14. Jensen
14
JENSEN
“ D o you want me to do it?” Nessa asks, looking at me from where she’s lying on the floor next to Remi. My daughter hates tummy time, much preferring to be on her back where she can flail her arms and legs around.
“No, I can do it,” I say more confidently than I feel as I stare at my mama’s number on the screen.
“I mean of the two of us, my day was way more traumatic than yours.”
“Because you think you were abducted by people who wanted to have coffee with you? The horror.” The retelling of her outing had actually been amusing, especially knowing what I do about the dynamic between Ellison, Bea, and Cal.
Outside of our group—Cal and Ellison especially—we are fairly reserved and not exceedingly outgoing. So it meant a lot that they all made Nessa feel welcome.
Eventually.
“Exactly. And don’t forget I got bombarded about pottery classes and impulsively took a flyer because she was so nice. ”
“What is your problem with nice people?”
Remi grunts and rubs her face on the blanket, her little feet trying to find purchase to propel her forward.
“I like nice people,” she says defensively and I raise an eyebrow at her. “What? I do. It’s just harder to switch back to interact with regular people when I have to be on all the time.”
It makes me sad for her, but on some level, I do get it. Bein’ a small town sheriff, I’ve been lucky for a lot of my career, fielding nonsense calls and herding animals back to their pastures.
But I’ve still seen things—been in situations where I had to be completely detached from what was going on in order to do my job. It’s not easy and it takes a toll on you, but I knew that goin’ in.
And I’ve never wanted anything else.
“Are you done stalling now?” Nessa asks, rolling Remi onto her back and tickling her belly.
“What?”
“Your mom. Chances are she already knows and she’s just been waiting on you to tell her,” Nessa says, ramping up my anxiety over making the call.
“You know that’s not helpful, right?” I say as I watch her pop up from the ground and walk over, tapping the call button on my phone before grinning and sauntering back across the room.
“How ’bout now? I bet it’s ringing.”
Cursing under my breath, I put the phone to my ear and close my eyes, getting only one more ring to prepare myself before my mother’s voice fills the line.
“Jensen, what a nice surprise…”
“Hey, Mama.” Swallowing hard, I open my eyes, reaching for the back of the kitchen chair to my right, needing something to steady me. “I have something to tell you.”
“Should I get your daddy?”
“Yeah,” I whisper, my voice lacking its usual confidence.
Picking Remi up and positioning her to face me, Nessa holds up my daughter’s hands like she’s cheering.
“Go, Daddy! You can do it! Look at how cute I am! Woo!”
My lips twitch at her antics, the little dance exactly what I need as my father’s deep voice joins my mother on speaker.
“All right, son, what’s goin’ on?”
“About a year ago, I met a woman in Nashville.” I swallow hard because telling my mother I had a one-night stand isn’t high on my priority list but is unfortunately unavoidable. “We spent the night together and uh, didn’t exchange information.”
“You’re a grown man, Jensen. I’m not sure why I need to know about your extracurricular activities,” my mother says skeptically.
“Normally, I’d agree, but I got her pregnant.” Silence fills the line as Nessa’s mouth forms a perfect O before she mouths oh shit.
“I have a grandbaby?” Mama nearly weeps into the phone. “And where’s her mama? When do we get to meet them? Wayne, can we change our tickets home?”
I sag into the chair, my hip pushing it flush against the table. “Scarlett passed away shortly after giving birth to our daughter.”
“Oh Jensen.”
“She didn’t know how to reach me,” I say, letting the shame wash over me, “and so our daughter was placed with her cousin Nessa, who did some detective work of her own and found me.”
“Where is the baby now?” my father asks calmly, if not a little choked up.
“She’s in my living room and she’s perfect.” The last word is barely a whisper as my eyes fill with unshed tears. “Nessa is staying with me until I can get George to come down and take over as interim sheriff and I can take the time off Remi deserves.”
“Remi? Her name is Remi?” Mama’s voice is a choking sob, my father’s low timbre soothing as he comforts her.
“Remi Maeve, Mama.”
“We’ll be on the next plane.”
“That wouldn’t be fair to Indie, Dottie,” my father says gently. “Jensen and Nessa have things well in hand, don’t you, son?”
“Yes, sir.”
“We’ll let you and Nessa get Remi settled, finish our visit with Indie, and then we’ll be on home, all right?” I appreciate my father’s ability to reason with Mama, and I nod even though he can’t see me.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“It’s a big adjustment but we’ll help however we can,” he says then asks, “Nessa, huh? She the one over at the university?”
“Yes,” I answer cautiously, wondering how he would know that considering he’s been in Montana the last couple of weeks.
Letting out a low whistle, my father chuckles. “Professional soccer player—that’s big news in Blackstone Falls. I’m surprised you’ve been able to keep this private as long as you have.”
“I have my suspicions.”
“Miss Thelma?”
“Most likely.”
“Makes sense, she always did have a soft spot for you,” my father says gruffly but he’s not wrong. She’s a cornerstone in our neck of the woods with a lifetime of stories to tell.
The only thing I couldn’t figure out is why she hadn’t come to see me yet.
“Jensen Wayne Kade,”—Mama’s use of my full name makes me wince but it brings me back to the present—“this conversation is not over. You kept a baby from your mama! Oh that sweet little girl. My heart just breaks for her but don’t you worry, we’ll love her twice as much. You tell her that her Mimi and PawPaw love her, okay? And how is Nessa? This must be such a big change for her too. I’ll cook for everyone when I get home and?—”
“Mama, take a breath,” I say on a chuckle, the tension finally dissipating a little.
“I know, I just didn’t get time to prepare and?—”
“Neither did he, Dottie. Jensen is doin’ the best he can. Let’s let the man get back to his daughter, and you can fuss over him when we get home, all right?”
Mama grumbles but ultimately agrees, sneaking one final request in before finally hanging up. With the call ended, I send a couple of pictures to her and then set my phone on the table, ignoring the onslaught of messages that follow.
“How’d it go?” Nessa asks as I scoop Remi into my arms and inhale her sweet baby scent.
“As well as it could have under the circumstances,” I say as I watch her little eyelids flutter shut before popping open again. “Mama will be ripping through here like a hurricane when she gets home though.”
“So worse than today?”
“Not even close.”