Chapter Twelve
The nearby motel Mia chose for them was comfortable, had all the amenities and they were given adjoining rooms on the first floor. After she’d placed a call to Angie and her folks to let them know they were fine and to expect them the next day, she turned off the cartoons on the TV.
Ignoring Maisie’s expected displeasure, she ruffled the child’s hair. “Let’s go and see what Jack wants us to get him from across the street at the diner? Then we’ll pick up the food and bring it here so we can eat together. What do you say?”
“Like a picnic?”
“Sure, we’ll have a picnic on the bed.”
“Yay! Let’s go see him. He looked funny when we got hewe, his fowehead’s all blue and swollen.”
“During the accident, he banged his head and has a concussion. You were sleeping sweetkins, but I saw him battle the wheel to control the truck. It was amazing.”
“He’s a hewo.”
“Uh-huh.” As she knocked at the door connecting their rooms and waited for his permission to enter, she thought about what Maisie had said and found herself in full agreement. The man was a hewo!
***
Once the food was eaten and their containers cleared from the room, Mia hustled Maisie into their room, changed her into her jammies and snuggled her into one of the two beds.
By the time she’d read one page from the storybook they’d brought in the suitcase, the child was in dreamland. Standing over her, Mia brushed her hair from her cheeks and leaned down to place a kiss there.
Forcing Maisie to stay at the end of Jack’s bed with her wasn’t easy when the headstrong little girl wanted to snuggle near her hewo.
But Mia knew Maisie’s eating habits were far from perfect, and while they shared baskets of chicken and fries, finger food she knew would be easy to eat, she made sure that Maisie kept her food over the towel she’d placed as a tablecloth.
She’d been worried that Maisie, who loved to be close to her favorite adults, sit on their laps and have their full attention, would insist that Jack hold her on his. She should have known the child would be sensitive to his condition.
Propped up against the pillows when they’d arrived, he’d appeared comfortable. As soon as the picnic had been eaten, Maisie hopped up next to him. With her little hand brushing his forehead tenderly, she’d laid her head on the same pillow beside his and was satisfied.
“Does your boo boo huwt, Mr. Jack? It’s a weiwd color.”
“Boo boo?” He looked to Mia for translation.
“She’s talking about your swollen face. It’s her name for whenever she gets an injury.”
“Oh!” Jack turned his face and winked at Maisie. “My boo boo feels much better now that we’ve eaten. Thank you for bringing dinner to me. I like picnics.”
“Me too.”
“And I like chicken and fries.”
“See… me too. Mia never lets me eat fwies unless it’s a tweat.”
Jack grinned and ruffled her hair.
“And I like to get my sleep,” Mia interrupted.
Both individuals on the bed gave her a disgruntled look and said in unison, “Not me.”
Insistence won out, and Mia had her way. Good thing, from the sight of the little one now in dreamland hugging her fuzzy, white puppy.
Gently smoothing her hair from the child’s flushed cheeks, Mia let her thoughts roam.
Maisie’s acceptance of Jasmine’s disappearance from their lives was worrisome for her.
The truth couldn’t be ignored, Jasmine often spent months at a time on location and might only get back home for visits every few weeks.
Therefore, Maisie didn’t have the same dependence on her mother that she did for Mia.
Though Mia felt the loss every day, missed their nightly phone calls, some might think it was a blessing the child didn’t suffer.
In another way, it was sad. Therefore, whenever it felt right, Mia reminded Maisie there was an angel in heaven watching over her.
She leaned down again for another kiss and realized the amount of time she’d been away from Jack.
As promised, she headed back into his room.
With his head still propped against the pillows, his hands linked behind, showing his powerful arms, he looked even more like a hero.
Muscular body with narrow hips and long legs crossed at the ankles, his arms tanned and defined, his face tanned and handsome, she found him watching her survey him.
Gulping her irritation for being caught, she started to say good night.
Jack slid up to make room. “Come and talk to me. Remember the doc said I wasn’t to sleep alone.”
“He did not. He said someone had to check on you every few hours. I’ve set my phone alarm, and we’ll leave the door open between the rooms.”
“But I’m not sleepy. I need to talk about something.”
Interested, despite the awareness that being alone with this devil might create temptation, and he’d cotton on to her attraction, she couldn’t help herself.
His flirty grins and daring expression undid her constraints and she soon found herself with her knees curled in a yoga pose, perched next to him on the bed.
“What is it you need to talk about?”
“You.”
“Me? I thought you had something important on your mind.”
Jack chuckled. “Is that a leading question?”
“What? No. I wasn’t fishing. I mean it. What about me?”
“You mentioned that Jasmine was Maisie’s mother. Did you have an agreement so you could keep her?”
“Yes, Jasmine had a will drawn up with instructions making me the legal guardian of my godchild until she’s eighteen. After she was born, we decided not to take any chances.”
“Were you a couple?” In today’s world, these relationships were acceptable. He knew it. But his curiosity demanded he get the real facts before letting the sprouting tenderness for her grow.
“Huh? Me and Jasmine? No! What in the world makes you think we were? She was more like a sister. In fact, she lived with me and my folks after her own mother dumped her at sixteen. We were family. Who else would take Maisie but me?”
“Of course. Now it makes perfect sense. I wasn’t being nosy or trying to intrude. I have such a crush on the kid. I was interested in her background.”
Sensing his sincerity, Mia relaxed. “From the time she was Maisie’s age, Jasmine wanted to be a movie star.
She had so much talent that with Mom and Dad’s financial help, we moved to Los Angeles.
We all knew if she got a break, she could make it big.
She constantly tried to bring a dose of reality to our dreams and even went as far as taking a Cosmetology course as backup in case her auditions didn’t pan out and no acting work flooded in. ”
“Did they?”
“Turns out she knew better than we did. Oh, she did get a few jobs in the industry to begin with, but around that time she met this asshole in a bar, Earl Lane, fell in love, got pregnant, and gave up her career hopes.”
“Where’s he in the grand scheme of things?”
“Gone. Left her high and dry. Wham, bam, no thank you ma’am – I don’t want you anymore. Oh… and don’t call again.”
“Bastard.”
“Yep! Lots of men are just like him.” Not looking his way, Mia remembered other friends who’d been with losers and had to deal with broken hearts.
“Hey! Not that I’ve got any platform to stand on for the male race, but we’re not all brushed with the same tar.”
“Tarred with the same brush.”
“Whatever. I’d never give up a baby of mine, even if I didn’t love the woman.
There’re ways to stay involved, to support and be in a child’s life without needing to be in a committed relationship.
Let’s face it, one-night stands happen, maybe aren’t a real basis for marriage, but the resulting kid should never be the one to suffer for their parents’ irresponsible behavior. ”
“Whoa! You can get riled. You should be in front of an audience with your views. You’ve made a believer out of me.”
Watching Jack become flustered, his face heating up, and his heart in his eyes, she could see him on a stage, in front of spectators, reeling them in. He’d convinced her. Actually, he’d attracted the hell out of her, and before she knew what she was doing, she leaned over and kissed him.