Chapter 29

Annie

My tough guy passes out on me, falling asleep almost immediately after sex. His penis softens in his sleep and slips out of me, releasing a stream of semen between my thighs. I smile. He’s right. As he likes to say, there’s no sense crying over spilled milk. I quickly do a mental calculation and realize that if we were actively trying to get pregnant, now would be the ideal time to go about it.

“Oh, well.” I had always wanted Aiden to have siblings. And Jake comes from a big family. I guess an unexpected baby wouldn’t be the end of the world. Jake didn’t seem to be too upset over the idea.

I study his handsome face as he sleeps, his beautiful lips and slightly crooked nose. I wonder how he broke it. I run my fingers through his hair, tugging gently on the longer strands on top of his head. His beard is short and surprisingly soft, and it feels incredible when he has his face between my legs.

There’s a brisk knock on the door, and then Charlie says, “This is your two-minute warning. Aiden’s on his way up.”

I nudge Jake’s shoulder. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”

His eyes open immediately, and he lifts his head. “What?”

“Aiden’s on his way up.”

Jake jumps out of bed and pulls on a pair of sweats that are draped over an armchair. Then he races into the bathroom and returns with my clothes, tossing them to me.

“Mommy!”

I dress in record time, and as soon as I’m decent, Jake opens his door and walks out into the hallway. “Hey, buddy.”

Aiden walks into the room. “Do you know where my mom—oh, there she is. Do you guys want to play with me?”

“Sure, pal,” Jake says. “What do you want to do?”

“How about playing video games downstairs?”

Jake ruffles Aiden’s hair. “Let me grab a shirt and my shoes, and we’ll go play video games.” Once he’s finished dressing, Jake kisses me. “Let’s let Mommy rest. She’s worn out.”

* * *

Jake takes Aiden downstairs to play, giving me a chance to clean up and change clothes. I head downstairs to the kitchen, where I find Elly preparing dinner. There are chickens roasting in the oven—filling the kitchen with the most delicious aromas. She stands at the island cutting up a mountain of potatoes.

“Can I help?” I ask her, washing my hands at the kitchen sink.

She smiles. “Sure. Why don’t you wash and cut up some veggies for the salad?”

While I’m working on the salad, and she’s putting the potatoes on to boil, I think about how my own mother would react if she knew that Jake and I are planning to marry in March. March seems so far away, but it’s really not. We’ll have so much to do in the meantime… all the planning. I don’t want anything fancy or complicated. Something small and intimate, just our families and Jake’s friends. It saddens me to think my parents might not want to attend.

“Jake asked me to marry him,” I blurt out, realizing only then that I desperately need to tell someone. And sadly, I don’t have anyone to tell. Certainly not my parents, and I really don’t have many close friends left. Ted scared them all off.

“And?” Elly says, looking at me expectantly. “What did you say?”

“Oh. I said yes.”

“I’m so glad to hear that. I can’t tell you how happy his family will be when they find out. And George and I couldn’t be happier.”

I wish I could expect such a warm, heart-felt reaction from my own parents. “Thank you, Elly. That means a lot. It really does. I wish my own parents could be happy for us.”

Elly wipes her hands on a hand towel and holds her arms out to me. “Your parents only want the best for you. Once they realize Jake is what’s best, they’ll be happy for you, too. You’ll see.”

I take so much solace from Elly’s embrace, it makes me realize how much I want my own mom to support me.

“Just give them time, sweetheart,” she says. “I promise you, they’ll come around.”

I smile, remembering when Aiden told Jake, I wish you were my dad. I feel like saying the same to Elly: I wish you were my mom. I squeeze her tightly. “Thank you, Elly.”

While Elly tends the roasting chickens and prepares the mashed potatoes and gravy, I see to the salad and cut up some fresh fruit.

Charlie breezes through the kitchen on her way out the side door. “Do you have enough food for two more?” she says to Elly. “Jake told me to tell you that his parents are coming for dinner. Mrs. M. said she’s bringing a cake. They’ll be here at six.”

“Perfect timing,” Elly says, opening the oven door to check on the chickens. “And bless Bridget’s heart. That saves me from making dessert.”

* * *

Right on time, Jake’s parents pull up to the front of the house in a dark SUV. Just as I open the door to walk out to greet them, Jake and Aiden come running up the stairs from the lower level. Jake grins when he sees me and takes my hand. Then he pulls both me and Aiden out the front doors and down the steps to the circular gravel drive.

“Hi, honey,” Bridget says as she gives her son a hug. Then she turns to me. “Hello, darling.” She pulls me into her arms.

“I told them,” Jake says to me, just before he hugs his dad. “I hope you don’t mind. I just couldn’t keep it to myself.”

“I don’t mind,” I say. “I told Elly.”

“Told them what?” Aiden says, looking confused.

After an awkward moment of silence, Jake kneels down in front of Aiden. “Your mom and I are getting married, pal.”

Aiden nods. “Good.” Then he looks at Jake’s mom. “Does that mean you’re my grandma now?”

“Yes, sweetie.” She ruffles his hair. “I am.”

Dinner is a bustling, joyous affair, with everyone talking over everyone.

“Just wait until your brothers and sisters hear the news,” Bridget says.

Jake’s mom is sitting next to Aiden, helping him cut his chicken into bite-sized pieces. I’m amazed at how easily she slipped into grandma mode with him. Aiden is eating up the attention, regaling her with stories about our afternoon at the carnival. Thank God he doesn’t know everything that happened there.

After dinner, we all move to the great room for coffee and cake. Bridget baked a delicious strawberries-and-cream cake with pink buttercream frosting.

When Elly asked her what the special occasion was, she just shrugged and said, “Oh, no reason. I just felt like baking a cake.”

But she’s not fooling anyone. We all know the truth. One of her boys is getting married.

* * *

That night, as Jake and I are lying in his bed together, he says, “Where do you want to live? I have an apartment in a high-rise in The Gold Coast, right on Lake Shore Drive. It’s a two-bedroom on the forty-sixth floor. It will do fine for us in the short term, but it’s not an ideal place to raise a five-year-old. He needs room to play outside. He needs a swing set and a sandbox, and maybe a tree house.”

“Well, we certainly can’t live with my parents,” I say. “Let’s buy a house of our own, with a yard, maybe in Lincoln Park.”

He nods. “That sounds good. I could mow the lawn on the weekends, and we could grill out and invite our families over.”

Jake’s phone rings, and he reaches for it, checking the screen. “It’s Shane,” he says, sounding surprised. He accepts the call, then listens for several long minutes as his brother does all the talking.

I don’t know why, but I start to get a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Just when everything is going so perfectly, why does something have to come along and ruin it?

Finally, he sighs, then says, “All right. Tell Troy I’m on my way.”

He ends the call and lays his phone on the nightstand. Then he turns to me, wrapping me in his arms, and kisses me so tenderly.

“What’s wrong?” I swallow hard. “And who’s Troy?”

“Troy Spencer is McIntyre Security’s attorney. Shane called to tell me there’s a warrant out for my arrest. He advised me to turn myself in before the cops come here looking for me.”

“What!” I prop myself up on my elbow, staring down at him in shock. “Why? How?”

“Ted is charging me with felonious assault with a deadly weapon.”

“Deadly weapon? What weapon? Did you pull your gun on him?”

“No.” He laughs. “I used my fist.”

I fall back onto the mattress. “Oh, my God. How about I charge Ted with attempted assault? Or, Charlie can charge him with assault with a deadly weapon. He pulled a gun on her, Jake. On both of us, really. And then there are the restraining orders. One for me, and one for Aiden.”

Jake kisses me, then sits up. “Don’t worry. Troy will handle it—he’s the best. I’ve got to drive back to the city now. I’m sorry. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

I sit up and toss the covers aside. “I’m coming with you.”

“No, you’re not,” he says, pushing me back onto the mattress and giving me a stern look. “You will stay right here, where I know you’re safe. Charlie will stay with you. I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise.”

“How long will that be?” I say, blinking back tears. “What are we talking about? Hours? Days? Weeks?”

“Just a few hours, I’m sure. Don’t worry. Troy will work it out. He’s one hell of an attorney. I’m sure I’ll be back by morning.”

* * *

I can’t sleep. Jake’s been gone for five hours now, without a word to me since he left. I know he wasn’t lying when he said he’d be back by morning. But when the sun rises, bright light filtering through a crack in the drapes, I know it’s not to be.

I cry for half an hour, alternately missing him and fearing for him. Then I get up and take a shower and dress. Aiden is still sound asleep, so I head downstairs and find Elly in the kitchen making coffee. I can tell by the look on her face that she already knows Jake is gone. I don’t have to say a word. She just envelops me in her arms and holds me while I cry.

Breakfast comes and goes. Aiden and I do some schoolwork. We work on his letters and his numbers. Then he practices drawing shapes and coloring them in. After that, we play a kid’s boardgame that Elly magically produces.

The worst part is finally having to explain to Aiden that Jake is gone.

“Where’s Jake?” he asks after we finish our game. “He said we could play baseball today.”

I tell Aiden as little as possible, just that Jake had to go back to the city today.

Aiden frowns. “He left without saying goodbye to me?”

“I’m sorry, honey. He had to leave really early, and he didn’t want to wake you up.”

Charlie is always close by, but she’s acting rather subdued. So is Elly. Bridget calls us once just to see how we are doing. She obviously knows, too, because she never once asks to speak to Jake.

I send Jake a text message every hour, on the hour, hoping for a reply, but none comes. And the longer we go without hearing from him, the more worried I become.

Just as I’m seriously contemplating trying to get in touch with Shane, Jake finally calls with some news.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner.” He sounds exhausted.

“It’s okay.”

“I really didn’t know anything until just now. Plus, I was locked in a jail cell—where I spent the night—and they’d confiscated my phone as soon as I arrived at the station. I just now got it back and saw all your text messages. By the way, I love you, too.”

“Do you know when you can come home?”

“I’ll be home this evening, I promise. I’ll explain everything then.”