Chapter 27
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
“Where do you want it?” I ask, lifting my side of the six foot folding table. Hudson tips his head in the direction of the barn and starts heading that way.
“I figure the girls will make the most money if everyone stops by on their way in, so the market entrance it is,” he says, guiding us until we reach the flat spot of ground near the barn. We set the table down, and I go back for the box of linens and table decorations.
Ms. Leah Mitchell, the school principal, called Hudson last week asking if the girls could have a booth at the market to fundraise money for the entire football and cheer program. He of course said yes, and because he knows Jo Jo cheers, asked me if I’d like to help set up.
Setting up this table is about as close to knowing about Jolene’s cheerleading as I’m gonna get. I don’t mind helping though. Lord knows it beats sitting at home, wondering what Riley is thinking about all of this.
I haven’t texted or even tried to call her—and I haven’t heard anything from her, either. I’m paralyzed with indecision.
That morning that Jolene walked in on us was mortifying, but I got over the discomfort of her seeing the adult male side of me pretty quickly when I realized just how severely our actions impacted her most important relationship. The one she had with Miss Rivers.
I told her I wouldn’t see Miss Riley until she was ready to talk, but she hasn’t initiated anything since then. I don’t know what to do. Dr. Tanner took me yesterday in what I explained was an emergency appointment. He said I ought to have Riley over and the three of us should sit down and talk about what she saw, how Miss Riley and I feel for one another, and what the future holds. He said that speaking to Jo Jo as an adult is a large part of getting a good response out of her. Respect and communication is what she’s needing the most now, he’d said.
Still, I feel stuck.
I want Riley Rivers, and I want to be able to have that sit down and let it all out. The only thing is, Jo Jo walked in on us before we had any conversations about us. Riley and I have been circling each other for weeks, and what happened that night, I feel in my soul, was bound to happen between us. But I haven’t talked to her. So how can I tell that to Jo Jo when I don’t even know how or what Riley is feeling right now?
“Got a lot on your mind?” Hudson asks, taking the edge of the table cloth as we spread it out over the off-white colored plastic table.
I wave him off just as his wife saunters up, two glasses of colorful juice in her hands, slices of lemon garnishing each. Hudson stands, slipping his hat off as he presses a kiss to her cheek. “Hey, darlin’,” he greets as Dolly sets the glasses down on the table.
She loops her arms around his neck, and he scoops her up, careful not to jostle her pregnant belly. They kiss on the mouth, and it’s one of those loud wet ones that really belongs behind closed doors. I clear my throat as I root around in the box, pulling out weights for the table.
“Sorry,” Hudson says, putting her on her feet. “Did you make us some lemonade?”
She nods, and Hudson takes the glasses, passing me one. I don’t much like lemonade, but we’ve been out here working for an hour or so, and I could use a drink. I bring the glass to my lips before– thwack. Dolly slaps the glass out of my hand, sending sticky lemonade and chunks of ice scattering across the clean table cloth.
My mouth falls open and my brows droop. “I…”
Hudson faces Dolly, wincing. He looks at the mess but then his face registers something private between them. “Did you give Jake the blue lemonade by accident?”
She nods. “I got them switched.” Her eyes dart to mine for a second before veering back to her husband’s. “I’ll get him another.” With that, she disappears inside their house, leaving me standing there, blinking at Hudson, confused as all hell .
“What was that all about?” I ask, grabbing a rag from the box to clean up the mess.
Hudson puts his hat back on with a chuckle. “Well, it’s Friday night. The kids are at my sister’s house for the weekend, and when the kids are away, Dolly likes to slip me a Viagra and see if we can ride till dawn .” He levels his gaze on me. “Her words, not mine.”
I blink a few times. “Well.”
“So tell me what’s the matter. You’ve been off all morning.”
I sigh, scratching at the center of my chest where faint pain lingers. “I don’t know how to transition from your thing to mine because… blue lemonade?” I question.
“It actually dissolves clear but yeah, we call it blue because of the Viagra.” He gets a few vases out, and moves them around on the table. “What’s your thing?”
I launch into it without preamble, because it feels like the best way. “I’ve been sleeping with Miss Riley… you know, the JV cheerleading coach. Jo Jo’s coach.”
“Oh wow,” Hudson says. “You catch feelings?”
I look him in the eye. “I got something with her I have never had with anyone else.” May sound dramatic, but damn if it isn’t the truth.
“Damn, Jake,” Hudson says, clapping my back as he moves around the table, still pulling items from the box.
“Well,” I hedge, “Jo Jo walked in on us two weeks ago. She freaked out. I think… it made her feel like what she and Miss Riley had was… gone. It made her feel like we deceived her. I think she thought I was choosing Miss Riley over her but I would never do that and… I don’t know,” I admit with a heavy-hearted sigh. “It’s all fucked up.”
“What did you do?” Hudson asks, plunging long- stemmed faux florals into vases, arranging them as we talk. “You know, when Jo Jo walked in.”
“I had to make sure Jo Jo knew she came before anything or anyone else, so I asked Miss Riley to leave. I guess I broke it off with her.”
Hudson nods. “So that’s why you look like shit.”
I nod. “Oh, and by the way, I brought your items.” I lift my brows. “They’re in a bag in my pickup.”
“Oh perfect timing,” he beams.
“Yes, just in time for your blue weekend,” I deadpan.
Hudson ignores my grouchy snark. “Look, Jake, Jo Jo knows you choose her. Okay? Look, you’ve been single since Janie. Refused to date, you haven’t even slept around a lick. Everything you do is for Jo Jo and so she can have the best, most stable life after enduring so much trauma losing her mama so young. Instead of not chasing the first spark of true happiness you’ve felt in years, why don’t you just sit down with Jo Jo and talk to her about it?”
Thank the Lord for passionate as hell Dolly Gray. She reappears, this time with a new glass of lemonade—hopefully viagra free. “I’m sorry, Jake,” she says sweetly. “Here, enjoy this lemonade. And I brought you a sandwich for your drive home.” She raises her arm to show me a tiny Hudson Farms bag, with a sandwich and chips poking out.
“Thanks, Dolly,” I tell her, taking the drink and the bag.
Hudson and I finish the table in just a few minutes, with Hudson’s sister-in-law Juniper stopping by to make sure flowers are where they need to be, and that everything is laid out to her liking.
I get in my truck, sip my lemonade, and stew on Hudson’s words.
Am I fucking things up with Riley by trying too hard to make it all perfect for Jo Jo? Is Jo Jo old enough to sit down and talk to like adults? Is it too soon for me to be seeing someone with Jo Jo still in the house? Am I overthinking everything and in the process, ruining things with both of the women I care about?
I don’t know. But a growing part of me thinks Hudson isn’t wrong.
I don’t get more than a mile down the road, headed home to think about this more, this time over a beer, when my phone rings.
“Dad?” Jo Jo’s panicked voice echoes through the line before I even say hello.
“Jo Jo, what’s wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Where are you?” A litany of questions spews from my mouth as my heart kicks into overdrive. I have no clue where she is, but I hit the gas anyway, speeding up the road.
I hit the speakerphone button and slide my phone into the hands free dock that Jo Jo lovingly calls “grandpa GPS.” On the other end, she’s out of breath, waffling between trying to catch her breath, and crying. “Jo Jo!” I shout. I pull up her location, and see she’s… “you’re at school,” I read off the screen.
Finally, she speaks. “We stayed late–it was a short practice but some of us girls s-stayed late,” she starts, calming her breathing in order to get the words out. “Miss Leah left,” she says of the principal. “Varsity went home, too. It’s just… us JV girls.”
“What’s the matter? Jesus, Jo Jo,” I swear, veering off the private road leading to the market, hitting the main highway. I head toward the school, barreling down the country road at eighty miles per hour.
“Miss Riley!” she cries. “Dad! There’s some man in Miss Riley’s office and he won’t let her out. She’s crying, Dad. She told us to get help, then he closed the door. ”
“Jo Jo, listen to me, okay? You listen to every damn word I say right now. You take those girls out of the gym, away from that office, and you go around to the back of the field house.” The field house is steel and fiberglass, and therefore, bullet proof. I don’t know what’s going on in that office, and if it’s her ex-boyfriend, Michael. If it is, I can’t bet the lives of these girls that he came unarmed. “You take all the girls back there, you hear me? It’s the only building on campus that’s bulletproof.”
Jo Jo gasps, and it evolves quickly into a panicked cry. “I was so mean to her, I was so mean to her for weeks, and now, what if–”
“She’s gonna be alright, okay? I’m headed that way now. I’m just playing it safe with the field house so don’t worry. Just take the girls back there and when you end the call with me, call Bluebell police. Okay? Tell them you’re a cheerleader at Bluebell High and your coach needs help and is being held against her will by Michael Rhodes.”
Jo Jo’s voice is wobbly. “Is… that her evil ex-boyfriend?”
“Just get back there and make the call, Jolene, okay?” I press my boot to the pedal so hard my truck sputters, but the high school is already in sight.
“Okay,” she breathes, but she doesn’t hang up.
My heart is racing, and my mind is everywhere. I know now with all certainty that the three of us, we gotta work this thing out. The idea of losing Riley has me sick, and my daughter is an absolute mess. I did it all wrong, but I will make it right. All of it. “I love you, Jolene.”
“Love you, too, Dad,” she says, and then the call disconnects. I pray for the girls to stay safe, for my daughter to be their shepherd to safety, and that nothing happens to Miss Riley.
Hang on, baby, I’m almost there. I’m sorry, and I’m almost there.