Chapter Ten
With the phone to my ear, I’m doing my best to hold back my laughter at Lucy’s bitching. She is pissed as hell at Diane. I guess having her sister-in-law living with her twenty-four hours a day is a bit too much for her. Not that she doesn’t love Diane, but the constant company is just getting on her last nerve.
“She keeps moving things around in my kitchen,” she complains, blowing out a frustrated breath. “I couldn’t even find my mixer this morning. How the hell am I supposed to make muffins without my mixer?”
Before I can respond to her question, the sound of tires crunching over gravel hits my ears. “I think Jarrod’s here.”
With that, we rush our goodbyes and I slide the phone into my pocket. I run to the front door and sling it open, stepping outside as Jarrod’s truck pulls around the office. Standing on the front porch, bouncing from foot to foot, I watch as he pulls to a stop in front of my trailer. Running down the steps, I’m at his door before he can even open it. When he steps out, I jump into his arms, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“I missed you so much,” I whisper into his neck, squeezing him as tight as I can. “I didn’t think Friday would ever get here.”
Even though we’ve talked nearly every night since I left Macon, this is the first time I’ve seen him in nearly a week. Since I started at Lucy’s Diner, Jarrod has been a nearly daily part of my life. He’s been my best friend, my pseudo brother, and shoulder to cry on. The time apart has left me feeling both lonely and a little lost.
“I missed you, too, Gypsy. Hell, everyone misses you.” Placing a kiss on top of my head, Jarrod steps back and smiles down at me. “Mom and Dad are going crazy with their little chick so far away.”
I love the fact that Lucy and Hank think of me as one of their children. It took me moving here to realize they are my parents. At least, they are the parents of my heart. Luck was on my side the day I walked into their diner. Not only did I get a job and a home, but I also got a family full of people to love.
I laugh, tilting my head to the side. “I’m only an hour away.”
“To hear them talk, you’d think you had moved to the other side of the world,” he says with a shake of his head. “You know how Mom hates to ride in the car, even for short distances, and how Dad hates leaving her. You’re gonna have to get your ass up to visit them soon.”
I nod, realizing I now have a car that will make the drive. “I promise to get up there as soon as I can. Maybe even next weekend.”
As he steps further away, a heavenly scent hits my nose. I follow it to the cab of his truck and see a covered dish. Without opening it, I know Lucy has sent me one of her famous homemade blueberry cobblers. Suddenly, Jarrod’s visit pushes to the back of my mind. Instead, I’m focused on getting my favorite dessert out of the truck and on my table.
I pull it out, looking over my shoulder at Jarrod. “I so love your mom.”
“Yeah, we all do,” he responds with a chuckle. I move out of his way, holding the dish with a death grip; if I were to drop it, I’d probably cry. Jarrod reaches inside and pulls a bag from the seat of the truck before turning back to me.
He’s right. Everyone loves Lucy, absolutely everyone. It’s not just her desserts; it’s her sweet and easy going nature. She is a friend, sister, and confidant to everyone. Hank’s a little different. He’s kind of gruff and standoffish with new people, but those of us that know the real him love him just as much.
“Aunt Diane sent you a housewarming gift,” he announces, handing me the bag. “I have no idea what the hell it is, so don’t even ask.”
“She really didn’t have to do that,” I say, shuffling the cobbler into one hand so I can grab the bag. “I didn’t expect you to be here this early, but it’s good that you are, there’s not much left to do before supper will be ready.”
“I couldn’t wait. I wanted to get down here and see how you were doing with my own eyes.” He leans into the bed of his truck and pulls out a duffle bag. “I gotta say, I’m not sure you’ve ever looked as good as you do now.”
“I haven’t felt this good in a very long time. I have a really good job, a decent place to live, and a car that doesn’t clank as it drives down the road,” I reply honestly, holding the container against my chest with one hand and the bag in the other. “The only thing I don’t have is you and your family.”
His sweet blue eyes, eyes that are identical to his mother’s, are locked on me as he shuts the door to his truck. “You always have us, sweetheart. No matter where you lay your head down at night, we’re always there with you in your heart.”
His words warm me all the way to my heart. The love behind him, the same love I see reflected in his eyes, has me tearing up. Never before, not even from my own mother, have I had that kind of love before. Only from Jarrod and his family, my true family, did I even learn what the word love meant.
Blinking back the tears, I grin at him. “Let’s get inside so I can show you how much I’ve upgraded from Rory’s apartment.”
As we walk toward the trailer, his eyes lock onto my new car parked only a few feet from his truck. “Dad wants me to check the oil, tire pressure, and shit before I leave. He’s worried you got sold a lemon.”
Hank has always worried about me driving around in my old clunker. More than once, he has tried to give me a loan to buy a new car. For a while, he kept leaving newspaper clippings of cars for sale all around the diner. It probably took me a year to get him to give up on that, but he still kept a close eye on my car, constantly complaining about it.
“It’s a nice car,” I reply with a shake of my head. “Chance’s mom drove it for years. She only bought a new one because she wanted something with a bigger trunk.”
“Uh, huh,” Jarrod mumbles, still looking toward my new car.
He follows behind me as I climb up the stairs to the porch and walk into the trailer. I head straight to the table, leaving him to shut the door. When I finally pull the top off the container, my mouth starts to water. Even though it’s almost dinner time, I have to have some of this cobbler right now.
“Lay your duffle bag in the corner and come sit down. We’re gonna have dessert before dinner,” I say, walking over to the cabinet and pulling out two plates. “We can catch up while we wait for Chance to get here.”
I don’t mention Adam yet. Granted, I told Jarrod about him and that he was coming to dinner tonight. Even mentioned how cute he was, but I’ve tried not to push him on Jarrod. I know the breakup with Rory is still fresh, and he’s probably not ready for any type of a relationship. Still, I can hope something happens between the two of them. Adam seems like a good guy, and my friend deserves someone that will treat him right.
“I can hardly wait to meet this Chance. He’s all you’ve talked about the past couple of days,” he says, sitting down at the table. “I want to see if he’s as hot as you say.”
Plopping the plates on the table, I ask. “What are you talking about? I haven’t talked about him that much, and I definitely didn’t tell you he was hot. I just tell you about work and stuff, nothing more.”
For some reason, I didn’t tell Jarrod about going out with Chance. I’m not sure why. Maybe because I am still not sure if it was a date or not. To me, it seemed like a date. The brush of his lips over mine at the end of the night made it feel like more than two friends eating dinner together. Since then, though, he hasn’t asked me out again. That alone makes me think it was nothing more than a celebratory dinner.
“Uh, yeah, Gypsy, you have told me a hell of a lot more than about working with him. Every time we’ve talked, Chance’s name has come up.” Jarrod rolls his eyes and lets out a chuckle, leaning back in his chair. “You may not have said he was hot, but you’ve talked about his eyes, his smile, even the way his hair curls around his ears. I’m figuring that’s Gypsy speak for hot.”
Ignoring him, I sit down and scoop some cobbler on my plate. At the same time my mind runs over our nightly phone calls, and I realize he is right. I do talk about Chance a lot. I can feel my cheeks blushing, so I keep my head down and start spooning the gooey goodness onto my spoon.
“Hey, now. Don’t be going all shy on me,” he grumbles, spooning some cobbler on his plate. “No reason for you to be embarrassed. It’s okay that you’re attracted to this guy. Hell, it’s about time you were attracted to someone.”
“I don’t know if I should be interested in Chance or not.” I finally look up, doing my best to meet his eyes. “He’s my boss now. I don’t think it’s a real good idea to get involved with the guy that signs my paycheck.”
Jarrod is quiet for a second, just staring at me before finally shrugging. “Darlin’, I’m not sure you would think it was a good idea to be attracted to anyone, but I think it’s past time you found someone.”
I feel the need to argue with him, but there is nothing to say. I’ve never really given a man a chance to get past the wall I’ve built around my heart. Maybe he’s right, maybe it is time, to finally let someone in. Chance seems like a man I could trust. Hell, he is definitely someone I want to trust.
Not wanting to dwell on my thoughts anymore, I take a bite of my cobbler and barely contain my moan of satisfaction. It’s been way too long since I’ve had Lucy’s cooking. As the flavor hits my tongue, I’m reminded of how much I miss both her and Hank. It seems like forever since I’ve seen either of them.
“How’s your mom and dad doing?” I ask before scooping more onto my spoon. “Any big news from Macon?”
Even though I talk to Lucy regularly, I need to hear the answer from my friend as I am looking into his eyes. None of them would tell me if something was wrong; they wouldn’t want to worry me. There is no way he can lie to me, though. Not face to face.
“There’s never any big news in Macon.” Jarrod swallows his bite then looks across the table at me. “Mom and Dad are doing really good. Dad’s complaining about his back, but that’s nothing new. Mom’s still cooking up a storm, even though she no longer has a diner full of people to cook for.”
I eat the last couple of bites, while I wait for him to tell me more. When he doesn’t, I press for details. “How’s the diner coming along? Have they done anything to it yet?”
“They’ve been busy trying to get the diner rebuilt,” he says with a nod. “It’s not going as fast as Dad would like because Mom keeps changing her mind about shit.”
He spends the next few minutes telling me about everything they have planned, while I finish getting the food ready. New booths, new counters, even new windows running the length of the front of the diner. The most exciting aspect is their plans to add an upper level to be used as a bakery, so Lucy can spend most of her time doing her favorite thing, baking.
Finally, he stands up and walks to the fridge to pull out a can of Dr. Pepper. “I stopped by Rory’s before I came here. We broke up.”
“If you’re ready to talk about it, I’m ready to listen,” I reply, sitting back down, letting him know he has my full attention.
Since I broke the news about Rory to him, Jarrod has been trying to think of a way to tell his parents about his sexual orientation. While doing that, he didn’t let Rory know that he knew about Adam. He pretended everything was fine, even though it had to be hard on him.
Last night, he finally just came out and told his parents. As I thought, both of them handled it well. Lucy, of course, already knew. Hank, on the other hand, didn’t have a clue. Jarrod said he wasn’t ecstatic, but he wasn’t angry. They both told him the only thing that mattered was his happiness, so his years of sneaking around had been for nothing.
When he finally got back home, he called me and broke down. In all the years I’ve known him, I’ve never heard him cry. Last night, though, he cried for what seemed like forever. However, they were happy tears. Tears of relief that he could finally be himself to the two people that mean the most to him.
“I told him we were done, and he started threatening to tell my parents about us,” he says with a shrug. “I handed him my phone and told him to go ahead.”
I can see a little pain in his eyes but mostly embarrassment, and I hate that he feels any shame. “This was not your fault.”
Jarrod plops down on his seat and sets his drink down on the table. “Yes, it was my fault. I was too fucking stupid to realize he was a user. Even though, he spent half our time together asking for money.”
Standing up, I walk around the table and plop down in his lap. Laying my head on his shoulder, I wrap my arms around him and squeeze him tight. It only takes a second for him to hug me close and bury his head against the top of my head.
“One day you’re going to find a guy that will love you the way you deserve to be loved,” I say against his neck.
“I don’t know if that man is out there, Gypsy,” he whispers, still holding me close. “It seems like every guy I meet is in the running for asshole of the year.”
The words no more than leave his mouth when a knock sounds at the door. There is no doubt in my mind that it’s Chance and Adam showing up early. I smile to myself, leaning back and placing a kiss on his cheek. I slide off his lap and start walking to the door.
Looking back to my best friend, I shoot him a wink. “Who knows, the right man may be standing right outside this door.”