“That’d be great.” She didn’t need to think twice about it. She didn’t care whose classroom she entered, she just wanted her job back—her life.
“As far as Arizona goes, I can make arrangements to leave here in the morning,” he offered, keeping his attention on her reaction as she hesitated with a scrunched nose. “Is tomorrow morning too early?”
“Oh no, not at all,” she said, sitting straight up before she leaned forward to rest on her knees. “It’s just that I was thinking you wouldn’t want to leave your shop for that long, would you?”
“Hey, if Jessica can leave you in charge of her shop, I’m sure I can leave Paul in charge of mine,” he said, jabbing fun at her.
“But I almost killed all of the flowers,” she said, making sure he understood the risks he had to be sure he was willing to take.
Holding up a finger, he said, “Let’s be honest for a minute and just say that those flowers really didn’t have a chance... Ouch!”
The pillow bounced off his arm and landed on the floor in front of them. “I was just being honest! You didn’t almost kill them, they were deader than dead... without hope.”
Struggling to reach the pillow before he got his hands on it, she army crawled toward it and was pulled back by her ankle. Screaming with laughter, she clung to the rug and pulled herself from his grip. “You’re getting it! I didn’t kill those flowers!”
Laughing until her gut ached, the muscles spasmed as she gripped the pillow. In a quick attempt to sneak a hit in before he had a chance to grab it from her, she aimed for his head and threw it. Instead of hitting her intended target, the pillow ricocheted off the back of the couch and landed right next to Jordan. She smiled innocently and said, “I call a truce.”
His deep, but subtle chuckle grumbled in his throat as he grabbed it and shook his head. “There’s no truce. You’ve had this coming for a while now.”
Before she knew it, he was on top of her, straddling her so she couldn’t move. No matter how many times she tried, she couldn’t get out from under him. Laughing hysterically, she tossed her head back and surrendered to his torture.
Instead of beating her with the overstuffed pillow, he pulled her up against his chest and placed the pillow strategically behind her before he laid her back, making sure her head rested against the pillow.
Her heart raced, feeling as though it skipped several beats, as she watched and waited for his next move. Without warning, tension filled the space between them and his eyes—full of desire and need—locked on hers before he leaned down as she allowed his lips to settle against hers.
Leaving her house was the last thing he wanted to do. Their kiss had been heated, but with everything going on in her life, he felt it was necessary to back the heat off a bit, and simmer it down a notch or two. There was no sense in rushing things; it was obvious they were into each other. He wasn’t about to take advantage of her emotions just to get into her pants.
Damn, those pants of hers though. He headed toward his truck parked next to the curb as he dialed his brother’s number. Climbing into the driver’s seat, he turned the key, allowing the truck to grumble to life right before his brother answered. “Howard?”
“Hey, Jord, what’s up?”
“I got a favor to ask ya,” Jordan said, shifting the truck into drive and hitting the gas. Before his brother could say a word, he said, “It’d mean a lot to me if you could do whatever it takes to get Kate Dixon into your classroom.”
“Now you’re talkin’,” Howard said, his reference wasn’t lost on Jordan.
Jordan knew exactly what he was thinking. His brother was younger, therefore he lacked maturity in the area of women—hence the reason he was in his late twenties and still single. “No, that’s not what I’m talking about. She’s not a piece of meat, jerk.”
“I was joking, Jord, take it easy old man,” his brother teased lightly, careful not to poke the bear anymore. “I’ll see what I can do. Not sure they’ll really listen to me. I think they may have already assigned a para to my classroom.”
“All I ask is that you do whatever you can to make it happen,” Jordan repeated. “She loved that job, bro. Not only does she need that job, she wants it. More than anything else, she wants that job.”
“All right, I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks, man,” he said, before thinking of something else. “Hey, and one more thing, find out why that witch wanted to get rid of Kate.”
Dialing Paul’s number was pointless, since the guy never had his phone on him, and half the time he did, he didn’t pay attention to it ringing anyway. Driving across town toward his business, he tried to get his thoughts in order. Making sure she was going to be okay was his main priority, but first, he needed to make sure Paul would take on the responsibilities for a while.
Pulling into the parking lot next to his building, he remembered that filling pot holes had been on his to-do list, as his truck jarred its way over each of them. Parking in his usual spot, he shifted the truck into park and headed inside.
“Hey, where’ve you been?” Paul hollered from the back room. “I’ve been struggling to get through the day.”
Not the words he wanted to hear since he had decided to have him take over for a while, but it was obvious the man was joking. Paul had been there for the business since the day it had opened. The man was in his early fifties and if Jordan had the choice between Paul or some young kid, he’d choose Paul in a heartbeat. Hands down, the best worker and best friend a man could have in this journey.
“Hey, Paul,” Jordan called out as he made his way to the back room. Paul poked his head from the room. “I have a favor to ask ya.”
Pulling up a chair, Paul sat down, sitting backwards as he straddled the seat. “What’s up?”
“Well, I’m thinking about heading to Arizona in the morning.”
A quizzical look crossed Paul’s face before he asked, “What the heck’s in Arizona?”
He knew he would have to explain, but he also knew he would receive a lot of shit from Paul once he realized how far in he was for this girl. “Kate’s mother isn’t doing well. Kate has some time off and wants to head back home for a while.”
A grunt followed by a smirk was offered from Paul as they sat in the office. “You’ve got it bad for her, don’t ya?”
Frustration edged close, but he ignored it. There were many things Paul knew before a word was spoken. However, Jordan didn’t see the point in discussing how bad he had it for Kate. Hell, he hadn’t hidden it from anyone. Everyone he associated with knew something was up with him soon after he had met her. They swore they knew just because he perked up and stumbled out of his bad moods—not a trait he was fond of having since his divorce.
“That’s beside the point,” he said, offering nothing more. “I don’t want her to go through what she’s about to go through alone. As far as I know, Jessica and I are the only people she has, aside from her mother.”
“What if she decides she doesn’t want to come back to Le Claire?”
The seriousness in Paul’s voice alerted something inside of him. He hadn’t thought that far ahead, to figure out what-ifs and what-nots. He wouldn’t stop her from making that decision, but he could only hope she wouldn’t. “She won’t.”
Paul shrugged his shoulders before spitting the shells from sunflower seeds into a nearby pail. The man never went anywhere without a pocketful of those damned things. “You never know, man. She might surprise ya.”
Irritated with the thought that Paul could be right, he shook his head. He refused to look that far ahead. This wasn’t about him anyway, it was completely about being there for her. Being there so she had someone to carry her through possibly one of the darkest moments of her life. He couldn’t imagine saying goodbye to his mother without someone there for him.
“I’ll do whatever you need me to,” Paul offered, shaking a handful of seeds into his big jowled mouth. “You know I’m here for ya.”
“I’l
l need you to look after the place for a while. I’m not too sure for how long or any other details, but it could be longer than a week or two.”
He could see the questioning expression on Paul’s face. Of course, everyone might think he was losing his mind. Hell, he’d probably already lost it, but he wasn’t about to let her handle it all on her own.
* * *
The thought of Jordan going to Arizona with her seemed crazy, but reassuring. It was going to be nice to have him with her. He already felt like her balance in the chaos—he had already proven he could handle whatever she threw at him.
His plan had been to leave in the morning and she couldn’t find a reason or excuse not to. Grabbing her overused and abandoned suitcase from the hallway closet, she made her way into her bedroom. If they were leaving before the sunrise, she needed to get packing. She hated packing, but would hate it more than ever if she had to do it in the morning.
Making rounds throughout the house, she grabbed everything she deemed important to take with her. Grabbing her favorite notebook, along with her favorite teaching pen, she shoved them into the side pocket of her suitcase. Her way of destressing had always been writing and grading papers, but now she would need to rely solely on writing and talking to Jordan to get through what was ahead.
She had conflicting thoughts about Jordan leaving his business behind for however long she needed, but he knew best, and if he had agreed to doing something like this, he knew what he was doing and he meant it.
The ringing of her cell phone pulled her from her distracting thoughts. She rushed to answer it before it stopped ringing. Freezing once she read the number on the screen.
* * *
He made a mental note to silence the ringtone of his phone before the night ended. Within the last half hour, he’d received quite a few calls. A few of his usual customers, best friends, and a few others he barely talked to, had called to ask if he had lost his mind and if he was sure he was making the right choice.
But the number on his screen was more important than all the others. Swiping his thumb across the screen to answer, he didn’t have a chance to say hello before he heard sobbing. “Kate, what’s wrong? Kate?”
When she wouldn’t respond, he grabbed his keys off the counter and headed out the front door of his house, without worrying about locking it. “Kate!”
His voice cracked with desperation. He needed her to talk to him. He needed her to tell him what the heck was going on. What the heck had happened. “Kate, what’s going on? Are you home? I’m on my way.”
The sound of the heavy sobs, followed by the lengthy gasps to catch her breath had his heart beating out of his chest like a wild caged beast ready to escape. “Kate, talk to me, please? Tell me what’s going on.”
The size of the town was in his favor as he drove in the direction of her house. He was more than thankful for a smaller town when it came to moments like this. He hated to think about her being home alone—sobbing uncontrollably, without someone there to comfort her. Not for too much longer. “Kate, I’m almost there.”
Between the harsh gasps for air and the wicked sobs that echoed through the phone, he heard her shaken, emotion-cracked words clear as day. “She’s gone.”
She could barely get the words out over the phone. Minutes before calling Jordan, her mother’s caretaker had called to tell her the news that she had been dreading to hear.
A commotion sounded on her front steps followed by Jordan barging through the unlocked door. The feeling of helplessness overwhelmed her as she sat curled on the couch with her knees drawn to her chest, as she shook her head in disbelief, and at a loss for words.
“Shh... It’s okay,” Jordan said, sliding into the spot next to her as he wrapped his strong arms around her weakness and held her together. “I’m sorry, Kate.”
It was obvious neither of them were good at this. She had never experienced a loss so great in all of her life, and she could only imagine how difficult it had to be for him to find just the right words to say to her. But it wasn’t about the words right now, it was about him just being there for her. He had been right when he had insisted she needed someone there with her when the time came.
“I...” she tried to explain, but the weakness in her voice caused by the emotion from her heart breaking was too much to bear. Words failed her as emotion ricocheted and interrupted her thoughts. “I...”
“Shh, it’s okay,” he assured her, rocking her in his arms as he held her close to him. The sound of his heart beating against his chest calmed her. His warmth reassured her of his presence. “I’m here.”
Unable to hold back, uncontrollable sobs unraveled and violently shook her body. The thought of her mother dying alone, with no family surrounding her made this that much harder to handle. She should have gone to be with her sooner. She hated herself for not going sooner.
Pulling her close to him, Jordan leaned back. As thoughts raced and her guilt escalated, he was there, reassuring her that she did nothing wrong. That she couldn’t blame herself for things out of her control.
At first, she was annoyed that he was assuming that her mother was okay with Kate not being around. But then, realization that he was most likely right, briefly settled her nagging guilt trips. Her mother had known she had a life to live in Le Claire. She only hoped that her mother knew how much she loved her and how much she had wanted to be there with her.
“I should have called her and told her I was coming,” Kate said, her voice shook with emotion as she held back the urge to cry once again. She had been strong with the loss of her father, perhaps mainly for her mother, but strong nonetheless. “If she had known, maybe she would’ve stayed awhile longer. Maybe she thought I was never coming back, or that I forgot about her...”
Emotion cracked her voice as tears streamed down her cheeks. Jordan pulled her into his chest and ran a hand through her hair. “Don’t say that. I guarantee that a mother knows all too well, and your mother knew how much you loved her and how much you wanted to be there with her.”
She tried to think of the last time she had seen her mother or had an actual conversation that lasted longer than a few minutes due to her busy schedule. It was shortly after her move to Le Claire—a little over a year ago. Had it really been that long?
She cursed herself for being a horrible daughter. No excuse or reason she could come up with would justify not seeing her mother in the last year. No matter how busy she had been; there was no reason why she couldn’t have purchased a flight back home for the weekend twice a month.
“You’re beating yourself up,” Jordan said, more of a statement than a question. It was as though he knew her well enough to know her thoughts. When it should have scared her, it didn’t. It reassured her, because it meant that she didn’t have to say anything—he just knew. “There’s no reason you should be.”
As though his words had been enough to settle her, her nagging thoughts scattered as she leaned away from him. She turned, tucking her legs cross legged, in order to face him. “Thanks for being here.”
“It’s the least I can do,” he said, grabbing hold of her hand. “I’ll do whatever you need me to. I’m not going anywhere.”
* * *
He had never experienced a loss as painful as losing a parent. He couldn’t imagine the pain Kate was feeling at that exact minute. He could only offer what he knew he could, and that was just enough, he hoped, to make her feel a bit better.
Seeing her cry had made his heart hurt, made him want to take all of this away for her, but instead, he did the only thing he could. He held her until the sobs silenced long enough for her to say the things she needed to say.
He could tell she was beating herself up before she admitted she was. He wasn’t good at reading minds, especially a woman’s, but he knew, with Kate. Kate had been easy to read since the day he met her. She had an upbeat and chipper personality and that had become the reason he had fallen for her. The reason he had rushed to her house in order to comfort he
r. He was in love. For the first time since his divorce.
“I remember the day I left Arizona,” Kate’s soft whisper interrupted his thoughts. “She told me not to settle for less than I deserved. To always look for the good in things, and never hold back if something feels right.”
“Sounds like good advice,” he said, smiling at the thought of his own mother’s love and support throughout his life. He had been teased while growing up, especially in his teen years, for being what his friends called a “mama’s boy” instead of being a roughhousing son-of-a-gun like most of his friends had become. His father had never encouraged him to be rough or tough, like most fathers expect their sons to be. Instead, his father had encouraged him to know how to treat a lady, and enjoy life doing what makes himself happy.
“My mom knew I needed a change,” Kate said, continuing the conversation he was more than thankful to be having with her. If it meant keeping her calm and distracted from the harsh reality, he would stay here all night. “After my divorce, I had found it hard to concentrate on what mattered most.”
Her faint smile made his heart ache as he watched her run her fingers through the loose ends of her hair that had fallen gently from the messy bun on top of her head.
“She knew me best when I didn’t even know myself,” she said, allowing a soft chuckle to rattle in her throat. “She was there for me when I needed her the most...”
Her trailing words were his cue to reassure, pull her close and keep her there until the emotion passed. Like waiting out the winds of a hurricane, he felt the need to protect her—not wanting her to feel alone or allow anything else to hurt her more than she already was.
“And here I am,” she said, looking out into the night through the bay window behind them. “When she needed me the most, I was here living the life...”
Kate's Forever (Thistle Do Flowers Book 1) Page 4
