She smiled, glad to have been let in on this little tidbit about Jake’s family. “I loved Robert Frost. Still do,” she told Chuck. She took a sip of her tea as Jake combined all the ingredients in a bowl and stirred them together with a wooden spoon.
“My mother liked to read too. She used to read to me, and when Jake spent time with her, she introduced him to all kinds of authors. I sure do miss her,” Chuck said, his face reminiscent. He’d washed his hands and lined up asparagus on a cutting board and was chopping the ends at a slant. “She filled in after Jake’s mom passed.”
She watched how the two of them moved around each other as they prepared her dinner, and she thought about how many years it had been just the two of them. They were perfectly practiced at working together. “Do you have any other family nearby at all?”
Jake shook his head as he lined the asparagus up on a baking pan and rubbed it with butter. “Both Mom and Dad are only children, so I don’t have any extended family. It’s just the two of us now.”
“Oh.” Faith looked down at the countertop between her arms.What a terrible thing, she thought.No brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles, nieces or nephews, no cousins, grandparents are all gone.Again, she felt awful for staying away from her own family for so long. This trip was putting everything into perspective for her. It was true, she’d had difficulty with Casey’s choices, and her marrying Scott had been painful, but her family was all she had. Nan, her mom, her sister and Isabella were the most important people in her life, and she should’ve let them know that every day because life was too short not to. Jake was so accommodating, so sweet, and so open, yet she couldn’t help but wonder if he was lonely. This had to be a big house to have all by one’s self. No wonder he filled his days with work. It probably kept him busy so he didn’t have to think about being alone.
“I have family nearby, but I wish there were more kids around for my niece,” Faith said.
“I’ve always wanted lots of kids.” Jake said.
She knew exactly what he meant. Faith, too, had wanted a house full of children.
“I’d love to have children,” she said. “I think sometimes that it would be great to hear a tiny voice calling ‘Mommy.’ I’d be perfectly happy spending days at the local playground or painting at the kitchen table.”
“Does the thought ever scare you at all?” Jake asked.
“No.” She wanted to read bedtime stories, using silly voices for all the characters just to hear her child laugh. She wanted to be so tired she could hardly manage, knowing that it was all worth it because, when she opened the bedroom door, she could peek in through the faint beam of a nightlight, and see her darling child sprawled on the bed, asleep. “Not at all.”
“Me neither,” Jake said, his eyes gentle and sweet.
Chuck dumped the bones and scraps into the trash. “They suck all the sleep right out of ya. They make you so crazy you can’t get a thought to process. They worry you to death—even when they’re grown. But when you look back, there’s absolutely nothing better than raising a child.”
Faith and Jake both laughed. She was glad for a more upbeat conversation, although her thoughts still went back to that restaurant. Things were so much more relaxed, even in his giant kitchen. She couldn’t imagine, watching him now with his father, how laid-back they were, how easy the conversation was, that he could think something like the Tides was a good idea. She worried that perhaps he was only accommodating her with this casual dinner.
“So, how did you two meet?” Chuck asked.
“She’s staying at one of the cottages I’m building.”
“Jake’s been wonderful to my family. He’s spent a ton of time with us, and he’s been very gracious.”
“I like how close you guys all are. It’s like you have the perfect family.”
“Ha.” She shook her head. “No family is perfect.”
“People in a family treat each other differently than anyone else. I like seeing you all together. There’s a bond there that I really enjoy. You all seem to like each other so much.”
“And what are you trying to say, son?” Chuck laughed out loud, clearly just teasing. Jake pretended to ignore his question. There was an ease to how they interacted, and she knew what Jake had meant about how a family treats each other. “Jake and I don’t see eye to eye a lot of the time,” he explained. “We have a few fundamental differences about what we see for our futures.”
“Well, we have things to deal with too, like any other family—difficult things.” She thought about Casey, and she could feel her body tense in response.
“Like?” Jake asked, curiosity on his face.
“My sister, Casey, and I don’t always agree on things.” Her honesty just poured out without warning.
“That’s normal, though, isn’t it?”
“It is normal to disagree, but Casey has wedged us apart, and I honestly don’t think it can be repaired. Ignored, maybe. But not repaired.” She didn’t want to share her family drama with Jake’s father there, so she changed direction. “So, when you’re not reading books or sailing boats, or putting in the odd bookcase for Nan, what else do you like to do for fun, Jake?” she asked.
The corners of his mouth pulled up into a subtle, knowing smile, and he stepped away from her, moving back to the prepping area of the kitchen. He’d made little rounds of crabmeat and was now sautéing them in the pan. “I like to travel. I like talking to people. Like you,” he smiled.
Her pulse sped up, and she couldn’t imagine anything more enjoyable than being with Jake right then at that moment. “Where have you traveled?” she asked, wanting to know more about who he was. Did he like big cities, exotic beaches, famous landmarks? She thought back to her own past, and what she’d accomplished in adulthood. Why hadn’t she traveled more? She didn’t have any children or a family to help support—she should.
“All over.”
“Where’s your favorite place to go, Jake?” Chuck piped in, dropping the fish filets into a pan of hot oil after dusting them in a mound of cornmeal. They popped and sizzled, steam rising into the air. “Even I don’t know that. I’ve never asked.”
