Jacob’s front door opened, and my heart tripped inside my chest. His hair was still wet from his after-work shower, and he stood in the doorway barefoot.
“I asked them to come over,” he said coolly.
I tried not to be hurt by his tone. After all, I was the one who pushed him away…but it still smarted.
“Yeah,” Gilda said, “he asked us over.”
Were they going to talk about his date last night?
I caught his eyes across the expansive backyard and stared. I didn’t want to turn around and go back inside, but I also had no right to do anything else. Giving him a weak smile, I turned and silently closed the door.
I tried not to think about what they were doing in Jacob’s cottage, but it was driving me crazy. At six, I breathed a sigh of relief that I could leave for This and That and not have it seem like I was running away from the house.
Not that anyone noticed I was gone. Jacob’s truck and Mom’s car were still parked in the driveway. I made a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up a couple bottles of wine before letting myself into my store.
I’d just finished laying out the last of the canvases when I received a text message from Mom.
“Don’t forget you promised to help out at the talent show this weekend. Saturday @7, senior center. Don’t be late!”
I groaned. I actuallyhadforgotten about helping out with the talent show. But at least it would be another day I wouldn’t have to see Jacob. Maybe by then I’d know what to do about our complicated relationship.
I instructed the painting class in a daze. It was the first time in a long time I didn’t give one hundred percent of myself. I was still pondering what to do about Jacob when I locked the store’s front door.
“Monica!” Frank Carson called out jovially as he and his wife, Bernadette, strolled toward me. “How are you tonight?”
“Good. And you guys?”
Frank put his arm around his wife. “Can’t complain. We’re just heading down to the Ice Cream and Soda Shoppe to grab a late-night snack.”
“That sounds wonderful,” I said. “You two have a great night.”
He winked at me. “You have a good night with that new man of yours, too.”
The smile slid from my face.
“Now, Frank,” Bernadette chided. “Don’t go teasing Monica.”
“I’m not.” He looked down at his wife and smiled. “You remember that young man that’s been hanging around with our grandson Daniel? The one that was just released from the Army?”
“Oh, yes,” Bernadette said. “Jacob, isn’t it? Oh, he’ssucha dear.” She reached out and patted my hand. “You’re a lucky one, Monica. He’s quite a catch. Nice young man.” She waggled her eyebrows at me. “Nice to look at, too.”
“And what am I?” Frank teased. “Chopped liver?”
Bernadette hit him lightly on the chest. “Oh, now.”
I was about to tell Frank that Jacob wasn’t mine, but he just kept talking. “I knew the minute your mom and the girls got a good look at Jacob they’d want him for you.”
I frowned. “What? When did they meet Jacob?”
He laughed. “They didn’t so much meet him as see him.”
I was totally confused.
“Where did they see him?” I asked.
“He helped out one day at the senior center,” Frank said. “Daniel needed help with the last-minute touches for the gazebo we all had to do for our community service.”
“Jacobtalkedto my mom and the girls?”
