Jessie Belle: The Women of Merryton - Book One (23 page)

We
spent so much time on homework, I decided to call it a day when we were done. I
had planned on doing some baking with her in the kitchen, but I was exhausted
and ready to go home. It was almost that time anyway.

When
we got home, I let Maddie turn on the television while I started dinner. I
baked some seasoned pork chops and made a strawberry, spinach, and poppy seed
salad. I also had Maddie call her mom. I listened in on the short conversation.
Maddie basically told her about school and her new bike, end of story. She
didn’t ask how her mom was. I wondered if she was afraid to.

I
set dinner on the table just as Blake was walking in. I looked up from the
table expecting a
Leave it to Beaver
moment. You know, when Ward comes
home and sees everything June has done, from helping with homework and trying
to run her own business, to putting a well-balanced meal on the table. And Ward
comes and kisses June and tells her how much he adores her and that she’s the
best wife ever and what would he ever do without her. But then reality came
knocking.

“Madeline,
go change into some shorts and a t-shirt and grab your new racquet. We’ll leave
as soon as I change.”

I
put my hand up to object or to at least grab some attention as he rushed toward
the stairs. I went completely unnoticed. I sank into the chair nearest me and
looked at the beautiful spread in front of me.
This is ridiculous,
I
thought. I pushed away from the table and set off to find my husband. I was
tired of being ignored.

I
walked up the stairs to find him coming down, already dressed to play
racquetball.

“Jessica.”
He stopped on the landing.

“Dinner’s
ready,” I said in a passive-aggressive sort of way.

He
must have picked up on it a little as he cocked his head. “It’s not good to eat
before you play.”

“A
heads up would have been nice.”

“Don’t
worry about making dinner. Who knows what we’ll be doing in the evenings? I’ll
make sure Maddie and I get something to eat.”

“That’s
just great,” I said as I turned and stomped back down the stairs. Livid didn’t
even begin to describe how I felt. I marched myself to my room and locked the
door. Not that it mattered, because no one came calling. How did I get cut out
of the equation? I wasn’t really the governess like Maria, but that’s how I
felt he treated me. What happened to my greeting kisses, and what happened to
me being the most important thing in his life? What happened to working on our
relationship?

In
my alone time, between cursing Blake and eating, I got online and did some
research about to how to best help Maddie with her math and reading skills. I
found a couple of great articles. One suggested showing how to apply math in
everyday situations like cooking and baking.
Perfect
, I thought. The one
for reading was a little bit different, it suggested not only to buy books that
would be of interest to her, but that we could read to each other. I figured it
couldn’t hurt, but how was Maddie going to feel about me reading to her? My mom
and dad read to each other and I thought it was romantic. I wished Blake would
read to me. But I didn’t want Maddie to think I was babying her.

I
turned off my tablet and cleaned up and cursed Blake some more. This was really
his job. It wasn’t my job to do all the hard work and let him just come home
and have all the fun, especially when the fun excluded me.

Tuesday
was a little better. I took Maddie to the bookstore to pick out some books she
thought she might be interested in. She landed on a teen spy series. It
promised to be full of intrigue, murder, lies, and some romance. They looked
mostly innocent so I bought the whole set of six.

We
did her math homework in the kitchen of Jessie Belle’s. I figured we could make
my sea salt chocolate cookies. They were the right amount of sweet with just a
hint of salty, the perfect combo. It also served as a great demonstration on
how to add fractions. It didn’t take Maddie long to catch on to what I was
doing.

“Wait,”
she said as she measured out the flour. “Is this fractions?”

“Maybe,”
I said with a smile. “Do you see how quickly you knew that two half cups
equaled one cup?

“Yeah,”
she said proudly.

“Let’s
try something else.” I handed her a large, lined measuring cup that held five
cups. I also gave her a two-thirds measuring cup. “Fill the two-thirds cup
twice and add it to the larger cup.”

She
did as I asked and meticulously measured out the cocoa and filled the larger
cup.

“Now
look at the line and tell me how much that equals.”

She
looked at the fill line. “One and one-thirds cup.”

“Very
good.” I handed her a piece of paper and a pencil. “Now write out that
equation.”

She
wasn’t thrilled about it, but she obeyed.

This
went on for several days. It got more difficult as we moved on to multiplying
and dividing fractions, but at least we always had something good to eat
afterward.

That
Tuesday was a game night, which meant we got to do something as a family. Well,
kind of. The most contact I had with Blake was in the dugout when I did my
pregame high-fives. I walked down the row of benches and high-fived each guy
and wished them luck. Blake was brooding at the end next to Easton, who was all
smiles as our hands met for a slap.

“Emmy
and Maddie are with Abby and Cheyenne,” I said to both men so they didn’t think
I just left them in the stands alone, although Maddie was old enough to babysit
and to be left alone.

“I
really appreciate you being so good with Emmy, she looks forward to seeing
you.”

“She’s
a doll. Anytime you need me to watch her, let me know. Even if it’s in the
middle of the night.” I winked. I remembered what it was like growing up with a
doctor.

“You’re
a lifesaver, thanks.”

I
smiled before directing my attention at my surly husband. Thankfully the whole
brooding persona looked good on him. Maybe Cheyenne was right, I was staying
with my husband because I found him attractive. I knew that wasn’t true, but it
was the one perk I had going for me at the moment.

I
raised my hand up to high-five him and he didn’t respond right away. Instead he
looked up at me with those eyes of his and I felt the faintest of flutterings
in my stomach. I was too upset with him to have full flutterings. I bit my lip
and he smiled like he knew he could still get to me.

He
raised his hand, but instead of slapping it, he interlocked his fingers with my
own and pulled me to him. “I think I should get more than a high-five, don’t
you?” he whispered an inch from my face.

I
could feel the heat rise to my cheeks. “You think so?” I said quietly back.

He
didn’t answer verbally. He closed the distance between us and kissed me once on
my lips.

It
was a surprising move. Blake wasn’t into public displays of affection. Heck, we
were hardly into private displays.

Before
I got completely lost in him like it was so easy to do, the catcalls started in
the dugout.

I
straightened myself up and took in a deep breath. I could feel my red cheeks. “Gentlemen,”
I said as I cleared my throat. “Good luck.”

“How
about you kiss me for good luck?” Larry, the idiot, yelled out.

Most
of the guys laughed, but I looked at my husband and he didn’t seem to find it
comical at all. He was looking down the bench at Larry like he was giving him
the chance to retract his playful statement.

“You’ll
have to ask Blake about that one,” I teased and winked at my husband as I said
it.

Blake
raised his eyebrow at me and then quickly looked at Larry with a look that
said, I wouldn’t if I were you.

“Okay,
Jessie, time to leave. I’m going to have to make a new rule. No wives in the
dugout,” Shane called.

“Do
me proud,” I called out as I walked into the evening sunlight.

I
tried to gain my composure as I walked back to the stands. My idiot husband
shouldn’t have such an effect on me. It made it hard to remember why I was
upset with him, at least temporarily.

I
walked up into the stands and was greeted by a sight I was not expecting. I
kept noticing the covert glances Abby’s son, Connor, was giving Maddie. I
didn’t even think he liked girls yet. He was sitting on the same row as Maddie,
but a few spaces from her. He kept looking her way and I noticed his red ears.

Maddie
already had the hair flipping and swishing maneuver down. I don’t think she was
doing it on purpose, but I could tell Connor liked it.

I
looked up to Cheyenne and Abby, who were sitting in the row above them, and
with my eyes directed their attention to the teens in front of them. Cheyenne’s
face broke out in an evil grin; Abby’s was more on the worried side. I smiled
at her.

This
was another nuance of raising a teen girl I had to get used to. I wondered how
her dad was going to take it. I imagined him as the overprotective sort. We
probably needed to talk and set some rules. I wasn’t allowed to date until high
school, which in this town was tenth grade. I was thinking we should go with
that plan.

I
took my place between Cheyenne and Abby with my charges in front of me.

“So
Kent just texted me and said you and Blake were making out in the dugout,”
Cheyenne said evilly.

I
smacked her. “We were not.”

“Too
bad, you could probably use a good make-out session.”

This
time Abby reach over and smacked her since we had an audience that consisted of
four interested girls and one boy trying to act like he wasn’t interested.

“You
were kissing my dad in front of everyone?” Maddie asked.

“No,
I mean yes. I mean he kissed me once, very chastely.”

Cheyenne
laughed.

Maddie’s
face contorted into this look of disgust. “Old people kissing is gross.”

“We’re
not that old.”

Maddie
shrugged her shoulders like “whatever you say.”

“It’s
okay, Aunt Jessie, you can kiss cause you love each other. That’s what my mommy
says,” Isabelle threw in her two cents.

“Thank
you, sweetie,” I said to her in return.

Poor
Emmy looked embarrassed beyond belief and scooted closer to Avery, who was
grinning at me.

I
nudged Cheyenne with my shoulder. “No one will ever accuse you of having tact.”

“Good,”
she responded.

Abby
and I both laughed at her.

Just
as the game was beginning to start the “First Couple” showed up. They sat a few
rows in front of us on the opposite side. Both of them looked our way. Veronica
looked at me and then Maddie and then me again and gave me this look of fake
pity as she shook her head. I took that as my opportunity to squeeze Maddie’s
shoulders in a loving fashion. That got Veronica to find her seat fast.

“Who
wears all white to the ballpark?” Abby whispered to Cheyenne and me.

“Someone
begging to have Coke spilled on her,” Cheyenne replied.

“Wait
until we play them,” I suggested.

“I
like the way you think,” Cheyenne responded.

“It’s
not very Christian-like,” sweet Abby said. Then she grinned mischievously. “But
that’s what repenting is for.”

We
giggled like we were back in junior high.

I
decided then I needed more nights with my girls, especially if I was going to
be left out in the cold by Blake and Maddie.

And
it appeared that I was
. The game was great as we cheered on our
team, who easily beat Mama Mia’s ten to two. But afterward I ended up going
home alone while Blake took Maddie to get fitted for a custom-sized helmet for
biking.

And
that pretty much summed up the first two weeks of Maddie living with us. My
therapist called it a transition period. I called it something else that we
won’t mention.

I
tried to deal with my loneliness and frustration in healthy ways. I talked to
my therapist and tried to keep myself busy with projects or with Cheyenne and
Abby. I even babysat Emmy a couple of nights. My therapist suggested I talk to
Blake, but I didn’t want to seem like a needy wife or like I was jealous. I
wasn’t either. Part of me could understand all the time he was spending with
her. I knew he was trying to make up for lost time, but we had lost time to
make up for, too.

I
didn’t dare talk to my parents about it, though I think my mom kind of knew. She
wasn’t as pro-Blake as she normally was. She wasn’t anti-Blake either, but
during Sunday dinner she kept saying things like, “Blake really needs to get
his priorities straight.” Of course my dad was in full agreement.

The
problem was I was pretty sure Blake thought he did have his priorities
straight. Maddie was happy and so was he, seemingly happier than he had ever
been.

My
relationship with Maddie was good, but I had become the enforcer. You know, the
one that made her do her homework and clean up. Blake was Disneyland Dad and
came home every night and whisked her away to do something fun, whether it was
bowling or soccer in the park.

The
only thing I think she enjoyed with me was when I read to her. I was surprised
she allowed me to, but she took right to it. We would come home from Jessie
Belle’s and sit on the couch with her leaning against me and I would read these
ridiculous teen spy books to her until her dad came home. She told me that no
one had ever really read to her before.

I
did enjoy our conversations while we read. There was a love interest in the
book, and apparently Maddie was already boy crazy.

“When
I grow up, I’m going to marry someone hot and rich, just like Eric.”

Eric
was Cassie’s (the main character’s) unrequited love, if you can have unrequited
love at sixteen. You could tell Eric had a thing for Cassie, but circumstances
and misunderstandings kept getting in their way. Like, you know, Eric was a
supposed criminal. He was a bad-boy with a good heart, just what every girl
loved.

“Will
he be a thief too?” I teased.

“No
…”

“That’s
good to know. But don’t be fooled by money or looks. Those only go so far. Make
sure you find someone that respects you and treats you right.”

“Someone
like my dad?” she asked innocently.

“Yeah
… someone like your dad,” I said without choking.

“I
can’t wait to have a boyfriend someday.”

“Oh,
yeah.” I kissed the top of her head. “Let’s give it a few years.”

“Why?”

“Because,
honey, you have a lifetime ahead of you. For now have fun and enjoy being a
kid. Boys have a way of complicating your life, especially if you start dating
too early.”

“Do
you think that’s what happened to my mom?”

I
set the book down and pulled her closer to me. “What do you mean?”

She
paused for a few seconds. “My mom said that men ruined her life.”

I
wasn’t surprised by that news. Sabrina was one of those women that seemed to
need a man to complete her, and she didn’t care if he treated her poorly. I
don’t know how many times I had told her to break-up with Hal when we were
living together. She talked about him like she would die if he ever left her,
yet he treated her like trash, calling her names and cheating on her. But she always
crawled back to him.

“Honey,
I don’t know what happened with your mom, but always remember that you don’t
need to change for anyone. And you, get to know yourself first. Does that make
sense?”

“Not
really.”

“What
I mean is that you learn all you can about what you like to do and what makes
you happy. Go to school, travel, and meet lots of people. Then, when the time
is right, a long time from now, you’ll attract somebody as wonderful as you.
And maybe he’ll be hot and have lots of money.”

She
giggled.

“Hey,”
she said suddenly like she remembered something. “Can I enter the art contest
at Jessie Belle’s?”

I
had forgotten she had told me she liked to draw. “I wish you could, but you’re
not old enough yet, and it would be unfair since we’re related.”

“Not
really,” she said.

I
wasn’t sure how to feel about that. “Well, your dad is my husband, so like it
or not, we’re sort of related.”

“I
like it,” she said quietly.

“Me,
too.” I kissed her head. “How about this? I’ll get you a sketch pad and you can
draw some pictures and I’ll get them framed and hang them in the café.”

“Really?”
She looked up to me and beamed.

I
nodded and smiled back.

If
only every moment was like that with her.

And
if only I took my own advice and made her dad treat me like he should. I ended
up getting a little unexpected help in that department. I don’t know if it was
God or a Higher Power, as I was still not sure about all that, but let’s just
say sometimes things work out in mysterious ways.

Since
Blake was wrapped up in his own world I focused on taking care of myself. I
made going to the gym an almost every night thing, and then hung out with my
friends. It was almost like we were back in school, but Abby had an earlier
curfew with her kiddos. And we did things like helping Abby make scrapbooks for
her kids. We were really wild like that.

It
was on one of these nights that fate, or whatever you called it, stepped in. It
was a Wednesday, which meant Rob was teaching Zumba. It had quickly become my
favorite class. He had this way of infusing energy into the class. He mixed
Latin dance moves with hip hop, and it made burning calories fun. He was so
good they moved his class from the exercise room to the gym to accommodate the
fifty or so women that showed up to his class every week. We had women of all
ages, from young teens to Nancy, who was in her seventies. I hoped that would
be me when I was her age.

There
I was, sweating and burning massive calories along with my worries about my
marriage. It was almost better than therapy. That night was especially fun, as
Rob introduced a salsa number. He picked me to help show off some of the moves.
I had taken some dance classes years ago in college, so I was kind of rusty,
but I tried to let go and just have fun like the old me.

By
the end of class I was drenched in sweat, but I had that exercise-high feeling
going for me. I was downing my water bottle when my instructor approached me.

“You
have some potential,” he said.

“Thanks,
I think.”

He
laughed. “Seriously, you have some great moves. My wife and I teach a salsa
class in Evergreen; you should sign up.”

“That
sounds like fun. Do I have to sign up with a partner?”

He
touched my arm, “No. Believe me you’ll have partners lining up—” He stopped mid-sentence.
He froze, and his eyes widened and fixed on something behind me.

I
turned around to see what had caused such a reaction. I barely had time to
process that it was Blake before his hands found my face and his lips pressed
hard against mine. For a second my brain said, “You’re making a public
spectacle of yourself.” But then my brain shut down as soon as his warm lips
parted mine and I could taste the lingering effects of the sugar-free mints he
always kept handy. The kiss was brief, but it had me buzzing. When he released
my lips he still kept a hold of my face. I could see anger in his eyes, but I
couldn’t understand why.

“Hi,”
I said breathless.

He
didn’t say a word, he just brushed my lips once more and released me, and
immediately took up my hand instead. I quickly understood where the ire was
coming from as he stared hard at Rob. I just didn’t understand why he was upset
with him. He didn’t even know him, at least I didn’t think he did.

In
the awkward silence I said, “Rob, this is my husband, Blake, if you haven’t
already guessed.”

“Nice
to meet you,” Rob said nervously.

“Hmm
…” my husband replied rudely.

“I
better be going,” Rob said as he hightailed it away from us.

I
looked up to Blake. “What was all that about?”

He
still watched Rob as he walked away to the other side of the gym to put up the
sound system. Once Rob was far away he looked down at me. “Hi.”

“Hi.
What are you doing here?”

“I
was playing racquetball with Maddie.”

I
looked up to where the racquetball courts overlooked the gym. I always thought
it was weird that the racquetball players could peer down into the gym.

I
looked around. “Where is she?”

“She
went to the teen room to play ping pong with her friend Katie.”

I
let go of Blake to retrieve my bag, towel, and almost empty water bottle. I was
a little off-balance. I couldn’t tell if it was from the intense workout or the
kiss - maybe a combination of both. I threw the towel around my neck and downed
the last bit of my water. I turned to leave as soon as the bottle was empty.
Blake followed and picked up my hand again. He was behaving very oddly, and it
didn’t help that everyone in the whole gym was staring at us. We had once again
given the people of Merryton a show.

“I
think it’s time I teach you how to play racquetball,” he said on our way out of
the gym’s already-opened double doors.

I
stopped dead in my tracks outside the doors. “What happened to ‘I’ll get you an
instructor’?”

He
grinned and pulled me to him. “I’ve decided I better teach you myself.”

I
narrowed my eyes at him. “Hmm …”

“Is
that a yes?”

“I’ll
think about it,” I replied.

“What
do you mean you’ll think about it?” His eyes practically danced with amusement.

I
didn’t think there was anything funny about this at all. I was still confused
where this was all coming from. “Well, I know how busy you are.”

His
eyes narrowed in concern and he gently pulled me around the corner to a more
private area. I leaned against the brick wall trying to avert my eyes as he
hovered above me with his hand against the wall for support. “What’s wrong?”

My
head shot up and looked directly into his eyes. “Are you kidding me?”

“Jess?”

“Blake,
I’ve barely seen you or talked to you in the last two weeks.”

“What
do you mean? We see each other every day.”

“Sure,
long enough for you to change your clothes and dash out the door with Maddie.”

“Wait.
Are you jealous of her?”

He
might as well have slapped me. I couldn’t help it, my eyes welled up with
tears. “You don’t know me at all. I just thought after all of these years you
were finally going to put me first in your life.”

His
eyes softened and he leaned in closer.

I
pushed him away. “I’ll be home late. Not that you would, but don’t wait up for
me, Summers.”

“Jessica,”
I heard him call as I briskly walked away, seething.

How
dare he accuse me of being jealous of Maddie? I had tried very hard not to make
this about her. And I’d gone above and beyond to make her feel comfortable in
our home and to take care of her. Who picked her up every day from school and
spent agonizing hours doing homework so that she and Blake could play all
night? Oh, yeah, that would be me.

I
headed straight over to Cheyenne’s, still drenched in sweat. I figured she
wouldn’t mind my showering and changing at her place. Cheyenne lived in the
new, modern-looking town homes they had built near the high school last year.
They kind of looked out of place in our quaint town, but they fit Cheyenne. She
was anything but quaint or small town. Sometimes I was surprised she stayed
here. She was going to run out of men soon. I should probably warn Easton to be
on guard.

I
didn’t even have to knock when I got there. Cheyenne threw open the door with
the face of someone who had just won the lottery. She grabbed my arm and pulled
me into her entryway. “OH. MY. GOSH. Jessie Belle, I can’t believe you and
Blake were totally making out in the gym after he flew into a jealous rage and
punched the Zumba instructor.”

I
shook my head and choked a little. “What a bunch of bull. Who told you that?”

She
dropped my arm and her face went from elated to disappointed. “You mean it’s
not true?”

I
tucked my sweaty hair behind one ear. “Well—”

Her
eyes lit up again. “Well, what?”

“Blake
did come in and kiss me, but we weren’t making out, and he didn’t hit anyone.”

“But
Felicia said Blake tore into your Zumba class with a jealous rage in his eyes
on a hell-bent mission, grabbed you, kissed you passionately, and then sent Rob
running.”

“Why
would Blake be jealous of Rob?”