The Lovely Garden (9 page)

“Ready to get a table?” she asked, heading into the restaurant. There would be no conversation until after we sat at the table. One of Jenny’s unwritten rules of hanging out.

“Yes! I’m starved. Almost wasted away waiting here for you.” It was my right as a best friend to give her shit for being late. I give her a lot of shit. And I mean,
a lot
. I don’t think I can call up to memory a time when she had been on time. With the exception of her wedding, and that was because her mother had been with her. I’m dead serious. If her mother hadn’t been there, she would have been late to her own wedding.

She rolled her eyes high in her head. “Oh, shut up! It wasn’t
that
long.” Five minutes was like one minute in Jenny time.

We walk into Smithy’s Pub and was greeted by the too cheerful hostess. Since it was a Monday we were seated and our drinks ordered in under two minutes. I got a glass of red wine, which I desperately needed, and Jenny water. Jenny had never ordered water when we had gone to Smithy’s before. Something was up, and I thought I knew what it was.

“What’re going to get?” Jenny asked staring at her menu.

I didn’t have much of an appetite. My nerves were still shot from work. I wasn’t a big eater when I was stressed. “I’m just going to get the grilled chicken salad.” With Italian dressing. Ranch was my usual dressing, but I didn’t want something so heavy.

Jenny cocked a dark blonde eyebrow. “Hard day at work?” She knew me all too well.

“Don’t get me started,” I said shaking my head. My voice cracked and lower lip trembled.

“We’ll talk about it. But first, we’re going to order, because the waitress is headed our way.”

“Hey ladies,” Tara greeted, knowing us on sight. We have been coming here for years and most of the staff recognized us. Every once in a while Smithy, real name Sam, came and talked with us. “You getting the usual?”

Jenny replied, “Not tonight. I think we’re going to get the same thing. The grilled chicken salad.” Salad was her usual order. So, she was trying not to act to out of the ordinary. “I’ll have your house dressing with that.”

“I’m going to have Italian with mine.”

“I’ll get that right for you, ladies.” Tara took our menus and all but skipped away. She was very enthusiastic. It made her a great server, though a tad annoying to me. I like calmer people. Jenny was the most hyper person I could take, and she was pretty tame. Just a little more outgoing than I was.

Jenny took a sip from her water. “So, first things first. What happened at work?” This was serious Jenny. The Jenny who was ready to listen to my problems and help me bury the body if it came to that. Believe me, if we could get away with murder, Jerry would have been dead long ago. The shit he pulled was unacceptable in Jenny’s eyes. And this was going to take the cake.

“He fired me.” My hands shook in time with my voice. “That mother fucker actually fired me!” The room went silent as my voice carried. My face flushed red, and I hid my face between my hands unable to face the crowd that was definitely staring at me. I told her the entire story from the coffee all the way to Charles leaving.

“So,” Jenny took another sip of her water, “wine and ice cream tonight?”

I sighed back my tears. “Sounds good, though I’m going to be drinking alone since you’re pregnant.”

She made a noise between a choke and a whimper. “How the fuck did you know?!”

“Oh, come on! In all the years we have come here, you have only ordered water once. When you were pregnant with Caleb.” I sat back in the booth, gloating. It wasn’t often that I got the upper hand on Jenny, but I did that evening. Then, I had to ruin the mood just a bit. “I thought you didn’t want another kid?”

She placed her chin in her hand, elbow resting on the table. “I honestly didn’t. It just kind of happened.” I guessed a combination of Jenny forgetting to take her birth control and the two having drunken, unprotected sex. It was how Caleb had come to be. “I haven’t even told Billy yet.”

Now, that, was a huge surprise, and fuck up on her part. “You told
me
before him!” To be fair, she didn’t even tell me, I just guessed and happened to be right.

“I wasn’t planning on telling you.” She was so flustered she nearly spat it out. “I was planning on telling him tonight after dinner, but my best friend needs comforting so that can wait.”

“Nope. Don’t you put that on me. You’re just too pussy to tell him.” I got her there. The way she crossed her arms over her chest told me so. “Go, to tell him. I can find my comfort somewhere else.”

“With someone else, you mean.” She had me there. If Jenny abandoned me that night, I had planned on calling Charles. At least, I knew he was good company. And we could talk about his friend that was looking to hire. A win-win for me. Just hoped he didn’t feel guilty for me being fired. Wasn’t his fault my boss was a prick. “I’d ask how the date was, since we’re on that subject, but I already know, you little slut.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Says the pregnant one.”

“Whoa-whoa. I’m allowed to be pregnant. I’m married. You’re the one who just dove legs open on a first date.”

“Hey. It’d been a while. I thought I would treat myself.”

“And I bet you did.” Then, her tone changed to excitement. “Was he good in bed? I always imagined he was.”

My face was radiating heat. “Yes.” Good was an understatement. He had been great. The best I had ever had, honestly. But I couldn’t tell Jenny that for fear of passing out.

She smiled at me, her face glowing. “I’m happy for you. It was about time you got laid.” Damn straight, it had been. “Is there a relationship budding?”

The blush started to dissipate. “I think so. We spent the entire weekend together.” If Jenny’s eyes bulged out any more, they were going to fall out. “We hadn’t officially set up another date yet, but I have a feeling if I called him tonight, he would come over.”

“A feeling?” Jenny had the ability to raise one eyebrow. I had always been jealous of that. “Girl, that man has been googly eyes for you since before I set this date up. I would have done it sooner if I had known this might have happened.”

“Well, if someone had allowed me to remain sober every time I had met him, I might have remembered he was a nice guy before this and would have
wanted
to date him.” At the very least, I would have known I was physically attracted to him. A woman doesn't slap a man’s ass for no reason, even drunk. Well, this woman didn’t.

“Ooh. Don’t you blame this on me. The only reason why I get you drunk is so you have fun. Otherwise, you’d be hiding in the corner of the room hissing at anyone who came near you like a stray cat.” She had me there. I wasn’t very good at parties or meeting new people. It could explain why I was so terrible at dates, aside from I mostly would rather not be there.

Tara arrived with a smile on her face and our food in her hands. We thanked her as she sat the massive plates in front of us and declined when she asked if we needed anything else. When she had left, I asked, “How are you going to tell Billy?”

“What? That I’m pregnant or that you slept with his boss and liked it?” The look I gave her said she knew exactly what I meant. “I’m just going to tell him when I get home. As long as he’s not asleep by then. If I leave him alone for too long, he just passes out on the couch.”

“If he is, just wake him up. It’s a series conversation, so I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.” Jenny was just making excuses not to tell him. This pregnancy was completely unplanned, and she was afraid of what he would saw when she told him. “The sooner you get it over with, the sooner you guys can figure everything out.” Just like ripping off a Band-Aid. Though that was more for pain and less for planning.

“You’re right.” She used her fork to push her food around. “What if he doesn’t want it?”

I gave her my best are-you-fucking-kidding-me look. “Does that sound like your husband? The husband that was disappointed when you screamed in the middle of a party that you would never have kids again?” To be fair, Jenny hadn’t had the easiest first pregnancy. She had severe morning sickness, cramps, and terrible swelling. Seeing her that way was enough for me to second guess myself wanting children.

A small, reassured smile lit up her face. “You’re right. He’s going to be so excited.”

“He is! Now, let’s hurry up so you can go tell him!”

Even though I had planned on visiting him anyways, it was still a shock when I found myself on Charles’ front porch, a bottle of wine in hand. I rang the doorbell, praying that I wasn’t interrupting something even though I knew I wasn’t since I had called him before leaving the restaurant. In the silence left in the wake of the loudest doorbell I had ever heard, I shifted from foot to foot, dancing in the porchlight.

When the door was finally opened I was met with a disheveled Charles. His hair was all over the place and his clothes wrinkled, as if he had fallen asleep. Mixed with his bare feet, it was a very sexy look. I wanted to run my fingers through his hair while my lips were on his our tongues exploring each other’s mouths. Instead, I cleared my throat and held up the bottle of wine. “I brought wine!” Came out a little more excited than intended, but I would just go with it.

A lazy smile spread across his face slowly. Oh yes, this man had just woken up, and all I wanted to do was get him back in bed. I had to bit my lip to keep myself from rushing to him. “Come in,” he said, moving out of the doorway so I could do just that. And I had to say, he looked quite sexy in his sweatpants and t-shirt.

Entering the house set my nerves on edge. I had spent the entire weekend here, with Charles, but it still made me twitchy coming in. As if I was waiting for it to fall apart. Which it very well was and I knew it. The intensity of this relationship, only three days in and I was already looking for comfort from him, frightened me.

He was shutting the door as I turned back to him. “Where to?”

“I’ll be going to the kitchen,” he said, plucking the bottle of wine from my hands. “You head to the living room. You can have your pick of the TV.” I got a quick peck on the lips before he disappeared toward the kitchen, and I headed toward the living room.

The living room was modest in size and decor. A white couch and matching loveseat sat against the walls, and a flat screen television was mounted to the wall in front of the couch, a wooden coffee table between them. The carpet was beige in color and fluffy. Felt good on my bare feet; I left my shoes outside of the room, not wanting to ruin the nice carpet.

The couch was calling to me, but went for the floor. Sometimes, a woman just needed to sprawl out on the floor. At least, the carpet was pretty comfy. Felt as if it had hardly been walked on, and it probably hadn’t. From what I gathered, Charles spent most of his time in his office working or in his room sleeping.  And his parents hadn’t been ones to sit and do nothing either. So, that left me with a nice soft floor to lay on.

Charles came in a few moments later, two glasses of wine between his fingers and the open bottle of wine in the other hand. He smiled down at me as he set the bottle and glasses on the coffee table. “That looks pretty comfortable.”

I gave him a lazy smile, stretching my arms above my head. “It is.” I moved over enough for him to fit between me and the coffee table. “Join me.”

He didn’t hesitate. He flopped down on the floor, lying on his side with his head propped into his hand, looking at me. I just turned my head to smile at him. “What brings you here this fine evening?”

“Aside from drinking wine and hoping to get you in bed?” He hummed, tracing my jaw with the barest of touches. My eyes closed at the touch, and I had to push back a moan. “Honestly, comfort,” I said, my voice a little hoarse. “I got fired today.” And I found out my best friend was pregnant with her second child before I had even managed to find someone to have a stable relationship with. That I could keep to myself though.

There was a storm brewing in his light brown eyes and his touch turned rougher. A moan managed to escape through my lips. “I should have dragged you out of there like I wanted to.” Warmth flooded through me at the thought of him trying to protect me. It was sweet, though unnecessary.

I kissed the palm of his hand. “I would have gotten fired either way.” It just would have been the next day instead of right then. “And I didn’t come here to make you feel guilty. I came here to spend some time with you, and to get your friend’s number since I’m sorely lacking a job at the moment.”

His face brightened up more than I expected. I guess he had really wanted me to get a job from this woman. To, hopefully, see me happy. “I’ll give you her email. Just send her your resume. She is sort of expecting you.”

My eyes narrowed slightly. “Why’s that?” Not that I thought he deliberately tried to get me fired. Just didn’t like the idea of him talking to this woman about job prospects when I hadn’t wanted it.

“I told her I was trying to convince you to work for her. She’s fairly desperate. She offered to give me $1000 if got you to take the job.”

She really
must
be desperate. “I get half.” Charles disagreed and said that I would get all of it. I couldn’t help but smile at the man. We hardly knew each other, yet here he was, trying to take care of me. He was easily worming his way into my heart.