Chapter 6
Jax
“The outlets are about an hour from here. If you don’t mind the ride, we could go there.”
“That would be great. Are you sure that’s okay?”
“Of course.” I was about to start the car when I remembered what Carter and I had talked about. “Do you have any friends you’d like to invite along?”
“Really?” Eliza perked up for just a second before her shoulders slouched again. “I’m not sure if I know anyone’s number off the top of my head. Well, there is my one friend. We’ve been friends since we were little. But I don’t know if I should invite her.”
“Is there a reason?” I didn’t want to push, but the despondent look that had fallen over Eliza’s face led me to believe this might be something she wants to talk about.
“We haven’t talked much lately. Our parents are really good friends, so it’s been a little weird.
Her parents don’t want her to hang out with me, so the only chance we’ve had to talk was at school, which hasn’t happened much.
We hang out with different groups, and if I’m being honest, I’ve kind of been avoiding her, because I didn’t know how she would feel about the whole teen pregnancy thing. ”
I held my phone out toward her. “There’s only one way to find out.”
Eliza stared at my phone as if it was on fire and would burn her if she touched it. “I don’t know. Are you sure? What if she says something hurtful?”
“Could she say anything that’s worse than the things you made up in your head?”
“I guess not.” Eliza reached out and grabbed the phone. “I’m going to have to text her. I know if I call from a random number that there’s no way she’ll pick up. Do you mind?”
“Of course not. Go ahead.”
She stared at the screen for a long time before she finally started to type. When she was done, she threw the phone back at me. “How long should we wait to see if she answers?”
“Five minutes? Ten minutes?”
Eliza nodded slowly. “Okay.”
I turned my ringer on, and we were both silent as we listened for the text tone. When the sound of a text came through a few minutes later, I was happy to find that it was from an unknown number.
I held the phone out to Eliza, but she shook her head. “Could you read it and tell me whether she says yes or no? I don’t need to hear the explanation of why she’s not coming.”
I opened the text thread and read Eliza’s original text, followed by her friend’s response.
Hey, Miriam! It’s Eliza. I’m using someone else’s phone.
I know we haven’t talked much lately, but I really miss you.
I know this is a longshot, but I was wondering if you wanted to come to the outlets with me today.
A really nice couple is helping me out, so one of them will drive us.
I completely understand if you don’t want to, but I thought it was worth a try.
Eliza! OMG! I’m SO happy to hear from you.
I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately.
When you stopped talking to me at school, I thought you were mad at me because of my parents.
I really, really want to come. We have so much to talk about.
Is there somewhere I can meet you? I’ll have to tell my parents I’m hanging out with someone else. Sorry they suck :(
I read the text out loud to Eliza, and the biggest smile I had seen from her yet spread across her face. “Wow. Really? You’re not just making that up? She really said that?”
I laughed. “I’m impressed that you think I could make that up on the spot. I must come across much smarter than I actually am.”
“Where do you think we should meet her?”
It only took me a few seconds to think of the perfect spot. “My cafe is along the way to the outlets. Do you think her parents would be okay with her meeting a friend there even with the big gay pride flag hanging outside?”
Eliza chuckled and it made her whole face light up in a way that warmed my heart. “I think so. I’m sure they’ll have something to say about it like my parents did whenever we drove past, but I don’t think that will keep them from taking her there.”
“Perfect.” I handed my phone back to Eliza.
“Text her back and see how soon she can meet us there. If it’s going to take her a little bit, we can go in and get a…
” I had to stop myself from saying coffee.
It was very mature for someone as young as Eliza to cut out the things that might be bad for her during pregnancy. “Snack.”
It turned out we didn’t have to do that because Miriam was leaving church when Eliza texted her, so she just had her parents drive her right to the cafe.
When we pulled up, there was a young girl with shoulder length brown hair, khaki shorts, and a green polo standing outside of the cafe.
The way she was looking around led me to believe it might be Miriam, except this girl looked like a lot of the teenagers who used my cafe as a safe space—gay.
She honestly looked somewhat familiar, leading me to believe she had been there before.
“There she is,” Eliza said, pointing to the girl in question.
“That’s Miriam?” I didn’t like to judge someone based on looks alone, but I had no idea how that girl couldn’t be gay.
“Yeah.” Eliza gave me an inquisitive look. “Why?”
I shrugged. I wasn’t ever going to out someone, especially someone who might not actually be gay. “Just making sure.”
I pulled my car by the curb and put down my window. “Miriam?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer. When the girl nodded, I waved her over. “Get in. I’m Jax.” I pointed toward the cafe. “I’m the owner of the cafe.”
“Really?” Miriam asked as she slid into the backseat. “I’ve only been there a few times, but I absolutely love it. It’s such a cool atmosphere.” When she looked at Eliza, the slightest hint of blush hit her cheeks. “Hey, Lize. Thanks for texting. It’s so great to see you.”
Eliza turned around in her seat and flashed a wide grin at Miriam. “Hey, girl! God, I’m so excited you are coming with us. I’ve really missed you.”
Miriam’s face turned even more red now. “I’ve really missed you too. How are you feeling?”
If I wasn’t completely convinced before, I was now. There was no way this girl was straight. She clearly had a crush on Eliza, and Eliza, bless her heart, was completely oblivious.
“I’m doing okay, all things considered.”
“Have you seen a doctor?”
“Not yet, but Jax and her wife are going to take me soon.”
“Oh.” Miriam cleared her throat as if she was nervous. “You’re married to a woman?”
If someone else in this town asked that, I might have assumed they were judging me for it, but I could tell by her tone (and the fact that I was 99% percent certain we played for the same team) that wasn’t the case with Miriam.
“She is!” Eliza answered before I could. “Isn’t that so cool? I wish I liked women instead of men. Then I wouldn’t have gotten myself into this mess.”
It was interesting to see how much more open Eliza became just from being in the presence of someone she was comfortable with. I hoped she was able to find that level of comfort with me and Carter as well.
I looked in the rearview mirror to gauge Miriam’s reaction to what Eliza had just said. Even though it was quick, I didn’t miss the sad look that crossed her face. Poor girl.
“I find it pretty damn cool,” I said with a laugh.
“Is it hard living here as a gay woman?” Miriam asked.
“We just moved here a few years ago, and I’m going to be honest—at first we weren’t sure how we felt about it, but now we love it.”
Miriam nodded contemplatively. I could tell she was taking in everything I said.
“Why did you choose to move here?” Eliza asked.
It was obvious how she felt about the area given her tone when she said the word here, but I couldn’t blame her for that. Given recent events, I understood why she probably wanted to get far away.
“We came to take care of my wife’s grandma. The house we live in used to belong to her. She passed less than a year after we moved down here, but we had already fallen in love with the area by then, so we stayed.”
“But the cafe has been around for a long time, right?” Miriam asked. “The previous owner was gay too, right?
I was pretty sure Miriam already knew the answers to all of that, but I humored her anyway. “Yes. The cafe is older than me. The previous owner is gay and is also my wife’s uncle.”
Eliza put a hand in the air. “Wait. Is everyone in your family gay?”
I laughed at her question, because it was a very reasonable one. “Not in my immediate family, but yes, I married into a very gay family. My wife’s moms and her uncles are gay.”
“Now, that’s the kind of family I wish I could be part of,” Eliza said with a laugh.
“Me too,” Miriam said much more quietly, with a hint of sadness to her voice.
“Well, guess what?” I said as cheerfully as possible. “Anyone is welcome in my family, so consider yourself part of it.”
Eliza’s smile took over her whole face. “You’re not like any adult I’ve ever met.”
I cringed, because she said that as if to lump me with people her parents’ age, and given their view on teen pregnancy, I was going to guess they were older than me. “That’s because I’m barely an adult, in both years and maturity.”
The rest of the drive went by quickly, as I listened to Miriam and Eliza go back and forth, catching up on normal teenage things such as school, shows, and their plans for the summer. My heart warmed when Eliza proudly talked about how she was going to work at the cafe with me.
After hitting up a bunch of stores and getting Eliza a whole new wardrobe, we went to the food court to eat a late lunch.
“So, what’s your plan?” Miriam asked Eliza as we ate.
“My plan?”
Miriam nodded. “Yeah. Are you keeping the baby? Putting it up for adoption? Will you still be at school next year?”
I was glad Miriam was asking these questions, because they were all things I was curious about, but didn’t want to push Eliza to answer.
Eliza looked at me as if she expected me to have the answers. “I-I don’t really know. I haven’t really figured anything out. I didn’t even consider the possibility that I might have to drop out. I really don’t want to.”