Book 25 Resilience After Dark #3
“It’s really nice.” Jace walks across the yard for a closer look at the bushes.
Good God, Cindy thinks for the thousandth time, but Jace is one of the hottest men she’s ever met.
How in the world would she stand to have him as a roommate and not give in to the regular urge to lick him or kiss him or—
“What’s the rent?”
Startled out of her salacious thoughts, she says, “Eight hundred plus utilities that are another hundred.”
“Ouch.”
“It’s not cheap to live here year-round.”
“So I’ve discovered. It’s also not easy to find a place.”
“Do you want to see the bedroom that would be yours?”
“Yeah, but first…” He points to the chairs Kevin had left. “Can we sit for a second?”
She holds her breath, waiting to hear what he will say and hoping it won’t ruin the first real crush she’s had on a man in years.
“I… I’m a convicted felon on parole for the next five years.”
Like a pin hitting a balloon, all the air leaves her lungs in one deep sigh. “Oh.”
“And a recovering drug addict. I’ve been clean for six years and have no desire to ever return to the life I led before my brother was killed right next to me during a convenience store robbery.
I attend daily meetings and work the program to maintain my sobriety, which is one of the most important things in my life.
You’d have absolutely nothing to fear from me if you allowed me to live with you, but I wanted you to know the truth before you decide anything. ”
“I, um… I appreciate your honesty.”
He gives her a side-eyed glance that’s the sexiest thing since Chris Hemsworth played Thor. “Is it a deal breaker?”
Her mind is racing. I like him. I’ve liked him for weeks. I’ve started to think of him as a friend—as well as a crush. But I can’t deny that I’m conflicted. “Would it be okay if I had a day to think about it?”
“Of course. I should also tell you that I’m here on Gansett because my sons, Jackson and Kyle, live here.”
Cindy knows of Lisa’s story from her sister, Katie, who cared for Lisa when she was sick.
“I’ll regret for the rest of my life that I wasn’t there for them when they needed me. I wish more than anything that I could somehow make amends to Lisa, but since I can’t, I’m trying to be there for our boys and be a friend to them.”
Cindy’s heart beats so fast, she’s nearly breathless as she tries to get her head around everything he’s told her. “Would you… Would you like to see the room?”
“That’d be great, thanks.”
After she shows him the room, he says it’s perfect for him. Jace gives her his last name and tells her she can look up his story.
“I want you to know…”
He tips his head and keeps his full attention focused on her.
It’s a wonder she doesn’t melt on the spot. “I know you’re just doing your job being nice to your customers at the bar, but your friendship has meant a lot to me this summer.”
“Likewise, and being nice to you, Cindy, has nothing to do with my job. It has everything to do with you.” On that startling note, he says, “I’ll wait to hear from you. Either way, we’re still friends. I promise.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“No worries. Come see me tomorrow night.”
“I will.”
After Jace leaves and Cindy searches for his story online, she reaches out to Katie and Julia for a sister meeting. Katie is able to come right over, but Julia has to finish her set at Stephanie’s Bistro.
Julia comes in later with her dog, Puppy Pupwell, and a pizza.
The puppy lets out a yip when he sees Aunt Cindy because she always has a treat for him.
Cindy tells them she has a crush. “Ohhhh, yes!” Julia fist-pumps the air.
“Is it the sexy bartender at the Beachcomber? Jace, right? I told Deacon after the last time we were there that you liked him.”
“And you say I’m the clairvoyant one,” Cindy says to Katie.
“So, it is him!” Julia says. “I knew it.”
“Before you get too excited, let me tell you the rest.”
After she tells her sisters about his conviction and drug addiction, they tell her she can’t date him or let him live with her.
She feels something for him that she’s never felt for anyone else.
The sisters talk it out, and while Katie and Julia don’t like that the situation is so complicated, they want her to be happy.
If she wants Jace to be her roommate and friend, then she should try it.
Cindy’s last client the next day is her mother, Sarah.
She tells her mother she’s met a man. “He’s a lot like Charlie,” she says of her new stepfather, “and I only put that together when you were talking about how he shared his past with you when you first met him. Jace is an ex-con, a recovering addict and a very sweet man. In fact, he answered my ad for a roommate.”
“What did he do?” Sarah asks, her tone guarded.
“He and his older brother robbed a convenience store when they needed money for drugs. His brother pulled a gun, the owner of the store shot him, and Jace stayed with his brother, who died right there in the store. He did six years in prison and got clean while he was in there. He’s here because his two little boys live here—Jackson and Kyle… ”
“Chandler. Lisa’s boys.”
“Yes.”
“They’re doing so well with Seamus and Carolina.”
“He’s aware of that and is thankful to get to see them occasionally. He’s not trying to upset anything.”
“That’s a lot to take on, Cin.”
“I know. He said as much himself when he told me about it. But the thing is, I’ve already known him for a while.
I pop into the Beachcomber for dinner a few nights a week, and he’s the bartender there.
We’ve become friendly, and well… I like him.
I only found out his full story when he came to see the house last night. ”
“I give him points for being honest with you.”
Cindy is going to give him a chance as a roommate and a friend.
Charlie has taught Sarah so much about grace and compassion and how everyone struggles in one way or another.
They agree it’s hard to trust people after what they went through with Cindy’s father and Sarah’s ex-husband.
But when you find someone you trust, that’s all that matters.
Cindy is late coming to the bar, which makes Jace anxious. But what does he expect? What woman in her right mind would take an ex-con and recovering drug addict into her home? If she were his daughter, he’d tell her to stay away from guys like him.
When Cindy walks through the door, his sense of relief is similar to how he’d felt when he learned he was being paroled early for good behavior. He sets her up with an ice water with lemon and takes her dinner order.
“What’s with the games?” she asks of the board games on the bar as he puts her order into the computer.
“I hear it’s a long winter around here. Thought it might be fun.”
“That’s a great idea. I used to play checkers with my pop. I’m really good.”
“Is that right?” He glances at her. “Set up a game and show me how good you are.”
She flashes a determined smile. “You’re on, my friend.”
Have two little words ever meant more to him? My friend. She knows the worst about him and is still there, still smiling at him and referring to him as her friend. She’s given him a priceless gift with those two words.
Jace goes to the kitchen to get chowder for Cindy, Kevin and Chelsea. He carries the tray back to the bar and doles out the bowls, spoons and oyster crackers.
Then he leans in, moves one of the black checkers Cindy has put on his side of the board and leaves her with a wink.
Her face flushes adorably. She’s so sweet and kind, and if he were a better man, he’d leave her the hell alone. The last thing a lovely young woman like her needs in her life is him and all his baggage. He should find a different living situation and stop flirting with her every chance he gets.
However, despite all the work he’s done on himself over the last few years, he still isn’t strong enough to walk away from someone who makes him feel as good as she does.
Being in her presence reminds him of what happens when the sun emerges from behind a cloud.
Suddenly, everything is brighter, warmer and happier.
Everything about her appeals to him, but nothing more so than her heart, which is always on display in the way she interacts with others.
Cindy hangs out until closing. “I’ve been thinking about the roommate situation,” she finally says.
“It’s okay if it doesn’t work for you. No pressure.”
“I want you to know that I appreciate how you were upfront with me about everything when you certainly didn’t have to be.”
“You deserved the truth if you were going to let me into your home.”
“A lot of people wouldn’t have been thinking about me. They’d only be thinking about themselves. You didn’t do that, and it matters to me. How would you feel about trying it for a month and seeing how it goes?”
“I can see why you’d want to do it that way, but the thing is, I need a sure thing. I want to spend the winter here so I can see my boys, and with everyone snapping up off-season housing this month, there won’t be anything left if you give me the boot after a month.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“Listen, no hard feelings if you say no. I promise.”
“I’m not saying no.”
“Oh.”
She bites her bottom lip as she gazes at him with more affection than he deserves. “I guess I’ll have to just take you at your word that you’ll be a good roommate.”
“I will be. I’ll do all the cleaning.”
“Sold. I hate to clean.”
“See? I’m already the best roommate you’ve ever had.”
As he breathes a sigh of relief to know he’s found a place to live, he vows to do everything he can to be the best roommate she’ll ever have.
The next day, Cindy is on pins and needles all day waiting for six-thirty to arrive when Jace will move in.
He said he doesn’t have much, so the move shouldn’t take long.
She’s walking home, thinking about what her father would have to say about her having a male roommate.
He used to rage about not having “sluts for daughters.”
“Cin?”