Chapter Eleven
Naomi and Jake’s third Friday together began very differently than their first.
Jake woke up that morning with Naomi curled beside him in bed, ate breakfast with her in a patch of sunshine on his back porch—making the most of the unusually warm weather before the winter storm predicted to sweep in the next day—and shared a ride with her to work. They kissed good-bye in the parking lot behind Icing, and parted with smiles and promises to meet up for lunch.
Jake walked across the street to the firehouse with a spring in his step and an upbeat attitude not even a clogged toilet in the last stall or his brother’s scowling face could dampen.
“Smile, Jamison,” Jake said as he fished his phone from his pocket and started scrolling, searching for the number of the plumber who didn’t charge a gazillion dollars. “It’s Friday, and tonight you have a date with a beautiful woman.”
Jamison grunted, his scowl deepening as he emptied three packets of sugar into his coffee and slumped lower in the booth by the coffee station. “There’s nothing going on with me and Brooke. She’s not my type.”
“She’s a gorgeous blonde,” Jake said. “What about that isn’t your type?”
“She’s using me to make her ex-boyfriend jealous,” Jamison said. “I’m not a fan of being used.”
Jake glanced up, his thumb hovering over the plumber’s number. “You okay?”
Jamison dropped his eyes to his coffee. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound fine.”
Jamison let out a long-suffering sigh that wasn’t like him. At all. Jamison didn’t suffer or dwell or stress. Jake’s little brother was probably one of the least angst-ridden people he knew.
“Seriously,” Jake said, letting his phone drift down to his side, deciding the call to the plumber could wait. “There’s no one here. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
“I just…” Jamison bit his lip before he continued with obvious reluctance, “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“About what?”
“With Naomi,” Jamison said, eyes still glued to his coffee, as if at any moment he expected the creamy liquid to reveal the secrets of the universe. “I’ve seen her car parked at your place a lot this week.”
Jake frowned. “Have you been spying on me?”
“I’ve been checking up on you,” Jamison said. “You and Naomi ended pretty badly the last time. Are you sure you’re up for more of the same?”
“Naomi isn’t eighteen anymore, and neither am I,” Jake said, trying not to let Jamison’s question make him angry.
Jamison was only looking out for him, and his brother hadn’t spent enough time with Naomi to know that her flighty streak had gone the way of grunge and flannel shirts and other things that had been big when they were teens.
“Naomi and I are on the same page,” Jake continued, “and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m good. Better than good.”
Jamison finally looked up from his coffee. “Even if she isn’t being honest with you?”
Jake sighed, regretting that he’d ever mentioned to Jamison that Naomi hadn’t told him about the baby she’d lost. Jake had been trying to make sure Jamison didn’t put his foot in his mouth by offering condolences for something they weren’t supposed to know about, but now he could see all he’d done was make his brother worry unnecessarily.
He was about to tell Jamison that Naomi had the right to keep some things to herself—she would tell him about her loss when she was ready, and it wasn’t either of their jobs to judge her for keeping her grief private—when Faith and Ben burst in the door, in the middle of an argument.
“That’s bullshit,” Faith said, hanging her jacket up with more force than necessary. “I can’t believe he said that!”
Ben held up his hands in surrender. “Don’t get mad at me. I’m just the messenger. And maybe I misheard him. I don’t know.”
Faith snorted. “I doubt it. Neil Simpson has the depth of a birdbath. A shallow birdbath. I’m sure you heard him just fine,” she said, stomping across the room to the coffee pot. “And I’m sure that I’m not going to be wearing makeup to the hayride tonight. Hell, I might not even brush my hair. And I’ll definitely wear my shit-kicker boots, in case I need to kick his ass.”
“Why are you kicking your date’s ass?” Jamison asked with an easy laugh, his worries about Jake and Naomi apparently dissipating now that there were other people in the room.
“I had to leave the dinner early last Friday to go check on my mom,” Faith said, splashing coffee into her cup. “After I left, Neil Simpson found it necessary to tell our entire table how much better I looked with makeup on, and how he wouldn’t have looked twice at a ‘big girl’ like me if his mom hadn’t bought me at the auction. Oh, but now he was so glad that he’d had the chance to see me in a different light.”
“What?” Jamison’s scowl reappeared. “Where does he get off?”
“You’re beautiful, with makeup or without it,” Jake added, ready to rough up Neil on Faith’s behalf. “And what right does Neil Simpson have to critique your body in front of your friends, or anywhere else for that matter? You’re more than your body; you’re a person, a damned good person who deserves a man who will see that without needing to have his face rearranged.”
The room fell silent, and Faith turned to stare at Jake with a stunned expression.
“What?” Jake asked, glancing at Ben and Jamison to find similar expressions on their faces.
Faith shook her head. “Nothing. That was…really nice. And really not like you.”
Jake bristled. “What? I’m not nice?”
“No, you’re nice,” Faith said. “You just usually don’t talk that much at one time. But I liked it. And you’re right,” she said, standing up straighter. “If I wanted a boyfriend, I certainly wouldn’t want one who thought my outsides were the most important part of who I am.”
“Too bad you don’t want a boyfriend,” Jamison said, a teasing note entering his voice, “because I think you and Mrs. Watson’s pimply grandson would be a cute couple.”
“Stop,” Faith said, scrunching her nose in Jamison’s direction. “Quit being gross, Jamison.”
“What?” Jamison asked with false innocence. “I thought outsides didn’t matter.”
“They matter when you can’t stop picking at your face long enough to have a conversation,” Faith said, shuddering before she grabbed her coffee cup and started toward her desk. “Whatever. I have bigger things to worry about, like what to get Jake and Naomi for an engagement present.”
Jake did a double take, the call he’d been about to make forgotten all over again.
“Don’t look so surprised,” Faith said, grinning at his no-doubt shocked expression. “You’re making big speeches at eight o’clock in the morning, and I saw you and Naomi making out behind the bakery before work. If you’re already at the pre-coffee make out stage, you’ll be married by spring, mark my words. My mother has been married a thousand times. I know these things.”
Jake laughed and rolled his eyes, refusing to admit that a part of him had thought about that kind of future with Naomi. But it was way too soon to admit that to himself, let alone the rest of the firehouse, especially considering Jamison was grimacing in his direction again.
“I’m going outside where I can get some peace and quiet to call the plumber,” Jake said. “Ben, collect money for the lunch kitty for family meal when everyone comes in. Someone start another pot of coffee, and, Faith, I need you to pull up the reports on last week’s hazardous material disposal. City hall needs a copy by this afternoon.”
Jake turned and pounded down the stairs, pretending not to hear his brother telling Faith to lay off teasing Jake about Naomi as he left the room.
Let Jamison be protective of him if it made him feel better, but Jake knew he wasn’t making a mistake with Naomi. The mistake would have been remaining too stubborn and rigid to give what they had another chance. This past week had been his happiest since Jenny passed away, and he had Naomi and her big smile and bigger heart to thank for it.
He emerged from the front door and walked out to the picnic table, placing the call to the plumber with the morning sun warm on his face. He couldn’t get enough of the good weather and hated to think that it might be months before he and Naomi could have a picnic again.
He’d mentioned the same to Naomi a couple of nights ago, and her eyes had lit up. Moments later she was snatching her laptop off the desk and pulling up vacation houses in Hawaii, insisting she wanted to spring for a trip for the two of them after Christmas. But when Jake had said he wasn’t comfortable having her pay for something so expensive, she hadn’t been upset. She’d only shrugged and snuggled closer to his side on the couch, saying they’d just have to have indoor picnics by the fire when it got too cold to go outside.
Naomi got him. She always had when they were younger, and this time around was no different. If anything, Jake felt closer to her than he had before, so close that half the time he knew what she was thinking before she said a word. Jake knew her as well as she knew him, and he knew without a doubt that she was thrilled about being back together. Jamison would realize that too, in time.
Until then, the view across the street would make Jamison’s scowls easier to bear.
As he finished scheduling the plumber, Naomi appeared at Icing’s storefront window, waving and blowing him a kiss that made Jake smile so hard his face hurt. He waved back, silently wishing for the day to fly by. He loved his job, but today he couldn’t wait for the end of his shift, for that moment when he could hurry across the street, pull Naomi into his arms, and keep her there for the rest of the night.
He was definitely in deep, but it didn’t scare him. He was ready for this, ready to go big or go home with the first—and maybe the last—girl who had ever owned his heart.
***
Naomi checked the clock on the wall every ten minutes all day long. Time was crawling like a turtle through a field of molasses, and not even the fact that the floor was done, the kitchen nearly finished, and Icing finally starting to look like a high-class bakery instead of a tired, old donut shop could ease her fidgets.
She couldn’t wait to be with Jake again. Catching glimpses of him across the street was both wondrous and torturous at the same time. He was so close, but not close enough for her to feel his arms around her, or his slightly scruffy four o’clock shadow scratching her cheek as they kissed. Not close enough for her to smell his Jake smell, or hear him laugh.
His laugh. God, she loved his laugh.
Surely it had to be close to five by now…
“Do not look at the clock again!” Maddie ordered, pointing a paint-smattered finger at Naomi’s guilty face. “It’s four fifty, so just go. Get out. Vamoose.”
“But it’s still ten more minutes until quitting time,” Naomi said sheepishly, even as she closed up the can of red paint she was using to touch up the trim at the bottom of the wall.
“I don’t care. Go wait outside the bakery, or outside the firehouse if you’d rather,” Maddie said, waving her paintbrush in the air as she turned back to stenciling fleur-de-lis on the wall behind the cash register. “Jake is as obsessed as you are. If you wait outside the firehouse, y’all can stare at each other through the windows for ten minutes before he gets off work.”
Jake had come over for pizza dinner at the Whitehouses’ with Mick, Maddie, and Naomi on Sunday night. They’d had a great time catching up and playing cards after dinner, but Maddie had been teasing Naomi about how goofy in love she and Jake were ever since.
But it was good-natured teasing, and Naomi knew her sister was happy for her.
“Well…if you insist,” Naomi said, edging toward the door. “I do enjoy staring at people through windows.”
“Have fun,” Maddie called over her shoulder with a laugh. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do if I’d been drinking whiskey.”
Naomi smiled. “I’ll try to keep it more decent than that.”
Maddie was a fairly reserved person, but get even one shot of whiskey in her and Naomi’s sweet, mild-mannered little sister turned into a hellion with fire in her eyes and a wild streak a mile long. There was a long-standing family joke that there wasn’t much Maddie wouldn’t do under the influence of a little Jim Beam, which was why her sister usually stayed away from the stuff—except on family camping trips when she had at least three other adult family members she could trust to lock her in the camper if she decided to walk the old log across the gorge after three whiskey and Cokes.
“All right,” Maddie said with mock irritation. “But at least eat half a dozen s’mores for me.”
“Are you sure you can’t come?” Naomi asked, wrapping her gauzy scarf around her neck and snagging her purse from the coat tree by the door. “I think we’ve made great progress today.”
“We have, but Aria’s coming over to hang curtains and the paintings she did this week.” Maddie turned, hands on her hips as she surveyed the space with a look of satisfaction. “And she’s bringing Felicity. I plan to get the baby all sugared up on snickerdoodles and watch her go crazy while we work. That’ll be more fun than a hayride, anyway.”
“Sounds like it,” Naomi said with a wink. “I’m tempted to stay myself.”
“Yeah, right,” Maddie said, rolling her eyes. “Get out of here, Ms. Love Drunk. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Naomi swung out the front door just in time to see Aria bending over the back door of her car, unbuckling her little girl, Felicity, from her car seat. When the one-year-old saw Naomi, she threw up both hands and squealed loud enough to make Aria jump before spinning to look over her shoulder.
“Geez,” Aria said, pressing her hand to her chest with a laugh when she saw Naomi. “She scares me to death every time she does that.”
Naomi laughed and waved at the baby. “I bet that’s part of the reason she does it. Scaring mama’s pretty fun, huh, Felicity?”
Felicity grinned and patted her bright red curls with one pudgy hand. “Eet eet.”
“I’m sorry, Skeeter,” Naomi corrected herself.
Felicity’s stepdaddy called her Skeeter, and she obviously preferred the nickname to the name she’d been given. Whenever she was called Felicity, the baby was always quick to correct the offender. Naomi did her best to honor Aria’s request that they all call her daughter by her given name, but there was no way Naomi could resist a direct order from a kid as cute as Skeeter.
“Sorry,” Naomi said to Aria as Aria scooped Felicity into her arms. “She’s too adorable to disobey.”
Aria waved a hand in the air. “Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m about to give up fighting the Skeeter thing. I’ll just let Nash name the new baby Booger or Critter or Cheese Biscuit or whatever horrible thing he thinks is adorable right from the start.”
Naomi’s laughter was echoed from the driver’s side. A moment later, an even more pregnant woman appeared around the front of the car. The woman was gorgeous, with honey blond hair tumbling around her shoulders and a baby glow that made her cheeks pink and her eyes sparkle.
“Naomi, I don’t know if you’ve met Lark, my middle little sister,” Aria said, motioning to Lark with one hand. “Lark, Naomi.”
“Nice to meet you, Lark.” Naomi held out her hand, happy to find that the sight of Lark’s very pregnant belly didn’t cause a single fizzle of sadness inside of her.
“Great to meet you!” Lark took Naomi’s outstretched hand and shook it enthusiastically. “I love your show so much. I used to watch it all the time in high school. It’s part of the reason I wanted to go to culinary school.”
Naomi laughed. “Now I feel really old.”
Lark’s eyes got big. “Oh no, I mean the show had just come on, it wasn’t that long ago and I—”
“Don’t worry about it. I was totally kidding,” Naomi said, giving Lark’s shoulder a soft squeeze. “So, I hear you’re having twins.”
Lark nodded, bringing her hands to her belly. “Yes, but not until spring if you can believe that. I’m going to be as big as a house.”
“I’ll still be bigger. Gaining tons of baby weight is my super power,” Aria said, shifting Felicity to her other arm, dodging the fist the baby aimed toward the bakery window. “We should probably get inside. I don’t want to put her down near the street. She went straight from walking to sprinting like a track star. I’m going to have to start jogging with Nash if I want to keep up.”
“Y’all go,” Naomi said, backing away. “We’ll catch up later.”
She waved to the March sisters before turning and hurrying across the street, grinning when she saw Jake already standing on the grass by the picnic table, waiting for her.
“Well, hello, stranger,” she said, jogging the last few steps and leaping into his arms.
He caught her with a soft grunt, his smile widening. “I thought this day would never end,” he said, dropping his lips to hers, claiming her mouth for a deep, thorough kiss that made Naomi’s bones turn to liquid.
“Me too,” she said when they finally pulled apart, her body tingling all over with joy. “I drove Maddie crazy looking at the clock. I think she’s looking forward to staying at work all night just to get away from me.”
Jake glanced across the street. “Was that Aria’s sister?”
Naomi nodded.
“I didn’t know she was pregnant, too,” he said, shaking his head as he set Naomi back on her feet, but kept his arms looped around her waist. “Must be something in the water. Seems like every time I look around someone else is having a baby.”
Naomi chuckled. “I’m glad you said that. I thought I was the only one seeing baby bumps everywhere.”
“Definitely not.” Jake turned his attention back to her with a smile. “People in this town are pretty big on procreating.”
“What about you? Do you want to procreate?” Naomi asked, her happy tingles fading. She hadn’t meant to have this talk now, but she and Jake were getting in deeper with every passing day. It looked like they were going to have a future together and the “what about kids?” conversation had to happen sooner or later.
“Absolutely,” Jake said, without a trace of doubt. “At least one, but hopefully more. I don’t know what I would have done without my brother growing up.”
Naomi nodded, dropping her gaze to his chest before she spoke. “What about adopting instead? Say, if the woman you were with wasn’t able to have children safely, or…something?”
Jake hugged her closer. “I think adopting sounds like a great idea.”
Naomi lifted her eyes. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he said with every bit as much assurance as he’d said that he wanted to procreate.
“Good,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but I...” She dampened her lips and kept going, knowing she had to share this part with Jake, too. “My doctors said it would be difficult for me to carry a baby to term. I lost my little girl when I was five months along the last time, and I…I don’t think I could go through that again. I just can’t see the point in risking it, especially when there are so many kids who need a mom, and I know I’d love them just as much as a baby I had myself.”
“I understand, and I agree. No point in risking a baby’s life, or your own.” Jake cupped her face in his warm hand. “I’m so sorry about your little girl.”
Naomi smiled softly and nodded, blinking away the sting in her eyes. “Thanks, I’m actually doing better. It doesn’t hurt quite as much anymore, you know?”
“I do,” Jake said. “It’s hard to believe at first, but it does get better. I’m finally at a place where I can think about Jenny and feel happy remembering her instead of miserable that’s she’s gone.”
Naomi was quiet for a moment. They hadn’t talked much about Jenny, not since that afternoon at The Horse and Rider, but Naomi couldn’t deny that Jake’s former wife had been in her thoughts. And her fears.
“What’s wrong?” Jake asked, reading her the way only he could.
Naomi shrugged, not knowing how to articulate what was troubling her, only knowing that she felt anxious and…guilty whenever she thought of the former Mrs. Jake Hansen.
“I don’t know,” she said, shrugging again. “I feel like you and I….we fit together so perfectly. But if Jenny hadn’t passed then I never would have had a shot with you. It makes me feel like I’m stealing from her in a way. Is that crazy?”
Jake smiled. “Totally crazy.”
Naomi rolled her eyes, embarrassed by her confession. “Okay, then, just call me crazy,” she said, trying to step out of Jake’s arms, but he refused to let her go, holding her tight until she relaxed against him again.
“I didn’t mean it like that, I just…” He glanced up at the pink-and-blue-streaked sky above them, taking a moment to organize his thoughts the way he did when he was getting ready to say something important.
“I’ve never believed that things happen for a reason, good or bad,” he continued, glancing back down, holding her gaze with such a vulnerable look in his eyes that it made Naomi hug him a little closer. “There’s too much pointless suffering in the world for me to buy into that, but ever since last Friday, when I got up the guts to quit hiding from the future… I’ve been happy, and I know Jenny would want that. I will always love her and treasure the years we had together, but she wouldn’t want me to go without love for the rest of my life. She’d be glad I found you.”
His lips lifted softly at the edges. “Life can be full of dark times, and things that knock us off our feet, but there are good times, too, and gifts along the way. It would be wrong to turn our backs on a gift just because we’ve been knocked down once or twice, or because some of the people we love aren’t here anymore.”
Naomi studied him for a long moment.
“Does that make sense?” he asked, eyebrows lifting uncertainly.
“Absolutely.” She cupped his face in her hand for a moment. “I think you’re right, and I feel one hundred percent better.”
Jake shrugged with a hint of shyness that Naomi found completely adorable…but then she found most things about Jake adorable.
“Well, I’m getting pretty good at the feeling talk,” he said with a sigh. “Faith says it’s because I’m in love, but…”
“I like you being in love.” Naomi grinned, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Especially with me. It’s one of my favorite things ever.”
“Mine, too,” Jake said, returning her smile. “Now let’s get out of here. I’m starving, and I heard they’re serving pulled pork sandwiches before the hayride.”
Naomi took his hand, letting him lead the way across the street to her car. “Sounds delicious, but we have to save room for half a dozen s’mores, too. Maddie made me promise.”
Jake sighed. “Sounds like a rough job, but if you promised…”
Naomi giggled, handing Jake the keys to her car. “You drive. I don’t see as well when it starts getting dark.”
“You are getting old, aren’t you?” Jake teased, earning himself a punch on the arm before Naomi settled into the passenger’s seat.
“That’s right,” she said when he’d joined her in the car. “I am getting old, so you’d better let me get to sleep before midnight tonight, instead of keeping me up for hours with all that kissy-kissy stuff.”
Jake cast her a look so intense it made her shiver. “Then we’ll have to leave the hayride early. Because I’m not of the mind to skimp on the kissy-kissy stuff.”
Naomi took a shaky breath. “How can you sound so sexy saying things like ‘kissy-kissy?’”
Jake grinned wickedly before murmuring in his most gravelly voice, “Skill, babe. Skill and practice.”
“Oh, stop it,” Naomi said, buckling her seatbelt. “I never should have told you that voice made me horny.”
“What voice?” Jake asked in that same nipple-tightening tone, temptation glittering in his eyes.
“Okay, fine,” she breathed, things low in her body fisting with longing. “Home for fifteen minutes, but then straight to the hayride. I paid for four dates, dang it, and I mean to have them all.”
“And I mean to have all of you,” Jake said, pulling out of the bakery parking lot before Naomi’s pulse could recover from that pronouncement.
Ten minutes later they were naked in Jake’s bed, and not long after that, Naomi was crying out his name. Even when it came to a quickie, Jake was never one to cheat his partner. He brought her over the edge twice before they jumped into the shower. By the time they arrived at the hayride, Naomi was so relaxed and satisfied and just plain blissed-out that not even Jamison’s hard look from the other side of the bonfire could make her anxious.
Jamison would come around. Once he realized how happy she and Jake were, he would let the past fade into his subconscious the way she had.
The past was the past; Naomi and Jake were the future, a future as bright and welcome as the first rays of sunlight after a long, mid-winter’s night.
Naomi was so content, and so certain that she and Jake were meant to be, that she forgot that the past has long arms, arms that can reach out of the shadows when you least expect it and pull you back into the dark.