by DW Cee
“Hello? Paul is no longer here. You cannot cheat on a dead man. Sorry if that sounded insensitive. You have any idea how Dani will take this news?”
“Dani really likes Jamie but she might be with George in the no one can replace Paul theory. We’ll see.” Dani. I hadn’t thought about her in this equation. Now my heart was even more burdened. Despite her friendly relationship with Jamie, the thought of her father being replaced would not sit well with her. In her mind, there were no allowances for her mother dating another man. I sighed.
“Stop it! Stop sighing and looking only at the negatives. Enjoy this time and start new, Olivia. You deserve it. Paul will always be in your heart but the heart is big enough for another man.”
I left Meghan’s feeling hopeful yet full of despair. My heart roamed in circles attempting to decide whether or not to give us a chance. Searching yet coming to no conclusion, I went home and straight to work. I needed to get my mind off the phone call that hadn’t come today.
Late in the afternoon, my heart raced at the sound of the phone. For someone who was trying to decide against the plunge into a relationship, I wasn’t making a convincing argument.
“Hello?”
“Hi.” He sounded down.
“Hi. What’s wrong?”
“I can’t come over tonight. Melinda came back into town early and I need to go talk to her.”
“Okay. That’s fine. Jamie?”
“Yeah?”
“Think it through one more time before you decide to end your relationship with her. After three years, you’re going to break her heart.”
“Will it break your heart if I decide to end things with you instead?”
Without a second's delay, I softly answered, “Yes.”
“That’s all I needed to hear. I love you.”
“Bye.”
I kept myself busy the rest of the day and fell asleep on the couch again while watching a movie. Early in the morning, I heard the doorbell ring and I practically ran to the door.
“Good Morning.”
It was Jamie!
“Hi.” I smiled, finally feeling complete with him at my door.
“Let’s go hiking today.”
“Hiking?”
“You aren’t an outdoorsy girl, I take it?”
“Nope.” I shook my head a lot.
“Let’s go anyways. Just make sure you have on a good pair of walking shoes.”
“Fine. Let me get my stuff.” I searched through the closet and found my hiking boots and walking stick and my hat.
“You have all the gear?”
“Yeah. All the men I’m attracted to seem to like the whole hiking, camping, nature stuff.” My voice wasn’t all too pleased. This was my least favorite activity.
“Great.” He grabbed my hand and we left for an all day adventure in the woods.
After two excruciating hours, I saw the sunlight at the end of the hike.
“Are we finally resting? I’m pooped,” I complained.
“You hungry?”
“Yes. I haven’t even had breakfast yet.”
“Here.” He took out a thin blanket from the backpack he was carrying. “Sit down.”
I didn’t just sit. I had to lie down I was so tired. Jamie continued to bring more items out of his backpack. There were several square boxes along with drinks. The boxes contained cut up fruits, small sandwiches, salads, and even brownies for dessert.
“How did you pack all this stuff in that small backpack?” I started shoving food into my mouth.
“I’ve done this many times. It’s all in how you pack.”
“I see. This is yummy. Did you make all this?”
“Yes, I made it. Well, I assembled the sandwiches but bought everything else.”
“Thank you. It’s delicious and very thoughtful.” I smiled with a mouthful of food.
With my stomach content, I laid back down on the blanket and closed my eyes contemplating a nap. Possibly, I had fallen asleep because when my eyes opened, Jamie had moved away from me and was staring off into the scenic view. He had a sad look on his face. All morning, his lips smiled but his eyes looked troubled.
“What’s the matter?” I encircled my arms around his waist from behind. “You want to tell me what happened yesterday? You’ve had a heavy heart all morning.” He turned his body around and placed his arms around me as well. “Melinda?” I asked.
He nodded yes.
“Didn’t go too well last night?”
He nodded no.
“You want to talk about it?”
“She won’t accept this breakup. She says she can’t. She cried for hours and wouldn’t let me end the relationship. If that wasn’t bad enough, she called my mom in the middle of her crying marathon and had her show up at my door to try and convince me to stay with her.
“Your mother too? She must have really liked Melinda.”
“Yeah. She does. They both really like each other. Now, I’ve got a woman who won’t give up being my girlfriend, another woman who doesn’t want to be my girlfriend and a mother who’s meddling between the two.”
“You know it’s not that simple for me…for us. If all that mattered were feelings, I’d agree to being with you the next fifty years as well but there are other factors to consider.”
“Like what, Olivia?”
“Like my infertility for one. I don’t want to rob you of children, especially since you want them. I see the way you look at the twins. You’re ready to settle down and start a family and that won’t happen if you’re with me.”
“But…” He tried to argue.
“Also, there’s the issue of family.”
“What do you mean family?”
“It sounds like your mother will not be our ally and I don’t know how Dani will react to all that’s happened this past week.”
“My mother is not an important part of this equation and Dani is almost an adult. She must want you to be happy.”
“Your mother is obviously a big part of us or you wouldn’t be so bothered by her. And while Dani may seem like an adult, she’s still a child hurting deeply with the loss of her father. He was just as attentive to her as he was to me. They were very close. Let’s take this slowly and see where it leads us, okay?”
“All our issues aside, how do you feel about me?” Jamie’s tender eyes coupled with his insecure look broke my heart. “Do you love me?”
With tenderness I answered, “Of course I love you Jamie. I love you very much. I think I’ve confessed this to everybody but you.”
Maybe because this love was so new or maybe Jamie was more passionate than any man I’d been with, his kisses left my legs wobbly and heart racing in the Indy 500. Seconds before his relentless lips pulled me onto the blanket I had to stop us. Exhibitionism never thrilled me.
“Can we start heading back down?”
“Can’t we stay like this for a bit longer?” he pleaded.
“We are in public. Let’s go home.” I suggested.
“So I have a bunch of questions I want to ask you.” Jamie started as we headed back to his car.
“Okay.”
“Favorite color?”
“Huh?”
“Just humor me… favorite color.” He could be so child-like.
“Green.”
“Favorite flower.”
“Calla Lilies and hydrangeas”
“Favorite food.”
“Italian.”
“Favorite dessert.”
“That’s a tough one but I’d have to say chocolate chip ice cream, but not the kind with big chocolate chunks. I like the kind that has thinly shaven chocolate.”
“Favorite movie…” This inquiry lasted the entire walk down the mountain. I didn’t know I had that many favorites until Jamie spelled them all out for me.
“Should we go have Italian tonight? Gnocchi?”
“Sounds delicious.” I agreed.
“You want to go watch a movie afterwards?”
; “No. I’m tired. I still have Bridget Jones to watch on DVD at home.”
“Alright. We’ll do that instead.”
After a wonderful Italian dinner and a mound of chocolate chip ice cream we ended up on the couch partly watching Bridget Jones but mostly lip locked and starving for more. Not far into the movie, Jamie whisked me upstairs and only when the sun peaked did he think we’d had enough and allowed us to sleep.
By the time I woke up, we’d wasted the entire morning sleeping. I got up and got myself in the kitchen to put on some coffee and scrounged around in the refrigerator for food.
“Hi.” Jamie grinned sheepishly and came over to kiss me. “Why don’t you come back upstairs. We have a few more hours before Dani comes home.”
“No.” My grin was even wider. “I can’t get back in that bed with you. I’m still sore from Thursday night. You know you can’t sleep over anymore once Dani is back.”
He looked shocked. “Why not?”
“Because she’s eighteen and I have to be a good example for her. She can’t go around thinking her mother sleeps around with other men.”
“It’s not other men, it’s only one man… a man who loves you.”
“Regardless, I don’t want her thinking this is okay for her. She’s too young. No more sleepovers, okay?”
“Can you sleep over my place?”
“No.”
“Then how are we going to have any fun?”
“We can have fun when Dani goes away again.”
As soon as I said that, Jamie picked me up and we headed back upstairs. We made good use of the next few hours till it was time to go pick up Dani.
“Can I go pick her up with you?” Jamie asked still cuddling me in bed.
“I don’t know, Jamie. Let me talk to her first, then we’ll bring you into the picture. Could you hand me the phone? I think it’s ringing.”
“Shall I pick it up?”
“No!” I slapped his hand. “You do not live here.”
“I would in a heartbeat if you asked me to.”
“Hello?” I answered ignoring Jamie.
“Hi Mrs. Kingston. This is Ian."
“Hi sweetheart. How are you?”
“I’m doing well. I was calling to see if you would mind if I picked up Dani this afternoon.”
“Sure. I’d be okay with that. Do you and Dani want to meet me for dinner after you pick her up?”
“Um…” He hesitated. “Could I take Dani to dinner just the two of us? Would you mind? I know you miss her but we kind of had a fight on the phone yesterday and I really need to talk to her. Is that okay with you, Mrs. Kingston?”
“Sure, Ian. Don’t stay out too late since you both have school tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Kingston. I won’t. I’ll bring her home early. Thank you.”
I chuckled at his enthusiasm. “Bye.”
He was so excited he didn’t even say goodbye. He was probably already in the car on his way to the airport. My daughter appeared to have my good fortune with men. Ian adored Dani and that was reassuring for the both of us.
“Does this mean we can stay in bed the rest of the afternoon? I need to make up for all the nights I won’t be spending with you.”
“Let’s go eat. I’m hungry.”
“Alright. Let’s go somewhere quick.”
“Do you need clothes?”
“No. I brought an overnight bag. You want to hop in the shower together?”
“You assumed you were spending the night here? Brazen of you.”
“Well, after Thursday night, I assumed I’d be spending a lot of nights here.”
“I’m hopping in my shower. You can use the guest shower down the hall.”
“Whatever.” He didn’t heed my instruction.
DANI 2005
“So who is this guy you keep thinking about?” Leslie decided to be nosy again.
“What guy? I’m not thinking about any guy.”
“You are such a terrible liar. Spill the beans, baby cousin. Who is he?”
“His name is Ian and we went to the prom together last week. He says he’s liked me for a while but didn’t have the guts to approach me till prom. We’ve kind of been seeing each other every day since.”
“Okay. So, what’s the problem? Why are you pouting right now?”
“Well, I don’t know if I like him.”
“Are you kidding me?” Leslie laughed. “You’re in love with him.”
“I am not!” I argued against the laugh.
“Dani. You’ve moped around the whole week missing this guy. Of course you like him. Why are you fighting it? Why not just date?”
“He’s going up north to school and I’m coming out here. How are we going to be in a relationship with fifty states between us? Plus, if we start dating, what about Mom?”
“I don’t understand where Aunt Liv comes into this picture.”
“Well, if I say yes to a relationship then I’d end up spending a lot of time with Ian which means I won’t spend much time with Mom. You know how hard it’s been on her with Dad being gone and all.”
“First of all, your mom’s a grown woman with a life of her own. Who’s this Jamie guy she’s been seeing these days? Are they dating?”
“No!” I couldn’t get why every person around me thought they were dating. “They’re just friends. He has a girlfriend.”
“Mom said he sounded really nice and it seemed like he liked Aunt Liv.”
“When did Aunt Sheila talk to him?”
“I’m not quite sure. She called your mom one day this week, he was there, and he insisted on talking to Mom. According to Mom, they had an enjoyable conversation and she asked him a lot of questions and he gave her all the right answers.”
“What? What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask details. Do you not like Jamie?”
“I like Jamie, but not as my mom’s boyfriend. Yuck, don’t even bring that up. You know Mom and Dad were madly in love. She can’t just let go of him and fall in love with someone else.” I was really annoyed at this thought. That would be utter betrayal to Dad and to me.
“Baby cousin, you know your mom is young. She had you when she was twenty-two. I’m twenty two right now. You’re about to leave her nest, Uncle Paul is up in heaven, what is your mom to do? She will date and fall in love and probably remarry. It’s been known to happen.” Leslie had such a know it all look. I needed to fight her on this one.
“She will not date anyone so soon. Maybe she may never date at all. You’ve seen my parents. Can you see them separated and with other people?” That was a good argument.
“If Uncle Paul were alive, I’d say hell would freeze over before your parents separated but now that Aunt Livvy’s alone, she should be with someone else. And honestly, the sooner the better. Imagine how lonely she must be right now. I’m glad she has this Jamie in her life. I hope they’re happy together.”
“Stop mentioning Jamie like he’s my new stepdad. They are not together. They are just friends!” With that, I marched out of the bedroom and got ready for bed. Leslie and I didn’t talk the rest of the night.
I was in a shroud of guilt leaving Leslie’s apartment still upset with her for all that she preached about Mom. What did she know? She had no idea how much Mom loved Dad. Eventually, I’d have to call and apologize for leaving without saying a proper goodbye, but for now, I was happy to be coming back to Mom.
“Dani.” A cheerful male voice greeted me as I stepped into the airport.
“Ian. What are you doing here? Where’s Mom?”
“I asked your mom if I could pick you up. I told her I’d take you to dinner then bring you home at a reasonable time.”
“Oh,” was all I could say. On the one hand, I missed Mom and wished she were here, but on the other hand, I really missed Ian and was glad that he was here.
“Are you hungry? Can we go grab some dinner? I felt terrible after our argument two nights ago. It’s been on my mind e
ver since.” He took my suitcase and backpack from me. “I’m sorry for getting so mad at you.”
His head stared only at his feet and his eyes were downtrodden. Neither of us spoke until we got to the restaurant. It was my turn to bring something to this conversation.
“Ian, I’m sorry too. Can you give me a chance to talk to my mom and then we’ll talk again about dating?”
“Really?” A smile donned his face. “You like me too?”
“Why do you look so surprised? Of course I like you. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t like you.”
“You said the other night you didn’t want to date. I naturally assumed you weren’t interested in me. But I’m cool with you talking to your mom first. She might even like me more than you do. I’m sure she’ll encourage you to hang out with me.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Smugly I laughed at him.
“So what did you do with your cousin Leslie this week? It was a long week without you.” He sounded so cute. I guess this is what Mom felt like when Dad adored her and wanted to be with her at all times. I couldn’t say this was a bad feeling. In fact, it felt pretty dang good.
“Ian, we spoke every night. There’s not much else for me to tell you. Leslie was quite annoyed with me.”
“I guess you’re right. Let me take you home before it gets any later. I need to stay on your mom’s good side.”
Rolling my eyes we walked to the car and leisurely discussed how easy the rest of the semester would be.
“Are you really going to the East Coast in August? I wish I’d had the courage to ask you out earlier. Maybe we could have gone to college together. How do we go for months without seeing each other?”
“Are we not breaking up at the end of summer?”
“What?” Horrified, Ian glared at me. “How can you ask that?”
“Don’t you want to see other people? There will be thousands of girls who will want to date you. I figured you would want to date them as well.”
Ian just shook his head and stopped talking. By the look on his face, he was furious. I thought it best to stop talking myself.
When we got home, the house was dark and Mom was nowhere in sight.
“Mom?” I called out. “Mom.”
“Maybe she went out to dinner?” Even before Ian finished his sentence, I heard giggles and saw Mom push Jamie away from her. For a split second, I thought I saw them holding hands.
