chapter Eleven
Emily
Jake’s phone call made my day. I didn’t want to leave without seeing him. I’d been thinking about him since I left his place that morning. I also knew it was time to tell him about Noah. If he broke things off, so be it. I only wanted to be with him if he could accept me completely. I’d almost told him when he asked about a high school sweetheart, but I wanted to enjoy a few more minutes, in case it was the last date we had.
“Would it be rude to ask how old you are?” He played with the cardboard sleeve from his nearly empty coffee cup.
“Maybe it’s rude, but I don’t mind telling you. Better yet, guess.”
He gave me a sly smile. “Oh no. You can’t do that to me.”
“How badly do you want to know?”
“Fine… hmm. Twenty two?”
“Do I really look that old?” I put on my most offended expression.
“No, no. You don’t look old.”
I laughed. “I’m twenty-one.”
“So I’m really robbing the cradle then.”
“You’re only twenty-three.”
“How’d you know?”
“I was your nurse.”
“Oh yeah.”
Suddenly, the Dixie Chick’s Wide Open Spaces blared from my purse.
I silenced my phone and glanced at my screen. “I’ve got to take this.”
I hurried outside, hoping Jake wouldn’t follow. I picked up right as the glass door closed behind me. “Is everything okay?”
My mom’s calm voice answered, immediately putting me at ease. “Yes, but Noah wants to talk to you.”
“Put him on.” I’d called earlier that day, but they’d been out.
“Mama.”
“Hi, sweetheart. How are you doing?”
“Hi, Mama.” Noah only had a few words in his vocabulary.
I felt the tears threatening to spill. Hearing his voice always did that to me. “I miss you, but we’re going to have so much fun when you come home. I love you, baby. I’ll see you soon.”
Of course, Jake picked that moment to come outside. His eyes widened as he heard my last comment. Wordlessly he went back inside, slamming the door behind him.
“Noah, honey. Mommy has to go. You be good for Grandma and Grandpa, okay?”
My mom got back on. “We’ll see you tomorrow night, right?”
“Yeah. I have to run. See you tomorrow.”
Reluctantly I hung up, not ready to deal with Jake.
I walked in, and Jake was sitting with his arms crossed.
“Hi.” I sat down.
“Is there anything you feel like telling me? Maybe we have different definitions of the term exclusive, but unless you call your dog baby, I’m a little confused.”
“It’s not what you think.”
“It isn’t?” He looked at me skeptically.
I let out a deep breath. “You want to see Noah’s picture?”
“Noah? That’s his name?”
“Just look at his picture, Jake.” I handed my phone over after selecting a picture of Noah sitting on a swing.
“Wait. Is this…do you have a kid?” A look of shock crossed his face.
“Yes. I have a son.”
He stiffened. It was exactly the reaction I expected. “When were you going to tell me?” His voice was hard—accusatory.
“When it became an issue.”
“Where is he?”
“With my parents. They kept him for the summer so I could work more. My mom’s a teacher and has her summers off.” I left out the part about his grandfather being sick and wanting to spend time with him before he died.
“Oh.” He just sat there staring at me. His expression was unreadable, but it wasn’t friendly.
My heart sunk. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I wanted him to say something. Anything. “Okay, this was fun. Sorry to have wasted your time.” I put my purse back on my shoulder and headed outside. Part of me expected Jake to follow, but I refused to turn around until I reached my car. I looked back in through the large window. He was still sitting at the table with that unreadable expression. “Goodbye, Jake,” I said to myself as I got into my car and drove away.
I had to get through the next few days of work without thinking about Jake too much. I couldn’t afford to. I had to get everything ready for Noah when he got back. I dealt with the guilt of having him stay with my parents by picking up lots of little gifts for him. He wasn’t quite two, but he definitely had a soft spot for anything with wheels. Such a boy.
I smiled thinking about him. It had been nearly a month since my last trip up to see him. I hated sending him away, but we desperately needed the money. My mom kept encouraging me to move back home near them, but I wasn’t willing to do that. That felt too much like giving up.