Jessie Belle: The Women of Merryton - Book One (27 page)

The
twosome came home dirty and tired and both headed for their respective
bathrooms. So I made dinner by myself. While the chicken was baking and the
asparagus steaming, I set the table and arranged the gifts and cards in the
middle of our long table. This was so weird for me. I tried my best to keep my feelings
out of it and remember it was Blake’s day.

Not
surprisingly, Blake came down first. He met me in the kitchen as I tossed the
salad. I dropped the tongs and turned to greet him. I expected him to look
happy, but he looked worn.

“Hey,
what’s wrong?” I asked.

“Just
tired.”

I
slid my arms up his tight chest and around his neck.

That
garnered a small smile from him.

“Happy
Father’s Day,” I whispered, half-choked.

“Thanks,
Jess.” He bent his head down and brushed my lips with his own. “Is dinner almost
done?”

“Yes.”

He
released me. “Good, I’m starving.” He headed for the refrigerator to get some
water.

I
turned back to tossing the salad. “By the way, I talked to Sherry Richter at
the hospital today.”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve
done a good thing there.”

“I
needed the extra help and he needed a job.”

I
looked over my shoulder at him leaning against the dark granite countertop.
“Regardless, they’re really grateful, especially now with Brandon being
injured. I was thinking maybe I could do a bake sale or something to help cover
the costs. What do you think?”

He
shrugged his shoulders in that “you do what you think is best” way.

“It’s
always so nice to talk to you.”

“Sorry,
I’m beat.”

“Why
don’t you sit down? Dinner will be done in a few minutes.”

Without
delay he took his seat at the head of the table.

Maddie
joined us a few minutes later with wet hair and in her pajamas, no less. I
couldn’t blame her. I put my arm around her shoulders and kissed her head. “Did
you have fun today?”

“Uh
… kind of.”

I
looked between her and Blake and neither said a word, but they were both acting
off. There seemed to be a story there, but it didn’t feel like the moment to
press for details.

I
handed Maddie the glass salad bowl. “Will you put this on the table, honey?”

Without
a word she grabbed the bowl and set it in front of her dad, then took her seat
next to him. She was definitely out of sorts. She was usually much more
talkative.

I
joined them with chicken and asparagus in hand. I had also made a white sauce
to add some flavor for Maddie and me. I figured we all didn’t need to suffer
for Blake’s lack of taste.

I
joined the brooding pair and looked between the two. Maybe they needed a nap.
Or to go to bed for the night
, I thought. It probably would have been a
good suggestion to make, but we trudged forward.

“Well,
dig in,” I said cheerily.

They
both looked at me like I had lost my mind.

“Am
I missing something?”

“No,”
they both muttered.

I
raised my eyebrow at both of them. I guess they took that as their cue and
began to fill their plates.

“I
talked to Katie’s mom, and we are going to pick her up from school this week,”
I informed Maddie.

I
received a small grin with that piece of information.

“Think
of some things you girls would like to do in the afternoons.”

“Okay,”
she said, unusually quiet for her.

Dinner
was mostly a silent affair. I kept trying to bring up different topics.
Everything from Isabelle yelling at Connor in the middle of the pastor’s sermon
to Veronica Riley’s wardrobe malfunction at church. Let’s just say if you’re
going to wear a see-through shirt, you better make sure your bra is fully
functioning. We all saw more of Veronica than we ever needed to. My comical
stories were met with a dull reception. So I gave up and ate quickly.

Blake
got up to take his plate and glass when he was done.

“That’s
not how it works today.”

He
sat back down, albeit not happy about it.

“Maddie,
do you want to give your dad his gifts?”

She
perked up some. She reached over and grabbed the gift bag proclaiming Blake
“Best Dad” that contained her framed works of art and eagerly handed it to him.

I
was hoping he would have livened up, but he looked uncomfortable. He didn’t
like being the center of attention. I almost kicked him under the table.
I
should have prepped him,
I thought.

Blake
carefully removed the tissue paper and pulled out each frame and studied them.
I could see in his eyes he was touched, but true to himself, he didn’t give a
lot of outward clues that he really did like the thoughtful gift.

“Thank
you, Madeline,” he said dryly.

Her
countenance screamed disappointment.

“Isn’t
she quite the artist?” I threw out there to try and help the sinking ship.

Blake
nodded as he stared at the pictures.

I
decided to hold off on my gift and card. I would give them to him privately.

Blake
abruptly stood up. I assumed he was going to take his frames up to his office,
but Maddie halted that.

“Don’t
leave yet. I made you dessert.”

He
looked down at his daughter and paused.

I
said a silent prayer that went something like, “God, if you are really there,
this would be a good time to intervene.” I prayed that Blake would see the
excitement in her eyes and he would do the right thing. No such luck.

“I’m
full and—”

He
didn’t get to finish his stupid, thoughtless sentence. Maddie burst into tears
and ran to her room.

I
stood up and glared at my husband. He deserved to be slapped on the back of the
head.  Instead I settled on saying, “You’re an idiot.”

His
eyes widened in surprise. “Why?”

“If
you have to ask, you’re more of an idiot than I thought.” With that I left him
there with his mouth wide open. I approached Maddie’s room. It was still hard
for me to call it that. I hadn’t been in there since she’d arrived. I took a
deep breath and opened the door and let myself into her mess of a room. Clothes
were strewn about and the once tidy desk and dresser were completely covered in
a variety of things, from papers to hair accessories. I bit back my “clean your
room” speech and went to her curled up body on her unmade bed.

She
was facing the wall, sniffling, clutching one of the white throw pillows I had
purchased and crying into it.

I
sat next to her and stroked her pretty dark-blond hair that had the nicest wave
to it. “Honey, talk to me,” I coaxed.

“I
want to go home,” she cried.

I
grabbed my heart. I felt a new pain there. “Do you really?”

“No.”

I
breathed a sigh of relief. I rubbed her back in circle motions.

“I
don’t think my dad loves me,” she said after her crying diminished.

“Sure
he does.”

She
turned toward me with a bright red nose and tear-stained cheeks. I wiped her
soft cheek with my thumb.

“He’s
never said it.”

“Your
dad is an interesting person. You may have noticed, but he’s not all that great
with words. And he doesn’t know women at all.”

She
smiled.

“Your
dad shows his love in other ways.”

“How?”

I
waved around at the room, my baby’s old room. “For starters, this room,” I
barely said without crying. “He spent hours making sure it was just right. He
even made your headboard.”

“Really?”

“Yep.
And all the time he spends with you says how much he loves you. And when he
says your name his eyes light up.”

“We
didn’t have a very good time today.”

“Well,
not every day will be perfect, but what happened?”

“I
accidentally went down the wrong trail and we got separated and he yelled at
me. Then I told him I didn’t like mountain biking.”

I
couldn’t help but smile. “I’m sure he yelled because he was worried.”

“I
guess. He kind of freaked out.”

“You
know, he’s new at all this dad stuff and he didn’t really have a dad around to
teach him.”

“I
just wanted him to like my pictures.”

“Oh,
he did.”

“How
could you tell?”

“I
could see it in his eyes. And ever since you’ve been here, he’s the happiest
he’s ever been.”

She
sat up and hugged my middle.

I
pulled her close and kissed her head.

There
was a knock on her door before Blake peeked his head in.

Maddie
and I both glared at him.

He
looked afraid. So maybe he was smarter than I thought.

I
left Maddie and walked toward my husband. “Don’t screw this up,” I cautioned.

He
smirked at me, but leaned down and kissed my cheek. “Thanks for dinner and the
card.”

I
guess the idiot read it in my absence.

“You’re
welcome. I’m going to go clean up.”

I
left the pair alone and walked out to a cleared off and clean table. Seriously,
you had to love a man that cleaned up, even on Father’s Day.

They
talked for quite a while. In their absence I had time to clean the whole
kitchen and respond to Taylor’s message on Facebook. She was asking what I
thought of Easton. She obviously had feelings of mistrust there. I thought
Easton was a good guy. He was definitely well-respected in the community. I didn't
know what had happened between Taylor and him, but I liked him.

The
father-daughter duo emerged all smiles. Blake’s arm was around her and she was
looking up at him adoringly.

“Time
for cake,” she announced.

It
was music to my ears. I needed some chocolate. Navigating these new waters was
rough.

The
“I love you” was expressed verbally between father and daughter, according to
Maddie. I was working on my own expressions of love. I talked to Dr. Ames about
my confusion regarding the matter. There were times I felt great love toward my
husband, and then other times I wanted to wring his neck. And sometimes I still
questioned why we got married.

Dr.
Ames smiled at me. “Sounds like most marriages.”

“I
suppose.”

“No
marriage is perfect, and I don’t know anyone personally or professionally that
loves their spouse one hundred percent of the time. It’s how you deal with the
off times that matters. Be gentle on yourself and your marriage. You’ve both
been through a lot.”

I
thought a lot about what she said on my way to pick up Maddie and Katie from
school. I remembered growing up thinking that the hard part was finding the
right guy. I thought after you got married it would a piece of cake and you would
magically be in love forever. I had no idea how much work love and marriage
were, and what a choice it was to stay in both.

The
girls were waiting outside the school when I pulled up. They looked as thick as
thieves standing there talking to one another. It reminded me of a time long
ago. Cheyenne, Abby, and I had stood in that exact spot outside the office door
and shared our fair share of secrets. The scene made me smile.

They
both smiled as they got in the car. Maddie took the front seat and Katie sat in
the back.

“Hello,
ladies,” I greeted them both.

“Hi,”
they said in unison and with laughter in their voices.

“So,
school was good?”

They
both gave me those you must be kidding looks.

I
smiled at them both. “Since school was so fun, how does a mani-pedi sound?”

“Really?”
Maddie asked with great excitement. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

I
reached over and stroked her hair. “Cheyenne is expecting the three of us at Ti
Amo Cappeli.” The name means, roughly translated,
I love hair
. We
thought we were clever for coming up with the Italian name.

“You’re
the best, Jessie,” Maddie exclaimed.

At
least I was for the moment. I knew she wouldn’t be happy with me when we
discussed her cleaning her room later that night. I was waiting for her dad to
get home for that one.

Cheyenne’s
salon was sleek and sophisticated. When you walked in you were greeted with an
open area where the rounded reception desk sat in the middle. The space was
airy and light. The black slate tile was offset with stark white walls. The art
was all black and white photos of famous European landmarks like the Eiffel
Tower and Big Ben. The only pops of color came from the beautiful leafy green
plants that were strategically placed throughout the salon.

Cheyenne
greeted us. She hugged Maddie first. It was no surprise those two got along.
They were carved from the same unruly tree.

“Do
you know Katie Richter?” I asked Cheyenne.

“Her
mom’s the cute brunette, Sherry.”

“That’s
her.” I looked at Katie, who was the spitting image of her mom down to the
cute, bobbed brunette hair.

Cheyenne
led us back to her two pedicure chairs. I let the girls go first while I got a
manicure. My poor cuticles were in need of some love.

As
Cheyenne worked on me, I listened to Katie talk to Maddie and Lisa, the
technician, about her brother, Brandon. He was going to be able to come home
tomorrow, but I could hear the worry in her uneven voice when she spoke. She
never mentioned anything about money, but I knew it was a worry for the family.

I
wondered how quickly I could pull off a bake sale.
I own a café
. I
smiled to myself.

“What
are you grinning about?” Cheyenne asked as she carefully painted my nails a
striking red.

I
leaned toward her. “I was thinking about doing a bake sale Friday for the
Richter family. Do you want to help?”

“Do
I have to bake?”

“No.
I said I wanted to help them.”

“Ha,
ha. I’ll have you know I made Kent dinner last night.”

“Really?”
I asked, impressed.

“Well,
I warmed up a frozen lasagna.”

“That’s
something.”

“I
burned it,” she admitted.

“I’m
sure he didn’t mind.”

“Believe
me, I made it up to him.”

I
rolled my eyes at her. “I don’t even want to know.”

She
grinned mischievously at me. “How about I get my stylists to donate their tips
that day?”

“Do
you think they would?”

“Yeah.”

“That
would be great.”

From
there I set a plan in motion. I assigned Maddie and Katie to make the signs we
could place around town. I spoke to my kitchen staff and Aaron about beefing up
production. And I would work with Maddie at home to make several dozen cookies
and cupcakes. Everyone agreed to help even though the weekend after we would
have another huge order with the mayor’s ball. I felt bad doing that to them
two weeks in a row, but it was for a good cause. Well, at least the first one was.
I couldn’t care less about the mayor’s ball. Really it was the mayor, not the
ball, per se.

After
we left the salon we headed home, where Maddie and Katie went to work making
signs. We had a small window of time, so we had to hustle. Maddie drew the cutest
picture of arranged cupcakes and Katie did the lettering. After a few rough
drafts we had the perfect picture we could copy.

I
ran it up to Blake’s office to use his copier. The first thing I noticed was
Maddie’s artwork front and center on his desk, next to his monitor. I also
noticed my card to him on display. Who knew he could be sentimental?

I
made several copies and then we hit the town.

I
was exhausted by the time we got home a little after seven. Blake was working
late, so Maddie and I opted for cereal for dinner. We didn’t even bother eating
at the table. We camped out on the couch and I introduced her to the wonder of
NCIS
.

“That
guy, Gibbs. He reminds me of my dad.”

I
laughed. “I completely agree.”

“But
that Dinozzo guy is hot.”

“Again,
I agree with you.”

She
giggled. “You’re cool.”

I
kissed her head. “You think so?”

“Katie
says you’re awesome and really pretty.”

“Then
it must be true,” I teased.

“Katie
says she wants me to stay and go to school here.”

I
paused the television and sat up some. “Yeah? What do you think of that?”

She
looked up at me with those unsure gray eyes of hers. She shrugged her
shoulders.

“Do
you like living here?”

She
nodded.

I
smiled. “Your dad and I want you to stay with us.” I figured it was time to
broach the subject and get her used to the decision that had already been made.

She
smiled, but tears filled her eyes.

“What’s
wrong, honey?”

“I
want to, but I don’t want my mom to feel bad or be alone. And who will take
care of her?”

I
pulled her to me. “Don’t worry, your dad and I will work everything out.”

“Do
you think my mom would be okay with it?”

“I
think so, but I’m sure she will miss you.” I didn’t want Maddie to think her
mom didn’t want her. As screwed up as Sabrina seemed, I think in her heart of
hearts she loved Maddie and did miss her. She just wasn’t made to be the kind
of mother Maddie deserved.

Blake
got home after Maddie had gone to sleep. He was working on a deadline to finish
the Andersons' basement. Their grandchildren were coming to visit for the month
of July and they were turning the basement into kid-land, complete with
built-in bunk beds.

“Jessica,”
he said tiredly.

“Should
I even ask how your day was?”

“It’s
a living,” he half-smiled. “I’m going to hit the shower.”

“I’ll
wait for you.”

That
garnered a real smile as he walked to where I sat on the couch still watching
NCIS
.
He leaned down and kissed my lips. “I’ll hurry.”

“We
need to talk.”

“Everything
okay?”

I
nodded.

He
took the stairs two at a time. He was a machine. It was ten at night and he had
left the house at seven.

I
warmed up leftovers for him from his Father’s Day dinner the night before. I
didn’t tell him it was in the microwave, but he probably could tell.

He
didn’t complain, unless you count kissing me as a complaint. He sank into the
couch with dinner in hand.

I
scooted closer to him and rubbed his neck. “Long day?”

“We’re
almost done,” he said tiredly.

“I’m
sure the Andersons are excited.”

He
nodded as he chewed.

I
moved from his neck and up through the back of his hair.

“I
talked to Maddie today about staying here.”

In
a split second he turned my way. I could tell he was trying his best not to
look displeased.

I
raised my eyebrow at him. “I didn’t bring it up out of the blue—she brought it
up first. But even if she hadn’t, it needed to be talked about.”

His
eyes softened. “You’re right.”

“I
love those words.”

His
crooked little grin made an appearance. “So what did she say?”

“She
wants to stay,” I said first to put him at ease, “but she’s worried about her
mom.”

Blake
shrugged.

“Blake
she needs to know the truth about her mom’s condition.”

“Jess,
what good will it do?”

“It
will help her start to deal with the inevitability.”

“Sabrina
doesn’t want her to know. And honestly, I don’t want to upset her.”

“Well,
you’re the dad. It’s your call.”

He
set his dinner down on the coffee table and took my hand. “Hey. She isn’t
exclusively mine. I want your opinion. We’re a team. Sabrina is
self-destructing and I don’t want Madeline to have any part of that.”

“I
understand that, but Maddie loves her mom.”

He
couldn’t hide his look of disdain. “Let’s just give it a little more time.”

“Okay.”

“By
the way,” he said as he leaned toward me with hungry eyes. “You’re amazing.”

I
started to shake my head to disagree, but he caught my lips and held me there.
He cradled my head in his hand and applied pressure to my mouth. “You almost
relaxed,” he whispered against my lips.

“I’m
working on it.”

“I
didn’t say that to pressure you.”

“I
know.”

“Jess,
thank you. I couldn’t do this without you.”

“You’re
right.”

He
chuckled low. I loved that sound.

That
week was so busy I didn’t have time to think about whether or not we were doing
the right thing by not telling Maddie about her mom. If we were going to be
honest, I knew we weren’t, but I eased my guilt by telling myself she wanted to
stay anyway.

In
preparation for the bake sale we became baking machines. We even got my mom in
on the fun. It didn’t take much convincing, she took any opportunity she could
get to be around Maddie. Maddie was even comfortable saying ‘grandma’ now. At
first it was awkward for her to say, and for me to hear, but it pleased my
mother more than anything.

Maddie
and Katie had gone outside after we made a batch of chocolate chip cookie
dough. As my mom and I scooped up dough to place on the baking sheets she
commented, “You and Maddie seem to be getting along quite nicely.”

“We
have our moments.”

“All
mothers and daughters do.”

“Don’t
you mean stepmothers?”

“No,
I meant exactly what I said. Birth and blood don’t make women mothers. You are
having an impact on this child’s life. One she will never forget.”

“I
hope so,” I said as I plopped down my scoop of to-die-for chocolate chip cookie
dough.

My
mother smiled at me kindly. “So I overheard her tell her friend she was going
to go to school here in the fall. Is that correct?”

I
nodded. “That it is.”

“How
do you feel about that?”

I
looked out the back window to make sure Maddie and Katie were still out back
before I spoke. “Relieved,” I said honestly. “I couldn’t in good conscience
send her back to live in the environment her mother was providing her.”

“How
is her mom taking it?”