chapter Sixteen
Emily
Noah had a hard time leaving my mom. It shouldn’t have surprised me at all, but I found myself torn by his reaction to being buckled into his car seat. I was thrilled he’d gotten so close to his grandmother, but I also felt jealous that he’d built that bond with someone when I wasn’t there. It made no sense, and I pushed myself to focus on the good part.
“We’ll be home in a few hours.” I glanced back at him in the rearview mirror. He looked so comfortable, holding a dinosaur toy in each hand. It felt so much more normal having him back there. Driving around without a car seat in the back had felt strange.
“Home.” That was a new word for him. He hadn’t been talking much, but his pediatrician assured me he was on the normal pace.
“Your room is all ready for you.”
He smiled, and I hoped the ride would go quickly.
We pulled into the garage and took the elevator up to my apartment. We had a two bedroom, but his bedroom was pretty tiny. I figured it wasn’t a big deal considering how young he was—but I think every mom just wants to give their kid more.
Thankfully, Noah woke up when the car stopped. It would be hard enough to lug our bags up holding his hand. I couldn’t have done it while holding him. We finally reached our door and I set everything down to unlock it. Just as I was about to push the door open, Noah took off running down the hall.
“Noah!”
He turned and laughed before continuing his run. I caught up with him and picked him up. I’d almost forgotten how fast he was. Eventually, I got Noah and all of our stuff inside.
I made lunch, Noah’s favorite Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, before collapsing on the couch while he played with his toys. At least they were exciting again after he’d been away for so long. I’d give him the new ones I bought when the novelty wore off.
The lot at Clayton Falls High School was nearly full when we pulled in. I found a spot and immediately dialed Mel. She’d come to town earlier to catch up with some friends. She picked up on the first ring. “Are you here?”
“Yeah. In the parking lot.” I looked out the window at the swarms of people all wearing red. My high school color was also red, so in a weird way I felt right at home even though I didn’t know anyone.
“I’ll walk back toward you. See you in a sec.”
I walked around and unbuckled Noah. He struggled in my arms, preferring to walk, but it was way too crowded for that. I slowly made my way over to the entrance.
“If it isn’t my two favorite people.” Mel grinned when she saw us coming.
“You look way too excited for this,” I teased. She was wearing a faded Clayton Falls Mustangs t-shirt, and had her hair tied up in a ponytail. I’d never seen Mel leave the house in a faded t-shirt or a ponytail.
“I haven’t been to one of these since high school.” Her face was lit up like a little kid. It was nice to see this side of her. It made me glad I asked her to come along. She thought I was joking at first, but once she realized I was serious she got hyped up about it.
“Where are your friends?” I’d been a little nervous about meeting them. Mostly because of Jake. I wasn’t sure I could handle too many questions.
“They weren’t interested in coming. I guess it’s different when you live here.” She shrugged.
“Oh. Well, I’m glad you came.”
“Of course. I’m psyched Noah’s first game is in Clayton Falls.” She reached into her tote bag and pulled out a stuffed animal mustang with a Clayton Falls shirt. “Here you go, little man.”
“You didn’t have to get him that.”
“The Booster Club was selling them. I figured he’d like it.”
Noah grinned, holding the horse against him. “Thanks, Mel. I hope he’s good. I have no idea what he’s going to think.”
“He’ll be fine. It will be so loud that it won’t matter what he does.” Mel led the way to the ticket stand. “Two adults and one under two.”
I touched her arm. “I can get ours.”
“Yes, because I can’t afford the two dollar price tag?”
I laughed. “Thanks, Mel.”
“Although you should probably get in for free. I can’t imagine Jake would want you to pay.”
The two women at the booth looked at me with a lot more interest.
“Stop,” I warned Mel.
She smiled. “Aww, you’re embarrassed, aren’t you?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“You so are. You’re nervous too.”
“Don’t start.”
The two women were still watching us carefully.
“Yes, she’s dating the coach.” Mel turned to give me a triumphant grin.
I saw their glances go immediately to Noah. I had no doubt they were wondering if he was some illegitimate child of their golden boy. “Let’s go.”
“Fine. Let’s find seats.”
We entered the bleachers and prepared to go all the way up to find two spots together. Noah could sit on my lap. We moved through the sea of red, and Noah held onto my shirt. I’m sure the crowds and the noise were a little much for him.
“Emily!” When I heard the female voice, I turned around. Molly smiled at me. She got up from her spot on the bleachers and walked over.
“Hi, Molly.”
“You came! Jake’s going to be so excited. Wait, is that Noah?”
I couldn’t believe Jake had told her my son’s name. “Yeah, this is Noah.”
Molly leaned down and smiled at him. “It’s nice to meet you, Noah.” She looked back up and noticed Mel. “Hi, Melanie.”
“Hi, Molly. It’s been ages.”
They hugged awkwardly.
“You should come sit with us. We’ve got plenty of room.” I followed her line of sight and saw Ben sitting with another girl. She had brown hair and a huge smile.
I glanced at Mel and she shrugged, but she looked a little nervous. I figured she knew the girl.
Shifting Noah to my other arm, I followed Molly over.
“Hey, there.” Ben smiled. He had the same smile as Jake. It was almost unnerving.
“Hi.”
“Kelly, this is Emily, and do you guys remember Mel? She graduated a few years behind us.”
“Of course!” The brunette, who must have been Kelly, grinned. “Is this your son?”
“Yes. This is Noah.”
“You’re so cute.” She smiled at him.
“Hi.” He waved before burying his face in my shirt.
“Jake’s going to be so happy you guys came. He was afraid you wouldn’t.” Ben scooted over to give us more room to sit.
That was the second time in two minutes that I’d heard how much Jake wanted us there. “I told him I was coming.”
“He was afraid you’d change your mind at the last minute.”
“He didn’t need to be. Emily is always true to her word.” Mel touched my arm reassuringly. She knew how nervous I was.
Molly ran a hand through her hair. “Jake mentioned you went home last weekend. You’re from up near Ashville?”
“I’m from Ridgeview.”
“Really?” Kelly said excitedly. “My brother just graduated from college up there.”
I was glad for a topic of conversation I could latch on to. “Yeah? That’s cool. Did he like the town?”
“He did, but I think he’s glad to be home.”
“How is Cole?” Mel’s face was blank, but her voice sounded really interested. It took a second for me to remember that Cole was the name of the guy from the club.
Kelly raised an eyebrow. She’d caught it too. “He’s good. Somehow he ended up helping Jake with the team. Since he doesn’t have a job yet, it’s probably a good thing.”
“Your brother’s friends with Jake?” I asked. I assumed it was the same Cole, but it was the normal question to ask.
Kelly nodded. “Best friends.”
“Wow, everyone’s connected here, huh?”
Molly laughed. “Definitely. I bet Ridgeview doesn’t seem nearly as small as Clayton Falls.”
“No. It’s practically a city.”
Ben turned to us. “Was it cool to grow up in a college town?”
“Good and bad. I liked it, but the school kind of took over the town, you know?” I thought about the college parties and meeting Tim for the first time.
“I can see that.”
Noah squirmed on my lap. People watching could only occupy him for so long. “What do you think of all this?” I asked him.
He smiled and pointed toward the field.
“It’s going to start soon.”
Mel pulled him onto her lap. “The dancers will be out soon. That’s always fun.”
Ben laughed. “Teaching him young, huh?”
Mel smiled and looked at me. “That was you in high school, right Em?”
“Yeah, I did dance team.”
“I doubt your dance team had the same reputation they have here.” Kelly bit her lip in an attempt to hide a smile.
“Oh, probably not that different.”
“Oh.” Molly looked shocked by my admission.
“That was a joke.”
Mel shook her head. “No one gets your sense of humor.”
“Jake does,” I said it without thinking.
Ben smiled. “He has an interesting sense of humor himself.”
Molly nudged Ben. “Interesting? Do you mean infuriating?”
“I take it you two aren’t best friends.” I was still dying to know what went down before Jake’s accident.
“No. They fight all the time. It’s usually quite entertaining.” Kelly held open a bag of popcorn. “Can he have some?” She gestured to Noah.
I nodded. I appreciated her checking with me first. Popcorn was one of those things you had to be careful with in kids his age. “Yeah, it’s fine.”
Kelly leaned over and gave him some.
“But Jake’s great.” Molly must have suddenly remembered what I was doing at the game.
“I know.” I still wanted more to the story, but hopefully he’d bring it up himself—that is if we spent more time together. I’d gone to the game, but I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.
As Mel predicted, the dance team took the field for a pre-game routine. It brought back a lot of memories. Austen used to make fun of me for it in high school. I used to hate when he teased me. Back then I really cared about what he thought. My brother had made fun of me too, but I expected it and I knew he never meant it. I think he was actually glad I was on the dance team. It meant I was always at his games.
I noticed Jake on the sidelines waiting for the game to start. He had his arms crossed and an incredibly serious expression on his face. He was looking down at his clipboard. The guy next to him, who I recognized as Cole, nudged him and pointed at me. I’d never met Cole, but he must have figured out who we were. Jake’s serious expression immediately melted into a smile. He waved.
I waved back and Mel noticed. She leaned over to whisper in my ear, “He’s still hot.”
“Thanks, Mel. I needed that.”
“It’s true.”
“It’s still crazy to me that Jake’s coaching. He looks so adult.” Molly took a sip from a bottle of water.
“He seemed pretty nervous about it when I talked to him, but he looks right at home.” I watched as Jake turned to talk to the team.
Mel leaned over to whisper again. “No checking out his ass with Noah here.”
I pushed her arm. “Shut up.”
“Although, he does look good…”
I knew she was only messing around to keep things light. She might have been talking about Jake, but her eyes were locked on Cole. They were both wearing red, collared shirts and khaki pants. It must have been the coaching uniform because two other men had them on too.
“Mama.” Noah moved off Mel’s lap and back to me. It was only a matter of time before he wanted to run around. I’d probably end up having to walk with him.
They did the pledge and the game began. The Mustangs started out on fire with two straight drives for touchdowns. The crowd loved it. Almost everyone was out of their seats cheering. The jeers when the other team scored a field goal were just as loud. Noah was having a ball. I don’t think he’d ever heard grownups yell so much.
I enjoyed the game, but the best part was watching Jake. He got so animated about everything—good or bad. Watching him throw his clipboard after a call against them worried me a little, but I told myself that didn’t mean he had an anger problem like Tim. It was normal. I wondered if I’d ever stop worrying about things like that. Probably not.
I was pulled from my negative thoughts when Noah successfully moved off my lap. “I better take him down to run off some energy.”
“There’s some grass just behind the bleachers. I’ll come with you,” Molly offered.
“Oh, thanks.”
“Want me to come?” Mel tore her eyes from the game.
“No, it’s okay. Enjoy the game.” I didn’t want to ruin her fun, and I figured it might be nice to talk to Molly anyway.
I picked Noah up, and we followed Molly down. She was right, there was some grass behind the bleachers. It was far enough away that we wouldn’t be in anyone’s way, but close enough that we could still hear the announcer and fans—not that it would have been hard. The cheering had only increased as the Mustangs scored another two touchdowns.
“I don’t know how you do it.” Molly took a seat on the grass when I’d finally tired Noah out enough that he’d sit.
“It’s a lot of work, but fun too.”
“I just can’t imagine. I mean I’m scared to do it with Ben, I can’t fathom how hard it is for you to take care of Noah alone.”
The way she said it made it sound like having a child was a real possibility for her. Still, I needed to be careful. If she was trying and couldn’t get pregnant, I didn’t want to upset her. “Are you thinking of having kids sometime soon?”
“I’m almost four months pregnant.” She smiled.
“Oh, wow. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“When do you find out the gender? Next month?”
“We can, but I haven’t decided if I want to.”
“You’re braver than me. I needed to know.”
“Ben wants it to be a surprise. I might have to give in.”
“That’s so exciting. If you find out you’re having a boy, I still have a lot of Noah’s things.”
“Really? That’s so nice of you to offer.”
Noah started to run away but I tackled him down. He burst into a fit of giggles.
Molly grinned. “How old is he?”
“He’ll be two in November.”
“What day?”
“The 16th.”
“Really? November 16th?”
“Yeah, why?”
“That’s Jake’s birthday.”
“Seriously?” That was pretty random.
“I guess it’s a popular birthday.”
“I guess so.”
Molly started to say something but she was drowned out by cheering. “I take it we scored another touchdown.”
“Sounds like it. Jake’s going to be happy.”
“I bet. Are you guys doing anything after?”
“He said something about ice cream.” I stood up and dusted off some grass stuck to my jeans.
“This is his first time meeting Noah, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” I sighed. I hoped it went well.
“Listen, Jake can sometimes say or do stupid things, but he is a good guy. He likes kids. Don’t let any of his antics fool you.”
“Thanks.”
Molly walked back up to the bleachers just as Mel came down. Mel helped me keep Noah entertained long enough to wait for Jake. I knew it was going to be awhile, and I was starting to debate just going home. It was getting late and Noah was going to start getting cranky. As soon as I suggested it to Mel she shot it down.
“Don’t start making excuses. You want this to work, so make it work.”
“It’s not just an excuse, it’s late—”
I stopped when I saw Jake heading our way. He looked nervous, and somehow that made me feel better. I wasn’t the only one.
“Hey.” He stopped right in front of us like he didn’t know what to do. He probably didn’t.
Noah tugged on my leg for me to pick him up. I complied. “Hey, Jake. This is Noah.”
“Hi, Noah.” Jake took a step closer and smiled at him. Noah picked his head up off my chest and smiled back tentatively.
“Congratulations on the win.” I belatedly remembered to say it.
He looked at me. “Thanks. I’m really glad you guys came. I thought you left before half-time, but then I realized Molly wasn’t sitting there either so you probably went somewhere with her.”
“Yeah. She helped me entertain Noah. He gets stir crazy.”
“I don’t blame him.”
We stood awkwardly for a minute until Mel intervened. “Emily mentioned ice cream, are we going to Sweet Leaf?”
“Of course. Where else would we go?” Jake looked at Noah. “What do you say, do you want ice cream?”
Noah grinned.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Jake slipped his hand around mine as we headed toward the parking lot. It felt a lot more natural than I expected to be holding his hand with Noah in my arms.
“I didn’t think you were actually going to take us for ice cream.” I sat next to Noah in a booth, and Mel and Jake were across from us. Sweet Leaf was a really cute little shop that still served homemade ice cream. The boy serving us, who couldn’t have been more than sixteen, made sure to tell me that all the toppings were homemade too.
“I told you I would.”
I gave Noah another bite of the hot fudge sundae we were sharing. There had been at least ten flavors to choose from, but Noah pointed to vanilla. I didn’t mind. Sometimes the simplest flavors were the best.
“So what did you think of your first Clayton Falls Mustangs game?” Jake licked some chocolate ice cream that was about to drip off his cone. He noticed me watching him and smiled.
“It was fun. I think Noah enjoyed it too. Didn’t you?”
Noah was too busy with the ice cream to answer.
“Either way, he likes this.” Jake gestured to the dish Noah was about to pull onto his lap. I grabbed it just in time.
“No question about that.” I wiped Noah’s face with a napkin. There was a little bit left in the dish, but he’d definitely had enough.
“Hey Noah, do you want to go for a walk?” Mel asked.
Noah nodded.
“Okay, let’s go.” She started to get up.
“You don’t have to do that—”
Mel have me a ‘don’t bother arguing’ look. “I want to. We’ll be back in a bit.”
I kissed Noah on the forehead. “Be good for Aunt Mel.”
I watched them leave.
Jake waited until the bell jingled, signaling their departure, before talking. “He’s a really cute kid.”
“Thank you.” I glanced over Jake’s head at the picture of two little boys sharing a waffle cone. I wondered how old those boys were now.
“He seems really sweet.”
I laughed. “That’s because you haven’t seen him when he doesn’t nap. Wait another hour and you might get a preview.”
“From what my mom tells me, I was quite the handful when I was little. He’s probably like me.”
I could imagine Jake being like that. “This was fun. Thanks for inviting us.”
“Thanks for coming.” He reached across the table and took my hand.
I took a deep breath and made myself speak. “Listen. I don’t know if you were only doing this because you thought you had to, but I’m not expecting anything from you.”
He squeezed my hand. “I’ve never done this before. I have no clue how it’s going to work, but we’ll figure it out.”
“You mean you think dating a single mom might be complicated?”
He smiled. “Maybe a little when you combine it with the fact that I currently have no license.”
“That’s only for a year.”
“True. A year isn’t that long.”
I balled up my napkin. “Where do we go from here?”
Jake flipped over my hand. He ran a finger over my palm. “You agree to another date with me.”
“I will, but I have to make sure I can get a sitter.”
“We’ll figure it out, and a date can include Noah. I just want to know that I get to see you again.”
“You can if you want to.” I looked down at the table.
“Hey, look at me.”
I listened and met his gaze.
He took my hand in both of his. “I want to see you. I definitely want to.”
“All right.”
“What’s your schedule like? Are you off weekends now?”
“I’m starting on weekday day shifts. I’ll work seven to seven four days a week, but I might pick up extra shifts here and there.”
“How about next Saturday night?”
“As long as I find a sitter.”
“I already told you that you don’t have to worry. We’ll work it out.”
“Okay.”
“Good.”
Someone knocked on the window. Noah was making faces at us. “I think that’s my cue.”
“This was fun.”
I picked up Noah’s sippy cup and stuffed it into my bag. “Thanks for the ice cream.”
“Anytime.”
Jake dropped my hand long enough for us to slide out of the booth. He took it again as we walked toward the door. “Jake...”
“What? He’s already seen us holding hands.”
I smiled. “I know.”
“Good.” He kissed me on the cheek before bending down to Noah’s height. “It was nice meeting you, Noah. Take care of your mommy for me.”
Noah smiled shyly and backed up to grab my leg.
Jake stood back up. “Nice to see you again, Mel.”
Mel smiled. “Same to you. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing more of you.”
“I hope so. I’ll call you, Emily.” Jake hugged me, careful to avoid knocking Noah over.
“I’ll be waiting.” I smiled as I buckled Noah in.
“Thanks for coming tonight.” I hugged Mel.
“This was fun. We’ll have to do it more often.”
“Did it bring back high school memories?”
“Definitely.”
I laughed. “All right, ‘night Mel.”
“Good night.” She drove away.
I turned to get into my car and found Jake waiting. I expected him to be on his way home already. “What are you still doing here?”
“I was hoping for a good night kiss.” There was something about the way he said it, the boyish charm that made me melt.
“So was I.” I waited for the kiss I knew was coming.
The kiss was gentle, his lips only lightly brushing against mine, but it was still enough to give me goose bumps. I’d missed Jake more than I wanted to admit.
“Have a good night.” He smiled, watching as I got in my car.
“You too.”
He waved as I pulled away. I looked in my rearview mirror as I moved into the traffic circle, he was watching with a smile on his face that matched the one I wore.
I was still smiling when I settled into a bath that night. Noah went down easily, probably because he ran around so much at the game, and I decided to take advantage of it. I was just drying off when my phone rang. I always took it in with me in case my mom or Mel called. It wasn’t either of them.
“When you said you’d call, I didn’t think it would be tonight.”
Jake laughed. “I guess I was eager. I miss you already.”
“Yeah, I know the feeling.”
“Is Noah sleeping?”
“Yes, and I just finished a bath.”
“Wish I could have joined you.”
“You and me both.”
“I love your honesty, Em.”
“Em? Since when do you call me that?” I brushed out my hair.
“That’s what Mel calls you…would it bother you if I did?”
“No. I like it.”
“Good. You can call me a nickname too.”
“What’s the nickname for Jake?”
“I’m sure you can come up with one.”
I laughed. “All right, I’ll think of something.”
“I’m expecting a good one.”
“Don’t put any pressure on me or anything…”
“You don’t do your best under pressure?” he asked.
He was spot on. “No. I prefer things relaxed.”
“Me too. Do me a favor and think about me tonight. I’ll be thinking about you.”
He didn’t need to say it. “Because that isn’t a weird thing to ask…”
“If you don’t want weird, you shouldn’t be dating me.”
“You are so not what I expected.” I walked down the hall to my room.
“Is that good or bad?”
“Good. You’re like that really good surprise gift. It’s not the one you expect, or the one you asked for—but it’s all the better because of that.” I pulled an old t-shirt out of my dresser.
“I’m going to take that as a compliment.”
“You should. I guess I say weird stuff too.” I put the phone on speaker while I got dressed.
“Yes…but I like it.”
“I bet I’m unexpected.”
“I knew you were special, but you’ve kind of blown that idea out of the water.”
“You’re sweet.”
“So are you, Em….and you’re also incredibly sexy, and I want you so bad it hurts.”
“On that note, good night, Jake.”
“Hey, you can’t run off on me like that.”
“I’m not running. I’m hanging up.”
“You’re the one who told me you were getting out of the bath. That means you’re in a towel. My thoughts are going to go there.”
“In case you were wondering, I’m never having phone sex.”
He laughed. It was a deep, melodic laugh. “Good to know. But now that I’ve had the real thing, I’m not going to settle for the phone.”
“You’re going to have to wait quite a while, you know…”
“Yeah, I figured. But you know what? I’ve made it twenty-three years without you. What’s a few more days, or weeks. But please don’t say months. That’s going to be pushing it.”
“I’ll agree with you there.” I sat down on my bed.
“Enjoy your quiet time.”
“I will. Sweet dreams.” I laid back against my pillows.
“Oh they’ll be sweet.”
“Good night, Jake.”
“Night, Emmy.”
“Emmy?” I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see it.
“I’m just trying it out.”
“All right. Good night.”