A Bridge of Her Own (21 page)

Thinking of you.

Swoon. She was instantly very awake but unsure of how to reply.

Jane was always uncomfortable over text. She thought of maybe a dozen different things to say but could not decide, so she settled on a smiley face. He replied back, asking if she had any plans Saturday. She happily replied that she did not, and they arranged a date for Saturday afternoon. Taking advantage of her newfound energy, Jane focused on her work with abandon and only ended up having to stay an hour late to get everything caught up.

She picked up some Chinese food on the way home. Once home, she camped out on the sofa with her pajamas on and caught up on her DVR queue. Before getting ready for bed, she checked her email. Ugh. Wyatt strikes again. He had invited her to lunch with his mother and went on to say his mother could not wait to catch up with the both of them.

Huh? Jane scrolled back to the top of the email and realized he had not only invited her but her mother as well. There was no way she would be able to get out of this. She closed her laptop, popped an Advil PM, and went to bed. When her alarm clock went off the next morning, she actually felt well-rested and ready to take on her Friday.

She went into the kitchen to make some coffee and saw a note from Lacey saying to stay up for her tonight. She added a “Will do!” and heart to Lacey’s note and left it in the kitchen for her. She got to work, and since she was able to accomplish so much the day before, it was a pretty laidback day. She went ahead and bit the bullet, calling her mother to see if she had seen the email from Wyatt. Not only had her mother seen it, but she had taken it upon herself to accept the invitation for the both of them, telling Jane it was so lovely that “dear” Wyatt would set this all up.

Jane quietly sat at her desk and listened to her mother go on and on until she finally could not take it anymore. 

“Oh darn. Got to get back to work, Mom. Love you." Jane had never been confrontational so her biggest hope was that after this lunch, Wyatt would just go away without her having to actually do anything about it. It was a pretty day out, so Jane got a salad from a local shop and ate it in a park by her work.

Jane sat there, soaking up the sunlight and fresh air. She wished she had brought a book to linger over and made a mental note to try to eat lunch outside until the weather became too cold to allow it. She grudgingly returned to her office. It was a co-worker’s birthday, so she happily snagged a piece cake.

On the way home, she stopped by a bookstore. She perused the shelves for a good novel. She had been thinking of needing a good book ever since her lunch break. She purchased a new release of one of her favorite authors. Her plan was to go home, throw on some sweats, and read her new book. She stretched out on the sofa, and Ronald curled up on her hip. After moving around too often for his liking, he slowly stretched and then padded to the far end of the sofa to curl back up.

She was buried in her book when she heard Lacey come in.

“Hey stranger,” Lacey called out, kicking off her shoes at the door. “I am so happy that gig is over. Those hours were awful. Plus, I think I already have something new lined up for next week. I got an email on my phone but couldn’t open the attachment. I’ll pull it up on the laptop after I eat."

Lacey walked into the kitchen and popped a TV dinner in the microwave, eating an apple as she waited for it to cook.

“So what’s new? Excited for tomorrow?” Lacey asked.

“Sure, but now I’m also dreading Sunday,” Jane returned.

Lacey looking concerned. “Why?”

Jane went on to tell her about how Wyatt had set up a luncheon with their mothers, and how without even asking her, her mother had accepted.

“Jane, you have got to nip this in the bud. Just reply to all and say that you do not want to go.” Lacey was in earnest. It drove her nuts to see her friend bend over backward to please everyone but herself.

“It’s just lunch, Lace,” Jane began. “And who knows, maybe someday Wyatt and I could be friends again.” That was a long stretch, and she knew it.

“Friends?” Lacey asked, dumbstruck. “After how he left things when you broke up? After the stunt he pulled with Matt at the coffee place?”

The microwave beeped to indicate her dinner was ready.

“You are so lucky I am starving because I could have kept going,” she said, getting up to get her food.

Jane did her best to change the subject by asking if Lacey had talked to Jack since they last spoke. Feeling feisty, Ronald began to swat at Lacey’s fork while she tried to eat.

“Lay off, Ronald,” she said, picking him up and putting him on the floor.

Lacey had known her long enough to recognize the subject change, and between bites, said, “All I am saying is don’t let them walk all over you, and fine, I won’t say anything else, and yes, Jack and I have been texting quite a bit.”

“I am not a good texter,” Jane returned. “But I do kinda wish Gabe would text or call more, though.”

“He’s a teacher,” Lacey replied. “There are probably rules against that, and isn’t he fixing up his house or something?" Jane had not considered that. It seemed very reasonable and cheered her up right away. Lacey went on to tell her more about Jack.

Given her usual aptitude for picking losers, he seemed to have a lot going for him. He was a paralegal for a local firm and was also in grad school with the hopes of taking his bar exam and becoming a lawyer. He did not go out a lot and was only at the bar the night he met Lacey because he was treating his little brother to a drink for his birthday. Lacey went on to say it was the little brother, Ian, who had encouraged Jack to hit on Lacey in the first place.

After they were all caught up, Lacey asked Jane to watch a movie with her. About halfway through, Jane was sleep. She awoke to a popcorn kernel bouncing off her forehead with Lacey trying to look as innocent as possible. She rallied and made it the rest of the movie, then went to bed and crashed. The next morning, she was thrilled to see Gabe had texted her sometime last night to firm up plans for today.

He wanted to know since the weather was supposed to be nice Saturday, if she would like to go on a picnic at his house. She replied sure and laughed to herself that that probably meant the kitchen was still a work in progress. Given the time, though, she would have plenty of time to knock out a couple loads of laundry before she went. She started two loads and headed back to her apartment. Normally, she liked to guard her laundry, but it was still pretty early. She had a theory that anyone who stole other people’s laundry from a machine probably slept in. She then toasted a bagel and opted for a cup of tea instead of her usual coffee and flipped through a fashion magazine.

Lacey walked in, yawning and stretching.

“I love having a job lined up for a whole week, but man, those hours sucked. Hey, guess what? I opened up that attachment I mentioned last night after you went to bed, and it sounds like a good gig. It’s a receptionist for an orthodontist with no end date
and
the potential to go perm.”

Jane congratulated her and added, “That could mean a pay raise and health benefits, right?”

Lacey attempted, unsuccessfully, to nod her head and gulp some OJ at the same time. Lacey poured herself a bowl of cereal, and Jane told her about Gabe’s text.

“Oh, rock on,” Lacey replied. “Now you’ll get to see his house. Try and sneak some pictures so I can see how grownups live”

With that, Jane ran down to switch her laundry from the washers to the dryers. When she got back, she hopped into the shower then modeled different looks for Lacey. She ended up going with a cute sweater dress, leggings, and boots. Lacey needed no assistance picking out what she was going to wear. She showed Jane a slinky, low-cut plum dress and some killer heels.

Jane shook her head at her, and Lacey innocently shrugged and said, “If you got it, flaunt it is what I always say…”

Laughing her off, Jane went to retrieve her laundry. She put it away before heading to Gabe’s.

Chapter 26

His place was only twenty minutes from theirs. She was there in no time. It was a cute neighborhood. The homes were older but appeared well maintained. Plus, it seemed like almost every house took really good care of their yards. Many with little garden flags and mums planted for fall. Gabe’s house was a two-story brick colonial with black shutters.

Gabe met her at the door with his bulldog.

“Jane, this is Baby. Baby this is Jane,” he said, pulling her into a big hug.

“You have a very nice place,” Jane said.

“Want a tour?” Jane nodded, and they were off.

The first floor of Gabe’s house seemed in decent shape. The foyer opened up into a living room with a comfy looking sectional sofa, ottoman combo, and TV setup. She could tell Gabe had worked on the drywall in some places, but all the room really needed was a coat of paint. Next came what Gabe explained was truly the dining room but seeing as he didn’t see any dinner parties in his near future, he had it set up as his home office. There was a desk and shelves up against one wall and a card table and chairs against another.

“Poker,” Gabe said as if that was self-explanatory.

It too needed a coat of paint and was missing a light fixture. The dining room opened into the kitchen, which was clearly a work in progress. There was new tile floor, and there were base cabinets, but they did not appear to be secured to the walls. There was a nice stainless steel refrigerator and a microwave on a cart in the corner.

“I’m waiting on my buddy, who is a plumber, to help me put in the sink and dishwasher lines.” Gabe shrugged, scratching the back of his neck.

Next was a small powder room. It was pink.
Very, very pink. Pink wallpaper, pink toilet, pink sink, and pink tiled floor.

Jane giggled.

“I know, right?” Gabe said. “I have clearly not started on this room. Part of me wants to leave it this way. Half of my friends refuse to use it."

The stairs leading to the second floor sported some pretty retro gold shag carpet.

“Haven’t even started up there yet. It’s just mainly changing out carpet and pulling wallpaper,” Gabe explained.

The last room on the main level was technically an office or den, but Gabe had it set up as his bedroom. There was a queen-sized bed with a blue comforter and a matching bedside table and dresser.

“Until I can get started on the second floor, I just pretend I own a ranch. Wanna see the upstairs? Be warned. It’s bad, very bad."

“Sure,” Jane said, curious.

“Just don’t judge me.”

All of the rooms, including the bathrooms, shared the same gold shag carpet from the stairway. There were three bedrooms, full bathroom in the hall, and a bathroom off the master. The bathrooms shared the same retro color
schemes as the pink bathroom downstairs. The hall bath was power blue and the master harvest gold. All of the rooms had popcorn ceilings and cringe-worthy wallpaper. The worst was in the master. It was a shiny metallic floral print.

“Wow,” Jane said, taking it all in.

Gabe went on to explain how when he had first purchased the home, the first floor looked a lot like the second floor before he worked on it. It was bad wallpaper and popcorn ceilings everywhere.

“Hungry?” Gabe asked as they headed back downstairs.

Jane followed Gabe through the kitchen and out a door to a backyard brick patio. Baby charged ahead of them and happily romped around the fenced in backyard. There was a blanket and a basket laid out next to the patio.

“How cute,” Jane said.

Gabe sat down and began unloading sandwiches, sides, plates, and glasses. Jane sat across from him with her legs curled to her side.

“Soda, iced tea, or lemonade?”
Gabe asked.

Jane went with lemonade and a turkey sandwich.

“You make a great sandwich too!” Jane complimented.

“It’s all in the bread selection."

Baby investigated a tree a squirrel had recently climbed up as they ate their sandwiches and shared some chips, macaroni salad, and watermelon.

“We are lucky it is so nice outside today,” Gabe remarked, stretching out after finishing his plate.

“The weather has been so crazy recently,” Jane returned. “It was pretty cold and gross out earlier this week."

“Either way, the whole picnic thing would not have happened otherwise,” Gabe returned. “Would you like to watch a movie?”

They cruised by a video kiosk and agreed on a super hero movie. Once back at Gabe’s, he popped the movie in and went to make some popcorn while the previews were playing. Even though he had a sectional capable of sitting at least six, he handed Jane the bowl of popcorn and sat down right next to her.

Jane found it hard to concentrate on the movie once Gabe put his arm around her. She could feel body heat radiating from his thigh to hers and from his arm to the back of her neck. She leaned into him and relished the butterflies in her belly. Trying to be as discreet as possible, she snuck peeks at him, doing her best to keep her face forward but using her peripheral vision.

He had clearly shaved this morning and was missing the stubble she remembered from the sports bars. He had a way of laughing during the funny parts that she liked. He would smile just enough to make crinkles in the corners of his eyes and sort of chuckle, exhaling out of his nose. Very, very cute, she thought. And his killer blue eyes. She could just stare into them all—She was so caught looking at him.