“I hate him,” Jake said with more venom than he ever thought possible. “I hate how he walked out and left her. I don’t care what he did to me, but to his child? I can never forgive that.”
Shea pocketed his credit card, and they walked out of the restaurant and onto Spring Street. Jake had picked Lombardi’s because it wasn’t far from Shea’s hotel, and he thought Shea would like to see SoHo and maybe walk to the Village. But now, talking about Brian had drained him of his earlier joy, and all he wanted to do was go home.
Shea cupped his elbow, and they stopped alongside a storefront. “Do you still love him?”
Astonished, Jake laughed. “Did you listen to what I said inside? I hate the man.”
“Hate’s a pretty strong emotion. You don’t gotta hate someone you don’t care about. You just forget them and move on.”
This night was ending on a sour note, and Jake struggled to reclaim the earlier good vibes. “Hey. Let’s not talk about this anymore. He’s out of my life for good, and I’m never going to see him again. I’m here with you.” He touched Shea’s face, tracing the lines around his mouth. “And I don’t want to be with anyone else.”
He kissed Shea, loving the contrast between the hard muscles of his chest and the softness of the man’s lips. Oblivious to the people walking by them, they continued kissing, with Jake clinging to Shea, knowing their time was drawing to a close.
“So,” he whispered against Shea’s mouth. “Tomorrow? Is it a go?”
Shea murmured, “If you’re sure.”
“Oh, yeah.” Jake nudged him with his nose. “I’m sure.”
* * *
The following morning, just before noon, Jake took Stacey and Kiss for a walk and let her hold the leash along with him. He couldn’t be sure, but she seemed to be walking with more confidence, more interested in her surroundings, instead of crowding next to him and not leaving his side.
He’d received her end-of-year report from her teachers and had read it at least five times.
Stacey continues to show remarkable reading skills and a grasp of language beyond her age. Her math abilities are also higher than grade level, and she has no problem following along with the homework and reading comprehension, including the extra projects she’s given to make up for her lack of class participation. Her art is expressive and dramatic, and she shows promise and talent. We’re hoping to see her become more involved in group activities and keep making strides.
So Jake was feeling pretty good when they returned home. He made them turkey sandwiches with potato chips on the side for lunch, and of course ended up sneaking bits of turkey to Kiss. As they finished up, he sat across from Stacey.
“Daddy has a friend visiting the city from Texas, where I stayed a few weeks ago, remember?”
She chewed her sandwich.
“Well, he’s working now, even though it’s Saturday, but I thought it might be nice for you to meet him. Maybe go for ice cream? What do you think?”
Stacey’s green eyes grew wide, and she reached for Kiss. Incredibly attuned to her moods, the dog whined and rested her muzzle on Stacey’s lap.
“We can bring Kiss too.”
A minute passed, and when she nodded, Jake felt as though he’d run a marathon and won.
“That’s great, honey. I’ll go ahead and tell him. He’s a real cowboy, and he took the pictures of Daddy on the horse.”
Kiss’s tail thumped, and Stacey stroked her head and silky ears.
“We can sit outside, and you can order whatever you want. Remember that place where you had that yummy frozen s’mores? We can go there.”
He received a nod.
“I’m going to text him now.”
It was only one o’clock, but even if Shea was working, Jake figured he would get a break sometime to see the message. He sent it, and almost immediately, saw the little bouncing bubbles indicating Shea was answering.
Sounds good. Wrapping up here soon. Can meet you there around 3. Does that work?
A ridiculous happiness settled in Jake’s chest.
Perfect.
