Chapter 15 #2
“It’s true. Michael mentioned Adam was a teacher and principal in New York and was coming back home to work in Monroe Hills. I assumed it was in one of those two roles. I’m still getting used to small-town life, so it never occurred to me to get in Adam’s business beyond that.”
Janae huffed as some of the tension bled from her tight muscles. Vanessa was a transplant in town and hadn’t yet caught on to the flow of things in Monroe Hills.
“Fine, you’re forgiven, Vanessa.” Janae turned her attention to Cree, meeting a playful twinkle in her brown eyes. “What’s your excuse?”
The broad grin on Cree’s face foreshadowed the tomfoolery Janae was sure was about to come from Cree’s mouth. “Oh, I have none. Derrick mentioned it to me when I told him you were going up to the district to set shit on fire.”
“And you didn’t think to call me and let me know it was Adam?”
Cree shook her head. “Nope. You are never off your game, Janae. You always have everything planned out. That can be a good quality.” Her friend shrugged, softening her features as she leaned into Janae’s space at the table, placing a gentle hand on top of Janae’s.
“But if you plan everything, you’ll lose the joy of surprise.
I saw how running into Adam unexpectedly had you tongue-tied in Vanessa’s office.
I thought it might be a welcome change for you to experience that again. ”
Janae wanted to be mad at Cree. She was one of two people she trusted with everything. She should feel betrayed. Instead, the conviction in Cree’s words scraped down her insides like metal against wire.
“I know I’m not always as spontaneous as you, Cree. But I don’t really have the luxury of living life on the edge. I have a teenager I have to set an example for and provide for. That takes a bit of forward thinking.”
“I know it does.” The concern in Cree’s voice touched something deep in Janae, making her focus on her friend’s words instead of planning what to say in response.
“And you’ve done a wonderful job of raising that boy and setting an example for him.
But you’ve gotta live too, Janae. And I think Adam just might be a doorway into a little much-needed fun for you. ”
Vanessa leaned in too, adding her hand on top of Cree’s, the combined pressure making Janae feel protected in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Cree’s right. You’re a phenomenal mother. But even moms gotta have some fun too.”
Vanessa winked at Janae and she instantly knew things were about to take a turn for the silly when Vanessa reached for the pitcher in the center of their table and topped off all of their glasses.
“Besides, it was obvious you had a thing for the man.” Vanessa took a sip from her glass before she continued. “I want to see you explore that. Getting mine did wonders for me. I want the same for my girls.”
“Unlike you and Michael, there’s nothing to explore between Adam and me.”
She was lying. And, judging by the identical lifted brows and twisted mouths of her friends, they knew she was lying too.
“That wasn’t the way it looked at the reunion,” Vanessa continued. “It looked like you two had a whole lot to catch up on.”
Either Vanessa was extremely perceptive, or Janae needed to work on her game face. Whichever was the case, the fact that Vanessa could read her so easily when it came to Adam was disconcerting, to say the least.
“Before that day in your office, Adam and I hadn’t really said more than hi and bye since high school. We were of two different worlds back then. He stayed in his corner and I stayed in mine.”
“That suffer-in-silence pining thing y’all had going on wasn’t cute then or now. Y’all are grown. If you’re interested, follow through.” Cree was making all kinds of sense, and Janae didn’t like it. She didn’t like it one bit.
“I was not pining for Adam in high school.” Janae crossed her arms and tried to present a confident facade.
“We weren’t part of the same crowd. Adam was a jock.
He was popular, into the stereotypical dim-witted skinny cheerleader.
He and his crew were too pretentious for my taste.
I’m sure me being able to string a thought together, and the fact that I was always fluffy and fabulous, meant I didn’t register for him.
Aside from that one time the two of us had to tutor Michael in math senior year, Adam and I may as well have been on different planets. ”
The sharp vee settling between Vanessa’s brows marred her smooth features. She was about to say something, when Cree interrupted.
“That’s not the way I remember it. Yeah, skinny cheerleaders chased him, and as a hormone-driven teenager, Adam let them catch him. But the only person he ever truly focused on was you, Janae. You just couldn’t see it. That boy would literally watch you from across the cafeteria.”
Janae couldn’t let herself believe Cree.
High school was a lifetime ago and in the grand scheme of things, none of that mattered right now.
She’d been so mesmerized by Adam’s return that Janae was caught slipping.
That’s the only reason she could think of for not figuring out this superintendent thing earlier.
If she hadn’t been so busy spending time with Adam, she would’ve had her nose to the ground trying to fight for her son’s future.
“Cree, let’s get back to the issue at hand. How do I make this work with Adam? He has the literal power to close this program my kid loves so much.”
“What do you mean?” Cree didn’t wait for Janae to reply to her question. She snapped her fingers, then sat back in her chair with a satisfied grin plastered onto her mouth. “You slept with him, didn’t you?”
Janae bit the inside of her cheek, trying to keep her features impassive. No, she hadn’t slept with Adam. But she wasn’t sure her desire to do so wouldn’t be interpreted as a yes by Cree. She gathered enough dignity not to giggle like a schoolgirl when she said, “No, I haven’t.”
She waited for Cree in particular to contradict her, but instead, concern and compassion shone in both their eyes.
“Janae,” Vanessa spoke softly. “What little I know of Adam, he doesn’t strike me as the type to use his power to coerce a woman into doing what she doesn’t want to do. And trust me, I’d know it if he was that kind of man.”
Janae’s heart tightened as she listened to the pain in Vanessa’s voice. She’d spent twenty years with an emotionally abusive man. More than any of them, Vanessa knew what manipulation looked like.
“Janae, when I wasn’t sure about Michael, you and Cree pushed me to explore things with him. Let me return the favor. Adam doesn’t seem like he has any intention to harm you or the kids in this district.”
Janae sighed deeply, considering her friend’s words. Deep down she knew Adam wasn’t trying to be shady. That didn’t mean she didn’t have reservations about this entire situation.
“He might not intentionally want to harm me or the kids, but isn’t this still a conflict of interest to work with him knowing we both are interested in exploring this attraction between us?”
Cree pointed her finger at Janae, emphasizing each word that followed. “At least you’re finally admitting there is an attraction between you two.”
Janae could see how Cree could view her admission as progress. Unfortunately, it didn’t feel all that progressive when Janae thought about the entire situation she found herself in.
“Girl,” Cree continued, “we live in a town where half the population is related to each other, and the other half is married off. Adam doesn’t work directly with James as his teacher or counselor, so there’s no conflict in you dating him.
Stop creating problems where there are none.
Work with him to figure out a solution to the problem.
And when that’s done, let him blow your back out. ”
Janae pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to figure out why her friend was like this.
“Although I probably wouldn’t have phrased it like that, Cree is right.
Getting to know Adam and working to straighten this issue out doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive.
I think the two of you are grown enough to do both.
And if you really feel you aren’t, let me settle the issue so you two can focus on each other. ”
Janae’s body tensed as a simmer of anger began to move through her.
“I know you’re not insinuating me taking money from you so I can get laid, right, Vanessa?”
Vanessa, unbothered with a wide smile on her face, leaned back on her hands as she crossed one leg over the other to emphasize just how much she didn’t care that Janae was ticked off.
“I am ridiculously wealthy. I could write a check that would keep this program running for years, and it wouldn’t even register on my bottom line.
Besides, I’ve got to do something useful with my ex-husband’s blood money.
I get a special kind of joy knowing how miserable it would make him if he knew I was actually using my divorce settlement to do something good for other people. ”
Janae couldn’t help the smile blooming on her face.
Falling in love with Michael and moving to Monroe Hills had developed Vanessa’s petty streak.
As much as she wanted to be offended by Vanessa’s offer, she couldn’t help celebrating her girl’s willingness to get her lick back where her miserable ex was concerned.
“Vanessa, I can’t take your money. I don’t want my son to think Auntie Vanessa is gonna just write a check to fix his problems.”
Vanessa opened her mouth to speak again, but Janae stopped her with an upheld finger.
“My son needs to know you have to work hard for what you want. Taking your money would teach him the opposite. I’ve actually come up with a few ideas for fundraising events that would get the kids and the community involved. If we’re gonna save the program, it has to be because we worked for it.”
Vanessa and Cree looked at her with soft but sad eyes. She hoped it was just their disappointment in not being able to help and not that they just felt sad for her.
“Then that takes us back to where we started,” Cree began. “Go see that man and figure out your plans for the program. The minute that’s done, let your freak flag fly.”
Janae’s libido agreed wholeheartedly with Cree. It would be really nice to let her freak flag fly with a man who was fast finding his way into her life no matter how she tried to act like she didn’t want it.
And for the record, she really did want it.
“He invited me to his parents’ cabin this weekend to basically pitch my proposal for saving the program.”
Cree snickered again. “I’m sure that’s not the only kind of pitching he hopes will happen.”
Janae closed her eyes and shook her head.
There was more truth to Cree’s assumption than Janae knew what to do with because it wasn’t just Adam who was not-so-secretly hoping for a chance for more than business as usual.
But that kind of hope could end with this entire situation blowing up in Janae’s face.
Although the desire was there, somewhere deep down Janae still had reservations about whether this could work or not.
Yeah, she couldn’t deny she was interested in Adam.
Hell, as thrown as she was by discovering his role in the district, she couldn’t shake the residual tingles across her skin that appeared whenever she thought of him.
Her own desires aside, Janae’s son’s well-being had to be paramount to anything else.
Janae was a mother first and foremost, and nothing came before James.
She’d proven that to be true when she’d walked away from her marriage when her husband’s toxic masculinity harmed James and Janae.
She refused to have him growing up afraid to express himself in any way.
If she’d done that, what kind of a hypocrite did it make her if she chose her own needs over what her kid needed now?
“I can hear you overthinking this from over here.” Cree’s words penetrated Janae’s thoughts. That was the problem with being friends with someone for as long as Cree and Janae had. They could read you even when you were trying to conceal the truth from others as well as yourself.
“For the last time, go to the cabin and just get the work done so Adam can focus on doing you.”
“I know that’s right,” Vanessa chimed in.
Janae wasn’t sure if she was the luckiest person in the world to have these two as her friends, or the most unfortunate.
The truth remained unseen. For now, though, she’d take their advice and try to see if she and Adam could somehow get through this unscathed.