“Yeah. She smells good too.”
Jack could attest to that. She’d weighed next to nothing when he’d lifted her for that hug, and she smelled incredible. Like flowers. Lilacs maybe. Lavender? Something purple, if memory served. He could almost see her smiling as she teased him about her flower garden, back when they’d been young and in love.
“Isn’t sheMrs.Weaver though? Like, she’s married or has a boyfriend?”
Josh grinned, a sly smile that warned Jack to be wary. “Dad said you’d ask about Ms. Weaver. I get five bucks.”
Jack groaned as he pulled into his brother’s driveway. “Don’t tell your dad. It was just a question.” The boy chortled. Fortunately kids were easily bribed. “I’ll give you ten dollars to keep quiet.”
“And ice cream after dinner?”
Jack nodded. “Any flavor you want.”
Josh seemed to think it over, then agreed. They hooked fingers and, sworn into a pinkie promise, Jack backed out of the driveway and took the little swindler to the grocery store to pick his winnings…where he bumped into another familiar face clearly wishing he’d drop dead. Then again, what else could he expect from the Terrible Trio?
“Well, well. Look who’s back.” Maya Werner sneered at him. Then she noticed Josh and was all smiles.
Sexy, mean and not his type. He could still appreciate a nice body though. And boy, Maya, like Ann, had only gotten better with age. He wondered if Riley would look as good and figured she had to, because it would never be his luck that women who hated him should turn ugly. Only smokin’ hot chicks with friends in town to welcome him back with a boot to the face. Or the balls.
Before he could say anything to Maya, she tousled Josh’s hair, glared at Jack, then sauntered over to the bread aisle.
“Who wasthat?” Josh asked. “She’s tall.”
Just an inch or two shy of him. “She’s a good friend of Ms. Weaver’s. Or at least, she was back when I knew them.” Jack guided Josh toward the ice cream and waited while the boy made his selection.
“Wow. You must be really old, Uncle Jack. You know everybody.”
Only everybody who wants to skin me alive. Like it’s my fault Ann cheated on me.
Yet some part of him still wondered. Had he pushed her into Chapman’s arms? Hadn’t they been arguing a lot more as their senior year progressed and the future’s uncertainties plagued them?
“Uncle Jack? I’m good.”
Jack noticed two gallons of nasty looking flavors in the boy’s hands. Bubble gum and cotton candy? “No vanilla?”
“I’m not a vanilla guy.” Josh shook his head.
Little did he know, neither was Uncle Jack. Jack’s thoughts launched into how amazing sex would be with Ann today. Twelve years of experience and a hell of a lot more knowledge about how to get a woman off. He just knew he could snag her if he could get her in bed.
And then what? Keep her?
The warmth that unfurled from the thought worried him, and he hurried to the register to pay, then drove Josh home.
The next day after waking to his mother’s six-thirty wakeup call—did the woman never sleep?—he promised her he’d meet her and his father for breakfast after seeing Josh off to school. Josh, clearly a morning person, had to be uber chirpy about everything, while on the TV an aggravating yellow sponge squeaked and giggled throughout the boy’s breakfast. After finally shoving the kid out the door, they made it to school in record time. He walked Josh in, pulse racing at the thought of seeing Ann again.
Ann ignored him, even though he lingered to be noticed.
Playing hard to get. Fine. I’m down with that.He smiled and said in an overly loud voice, “You looksuperpretty today, Ms. Weaver. Have a nice day.” He heard her class giggling as he left.
Sexy redhead annoyed. Check. She might be pissed, but at least she was aware of him. Time to meet his parents.
At a popular diner downtown, he sat at their table and stared through the window at the passersby, amused to see so many people wearing high-end clothing. Ah, life in Bend. Did anyone spend less than three hundred dollars on a coat around here? Talk about trendy. Then a few hipsters in dreads andshortsand carrying skateboards passed. He loved the contrasts of this town. Rich, poor, liberal, conservative. A whole cross section of America standing on the street corner waiting for the light to change.
“Your brother and Julie are having a baby.”
He snapped back to see his mother, Laura, smiling at him. “Really?” He laughed. “I’m going to be an uncle again?”
His dad nodded. “Sure are. That’s what happens when it gets cold in Bend. The population booms.”
