Jake felt himself relax.“Yeah, and I know.”He looked over at Savannah and Jo again, and then turned back to his dad with a smile.“Wait, hold on.You were already staying over here with Jo when I first arrived in town, right?”
His dad chuckled.“That’s right.And we probably moved even faster than you and Savannah are doing.”
Jake loved the way he smiled when he looked over at Jo and added, “And if I could go back and do it all over again, I’d move even faster still.”His smile faded.“The only word of caution I’ll give you is don’t rush her.From what I’ve seen of her, and from what Sadie and Harvey have told us about her, she hasn’t had it easy in life.It might take her a while to get used to knowing that she’s landed on her feet now – with you.”
“We’ve been taking it steady,” said Jake, “even though I know it doesn’t look that way.”
“Doesn’t matter how it looks from the outside, son.You know what you’re doing.Just remember that I’ve got your back if you need me, okay?”
Jake had to swallow a couple of times as his throat constricted.He punched his dad’s arm and said, “Yeah.Thanks.”
“And do you guys want to stay in the house?Is that the idea?”his dad asked.
“We do.But it’s going to take some working out.I don’t want to just throw Josh out on his ear, and Savvie doesn’t want to let her roommate Tiffany down either.We’ll figure it out – it might take a while, but we’ll get there.”
They both turned when Harvey came to join them.
“Did I hear you right?”he asked.“Are you trading roommates?”
Jake gave him a puzzled look.
“Well, it seems to me like you’re finally getting the hang of things and moving Savannah in with you.And no, I’m not being nosy.I just pay attention,” he added with a wink.“So, it seems to me like you could do a straight swap.”
“A straight swap?”Jake’s dad asked.
“Yeah.Send Savvie over to live in the house in town with Jake, and Josh can move into Savvie’s apartment — with that colorful girl.”
Jake had to laugh.“That colorful girl?That almost sounds as though you might like her.Up until now, I’ve only ever heard you call Tiffany ‘that city girl.’”
Harvey shrugged nonchalantly.“I went into the salon the other day.”He ran his hand over his head.“I might not have much hair left, but what’s there grows a bit wild these days.Usually I just take the trimmers to it myself, but …” He chuckled.“But if the girls can have a spa day, I don’t see why I can’t.I took myself in there and asked her to cut it for me.She did a good job as well, I reckon.”
He reached up to tug his ear.“Turns out she even has a little trimmer for these things.”
Jake couldn’t help laughing at that.
“Anyway.She might be from the city, but she’s all right, that one.Best of all, she has young Savannah’s back.And that’s a whole lot more important than whatever the color of her hair might be.”
“It’s true,” said Jake’s dad.“She’s been doing Jo’s hair since she arrived in town, and Jo thinks the world of her.”
Jake tensed a little when Sadie came to join them.He liked her, but he had to wonder how she might feel about Harvey’s suggestion.She was thrilled that Josh had come to live in Summer Lake, and he knew she was pretty protective against anything that might put him off staying.
Harvey didn’t seem to have the same concerns.He turned to her with a grin.“Hey, honey bun, you like that Tiffany girl, don’t you?”
Sadie gave Jake and his dad a wary smile before asking, “Why, what are you up to now, Dad?”
Jake chuckled when Harvey winked at him.“I was just telling Jakey here that they should do a roommate swap.”
“Oh!”Sadie’s eyebrows shot up.She looked at Jake then over to where Savannah was now laughing with Jo about something.
Jake let out a breath when she smiled.“I take it that means things are going well for you two?”
He nodded.
“I’m glad.She deserves some happiness.”
“That’s what I said,” Harvey told her.“And she couldn’t do any better for herself than this guy – he’s a good ’un.”
“And I couldn’t do any better than Savannah, she’s the best.”Jake knew Harvey didn’t mean it that way, but it kind of sounded as though Savannah was lucky to have found him.As far as he was concerned, just because life had been kinder to him than it had to her, that didn’t mean there was any kind of inequality between them.He felt like he was the lucky one – and he needed them to know.
