Chapter Twenty-One
Erin had to wait a whole tantalizing afternoon before she could go home and read the pile of scripts. She began the first one over dinner, then moved to her favorite armchair.
She started out full of anticipation, but by the end of the evening, she was horrified. This was what people thought was romantic comedy these days? The scripts sucked. She was going to message Jay, or maybe just email him—she didn’t want to seem too eager. But then she decided that the personal and yet formally couriered note had a certain distance to it that she liked. She didn’t want Jay to think she’d completely forgiven his appalling behavior. Still, he’d managed to get her interested enough to want to respond.
She went to her desk and retrieved some of beautiful stationery her mom had given her one Christmas, but which she hadn’t yet had the opportunity to use. The paper was cream, with a small posy of pink wildflowers at the top. Perfect, Erin thought, for correspondence about romantic comedies. She sat for a good while, chewing on the lid of her pen, before she finally committed ink to paper.
Dear Mr. Malone,
Thank you for your correspondence and the attached screenplays. I have to say that each one was more trite, lackluster, and disappointing than the last. I cannot recommend that any of these be made. Only someone who has no idea of romance would think these could be made into decent romantic comedies.
Sincerely,
Erin Davenport (Ms.)
She grinned when she finished. It struck exactly the right note.
Taking Buzzy along for the ride, she hopped in the car and drove to Jay’s place. She was about to get out when she saw him leaving, Nelson in tow, heading toward the beach for an evening walk. Note in hand, she scampered up the path and placed the stack of scripts in front of his front door. Before she headed home, she couldn’t help but watch Jay and Nelson for a few minutes as they ran and played on the beach. Those two had definitely bonded, and so quickly.
For just a moment, she was tempted to join them, but then she decided against it. Even if it seemed as though his heart was back in the right place, she was still pretty mad at him. He had not nearly finished groveling.
She drove home, full of gleeful anticipation at Jay’s reaction and wondering whether she’d receive another note tomorrow, and finally got a good night’s sleep.
* * *
Jay had wondered all day if he’d hear back from Erin about those screenplays. He’d kept checking his phone and was bitterly disappointed not to have received a message. She must still be angry with him, grand gesture or no, and frankly, he couldn’t blame her. He’d acted a complete fool.
At least he had Nelson, who was always happy to see him, happier still when he took him to the beach and he could play with the other dogs, as he was now. Jay had begun to look forward to these evening walks across the white sand as the best part of his day. He smiled and threw the ball again and again. Nelson seemed to have boundless energy. If only he could have some of that pure puppy contentment. But his heart was heavy and every time he thought about Erin, his stomach lurched with shame at the way he’d behaved.
Finally tuckered out, Nelson followed him back to the house, where Jay found the stack of screenplays on the ground outside his front door. Was this her way of telling him to get lost? And then he saw the note.
As he read it, he began to smile. Okay, she hated them all—frankly, so had he. But at least she was talking to him, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she was also being a little playful. The relief that coursed through him was like one of those huge waves he’d seen her ride the evening he’d gone to her with a warm towel and made her hot chocolate. He took this as a good sign, and decided there and then to write to his assistant and ask for more scripts.
Still, reply or not, he was out of his depth with Erin. She was so different from the women he usually dated, and although he was willing to put a lot more effort into making her happy than he had with anybody else, how to do this exactly was proving tricky. He wished he had someone to confide in.
Wait. He did. One woman had been a kind of mentor and mother figure to him for years. He checked his watch; it wasn’t too late.
He called Betsy Davenport.
She picked up after a few rings and sounded pleased to hear from him.
“It’s not every day I get a call from one of my favorite agents,” she said, a teasing warmth to her voice. “How have you been, Jay? I’m glad Mila found you that house. Carmel’s lucky to have you.”
He explained he’d been keeping well and loving his new place. “There’s something I’d like to talk to you about. Can I drop by tomorrow? Maybe for coffee in the morning?”
“I’m just grading papers, if you want to come by tonight. You’re in the neighborhood now.”
Jay grinned. Trust Betsy to guess he was itching to talk to her as soon as possible. He was so happy that she was willing to see him. He was burning to unburden himself to her.
And so, fifteen minutes later, Jay found himself sitting in the Davenport kitchen with Betsy. She made them both a mug of herbal tea and asked him how he was settling in, and he told her all about Nelson and how much he loved having a dog.
“And you’re enjoying the new house? I was in it once,” she said. “I remember it had a lot of bedrooms.” Her tone had a questioning inflection that Jay couldn’t miss.
He opened his mouth to give his usual answer about having extra bedrooms for friends and clients who wanted to stay, but this was Betsy. She had given him the perfect opportunity to discuss what lay so heavily on his mind. Shyly, he admitted, “I know this might come as a surprise, but I really do want to have children.” He added quickly, “With the right woman.”
Betsy reached over and patted his hand. “In spite of all those shallow women you’ve chosen to date, I’ve always known you were a family man at heart.”
And now he had to get to it, the thing he most wanted to talk to Betsy about—even though the prospect of it scared him half to death. The Davenports had become very much like a family to him and the thought of upsetting them in any way was terrifying. But the thought of losing Erin was more terrifying still.
So, he took a breath and plunged in. “You might kill me for saying this, but I think I’ve fallen in love with your daughter.” Then he added, “Erin,” because he didn’t want her thinking he’d fallen for Mila. Betsy said nothing, just looked at him with her steady gaze and kind eyes, until he added, “But we all know I’m not good enough for her.” There, he’d got it out.
Now, instead of looking shocked or slapping his face, Betsy looked as though she was trying not to laugh. Finally, she said, “Jay Malone, you are so much better than you think you are. Besides which, I saw this coming ten years ago.” She gave him the broad smile of a woman who has been proven right.
Not only was she not giving him the boot out the door, she was all but welcoming him into her family. He couldn’t believe it. He’d never seen this coming. How had Betsy seen what he couldn’t see?
Jay shook his head. “Erin was always just Archer’s kid sister. But since moving to Carmel and getting to know her more through the Sea Shell profile and getting a dog at the rescue center... well, it’s like I’m finally seeing the real Erin for the first time. And I’m finally the real Jay.”
“I’m not sure that’s true. I’ve always had a feeling about you and Erin. I’ve noticed the way you pay attention when she speaks, which not everyone does because she’s so much quieter than her siblings. You encourage others to make space for her when they’re busy hogging the conversation. And when I saw you two dancing at Archer’s wedding, I thought maybe that instinct I’d had ten years ago was proving true. You just looked right together.”
Jay wanted to hug Betsy and ask her if she could put in a good word for him with her daughter. But he had another confession to make. If he was going to be the right man for Erin, then they had to know the real him, too. So, he took a deep breath and told Betsy all about his terrible past, his difficult childhood, his addict mother, the hustling, the stealing of food. It was everything he’d told Erin and felt so torn about afterward.
Interestingly, now he’d let that story out once, it was easier to let it out again.
Once more, Betsy didn’t seem shocked, or even particularly surprised. She looked really, really sad, though. And when he’d finished, she said, “I’d already guessed some of this. I’ve had students who’ve had difficult upbringings—not as bad as that, but there’s a kind of wariness that people exhibit when they didn’t have stable childhoods. When Archer first brought you here, you were on alert all the time, never quite relaxing. I hope you don’t mind my saying this, but I also noticed that you were unsure about table manners, but you watched the rest of us and you picked it up fast.”
Jay felt as though he’d been thrown back in time to that raw young man who was barely house trained. He remembered watching Betsy, and now he realized she must have been making an effort to put her napkin on her lap and use her knife and fork correctly. To pass the food rather than helping herself right away. And so he’d copied her.
He let out a long sigh as the tension left his body. He felt better, as though an enormous weight had been lifted off his shoulders, not only because he’d told her about his awful past and she accepted him anyway, but also because she now knew about his feelings for Erin and didn’t seem to disapprove. In fact, she had actually said he was a better man than he gave himself credit for.
Jay was silent for a while as he let this all sink in. As they sipped their tea, he felt how comfortable it was in this house, and how much he adored Betsy.
Finally, he asked, “Are you giving me the green light with Erin? I have your blessing?” He had to be sure.
Betsy shrugged kindly. “Yes, but it’s not up to me. It all depends on my daughter and what she wants.”
He got that. “I think I might have messed things up on the weekend and she’s freaking out. How do I let her know I’m completely serious about her and that I love her?”
“I can’t tell you that. But I think you’ve been in love with her for years. You just didn’t know it. You’ll figure it out. You need to trust yourself, Jay. Listen to your heart.”
And then Jay had a terrible realization. He might have Betsy’s blessing, but that didn’t mean the Davenport men were going to be on board as well. “What about Archer and the others?” He hadn’t forgotten Arch’s terrible warning about going anywhere near his sister, and he couldn’t bear the idea of upsetting his friend and oldest client.
Betsy shook her head. “That’s between you and Archer and the rest of the boys.”
“Including your husband?” Betsy might be open to the idea of him and Erin, but he was terrified that Howie, who’d been a father figure to him all these years, might hate him after he learned about it.
Betsy smiled at him. “You’re worrying too much about what everyone else will think. The only people who matter here are Erin and you.”
Jay’s eyes widened. She was right. “I guess none of the rest of it matters if I can’t get her to fall for me as hard as I’ve fallen for her. I made such a mess of things.”
Betsy didn’t look a bit surprised. “Then you’ll clean up your mess. My daughter’s pretty smart and she respects the truth. If you’re honest and open about your feelings, she’ll let you know if she returns them.”
“So you think there’s hope?”
She chuckled. “I definitely think there’s hope. Good luck. I’m glad you came to me, Jay. I know it couldn’t have been easy. It shows integrity and grit—two other qualities I know my daughter admires.”
Jay pulled Betsy in for a huge bear hug and promised he’d attend the next family breakfast. He refused her offer to walk him out, insisting she finish grading the papers, and let himself out of their front door feeling a whole lot better than when he’d arrived.
* * *
As the door closed behind Jay, Betsy Davenport leaned back in her chair and sipped her chamomile tea, a delighted smile playing across her face. When she was certain Jay was too far away to hear through the open windows, she called, “Howie? You owe me ten bucks.”
Her husband wandered in from the office, where he’d been working on his business accounts. “What did you say?”
“You owe me ten bucks.”
“For what?”
“Erin and Jay.”
Howie’s eyebrows shot up. “What are you saying?”
“Jay was just here, and he’s just told me he’s in love with our daughter. Remember? The bet was ten dollars.”
He rooted around in his wallet. “Do you have change for a twenty?”
She grabbed the bill and tucked it in her pocket. “For this, I’m taking the whole thing.” Then Howie swept her up in his arms and kissed her. Laughing, she said, “Don’t you have accounts to finish?”
“The accounts can wait.” And, still holding her as though she were a new bride, he swept her off to the bedroom.