Chapter Nineteen
On Sunday morning, Jake slid another pancake onto the stack and then stopped mid-turn at the sound of Savannah’s laughter. It was fast becoming his favorite sound in the whole world.
“What did I do now?” he asked with a smile.
“Nothing bad. I’m not laughing at you. I’m just wondering if you need that many pancakes to get your strength back up, and if you do maybe you should eat something a little more nutritious.”
He looked at the stack and realized that he’d automatically made enough to feed himself and Josh. From what he’d seen, Savannah had a healthy appetite — but no way would she eat that many. He gave her a rueful shrug.
“What can I say? I’m just happy.”
She laughed again. “And being happy means you make dozens of pancakes?” she asked, eyebrows raised.
“No. I guess it just means that I don’t pay attention to the little things that don’t matter.” He glanced at the pancakes again. “Although, you know what? That might be wrong, because pancakes do matter.”
He pursed his lips at her when she chuckled.
“I know it sounds stupid, but you might agree when I tell you why. See, when I first came to Summer Lake, Uncle Dom was staying here at the house — that was before he met Sadie — and the first weekend I came to visit it was kind of special. On that first Saturday morning, there was me and Uncle Dom, who at the time was this guy who I barely knew, and Dad, who — as weird as it sounds considering that they’re identical twins — barely knew Dom either.
But the three of us sat here and ate pancakes together. And…”
He had to swallow around the unexpected lump in his throat when the meaning of what he was doing this morning finally hit him.
“See, it felt to me like that was when we became a real family. A new family. The family that I care about. I mean, sure, when I was small I had family with my mom and dad, but they never really liked each other much, and this was different. I knew my dad loved it here in Summer Lake. I was coming to love it here, too. And then we had Uncle Dom as well. So ….”
He patted the spatula on top of the pancake he’d just added to the stack. “These things might just be non-nutritious breakfast to you. But to me, they’re part of feeling like I’m finally getting to build the family I want.”
He met her gaze and held it as he added, “With the person I love.” He lifted a shoulder, not sure if it even made sense to her.
He went to set the skillet back on the stove, and before he could turn around, her little arms wrapped around his waist. He smiled at the feel of her chin in the middle of his back.
“Please don’t make light of it, Jake. I’m sorry I didn’t understand.”
He spun around and wrapped his arms around her, looking down into her eyes. “Don’t apologize. There’s no way you could have understood — not until I explained it to you.” He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “And now that I have, I hope you’ll like the idea.”
“I don’t just like it, Jake. I love it.”
“I’m glad. But come on, we should probably eat them. You’re going to have to get ready for work soon.”
As they sat and munched their way through the pancakes, Jake looked around the kitchen. “What do you think of this place? Do you really like this neighborhood? Enough that you’d want to live here? And even if you do, what do you think of the house? I think your apartment’s much cooler.”
“I shouldn’t have said that about the cool kids, should I?”
“No, I wasn’t teasing you. I’m glad you did. I understand how it feels. But… does that mean that you don’t want to stay here?”
She nodded eagerly. “I’d love to. I’ve never felt at home out in that apartment. I mean, you’re right, it’s really nice, but…”
Jake reached across for her hand as he watched her struggle for words. He thought he understood what she was thinking, and he wanted to help — but he didn’t want to put words into her mouth.
After a long few moments she shrugged and said, “I don’t know how to say it, and I’m not sure you’d understand if I did.”
“Mind if I try then? I can guess what I think you mean.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“If I had to guess based on what I know about you…” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.
“And what I love about you… I think that right now you’re struggling, wondering if I think that your apartment is so cool that I want to move there.
So, let’s get that out of the way first. I told you before — wherever you want to live is where I want to be.
I only want that apartment if you have your heart set on it, and it doesn’t sound like you do. ”
He chuckled. “And besides, I don’t think Tiff would be too thrilled about that anyway.”
She smiled. “I don’t know. She thinks the sun shines out of you.”
“I’m glad to hear it. She’s not someone I’d want to antagonize.”
Savannah chuckled. “Yeah, she’s kind of ferocious. But she has such a big heart.”
“Not as big as you,” Jake said, wanting to turn the conversation back to what he thought Savannah was feeling.
“I’m guessing that you’d love to live here because it’d be like…
coming home.” He frowned as he added, “To the home you never had. If we live here in this neighborhood, you finally get to have that, right?”
“Yeah, but… I don’t want you to feel like that’s why…”
He chuckled. “You’re worried I’ll think that you only want me for my house?” He shook his head. “I don’t have a huge ego, I don’t think, but I reckon there’s enough about me that you want me for me.”
She rolled her eyes and squeezed his hand hard. “You know damn well there is, and that’s not what I meant.”
“No, I know. But the house is part of the package that comes with being with me. But if you don’t like it, we can sell it and look for something else.”
She inhaled sharply, and he realized he was maybe going too fast — even though he felt like they were only now catching up to where he wanted them to be.
“I thought it was your dad’s, though, and that you just…”
He shrugged. “It is really. But he gave it to me.”
“So it’s yours now.”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“But there’s Josh, too.”
“Yeah. That’s something I’ve been thinking about. I mean, I love the guy, and I know that you love Tiff, too, but I’d like for us to have a place of our own – and that means on our own.”
He was relieved when she nodded slowly. He hadn’t intended to go down this road so soon, but now that they were here, he was relieved that she seemed to be thinking the same way he was.
But checking the clock on the wall, he realized that time was running short. He needed to get her to work. “We don’t need to figure it all out this morning. But I do want to figure it out soon. Okay?”
“Okay.”
He loved the way her eyes sparkled when she said, “It seems crazy that we’ve gone from saying ‘I love you’ to… showing each other just how much to… to now we’re talking about moving in together.”
He waited, hoping he wasn’t trying to move them along too fast — and relaxed when she smiled and said, “But it doesn’t feel crazy, Jake. It feels right.”
~ ~ ~
Savannah didn't have a minute to stop and think during lunch service.
It was crazy busy, and she didn't even slow down to take her break.
She couldn't believe it when Taryn came to stand beside her while she was waiting to collect a drink order from the bar and said, "What are you still doing here? "
She checked her watch, surprised to see that she should have clocked off ten minutes ago. "Well, damn. I had no idea."
Taryn chuckled. "I didn't think so. But don't you want to get out of here while you can? I mean, I don't mind if you want to stay, since you'll be back tonight anyway, but..."
She inhaled sharply when she realized that Jake would be waiting for her outside. And not just waiting, but he'd come over from his dad's place especially to pick her up.
"Is everything okay?" asked Taryn.
"Yeah, sorry. I just realized that I really do need to go."
"Then scoot. I can take these."
"No, I'll deliver the drinks first." Savannah reached for the tray. "I'll wait until the table's done."
"Oh, no, you won't," said Taryn. "I can finish them up. And don't worry, I won't take your tip. I'll put it in your jar. Go on, get your butt out of here. I'll see you later."
Savannah only struggled for a moment before she said, "Thanks. If you really don't mind, I will go."
Taryn smiled. "Let me guess. You're meeting Jake?"
She nodded.
"Then go." Her next words made Savannah's heart pound. "And when you come back later, you can tell me if you have any interest at all in this assistant manager position. It's okay if you don't, but I need to know."
Savannah bit down on her bottom lip. "I..."
Taryn waved her away. "We can talk about it later. And don't give it another thought while you're out of here, okay? Enjoy your time with Jake."
"Thanks."
Savannah hurried into the back to get her bag from her locker. She really didn't know what to do. It was a great opportunity, and she'd be a fool to turn it down. But on the other hand, it would mean that she'd spend most of her evenings here and wouldn't get to see as much of Jake.
Perhaps that wouldn't matter if they really were going to move in together.
She couldn't help smiling as she slung the strap of her bag over her shoulder and hurried toward the door.
She wasn't even doubting that they were going to move in together.
It was like she told him this morning—it felt right.
It might seem too fast in some ways, but it really wasn't. They'd known each other for a long time now.
She knew who he was, he knew who she was, and they got along so well.
Even if it didn't work out—she just knew in her heart that they'd still remain friends. Although the thought of him going back to being no more than a friend made her heart squeeze tight.
She hurried back out through the reception area of the lodge, feeling bad that he would have been waiting for her for fifteen minutes now.