Falling For You - January Cove Book 3 (15 page)

She all of a sudden felt a weight lift off her shoulders, and she felt the freedom to feel something for someone again, particularly this successful business man with perfect black hair and a strong football arm.

They reached Jolt sooner than Jackson anticipated, and he couldn
’
t help but feel bummed that the date that he had just realized actually was a date, was about to be over with. He hadn
’
t gotten any true alone time with Rebecca.

He watched her as she walked inside of her coffee shop, and they both were shocked to see how busy it was. Tessa seemed to be handling the influx of customers with pizazz, but Rebecca looked a little embarrassed. She rushed to get behind the counter and help Tessa out. Left standing there alone, Leo walked up to Jackson and held out his hand to shake.

Temporarily taken aback by Leo
’
s almost complete turn around in attitude, it took Jackson a minute to grab his hand to shake. He was even more surprised when Leo, with quite a bit of strength for a boy his age, yanked Jackson
’
s arm so that he could whisper in his ear.
“
Come back at closing, Jackson. I
’
ll convince her that I can find something else to do.
”
Then, Leo winked and walked away.

Jackson waved at Tessa and Rebecca, but they were both too busy to notice and made his way out of Jolt. He decided to go spend some time with his family and think about what he really wanted in his life.

***

Rebecca was sweating when her shift was over, and Tessa noticed it.

“
Rebecca, why don
’
t you take a breather? You look beat,
”
Tessa said laughing.

“
It
’
s not normally this busy. I don
’
t know what happened,
”
Rebecca said leaning against the counter.

“
Well, I might have had a little to do with that...
”

“
Huh?
”

“
Aaron runs an RV park, you know. Well, I made some quick flyers this morning and he has been handing them out to his guests. A lot of these people are tourists,
”
she said waving across the filled coffee shop. Rebecca
’
s eyes welled with tears. She had never seen people who would rally around a perfect stranger like this before.

“
Tessa, what a sweet thing to do. Please thank Aaron for me too. The extra income always helps,
”
she said, not wanting to give away just how much it helped.
“
If you want to go now...
”

“
Oh, no. It
’
s fine. I
’
ve kind of enjoyed this. I see why you love this place,
”
Tessa said smiling.
“
Why don
’
t you go freshen up. I know you must want to get out of those clothes you
’
ve been wearing all day.
”

Rebecca did want to get out of the clothes. She tried to avoid smelling under her arms until she was out of sight and halfway up the stairs. Yep, she needed a change of clothing before she scared everyone in town off.

As she came upstairs, she saw Leo sitting on the sofa watching music videos on his laptop. Curiosity about what happened at the island was killing her, so she changed her clothes and sat down next to him.

“
Yes?
”
he said with a laugh as his mother stared over his shoulder.

“
I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute?
”

“
I guess so,
”
he said in a typical teenage tone. Shockingly, he pushed the laptop aside and turned toward her.

“
I
’
ve just got to ask... What happened today?
”
she asked, jumping straight to the point.

“
What do you mean?
”

“
I mean that you hated Jackson Parker, and now you seem to be okay with him.
”

“
He
’
s not so bad, I guess,
”
he said shrugging his shoulders.

“
Leo, I want you to know that anytime you ever want to talk about your Dad, you can talk to me.
”
There, she said it.

“
Seriously?
”
The shocked tone of his voice broke her heart. Had he believed he couldn
’
t come to her?

“
Of course, honey. If I ever gave you the impression that you couldn
’
t talk to me about your father, I
’
m so sorry. It was just so hard to talk about him, and I didn
’
t want to bring it up and make you sad.
”

“
Mom, I never knew him. It
’
s hard to be sad about a man I never met. And when people talked about him, you seemed sad. So I stopped bringing him up.
”

“
Is that why you
’
ve been angry lately?
”

“
I guess. Maybe. I mean, I see my friends with their fathers and I feel like it isn
’
t fair that mine was taken. I might have taken it out on you, but I know it
’
s not your fault. The worst part has been watching you, though,
”
he said looking down.

“
Watching me? What do you mean?
”

“
Watching you not have a life. Not have a husband. Not move forward. I felt stuck because you were stuck.
”
The words coming from his mouth stunned her. He wasn
’
t always the most eloquent kid, but what he
’
d just said was so telling. She reached out and hugged him close, and he didn
’
t back away for once.

“
Oh, Leo, I
’
m so sorry. You
’
re right. I
’
ve been stuck for twelve years. I
’
ve been stuck on a day. One day out of thousands of days. That
’
s not fair to you,
”
she said through quiet sobs.

“
It
’
s not fair to you either, Mom,
”
he whispered. She nodded into his shoulder, unable to speak.

After a few moments, she pulled back and quickly wiped her eyes.
“
Okay, what would you like to know?
”

“
About what?
”

“
About your father. Ask me anything,
”
she said smiling.

“
What did you love about him?
”
he asked crossing his arms and sitting back against the sofa.

“
Wow, so many things... His eyes, his strong hands, his sense of humor, the way he took care of his little family, his sense of style, the way he made meatloaf...
”

“
Meatloaf?
”
Leo asked with a chuckle.

“
Oh, yes, he made the best meatloaf...
”
she started, and spent the next thirty minutes telling Leo more than he
’
d ever known about his father. And more weight was lifted from both of their shoulders.

***

That evening, Jackson showed up at Jolt in his finest suit with a yellow rose in hand. He was going to do his very best to not allow her to say no to him.

It was Tessa who let him in since Rebecca was turned around cleaning off the counter. Jackson smiled at Tessa and walked around to stand in front of Rebecca. When she looked up, she appeared almost startled. Her face had a few beads of sweat, and her hair had fallen down into her eyes from a hard day
’
s work. He actually found it to be cute, but like most women, she didn
’
t appreciate a man seeing her like that.

“
Jackson, I wasn
’
t expecting you! You look fancy. What
’
s the occasion?
”
She asked the question in between puffs. Jackson remained cool and collected as he handed her the rose, making her blush. Her fair skin always gave her away, and he loved it.

“
I was thinking that I might take you for a nice dinner. Just the two of us.
”

“
Oh, I don
’
t know, Jackson. I mean, I
’
m not sure if I can leave Leo alone here.
”
Leo came to back him up, just as he said he would. He must
’
ve been listening in because he came running down the stairs.

“
Mom, it
’
s fine. Jeremy wants to do a raid tonight, so I
’
ll be on the Xbox anyway.
”
Rebecca sighed and put her hand on her hip. The tension in the room was heavy as everyone realized Rebecca was about to come up with a new reason to protest. Luckily, Tessa swooped in and grabbed the rag out of Rebecca
’
s hand.

“
You go ahead and get ready, hon. I
’
ll finish up here. You don
’
t want to keep this handsome man waiting, do you?
”

Jackson saw Rebecca glance back and forth between all three of them, and held his breath. This was the moment of truth.

She finally surrendered and smiled at him then headed up the stairs to get dressed. Leo gave Jackson the thumbs up before following behind her.

“
You know, Tessa, I think I like you more and more every day. I should give Aaron a big hug for bringing you into our lives.
”
Tessa laughed and shook her head before finishing up closing procedures.

In record time compared to any other woman Jackson had ever dated, Rebecca came tumbling down the stairs. She was a vision, her red hair down and straightened wearing strappy black heels and purple strapless dress. Her skin looked glowing in the now partially dark coffee shop, and he couldn
’
t wait to have her on his arm.

***

Rebecca knew that she really should feel embarrassed and guilty that she
’
d allowed a complete stranger to run and close her coffee shop on a busy day and that she was now leaving her son alone for the first time since moving, but all she could think about was the handsome man sitting in the seat across from her.

He had brought her to one of the nicest restaurants in the area. She
’
d passed it a couple times and heard the locals talking about it, but of course, she
’
d never been able to afford to go. It was a high end seafood joint with d
é
cor all over the walls that definitely had an aquatic feel. The lights were dim, and the glass window at the back allowed for an unobstructed view of the beautiful ocean.