shop. Honey, you have to trust that I know what I’m doing.” Shelly’s light brown eyes met Jess’ green stare and she blinked.
“Do you?” she asked, concern clearly imprinted on her friends face.
“I think so. I’m going on a date,” taking a fortifying breath, she continued. “Then I’m going to the doctor’s tomorrow to get my test results.”
“Everything is going to be okay,” Shelly squeezed Jess’ hand, and she smiled at her best friend. “I can go with you.”
“No, it’s okay, you have that presentation with the people from the art gallery and you can’t miss it. I’ll call you once I get the results.” Shelly was an artist since childhood. Thankfully after college, she’d caught the eye of gallery owner, Grant Alexander, who’d done show after show of her work and she’d become pretty famous. To this day, Shelly stayed loyal and was sold exclusively at Alexander Gallery.
“Promise?” Shelly’s toffee eyes worried, so Jess playfully rolled hers, giving her friend her best smile to lighten the heavy mood.
“Promise.” Shelly nodded and stared at Jess.
“So you’re really going out with him?” She scrunched her face and Jess knew it was Shelly’s way of trying to distract her from thinking about her doctor’s appointment.
“I told you he didn’t give me much of a choice,” she confided in her best friend, turning around because the truth was, she was looking forward to seeing him again and she knew Shelly would be able to read it all over her face.
“Who do you think you are talking to, Jess? I’ve known you almost our entire lives.” Jess turned back to look at Shelly, her hands over her chest. “You want to go!”
“I haven’t been on a date in a long time….”
“Bullshit! You want to go with him!” Shelly called her on her shit all the time so she shouldn’t have been surprised.
“No. Yes...I don’t know,” she shook her head, “I mean, am I crazy? Am I being completely irresponsible, Shell-bear? Drew didn’t answer any of my calls last night or this morning. I mean, Scott’s going to be his father-in-law. If this goes bad, it’s worse than just a random guy I could have chosen on a dating site because he’ll always be around. Oh God.” The thought bewildered her. “When Drew and Chloe have kids, we’ll be grandparents together. Shit! I should cancel. Right? That’s what a sane person would do, right? Cancel and just be cordial to him at holidays and birthdays and hope to God Drew can forgive me…” Anxiety ran through her as all the ‘what-ifs’ and worst case scenarios played in her head.
“Okay, you need to stop, babe.” Shelly jumped off her stool and walked over to her. Jess let herself lean on her friend who was like a sister to her, settling her head on her shoulder. “You’re getting worked up over nothing. As much as I didn’t like the jerk, he can’t be as bad as I remember. Especially if he helped raise Chloe.”
She couldn’t help the tears that fell down her face. It might have been the uncertainty of her test results or the fact that Scott had somehow stepped back into her life or the fact that he told her he remembered everything.
“He remembers,” she whispered and Shelly’s body grew still.
“What did he remember, Jess?”
“Everything. He said he remembers everything,” she looked down at the wooden work table, the green leaves and stem bits of the flowers she’d been working on strewn all over. “He was giving me time. He wanted to marry me, Shell....” She shook her head, lifting it to meet her friend’s eyes head-on. “Part of me wonders…”
“What?” Shelly pushed her.
“What if I get this chance and it’s all for nothing?” Saying the words out loud made her stomach turn and twist deep in her gut as fear roiled in.
“What do you mean?”
“What if I walk into the doctor’s office tomorrow and it’s not good…what if it’s spread and now it’s …”
“It’s not,” her best friend said adamantly, holding her with both hands. “If it’s back, you fight. We fight this together.”
Shelly had always been the confident one of the two of them. The confidence in Shelly's voice gave her hope.
“Last time you didn’t share, you didn’t have the support you needed, and you still beat it. This time, if—and that is a big IF—you have to fight, you’re not alone.”
“Scott…he shouldn’t...he wouldn’t…”
“He would.” A deep voice rumbled behind them and they both turned to look toward the door.
Scott stood there, making her heart literally skip a beat.
He’d looked good the day before, but today he looked delicious, the way his body radiated strength. He wore a black vintage Rolling Stones tee shirt that made his arms look amazing, a pair of faded jeans that looked like he’d owned them forever, and black boots she was sure he used for work. Her eyes roamed over his body again and met up with his dark brown, smiling eyes. Her heart was racing and she wondered how much he’d heard.
It wasn’t till he extended his hand and stepped closer to her that she noticed he was holding a pretty bunch of bright yellow daisies. The same kind of flowers he’d always given her.
He really remembered.
“Shelly, you’re as lovely as ever.” The richness of his voice sent shivers down her spine, and she watched Shelly roll her eyes dramatically.
“You’re as original as ever. Bringing the florist flowers. Cheap ones at that,” Shelly sarcastically quipped. He laughed. He pulled Jess into his arms and she inhaled his scent. He smelled good and his skin was cold from the AC in his truck. His body shook with laughter as he hugged her and kissed the top of her head.
“Hey, babe,” he mumbled into her hair and just like that, all the worry she’d felt seconds ago faded away.
“Hey. What are you doing here?”
“I saw these and thought of you, so I picked them up.”
“Like I said, original,” Shelly muttered, sitting back on her bar stool, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She was watching Scott with distaste. Somehow it was like being transported back in time.
“I also came to make sure you grabbed lunch. Shelly, would you like to go with us?”
He’d come to take me to lunch and he was inviting Shelly? Had he changed his mind?
“I thought we were going on a date?” she asked, not able to hide her surprise.
“We’re doing that too,” his eyes were confident and intense. She liked it. She liked that he’d come to take her to lunch. She liked his confidence, and she loved the daisies he’d brought and what they meant.
“Okay.”
"And I'm driving you to your appointment tomorrow." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Shelly put a finger to her mouth, trying to hide the sound of her gasp, a look on her face Jess didn’t recognize; which was weird, since she’d known Shelly most of her life.
"Okay?" he asked her to confirm. Jess blinked away the wetness at her eyes and just nodded, mumbling her confirmation.
"Maybe you're better than I thought," Shelly muttered, but he ignored her.
Chapter Fifteen
Jess
The lighting was beautiful: candlelight on t
he table, twinkle lights floating off the marina. Scott’s hand was in hers, his thumb playing over her knuckles. She looked up from behind her lashes shyly, because that’s how she felt. Shy. It was utterly silly, but it was more than that. She felt giddy, bubbly, down right effervescent. Who would have thought these feelings could be possible at her age?
“Dinner was delicious,” she mentioned and he grinned.
“It was.”
“So was lunch,” she noted, unable to stop the small blush that tinged her cheeks.
He’d taken her to a small Mexican restaurant, where he’d ordered all her favorites, which hadn’t changed from when she was younger. It made her heart do cartwheels.
He’d really remembered.
Shelly hadn’t gone to lunch with them. She’d had to go do god only knows what. At that moment Jess realized she never asked her friend why she’d been so dressed up.
“One of my favorite places,” he smiled at her. She liked this Scott. He shared without her having to push. “Shelly’s still the same,” he remarked and she smiled.
“Shell-bear,” she sighed. “She’s nicer now than she used to be,” to this he laughed, and she couldn’t take her eyes off of him. He was so damn handsome.
“My old buddy, Drake, used to have the biggest thing for her,” he shared and she smiled.
“No way?” she asked, wondering how she hadn’t noticed it back then.
“Oh, yeah,” he chuckled. “I think he liked how she always bit his balls off. He used to poke at her just to make her mad all the time,” he smiled and she shook her head, really enjoying how she felt at that moment. He went silent as he picked up his fork, taking a bite of the salmon he’d ordered. “I called Drew.” She looked up at him from beneath her lashes.
“Oh? I did too,” she admitted.
“He answer?” Scott asked, glancing at her.
“No,” she frowned and he squeezed her hand. “Did he...for you? I mean did he answer your call?” she asked nervously.
“Oh, yeah,” he said, chewing his food. She wondered what he was trying to tell her without really telling her.
“What did he say?” She set her fork down and sipped her white wine, her eyes on Scott. She watched him chew, swallow, and sip from his glass of water slowly. “Scott?”
“We met up after I had lunch with you,” he shared. She tried to take her hand away from his, but he wouldn’t let her. His dark eyes settled on hers, intense but soothing. "We talked man to man, and I answered a couple of questions he had."
"Questions?" she repeated, fear, worry, and anxiety all hitting her at once.
"Yeah," he scooted his chair closer to hers and took a deep breath. "Baby, he's just worried about you."
"What did you tell him, Scott?" she asked, not sure if she really wanted to know.
"The truth."
"Which is?" she pushed, feeling overwhelmed.
"He wanted to know what Chloe meant about you being 'her'. I swear my ex-wife is a piece of work," he shook his head. "I didn't know she talked about you to the girls or that she'd ever thought twice about my past. It wasn't like our marriage ended because of that."
"Why did it end?" she couldn't help asking. The look on his face told her he was going to be honest and she probably wasn’t going to like it.
"She cheated...on more than one occasion. She said it was to get my attention. Attention she needed and supposedly I didn't give her. In the end, she screwed one of my project managers, in my office. I caught them in the act. It was the last straw." She couldn't believe it. Why would anyone do that to someone they loved?
"Wow," was the only word her mouth could form.
Scott
He couldn't believe he was telling her everything, but at the same time he wasn't surprised. There had always been something about Jess that made it easy for him to share. If he hadn’t been so young and stupid, he wouldn’t have messed things up between them. But he was being given a second chance now, a chance many in life didn't get, a chance to make things right. And this time, he was going to listen to his gut.
"Anyhow, I explained to Drew who you were to me, what happened, and how I screwed up."
"Scott..." He shook his head because he knew that tone. It meant she was going to give him a free pass he didn't want. He was man enough to know he didn’t deserve one.
"But I also told him I was glad I screwed shit up between us." Her green eyes were on his. He saw the understanding playing behind them and the slight nod of her chin. "If I hadn't, your kids and my girls wouldn't exist and that would be a shame." She smiled, her green eyes flaring slightly, and he wondered what she was thinking.
"That's sweet." Coming from any other woman it might have sounded condescending, sarcastic, and even spiteful, but from Jess it was honest and real. He felt a load fall off his shoulders.
"It's the truth." He took a deep breath, knowing she might get pissed at him for what he was about to share next. "He also asked if something was going on with you that he should know about." The pink tint in her face told him she wasn't very happy with him. He kept going before she had a chance to interrupt. "I told him you were waiting on test results and I was taking you to the doctor’s. I also told him the moment we stepped out of the office, you would call him and let him know what was going on."
"You decided that?" Her face was a frown. He nodded.
"Yes, I did." The way she studied him was new, he looked at her, the silence between them growing.
"Okay," she surprised him, giving in. Then she took it a step further and leaned into him, her lips lightly touching his. He lost the ability to breathe when she whispered, "Thank you," against his lips before pulling away.
"He also wanted to know what my intentions are with his mother," he said huskily. He hadn’t intended on sharing that part of the conversation with her, but something about the way she'd given in made him break.
Unfortunately, he hadn't noticed she'd picked up her glass of wine, taking a sip. She choked on her drink and he winced, his hand going to her back as she coughed.
"What?" she continued to cough but took a deep breath. Thankfully, he noted her green eyes were laughing. "He didn't?"
"He did." Scott smiled, rubbing her back until she was back to normal and even then didn't remove it. He liked touching her. She started to giggle, making him glad he hadn’t moved his hand because he liked feeling that too.
"I'm so sorry, Scott," her voice was filled with laughter. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. That certainly hadn't changed. "I will talk to him. It's none of..."
"I told him I want a chance with you and I think you might give it to me," her giggles stopped, her eyes clearly surprised by his words. "I do. I want a chance. I want to see what happens between us, where this goes."
Their eyes connected. She broke their connection and he lost her hand for the first time since dinner started. He was brave enough to admit it made him nervous.
Had he misread the signals?
Chapter Sixteen
Jess
A chance.
One chance.
He made it all sound so easy.
So simple.
"That's because it is," he chimed, and she realized she'd spoken her thoughts out loud.
"Drew and Chloe are going to get married one day."
"Yep, and if things work out, I'd love for you to be my date," he spouted, making a laugh bubbled up.
"You're crazy!"
"Maybe."
"They are going to have kids together." He made a funny, disgusted face.
"Don't tell me that," he groaned, his hands on his face.
"Why? It's true."
"Yeah, but she's still my little girl. Her having kids means your kid is giving them to her and..." that’s the moment she lost it.
She laughed so hard her body leaned deeply into his. The serious and depressed look on his face didn't help her take control of the laughter pouring from her. Tears rolled down her face and her stomach hurt as she gulped for air. He
shook his head at her and kissed her forehead.
She settled her head on his shoulder, her laughter gone, and took a deep breath.
"If we don't work out, it could be messy," she said without looking at him but enjoying the pressure of his body against hers. "We're going to have a new list of milestones, and our lives will be connected. We're going to have grandkids one day..." his groan made her stop and smile then the smile vanished. "I don't want this new list filled with ugly awkwardness," she admitted and felt his lips on the top of her head.
"It won't be."
"How are you so sure?" she couldn't help asking.
"Because I am," he said confidently, and she took her head off is shoulder and looked at him as he looked at the water in the Marina. His lips curled up in a smile. He turned to look at her and she knew what he was going to say.
"I haven't been able to shake my feelings for you. I don’t think I ever could. Now that I have you in my grasp, do you think I'm going to mess this up? That I'm going to let you slip between my fingers again?"
Okay, so maybe she didn’t know exactly what he wanted to tell her, but what he did say made her feel warm and cozy all over.
"Okay," she whispered, her face turning back to the water, her head resting once more on his shoulder.
Scott
"Okay?" he asked, a grin on his lips.
"What did Drew say?" she asked and he held her hand.
"That he didn't care if I was Chloe's dad, he'd still kick my ass if I made you cry." He chuckled, remembering how honest the kid was. "You and your ex did a great job with him. He loves you, babe. Just call him tomorrow. Walking in on his mom yesterday... well, that wasn’t easy. Add in whom you were making out with..." She sighed and shook her head. Glancing at her, he saw a soft expression on her face and knew it was all going to be okay.
***
The night went by too quickly, was all he could think as he walked her back to her door. Dinner on the Marina had been perfect.
It had been quiet and private. The food had been good and the conversation even better. They'd had a serious conversation and had moved on, laughing wholeheartedly throughout the night. For a split second he wondered if this was what a healthy relationship was supposed to be like. His ex-wife Leah had a penchant for the dramatics. If it wasn't one thing with her, it was another. Luckily, neither one of his girls turned out to be like her.
Longing For You (Never Too Late Book 1) Page 7
