Mister Fixit (Love in New York #3) (23 page)

“Shush, Boo. Let me handle this.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he says, his mood still dark, but his hand on her belly definitely acting as a distraction.

“Sure it is. I’m the only one here with a cool head.” She turns her attention to Jeremy as she flops her hand out toward Rob and me, like she has an invisible platter resting on it. “So, you see, Jana and Rob here, have finally decided to stop dinking around and playing games and get together.”

“What?” Jeremy looks completely confused.

“Yes, you heard me right. They are together. A couple. How else can I say it?” She looks up at the ceiling and then smiles again. “Oh. I know. They are getting it on like donkey kong, know what I mean?”

“Okay, that’s enough.” James pulls her to him and wraps his hand around her neck as if he’s going to hug her but then covers her mouth. “You shush now and let someone else talk.”

She frowns at him but lets him continue to manhandle her. As I watch them, it’s becoming clearer to me why these two are together. As odd a couple as they seem, it somehow works. Thank God, because his only other long-term affair was with Hilary and I would never want that chick as a sister-in-law.

It reminds me of Rob’s confession, and I look from him to my brother. Does James know about Hilary going after his best friend? He’ll never hear it from me. Their long-term friendship is already looking iffy over this affair with me.

“You two?” Jeremy asks, pointing at Rob and then me. “Since when?” He’s smiling, thank goodness. I guess I don’t have to worry about him.

“Since very recently.” Rob turns a stern expression on James. “I know you told me to stay away, but I couldn’t. Not after doing it for ten years.”

Leah’s mouth drops open and she yanks James’s hand away. “Ten years? Damn. That’s a long time to keep it in your pants.”

“Leah, dammit!” James turns on her. “That’s enough!”

She drops her head and looks up at him with a you-must-be-crazy expression on her face. “Seriously?” She’s completely unfazed by his temper. I almost laugh at the spectacle, but get a grip on myself just in time.

James is ashamed now, I can read it all over his expression and his body language. “No, I’m sorry. I just …” He runs his hands through his hair. “I can’t deal with this right now.” He leaves the room with long strides, disappearing into the dining room.

“I’ll go talk to him,” Leah stage-whispers, leaving the room as fast as she can waddle.

“I’ll help,” Rob says, following close behind, leaving me alone in the room with Jeremy.

Cassie crawls over and grabs onto my pant leg, using it to stand. She wobbles on her two feet, looking up at me. “Moo.” She reaches one hand up, but the combination of all her new moves cause her to lose her balance and she falls onto her butt.

Jeremy looks at me as I lift Cassie up into my arms. “She misses you.”

“Oh yeah?” I close my eyes as I sniff her precious head. “I miss her too.”

“You don’t have to stay away, you know. We want you here.”

I shake my head, not trusting myself to speak. I’m going to cry, I know I am.

Jeremy continues. “I know it’s hard for you. I know you hate me and Sarah.”

I open my eyes, needing to fix this. “I don’t hate you or Sarah. I wanted to, believe me.”

Cassie reaches up and pats my cheeks. “Moo. Moo moo.”

Tears rise up, much as I’m trying to will them away. “I just miss her too much, you know?”

Jeremy steps closer, rubbing his daughter’s back. “Of course you do. You were her mom for nine months.”

Cassie leans over for her father, basically doing a suicide dive to get there. I barely hang onto her bottom half as he grabs her and takes her into his arms. She opens her mouth and leans in, taking his entire nose between her teeth.

“Thank you for the kiss, Cassie. No biting this time.”

I start to laugh when I suddenly recognize the small cuts on his chin. “Tell me she didn’t eat your face.” I point to his boo-boos.

“Oh yeah, she did. She’s a monster.”

Memories come flooding back. “Oh my god, she bit me on the shoulder so hard one day I cried.”

“Try getting a chunk of your chin removed.”

We both gaze at her, our eyes full of love. “I’m so sad that Laura missed out on all this,” I say, a tear sneaking past my defenses. I wipe it away as quick as I can.

“Me too,” Jeremy says, his voice suddenly rough. “But she’s here. She’s experiencing it from wherever she is.” He looks at me, his eyes glowing with pain and happiness at the same time. “I really believe that.”

I nod. “Me too. She was a force of nature. If anyone can visit from the spirit world, it’d be her.”

Jeremy looks at the ground and then back at me. “Sarah and I would really love it if you’d come around more often. I swear. She mentions it more than I do. Please don’t hate her.”

I can’t stand the sound of his voice and the look on his face. I grab him and Cassie in a hug. “I don’t hate her. I don’t hate anyone. I’m just really sad. I’m sorry I’ve been so mean.”

“You haven’t been mean,” Jeremy says, hugging me back. “You’re being human. I just hope you can forgive us and let us back into your life.”

“Forgive you?” I pull away to look at him. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Are you sure you really feel that way? You were pretty angry. At Robinson too.”

I shake my head. “I’m over that. I wasn’t being fair. I get it now. The most important thing is that Cassie’s safe and happy, and I know she is. She’s where she belongs.”

A voice comes from the kitchen. “Soup’s on!”

We turn toward the dining room, just as a loud crash comes from somewhere in that direction. Jeremy shoves the baby into my arms and runs from the living room with me right on his heels.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

I GET INTO THE DINING room just in time to see Leah bonking her boyfriend upside the head with a baguette. James has Rob in a headlock and they’ve already knocked over two chairs.

“Get off him, you animal! What’s wrong with you?!” She beats him so many times, the bread breaks in half and crumbs go flying everywhere.

Sarah’s standing in the doorway, holding a pot of sauce with her eyes bugging out of her head.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Jeremy roars.

The wrestling stops and both Rob and James look up at him.

“This is my home! What is your goddamn problem, James?!”

James slowly releases Rob’s head and stands, straightening his shirt.

Rob stands and does the same, but then really quick punches James in the side.

James grunts, but does nothing in return.

“Somebody better start talking or I’m canceling this dinner.” Jeremy puts his hands on his hips and stares at the men across the room.

“No one’s canceling anything,” Sarah says, walking in and putting the pot down on the table. “I’ve been cooking this sauce all day. It’s home made.”

“Start talking James. Or Rob.” Jeremy glares at them one at a time. “No one touches that sauce until you tell me what’s going on.”

“I already told you what’s going on,” Leah says, rolling her eyes. “Geez. Weren’t you listening?”

“Just because Rob and Jana are together does not explain why these two idiots think it’s okay to break my dining room chairs.” He walks over and holds one up, displaying its broken leg.

“I’m sorry about that,” James said.

“Money talks, bullshit walks. Send me a check for six hundred bucks and we’ll call it even.” Jeremy turns to Rob. “Did you do something wrong?”

Rob shrugs. “Not from my point of view, I didn’t.”

“Mine either.” I walk over and stand next to Rob, holding Cassie on my hip. “Sorry, James, but you can’t stop this. We’re together. We’re going to see if this thing we’ve been thinking about for way too long is real. You just need to stay out of it.”

“What’s the big deal?” Jeremy asks James. “He’s your best friend. He’s like a brother but without the weird blood tie that would make this all very wrong.” He kind of laughs at his own joke. “Seriously, I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“I do.” Sarah sighs, looking at all of us. “If it doesn’t work out, what happens then? James loses his best friend, and his relationship with his only sister becomes strained. I don’t blame him for wanting to keep them apart. Not that I recommend that or anything, but I see where he’s coming from.”

I want to hate Sarah for what she said but I can’t. How could I? She gets it. She understands my brother and she has compassion for him. And she’s not judging us either. I think our family needs a referee like her around.

“Good, I’m glad we have that all worked out,” Leah says, taking her seat. “Because I’m starving. Where are the noodles?”

Jeremy moves around his brother and goes into the kitchen. “Coming right up.”

Rob looks at James and holds his hand out. “We good?” he asks.

James looks at Rob and then at me. I stick my chin out, daring him to defy me.

James shakes Rob’s hand, gripping it hard enough that I see Rob wince. “Just don’t hurt her, or I swear to God, I’ll make that nose of yours twice as ugly as it is already.”

We all laugh and move to our seats.

Leah sighs as she looks on the floor. “I guess there’s no garlic bread tonight.”

“Maybe next time use something else for your weapon,” James says, kissing her on the head as he sits down next to her.

“How about next time you take your testosterone out into the backyard so I don’t have to grab the nearest baguette.”

“Done,” he says, taking her hand in his and putting it in his lap.

Two seconds later he jumps and yelps and then glares at her.

I can’t stop laughing for the next five minutes. Every time I look in their direction, all I can see is his surprised expression and Leah’s sneaky smile.

“You happy?” Rob asks me quietly as everyone chats about what’s new in their lives.

I nod. “Very.”

“We okay?”

I nod again. “Very.”

He leans in closer and whispers. “You want to get naked?”

I keep chewing, acting like he didn’t just get me all revved up. “Very,” I say when I think I can manage to not smile too hard.

Rob gets a goofy grin on his face and shoves a giant bite of food into his mouth.

“So what’s new with you?” Leah asks Rob. “Other than the obvious?”

He puts down his fork as he chews and rests his hands on either side of his plate. Eventually, everyone realizes that he’s about to say something interesting, so the rest of the conversation dies off and we listen to what he’s going to say. I’m very nervous he’s about to make some kind of declaration about our love, which would be awesome on one hand, but terribly embarrassing on the other. This relationship is so new; I don’t want to jinx it by calling it something big too prematurely, even though I know in my heart that Rob is the man for me.

“I actually have some very big news that’s been about thirteen years coming.”

The number thirteen strikes me as important, but I don’t realize how important until he starts to elaborate.

“Fourteen years ago, when I was finishing up law school, my girlfriend Val became pregnant.”

You could hear a pin drop in the room. Even Cassie seems to understand what’s expected of her. She plays quietly with her noodle pieces, pushing them around her high chair tray with her finger, trying to get one to stick.

“She gave birth to my son, Brian.”

“You have a son?” Jeremy asks. He looks over at James. “Did you know about this?”

James nods, his face a mask.

Leah bumps him on the arm. “Hey! You didn’t tell me about Brian!”

“Just listen,” he says softly, staring at his best friend.

“Brian was born with severe cerebral palsy. He’s lived in a skilled nursing facility his entire life.”

“Oh my god,” Sarah says. “Where?”

“About an hour and a half from here.”

I know what the unasked questions are, so I elaborate, worried they’ll think less of Rob if they don’t know the whole story.

“He needs expert nursing care around the clock. And it’s a really, really nice place. His mom is there a lot and so is Rob.” I look up at my man with shining eyes. I love him so much I can’t even say how much.

“How long have you known about Brian?” Jeremy asks me.

“I just met him the other day.”

“Babe, this isn’t about you,” Sarah says, nudging him.

“No, of course not.” Jeremy shakes his head. “I’m just surprised is all. How come you didn’t say anything?”

His insinuation is clear. Are we judgmental people? Was Rob worried what we’d think or say behind his back?

Rob shrugs. “It was what his mother wanted. She was worried that having a bunch of people come in and out of his life would be difficult for him. That he could get attached to someone who’d get busy and not come around anymore, and we’re never sure how much he understands when we try to explain things.”

“Oh.” Jeremy looks down at the table and then at his own daughter. “I get it.”

“Sarah,” I say, the offer I made on her behalf jumping into my head, “I was wondering if you’ve ever done any work with handicapped people. With your painting, I mean.”

She smiles. “As a matter of fact, yes. When I was in college, I did an internship at a center for adults with disabilities.”

“Brian likes to draw with his mom,” I explain. “They use crayons and pencils, but I suggested that maybe you’d like to help him paint.”

“She doesn’t have to do that,” Rob says, hurrying to cut off Sarah’s reply. “It’s a long drive, and with winter, that makes it really hard to get there. Plus she’s busy with Cassie.”

“No, I’d love to.” Sarah’s face is glowing. “Seriously. If Jana doesn’t mind helping me with Cassie, I could do it. Maybe once a week? Once every two weeks? Whatever you and his mother think is a good idea.” She looks at Jeremy. “I told you something would come up.”

Jeremy looks out at us and shrugs. “I’ve been trying to get her out of the house, and she’s been telling me she’d go when she was ready.” He looks at her and smiles warmly. “Taking care of Cassie is a job and a half.”

It doesn’t hurt quite as much to hear Jeremy say that as I know it would have yesterday or even an hour ago. Rob squeezes my hand under the table and I know he understands.