Jake looked around at them.Tiffany was right.He hated that Rick had broken in – and he was going to hunt that bastard down – but it had brought them all together like this and strengthened the bonds between them.
He reached for a glass.“Yeah, we should stay; I’ll make us pancakes in the morning.”
~ ~ ~
As the four of them crowded around the kitchen table the next morning, eating the pancakes Jake had promised, Savannah couldn’t help smiling.She felt bad that Rick had come here looking for her, but the three of them had made her see that she had nothing to feel guilty about.The only person who’d done anything wrong was Rick.
In some ways it didn’t seem all that long ago since she’d sat right here and told Tiffany there was no way she could ask Jake out.She’d been so caught up in not wanting to be a burden to him – or to anyone else – that she hadn’t been able to see things the way she could now.Now, she understood that sharing your problems with people who cared about you wasn’t a burden – it brought you closer to them, strengthened the bonds.
Her breath caught when she wondered why it hadn’t worked that way for her and her mom.But even that didn’t bring her down.She could see it now.She’d been a kid.Her mom’s issues and her illness had been more of a burden than either of them could carry.Her mom hadn’t been a bad person; life had just dealt them a tough hand.
She paused with her fork halfway to her mouth when she noticed Jake watching her.
He cocked an eyebrow, and she smiled and gave him a slight nod, loving that they could check in with each other like that without saying a word.
She laughed when Tiffany groaned and turned to Josh, saying, “What do you think?Should we kick them out so we can figure out how to move you in, and they can go do whatever it is that people who are so sickeningly in love do on Saturdays.”She turned back to Savannah with a smile and added, “When they don’t have to work.”
“Wow.”Savannah took a deep breath and let her words and the truth of them land.She wasn’t going to have to work weekends anymore.
Jake reached for her hand under the table.“We’ll get out of your way if you guys want to figure out the details of the move, but whenever you’re ready, we’ll help.We should probably move Savannah’s stuff out of here and over to the house first since there’s more room there.Then we can bring Josh’s stuff straight into his new room here.”
As they all agreed, Savannah couldn’t help noticing that he’d called it Josh’s new room.She glanced at her old bedroom door; he was right – it was no longer her room.
When they were about ready to leave, Jake pulled her aside while Tiffany was asking Josh where he wanted to set up his desk.
“Is everything all right?”
He nodded and dropped a kiss on her lips.“I was wondering if you want to ask Tiff to come over for lunch with everyone tomorrow.”
She glanced over at her friend.“I’d love to, but it doesn’t seem right.Your family’s still getting used to me; I don’t know how they’d feel about me bringing my friend along, too.”
He pressed his lips to hers again.“Then I’ll tell you – they want her to come.I texted with my dad last night and again this morning, letting them know what was going on.They were worried about you, wanted to know that you’re okay.Jo said to ask if you want to bring Tiffany – she wants you to, and Dad does, too.They want to thank her for looking out for you.Once they realized that she’s here all by herself, they wanted to include her as well.”
“Aww, that’s so kind of them.”
He smiled.“It’s who they are – they care.Especially about you.It might seem like a chain reaction – that they care about you because I do, that they care about Tiff because you do.But it’s not like that – it’s because they only know you through me and Tiff through you – that’s how they know you, but they’d care no matter how they met you.”
That made her smile.
Josh took his phone out and chuckled as he checked his messages.
Tiffany grinned at Savannah and Jake.“Does he do this a lot – laugh at his phone?I like it.Most guys I know get this intense look on their face when they’re texting, trying to come up with all the right words to get themselves laid.”
Josh rolled his eyes at her.“You don’t need to worry about that with me – the only girls I know – present company excepted of course – are back in Atlanta.”
Savannah had to laugh at the way Tiff’s eyes lit up and she rubbed her hands together.“Well then, roomie, you just set us up our first project.”
“What’s that?”Josh asked warily.
Tiff laughed.“We’re going to find you a girlfriend.”
“Wait, no.I—”
She waved a hand at him.“Don’t panic – she can just be a girlfriend for the night or the weekend if that’s all you’re interested in.”
Josh looked at Savannah and Jake.“Are you guys going to help me defend myself, or are you abandoning me?”
Jake laughed.“We’re going to head out, but we’ll see you later.”
