A Daddy for Jacoby

Chapter Five

It had been a hell of a weekend. Justin was ready to collapse and the kid who’d been his constant companion for the last forty-eight hours was halfway to snoozeville himself.

Trouble was, the kid refused to go to bed.

Correction, the kid refused to sleep in the twin bed they’d set up in the second bedroom this afternoon.

Just like he’d done last night.

He hadn’t thought anything of it when the boy had asked if he could sleep in front of the fire like he’d done his first night at the cabin. At the time, the bed had been in pieces. They’d spent most of today cleaning both bedrooms, getting rid of years of accumulated junk and debris from the previous owner. Then they put the kid’s bed together, along with a matching dresser, but the boy wanted nothing to do with the room.

Justin didn’t get it.

And to top it off, he continued to ask when Gina was coming by to see them again.

Running into her yesterday at the diner had left a hard lump in Justin’s chest that still hadn’t gone away. He didn’t know if it was from the fact he never got to apologize for the way he’d talked to her Friday night or maybe it came from the phone call he’d made to Gage late yesterday afternoon.

Despite the sheriff’s inquiries, there were still no leads on Zoe’s whereabouts.

How could a woman walk away from her child? Didn’t she wonder if her son was okay? Wasn’t she worried he didn’t have any idea how to take care of a kid? Then again, considering the boy’s strange behavior this weekend, maybe having Zoe out of his life wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

But where did that leave Justin?

“Are you mad at Gina?”

Jacoby’s question pulled him from his thoughts. He looked down at the boy who’d rolled over to face him. “What? No, why’d you ask that?”

“You look mad. Just like you did when I asked if she was going to come visit again.”

He relaxed his facial features. “I’m not mad.”

Jacoby shrugged and turned away. He clutched his bear closer to his chest. “You should be nicer to her.”

“To Gina?” Justin dropped to the sleeping bag, ignoring how his cell phone pressed into his groin. “Why’s that?”

The boy shrugged again. “My teacher said boys are supposed to be nice to girls. Even if they can’t play ball and they giggle a lot.”

Did Gina giggle? No, her laugh was low, smoky and smooth, much like a fine, aged whiskey. He remembered the first time he’d heard it, less than an hour after they’d met. It had brought to mind Hollywood’s leading ladies of the ’40s from those old movies he’d always liked to watch. The sound didn’t fit her age, but he’d learned Gina wasn’t like most girls her age in a lot of ways.

He shifted. “Ah, you should be getting to bed.”

“I am in bed.”

Justin sighed. He really needed some alone time. Time to think about what he was going to do next in this crazy twist his life had taken. “I mean in your own room.”

“I’m not…sleepy.” Jacoby continued to face away from him, but Justin heard him yawn. “My mom lets me stay up as late as I want.”

That was the first time he’d mentioned his mother all weekend. “Really?”

The kid’s head bobbed up and down. “Sometimes she and Miss Mazie would both be passed out and I’d stay up for hours watching television.”

Passed out? “You mean they fell asleep?”

“Well, they’d drink and laugh. Miss Mazie loved to drink. And my mom would smoke these funny-smelling cigarettes and they’d make her sleepy.”

Justin held back a groan. “Does Miss Mazie have a last name?”

“I don’t know. I just called her Miss Mazie.”

“Think hard. Did she ever tell you her name?”

“Now you really sound mad.”

“I’m not mad,” Justin repeated, slumping back against the pillows. He’d let it go for now. “I’m confused. Why won’t you go sleep in that bed? You were so excited when we put it together.”

“I thought Gina might come over and see it first.”

“Gina, again? What made you think that?”

“Because I know if you said it was okay, she would come!” Jacoby jumped up. “I’m not going to sleep in that dumb old bed or in that dumb old room, and you can’t make me.”

Before Justin could move, the kid took off. By the time he got to his feet and followed, the bathroom door slammed shut. A sharp click sounded.

Damn! He’d forgotten about the lock. Maybe it was so old it wouldn’t catch. He grabbed the handle and twisted. No such luck. “Jacoby, open this door.”

“No!”

Justin shook the handle. “Open this door right now.”

“No!” The boy’s voice rose another octave. “I’m not openin’ nothin’ until Gina comes.”

Oh, hell no. There was no way he was calling her.

Justin took a step back and looked at the door. Solid oak, probably close to a hundred years old with hinges on the inside. Taking a screwdriver to the original hardware was unacceptable.

His fingers curled and he was tempted to puncture his words with a few sharp raps on the wood. “Jacoby, you need to open this door…now.”

Silence. Justin relaxed his hand. Scaring the kid wasn’t going to help. Instead, he sighed and dug into his pocket for his phone.



“Are you still a virgin?”

Gina froze midbrush, the minty froth of her toothpaste causing her to gag. She turned to find her younger sister, Giselle, standing in the doorway of her bathroom.

Clenching on to the toothbrush with her teeth, she spoke around the bristles. “Whad did yuz sway?”

“You heard me.”

Giselle moved back into the bedroom and dropped to Gina’s bed, rolling to her stomach so that she faced away from her. Gina shot a look at her bedroom door, grateful to find it closed.

She rinsed her mouth and tossed her toothbrush into the cup on the sink. Wiping her hands on the closest towel, she did her best to wipe the shock from her face, as well.

“You want to run that by me again?” She joined her sister on the bed, a stack of pillows at her back.

“Do I have to say it again?”

“No, but how about you tell me why you’re asking?” Gina nudged her sister’s jean-clad thigh.

Giselle offered a dramatic sigh, something she did often and with great skill, and flopped over onto her back.

Two months away from graduating high school, she’d celebrated her eighteenth birthday, along with her twin brother, Garrett, just a few weeks ago. Having left home when the twins were in the first grade to attend a private school for the gifted, Gina wasn’t close to her younger siblings. She had come back on breaks and vacations, but she and the twins were always more polite strangers than family.

When she’d returned home for good this time, she’d been determined to change that. She and Giselle had spent a lot of time together, shopping and going to movies, but this was the first time one of their girl talks had ever approached such a serious subject.

“Hello?” Gina prodded.

“I was just wondering because…” Giselle’s voice was soft, her gaze glued to the ceiling. “Well, I’m eighteen now and so many of my friends aren’t virgins anymore. I’m not…completely innocent, but I’m still— Were you a virgin when you graduated high school?”

“I was fifteen.” Gina offered a smile. “So, yeah, I was.”

Giselle snorted. “Like age means anything nowadays.” Then she looked at her. “But you’re not now, right?”

“I’m also five years older than you.”

Giselle sighed and grabbed one of the pillows, hugging it to her chest. “Stefan and I have been exclusive since the prom last year. He’s wanted to—you know—for a while, but I’ve been holding off. I’m not sure I’m ready.”

“If you’re not ready, you’re not ready. Seems pretty simple to me.”

“What if I’m ready in my heart, but my head keeps telling me to hold off?”

Gina fingered the hem of her plaid flannel pants, her standard pajamas along with her favorite University of Notre Dame sweatshirt. “Have you tried talking to Mom about this?”

Her sister’s blue eyes widened. “Are you nuts? Mom is still buying me dolls for Christmas.”

“It was an ornament for the tree and you’ve been collecting that series for years,” Gina said. “I think Mom would be understanding…and helpful.”

Giselle rolled her eyes. “Mom and I had ‘the talk’ back when I was in junior high, and it’s been a while since she was a teenager. Besides, you said I could come to you about anything, remember?”

Yes, she’d said those exact words. “Okay. So tell me again what you’re really asking?”

“How will I know when I’m ready? How did you know? I mean, you aren’t still a virgin, right?”

Gina studied her sister’s serious gaze. She saw curiosity and also a genuine need for help with comprehending the crazy world of adulthood she was moving into. “No, but it was only last summer I was with someone for the first time.”

“At King’s College in London?”

Memories from last year flooded back, more bittersweet than painful, but a tender wound still lingered. Her mother had told her things would get better when she held Gina in her arms, not asking questions while Gina cried. She’d told her in time the hurt would fade and then she’d be able to deal with whatever had brought her home to Destiny.

She’d been right, but still, Gina found herself coming to terms with the way her first love affair had ended. “I met Geoffrey my first week of classes, and he literally swept me off my feet. He looked like Jude Law, right down to the accent and he was even smarter than me.… I was in heaven.”

Giselle released a small sigh. “He sounds wonderful. So you two hadn’t dated long before you…you know.”

“No, we didn’t. It was a whirlwind romance, if you want the cliché term. He pulled me out of my shell and showed me a whole new world full of fun and laughter and…passion.” Gina pulled one of the other pillows into her lap and held it tight. “You’ve got to remember, I didn’t date much in high school or college—much meaning not at all. Most of my classmates were at least three years older than me. Studying was my number-one concern. I know now that I used studying as a way to hide, concentrating on the books instead of meeting people.”

Gina paused, her chest tight with the remembered joy and heartache Geoffrey had brought into her life. “When I went to England I was hoping to change that. Geoffrey seemed to be everything I was looking for.”

More than what she was looking for, it turned out, and not in a good way.

“But you left here in June and your fellowship was supposed to last a year. You surprised us by coming home last December. So that’s over now? Your relationship with Geoffrey?”

Gina nodded. What she’d had with the charming, British associate professor was more than over. How could it be anything different considering he’d been in no position to start a relationship in the first place?

“So have you met anyone since you’ve been back?” Giselle asked. “Other than Justin Dillon, I mean.”

Her sister’s words caused Gina’s throat to squeeze closed. It took a hard swallow and a gulp of air before she could speak. “Wh-what makes you say that?”

“Well, everyone knows you spent the night at his place a few months ago. It’s not like you two are even close to being in a relationship. So, what was that? A walk on the wild side?”

Gina held back a groan. How was she going to explain that night? Maybe by telling the truth?

Her cell phone chimed, interrupting her thoughts. She reached for it. Unfamiliar number. Maybe it was someone from work looking to trade a shift. “Ah, let me get this and we’ll finish… Hello?”

“Gina?”

Her breath caught, and again she lost the ability to speak. It was as if thinking about the man had caused him to dial her number. And how had he gotten her number?

“It’s Justin.”

As if she didn’t recognize the unhurried, seductive timbre of his voice. She nodded and then realized what she did. “Ah, hi…hello.”

“Look, I hate to do this, but I wonder if you’d—” He broke off and heaved a deep sigh. A sigh so sexy that Gina’s toes curled.

“Would you mind coming out to the cabin?”

Would she mind— Her gaze flicked to the clock radio on her bedside table. It was nearly eleven o’clock. “Now?”

“I know it’s late, but— Dammit!” The frustration in his voice was clear, and she pictured him tunneling his fingers through his hair as he paced. Justin struck her as a pacing kind of guy.

“Gina…” He paused for a moment. “I need your help.”

A long silence filled the air.

“Hello? You still there?”

She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Justin was asking for help. From her.

“Y-yes, I’m here. What’s going on?”

“Jacoby’s— Well, he’s upset and he’s asking for you.”

Oh, the poor kid. His entire world had been turned upside down in the last forty-eight hours. And no matter the reasons his mother had for doing what she did, Jacoby must be missing her.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” she said.

After promising Giselle she’d keep the topic just between them and to finish their talk later, Gina changed her clothes, gave a quick explanation to her mother and headed out the door. Less than twenty minutes later she was parking her car next to Justin’s truck.

He held open the screen door as she got to the porch and a sense of déjà vu swept over her as she stepped inside. The cardboard boxes were gone and a variety of books, from oversize hardbound textbooks to paperbacks, filled the shelves which flanked the fireplace. The power tools, scraps of wood and the oversize toolbox she’d barely been able to lift had disappeared, too.

But those changes paled in comparison to the sight of Justin, wearing a washed-out Destiny High Blue Devils T-shirt and faded jeans, his features etched with worry.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

He pointed to a doorway on the opposite side of the room. “Jacoby’s locked himself in the bathroom. He won’t open the door. Hell, he won’t even talk to me.”

“Why’d he do that?”

“I don’t know.” Justin pushed the wayward locks of hair off his forehead with the back of one hand. The worry on his face had quickly morphed into exasperation. “I’ve been trying to get him in bed for over an hour, but he refuses. We spent all day cleaning the place and set up the bed, but he says he wants to sleep out here again.”

Gina saw the sleeping bags laid out in front of the fire. “Are you planning to sleep out here?”

“Yeah, my bed’s still missing a mattress.”

“But you had a bed at your apartment.”

Justin stilled, his gaze locked with hers, the chocolate brown of his eyes deepening.

Was he thinking about that night? How she’d tried to make him lie down after she’d followed him upstairs? How he’d insisted if she was going to stick around she should be the one to get some sleep? She’d been afraid he’d had a concussion, but when he’d taken the only chair, she’d had nowhere else to sit but on the rumpled bed. Eventually, she’d crawled beneath the covers to get warm and had indeed fallen asleep.

“I got rid of that bed when I moved here.”

She didn’t know what that meant, if it meant anything at all, but she refused to ask him to explain.

Moving toward the small hallway, she stopped in front of the only closed door. The other two, at opposite ends of the hall, stood open, leading to Jacoby’s and Justin’s bedrooms.

She knocked gently. “Jacoby? It’s Gina. Are you okay?”

No reply. She tried again. “Hey, I heard you wanted to see me. Well, here I am. Can you come out?”

Still nothing. Gina looked over her shoulder at Justin, standing with his shoulder braced against the doorjamb. Then a click sounded and the door slowly opened. Jacoby stood inside, his bear at his side.

She dropped to her knees to meet his eyes. “Hey, there.”

“Hey.”

“So, what’s going on?”

Jacoby looked over her shoulder at Justin. “He wants me to go to bed.”

“It’s late. Everyone should be in bed by now,” Justin said.

“Aren’t you tired?” Gina asked, drawing the boy’s attention back to her. She dropped her purse to the floor and slipped out of her jacket. “I’m not…tired.”

“It looks like you two did a lot of work around here this weekend. I bet you were a big help. Can you show me what you two did?”

Jacoby nodded and stepped forward, but stopped when Justin straightened from the doorway. She handed her stuff to him. “Can you take these for me? And you know what I’d love right now? A cup of hot chocolate. Why don’t you make some for all of us?”

Understanding dawned in his eyes as Justin took her things. “Sure. Three hot chocolates coming up.”

After Justin headed back into the kitchen, Gina held out her hand. “Come on, Jacoby. It’s okay.”

His small fingers clamped on to hers. She rose and followed his lead into the living room. He showed her the bookshelves, and she listened as he explained about the shed outside the kitchen door where the tools were now locked up.

“Wow, you two worked hard today.” The light from the fireplace danced off the still-unadorned, but freshly washed window panes that filled the two walls of the living room. “You even washed the windows.”

“Yep.” Jacoby smiled. “I did the ones on the bottom and Justin did the tops. We did every window out here and the ones in the bedrooms, too.”

“Sounds like you made a good team.”

“I even got to use his tools,” Jacoby continued. “He showed me how to use a philly-head screwdriver.”

“Phillips head,” Justin said, joining them with a tray of steaming mugs that he placed on the counter separating the kitchen from the living room. “The hot chocolate needs to cool.”

“So what did you use the screwdriver on?” Gina asked.

“We fixed some loose handles in the kitchen,” Jacoby said. “And we put beds together, his and mine.”

“Oh, I heard you were getting a bed, can I see it?”

Jacoby didn’t do anything for a long moment, then he nodded and led Gina to the darkened room at one end of the hallway. A night-light shone in one corner.

“You can see better with the light on.” Justin’s arm brushed hers as he reached inside and flipped the switch.

An overhead light shone down on a twin-size bed made up with sheets, a pillow and one of the quilts Gina recognized from the living room. A small table sat next to the bed and a three-drawer dresser stood against one wall across from a closet.

“Wow, nice room. Nice bed, too.” Gina entered. “Can I sit on it? Will it hold me, you think?”

Jacoby giggled and followed her. “Of course it will.”

Gina sat and bounced a few times. “Looks like you did a good job, Jacoby. I think this bed could even hold your dad. If he could fit in it.”

“N-no, he’s too big. You should see his bed. It’s huge.”

Gina caught Jacoby’s hesitation. Was it because she called Justin his dad? She looked up and found Justin still in the doorway, again with one shoulder braced and arms crossed over his chest. He returned her stare, his face devoid of any emotion.

She turned her focus back to Jacoby. “Well, he’s a big guy.”

Jacoby nodded, moving closer to the bed. He rubbed at the soft material of the faded quilt, but his gaze darted around the room, not looking at her or Justin.

“Hey, I bet that hot chocolate is ready.” Gina looked at Justin again, but he’d already turned and walked away.

Silence filled the air, and she wondered what to say next. The room was a bit bare, but otherwise it seemed fine. She saw Jacoby’s pillowcase sticking out from beneath the bed. “Would you like to read a story while we drink our hot chocolate?”

Jacoby shook his head, his eyes focused on the invisible pattern he traced on the quilt.

“It might help make you sleepy.”

Her words triggered a yawn the boy couldn’t hide.

“And this bed feels like a perfect place to have sweet dreams.” She smoothed her hand over the pillow. “Don’t you even want to try it out?”

Jacoby hesitated and then shook his head.

“I’ll stay right here with you.”

He looked unconvinced. “You will?”

“Sure.” She rose and pulled back the blankets. “Why don’t you and your bear climb up here and see how it feels?”

Justin returned with the tray full of mugs as Gina tucked the quilt around Jacoby, who leaned on the pillow now propped against the simple wooden headboard.

“Three hot chocolates,” Justin said, stopping at the side of the bed. He looked from Jacoby to her, one corner of his mouth tilted into a small grin. “I hope you guys like marshmallows.”

“Marshmallows are perfect.” She ignored the fluttering in her stomach and handed the smallest of the three mugs to Jacoby. “Here you go. Careful, it’s going to be warm.”

She took one of the remaining mugs and sipped. “Hmm, good. Almost as good as having a bed to sleep in again, huh, Jacoby?”

“I wouldn’t know,” the boy mumbled, his gaze on the cup in his hands. “I’ve never had one before.”

Gina’s heart lurched. “Never had one what?”

Jacoby took a long swallow from the mug before he spoke. “My own bed. Or even my own room.”

She blinked hard to fight back the sudden stinging in her eyes. The surprise on Justin’s face told her this was the first time he’d heard this. “Aren’t you lucky, then?” Gina kept her voice light. “You get both in one night.”

Jacoby leaned in close, his small brown eyes locked with hers. “I always wanted my own bed. Usually I’d have to share one with my mamma or sleep on the floor in a smelly, old sleeping bag,” he whispered. “But I didn’t know…”

His voice faded, and when he didn’t continue, she asked, “Didn’t know what, sweetie?”

“How scary it would be.”