Chapter 59 Breakfast
fifty-nine
Breakfast
Iwake up to Tyler shaking my shoulder. “Get up!”
“No way, kid,” I pull the covers around me. I rarely call Tyler ‘kid’ anymore, only when he irritates me.
“Oh c’mon old man,” Tyler is pulling the blankets off. I pull back. When did that kid get so strong?
“Sorry, I’m sleeping in today. I’m going for the half-day only. I was up late last night.”
“Yeah, no kidding, what time did you finally get to bed?
“It was something like two o’clock.”
“What were you and Jess doing so late, anyway?”
How did he know I was with Jess?
Tyler is sitting on the edge of his bed. “Never mind, I don’t want to know. She is my sister.”
“Talking, we were just talking.”
“Sure, whatever.” He doesn’t sound convinced. “Come on, you’re awake now, you might as well get going.”
“Nope, call me in a couple of hours.”
“Hey Tyler,” Mr. Roberts calls from the hall. “Everyone else wants to sleep in. Why don’t you and I go get a few runs in, just the two of us?”
I can’t see his face, but I can imagine Tyler rolling his eyes when he calls back, “Sure, Dad.” To me, his whispers, “Thanks a lot.”
“No problem,” I reach down and grab the covers and wrap them around me. Mr. Roberts confirmed what I already suspected. Jess is still asleep in the next room.
After Tyler leaves, I run my fingers over the wall that separates us; six inches of two by fours, plaster and drywall.
Six inches I would gladly remove with my bare hands if I thought the reception on the other side would be a good one.
Last night was a good night. Even if all we did was talk.
Friends again, at least. I’m almost ready to hope we can be something more.
If I could just figure out how not to spook her.
I close my eyes and think of Jess; how good it felt to hold her last night. The smell of her hair. The softness of her body. The sound of her voice.
A knock on the door brings me out of a deep sleep. My dreams and reality merge as her voice comes from the other side of the door.
“Jacob, are you decent? Can I come in?”
“Just a minute,” I call back.
I look around the room. It looks and smells like two guys have been sleeping here.
I have a sudden urge to clean things up.
Make it look okay for her. I pull on a shirt and stumble around, moving Tyler's smelly socks and my coat out of the way. I stub my toe on the edge of Tyler’s bed and catch myself mid-curse.
She’s laughing. “What are you doing in there? C’mon. Let me in. I brought breakfast. It’s going to get cold.”
I can smell bacon, eggs, and something sweet. I imagine her outside the door, in her pajamas, waiting. Breakfast in bed, won in a card game ages ago. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to collect on that bet.
I open the door. She’s already dressed. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail and she’s holding a tray. “It’s about time.” She walks past me. “This is heavy.”
She looks around for a place to set the tray. It's a small room and cluttered with Tyler's stuff. There isn’t anywhere to put it. “Back in bed,” she orders.
I obediently climb into the bed. She tries to set the tray over my legs, but the sides aren’t long enough. She takes the tray away, kicks aside a pair of Tyler’s pants and sets it on the floor. She puts a napkin on my lap and then puts the plate on top of it.
“Can you reach this?” She points to the the tray on the floor.
“I’ll manage.” That was the wrong thing to say. She heads for the door.
“You want to share?” I pat the side of the bed. “There’s plenty here.” Three stuffed crepes, bacon, scrambled eggs, milk and juice. I could down it by myself, but I don’t want her to leave.
She hesitates. “I already ate.”
“C’mon Jess. You’re in for an athletic day. You need a hearty breakfast.”
“Okay.” She sits beside me on the bed.
I cut a piece of the crepe and offer it to her. She shakes her head. Halfway to my mouth, a strawberry slice falls out and slides down my chest and into my lap.
She laughs. “You need help with that.” She tucks another napkin into my T-shirt and then takes my fork away. She cuts a piece of the crepe and feeds it to me. “Is that better?”
“I’m pretty sure I can feed myself,” I say, but I don't take the fork back. There’s something incredibly sexy about her sitting on the edge of my bed, feeding me breakfast.
“Shhh, just eat.” She shovels another bite into my mouth.
“You have a bite too.” I reach for the fork to feed her. She holds it out of my reach and then cuts another piece. She leans over the plate and slides it into her mouth. A bit of whipped cream gets on the edge of her lips. She licks it off.
She feeds me another bite. “I’m getting good at this.”
“At feeding me?”
“Feeding people in general. There’s a little boy at the hospital.
He's six. He broke both arms in a car accident. He always wants me to feed him.” She forks a piece of egg and puts it in her own mouth.
“He has deep brown eyes like yours and freckles like…” She stops.
I know who she’s thinking about. If I remember right, Michael Stephens has a face full of them.
“I was worried about leaving him,” she continues. “He doesn’t eat very well unless I’m around to feed him.”
“Where are his parents?” I ask.
Her face goes dark. “His dad comes as much as he can. His mom didn’t survive the accident.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
She puts the fork down. “I’ve been thinking about what you said last night.
It reminded me of that little boy. He asked me if I knew where his mommy was now, but I couldn’t answer him.
He told me later he’d figured it out. He said that his mom was still around, but he couldn’t see her, because she was an angel.
He said she had to be there because moms don’t leave their kids alone when they’re only six. ”
“I think he’s right,” I say. “And I think if we ever really need them, Gage and Matt will be around too.”
She nods and twists the corner of my blanket. “I’ve learned a lot from those kids. They do more for me than I do for them. Helping them keeps me from getting so caught up in my own problems.”
I nod at her. “It was like that in…” Do I dare say it? “In Iraq. Not all the time. But we got the chance to do some humanitarian stuff. That helped a lot. Made me feel like we were doing some good. I mean, I know we were, but it helped to be one on one. Helping people up close.”
“I’m glad you got the chance to do that.” She smiles, but she doesn’t pick up the fork.
I continue eating, feeding myself and watching her. She looks far away. I wish I knew what she was thinking.
She shakes her head as if to clear it. She leans down and retrieves a glass of apple juice and offers it to me.
I take a drink and hand it back. I’m trying to think of something to say to her.
I want to put my arm around her, pull her close and offer her some comfort. I’d probably scare her away again.
Mrs. Roberts appears in the doorway. “I’m glad you two are up—well, sort of.
I just heard from the guys on the radio.
Tyler ran into some of his friends, so he’s having lunch and then boarding with them.
I’m going to ski with Dad as soon as he gets back.
I guess the two of you are stuck with each other for the day. ”
Jess sticks her finger in the whipped cream and dabs it on my nose. “I think we can handle that.”