NOT BEING ALONE
Spilling one’s guts normally came at a price.
Farrah expected the floor to be messy, but instead, it was clean and sparkling.
No one had gotten the explanation she’d just given to Jayce. She’d never felt the need to.
Maybe it was because he wasn’t a stranger to her. That her son knew him and they’d spent time together and bonded.
Now she’d like to bond with him but had to figure out how that could work with no one getting hurt.
Which meant Archer more than anyone.
She’d been hurt enough in her life. She could handle it.
“Well,” he said. “We can keep chatting. I’m good with it. Or we can chill out and relax and have this be more like a date.”
She laughed. “I’d like that. I mean, I got the kiss and it was everything I hoped it’d be.”
He winked at her. “You’ll get another when I leave,” he said.
“I’m banking on that. How about I start dinner?”
“Do you want me to light the grill for you?” he asked. “You said you’d go do it and then I hit you with conversation.”
“Good thing too or I’d be burning it out there for no reason. But you can start it and I’ll get the fish on the planks.”
Jayce walked out her back door to the patio while she pulled the planks out of the water, put oil on two pieces of salmon, then sprinkled them with seasoning and set them aside.
“All set. Have you thought about a basketball hoop yet for Archer?”
“It’s hard not to think about it when he bugs me daily. I thought I’d get one poured into concrete, but then decided it might be easier to just order and have one delivered that can move around and be weighed down.”
“That was going to be my suggestion and you can adjust the height of it.”
“I’ll get that done this weekend. Or at least get it ordered. The obstacle course thing isn’t happening. As much as Archer might love it, I don’t think I want to give up my backyard for it. I’d rather take him back to that place when he wants.”
“See, guys don’t think that way. It’d just be less lawn maintenance if that took up space.”
“Like you had lawn maintenance living in a condo,” she said, grinning.
“Fair point. There was a reason for it, but it’s not as if I don’t know how to mow the lawn. I did it enough as a kid. We all did.”
“We had a service here for years and then when Tucker moved out, I canceled it.”
It’s not that it was a money issue; it just felt wasteful when she had no problem going outside and spending thirty meaningless minutes pushing a mower over the grass and disconnecting her brain.
Maybe it was a little bit of therapy to put the world behind her while Archer sat on the deck or played in the yard on the other side.
She’d never been afraid of hard work a day in her life. Not like her ex who didn’t like to break a sweat unless it was for something he deemed was enjoyable.
Sure the hell wasn’t sex. Once she was pregnant and showed, her sex life was easily described as quick and not fulfilling. At least for her.
When the baby weight was gone, Tucker was more interested. Guess she should have gotten the hint then that things were changing.
“You like to do things yourself,” he said.
“I do. I was doing everything back then and, to me, Tucker could handle a few things. That was his way of doing it. That’s fine, his choice, but when it became mine, I decided something differently.”
