| |
Jenna filled her car with boxes of baked goods. This would be the last order due to be delivered. Once done, she could relax for a few days until the next month when orders would pour in again. Once more, she wished her dream to open her bakery could come to fruition.
If she couldn’t have her business, maybe she needed to focus on other dreams...Jayden, Lance and her together...them as a family. It was a worthy goal. Soon, hopefully, she would be able to reach for it. Lance was coming around every day, spending time with them, slowly winning over their hearts. His relationship with Jayden seemed to be growing. They were slowly bonding. She wasn’t sure if Jayden felt ready to accept him as a permanent member of their little family, but he sure liked Lance.
Maybe there was hope.
“Mom, do I have to come along? I’ve got some errands to run.”
She turned to face her son. “And what errands do you have?”
He didn’t quite meet her gaze. “I can’t tell you.”
She tapped her finger on her lips. “If you can’t tell me, I doubt I can do anything to help you, young man. I can’t leave you alone in the house, so you need to come with me while I make all these deliveries.”
He muttered something under his breath and took his seat.
She ignored his attitude. Lately, he was becoming a little cagey. Often, she saw him working on something on his laptop and when she questioned about what it was, he refused to answer her. Jenna believed in giving him his space and privacy as long as he didn’t break any rules, but in this instance, she didn’t know what the heck he was doing, so she couldn't impose any limitations.
He’d always been a good boy, she assured herself. She should trust him. “So what plans do you have for the holidays?”
He shrugged. “Not much. Maybe hang out with a few friends and play basketball. Lance said he would practice with me every day.”
She’d gotten four days of leave during Christmas. It had been the best she could wrangle out of her employers. At least, it was better than nothing. Jenna wanted to soak in all the time she could get with her son. They would play games together, watch movies and read. She missed doing little things. Sure, she was around but with her schedule so jam-packed she rarely got any time to laze around with him. She stopped at the first house. “I’ll go and deliver these.”
“Let me do it,” he offered.
It was cold and she didn’t want him to step outside the warm car. But he was a young man, and it wouldn’t hurt him to shoulder responsibility. “All right, we’ll take turns.” She handed him the boxes. “There’s one pie and a cake. Make sure you count the money before getting back in the car.”
He went off to deliver.
Jenna took out her list and crossed out one name. Three more deliveries left. If she had her bakery, she wouldn’t have to do this. People would come to her to place orders. And she would be able to bake in a professional kitchen with proper ovens. The potential of how much she could expand her work was breathtaking—a pipe dream.
It wasn’t going to happen and she needed to let it go.
Jayden came back. He gave her the envelope. “She said thanks.”
Jenna put the envelope in her purse. “All right, let’s go. Buckle up.” She drove the car out and soon, they were parked at the gate of another house. “I’ll go. The lady has ordered a lot: cupcakes, brownies and cakes. I bet she’s expecting some house guests.”
Leaving Jayden in the car, she carried the boxes over to the house. “Hi, Jenna. Thank you for bringing this in. Lousy weather isn’t it?” said Moira who opened the door. Her son was two years older than Jayden.
Was it? Jenna loved it when it snowed. But it looked as if wasn’t going to happen this year. “Yes,” she agreed for lack of anything better to say.
“How is Jayden doing?”
“Fine. He’s having a blast on the middle school basketball team.”
“Marc is enjoying soccer.” She handed over the envelope. “Thank you, Jenna. As always, I look forward to trying your delicious cakes and pies. We’ve got house guests this year. My husband’s sister and three kids.” She wrinkled her nose. “Lovely as it would be to host them, I didn’t relish the idea of standing in the kitchen all day long. This makes life much easier.”
“My pleasure.” Jenna tucked the envelope into her coat pocket and hurried to the car. “Two more deliveries,” she told Jayden. She cranked up the volume on the radio. “It’s Ariana Grande’s, Santa Tell Me. It’s a pretty cool song.”
Mother and son began to sing along with Ariana. It was one of their favorite pastimes. Jenna loved to sing. In school, she’d always been selected for the choir. She even took some singing lessons in high school, but then her interest waned and she got busy with other stuff. Still, she enjoyed singing even now. Soon, they reached the third house.
Jayden hopped out to do the delivery.
“The lady said I look like a young Denzel Washington,” Jayden said when he came back. “I could see she’s a big fan of the actor.”
“That was quite a compliment,” Jenna replied who was partial to Denzel. “The guy can act, and he’s a handsome dude, too.”
“And what about Morris Chestnut?”
“Of course, him too.”
“And I know you love LL Cool J.” Jayden smiled mischievously. “You practically drool when he licks his lips.” He chuckled. “And they’re all about your age aren’t they, mom?”
“All right, all right, you got me. I like all those actors,” she said. She reached over and sealed her son’s lips with her fingers. “But I’ll have you know, those guys are way, way older than I am.” She removed her fingers. “In fact, Denzel is, like, twice my age.” Mother and son’s laughter reverberated in the sedan.
Much as she liked the stars of Hollywood, the only man who occupied her mind was Lance. Her thoughts never strayed far from him. Day and night, she spun castles in the clouds. When the bell rang and announced his arrival, her heart accelerated. She looked forward to his amusing tales and his little jokes and the way his gaze rested on her when he thought she wasn’t looking.
He makes me feel beautiful and precious.
It felt nice to have someone who cared about her. For too long, she was alone while she took care of her son and ran the house. Now, he helped her a little bit. Yesterday, he fixed the leak in the tap. The day before, he changed a bulb for her...little things that meant a whole lot to her. The work wasn’t big or heavy, and it didn’t take up too much time. Still, the fact he chose to take them over showed that he intended to invest his time and energy.
“Mom, do you think we could go camping in the summer? Lance told me that he used to do that a lot when he was young—I mean younger.” Jayden laughed out loud at his own joke. “He told me that his brother might take his kids camping and he and I—we could tag along...if you allowed it.”
She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. Lance was making plans for the summer. He wanted to take Jayden along for a camping trip with his family—a big deal. For the little boy who never got to do those things with his father, it was more than big...it was gigantic. “Sure, we can talk about it.”
“What does that mean?” he asked in a suspicious voice.
She laughed. “It means that I need to talk about it with Lance, but not now,” she preempted his next question. “When summer comes, we can discuss it. I wouldn’t want you to miss school.”
Jayden glanced out of the window. “We wouldn’t. He said we could do it over the weekend.”
She’d never sent Jayden alone with anyone. Never, ever! But Jenna realized she wasn’t as petrified of the idea as she thought she would be. Lance would keep Jayden safe. Did he actually mean the offer or was it just talk? She would have to discuss it with him.
Finally, they came to a stop outside another house. “My turn.” She sighed.
“If you’re tired, I could go.”
Touched by his concern, she leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you, darling, but a deal is a deal. I’ll just take a minute. Sit tight.” She picked up the boxes and carried them out of the car. With this last delivery, she would be free for a few days and she’d have enough money in her purse to buy a present for Lance.
She finally settled on buying a sweater for him. Personal, but not too much. She saw one and actually placed it in her online shopping cart. It matched the color of his eyes and she felt sure he would look great when he wore it. She intended to give it to him on Christmas day when he came over.
Perhaps he might like to spend his day with his wife?
No, he assured her time and time again, he was splitting up with Lisa. Why would he want to spend the holiday with her? Although, she wasn’t the sort of person who took pleasure in someone else’s pain, Jenna couldn’t wait until he initiated divorce. She wanted a clean start with the man she was almost too afraid to love.
Love? Once more, the word spun through her mind, startling her. Shit! She didn’t want to think about it right now. She wanted to take each day as a beautiful gift, unwrap it slowly, and savor its delights. And that was exactly what she intended to do.
Hefting the two boxes of pies, she headed for the door. Jenna rang the bell. Thank God this was the last house. She was freezing now, and it would be good to go back home, kick back and enjoy the last couple of hours with Jayden. Lance wasn’t planning to drop by today as he had other plans. But she hoped to see him tomorrow.
When the door opened, she thought she was hallucinating for sure. The very subject of her thoughts stood there in front of her. “Lance?” Her smile brightened. “What are you doing here?”
His color paled. “I live here. We moved here a couple of years ago.” His gaze strayed to the boxes she held. “Are you delivering those? Let me take them.”
“Yeah, I never came to the new house, so I guess it slipped my mind.” She handed them over. Of course, she could step inside, but seeing as she was in a developing relationship with him, she didn’t think meeting his wife would be the best idea. No wonder he looked miserable. If only this situation was sorted out. She hated feeling guilty. Not that they’d done anything, but still...she did feel like the third wheel often enough. “See you. You can pay me later.”
“Who’s it, Lance?” Lisa came to the door. Her eyes brightened when she detected the boxes in his hands. “Oh, great. I was wondering if you’d forgotten. Jenna. Man! I have had such a craving for lemon pies. I could eat one a day.” She winced and patted her stomach. “Probably not the best thing for the baby, but there you go. Can’t help it.”
Jenna’s mind couldn’t grapple with the sight that met her eyes. Lisa—pregnant. She’s having a baby. Lance’s and her baby. Jenna’s gaze settled on him and the color flushing on his cheeks told her that he wasn’t happy she knew this. “You’re...”
“Oh, yes, eight months.” Lisa rubbed her hand over her belly, glowing with pride. “It’s a girl. I’m very excited. How have you been Jenna? It’s been a long time since we met.”
“Yes, it has.” It felt as if her voice was coming from far away. Jenna turned to go. “Bye.”
“Hey, wait, take your money,” Lisa called out.
Lance was quicker. Before she could move off the stoop, he grabbed her hand. “Jenna, listen to me.”
If she stayed here, she would likely start howling like a banshee. “I need to go.” She yanked her arm. “Let go.”
Lisa halted at the door as if she was witnessing a bad play. “What’s going on?”
“Listen to me please...” he pleaded.
“Let me go.” She tugged her hand out of his grip and ran towards her car. If she didn’t get away, she would probably smash a thing or two. Most likely, she would throw something heavy at him. Hurt him real good. Like he hurt her.
How dare he make a fool out of her? All the time she spun castles in the sky, he was cozying up to his heavily pregnant wife. While he made promises to her and to Jayden, he was probably selecting names for his unborn daughter! Whenever he took them out, he must have told Lisa that he was off doing some important work.
How could she be so stupid? She fell for his false charm and his lies. She trusted him and he turned out to be no better than a cheating husband...Damn her stupidity! She should’ve been more careful. As she feared, he’d broken her heart.
“Are you okay, mom?”
Jayden’s panicked voice broke through her grief and shock. She couldn’t let him know how devastated she felt. “I’m all right, baby. Stubbed my toe on the step.” She drove off. “That’s over, glad we’re done. We can go home and relax!” Aware that she was babbling, she sucked in a deep breath of air. No way would she break down in front of her child. Even if Lance stomped on her heart and betrayed her, she wouldn’t allow Jayden to see how hurt she felt.
Oh, what would happen to him when he found out about this? He was beginning to like Lance, developing a trust in him! So now, what?
“I’m looking forward to Christmas. It will be fantastic,” Jayden said as he gazed out of the window. “Maybe we can go to the ice rink one day. Lance said he’s good at ice skating. I want to see if he can copy some of my moves.”
“Yeah, sure,” Jenna said with an effort.
Her Christmas just turned awful again. She didn’t know if she would be able to recover in time to enjoy it with her son. Whatever happened on Christmas day, one thing was sure; there would be no place in her heart for a lowlife like Lance.
He was out of their lives for good.