Someone Like You (8 page)

“You’re sure
you want to do this?” asked Jake.

“I’m starving,
so come on before there’s not a table to be had.”

He laughed
and picked up the cooler as the two made their way to the shelter.

“Sorry about
the game being canceled,” said Gen, setting down two plates.

Jake slid
onto the bench opposite her. “They’ll play some other time.”

Gen put two
sandwiches on his plate and a cupcake and pulled out a bowl with some potato
salad in it.

“Help
yourself
,” she said, sitting down.

Jake took a
large scoop of the salad before biting into the sandwich.

“Oh wow, this
is incredible. What’s in this?” he asked.

“Just
plain old turkey.”

He peeled
back the bread.
“Nope.
It’s more than that. It’s not
just mayo in here, is it?”

“It’s my
homemade one made with herbs from the garden.”

“Well, if you
ever give up landscaping, catering calls your name.”

“It’s probably
because you’ve been cooking for yourself and…I’m sorry that was thoughtless of
me.”

He put his
hand on top of hers and squeezed. She looked down at it, loving how it felt.
Connecting physically with a man again.

“No apology
needed. It’s probably true, but can I say holy shit? This is a great tasting
sandwich.”

Gen laughed
as Jake squeezed her hand. They looked at one another again, neither of them
saying a word.

Jake smiled
and finally freed her hand. “I really enjoyed last night.”

“Going to
look for my son?”

“No, the bit
that came before that.” He raised his right eyebrow. She knew what he was
referring to but wanted to check they were on the same page. Gen also wanted to
tease him just a little.

“Me too,”
said Gen before she bit into her sandwich.

She watched
as Jake devoured his like he hadn’t eaten for months. He wiped his mouth before
taking a bite of the potato salad.

“Oh wow, this
is just as good. You’ll spoil me, and I’ll need bigger pants.”

“Will you
accept an invitation to dinner next Saturday?”

He stopped
eating and looked at her. Maybe she’d stepped over the line here. Yeah, that
had probably sounded desperate, like she was begging for a formal date or
something.

“Sure. I
think that will be perfect.”

“I can
unground
Nicky and make sure my
mother locks him in her house.”

Jake laughed,
almost dropping some of the salad from his mouth, but he caught it with the
napkin just in time. Gen laughed too.

“Thank you,”
he said.

“For
what?”

“Making
me laugh so hard.
I haven’t done that in some time, and I think
my face is already aching.”

“Now we can’t
have that.”

Without
thinking she put her hand on his face and dragged her index finger down over
his cheek, feeling the slight stubble bite into her skin. He closed his eyes
for a few seconds and then opened them, took her hand in his, and kissed its
palm.

Their legs
bumped under the table, and Gen hoped he was going to lean across it and plant
a kiss on her lips this time, but he didn’t. Their knees kissed instead, and
she was certain that had Nicky not been around, had this not been a very public
place, she would have made the first move, and soon they’d be making love in
the shelter.

She’d give
anything to know what was racing through his mind right now. Was he thinking
about her?
His wife?
Or like her, was he feeling the
urge to make love?

“I guess I
should taste test these cupcakes,” he finally said.

Gen pushed
the plate toward him. He took one and bit into it.

“I think I
just went to heaven,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
“What’s in these goodies?”

“Maple
syrup and pecans.”

“You grow
those in the backyard too?”

Gen shook her
head.

“Where did
you learn to cook like this?”

“My
mother and grandmother.”

“I think I’ve
gained weight already.”

“Was your
wife a good cook?”

Shit, I had to open my big mouth.

“Average, I
guess. You know the one thing that used to break my heart after she died and I
was in
Afghanistan
?”

“No,
what?”

He took a
deep breath before answering, and she was positive she saw some moisture
forming in his eyes. How she’d wished she hadn’t gotten him started on this
topic.

“Other guys
would get care packages from their wives and girlfriends. You
know,
cookies, cakes, cupcakes, popcorn. I no longer had
someone to send me simple things like that. That’s when it hit me that she was
really gone from my life.”

Definitely tears in his eyes.

Gen reached
across the table and grabbed both his hands and held them tightly.

“Please don’t
be sad because you’ll make me cry.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No apology
needed.”

She lifted
one hand and flicked away a tear from his cheek. He must have loved his wife so
much, and his sort of loss was completely foreign to her. He’d loved and lost.
Gen had just lost. She’d never really had Nicky’s father. She thought she had,
but he didn’t feel the same way. Why was life such a bitch at times?

I want to kiss you. To make it all right. Kiss
away those tears, but you won’t let me.

What would he
do if she leaned across the table and kissed him on the lips? Was it worth the
risk? She stood, about to test the waters when she heard a car starting up.
Both she and Jake looked toward the parking lot. Nicky was driving Jake’s car.

“He’s
grounded for life,” said Gen.

She ran,
almost slipping in the mud, with Jake close on her heels.

She stood in
the middle of the lot while getting soaked. She put her hands up to stop her
son from driving another foot. For one horrible moment she thought he was going
to run her down. Instead he swerved, but in the process scraped Jake’s car
along a concrete boulder.

Forget
grounding him, she’d kill him instead.

She hurried
over to the car, planning to drag her son out by the scruff of the neck, but
Jake had already gotten there and opened the door. He reached in, turned off
the ignition, and took the keys out of Nicky’s reach.

Gen felt sick
when she noticed paint missing from the side of his car.

“I’ll pay for
any damage he’s done,” said Gen, running her hand over it.

“I think he
should do that. Don’t you think so, Nicky?” asked Jake.

“It was Mom’s
fault for getting in my way like that.”

“No, it was
yours for driving a car that one, doesn’t belong to you, and two, you’re not
old enough to drive yet,” said Jake.

“Geez, you
old guys make such a big deal out of the smallest of details.”

“Nicky,
that’s enough talking back. Now get into the back of the car, and you’re going
straight home,” said Gen.

The f word
was muttered as her son got out of the car, but she didn’t draw attention to it.
She sensed that Jake must have heard it too. For now she’d let it pass.

“Sit there
and don’t move while Jake and I get the food and cooler.”

Gen held her
head down, not knowing what to say as she and Jake headed back to the shelter
to retrieve everything. If this mishap hadn’t put him off having anything more
to do with her, nothing ever would. And she couldn’t blame him one iota if,
after he dropped them back home, they never saw him again.

Chapter Eight

Jake couldn’t
deny that he was pissed about the car. Before he’d left for his Army service,
he’d sold his and had decided to keep the one that had once belonged to Katie.
It had stayed safely stored in his garage all the time he’d been out of the
country. Now a fourteen-year-old had taken the paint off the right front
section and one of its doors. Katie had loved the car. He remembered the last
time she’d ridden in it. He’d driven her to hospital with them both thinking
she was just going in for a couple of days so the doctor could keep an eye on
her because her red blood count was low. Instead she’d slipped into a coma the
following day and had never come home again.

He swallowed
the sudden lump in his throat.

Not that the
car was totaled or anything, but seeing the damage made him want to cry all
over again.

Jake headed
indoors. Gen had offered to pay for the damage. There was no way he was going
to make her do that. Her son was old enough to know better and making him pay
would teach him a valuable lesson. Sure he might hate Jake, but that was just
too bad.

When he’d
dropped Gen and Nicky off at their place, Jake had told Nicky he had some jobs
for him to do around the house. And instead of paying him, Jake would apply the
money he would have earned to get the car repainted. Now all Jake had to do was
think of stuff for him to do.

He knew Gen
was upset about the whole thing, so he couldn’t leave her worrying all night.
He picked up the phone and dialed her number.

“Hi, Gen.”

“Jake. I’m so
sorry about your car.”

“Hey, will
you stop it with all the apologizing? We’ve found an easy solution to get the
car
fixed,
so no problem.”

“I’m glad you
came up with the idea of him doing chores at your house. I think it’s the
perfect punishment.”

“Yeah, that
kid’s going to be really busy. What with helping your mother with her yard, and
then coming to my place, it seems like you’ll have lots of alone time on your
hands.”

“Does that
mean what I think it does?”

“You want it
to?”

“I did have a
good time last night.”

“How about we
do it again next Saturday?”

****

Gen couldn’t
believe that it was raining again. She had a week-long project to complete, and
the weather wasn’t cooperating one tiny bit. Good thing she’d worn her
Wellington
boots and rain
gear because right now she was sinking in the mud trying to get the weeds out
of an overgrown section of her client’s yard. She had to muster on because the
nursery was delivering the shrubs tomorrow. Raindrops splashed onto her face,
so she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, hoping today would quickly
come to an end. Maybe she should think about switching to catering like Jake
had suggested.

The blast of
a car horn got her attention. At first she thought it was her client pulling
into the driveway, but then she recognized the car, or should she say the nasty
scratch along the car’s exterior, and knew it was Jake.

He got out
and waved before heading her way.

“How did you
know where I was?”

“I phoned
your business number, and your mother told me. That looks like wet and dirty
work,” said Jake, pulling his jacket over his head to protect himself from the
rain.

“It is. I
should probably quit before I get stuck in this mud.”

She climbed
out of the trench she’d dug for her design and walked over to him. He
immediately wiped some mud off her cheek.

“Do I look
really awful?” she asked, trying to get her hair out of her eyes. She
eventually gave up, knowing she was making her appearance look a whole lot
worse.

“No,
well, just muddy.”

She wiped her
face, but sensed it was smeared with more mud.

“I came to
see if you want to go for a coffee to help me celebrate.”

“Sure, but
what are we celebrating?”

“You’re
looking at the new dog trainer for Pet Warehouse.”

She didn’t
think twice about making him just as muddy as she was. She threw her arms
around him and gave him a hug.

“Okay, you
want to follow me home? I’ll take a quick shower, and then we can go to
Mabel’s?” she asked.

“Sounds like
a plan to me.”

****

Jake rested
his butt against the counter as he ate one of the leftover maple pecan cupcakes
from the previous day. At this rate he’d need to jog twice a day. Gen had
headed into the bathroom about five minutes ago and told him she wouldn’t be
long.

She’d looked
just as good covered in mud. The rain had also made her hair turn a little
frizzy. He was sure she hated that, but he thought it was sexy.