“Yeah. I…” He sighed. “I’ll get it sorted. Catch you later.” He hung up without elaborating further.
Poor guy. She suspected part of the reason he’d been spending so much time with her was to avoid something malfunctioning in his own life, but he wasn’t inclined to share what that was, and she wasn’t inclined to push. And hey, it freed her up to head straight home and take a long bath. It was her favorite relaxation spot to text with Jake—and only a little because it allowed her to imagine him there with her in the bubbles.
Twenty-Six
Dave pushed back from the table with a groan and patted his stomach. “You burn a mean steak, even when you have to do it in the snow.”
Jake saluted him with his beer bottle. “Thank you. I wasn’t expecting an early November blizzard when I asked to use your grill.”
He and Dave had been chatting at the station on Wednesday when the subject of fire-kissed meats came up, as it often does when two men are speaking. Jake was struck with homesickness for his own grill, wasting away unused in Chicago, Dave joked that his Weber was available for conjugal visits, and the conversation led to him turning up at the Chilton house the following day with steaks, enormous potatoes for baking, and a box of mac and cheese for the kids.
Ana tried to collect their dirty plates, but Dave pushed her back into her chair and started clearing. She gave him a grateful smile. “The kids are fed and asleep, and we’re all full and happy. Is it wrong to take myself off to bed too?”
Dave stood behind her, hands full of dishes, and leaned down to press a kiss into the top of her head. “Go on. I’ll clean up.”
She didn’t waste any time excusing herself from the kitchen, and Jake was glad to see her go. Not that he didn’t enjoy her company, but she looked exhausted. Happy, but exhausted.
Dave though? Dave just looked exhausted. That was another reason Jake had invited himself over. At the very least, he could provide a meal and a place to vent if necessary.
He picked up the empty meat platter and followed Dave to the kitchen, where he was finishing loading the dishwasher. They talked about inconsequential things while they scrubbed the rest of the dishes, then retired to the living room with fresh beer.
Dave collapsed on the couch, and Jake looked over at him with raised eyebrows.
“Is this where I spill my guts?” Dave cradled the bottle in his hands but didn’t bring it to his lips.
“Hey, no head-shrinking here. But Ana seems a lot better than the last time I was here.”
A soft smile touched Dave’s lips. “She does, doesn’t she? This pregnancy’s been hard on her, and I don’t want her to have an extra ounce of stress to deal with. She’s already got enough at work with the layoff rumors at her agency. So I’m trying to handle the laundry, the cooking, the shopping, the kids…”
So that explained the bags under Dave’s eyes.
“And then there’syourwork stress.”
Dave grimaced. “I don’t think I can take another week of on-air tryouts. They’ve broken me. I’m a shell of a man.”
“This last one was the worst yet,” Jake agreed. He’d caught bits and pieces of the train wrecks that were the previous five auditions. “I don’t think she said a single word the whole show. It was nothing but giggling.”
Dave burst into a frighteningly accurate impression of the high-pitched screech, and Jake winced.
“Nah, Michele the giggler was better than Ashley,” Dave said.
Ashley had been Dave’s first guest host, and she hadn’t even made it through an entire show. She’d been so nervous just to be in the studio with him that she’d barely been able to choke out her own name before bolting from the booth and locking herself in the ladies’ room, too rattled to continue. A bemused Dave had kept right on going, hosting solo as if he hadn’t planned four hours’ worth of two-person bits.
“And then we had Mary Beth, the blonde with great tits,” Dave said.
“Huh.” Jake hadn’t noticed of course; he only had eyes for Mabel. But he took a stab in the dark. “Her bra size was bigger than her IQ?”
Dave cringed. “She turned everything she said into a single-entendre, which in itself was impressive but not particularly entertaining.”
“You’re on the last one though. And it’s Thea,” he said. “I can promise she’s not shy at least.”
Dave shuddered and held the cold glass against his forehead. “I’m not going to make it.”
“Sure you will. She’s going to be a spectacular flameout, and your hell month will be over. You can do this.”
Dave grunted. “Okay. I can do this. Thank you. I needed a pep talk from someone who doesn’t weep when the subject comes up.”
Jake froze. “Mabel? She cries?” This was the first time Dave had brought her up all night, and he was ravenous for any information Dave wanted to share about her.
