40. Chapter 40
Chapter 40
From there, the conversation returned to lighter topics, starting with Valerie praising Paige’s book, as they haphazardly began working on preparing side dishes.
“I really loved it,” Valerie said. “It was honest and heartbreaking, but uplifting, too. And so very well written. And I’m not just saying that because you’re my daughter-in-law. I mean, were my daughter-in-law,” she amended quickly.
Seeing that Valerie was slightly embarrassed at the faux pas, Paige waved it off, even though she’d liked hearing herself referred to as Valerie’s daughter-in-law in the present tense. “Thank you. It was adapted from all my therapy journals.”
“Have you considered writing anything else?”
“Oddly enough, David asked me the same thing.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I told him I hadn’t really given it much thought, and he said I should write something fictional, like a rom-com—”
“He actually said ‘rom-com’?”
“He did, which was pretty funny. But what was funnier, was when he changed his mind and suggested I write a historical romance, instead.”
“Oh, my God, yes, you should. I love those.”
Paige chuckled at Valerie’s wide-eyed exuberance, which was likely enhanced by her steady wine consumption. “He even came up with a couple of really good ideas,” Paige said, before sharing the plots of The Duke and the Cowgirl and The Highlander’s Countess in great detail.
Valerie was practically wheezing by the time Paige was done. “Both of those sound amazing, but I vote for the one about the highlander. It’s all about the highlander for me—I will literally read any book with a man wearing a kilt on the cover. I’m not even joking.”
That immediately led to a deep discussion about Outlander, and whether or not the books were better than the show, or vice versa. In the end, they agreed the show was better because:
Men wearing kilts.
Murtagh lives.
Being able to hear the Scottish accents.
The ‘Wedding’ episode in the first season.
Sam Heughan.
The last point brought on a fairly heated debate over who was hotter—young Jamie, or older Jamie. Surprisingly, Valerie preferred the young version, and Paige the older one. “It’s the long hair,” she said with a shrug, only to freeze slightly as she spotted Jacob standing in the doorway, watching the two women with interest.
Valerie was the one to step in. “Do you need something, honey?” she asked gently.
“A glass of milk. Please.”
“Of course.”
While Valerie was getting Jacob the glass of milk, he turned his attention to Paige. “Who’s Jamie?”
Paige exchanged a quick look with Valerie, who was trying not to laugh; apparently Jacob had heard some of their conversation. “He’s someone on a TV show that your grandma and I watch.”
“What show?”
“It’s called Outlander.”
“And you like Jamie because he has long hair?”
The question caught her off guard. “Well, uh … sort of.”
Jacob pursed his mouth a little. “My dad’s hair is long.”
“I know.”
“Do you like my dad because he has long hair?”
“Well, uh … no. I do like your dad’s long hair, but that’s not really why I like him.”
“Oh. Then why do you like him?”
Caught off guard even more, Paige glanced over at Valerie, who had lost the battle and was now laughing—albeit silently—then turned back to Jacob, who was patiently waiting for an answer. “Well, for a lot of reasons. He’s really nice, and …” she trailed off, searching for something else that was Rated G. “He’s also funny.”
Seemingly satisfied with those reasons, Jacob nodded. “He can move heavy stuff, too.”
“Really? What kind of heavy stuff?”
Jacob’s eyebrows drew together as he thought about that. “He moved a chair.”
“How big was the chair?”
“It was really big.”
She gave him a Wow, that’s impressive look. “Well, that’s good to know, in case I need help moving heavy stuff someday.”
Valerie walked around the island and gave Jacob his glass of milk. “Here you go, honey.”
“Thank you.”
She patted his head. “You’re welcome.”
They watched him leave, holding the glass carefully, even though it was only half-full, and a few moments later they heard David asking, “What are they doing?”
“Talking,” Jacob answered.
The two women locked gazes.
“Did David send Jacob in to spy on us?” Paige whispered.
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” was Valerie’s whispered response.
Then, a heartbeat later, they both dashed over to the doorway as one, each taking a side and cocking an ear toward the living room, just in time to hear David ask, “Just talking? Not cooking?”
Jacob’s answer must have been non-verbal, because David then asked, “Well, what were they talking about?”
“Someone named Jamie.” There was a pause, and then Jacob clarified, “On the TV.”
“Oh, God.” David groaned like he was in pain. “We’re never going to eat.”
Stifling their laughter, Paige and Valerie continued to listen with amusement as Jacob went on to relay the conversation he’d had with Paige, starting with Jamie’s long hair and concluding with David’s ability to move heavy stuff.
“Well, I’m glad to hear that she likes me,” David said when Jacob was finished.
“Why?”
“Because it’s nice to be liked.”
“Do you like her?”
David chose that moment to lower his voice, so his answer went unheard in the kitchen (much to the women’s aggravation), but a few moments later, it returned to normal as he asked, “Can you do me one more favor?”
“Okay.”
“Can you go back and take a peek, and see if it looks like they’re getting dinner ready? Because I’m really hungry.”
“Me, too.”
Paige and Valerie quickly abandoned their posts in the doorway and hurried back to their spots on the far side of the island and picked up where they’d left off. Valerie went back to the green bean casserole, and Paige returned to the candied yams. “What do you think? One more hour before dinner’s ready?” Paige asked Valerie, when Jacob’s little head was spotted peering around the door frame.
“That sounds about right. One more hour.”
When Jacob’s head disappeared, the women shared a smile and then a chuckle, when they heard Jacob report back to David with a rather boisterous, “Dinner will be ready in an hour!”
From that point on, Paige and Valerie worked like a well-oiled machine, getting the mashed potatoes finished, the stuffing made, pulling the turkey out to ‘rest’, putting the yams and green bean casserole in the oven, and setting the table. Because it felt like such a special occasion, Paige took a little extra time arranging everything nicely, and when she was done she was pleased with the outcome.
David was then called in to carve the turkey, which he did while sneaking bites.
When the moment came to sit down, Paige felt a sweeping sense of rightness move through her, as she took in what future holidays could look like: David by her side, a stepchild to cherish, and a treasured mother-in-law.
The possibility of having a child of her own was something she was too afraid to think about, just yet.
After they were all seated with loaded plates, Valerie suggested they each take turns to say what they were thankful for, which was met with enthusiasm by Jacob.
“Why don’t you go first, Little Man?” David suggested.
Jacob seemed to vibrate with energy as he appeared to be giving a lot of thought to what he was thankful for, and the three adults watched with curiosity while waiting for him to speak.
Finally, he announced, “Corn.”
“Corn?” David tilted his head. “You’re thankful for … corn? As in … corn?”
Jacob nodded.
Taken aback at what seemed like a really odd thing to be grateful for, Paige also couldn’t help but be amused, especially since corn wasn’t even one of the dishes being served, given how much David hated it.
“I’ll go next,” Valerie said. “I’m thankful for everyone at this table.”
David cleared his throat. “I’m thankful for …” his gaze landed on Paige before he finished with, “…second chances.”
Jacob frowned. “What’s a second chance?”
“It’s kind of like a ‘do-over’,” David explained.
“Like in kickball?”
“Yeah. Just like that.”
Appearing to find that acceptable, Jacob said, “Okay.”
All eyes turned to Paige, who tried to think of something sincere, yet funny, and in the end simply settled on, “I’m thankful for the best Thanksdinner, ever.”
When dinner was over, Jacob disappeared into the living room, leaving the adults to clean up the kitchen. They’d hardly made a dent in the amount of prepared food, and Valerie was quick to suggest Paige help herself to whatever leftovers she wanted.
“Thank you, I will,” she said. “And if it’s okay, I’d like to take some for my neighbor, Dolly, as well.”
“Of course.”
David made a pained noise.
Valerie looked at him. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
Paige caught Valerie’s eye. “He doesn’t like her.”
“Oh? Why not?”
“It’s not that I don’t like her,” David hedged. “It’s that she doesn’t like me.”
“What do you call her?” Paige asked David with an innocent tilt of her head. “The ‘barracuda’?”
Valerie turned to look at David, appalled.
“Obviously not to her face,” he quickly defended himself before giving Paige a Thanks for throwing me under the bus, then running me over look.
“It’s okay. She kind of is,” Paige told Valerie in a low voice, not missing David raising his hands in aggravation at Paige tossing a little water on the fire she’d started. “She’s seventy, though, and—”
“You’re being mean to a seventy-year-old woman?” Valerie glared at David, now even more appalled.
“No, I’m not. I’m actually the opposite of mean to her,” David said. “She’s the one who’s mean.”
“She’s not mean,” Paige disagreed, only to add, “but she can be a little … blunt, though.”
“A little blunt? I’d barely just met the woman and she was telling me I needed to get a haircut.”
“You do,” Valerie agreed.
Paige smiled, thinking back to that night. “She also corrected his grammar and threatened to call the police on him.”
“See?” David asked. “She’s not a nice person.”
“But she did say you wore your pants well—”
“And then turned around and accused me of being a bad kisser.” David shook his head. “Not. A nice. Person.”
Valerie looked from David to Paige, then back to David. “Why was she accusing you of being a bad kisser?”
“Um …” David blinked at her, momentarily at a loss for an answer, and supremely annoyed that he’d blurted out that tidbit.
Paige started to chuckle, then quickly smothered it. “It’s not what you think.”
“I hope not,” Valerie said, more amused than concerned, but still obviously wanting an explanation.
While David semi-glowered, arms folded across his chest, Paige began telling Valerie about the divorce anniversary ‘date’ David and Paige had gone on, sticking pretty much to the facts when it came to the dinner and bowling portion of the night. However, when it came to the hot make-out session outside her door, she downgraded it to a simple goodnight kiss. She then skimmed over barricading herself in her apartment and David’s attempts to get her to come out and talk, which resulted in the ridiculous phone conversation, followed by Mrs. Harte’s arrival on the scene. Paige then went back to full disclosure as she described the contentious meeting between Mrs. Harte and David, Paige and Mrs Harte’s phone conversation followed by Mrs. Harte’s departure, and finally ending with David leaving, after his promise to collect on the ‘victory’ dinner from his bowling triumph.
When Paige was done, Valerie wiped at her eyes, then looked at Paige and David with a calculating expression. Positive that Valerie was going to question the veracity of the simple goodnight kiss, Paige was surprised when Valerie mused, “So, it seems like things between you two actually started back in … August? That’s really interesting.”
Paige pursed her mouth, realizing Valerie obviously hadn’t known that. “Oh, um …”
David pointed a finger at Paige. “That leak’s on you.”
Recovering quickly, she gave him an eye roll. “How was I supposed to know you hadn’t already told her that? I mean, you told her everything else.”
When the kitchen was clean, and they’d all had a piece of pie for dessert, Paige decided it was a good time to leave. She was actually getting a little tired—it had been an extremely emotional day and she wanted to get home and process it. Plus, she knew Jules would be calling for a full recap.
After exchanging contact information with Valerie, Paige gave her a hug. “Let’s get together again, soon.”
“I’d love that,” Valerie said.
Turning to face Jacob, Paige felt her heart swell at his earnest little face; she was a total goner. “It was nice to meet you, Jacob,” she told him with a smile.
“It was nice to meet you, Paige.” Paiche.
“I’m going to walk Paige to her car and say goodbye,” David said to Jacob, picking up the bags with her leftovers in them. “When I’m done, I’ll get your bath ready, all right?”
Jacob nodded and took a few steps toward the living room, only to stop and dash back to the fridge. After perusing the pictures displayed on it, he removed one and brought it over to Paige.
“Here,” he said, a little shyly.
Taking the picture, she looked at the drawing of Scooby-Doo and Shaggy. “This is … for me?”
He nodded.
She cleared her throat. “It’s a really good picture. Are you sure you want to give it away?”
“It’s for your fridge.”
Touched, she stared down at his face, and willed herself not to cry at the unexpectedly sweet gesture. “Well, then, thank you very much. I’ll put it on my fridge the second I get home.”
Seemingly pleased with her response, Jacob waved goodbye with his fingers before turning and heading toward the living room once again, leaving Paige blinking hard and trying to keep her shit together in front of Valerie and David.
Taking Paige’s hand in his, David brought it up to place a kiss on the back of it. “I told you he was going to like you.”
Valerie patted David on the arm. “Take your time ‘saying goodbye’. I’ll give Jacob his bath.”
“Really? Thanks, Mom.”
Then, as if not wanting to waste any of that time, David opened the door and pulled Paige outside, and before she knew it, he had her pressed against her car, her leftovers sitting on the hood. But instead of kissing her, he leaned in and whispered in her ear, “So. You like me, huh?”
She took a moment to breathe in his cologne. “Maybe a little bit.”
“Only a little bit? I can move heavy stuff, you know.”
Paige laughed at that, then put her hands up to his bearded cheeks and stroked the trimmed hair, paying special attention to the lighter ash-brown patches around his mouth and on his chin, making him hum a little in his throat. “I can’t believe you sent a child in to do reconnaissance for you.”
“It worked, didn’t it?” he countered, with zero remorse.
Before she could do anything other than shake her head at him, David did what he’d wanted to do from the moment she’d arrived at the loft—he kissed her until she was breathless.