Chapter 27 Hang Tight
Hang Tight
Anita squealed with excitement, then grabbed Jake and danced him around the kitchen when we surprised her the next morning.
For the next few hours, while he had her by turns scolding him and uproariously laughing down in the kitchen, I worked upstairs in the apartment to move my things from what I now considered Jake’s closet.
Even though Jake brought next to nothing with him, I planned to fill that closet to overflowing with everything he needed, including a new guitar, as soon as possible.
I moved about in some sort of dream state, hardly believing he was here, and jumping at every little noise as I waited for his father to show up.
And then there was Kian.
Hauling out the boxes I’d broken down and stored when I first moved in months ago, I taped the seams and set them out side-by-side in a line. It wasn’t that I was hell-bent on moving, but there wasn’t a whole lot of storage space in Anita’s apartment.
And I had to be practical.
I swiped away the tears pooling below my eyes. There was no time for crying. If Kian decided to move back home or move on without me, I needed to be ready to forge my own path.
I’d done it twice before and I could do it again.
I hoped, God, I prayed I wouldn’t have to, but his actions since leaving didn’t lend me much in the way of confidence.
A broken sob made it halfway up my throat, but I stuffed it back down because as much as I feared Kian moving on without me, the threat of Gary showing up loomed larger every second.
Now that I’d started packing, I didn’t see the point in stopping at the closet. I pulled out my suitcases and started throwing in the clothes I wouldn’t need for the next month. A month should be enough time for me to figure out where Jake and I were going to live.
How I was going to support us.
Because this apartment was only supposed to be temporary. And Jake was anything but.
I used to dream about it, scooping Jakey up and taking him with me to start over. Back then it would have been tantamount to kidnapping.
Now? I could make that dream come true.
Or I could raise him here in Sage Ridge, stay where my roots had begun to go to ground, exchange one dream for another.
If Kian was moving on without me, I could take over the chocolatier and make a home for Jakey and me.
But if Kian stayed?
We’d be a family.
Maybe.
Me, him, and the iceman.
And Jakey.
I hoped.
Round and round the possibilities flew.
And the answer rested on a single question. A single question who hadn’t contacted me since yesterday.
When the phone rang, having little hope, I barely glanced at it. When it continued to go off, I put my packing aside and picked it up. Kian’s number flashed on the screen.
“Kian?”
“Hi, sweetheart. How are you?”
“Fine.” I sniffed.
He chuckled. “I know what that means. I’m sorry, sweet girl. It’s been crazy here. I’m doing my best to wrap it up.”
I closed my eyes and took a breath. Letting old insecurities run rampant was silly. This was Kian. My best friend. My lover. The man I loved.
The man who loved me?
Then why didn’t he take you with him?
“Crazy wonderful?” I ventured, squeezing my eyes closed at the tremor in my voice.
He hummed. “Parts. I hope to be home tomorrow or the next day. Are you okay?”
Parts. My heart sank. What did that mean for us? For him? This dribbling of non-information was driving me up the wall.
His absence left me far too much space in which to think, and given space, I always thought the worst.
He continued, his voice softening. “We need to talk when I get back, okay?”
We need to talk.
Talk about what?
“Sure.” The word came out strangled.
“It’s nothing bad, Bridge. Is there something else wrong other than the fact this is taking longer than expected?” he probed.
“No.”
“What is it, Bridget?” he asked sharply. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong,” I murmured. Unless Gary showed up. I didn’t want to burden Kian, but I didn’t want to keep anything from him either. “Jakey is here.”
“Now?” he exclaimed.
“He left home. Got here last night.”
“Right,” he clipped. “This changes things. I’ll, uh, I’ll see you soon. Hang tight, baby.”
He closed the call without another word.
I looked at the blank screen.
My mind spun with contradicting scenarios, screaming at me to prepare without giving me a single clue how to do so.
I scrubbed both hands down my face and growled into my palms. Tearing them away, I hitched them on my hips and looked around. The chaos I unleashed from the closet spread over the entire room.
If there was one thing I was good at, it was cleaning up a mess.
Two hours later, the boxes lay stacked three deep against the living room wall. Having run out of steam, I left the suitcases open and half-filled on my bedroom floor.
I’d made Jake a space of his own. The rest I could do tomorrow.
Or maybe after the talk with Kian.
My stomach twisted. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. The men in my life were driving me to drink.
The pounding of Jake’s feet coming up the stairs interrupted what was sure to be another emotional volcano and I smiled instead. Because Jake was here. With me. And for once, I had a chance to do what was best for him.
The door swung open before I got to it, and Jake came barreling in with one of Anita’s treat boxes in his hands. “Want to see what I made?”
“Absolutely,” I replied.
His smile faded and he stiffened up as he looked around.
“What’s up, buddy?” I murmured.
He shrugged, then straightened his spine. “I just want you to know, I don’t intend to be a burden.”
“You have never been a burden, Jakey.”
His eyes twinkled. “Jake.”
I rolled my eyes and corrected myself. “Jake. You will never be a burden. I have always wanted you, and that won’t change.”
He waved his arm toward the boxes. “Then what’s all this?”
“That is everything I pulled out of your closet. And it’s mostly junk,” I replied honestly. “This apartment was only supposed to be temporary. You coming gave me a reason to get organized.”
“Did me coming here force you to have to move?”
I shook my head. “Not at all. In fact, when you asked me if you could visit, my—Kian and I repainted the room and Kian put in shelves for you.”
“Then why is all this stuff out here? This wasn’t here last night.”
“Because I didn’t get to it before. Now I am. You are not the problem, Jake. You’ve never been the problem.”
He grimaced. “You’re the only one who thinks so.”
I offered him a tight-lipped smile when what I really wanted to do was wrap him up in my arms and never let him go. “Consider your sources.”
“Yeah…” His voice trailed off as his eyes skittered away. “I suppose you’re right.”
“I am,” I replied firmly. “But only you can decide how much of your life you’re willing to allow them control over.”
He broke into a grin. “Judging by their long list of complaints about my behavior, not much!”
I laughed and gave into the urge to hug him. “I’m happy to hear that.”
After a brief hesitation, he hugged me back. “Am I going to be okay?”
“You are,” I replied firmly. “You’re safe. You have a home with me. And your future is wide open.”
“He’s going to come for me,” he professed quietly. “He hates to lose.”
I squeezed him tight then drew back to meet his eyes. “He’s going to have to get used to it.”
He stared down at me for a second, those dark eyes searching mine, before offering me a barely perceptible nod.
“Good.” I smiled. “Show me what you and Aunt Anita got up to in the kitchen.
While we stuffed our faces full of badly misshapen cookies, I pulled open my laptop to start ordering the basics for Jake.
After a lot of mental shuffling, I even got him a little excited about the prospect. Especially when I clicked on a popular musical instrument store in the city.
But that only lasted until the phone rang.