13. Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Lilly
“I t’s been a week.” I let out a heavy breath as I pulled into Mom’s driveway Friday night. Tonya did exactly what she had promised, and my cleaning schedule was now full, but exhaustion seeped into every muscle in my body.
I turned off the car and breathed deeply.
Rose’s car was in the driveway. She and Nolan wanted me to meet them at the pub tonight, but I asked if we could stay home instead, so Rose brought Lena to the house, and we were going to have a nice quiet girls’ night in. Or that’s what I’d thought, but there were many other cars here as well.
I let out a sigh as I pulled myself from the car. So much for a quiet evening.
As soon as I opened the front door, Madeline ran into my arms. “Mommy! We’re having a party tonight. Everyone’s here.”
“I see.” I laughed at her excitement. “Hello, Lena,” I said as Lena and another little girl I didn’t know joined Madeline. The other girl was pretty, with long blonde hair. I crouched to be more on her eye level. “And who might you be?”
“I’m Skylar,” she said excitedly.
“Mrs. Diane is her grandma,” Madeline said as she pulled the other girls toward the kitchen. “We gotta go play, Mommy. Bye.”
I waved to the three girls as they ran into the kitchen, and I heard the sliding door open and close.
“Hey. I thought I heard someone.” Rose wrapped me in a hug.
“So glad to see you. I was greeted by the girls and met Skylar. She’s adorable,” I said.
“Yes, she is. And she’s just as sweet.”
I followed Rose through the kitchen and into the backyard. The ladies were sitting on the patio having a glass of wine. I hugged Tonya, Diane, Ruth, and my mother. “I guess it’s ladies’ night at Kaye’s,” I said.
“It is,” Diane said. “And I thought this would be the perfect night for you to meet my bonus daughter, Leila. Leila, Lilly.” Leila was about my height with thick brown hair and hazel eyes that gleamed.
I put my arms out. “Hope you don’t mind. I’m a hugger.”
Leila smiled. “Of course not.”
I gave her a hug. “It’s great to meet you,” I said to her. “I just met Skylar. She’s beautiful. With those blue eyes and blond hair, you’re going to have your hands full keeping the boys away.”
Leila laughed. “No kidding. Her father’s already having issues, and she hasn’t even started kindergarten yet. He’s threatening to send her to an all-girls boarding school.”
I laughed and watched the girls play in the back corner of the yard. “Well, it looks like they’ve been friends forever. I’m so glad. Madeline didn’t have many friends in New York.”
“Skylar loves playing with all the other grandkids, so Diane brings her to Orlinda Valley when she keeps her and gives me and Adler a child-free weekend.”
“Child-free weekends are wonderful sometimes,” Rose agreed.
We joined the women and gladly took the wine Diane offered.
“I wouldn’t know much about child-free weekends,” I said. “The only child-free night I’ve had in recent memory was last weekend.”
“Well then, we’ll have to fix that,” Tonya said. “Every mom needs time to herself. Maybe a girls’ weekend should be in the works.”
A girls’ weekend. Something I wasn’t used to. “Maybe soon, but I’m not sure.”
“Oh, nonsense. We could have a big camp out with the grandkids,” Ruth said. “It would be fun.
“And slightly chaotic,” Diane agreed.
“That’s why the grandfathers would need to be here to help out,” Mom answered. “It’s not like it would be the first time. Remember last year when it was Skylar, Lena, Darcie, and James?”
“Oh Lord, yes.” Tonya laughed. “Poor James. He was so outnumbered.” Tonya turned to me. “The girls wanted to play princess and dragon. Tom and Charles made them a clubhouse, and they dressed up in princess outfits but James, of course, refused to be a princess, so they made him the prince. The grandfathers were the dragons, and they ran around being chased by the ‘dragons.’ James was supposed to rescue the girls from the dragons’ castle when they were caught, but he refused.”
“Lena and Darcie were so mad he wasn’t playing by the rules,” Diane said with a chuckle.
Ruth laughed. “But he was playing by his rules. He said it was much quieter with the girls locked in the castle.”
“He came in the house and ate a bunch of cookies before we realized they were waiting on him,” Mom said.
“My grandson sure does have a way with the women,” Tonya added and shook her head. “The girls finally stomped into the house with their arms crossed, but James didn’t care at all.”
“Poor James,” Kaye said. “He needs another boy or two in the group. Those girls will drive him crazy.”
Rose, Leila, and I sipped our wine and laughed at the stories the women told about the grandkids over the years.
“What did we miss?” Lance asked as he, Jamison, and Darcie entered the backyard.
“Darcie,” the girls all squealed as they surrounded her, and she jumped right into whatever they were playing.
My heart jumped too, and heat crawled up my neck.
Rose glanced at me with a smirk, which she hid quickly with her wine glass.
I sucked in my bottom lip to keep a grin from my face as Lance and Jamison joined us.
Lance sat in the only chair open, leaving Jamison to sit next to me on the love seat. I moved over so he could sit, and he gave me a small smile.
I fixated on those lips. Their softness. Their feel against mine. I lost track of the discussion as I couldn’t help but focus on the close proximity of his body and the sexy manliness of his cologne.
“Well, now that everyone is here, ladies, let’s go get dinner ready.” Mom stood. “Y’all, we have salad and sandwiches for dinner. It’s not fancy, but we expect you to stay and eat.”
Jamison leaned back, placed his left ankle on his right knee, and laid his arm over the back of the seat. His arm was close enough I could feel the presence of it near my shoulders.
“I think we know better than to argue with the book club,” he said.
“That’s the truth,” agreed Rose.
“I wouldn’t argue, anyway. I will never say no to free food,” Lance said.
“So true.” Mom laughed, and she gave me a smile as she passed and squeezed my hand. “I’m so glad to have both my kids here, and my beautiful granddaughter.”
“Thanks, Mom.” My voice was soft with gratitude. “Can we help with anything?”
“Nope.” She waved me off. “Just sit and talk. We have everything under control.”
I watched them walk into the kitchen. “I feel bad, them waiting on me.”
“Sis, relax. Mom and the ladies planned this. Mom’s so glad you’re home. She wanted to do something special,” Lance said.
“You and Madeline are all they’ve been talking about,” Jamison agreed.
I felt the light pull of a strand of my hair and the soft pressure of his hand on my neck. A tingle of electricity ran down my spine, and I had to hide a shiver.
He continued, “My mom called me this morning and told me when to be here with Darcie. So, sit still, Lilly-Pad, and let the moms do what they do best—take care of us and their grandkids.”
Jamison stopped playing with my hair, and his hand rested against my neck. I glanced at him. My pulse raced with his closeness, but when he touched me and called me the familiar endearment, “Lilly-Pad,” my heart skipped a bunch of beats.
He gave me a smile, and there went another missed beat. “Fine. I won’t help.” Staying right here seemed like a much better option anyway.
Rose refilled my wine, and Lance handed Jamison a beer. I watched Lance to see if he thought anything between Jamison and me was off, but he didn’t seem to notice. Rose, on the other hand, had a ridiculous smirk glued to her face. I widened my eyes and tilted my head. “Rose, do you have an issue you need to discuss?”
She shrugged. “Not one I think needs to be brought up at this moment.” Her smirk grew wider. “So, Lance, what’s this buzz I hear about you and Jayla?”
Lance pursed his lips. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, no?” she continued, “You and the English teacher having something going on is pretty big news in this little town.”
“Time to eat,” Tonya said, her arms filled with food, and everyone followed her.
“You’re saved, Lance,” Jamison said as we went to the table.
“Lance is saved from what?” Mom asked as we settled around the table. Lance, Jamison, me, and Rose on one side, Leila on the end, and the book club on the other. The girls sat on a blanket in the grass. They were excited to have a real picnic even with a straw picnic basket. They ate and continued their childlike discussion while we ate, and I was finally able to relax with Jamison beside me.
“The latest woman who has grabbed his attention,” Jamison said.
“Oh, Jayla,” Tonya said. “From what I heard, Jayla has it bad for you, Lance.”
“How did you hear that?” he asked before taking a bite of his sandwich. My brother was a ladies’ man, always going from woman to woman and refusing to settle down.
“I know everything that happens in this town. There are no secrets.”
“No truer words have ever been spoken,” Diane said. “I heard a little rumor today when I was cutting Gertrude’s hair.”
“Mrs. Gertrude, the librarian?” I asked, my eyes wide.
Diane nodded.
“She’s still around?” I asked.
“Damn, Lilly,” Jamison said with a chuckle. “She’s not old.”
“Come on. She has to be,” I said. “She was the librarian when I was a senior in high school.”
“Maybe,” Jamison replied. “but she was just a couple years ahead of me in college when she got the job.”
“You know a lot about her,” Rose said.
Jamison shrugged and got quiet.
“My boy had a short stint in the hay with Gertrude, if I remember correctly,” Tonya said.
“Mom, seriously?”
“Totally serious, baby,” she said to Jamison and leaned on the table.
I didn’t miss the eye roll Jamison gave her.
“Anyway, I went out to the barn to take care of the goats we had at the time and walked right in on Jamison and Gertrude having some fun on the hay.”
“Oh, my gosh,” said Ruth, her eyes wide. “Jamison.”
Leila stood as she recovered from laughing. “On that note, I think I’ve got to go.”
Rose gave her a hug. “Why are you leaving?”
Leila hugged her back. “I have an appointment I need to get to, and Adler’s meeting me.” Then she hugged me. “It was great to finally meet you, Lilly.”
“I’ll bring Skylar home later. Let her stay and play longer,” Diane said.
Leila agreed and saw herself out after saying goodbye to Skylar.
“I think we should play a game,” Jamison said.
“Are you trying to change the subject?” asked Lance.
“Yep. I’m over talking about me.”
“When was the last time y’all played Spoons?” I asked.
Jamison and Lance glanced at each other, then at Rose. Rose’s shoulders rose as she thought. “Probably Christmas?” she asked the guys.
“That’s right. We introduced Kai to the game. He had never played,” said Jamison.
“It got pretty intense,” recalled Lance.
“Yeah, because Jamison and Bryson kept cheating,” said Rose.
Jamison’s mouth dropped. “No one ever proved it.”
“My boys are always being accused of cheating.” Tonya said as she and Ruth returned from the kitchen.
“Yeah, Mom. Can you believe it?”
Tonya laughed. “Don’t make me answer that, son.”
“Wow,” I said, laughing. “I don’t know what that says about you when your mother won’t stick up for you. Guess I’ve got to watch you closely.”
Jamison pushed his shoulder against mine. “I don’t know, Lilly-Pad. If I remember correctly, you were quite the cheater back in the day. You and Kora needed to be watched all the time.”
I shrugged. “That was so long ago; you wouldn’t be able to prove anything.”
“Well . . .” Rose started.
I elbowed her.
“Hey.” She rubbed her side. “Innocent people don’t need to resort to physical abuse.”
I hugged her. “Sorry, Rosie. But I need you to back me up.”
“Okay, okay,” Diane interjected. “Let’s get started.”