Chapter Nineteen - Rachel #2
We spend the rest of the class watching the kids.
Jacob does a great job keeping an eye on Lyla without pulling attention away from the other students.
If they’re doing a drill in groups, he makes sure to put Lyla in his, and I even catch the reassuring glances he sends my way as if he can feel the waves of anxiety that roll off me from the lobby.
Despite the persistence from the lobby moms about how perfect Jacob is, I’ve never thought about him that way.
He’s a good-looking man, with dark hair cut short and very sharp features.
When those hazel, oval eyes and square jaw are arranged in a smile, it’s undeniably contagious, but when one of the students hits another in class, and those features arrange into a deep set frown, not a single kid steps out of line again.
The sleeves of his black uniform are rolled up to his elbow, showing off tanned skin and impressive muscles that make him the total package.
He’s handsome, good with kids, and a successful business owner.
Maybe I do see what those moms are getting at…
When the class ends, Lyla is the last one to leave, and by the time she gets to me, many of the parents are already leaving. Dominic stays with her, of course, and Mr. Torres follows them out.
Jacob lowers himself to Lyla’s level and holds out his hand for a high five. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Her smile is wide when she claps her tiny hand against his, and he shakes it like it hurts.
“Are you trying to break my hand with a high five like that?” he asks, earning him a hearty giggle.
Dominic also gives Jacob a high five, working to make sure his high five is even harder than Lyla’s, and I think I catch Jacob suppressing a wince.
“Shoes?” Dominic asks, and Lyla nods before they head in that direction, followed by Meredith.
I face Jacob. “Thank you so much for taking time with her. She can be shy, and this is doing wonders for her.”
His smile stretches, revealing perfectly straight teeth. “I’m glad to hear that. Lyla’s a great kid.”
I look over to my little girl, biting her lip in concentration as she pulls the Velcro over her left foot before moving to her right shoe. “I’m not sure it’s any thanks to me, but she is incredible.”
“I doubt that’s true,” he says, then lowers his voice just a little. “Miss Lance—”
“Please, call me Rachel,” I interrupt, and his smile grows.
“Right, Rachel, I really don’t want to overstep any boundaries, and I can assure you that I’ve never done something like this before, but I was wondering if you’d be interested in going out with me sometime.”
The question comes from left field, and I’m momentarily speechless.
“I know we’ve only met a few times, but I’m really interested in getting to know you.”
He’s asking me out? On a date?
It’s my immediate reaction to politely decline, but I give it a moment of thought. What possible reason do I have to say no? He’s everything I should want and everything that’s good for my daughter. Don’t I owe it to myself to at least give it a try?
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It’s just—”
“I’d love to,” I tell him.
After exchanging phone numbers, Jacob and I part ways, and Meredith shows up with the kids in tow beside me. Her eyes are wide as saucers when she whispers, “What was that about?”
I press my lips in a firm line until we’re out the door and walking into the parking lot.
I scan the lot for any suspicious cars, but I haven’t felt those watchful eyes since I was followed by that black truck. Still, I walk with my guard up and study my surroundings intently.
“Uh, he asked me out on a date,” I say, still stunned by the whole thing.
Meredith’s jaw goes slack. “Are you serious? I literally called this. You said yes, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, I did.”
Meredith goes on listing all the ways Jacob is perfect as we walk to our cars, but I can’t help the part of me that wonders if my definition of perfect is just a bit different from everyone else’s.
We’re not even halfway through this dinner party, and my face already aches from smiling so much.
If I ever thought becoming a mother at twenty-two would make me feel like I missed out on party years, I was wrong.
As lovely as the gourmet catering service and lavish decor Ryder organized to be brought into our dining room are, I’d rather curl up on the couch in pajamas and fuzzy socks with my daughter.
Instead, I’m wearing my nicest black dress pants and a white blouse that flatters my willowy frame.
I hadn’t intended to match Ryder, but when I walked out of my room and remembered he was in black slacks and a white button-up, it hadn’t felt worth it to change.
So, not only do we look like a functional couple, but we look domesticated as hell.
The capos all come dressed similarly to Ryder, and their dates—all the same women who came to the gala—look just as fashionable.
We socialize and engage in small talk about absolutely nothing in particular until the catering service has our first course ready. The waiters—because having a meal catered wasn’t enough, we also needed to be served—fill the glasses with wine and the plates with food.
The conversation flows naturally, and it’s driven mainly by Harris and Ava, who seem to have never-ending stories about their travels and adventures.
Emily engages with them since she’s done a fair amount of traveling herself, but Knox remains silent at her side.
Briggs is just as quiet, and his wife, Donna, doesn’t do much talking either but wears an unwavering warm smile.
It’s the last couple that I watch like a hawk throughout the meal.
I hadn’t paid much attention to them at the gala, but I’m far more aware of Briggs since I suspect him of being the thief and my stalker.
I hope to catch a nervous tick or anything that could aid our investigation.
Instead, I find myself watching how he interacts with his wife.
They have a closed-off air surrounding them, and I expect that to translate to cool interactions, but if anything, they move as a unit.
When we first sat down, he pulled out her chair in a practiced move, like it’s been done a million times before.
I lose track of how many subtle glances he’s sent her way as if periodically checking to make sure she’s okay.
He even breaks proper dining etiquette to rest his arm over her chair and rub his thumb over her shoulder.
It’s fascinating to watch such a brood-ish man act so chivalrously.
When dinner is over, I offer to take the women for a tour of the house while Ryder takes the capos outside for a game of poker.
We stop in the upstairs hall, where a series of four paintings hang.
“What are all of these?” Ava asks, looking from one picture to the next.
“They were a Christmas gift from Ryder last year,” I explain.
I’ve never been a gift person, but this particular present might be the best I’ve ever received.
The first is of a woman who holds the hand of a small child as they walk down a snow-covered street.
The second shows the same woman and child, only they walk down a beach.
The other two are similar, depicting the woman and child walking down a wilderness path with the warm colors of autumn, and also a field of brightly painted flowers.
It’s a series called Mother and Me, and I fell in love with it as soon as it was given to me.
When Ava and Emily debate what country they think each painting is meant to take place in, I feel Donna step up to my side.
She’s a short woman with light blonde hair cut just above her shoulders. She has such a soft, feminine look that it makes me wonder how she could be the wife to such a jaded man like Briggs.
“What a lovely gift idea. Ryder seems like a wonderful boyfriend.”
“Oh, no, we aren’t—” I stop myself since I really have no idea what to say. Ryder and I aren’t anything more than co-parents, but as far as everyone here knows, we hooked up at the gala just last weekend. “It’s complicated.”
She doesn’t look surprised. “Things with these men usually are.”
“Were they for you and Briggs?” I don’t realize how intrusive the question is until it’s too late. “I’m sorry. That was out of line. You don’t have to answer that.”
She waves a dismissive hand and smiles. “As a matter of fact, yes. I’m a second-grade teacher, so I’m sure you can imagine I never imagined marrying a mafia capo. I didn’t know what he did until we’d been together for several months.”
“What did you do when you found out?”
“Left him,” she answers, and I have absolutely no words. She laughs at my bewilderment. “But he didn’t let me go that easily. He pursued me for six months, sending me gifts, leaving me romantic messages, and even going so far as to get in good with my folks.”
“And you took him back?”
She nods. “Eventually. I thought knowing what he did meant I knew him, but that wasn’t the case.”
That, I can understand. I never felt like Ryder’s job defined who he was.
His priorities did.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course,” she says, a warm smile on her soft features.
“Forgive me if this is overstepping, but do you ever feel like you’re second place?”
“Second place to what?”
“The family. Their duty to the family.”
Donna’s laugh is a light, comforting sound.
“These boys don’t see the world the same way we do.
To you, there’s the Moreno family and the family that you and Ryder created, but to Ryder, there’s just family.
There’s no first place or second place. Family is everything to them, and though we may not take part in their business, we’re still part of that family. ”
We go downstairs a few minutes later, but I don’t hear a single word the women say. I spend the rest of the evening replaying Donna’s words on a loop, considering what exactly family means to me.