Jeff pulled into the Waters’ driveway with his mom in the passenger seat of his SUV. His mom had done him a favor and called Mrs. Waters at 11:30. It seemed their conversation went better than he expected, and she’d invited Jeff’s mom to come over and do a jewelry-making demonstration. So Jeff had picked up his mom, and on the drive over, he’d explained how Alicia and he had become friends again.
True to her nature, his mom was able to get more than the basic story out of him. He confessed more to her than he did to himself. Now, that they’d arrived, he turned off the engine.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” his mom said.
He looked over at her. His mom was always well put together, with her salon-styled-and-dyed hair. Her careful makeup. Like usual, her outfit coordinated with her earrings and necklace. He supposed it was part of the reason she was so successful with her Etsy shop. She frequently got compliments on her jewelry, then handed out her business card.
“I don’t think I’ve ever known what I’m doing when it comes to Alicia,” Jeff said. “I feel like a bumbling teenager when I’m around her.”
His mom patted his arm. “If she’s as beautiful and sweet as she used to be, I don’t blame you. I could never figure out why you just didn’t apologize back in high school and get on with it.”
“She hated me,” Jeff said simply.
“And now?” His mom’s eyes were mischievous.
“She doesn’t hate me.”
“Well,” his mom said. “I’m looking forward to seeing the woman who you’ve spent ten years trying to get over. And heaven knows, it’s been years since I’ve seen Lila. If she’s as changed as you say she is, we might not have much in common anymore.”
“Just be yourself,” Jeff said. “Everyone who knows you loves you.”
His mom popped open her door. “Let’s hope you’re right, because if Alicia is as loyal to her mom as you say she is, we’ve got to win over Lila Waters to convince Alicia to give you another chance.”
“Don’t say that, Mom,” Jeff said with a groan. Why had he confessed anything to his mother? If he really thought about it, his mom had guessed most of it anyway. He hadn’t ever stopped thinking about Alicia. He hadn’t ever moved on. And even in high school, he knew she was the girl he never wanted to lose. He’d just been too much of an idiot to stand up for what he knew then.
His mom pushed her door open and climbed out of the SUV, flashing a smile in his direction before she marched up to the house.
Jeff grabbed her jewelry kit from the back seat, then caught up with her just as she rang the doorbell. When Mrs. Waters answered the door, Jeff was more than surprised. The woman was dressed in normal clothes, and it looked as if she’d showered and brushed her hair.
“Hello, Beth,” Mrs. Waters said, her voice tentative but friendly.
Another surprise.
“Hi, Lila,” his mom said. “It’s great to see you. I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve been back home.”
Mrs. Waters raised her brows.
“I’ve always thought of this neighborhood as home,” his mom continued. “Do you color your hair, or are you just naturally still dark?”
Mrs. Waters touched her hair. It was dark like Alicia’s, but there were definitely plenty of silver strands through it. “This is natural.”
“It looks great,” his mom said. “I’ve become a slave to the salon. I don’t recommend it. Once you start, you can’t stop.”
“That’s what I’ve heard,” Mrs. Waters said, her voice gaining strength. “Come inside. I have the table ready for you.” Her gaze cut to Jeff as if she was noticing him for the first time.
“I hope you don’t mind that I brought Jeff with me,” his mom said. “He’s my driver because my car’s in the shop.”
It was the truth, but his mom could have easily driven his dad’s car.
Mrs. Waters didn’t say anything, but she did open the door wider, so Jeff took that as an invitation. He followed his mother inside. Everything looked the same as it did yesterday, and he wondered what his mom was thinking as they walked through the living room to the kitchen.
The kitchen table had a crate full of picture frames at one end, but the rest of the table was clear. And by comparing the table to the counters full of junk, Jeff knew it was a feat to have this table so clean.
“Oh my goodness,” his mom said. “Are you saving those picture frames for anything?”
“I . . . I just like to hold onto them,” Mrs. Waters said, her eyes narrowing.
“They’re always looking for old picture frames at the assisted living center,” his mom gushed. “They paint them, then put dried flowers behind the glass. If you want to ever get rid of them, I’ll take them off your hands.”
Mrs. Waters blinked. “I’ll let you know.”
“Great,” his mom said. “Jeff, set that jewelry case right here. Then make yourself scarce. I don’t want any distractions.”
Mrs. Waters looked at him directly. “You can watch TV if you want. I don’t know what Alicia is doing. She’s always up to something.”
Before Mrs. Waters could say something else negative about her daughter, Jeff went out into the living room. He nearly ran into Alicia. He grabbed her arms, mostly to steady himself.
“There you are,” he said, looking down at her. She smelled like lemon and strawberries. Good enough to taste. He tried to shake that thought away. But it didn’t help that she was wearing a light pink lipstick, which only brought more attention to her mouth.
She smiled, and he realized her hazel eyes were almost green today.
“Here I am,” she said. “It sounds like our moms are getting along just fine.”
“They are,” Jeff said, realizing he was still holding onto her arms. He dropped his hands and shoved them into his pockets. They both listened for a moment. His mom laughed, Mrs. Waters said something, and his mom laughed again.
Jeff smiled back at Alicia. “This is good, right?”
“Very good,” she said. “Who would have thought?”
They listened again to their moms chatting away. His mom had a heart of gold, that was for sure. But then again, Mrs. Waters acted differently around his mom. Maybe a friend would help out Mrs. Waters.
“How did the phone call go with Dawson and your mom?” he asked Alicia.
She put a hand to her lips, then motioned for him to follow her. She led him down the hall a little way and stopped where there was an opening to the boxes. “It went well,” Alicia said. “My mom’s still defending her actions, though. My mom had written down Dawson’s phone number, so I called him a little bit later. He seems to think that she’ll just have to pay a fine for trespassing and get the obstruction of justice and petty theft dropped. He also said the money we paid for bail will be subtracted from the fine.”
“Good.” He liked being alone with her, even though it was in a hallway full of boxes and he could still hear the murmur of their moms’ voices from here.
“Oh, that reminds me,” Alicia continued, touching his arm. “I haven’t been able to get that money I owe you yet.”
“It’s all right,” Jeff said, looking down at her hand on his arm. “Even if you completely forgot and never paid me back, no worries.”
“You can’t do that,” Alicia said, dropping her hand and gazing back up at him.
He found himself leaning toward her, and she wasn’t backing away. “Do what?”
“Be so nice. I mean, every day I feel like I owe you more and more.”
“Don’t feel that way,” Jeff said. “I mean, I don’t want you to think that anything I do for you is because I expect something in return.”
She bit her lip. “What is it that you wanted to talk to me about in person?”
Jeff exhaled and rubbed the back of his neck. He wanted to be completely honest with Alicia, but he didn’t know he’d feel this nervous. “I need to tell you something, but I don’t want to freak you out. Nothing has to change between us. Things can stay the same . . . if you want.”
“What is it?” she said, frown lines appearing between her eyebrows.
Jeff held her gaze. He had to tell her, and he had to tell her now. For better or for worse. “I’ve spent the past ten years chasing after a ghost. Dating women who never matched up to you. Thinking that I could forget you.”
Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to say something. He put a finger to her lips to stop her. “Let me say this.”
She nodded.
He lowered his finger, then he traced the edge of her jaw with his fingers. She didn’t move, but she didn’t pull away either. He dropped his hand. “I know I told you I’m sorry for being an idiot at our prom. But what I didn’t tell you is that I had a crush on you, too. For years. I’m not sure when it started—probably when we were ten.”
She inhaled sharply and just stared at him.
“And . . .” He started. “It turns out that I still have a crush on you.”
She just stared at him like she didn’t believe him. But he’d confessed it all. He’d told her the absolute truth. Why wasn’t she saying anything? “Say something.”
Her lips quirked. Was she going to laugh at him? Treat this all as a joke?
“Anything,” he prompted.
“Anything,” she repeated, and stepped toward him.
They were nearly touching now. Jeff could smell her strawberry scent; he could hear her breathing. When she placed her hands on his shoulders, he leaned toward her until they were sharing the same breathing space. “Alicia—”
“Just kiss me, Jeff,” she whispered, closing her eyes.
His heart tripped. Cradling her face, he pressed his mouth against her warm lips. Her hands moved behind his neck as she kissed him back, and all he could think of was that she tasted like lemons and strawberries and every good memory in his life. She pressed closer, and he moved his hands over her shoulders, down her back, and then tugged her hips against him.
Every inch of her fit every inch of him like a perfect puzzle. He couldn’t believe he was kissing her, and he didn’t know if he’d be able to stop now that they’d started.
Their kissing turned more frantic, more passionate. Then Alicia broke off and tugged his arm to lead him down the hall. She opened a door and pulled him inside, then shut the door, drawing him to her again. He assumed they were in her bedroom, but they were kissing again before he had a chance to look around.
Jeff backed her up against the door, and she clung to him as he explored her mouth, her jawline, her neck. He didn’t want to stop, but he knew he should. Their moms were in the kitchen, and he didn’t want Alicia to think he was after only one thing. Because with her, it was different, everything was different. He didn’t ever want to hurt her again.
He lifted his head and forced himself to catch his breath. “Does this mean you have a crush on me, too?”
Her eyes were bright when their gazes met, and her cheeks flushed pink. Jeff had never seen her look so beautiful.
She smiled. “Maybe.”
He groaned. “You’re killing me.”
Alicia laughed. She raised up on her tiptoes and pressed her pink lips against his, then pulled away much too soon. She ran her hands down his chest, then wrapped her arms about his waist and laid her head against his shoulder.
He wrapped his arms about her and buried his face in her hair. He inhaled, and just breathed her in for a moment, not thinking about anything beyond right now, right here. He felt like he’d waited a lifetime to kiss Alicia, and now that he had, he regretted all of the wasted years of silence. Why did he think he could find a woman to replace Alicia?
His phone started to ring, and he groaned.
“You can answer that,” Alicia said.
“I don’t want to.”
“What if it’s Dawson?” she asked.
Jeff sighed and lifted his head, then reached for his phone. “It’s Dawson.” He answered the call, keeping one arm about Alicia’s waist. He wasn’t ready to let her go.
“I’ve got a court date set up in two weeks,” Dawson said on the other end of the line.
“So soon?” Jeff said.
“Pine Valley isn’t exactly hopping with misdemeanor cases,” Dawson said. “Is Alicia with you? I’ve been trying to call her. I didn’t know when I can call her mom—it seems I need an appointment just to call her.”
“Yeah, she’s with me,” Jeff said. “You can talk to her.” He pulled the phone from his ear. “Dawson wants to talk to you. He says he hasn’t been able to reach you.”
“My phone’s in the living room.” Alicia took the phone and answered.
As she talked to Dawson, Jeff wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. He could hear most of what Dawson said, so when Alicia hung up, she turned around to face him. “Do you think my mom will be ready that soon?”
“Like Dawson said, if he and the prosecutor can agree to terms in advance of meeting with the judge, the court appearance will just be a formality.” He liked the relief he saw in her eyes.
“That would be great,” Alicia said. “Now I just need to figure out how to keep her out of trouble.”
“Jeff?” his mom’s voice came from somewhere outside the bedroom.
Alicia smiled. “I think we’ve been busted.”
He put a finger to his lips, then opened the door. He stepped through and walked down the hallway to find his mom in the living room with Mrs. Waters. They were sorting through a stack of CDs. “The residents will love these,” his mom said. Then she saw him.
“Oh, there you are,” his mom said in a completely innocent voice. “Lila is letting us take the picture frames off her hands. Can you load them in your SUV and drop them off at the assisted living center on your way to work? Lila told me that Alicia can take me home later.”
Jeff’s mouth nearly fell open. From everything he’d seen and heard, Mrs. Waters never got rid of anything. “Sure, I can do that.” He glanced behind him to see Alicia. She looked as surprised as he felt.
He grabbed the crate off the table in the kitchen. And while he loaded the crate into the back seat of the SUV, he wondered if this was a step in the right direction. Or would Mrs. Waters regret her decisions to give away the old picture frames? He hurried back into the house only to be met by Alicia with a box of CDs.
He took the box from her. “What’s going on?” Jeff said as they walked to the SUV together.
Alicia rubbed her arms against the cold air. “I don’t know, but I’m so glad your mom came over. I can’t believe my mom wants to give this stuff away. It’s a miracle.”
Jeff set the box in the back seat, then turned and pulled her into his arms.
She came willingly, but whispered, “What’s happening between us, Jeff?”
He drew away to look at her. “I was hoping I could take you out on a date. You know, be more than friends.”
Alicia smiled, but there were a lot of questions behind that smile. “I’ll have to check my schedule.”
“Do that, then let me know.” He pressed a light kiss on her mouth, wanting to convince her that this was the beginning of something real. He was no longer the same man he’d been. “The sooner the better, except right now I’ve got to meet a client at a house.”
“Go,” Alicia said, playfully pushing him away. “You’ve achieved your hero quota for the day.”
Jeff laughed and climbed into the SUV. He’d have just enough time to drop off the boxes at the assisted living center. Yet, all he wanted to do was go back into that house and keep hanging out with Alicia. He wanted to find a way to gain her full trust, because he planned on their relationship only growing stronger.