Chapter Nineteen
Noah
I was at work, digging through one of our sales spreadsheets when my phone intercom went off.
“Yes, Allison?”
“Brandon is here to see you,” she said.
I stood up and pressed the intercom. “Send him in.”
I hadn’t seen Brandon in almost a week, not since he came to the park with Gina and me.
He entered my office holding a bag of food.
“I’m starving,” I said. Brandon had called earlier that morning to suggest having a working lunch with me. He had Wednesdays off and offered to catch up. Since his return home, his schedule at work was all over the place, trying to catch up with what he missed. That was one part of a vacation I didn’t like. There was more chance of stress thinking about the piles of work to come back to.
I moved the magazines and Gina’s coloring books off of the coffee table in front of the couch. I sat down, and Brandon emptied the bag. We both tried to be healthy when we could, and I knew Brandon wanted to drop a few pounds. So, instead of burgers and fries, which we both loved, he went with two wraps and some coleslaw.
“Is this from Trip’s Deli?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Brandon said, unwrapping the paper of his sandwich. “I splurged on you today. You should thank me.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Sorry I couldn’t meet you out. We’ve been so busy lately.”
“I hoped not too busy…” he said, biting into his wrap.
I gave him a look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He opened the top of the container with the slaw and handed me a fork. I placed it down on the table. “Are things still going on with you and Jess?”
I smiled at my sandwich. “Yes.”
He shrugged. “That’s all I meant. I wanted to make sure you were putting time into her as much as you are work.”
Brandon had changed his mind about Jess and me after I informed him that Jess and I were serious and he and Amelia did not need to set me up anymore.
“She’s spent a few nights at my place,” I said.
“Nice,” Brandon said. “So, it’s serious?”
“As serious as I can give right now.”
“Have you talked to her about Wendy?” he asked.
“Only the surface details; why?”
He scoffed. “Then you’re not as serious as you think you are. Talking about Wendy would open up your past.”
I thought about that. There hadn’t been a moment to segue into that talk with her. And if I was honest with myself, I wasn’t sure I wanted to open that can of worms yet.
“I’m not saying you have to. I know this is all new for you. And a delicate situation to boot.”
“I’m not sure she wants to talk about it,” I said, thinking of last week when Gina brought Wendy up in front of Jess. “But you’re right. This is very new.”
Brandon had already finished more than half his wrap by that time, and I’d only had a bite. This diet would not last very long for him. “So, Amelia and I decided on an Alaskan cruise next year. There would be childcare on the boat if you and Gina wanted to come along.”
Next year Gina would be four, old enough to handle being on a boat and have the ability to have fun. Though I wasn’t sure where my business would be at that point. I always felt guilty when I thought of taking time off. Which was probably why I never did.
“I’ll consider it,” I said.
Brandon rolled his eyes. “I will get you to come with us someday.”
“You should keep asking me,” I said. “I need someone like you to push me.”
“Even though you consistently turn me down?” Brandon said. His tone was light, but it had an edge to it. Over the years, he had taken a backseat in my life, yet had stuck with me through everything. It wasn’t fair to him, even though he didn’t understand what my life was like. Gina was the most important person to me. He wouldn’t get that until he had kids for himself. Which I doubted would ever happen on purpose. Everyone had their own view of how their life should go, and this was mine. Working hard gave me the means to give Gina anything she wanted. And that was my priority.
“Yes, even though I consistently turn you down.”
“All right, man. But I guarantee once you go on a vacation with us, you’ll be begging to come with us every year.”
I had no doubt about that, but we were in different stages of our lives. If Wendy hadn’t died, then we might have been the happy couple who went vacationing every year. But being a single parent didn’t give me much of an option unless I wanted to be on the phone the whole time. And I wasn’t about to waste money going away to work.
Though, imagining Jess and Gina on an Alaskan cruise with me, that would be something I’d want to do. So, if I had to do any work, I knew Gina would be taken care of properly. Jess and I could snuggle together in a cabin at night and make love floating on the sea.
That thought alone made me want to agree to Brandon’s proposal. But I’d have to see where Jess and I were headed with our relationship.
Every night that Jess stayed over, she either sneaked out early or got up to shower in my bathroom and pretended that she hadn’t spent the night. I had no doubt that Gina wouldn’t have minded us all going on a vacation together, but she would have questions when it came to the sleeping arrangements. Like hell would I sleep separately from Jess if I could help it. At least at home, I could have her as many nights with me as she wanted.
I grabbed the second half of my sandwich and dug in. “So, tell me about this Alaskan cruise.”
Later that evening, I didn’t need to wonder where to find Jess and Gina. They were in the family room working on the quilt. I’d insisted that Jess added expedited shipping on the sewing machine. It arrived on Monday, and she and Gina spent most of the afternoon setting it up. Now they were on their way to making all the squares.
Jess was working at the machine while Gina stood next to her, peering up on her tip-toes.
I waited until the machine went off before I rapped on the doorframe.
Gina turned around and rushed over to me. “Come see.” She grabbed my finger and dragged me into the room.
Jess gave me a shy smile, and I winked at her. Both gestures went over Gina’s head completely. She grabbed several of the finished squares and held them up to me.
“Wow,” I said, kneeling down beside her. “Those look great!”
“I helped cut them,” Gina said, beaming.
I glanced at Jess. Gina and scissors were a dangerous combination.
“She traced the squares,” Jess added. “I cut them.”
“That’s what I meant,” Gina said.
I kissed Gina’s forehead as I got up from the floor. “Show me what else you’ve done.”
While Gina went into the pile of fabric to dig out something, I rested my hand on the back of the chair Jess sat in. I discreetly moved my thumb across her back in a circular motion. She turned in her chair and blocked my hand from Gina.
Gina came over, holding a pile of fabric, neatly folded in her hands. “I’m making a square just for you, Daddy. Which one do you like?”
I squatted down to her level to look closer at the fabrics. I used Jess’s thigh to steady me. My intent had been just to touch her in any way I could. All day long I thought about it. Jess and I knew the deeper hidden meaning.
“I like these two,” I said, picking them out of the pile. Gina brought those two over to the couch and set them aside. “We can work on those tomorrow.”
Jess squeezed my hand when Gina wasn’t looking. She turned to me, and we were at eye level and a breath’s away from our noses touching. The corners of her eyes lifted in a playful way. I needed her to stay the night. There were so many things I wanted to do to her.
“Well, the lasagna should be ready,” Jess said, getting up from the chair. “Let’s go eat.”
“Yum! Yum! Yum!” Gina jumped with each word.
Jess laughed and jumped along with her. “I’m afraid it’s not my recipe, but I’ve made it before, and it’s delish.”
“Your food has never disappointed me,” I said.
Jess smirked. “You’re too kind.”
Neither Gina nor I had to ask Jess to stay for dinner. Ever since the weekend we’d spent together, Jess joined us for dinner every night. On the nights Jess stayed over, she would say goodnight to Gina, and I’d take Gina to bed, but Jess would stick around. With her dealing with Gina all day and my hectic work schedule, we went straight to bed, but most of the time, we didn’t fall asleep right away. And since I had a bathroom attached to my suite, there was no reason for Jess to wander out of the room until the morning.
Gina had always been a good sleeper, which made our little arrangement possible. We hadn’t had any close calls with Gina finding out yet.
After dinner, we carried through with our usual routine. Jess and Gina said goodnight and I went upstairs with my daughter. Jess was incredibly patient, even on bath nights.
When I came downstairs, Jess already had a bottle of wine open, and she sipped from her glass. I stood at the bottom of the stairs watching her pace my living room.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
Jess clamped her hand over her mouth and turned around.
I smirked. “Sorry.”
“No,” she said, waving her hand in front of her. “Don’t worry about it. I was lost in my thoughts.”
I came into the room and poured myself a glass of wine. I clinked it with hers and then kissed her. Her lips tasted of wine, reminding me of the first time we had sex. We were a little tipsy that night, but I couldn’t have wine since without thinking of her.
“What were you thinking about?” I asked.
Jess sat on the couch, and I followed. She leaned her head against her hand as if something heavy weighed on her mind.
“I need to ask you something,” she said.
“Anything.”
“Next week is my mom’s birthday, and I was planning to go down there with her to celebrate.”
“Oh,” I said.
“I was able to line up a nanny friend of mine to step in while I’m gone,” she said.
I nodded. “How long would you be gone?”
“Not long,” she said. “I didn’t get the plane ticket yet. I wanted to ask you first.”
“It’s your mother,” I said. “Of course you can go.”
“Thanks.”
“We’re going to miss you.”
She chewed on her lip.
“Was there something else?” I asked.
“I have a backup nanny, but I wanted to see if you and Gina would come with me?”
“To Australia?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“To meet your mother?” I asked.
She hesitated. “Yes.”
Now I knew why she was so deep in thought when I’d come downstairs. She was worried about asking me to meet her mother.
“Are we that serious?” I asked.
She slipped her free hand into mine. “I think so. Don’t you?”
I squeezed her hand. “I do.”
“So, you will come?” she asked.
“Yes, we will come.”
“That’s great!” she said, throwing her arm around me and pulling me close. I gripped my wine glass harder, so I didn’t spill the liquid inside.
When she sat back, she looked positively radiant. I tucked a chunk of hair behind her ear, smoothing my fingertip along the sensitive skin behind her ear.
“Thank you,” she said.
“No, thank you for the invite. A vacation is exactly what we need.”