Chapter 26
Kelly
By the weekend, the rain finally lets up—just in time for Adele’s birthday party. I’m a bundle of nerves but can’t ignore my excitement at the thought of seeing Jake. Standing in front of my closet, I rifle through hangers, frowning at shirts and skirts that all scream just friends .
“This is hopeless. None of this is right.” I finally yank out a little black dress that screams something else entirely and pull it on.
“Sweet mercy.” Nora appears in my bedroom doorway, an amused look on her face. “Are you going to a teenager’s birthday party or a bachelorette bash?”
“Ha ha.” I roll my eyes. “I’m just trying to find the perfect outfit that sends the right message.”
“Does this have anything to do with the fact Jenny Cowell is going to be there?”
“Well, maybe.”
“Babe, you look hot. But remember, there will be impressionable teenage girls there.” Nora’s standing behind me now, meeting my gaze in the reflection, trying to suppress a laugh.
“I know, I know,” I say, smoothing the fabric down my hips. “I’m not actually going to wear this. It’s just, after everything, I want to look good. It’s going to be hard being in the same room as Jenny. She’s the one he left me for.”
“From what he said the other day, it was only because of the pregnancy, and to be honest, we all knew that anyway. You weren’t here to see them together when they first got married. It was pretty clear they were never really in love.” She walks over to my wardrobe, picking out a sheer floral shirt, a white tank top to wear underneath, and a pair of Levi’s that fit me just right. “Here, try this. Have you wrapped Adele’s present yet?”
The mention of Adele has my stomach doing somersaults. “Yeah, I wrapped it.”
Nora sees something on my face. “Hey, it’s really going to be okay.”
“I hope so. Adele is just an innocent kid, but she’s pretty much the whole reason we broke up,” I say, my voice dropping. “I won’t lie. This whole thing seems like a mistake and too soon. What if Adele hates me? What if it’s super awkward with Jenny?”
“Kel,” Nora says, stepping closer and squeezing my shoulder. “Don’t worry about things so much. All of Jake’s friends know Adele. I’ve met her a bunch of times. Don’t think of it as a big deal. I’m sure Jake just wants to see you, include you in his life. And as for Jenny, everything is cool between them. You’ll see for yourself soon enough.”
“Right.” I’m trying to convince myself more than her. “This is just a party. I’m overthinking it.”
“Exactly!” Nora claps her hands together. “Now, let’s do something about that mess.” She points to my wet hair, which is currently rebelling in every direction.
“God, yes, please.” I breathe a sigh of relief, grateful for the distraction. “Work your magic.”
We move to the bathroom, and she starts taming my locks with a blow-dryer and a round brush.
“Okay,” Nora says a short while later, giving my hair a final fluff. “Looking good.”
“Thanks,” I reply, checking myself out in the mirror. I look a little pale, and grab my makeup bag while Nora sits on the edge of the bathtub behind me, her legs crossed.
“So,” she says casually, “how are things going with Jake?”
I pause, concealer brush in hand, and meet her eyes in the mirror. “We agreed to give it another shot. But I don’t know if we can fix everything that happened in the past.”
Nora’s expression softens into something more understanding. “Sometimes second chances aren’t about fixing what went wrong but about seeing if things can be different.”
I turn to face her fully, leaning against the vanity. “But that’s just it. I don’t know if things can be different. We’re still the same people. I’m Kelly. He’s Jake. He sees everything so black and white. He’s not good at the emotional stuff, you know? He’s great at being dependable. But the other stuff.” I shrug.
Nora swings her legs off the tub and stands, crossing the small space to stand next to me. “Listen, you have every right to be cautious, but you’re not the same people. You’ve both changed. You were both so young. Give him a chance.”
I laugh and pull Nora into a hug. “Thank you. Hey, you better go and get ready, too. We’ve got to leave in half an hour.”
Soon Nora and I are piling into my car, me in the Levi’s and shirt she picked out, both of us bundled against the cold. Now that we’re actually on our way to his house to meet his daughter, the reality of the situation hits me all over again. It’s one thing to say we’ll take it slow, another to just turn up at his daughter’s birthday. Because meeting her seems like a very big deal. Why the hell did I agree to this?
Nora’s scrolling through her phone beside me, oblivious to the mini panic attack I’m having behind the wheel. She finally glances up at me as we drive down Jake’s street, her eyebrow arched. “You okay?”
I grip the steering wheel, forcing a smile, tapping the side of my door twice down low, out of sight. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just nervous.” Another two taps.
“Kelly, you’ve got this. You’ve been through worse than meeting a teenager and her mom.” She gives me a playful nudge.
“Thanks for the pep talk,” I say as we pull up outside Jake’s place, tapping my door two more times before getting out.
The house is charming in a way I didn’t expect: single story with white shutters, tucked behind a few large oak trees, which have lost all of their leaves. The wraparound porch has a wooden swing rocking gently in the wind, and there’s something homey about the planters with winter blooms lining the steps.
It’s a real family home, the kind that makes my chest tighten because I never imagined myself walking up to a place like this owned by him . Before I can lose my nerve, the door swings open, and there he is—Jake. Dark hair slightly tousled, wearing jeans and a dark blue shirt, eyes lighting up when he sees me.
“Hey,” he says, stepping down the porch steps, his hands finding my waist before I can say anything. He pulls me in for a kiss, full on the lips, and for a moment, all my nerves vanish. His presence washes over me, and I kiss him back, leaning into him.
There’s a spark—a jolt that sends heat spiraling through me, and for a second, I forget everything except the way he feels, the way he makes me feel. He pulls away, smiling down at me, and I catch Nora’s amused smirk from the corner of my eye.
“Come on in,” Jake says, ushering us both inside. “The girls are in the living room.”
I step into the house and Jake takes our jackets. Warmth and noise hits me. There’s music playing in the background, and laughter coming from the next room. The house smells good. There’s something delicious cooking—probably whatever is grilling out back.
Jake’s hand brushes against mine, a simple touch that’s loaded with the things we don’t say. A shiver runs down my spine, and I tuck my hand into my pocket to stop myself from reaching for his.
We walk into the living room, and there’s a girl who can only be Adele sitting cross-legged on the floor with a group of her girlfriends. They’re giving each other manicures, giggling about something. My breath catches in my throat the second I see her. She’s the spitting image of Jake—the same dark eyes, even features, and a smattering of freckles across her nose.
I swallow hard, nerves twisting in my stomach. This is the girl who, without even knowing it, changed my entire life, the reason Jake walked away all those years ago. And here I am, standing in her living room, hoping for some kind of approval from a teenager. Ridiculous, but I can’t help it.
What if she doesn’t like me? What if I’m nothing more than an awkward stranger intruding on her birthday?
“Hey, Adele.” Jake steps forward. “This is my friend Kelly I told you about. And you know Nora.”
Friend . The word stings a little, but I push it aside as Adele finally looks up from painting her friend’s nails. Her dark eyes meet mine, and there’s a flicker of curiosity.
“Hi, Adele.” I try to sound casual, even though my nerves are all over the place. “Happy birthday. Nora and I got you something from both of us.”
I hand her the gift, and Adele takes it with a quiet, “Thanks,” before turning back to her friends, unbothered by my presence. I’m just another adult she has to greet.
It’s probably one of the most anticlimactic moments of my life. All that worry, all that overthinking, and she barely even notices me. I glance at Nora, and she gives me a smug, I-told-you-so look. She knew I was making a bigger deal out of this than I should have.
Jake gently touches my arm. “Come on, let’s head outside. I promised the girls we’d stay out of their way.”
His hand lingers a moment longer than necessary, his thumb tracing a light line along my forearm, and every nerve ending seems to come alive. It’s such a small gesture, but he’s promising more, and I steady myself against the butterflies storming my stomach.
I follow him through the house, out the back door, and onto the deck. The second I step outside, I’m blown away. The wooden deck is huge—spanning the entire back of the house and overlooking the yard. String lights are strung above, glowing softly in the afternoon light, and there are benches built along the edges. It’s beautiful.
“Wow,” I say, taking it all in. “This is amazing. You built this?”
Jake shrugs as though it’s no big deal, but I can see the pride in his eyes. “Yeah, last summer.”
“You did a great job,” I tell him, my fingers grazing the smooth wood railing.
“Thanks,” he says.
“Hey, look who finally made it!” Liam shouts from the grill, waving a spatula in the air. “I knew you two would be late when Jake told me Nora was coming.”
I laugh, leaning into Jake just a bit, and he doesn’t move away, his shoulder brushing mine. I want to believe this moment can last, that maybe we’re building something new. But in the back of my mind, a voice reminds me to go slow—to remember that love alone doesn’t always solve everything.
Nora mock-grimaces at her brother while I glance around, my eyes sweeping over the familiar faces. All the Valiant Hearts guys are here—Liam is at the grill, flipping burgers with a beer in his hand. Antonio’s off to the side, laughing with Patrick and Mike, who’s trimmed his beard shorter since I last saw him. And Ethan’s sitting with Blake, her leaning into him. They’ve got their own little bubble.
But then my gaze lands on her —Jenny. She’s sitting at one of the tables, legs crossed, her gaze sweeping over the gathering, looking effortlessly composed. Her new husband sits beside her, laughing at something, while their two sons—carbon copies of him—run around the yard with a couple of other small kids I assume are Blake and Ethan’s foster kids.
Jenny’s not laughing, though. She’s looking straight at me, and for a second, all the air’s been sucked out of the yard.
There’s no malice in her expression, no hostility, but it’s the weight of her gaze that gets me. She’s assessing, calculating. And why wouldn’t she? This is her world. Her daughter’s birthday. Jake is part of her past, and I’m the intruder.
“Cold day,” Liam says, breaking through the tension building inside me. “But at least the first round of storms are behind us!”
“Until the next ones,” Mike adds grimly.
I glance up at the sky, pretending I’m not hyper-aware of Jenny watching me. The gray clouds hang heavy, but there’s no threat of rain anymore.
Jake’s arm brushes mine as he moves past me, and I sense his eyes on me. Stealing a glance at him, I find him giving me that smile—the one that always makes my heart skitter in my chest.
But then my gaze shifts back to Jenny. She’s still watching me, and this time, our eyes lock.