Chapter 26 Fit Better
FIT BETTER
Two weeks later, her nerves were frayed and her son was only a tiny cause of them.
“Archer,” she said, her breath blowing out, her eyes wide enough that he halted his dancing in place and listened to her. “Give me thirty minutes of peace, please. I need to finish these.”
“But I want one now,” her son complained, hopping in front of her with his hands in prayer, the goofy grin on his face that she normally fell for. “Why do I have to wait?”
He was eying the cookies on the rack cooling. Double chocolate chip. Her lemon bars were done and in the fridge for her to cut easier.
“Because they aren’t for you. You should always bring something when you visit someone’s house.”
Archer frowned. “I never bring things to my friends’ houses. How come?”
She shouldn’t have started this conversation. Or made that statement. “I meant as an adult.”
“Well, I’m not an adult, so I don’t count. That means if you’re baking cookies in front of me I should get one because we both know I’ll get on your nerves more.”
Farrah narrowed her eyes at his antics. Any other time she’d find it funny. She’d correct him on that assumption but still give him an A for effort.
It’d be much easier to hand over the damn cookie, but then he’d know he could do this again. When she had less patience than she did now.
“Go,” she said. “Out of here. If you don’t stop it and give me space then you don’t even get one at Jayce’s parents’.”
“Hey,” he complained. “That’s child abuse. So is withholding food from your only child.”
Damn, he was good. Got that quick wit from her.
She wanted to laugh. She really did.
Instead, she pointed her finger. “Leave now or you’ll never get another one of my cookies again. I’ll bake them weekly only to eat them right in front of you loudly munching and watching you drool.”
He burst out into giggles. “That’s a good one, Mom. I’m going to use that.”
She rolled her eyes as he dashed out of the room, his footsteps loudly slamming on the stairs to his loft.
Her shoulders drooped for a brief second, then the timer went off and she pulled out the pan and shoved the last one in there.
She hated rushing and shouldn’t have waited until the last second to make the desserts.
But if she’d made them last night, it would have been after Jayce left and by then she wanted to go to bed.
The past few weeks they hadn’t seen as much of each other as Archer would have liked, but Jayce was working and his day ended later than hers.
But they spent Friday night and Saturdays doing things as a “family.” Even Sunday last week also.
It wasn’t the dating she’d thought she’d have with a man, but it was the one that fit better than she ever expected.
Today, it was a cookout at his parents’ house with everyone invited.
She hadn’t seen Jocelyn since they had graduated from high school, even though she knew Jocelyn was a patient at the practice she’d been at for a few years.
And Chance, she’d run into him at his pub a few months ago. She remembered him, but he didn’t know who she was. Not that she expected he would. They hadn’t run in the same circles. He was more known for his reputation as a rebel than anything else.
Yet, they were all going to come together and see her with her son. Jayce’s girlfriend... again.
She put her hands up and looked around the kitchen. She wasn’t used to being this frazzled, this unsure, and this insecure about anything in her life.
It wasn’t as if she didn’t know his parents or siblings. She had to get a grip.
She opened the fridge and pulled out the lemon bars, lifted them from the pan on the parchment paper and set them on the island.
With quick efficient movements, she had the bars all evenly cut and placed on a plate.
When the timer went off on her last plate of cookies, she pulled them out and touched the ones that had been cooling on the rack. Good enough for the first layer on another plate.
Thirty minutes later, everything was cleaned up and put away, her desserts wrapped and on the counter.
She went in search of her son and saw him in the loft adding to the Lego tower that remained from the week Jayce babysat and they’d built it together. Nothing was added to the height as her son couldn’t reach the top, but he was expanding the bottom.
“I’m done,” she said, pulling a cookie from behind her back and holding it out as if it was the biggest prize of the century.
“Sweet,” Archer said, reaching for it. “Thank you, Mom.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I’m just excited to see Jayce again. Are you?”
She smiled. She was. It’d been two weeks since they’d had sex. Their one night together, the entire night they couldn’t stop reaching for each other.
The next morning, Jayce was already up, the scent of coffee and something sweet drifting from the kitchen. He’d been carrying a tray toward the bedroom when she intercepted him, meeting him halfway and turning him back around to the kitchen.
It caught her completely off guard. Breakfast in bed? Letting her sleep in? It was thoughtful in a way she’d never expected, but should have because it was him.
Still, the gesture left her a little cautious and slightly breathless. Jayce kept showing her pieces of himself she’d only ever heard other women whisper about, things she’d quietly tucked away as impossible fantasies of her own.
Yet here he was, turning them into reality without her ever asking.
Was it too good to be true? Was it all part of the way to win her over and now that they were together, it’d stop?
Their lack of time spent together during the week didn’t bother her as much as Archer. Maybe because later at night when her son was in bed, she and Jayce would talk or text. Like they had as teens.
Fun, frivolous, and flirty.
Each interaction made her heart race, her body heat up, her pulse thicken, and wish he was close by for more contact.
Things they were struggling to work out with Archer around.
But she wasn’t someone to send her kid away for the night so she could have sex. If Jayce thought or wanted that, they might have an issue.
It hadn’t come up with nothing more than he missed her during stolen kisses and embraces when her son left the room.
Maybe there was a touch of fun in it that was holding them over. But how long could that last?
She wasn’t ready for Jayce to spend the night with Archer in the house. They just weren’t there yet when her son finally stopped making gagging noises when Jayce gave her a kiss.
Archer’s way of being involved, and being a pest.
“We just saw Jayce last night,” she said, brushing his hair in place with her fingers. He needed a trim. Ugh, one more thing to add to her list.
“But we only see him at the end of the week.”
“We are all busy during the week. It makes the weekends more fun,” she said. “And if you’re ready, we can go.”
Archer had been munching on his cookie while they talked. “I was ready hours ago.”
“Then go wash your face and hands.” She tapped his cheek. “There is chocolate there. Not sure how you always manage that.”
“Because it’s good and good food should be messy.”
“If you say so.” She turned and went down the stairs, found her sandals to slip on with her shorts, then caught Archer racing into the mudroom to get his sneakers on.
Ten minutes later they were on their way.
“How come I couldn’t bring my swimsuit?” Archer asked halfway there. “Jayce said they have a pool.”
“Because it’s only going to be in the low seventies. That’s not warm enough.”
“Sure, it is.”
“It’s not warm enough for me,” she said, laughing. “You’re not getting in without an adult and I’m not asking anyone else to do it if I won’t. Jayce said another time.”
“So we can come back?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Because you’re his girlfriend?”
She grinned. “I am. You’re still okay with that?”
“Yep. I like Jayce. Is it horrible to say I like him more than Dad?”
Her son’s voice dipped low when he asked that. She knew there was guilt in the question as much as in her response.
“No. You like who you like. It doesn’t mean you love your father any more or less, right?”
“I love him because he’s my dad,” Archer said. “But he never wants to do things with me like Jayce. He doesn’t even like to talk about the same things with me.”
What was she supposed to say to this? Nothing her son said was false.
Tucker was going to have to learn that the hard way. Maybe remember that everything Archer was confessing to her was similar to the relationship Tucker complained about with his father. But there her ex was, doing the same damn thing to his son.
“Sometimes that happens. But things change when we get older.”
Thankfully, they pulled into the McCarthy’s driveway. She parked behind Jayce’s car. They were the last ones here, she was guessing, with another truck and Mercedes. She’d bet the car was Jocelyn’s and the truck Gabe’s.
Archer was out of the car and ready to run to the house before she could even grab the cookies.
“There you are,” Jayce said, opening the front door. “I’ve been waiting.”
“Mom was baking. She made me get out of her way and it was boring!”
Jayce laughed and came down the stairs toward her, gave her a quick kiss on the lips and took the plates out of her hand. “These look great. How many got stolen before you wrapped them up?”
“I didn’t steal any,” Archer said, giggling. “Mom gave me one. Unless she stole one.”
“I have to taste everything before I bring it to know it’s good.”
“No fair!” Archer shouted.
“When you do the cooking and baking, then you can steal the food too.”
“I cooked with Jayce. Can we do it again?”
She saw Jayce’s gaze drop to her son. “Anytime you want.”
“How about tomorrow?”
“Jayce might have plans,” she said. “What did I tell you?”
They hadn’t talked about what was going on tomorrow. Hadn’t gotten much further than today. It was all her mind could process with seeing his family again in the capacity of his girlfriend.
“I’ve got nothing going on,” he said. “But it’s up to your mom. Remember, she’s the boss.”
It didn’t feel so much like that though when she walked in the front door and saw Jayce’s mom grinning at her.
“Hi, Stacy,” she said.
“It’s so nice to see you again,” Stacy said, moving in for a hug. “Not for an office visit either.”
It never bothered her to see patients outside of the office so it shouldn’t now.
“No,” she said. “This is my son, Archer. Archer, Jayce’s mom, Stacy.”
Her son walked over and shook hands without being prompted. Good for him.
“You look just like your mother. Come on back where everyone else is,” Stacy said.
She followed Jayce down the hall after Stacy turned toward the kitchen with the cookies in hand.
The house was exactly how she remembered it. Huge and almost intimidating when she’d been a kid. The McCarthys were the wealthiest of those she hung around with, but they never came off that way.
“Everyone, this is Farrah,” Jayce said. “And Archer. I’ll go around the room. It’s easier, but I’m sure Farrah knows or remembers most of you.”
Jayce made the introductions and with his arm around her shoulder, making it impossible for her to walk around shaking hands. No reason to be so formal anyway as the only new person was Elise who was holding a sleeping baby.
“Maverick is napping,” Jocelyn said. “I’m sure he’ll be up soon and then you’ll be treated to a mini tornado.”
“That was Archer as a toddler,” Farrah said. “Now it’s a much bigger one leaving destruction in his wake.”
“No,” Archer argued.
“Yes. I’m the one cleaning it up half the time, so I get to describe it that way.”
Her son laughed and looked toward her. His smile wide and a bit uncertain.
He was an outgoing kid, but they didn’t do a lot of social gatherings like this where there weren’t kids his age or activities for him to do.
“Mom said you weren’t swimming today,” Jayce said. “But we can go out and shoot hoops in the other driveway. I’m sure I can convince Gabe and Chance to go out with us. A little two on two.”
“Can it be you and me against them?” Archer asked. “Can we, Mom?”
“If Jayce wants to, then go for it.”
“Jayce has been like a kid on Christmas morning waiting for this,” Gabe said. “Go easy on me. I’m old and have a kid to get up and feed in the morning.”
“I’m ready to kick your brother’s butt,” Chance said to Jocelyn. “Might be my only shot having Gabe as my partner to block him.”
Gabe was an inch taller than Jayce. “My son is pretty good,” Farrah said. “But have fun and watch the language.”
The guys left, Jim following to watch, while the women stayed inside. She’d rather be out there playing too.
“I just need to say thank you,” Jocelyn said.
“For what?”
“For somehow getting my twin back to who he used to be. It’s been a while since I’ve seen this side of him.”
She wasn’t so sure what they were talking about or how she had a hand in it. “What side is that? I’ve only ever known one side and he seems the same to me.”
“That’s the side that’s back,” Stacy said. “The one in Charlotte hopefully is a thing of the past.”
Farrah looked on while Jocelyn and Stacy shared a silent glance. As much as she wanted to ask what it was about, something told her it didn’t matter. He was here and not there, and with any luck, here would be where he stayed.