52. Chapter 52
Chapter 52
As David and Jacob walked down the hall to Paige’s apartment on Friday, a little after 6 p.m., David realized that for the first time, he wasn’t in the least bit concerned about being seen by Mrs. Harte. His mind was otherwise occupied with what he’d witnessed during Jacob’s session with Lauren a few hours earlier.
There had been periods of talking, interspersed with periods of silent drawing. And while Lauren’s expression had remained mostly gentle and caring, Jacob’s had been anxious, unhappy, and sometimes ashamed.
For David, that was the worst—seeing his son talking about something which made him feel ashamed, something David still didn’t know about. To his disappointment, Lauren hadn’t been overly generous with the details when he’d asked how the session went once Jacob had gone to use the bathroom.
“It went well,” she’d replied vaguely.
“It didn’t look that way,” he’d countered.
“Maybe not to you, but I assure you, the session went well. We made a lot of progress today.”
He hadn’t been able to hide his frustration. “Okay.”
She’d cleared her throat, then asked, “David, do you trust me?”
“Yes,” he’d answered after a slight pause, the question having caught him off guard.
“Then trust me.”
“I do, but it’s so hard to watch him … struggle.”
“I know it is, but unfortunately, that’s part of his process right now. The only way to get through something is to go through it, and that’s what he’s doing, with my help.”
“So, there is something there?”
“Yes, but you knew that already, otherwise you wouldn’t have called me.”
David had nodded.
“I promise to go over everything with you and answer all your questions after a few more sessions,” she’d said. “But until then, have faith that I know what I’m doing, and everything I’m doing is to help Jacob.”
He’d released a sigh. “All right. I will.”
“And have faith that Jacob can do this because he can. He is. And be proud of how brave and strong he’s being, while he’s doing all this hard work.”
At that point, Jacob had returned, ending the conversation. Lauren exchanged a noisy fist bump with him, before wishing both of them a good weekend and telling them goodbye.
Now, as he knocked on Paige’s door, David glanced down at Jacob, who looked slightly bored, but otherwise … fine. He didn’t seem to be dwelling on his therapy session like David was, and he told himself that was a good sign, and he should try and do the same. As much as he could, anyway, at least for the next few hours.
When Paige opened the door, she greeted them both with a big, welcoming smile. “Come on in. I’m so glad you two could make it.”
“So are we,” David told her, as he and Jacob stepped inside the small entryway, which smelled faintly of … bacon. This woman was truly his soulmate.
Turning to the little boy, she said, “Hi, Jacob. It’s good to see you again.”
“Hi.” Jacob’s reply was polite, and accompanied by a shy smile, only to have his attention completely diverted when he spotted Sputnik coming out of the kitchen, having just finished his dinner. With wide, almost enraptured eyes, Jacob watched the gray cat stroll across the narrow hall, tail in the air, and come to a stop a few feet away.
“That’s Sputnik,” Paige told Jacob. “You can pet him if you want. He’s really friendly,” she added, and when Jacob seemed hesitant, she knelt down and began petting the cat, making him arch his back and start purring. “See?”
Crouching beside Paige, Jacob watched for several moments, before reaching out and petting Sputnik. Starting at the top of his head, Jacob worked down to the cat’s tail with soft strokes, over and over, until he sounded like a chainsaw.
“He likes you,” Paige said.
It was a scene filled with Norman Rockwell perfection, until Sputnik, in typical cat fashion, decided he needed to go somewhere else and abruptly fled the entryway, disappearing into the living room a few seconds later.
Looking slightly crushed at being abandoned like that, Jacob stared after the cat. Then, as if unable to help himself, Jacob jumped up and quickly followed Sputnik, leaving Paige and David to look after the little boy in surprise, until he, too, was gone from sight.
Paige got to her feet and shared a soft chuckle with David over the lighthearted moment. “I really miss having a cat,” he mused.
“Maybe it’s time to go get one, then.”
“Maybe.”
He moved into her space and kissed her; he hadn’t seen her in almost a week, and that was unacceptable. “Thanks for inviting us over.”
“You’re welcome.” She gave him a quick smile, then cleared her throat. “Speaking of inviting …”
“What?” he prompted.
Paige put her hands on his chest. “Try not to be mad, okay?”
“Mad about what?”
Before Paige could respond, a voice in the living room was heard asking, “And what’s your name, young man?”
David’s eyes widened in slow-motion horror, because he knew that voice, and couldn’t believe his fucking ears.
Jacob’s reply was a little softer, but still audible. “Jacob.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, Jacob. I’m Dolores, but you can call me Dolly, like all my friends do.”
David opened his mouth, then closed it, not having ever gotten that privilege. Hell, he hadn’t even been upgraded from Mrs. Harte to Dolores, yet. Jabbing a finger in the direction of the living room, he whisper-hissed, “The barracuda’s here?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She stopped by to bring me a book that I’ve been wanting to read, and I … invited her to stay and have dinner with us.”
“You invited her to have dinner with us?”
Even though it was more of a statement than a question, Paige answered anyway. “Yes.”
“Oh, God,” David groaned and clawed at his beard. “Please tell me you didn’t.”
“I couldn’t just ask her to leave—”
“Yes, you could’ve, but you’re way too nice.” It was something he loved about her ninety-nine percent of the time, but during the one percent … it became a problem. Then, as something occurred to him, he turned and started heading toward the living room. “Shit. Jacob’s alone with her, and she’s probably scaring the shit out of him.”
“She’s not scaring the shit out of him—”
“Of course she is. You don’t think she only scares the shit out of me, do you?”
Paige pressed her lips together to keep her amusement from escaping, but failed. “I do, actually.”
He stopped. “How are you finding this funny?”
“Because it is. She’s barely five feet tall, and she’s seventy. And you just admitted that she scares the shit out of you.”
He narrowed his eyes at her for a long moment before turning toward the living room again, where low laughter could now be heard. It did nothing to alleviate the crazy he was feeling. “Excuse me while I go rescue Jacob.”
“David, wait,” she said.
Her urgent plea had him stopping and looking back at her once more. While he watched, she went over to the entryway table and retrieved an object from the inside pocket of her purse. She then returned to his side, took his hand, and pressed the object against his palm, before closing his fingers around it. “Here. You’ll need this.”
He uncurled his fingers and blinked at the small black rock, before meeting her gaze.
“For protection,” she told him with a straight face, before patting his cheek.
David knew she’d given him what was obviously one of her crystals to bust his balls. However, that didn’t stop him from shoving it in the front pocket of his cargo pants, because he needed all the help he could get as he was pulled into the living room.
The first thing he saw was Mrs. Harte sitting on one end of the love seat, and Jacob standing at the other end, seemingly unharmed. He was petting Sputnik again, who had folded himself into what Paige always called the ‘loaf of bread’ position—head down, with arms and legs tucked under the body, making him resemble … a loaf of bread.
“Hello, David,” Mrs. Harte greeted him warmly. “It’s nice to see you again.”
He highly doubted that, even if she sounded almost sincere. With a sigh, he thought back to the last time he’d seen her (wearing the exact same rose-colored track suit, oddly enough), which had been the night of the handcuffs, when he’d been begging her for a favor.
Not his finest moment.
“It’s nice to see you, too, Mrs. Harte,” he replied, doing what he hoped was a good job of pretending.
“I was just getting to know Jacob a little bit. What a nice young man, with such good manners,” she said, before nodding toward his crewcut. “And a proper haircut, too.”
David slipped his hand into his pocket and clutched the crystal, praying for it to start working, even though he didn’t think there was a big enough crystal in the world to protect him from Paige’s neighbor.
“David actually cuts Jacob’s hair,” Paige told Mrs. Harte.
“Really?” Mrs. Harte’s eyebrows lifted, making the wrinkle lines in her forehead double.
“Yes, I do.” David knew Paige had just been trying to be helpful, but wished she hadn’t said anything, and he braced for a snarky comment about cutting his own hair once in a while, only to be shocked when it never materialized.
“Well, let me say that you do a very good job,” Mrs. Harte said, instead.
For a moment, David was confused. The barracuda had either just let the opportunity of a lifetime pass her by … or the crystal in his pocket was actually working. “Oh. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Paige squeezed his arm, just as a buzzer went off in the kitchen. “That’s the bacon,” she announced. “I’m going to go pull it from the oven, then finish getting everything ready—”
“Would you like some help, dear?” Mrs. Harte asked.
“No, I think I’m good. There’s not much left to do, actually, so why don’t the three of you just hang out in here and relax for a few minutes, and get to know one another a little better while I’m gone?”
With another squeeze to David’s arm, Paige then darted out of the living room, leaving David in a semi-awkward stand-off with Mrs. Harte, while Jacob remained focused on Sputnik.
David, who could think of nothing he’d rather do less than get to know Mrs. Harte better, also couldn’t think of a way to get out of it, without being incredibly rude. There was just no way to escape, and since he was hesitant to leave Jacob behind (who didn’t look like he would willingly be separated from his new feline friend, anyway), David was stuck. Accepting his fate, and hoping it really would be only ‘a few minutes’ he had to get through, David sighed and reluctantly made his way to the chair in the corner and sat down.
“I’m glad to see you worked through that … misunderstanding … you had with Paige,” Mrs. Harte said with a benign smile.
He blinked at her. “You are?”
“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”
David started to lean forward, only to quickly straighten up, not wanting to be called out for having bad posture. “I thought you disapproved of me,” he said quietly, even though Jacob was totally focused on the cat and paying zero attention to the conversation around him.
“Paige’s happiness is important to me,” she said, lowering her voice as well. “And since you obviously make her happy, whether or not I disapprove of you is irrelevant. Especially when the only thing I really disapprove of is the length of your hair.”
The last part seemed to be meant as nothing more than a gentle rebuke, so David accepted it as such.
“I’ve come to see you’re a good person—caring, sincere, and mostly honest. But even if I couldn’t see all of that, I would trust Paige’s judgment,” Mrs. Harte continued, before tilting her head down and looking at him over her glasses. “I don’t know what happened in the past, but I know she wouldn’t have let you back into her life again, if she didn’t think you were all those things, too.”
He rubbed his beard for a moment. “You know, Mrs. Harte, it almost sounds like we’re becoming … friends.”
“Perhaps,” she agreed neutrally. “And you may call me Dolores.”
It wasn’t ‘Dolly’ but it was something, and he took it. “Thank you, Dolores.”
“Now then, Paige probably could use a little help in the kitchen, don’t you think?” Mrs. Harte said gently, yet pointedly.
She was clearly nudging him to leave, but whether it was because she thought their bonding time should be over, or because she genuinely thought Paige needed help, he didn’t know. “She probably could,” he agreed, his eyes briefly flicking over to Jacob, then back to Mrs. Harte.
“Jacob and I will be just fine,” she said. “No need for you to worry.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want him to …” he trailed off and glanced at Jacob, who was now kneeling next to the love seat so he could better pet Sputnik, then finished lamely, “… be a bother.”
The ridiculous statement hung in the air for a moment before Mrs. Harte smiled with amusement. “He won’t be a bother. In fact, I think it’ll be good for me. It’s been a while since I spent some time with a youngster.”
The hint of nostalgia in her voice had him recalling she’d once been a grade school teacher and that, along with their newly established truce, made all of his previous reservations disappear. “All right, well, in that case, I’ll go help Paige.”
As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, Paige gave him a look of reprimand from the far end of the island, where she was mixing something in a bowl. “You couldn’t even stay out there with her for more than—” she glanced at the clock, “—four minutes? I really wanted you two to get to know one another better.”
“We did.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s true.”
He wandered over to where the bacon was cooling and picked up a piece, eating it in a couple of bites. Then, pretending to not see her second look of reprimand, he proceeded to give Paige the rundown of the conversation as she continued to stir the contents of her bowl. “See? I told you so.”
“All right. I guess that’s a good start,” she allowed with a quirk of her lips.
“Thank you.” He gave a small bow, then asked, “Now, then, what do you want me to do?”
“Actually, I’d like to hear how today’s session went,” she told him, as she pulled her waffle maker from one of her lower cabinets, unknowingly giving him a nice glimpse down her shirt, enough to know the bra she was wearing was lacy and pink.
“I’m not sure, to be honest,” David replied, his expression turning anxious. “There was a lot of talking, and there were times when Jacob seemed really upset and Lauren would hold his hand. He didn’t cry, but he looked like he wanted to once or twice. And Jacob drew several pictures, some of which Lauren had him tear up.”
Paige set the waffle maker on the counter, and walked the few steps over to gather him into a soothing hug. “I’m sorry,” she murmured against his chest. “I know how hard this is for both of you.”
“It’s killing me, not knowing what’s going on.”
“You will, soon enough.”
He nodded, then took a deep breath and released it. “You’re still planning on being there with me, right?”
Given the nature of Paige’s relationship with David—and subsequently Jacob—Lauren had thought it would be good for Paige to be present during David’s talk with Lauren. “Of course.”
“Good.”
Paige squeezed him tight for a moment, before pulling back and giving him a soft kiss. He kissed her back, and then, to her amusement, pushed her over to the waffle maker again, so she could resume making dinner.
After stealing another piece of bacon, he decided to be useful and began gathering plates, glasses, and utensils to set the table with. As he was finishing, Mrs. Harte and Jacob appeared in the kitchen doorway.
“I hope it’s time to eat, because I’m starving,” Mrs. Harte announced good-naturedly. Then, seeing Jacob’s face, clarified, “Sorry. We’re starving. Aren’t we, young man?”
Jacob nodded.
“Everything’s ready, except for the last few waffles,” Paige told them.
Jacob’s eyes brightened with surprised glee. “Waffles? For dinner?”
David smiled at Jacob’s animation, grateful that he seemed really excited, even if it was because of waffles.
“You didn’t tell him we were having brinner?” Paige asked David.
“No. I didn’t want to spoil the surprise.”
Jacob was now looking confused. “What’s brinner?”
“It’s when you have breakfast for dinner,” she explained. “Some people think it’s even better than linner.”
Overcome with excitement once again, Jacob started to race over to the table, only to be stopped by a pair of hands on his shoulders. “Little Man, why don’t we go wash your hands first?” David suggested.
“That’s a good idea,” Paige said. “Especially since you might end up eating most of your brinner with them.”
While David and Jacob were in the bathroom, Mrs. Harte insisted on arranging all the food on the table while Paige finished the waffles. When the last one was done, she was pleased with the effort she’d put in, especially when Jacob returned and gazed with childish delight at the spread that was laid out: whipped cream, strawberries, peanut butter, bananas, honey, syrup, bacon, and scrambled eggs.
Because Paige didn’t have a booster seat, she grabbed a pillow from the couch for Jacob to sit on, and once seated, he waited impatiently for everyone else to sit down. As soon as they were, Paige, who was sitting next to him, grabbed two waffles, one in each hand.
“My best friend, Jules, always makes waffle sandwiches,” she told Jacob.
“Waffle sandwiches?”
“That’s right. You want to see how it’s done?”
Jacob nodded.
She proceeded to make a sandwich with the two waffles, loading peanut butter, honey, and banana slices inside, while Jacob observed with interest. When she was finished, she set it on her plate and raised her eyebrows at him. “You want one?”
“Yes, please.”
“Do you want one like mine, or one with strawberries and whipped cream?”
“Strawberries and whipped cream. And bananas,” he added. “Please.”
Paige quickly made a waffle sandwich to Jacob’s specifications, and held it out to him, making sure he got both hands on it before letting go. She then picked hers up, and together, they began to eat.