Jade
AFTER I FINISHED cleaning up, getting dressed, and giving Blaze strict instructions to steer clear of my new neighbor, I headed to Summertime Sweets to start my day. A day I was no longer looking forward to. Apprehensive nausea bubbled to the surface at the thought of the long talk I was going to have with Viv about Tommy and the beach house. My reluctance gnawed at me for leaving Blaze to deal with Reece today. She knew he was demanding and I knew although she could handle herself better than most, her guilt for sending him into a heart attack during sex would have her feeling like she either owed him in some way or would have her running from him to parts unknown.
I opted to take my bike to the shoppe to clear my head in the sunshine and sea air. Hopefully to prepare myself for what I was about to say to my Aunt Viv. The roads on the island were filled with locals and tourists, so pedaling to work was the more practical option. When I wanted to get around the island effortlessly, it was my favorite mode of transportation.
I arrived to find the shoppe was packed. People were placing their pre-orders for the weekend, picking up their favorite treats for tonight, or they had just discovered the place because they were vacationing here on LBI for the first time and happened to stumble upon it. I was happy no matter why they chose Summertime Sweets to satisfy their sweet tooth. Aunt Viv was at one end of the shoppe with some locals, while a few of my summer staff were in the kitchen and the others waited on the customers at the counter who were ready to pay for their orders.
When Viv noticed me walk in, she finished up with her customers, then she politely excused herself to greet me. Once everything quieted down, I kissed her on the cheek and took her hand to lead her to my office where we could talk in private.
“Why did you keep it a secret that Jimmy’s house was rented out?”
“A secret? It was more like a surprise. Besides, I would think after learning about Reece and Blaze last night, anything I surprised you with would pale in comparison,” Viv said with a smirk on her face. I tried to hide my amusement, but it was always hard when it came to Viv. She had the uncanny ability to settle me.
“Yeah, I have to admit, I wasn’t shocked that Blaze slept with her client. The events of the day pointed in that direction, but when I saw it was Reece in that hospital bed and he had a mild heart attack from his game of sheet tag with Blaze, well, that took my evening over the top.” I tried to contain my laughter.
“All kidding aside, I hope you’ll be okay with everything…with Tommy I mean.”
“That depends.”
“On what?” Popping up on her seat…preparing herself, as if my response was not what she had expected.
“It depends on why you kept Tommy a secret in the first place. Did you think I’d come unglued at the fact that the house was rented out to him?”
I paced, I couldn't sit. I knew if I sat and looked at her, it was over. I would lose what little composure I was still holding onto. Viv calmly rose from her seat and moved in front of me to take hold of my shoulders and firmly stopped me in my tracks.
“Aren’t you? Look at you at how you're acting, Jade. It’s a house!” Her voice raised slightly before it softened. “It’s a house, a building, not a memory. My sweet girl, those memories of Jimmy are in here.” She gently tapped my chest above my heart. “That house can’t hold them or make them. Only the people who lived there, are the ones who created them. You and your brother made that house a home, not the other way around.”
My eyes stung and my nose burned. Tears prickled with the realization of what she was trying to drill into me—as she tried her best to set me straight, yet again. The problem was that the beach house felt like the only tangible thing I had left of my brother. It was true, I had his surfboards and his bracelets and his old car, which was still stored in one of the two garages below the house, but that house held the intangible. It was the framed box that contained our laughter and our tears. It held food fights and late-night movies. It held long talks…well, it mainly held conversations of me talking while Jimmy listened and gave me sage, big-brother advice. It held what I could no longer touch within its walls…it held all that Jimmy was.
“I was going to tell you last night when you had gotten in. Yet, when you called in the middle of the night, I definitely didn’t feel that was the appropriate time to discuss the house,” she said to assure me. I know she never intended to deceive me.
“I just wish you had told me that you had been speaking with someone and not have me find out as he was cutting down the rose bushes Jimmy and I planted years ago.” I turned away to walk over to my desk. I quietly propped myself against the edge of it, crossing my arms and legs as I waited for her response.
“I didn’t mean for you to find out the way you did. I mean, I’m glad you met him. If for no other reason, it’ll make dinner this evening less awkward. Now, at least we won’t have to go through all of the formal introductions and traditional small talk.”
“Wait. Let me get this straight. Tommy is the friend you invited for dinner this evening?” I asked.
“Yes, Tommy is who I was talking about when I told you about the dinner. My plans were to tell you about the rental and then have both of you meet for dinner so that you could get to know each other in a less tense atmosphere,” she confessed.
“So, this dinner wasn’t one of your infamous matchmaking schemes?”
“No, but if you would like it to be, then say the word, and I will do my best to make that happen, too.” She seemed way too enthusiastic to kill two birds with one stone during this dinner.
I put up my hand to stop her in her tracks with ideas of arranging prospective dates for me.
“Viv, stop…I can find a man on my own without anyone’s help, especially yours.” I insisted.
In fact, I found Tommy last night, all by myself. Well, I fell into him.
“Okay, but you must admit, Tommy could be the perfect match for you.”
The woman was relentless.
“How is that?” I asked with a small huff.
“Well, he’s attractive.”
“So are serial killers,” I retorted.
She said nothing but gave me the famous single raised eyebrow of annoyance.
“Okay, go on. Tell me why Tommy would be good for me, because I know you’re going to tell me whether I like it or not, so you might as well get it out of your system, Viv,” I stated, as I surrendered to my aunt’s will and also to save my withering sanity.
“As I was saying, he’s attractive, with a great personality. He loves the shore. He surfs, and the best part of all, he’s unattached.”
Attractive, no…he was hot. Great personality…that remains to be seen. Small talk never revealed enough. He surfs…now that was certainly a plus.
Jade get a grip, you're not in the market for a man, remember?
“I would think to be single would be the number one factor here, but that’s just me.” I tried to be witty and gave her a quirky grin.
Viv grinned back, yet shook her head at my statement.
Just as I was about to pry more information out of her about Tommy, there was a knock at my door. It was one of my staff members letting me know there was a customer on the phone who wanted to place a special order for the 4th of July. A day of celebration for most…for me, it was just another day now.
Viv immediately stated she would let me get to work. She kissed my cheek and said to be at her house at 8. I believed it was her way of making a quick getaway, so she didn’t have to answer any more of my questions.
I answered the phone and was tied up for quite some time. I secured an order of breakfast foods and scones as well as dessert for 150 people for their event and promised to have it all delivered very early that holiday morning.
Once I finished going over everything with the client on the phone, I proceeded to the kitchen to prepare the treats for tomorrow’s crowd. I prepped breakfast bread and treats with the help of three staff members. We placed the raw products on baking trays and then slid the trays on the shelves which we rolled into the walk-in freezer until morning when I would bake them up fresh for the early morning rush. With everything completed and the last customer gone, we finished at 2 o’clock that afternoon. My staff member locked up as usual, while I stayed behind to do some paperwork and set up a schedule for the next few weeks.
My landlord was gracious enough to let me stay here and keep this location open until I moved down the road. Sure, it was to his advantage to have a solid renter, but real estate in this area, especially beach real estate, was quite easy to rent during the summer season. Luckily my landlord had someone ready to take my place at the end of the season when I moved on.
With all of my work completed, I filled two of the pastry boxes on my way out the door. One box was for tonight’s dessert at Viv’s house; I chose petite French-creme filled pastries and individual shortbread cookies, mini fruit and custard tarts, Viv’s favorite and I anticipated that Aunt Viv was making her famous London broil on the grill, so with such a heavy meal, the smaller desserts would be perfect.
The second box was for Tommy. I didn’t know what he would enjoy, so I put together a variety of bite-size cheesecake squares, chocolate covered strawberries, and some mini scones, which I thought would be perfect for someone who lived alone. I assumed since he just moved in, and since I knew that the kitchen in the old beach house needed renovating, perhaps cooking might not be an option this week. Plus, after the way I acted this morning, I decided that the treats could be a peace offering of sorts.
Even though he was the perfect gentleman earlier, and he didn’t seem at all upset by my sudden invasion of his privacy and my abrupt request to leave the rose vines that my brother had given me alone for the time being, I felt it necessary to start over with him. I had a terrible feeling about our confrontation today. I hoped another apology and some sweets would make amends. I was packed up by 4 pm and carried the boxes out to my bike, secured the stack to the small rack on the back, and placed some French baguettes in the basket on the front.
Once home, I checked for Blaze. She couldn’t have gone too far; my car was still in the driveway. I called out to her. She was on the deck off the living room seated on one of the chaise lounge chairs. She had made a pitcher of Sangria, which was at the ready and very much a welcomed surprise.
“You look rested,” I said as I poured myself a glass of Sangria.
“I may look rested, but I don’t feel rested.” She tensed as she spoke.
“Oh no, what’s wrong?” My eyes involuntarily rolled, as I quickly asked what went on while I was at work.
“Everything,” Her voice cracked with frustration, as she hinted about her day.
I took the pitcher and my glass over to Blaze and sat down next to her, refilling her glass.
“Okay, what gives? When we left Reece last night he stated he would talk to you over the weekend. He seemed perfectly fine at the hospital and was more than satisfied that you would be down here with me for the holiday.”
“Yeah, I felt the same way about the situation when we left,” she said but hinted at the fact that something more happened that I was unaware of.
“I take it something else went on since I left for work?” I prepared myself for the next shoe to drop.
“Well, you would be right. I spoke with Reece in the morning after you left. He said he was going to take it easy, but texted me all day long about us. I didn’t answer any of them, because to tell you the truth I was tired and went back to bed after you left. Then the phone calls started to ring in. He was incessant.” Blaze was exasperated by Reece. I was exasperated by her response. She knew how he was. Reece’s behavior should have come as no big surprise to her.
“Really? You know how he can be. You've seen it first hand with Damien. It’s always about what Reece wants. Granted, he did just have a heart attack, but by the sound of it, nothing is keeping that man down. For God’s sake, you saw how he was last night with me. Do you honestly think that you don’t fall into the same category as the rest of us in Reece’s life?” I couldn’t believe that I had to explain this to her, of all people. She had been with him for six months, intimately for six months, not to mention she grew up around him. She had to know his idiosyncrasies by now.
“I know how he can be, but these calls and texts today were not remotely close to how he’s acted since we started our relationship. I’m not saying things can’t change with time, but we both agreed at the very beginning that we had a mutual sexual attraction for each other. We enjoyed doing things together and we were happy to spend time in each other’s company, but that was it. Any other emotions that remotely resembled commitment were off the table. Now he wants more and I don’t. I’m not ready for this shit, Jade. You know how I get when they get too close for comfort. This will not end well.” Her head shook, as well as her body, as she started to become dramatically unglued.
The term “they” in her statement meant the men she had relationships with in the past. It was true. When they got too close, Blaze bailed on them. It wasn’t that Blaze was opposed to love; she loved being in love. She loved the idea of love, but she felt it had been a short-lived experience for her in the past and resigned herself to avoid it at all costs in the future. Besides the fact that Blaze set the bar very high when it came to the ideal man.
She always wanted someone powerful and sexy like Reece. Someone in control, but also someone closer to her own age. Yet many of the men she met were not accomplished like Reece was. That being said, Reece was almost sixty and had had much more time to cultivate his empire.
The one thing Blaze never looked for was financial support. She was completely able to support herself and her lifestyle. She didn’t need a man in her life for that, but what she did expect was a partner that had a vision of what he wanted to be and have enough drive to go after it. Basically, she wanted herself as a man.
“You have to talk with him once he’s discharged from the hospital and is cleared by his doctors. You can’t let this go on. Look at yourself. You're completely stressed out and Reece isn’t even here yet,” I explained.
“You’re right. I am stressed. Do you see what he does to me? I can’t even think straight.” She was being overly dramatic. No, she was just being Blaze.
I laughed and poured myself more Sangria.
“Oh great, I’m so glad that my life is a joke to you.” She acted insulted, but I saw it as ridiculous.
“I wasn’t laughing at your life. I was laughing at the way you’re reacting to your life. You know very well that Reece Montgomery was probably not the right choice to sleep with. Sure, he is, well was, noncommittal, so that made you both the perfect match, but if what you say is true and he wants more, then you have to talk it out with him. You can’t run from this like you have done in the past.” I reminded her of her actions when she broke up with her last suitor. She would take off to parts unknown until the storm was over.
“And why can’t I? I mean, just leave that is?” She questioned.
“Reece would find you. He is one very rich and capable man. A capable man with many resources at his disposal. You wouldn't be able to hide from him like you had with the others.”
“Shit! You're right. So, what do I do?” Blaze looked to me for answers.
“You need to talk it out with him. Or maybe you misunderstood him. Maybe he just misses you and wants to see you after all that happened this past week.” I tried to be practical, but I knew Reece and if Reece wanted a commitment, then Reece would get a commitment.
“Sure, that’s why he said that once he’s home we needed to tell Damien about our relationship. That doesn't mean he’s missing me; that has commitment written all over it,” she snapped.
“Okay. So, before he plans a walk down the aisle with you, you’re just going to have to go to him and stop this. Unless…” I stopped for a moment, because I thought there may be a slim chance Blaze was happy about this and that she possibly enjoyed the cat and mouse banter in this situation with Reece, but might really want the more he was proposing.
“Unless what?” She asked.
“Unless you like all of the attention Reece is showering on you,” I speculated.
“Have you lost your mind? You couldn’t possibly think that I would enjoy the idea of Reece and I in a serious relationship? I told you this was supposed to be fun, not permanent.”
“Some women might say a permanent relationship with Reece Montgomery could have been fun.”
“Reece is fun and exciting. I’ll grant you that, but a commitment with him would be an absolute nightmare.” She was adamant.
“Because he’s controlling?” I asked but already knew the answer.
“Of course! He’s controlling and manipulative and possessive… and stop me anytime now.” Blaze was being sarcastic, but on point with her description of her current bed buddy.
“Then here’s my hot button question to you. Why get involved? If you knew exactly how he was, why did you sleep with him and continue a relationship that you, yourself, didn’t want to go anywhere?” I asked as I stood up, leaned against the deck railing and faced her.
Blaze looked down and shook her head, while she ran her index finger along the rim of her Sangria glass.
“You know me, Jade. I work hard, long hours, weekends, sometimes even holidays. My career is not always convenient, nor traditional, but I love it. In my past relationships, there always came the dreaded time where my partner wanted to change that about me, and when I wouldn’t budge or at least budge enough for their liking, then it ultimately caused the destruction of the relationship. With Reece, I never had to worry about those issues. He was just as busy and committed to his career, as I am to mine. It was never a problem nor up for debate, but now all bets are off. You know, if he wants a commitment, then he’ll go to great lengths to change me. I can’t accept that.”
“It’s still not up for debate, even with Reece. I’m not telling you to commit or not to commit to Reece Montgomery. I’m just stating a fact. You have to lay it on the line with him. Whether you want to stay with him and commit to a mutual understanding of how it will be for each of you, or you tell him that you want to continue the status quo, or you say that you're done and over it because it’s getting all too serious, and that wasn’t what either of you wanted. What you decide will determine whether you have to work it out or not work it out with Reece.”
She shook her head once more, as she surrendered to the idea that a talk with Reece was the only way.
I knew that Reece would want Damien by his side, but I thought they would stay in New York, not come down to Long Beach Island. Well, at least the Montgomery house was on the opposite end of the island. I wouldn't have to see Damien or Courtney while they were here.
Blaze had at least a week or so before she had to deal with Reece, so, for now, it was time to relax and enjoy the weekend ahead. We didn’t have to walk over to Viv’s just yet, either. We had time for another drink before we showered and got ready for the dinner ahead.