Chapter 26
Something was up. Jessica just didn’t know what.
She closed the kitchen cabinet and placed three plastic plates on the scarred wooden table she hoped to one day sand back and refinish. She shooed Blue off the counter, laughing as the kitten swished her tail in displeasure.
“Hello?” Teddy called through the screen door.
“I’ll get—” Sam clamped his mouth shut when he saw Jessica’s face.
Honestly, one day this kid was going to open the door to someone he shouldn’t, like her mother, whose requests for money had stopped momentarily, but Jessica knew better than to think she’d finally gotten the message.
“One second,” she called down the hall. Then, shifting her attention back to her son, Jessica nodded at the crayons strewn across the table. He’d been drawing ever since they’d got home. “Tidy those up so we have somewhere to eat, please.”
Originally, she’d suggested a picnic dinner in the park across the road from the Wattle Junction Hotel—i.e.
, a location with maximum visibility for the town’s gossip mill—but Teddy had asked if they could eat at her place instead.
His exact words had been ‘have a quiet night in’ and she’d been forced to nod, unable to express how much she’d prefer that as well.
“Hi,” she said once Teddy was inside. He held two pizza boxes and a sixpack of beer.
“Hey,” he replied, his gaze lingering on her face.
Something was up. He was still in his workout gear from sports class, but he’d added a hoodie from Nate’s old NFL team. It was made from that athletic material that was no good at keeping secrets. It highlighted the strong lines of his biceps, how broad his shoulders were.
“Long time no see,” was all she could think to say.
“Thanks for letting me come over,” Teddy said, and there was a hint of something she hadn’t detected in his voice before. It sounded a lot like shyness. Since when was Teddy James ever anything but confident?
“Thanks for bringing dinner.”
She had to get them out of the entry way. Small problem: Jessica was enjoying their closeness too much. Her senses were full of Teddy. Warmth rolled off his body, and he smelt fantastic, somehow like chocolate with a hint of something spicy, maybe cloves.
“You’re welcome.”
Okay. This was getting out of hand. Teddy had been here plenty of times before. They’d been out together a few times. They were friends now.
So why was this so weird? So charged with an electric energy that stole her breath and made all her reactions slower.
It felt a bit like Teddy was about to kiss her hello. Like this thing between them wasn’t just the world’s most elaborate game of charades?
And, hell, she wanted him to kiss her. Push her up against the wall and make her forget her own name.
“Mummy?” Sam called.
“Coming!” Jessica cleared her throat, snapping out of the trance she’d found herself in. She blamed Teddy’s brown eyes. Damn, they were pretty up close. “We should eat before the pizza gets cold.”
“Lead the way,” he said.
Jessica didn’t normally drink during the week—or much at all. Hangovers and small children didn’t mix, not to mention that alcohol was usually the last thing she felt like after serving it to people all day or night—but tonight she was having a beer.
“You want to look at our trees?” Jessica folded the piece of paper towel she’d been using as a serviette and placed it on her plate.
“Yep.” Teddy leant back in his chair, his limbs loose just like his sun-streaked hair.
“Joan had all the big gum trees near the house checked and pruned after the incident last year. There’s nothing that could damage the house again.”
The biggest trees were down at the back of the yard anyway. Jessica was going to string party lights between them at Christmas time. She was determined to make Sam’s childhood as magical as possible. It wasn’t like it was hard. All she had to do was remember hers and do the opposite.
And soon, money wouldn’t be an obstacle anymore.
Jessica paused. Shook her head. She needed to stop thinking like this. Just because she had money coming from her father didn’t mean the things she had been providing Sam with weren’t good enough.
She would never forget that the most important thing Sam needed was love, which she’d always been able to provide.
“I know. Nate was here when the arborists did the inspections.”
Then why does he want to look at the trees?
Teddy’s gaze drifted over to the couch Sam had migrated to, his colouring book back out and behaviour perfect, knowing that if he was quiet, he could probably avoid his bath and bedtime.
Jessica decided to be honest. “I’m confused.”
Teddy lowered his voice, and Jessica leant forward, coaxed closer by the low rumble of words. “Do you remember my treehouse?”
Please. She’d had dreams about that treehouse.
Been trying to figure out a way to get another invite back to it, actually.
“Yes.”
“I reckon you could put something similar in here. In the big gum in the far corner. Then you’d still have space for a pool later if you wanted to add something like that.”
With her fear of water? No, thank you. Jessica pushed away the anxiety that always accompanied the memories of why she was scared of water and focused on what Teddy was saying.
“But I want to build you both a treehouse as a”—a streak of pink crested over Teddy’s cheeks, sliding under his beard—“housewarming gift.”
She shifted on her seat, unsure what to do or say.
This was the nicest thing anyone had ever offered to do for her and Sam. And Teddy had already agreed to marry her.
“You don’t have to do that.”
There. That was a good response. And she’d give herself bonus points for managing to say it without sounding defensive.
“But I want to.”
“I appreciate the thought …” Jessica would be replaying the thought over and over later without a doubt.
“I reckon Sam would love it.”
He absolutely would.
“My only stipulation is that it has to have a slide. Ours never did—probably because Mum was worried about us doing dumb tricks on it and, well, fair—but I always wished it had.”
“Teddy—”
“Please don’t say no. Owen’s got all this wood left over from the renovations at his place. And Nate loves these kinds of projects. He’s been making furniture for years. Did you know that?”
She’d seen some of Nate’s handiwork at Kathleen’s Place. The community home had benefited from his crush on Eloise long before the two of them had got together.
“It sounds—”
Teddy cut her off again, crossing his arms across his broad chest, his posture sharpening, shoulders flattening into a determined line. “I want to give you somewhere to watch the stars.”
Oh, her poor heart. It had never stood a chance when she’d asked Teddy James for this favour. “I thought it was for Sam,” she said cautiously.
Teddy tilted his head to the side as though he were considering his words. When he spoke, his tone was gentler than she was used to hearing from him.
“This isn’t just going to be Sam’s house, Starshine. It’ll be yours too.”
She dipped her chin towards her chest and said to her placemat, “We don’t know that. The other buyers might—”
“We’re going to be married in two weeks, Starshine. Your money is coming. If Joan really wanted to sell to the other people, she would have agreed to their conditions. Instead, she’s been waiting so you can have the house. And a housewarming gift should be for both of you.”
“It’s too much.”
“Hardly.” Teddy scoffed. “When’s the last time you had a present? That you didn’t buy for yourself?”
He had her there.
“I … what will people say?”
“About?”
“This is all very boyfriend-y.”
Teddy’s soft laugh was like a caress. “But I am your boyfriend. At least as far as everyone else is aware. And you’d be doing me a huge favour.”
“How so?”
Teddy’s expression sobered. “Raff’s going through some work stuff, and we’ve been looking for a way to distract him. Drag him away from his desk and out into the fresh air.”
“So it’s not for us?” she teased, needing to find a way to get them back to the easy, breezy place they were supposed to be in.
“No.” Teddy shook his head, his tone serious. He waited until their gazes were tangled together to continue. “This is about wanting you to have nice things. Helping Raff is a bonus.”
“Oh,” Jessica said because what else was she supposed to say? Everything she was thinking would complicate this already messy situation.
Like I like it when you think about me.
Or I might want something different to what we discussed.
And please want me.
All of that had bad idea written all over it.
If Wattle Junction was going to be her and Sam’s home and Jessica was desperate for it to be, she couldn’t take a chance like that.
She couldn’t—no, she wouldn’t—risk everything again.
It would be much better to keep thinking with her head and not her heart.
That didn’t mean Sam should miss out, though. He’d love a treehouse.
Jessica fiddled with her collar, refusing to think about the way Teddy’s eyes tracked the movement. How his full lips parted just a smidge.
Her imagination was being mean to her. That’s all it was.
“We’d better look before we lose all of the light,” she murmured, scooping Blue up off the ground where she was winding herself around Jessica’s legs. It would be good for Jessica to keep her hands occupied.
The kitten nestled her head at the base of Jessica’s neck, her soft purrs acting like a calming meditation.
“Sammy, get your gumboots on. We need to go out into the backyard for a minute.”
Sam yawned and stretched his arms over his head. He shook his arms and his legs, the tired wiggle he’d been doing since he was a baby. Jessica didn’t need to hear the question he was asking without words.
“Hang on,” she said, juggling Blue so she was in her other hand and making space to carry Sam on her preferred hip. Very soon, he’d be too big or too disinterested to be transported around in her arms, and Jessica wasn’t going to say no to any opportunity.
“Teddy?” Sam said, his arms still raised. “You carry?”
Jessica froze, torn between the joy that sparked at yet another obvious sign that Sam was comfortable with Teddy and the ever-present panic that he was too comfortable, too attached.
But Teddy just smiled and ruffled Sam’s hair before scooping him up with one arm and tucking him against his side. “You want to hold the torch?”
Sam made grabby hands for the torch Teddy pulled out of his back pocket.
He’s really been planning this.
And there went her thoughts again.
Because Teddy carried Sam so naturally.
Like sharing the parenting load was something he did every day.
Or could do every day.
If this were real, but it can’t be.
“Lead the way, Starshine. Let’s go find you some stars.”