Chapter 10
Georgia stood at the window with a steaming mug of hot buttered rum, mid-sip. Her eyes were glued to the scene unfolding outside, like she was watching a nature documentary. A very thirsty nature documentary.
Beyond the gentle falling flakes of snow, Jake was wearing a flannel shirt that had been rolled up to his biceps and was chopping wood like the fate of humanity depended on it.
His beard had that I-just-woke-up-like-this scruff, and every swing of the axe made his flannel shirt cling in new and dangerous ways.
“Well, damn. Isn’t that a thirst trap,” Georgia muttered to herself.
She took a sip of hot buttered rum, only it dribbled down her chin when he lifted the axe and, with a single, calculated swing, split a piece of wood right down the middle. He picked up another and with graceful ease chopped it like it was nothing more than a twig.
The only thing that would make it better was if he was shirtless.
“Forget a six-pack. Hercules is hiding a whole case under that shirt.”
“If you're gonna stare at him like that, at least open the window and let the man know. We’re Southern. We announce our intentions,” Joy said.
Georgia choked on her hot buttered rum. “Oh my God—Mrs. E—”
“Grandma Joy. Mrs. E sounds like I should be stroking a cat and demanding a ransom.”
“Well, Grandma Joy, I wasn’t staring.”
“Honey, you were one flannel button away from fogging up the glass,” Joy said. She bent over to open the oven. The mouthwatering smell of a cooking roast filled the room.
“I was just observing. From a respectful, non-drooling distance.”
“Mmm-hmm. Observing his biceps? His swing technique? Or the way that shirt clings to him like sin in a Baptist sermon?” Head still in the oven, Joy stuck out a hand. “Give me that baster on the counter, will you?”
Georgia did as she was told, then watch as Joy basted the perfectly browned roast.
“I was appreciating the way the snow clings to the trees,” Georgia said. “It feels like Christmas.”
“Then you aren’t interested in knowing the story about when wore his Batman cape everywhere—even to church. I had to sneak it off him during the pastor’s prayer.”
Georgia covered her laugh with her hand. “Get out of here.”
“He once flushed his granddad’s watch because he thought the toilet was a time machine.”
“Okay, that’s adorable.”
“Adorable was when he insisted on wearing my pink cowboy boots with nothing but his diaper.”
“Please tell me there’s photographic evidence.”
“Oh honey, I’ve got a whole blackmail binder. Come here, child.”
Georgia followed Joy into the living room and sat on the couch facing a roaring fire. Joy opened a chest doubling as a coffee table and pulled out a well-loved photo album. She sat next to Georgia and spread the pages across both of their laps.
“Now, you want baby Jake in a tutu? Baby Jake covered in glitter with a Barbie in each hand? Baby Jake sobbing because he thought his butt had fallen off? Boom. Binder. Sectioned by emotional trauma.”
Georgia opened to the toddler years and burst out laughing. There was a bitty Jake sitting on the potty wearing a cowboy hat, too-big boots, and holding a guitar—looking like he was in Bonanza.
“You are dangerous.”
“I am the reason he never brings girls home. But he brought you home. That must mean something.”
“We’re just working together.”
Joy looked unconvinced. “Hmm. How long have you known him?”
Georgia swallowed. She didn’t want to go where this conversation was leading.
Make your answers short and sweet. Not too many details that will encourage more questions.
“Since college.”
“Was it love at first sight?”
She choked on air. “What? No. We’re just friends.”
“Nic and I were just friends. For three years. Then we gave up being stubborn to chase happy.”
“I’m happy. I have my dream job. Great friends. I own my house. And I get to make kids’ dreams come true. I can’t imagine what else I need.”
“What about love?”
“Love is hard and heavy and if you’re not careful it can take you under. I like my life light and magical.”
Joy mumbled her disagreement. “Don’t you want someone to share it with?”
“In my experience, sharing only creates a false sense of security. It’s easier to carry all the weight myself rather than get used to the lighter load only to have it dropped back on your shoulders unexpectedly.
Like a boomerang, it circles back around usually bearing more weight than it left with. ”
“I see,” Joy said with a knowing smile. “Then maybe it wasn’t the right time.”
Once upon a time, she thought she had but that ended up crushing her. Georgia didn’t think there was a right person for her—and if so, she didn’t want to meet him. Love always ended with loss and she’d lost enough in her lifetime.
“The universe doesn’t make mistakes.”
Well, in the case of her and Jake it had. Young love, she’d always chalked it up to. And all the feelings she was experiencing now? Hormones, pure and simple.
“How old was Jake when he came to live with you?”
“Oh, he was a young thing. Maybe six. His dad was offered the position at the embassy in France, and he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. My daughter-in-law is a human rights activist, so she was excited to expand her network internationally.”
“So they just left Jake?”
“No, they took him with them, but he spent more time with a nanny than with them. They were always busy traveling and said it was too difficult to bring him along. And at that time his sister was nearly through high school and preparing for college. She was a doting sister who always looked out for him. A second mom, really, and that was a lot of responsibility to put on a teenager.”
Something Georgia knew firsthand. It was one of the things that had allowed her to open up to Jake so quickly. Their shared dream for something bigger was what had originally brought them together. In the end, it had been what drove them apart.
“That’s awful.”
Or was it? Georgia had come to realize that everything happened for a reason. Had her mom shown up more, then Georgia wouldn’t have formed the strong bond with Connor. The sacrifices were hard but worth it.
“Keep in mind, I didn’t raise my son like that. I raised him to be a good and present person who would have made an excellent father. But he always wanted more than this small town. And he did it at the expense of his family.”
“Then why did they have kids?”
“Because that’s what a good politician does.
It looks good on one’s social résumé,” Joy explained.
“So Nic and I offered to take him in, and they jumped at the chance. I think that’s why he finds it hard to commit to, well, anything other than his job.
He’s afraid that he’ll eventually be left behind.
It also made him a people pleaser. That kid once asked me if his dad would have wanted him if he’d been a better son. ”
“That breaks my heart.”
It also explained a lot about Jake.
“Me too. But it helped him with his racing. He listens to his coaches, follows advice to get better, always advancing his career and becoming the best. It will win him the championship. Mark my words.”
“Oh, I believe it.”
Georgia didn’t just believe it; she could already see him on the podium at the end of the year. She’d been following his last few races and for the most part he’d been off, distracted by something. But he knew it, he’d lock back in and go all the way.
“I just hope that when it’s all said and done, he doesn’t regret all the sacrifices he’s made to get there.”
“Like what?”
“A normal childhood for starters. Nic took him to a go-kart track when he was seven and it was instantaneous. He knew what he wanted to do. But it cost him. He was homeschooled, never went to prom, traveled with his team, which made for zero consistency. Then when he was eleven, he was picked up by Nova and moved into the dorms at their training facility.”
Georgia sat back in surprise. This was new information to her. “That’s so young.”
Then again Georgia was just twelve when Connor was born and she went from a carefree kid to a caretaker.
It was something she and Jake had bonded on.
Growing up fast. She just hadn’t known how fast. And while she knew some of the story, Joy was telling her parts of his life she’d never heard before. Parts that broke her heart.
She knew he wasn’t close to his parents and lived with his grandparents, but she never knew the why. When she’d ask him, he always deflected.
“We made a lot of sacrifices along the way too. Racing isn’t a cheap sport and unlike a lot of his peers, we weren’t independently wealthy.
That’s why it was so important for him to get into a training program because the team covered everything.
Training, housing, food, equipment, specialists. You name it.”
“That’s a lot of money to put into an eleven-year-old.”
“They look at it as an investment. All they need is one from the program who goes the distance, then they have their next World Champion. And with that comes tens of millions in endorsements and sponsors.”
“How did he get to go to college?”
“Nova had a training program at the University of Texas, Austin. He was able to do both. It was important to us that he had a degree to fall back on.”
“Did he graduate?”
“Shouldn’t you know that?”
“No. We lost touch my junior year.” When she walked away forever. Never intending to see him again. Funny how life works.
“Well, I’m happy you two found each other again.”
“Just a project.”
“So you said. Well, be warned when he sets his sights on something, he doesn’t stop until he wins.”
And wasn’t that the problem? Jake played games. That’s how he broke her heart. He wanted to win it over but never had any intention of protecting it.
“Well, my life is too busy for a relationship right now.”
Hadn’t she been too busy when they’d first met? Taking care of Connor, her mom’s mental breakdown, college. But she’d found the time, and they’d made the most of it.
As if reading her mind, Joy asked, “How did he charm you the first time?”
Georgia snorted. “I was a math tutor at the school and—”
“I was walking by and saw the prettiest girl I’d ever seen,” Jake said.
Gorgia turned around and saw Jake holding up the door frame with his shoulder. He was dressed in a flannel shirt, well-worn jeans, and cowboy boots, all covered in a snowfall of sawdust and sap. If Paul Bunyon and Chris Hemsworth had a love child, it would be Jake.
She devoured him with her eyes. College Jake had been sexy as hell. Adult Jake was lethal.
“She was sitting by herself in the library, and I thought, hell, why not shoot my shot. Only when I approached her, she called me Steven. I didn’t know who the hell this Steven was.”
“He was my new student.”
“Lucky for me he was also a no-show. I pretended to be Steven who needed help with algebra.”
Joy laughed and it filled the room with a warm and loving vibe. “Your major was in mechanical engineering.”
“I would have been a creative writing major if it meant spending an hour with her.”
“You’re exaggerating this a bit, don’t you think?” Georgia said, but the words came out rough. He’d never explained their meet-cute with this much detail—and emotion.
“I’m telling the story,” he chastised.
Georgia waved a silent go-ahead.
He walked toward the table and pulled out a chair. He folded himself into it, leaned back and stretched his legs out as if he owned the space. The air stilled in her lungs at the sight.
“Anyway, after the session I asked her if she wanted to grab some coffee and that was our first date.”
“It was not a date.”
“Darlin’, there were drinks, laughter, flirting, and then you gave that snort-laugh you do whenever you’re nervous. It was a date.”
“I don’t snort,” she said, and he raised a brow in amusement. She looked at Joy. “Okay, I do snort. But it’s a ladylike snort.”
Joy didn’t answer. She just rested an elbow on the tabletop and had an all-knowing smile on her lips. Georgia couldn’t translate the sentiment behind it, but she knew it wasn’t good.
“The next night we went to the movies.”
“You mean Steven and I went to the movies.” She turned to Joy. “He kept the ruse going for three dates.”
“Four. Remember coffee was our first.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. He kept up the ruse for two weeks until he was ratted out by a friend.”
“You were so mad, your temper was at full boil.”
“I hate liars.”
“It was more like role-playing.” He winked at her knowingly and her skin tingled with sudden warmth.
Who doesn’t like a little role-playing? He was the one with the toe fetish! Not that she was going to say that in front of Joy.
Joy chuckled, her eyes darting between the two of them and Georgia realized she didn’t need to say anything. The sexual chemistry between her and Jake was intense, sparks leapt with every glance.
“But you went out with him again?”
Georgia felt a painful pinch at the memory of that night. “My brother was taken to the hospital and Jake drove me. He showed up for me in a way that I hadn’t had in a long while. My only choice was to forgive him.”
Her gaze flickered to Jake’s, and she could tell he was experiencing the same complicated knot of emotions. Bereavement twisted with heartwarming memories that only came from experiencing a shared trauma.
“She called me Steve for months after.”
“Right out of a romance novel,” Joy said.
It was more like a tragedy, but she’d let Joy have her fantasy. Lord knows, Georgia had lived that fantasy for nearly a year. Too bad she was too jaded to go back.