The X at the end of his text made my stomach flutter as my memory raced back to our good-bye kiss the day before.
He slowly walked me to my door as if we had all the time in the world. I just wanted to drag him by the hand all the way up to my bedroom where I could discover every delectable inch of Jackson Reid. He cupped my chin, tilting my head, as he leaned forward and tenderly placed his lips against mine. I moaned, long and low, as he deepened the kiss, pushing me against the solid wood behind me. Every masculine hard inch of him pressed into me. It was divine.
“Come inside,” I whispered.
“No.”
I pulled back and found him smiling.
“Why?” I was pretty sure I was pouting.
“Because that’s exactly what everyone else would do.”
And that was exactly how he’d left me, a wanting mess of need, on my doorstep, which had probably been his evil intent from the beginning.
Stupid, sexy jerk.
“What?” Noah said as we made our way out the door and toward my car.
Shit, did I say that out loud?
“What? Nothing.”
“Adults are weird,” he said, shaking his head and smiling.
“Oh, Noah, you are so right.”
Both of us were quiet as we walked the curved path to Mrs. Reid’s final resting place. Noah’s attention moved from name to name as we passed aged gravestones, weathered through the decades. Finally, we stepped off the path and found Etta lying next to her husband, Theodore.
“Do you want some time alone?” I asked.
He looked back and forth between the two stones. “No. Please stay.”
I nodded, watching him bend down to trace his fingers over the words etched in the stone.
“I didn’t know her that well. Dad wasn’t able to take much time off when I was little,” he confessed.
“Well, that doesn’t mean you didn’t love her.”
“What was she like?”
“Kind and giving. She loved her garden, and she baked the best cookies and pies.”
He smiled. “She used to send us cookies on Christmas. They were good.”
“Yeah? What else do you remember about her?” I asked.
“She would always send me a card on my birthday with a ten-dollar bill inside. It always looked new, like she’d gone to the bank especially for me.”
I grinned, remembering Etta’s love for cards. “She did. She loved sending you those birthday cards, and she would always make sure she went to the bank a month in advance, so she could send it out in time. When she got really sick, I would take her.”
“How come you liked her so much, Liv?” The tiny pads of his fingers briefly touched the wilted flowers I’d brought last week.
“I guess it’s because, for a while, she was the closest thing to family I had.”
“You don’t have parents?” He looked up at me from his position on the grass.
“I do, but we haven’t spoken in a long time. We don’t…get along well.”
“That’s too bad,” he said. “I don’t have a mom. I mean, I guess I do, but I think she hates me.”
I stepped forward as the protective instinct in me took over, wanting to shield him from such thoughts. “What makes you say that, Noah?”
“She left right after she had me. She must not have loved me much.”
I knelt down, so we were eye-to-eye.
“No one could ever hate you, Noah. Whatever reason she had to leave had everything to do with her and her own problems. It had nothing to do with you. Like you said, adults are weird. But kids? Kids are easy to love. You are probably the easiest one of all, so please don’t think she left because something is wrong with you, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Ready to head back now?” I brushed the dirt from my skirt before helping him up.
He nodded, and we made our way back to the trail.
“Oh, and, Liv?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re pretty awesome, too.”
Jackson
“That’s just disgusting,” Liv said, pointing and shaking her head.
I used the tongs to gently lay the two steaks I’d been marinating all afternoon onto the hot grill.
“No,” I argued, “this is culinary perfection. When I’m done, this meat will melt in your mouth. It’ll be so tender that it could make babies weep.”
She gave me a wry but amused expression.
“A little overboard?” I asked.
“A little bit, and that definitely won’t be melting in this mouth.”
Her laughter filled the backyard as I finished up putting the food on the grill. I took care when I placed her veggie burger down, making sure it was far away from the meat. I might not understand how she could choose a life without steaks and bacon, but I certainly respected her decision.