Sixteen
L auren leaned back in the chair and licked a drop of thousand-island dressing from the heel of her palm with the tip of his tongue. Scott couldn’t tear his gaze away from the act until Jake kicked his foot, breaking Scott from his wandering thoughts that were veering toward the land of inappropriate.
Yep.
Totally worth it.
“Come on.” Scott cleared their plates and brought them to the sink and began washing them.
Both Lauren and Jake followed him to the sink. Jake dried the dishes after Scott rinsed them of soap, and Lauren put them away.
“Not that I’m unhappy you’re here, but shouldn’t you be settling your dad’s estate before you leave tomorrow?”
“Turns out the estate isn’t as in good of order as I hoped. I’m going to stay a bit longer than planned.” He studied her face, waiting for her reaction to him staying.
She didn’t disappoint. Although she covered it well, he saw the hint of something he thought might have been hope.
“How much longer?” Jake asked.
“A couple of days at least. Probably longer.” He looked around the now clean kitchen for any wayward dishes. When he didn’t spot any, Scott took Lauren’s hand and tugged her towards the front door. “Come on, you can direct Jake and me while we clean the gutters.”
“How about I make you all some chocolate chip cookies as a treat for cleaning the gutters.”
“You don’t want to oversee our work?”
“Dad’s going to want to be out there and knowing him, he’ll contradict everything I say, which will just make both you and Jake frustrated. If I stay out of his way, it will be better for you two.” She squeezed his hand before spinning away and returning to the kitchen.
Jake rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Come on, let’s get started before Jim offers to help.”
The two men walked outside, and Jake led the way to the garage where they collected the tools needed for their task. Jake knew his way around the garage as though it was his own.
Finding Jake at Lauren’s house surprised Scott at first, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. Trent had all but warned him last night that Jake and Lauren were closer than they had been when Scott had left Iron Creek all those years ago. But knowing where Jim kept the heavy-duty gloves and tools that were probably only used a few times a year did more than surprise Scott. It knocked him back on his heels.
Sure, Jake helping Jim and Lauren made sense, but it didn’t mean Scott had to like it. He should be the one who knew where everything was kept. He should be the one who stopped by to clean the gutters.
“There’s only one ladder tall enough, so you’re gonna be stuck holding it.”
Jake’s words pulled Scott out from letting his envy take over.
“I’m not a FISH, even though I live in Chicago. I don’t have to hire someone to clean the gutters.”
“Grab the ladder and let’s go.” Jake ignored Scott’s outburst.
They started at the front and moved along around the perimeter of the house without any complications until they came to a corner
The ladder shifted under Jake’s weight and the gutter groaned. Scott grimaced and looked up at the aluminum device intended to hold the weight of a grown man several feet above the ground.
“Maybe we should move it or get something to slip under the legs so it’s steadier than it is.”
“No, it’s just a bunch of wet leaves that got caught in this bend here. It will take more time to move things than for me to just reach…”
Famous last words. The ladder didn’t so much as fall over as it became a close relative of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. “Seriously, Jake, I don’t want to have to explain to Lauren why I have to take you to the ER.”
“She won’t blame you.”
“She might not, but that little feral pixie will.”
“Feral pixie?” Jake looked down toward the ground with his arm stretched into the recesses of the gutter. “Melody? Why would she blame you?”
“Really?” The sarcasm rolled from his tongue.
“She doesn’t need a reason to blame you. Why do you think I call her honey badger? She thinks it’s an insult, but I’ve seen her throw herself into the middle of a bar fight and walk away the winner.”
A clump of rotten leaves dropped from above and landed a few inches away from Scott’s feet. “Hey!”
“I wasn’t aiming for you.”
“Why was she anywhere near a bar fight?”
Another clump landed in the vicinity of Scott’s feet, but this one was farther away.
“It was some kids arguing about which state finalist football team was better.”
Jake climbed down the ladder and the two men moved it to its next location.
“And you didn’t stop her from getting in the middle of it?”
“When it comes to Melody, you don’t stop her or get in her way. She might be tiny, but that just means you can’t see her when she bites your kneecaps off.” Jake climbed back up the ladder and continued removing small clumps of rotting leaves.
They finished the job without an appearance from Jim, which according to Jake was a miracle and meant he was laying-in-wait. Jake bent down and collected the tools he brought with him and headed back to the garage. Scott grabbed the ladder and raced after him.
“Why will Jim be laying-in-wait?”
Jake stopped mid-step and looked over his shoulder at his friend. Scott didn’t need to be an expert in body language to read the frustration and exasperation on his friend’s face. “The man isn’t an idiot. I’m a stroll through Candy Land compared to what he’s going to want to say to you.”
Jake pivoted and continued to the garage, leaving Scott behind to consider the meaning of his words.
“You aren’t your father.” Jim Somers spoke as he stepped next to Scott.
The ladder slipped through Scott’s hands, and it clanged out a protest when the feet of the ladder slapped against the weathered cement driveway.
He readjusted the ladder in his grip and hoisted it up off the ground. “I never thought I was.”
“Come on, you can help me change the lights on the garage.” Jim walked away, assuming, rightly so, that Scott would follow.
Not having to contend with a wall, that made opening the ladder an obstacle they’d need to work around, Scott opened the ladder and locked it in place, before climbing up. Once he was high enough up to reach the light bulb on the motion-detecting farmer’s light, he unscrewed it and handed it down to Jim.
“No one is going to blame you.” Jim traded a new bulb for the old one.
“For what?” Scott finished screwing in the bulb before looking down at Jim. “Why would anyone blame me.”
“We aren’t stupid. Well, some of us aren’t at least.”
Scott climbed down the ladder, avoiding Jim’s gaze. What did Lauren’s dad know and how much did he know?
“Your dad wasn’t a good man. He was a shitty an average father and a below average husband. And he wasn’t even that good of a friend. But the worst trait your father had was being greedy.” Jim crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at the ground. “But there are a lot worse men in this world.”
Jim Somers knew.
He didn’t think Jim knew the depth of his father’s corruption, but he knew enough. And he hadn’t kicked Scott to the curb when he found him in his house.
“I don’t know what kind of man you are now. But from what I remember, you were a good friend and I imagine you might even make a decent husband and father someday.” Jim reached for the ladder, and like an idiot Scott let the older make take it from him. “But I also imagine you might think this is just a temporary stop before you go back to your life?”
Some things never changed. Lauren’s dad was still her dad and Scott was still the kid who might hurt his little girl.
The least he could do was be honest with the man. Jim had every right not to trust Scott. The sins of the father and all that, but he did. Or at least he didn’t act like he didn’t trust Scott. “I don’t know what this is.”
“Well, then you need to figure it out.” He looked over at Scott and smiled. “Jake will kill you if he has to sit through another round of movies where the girl magically fixes the guy.”
Scott took a deep breath. He already figured it out. Lunch with Lauren today pretty much confirmed it. He just didn’t want to say it out loud. And he didn’t want to say it to Lauren’s father. Jim carried the ladder into the garage, humming a quiet tune.
By the time Scott caught up with him, Jake was putting the ladder back in its place in the garage. “What else do you need done, Jim?”
“Lauren has a list. Let me run and get it.”
As soon as Jim disappeared inside the house, Jake looked over at Scott.
“What did he say to you?”
“I got the abbreviated version of what are your intentions.”
“What did you say?”
“The truth. I didn’t know.”
“Well, you better figure it out soon, because I will send you an invoice for emotional trauma if I have to put up with another marathon of early 2000 romcoms.” Jake delivered a withering glare at Scott. “I know that Macfadyen wins the Darcy contest because of the hand-flex, and what the hand-flex means. But I’m partial to Colin Firth.”
“What happened to you?” Never in Scott’s wildest dreams did he think his friend would ever watch a romcom, much less know the actors in one.
“You left, and I got stuck watching those movies because it made her happy. That’s what happened to me.” Jake walked away from him and toward the house. “Come on, let’s find Jim before he gets distracted by a big project he’s been wanting to do for years but never got around to.”
“That happen a lot?” Scott hurried after Jake.
“Often enough.”