What Happiness Looks Like (Promises) (7 page)

Ignoring her, he turned his attention toward a table in the corner. “Wow. Look at this.”

She and Anna came closer and saw a wooden chessboard with carved animals for pieces. Jake picked up one that looked like a bear on its hind legs. “I’ve never seen a set like this.”

Jake’s dorm room in college had a marble chess set that he and his roommate kept in a perpetual state of play. On a shelf, he’d lined up the king and queen from other chess sets he’d left at home—sets made of glass, ivory, silver and even gold.

“They’re beautiful,” Anna said.

Jake admired another piece, a mustang. “Do you know how to play chess?”

Anna sucked on the end of her hair. “No.”

Remembering the goat incident, Joely gagged a little and patted Anna’s hand so she’d let go of her hair. It was a nervous habit she rarely displayed.

Jake’s gaze shifted from the chess piece to Anna. “Would you like me to teach you?”

Grinning, Anna nodded.

“Don’t make promises,” Joely warned. He was setting Anna up for disappointment and she hated him for it. Who knew when he’d be back?

He picked up the chessboard and carried it to the cash register.

“Adding this to your collection?” Joely asked him.

“No. This one is for my favorite little girl.” He smiled at Anna who beamed in return.

An old man wearing overalls and a John Deere cap stood up from a seat behind the counter. “I carved these myself.”

Opening his wallet, Jake pulled out a Visa card. “They’re amazing.”

The man wrapped the pieces in sheets of newspaper, making crinkling sounds. “Each one, except the rooks, represents an endangered animal. To remind us not to take God’s creations for granted.”

Jake tightened his lips and offered a stiff nod. Joely wondered if he was thinking about his own loss. How he’d always taken people for granted.

On the car ride home, Anna made up a song while playing with the chess pieces like they were characters in a play. Though she loved Anna’s soprano voice, Joely felt a headache throbbing in her temples. She’d had too many hours of Jake starring in the role of Father of the Year.

The chess set had cost even more than what the talking parrot would have cost. She didn’t want Anna to mistake Jake’s generosity for dependability.

Anna stopped singing. “Mom, guess what! I have grandparents! Dad said they live in Michigan. That’s not too far, is it?”

Pressure compressed her forehead. She scowled at Jake.
Don’t get her hopes up,
she tried saying telepathically.

He stroked his beard. “My parents can’t wait to meet AJ.”

Joely cringed. “Her name’s Anna Jo.”

“But in my family, we always call the kids by their initials. I was JR until I went off to college.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

JOELY

Despite her misgivings, Joely let Jake come over the next day after Kate and Mitch went to run errands. When the big hand pointed to the twelve and the little hand neared the five, Joely had explained to Anna, Jake needed to go. “Oh, you mean at five o’clock?” her little genius had replied.

While father and daughter sat on the floor in Anna’s room, Joely stood at the bottom of the stairs, eavesdropping. “To win at chess, just like in life,” she heard him explain, “you have to think farther ahead than your opponent.”

Life isn’t a competition, she wanted to say, but hated for them to know she was listening. Eventually their conversation dwindled to one-word comments like, “No”, “Think”, “Good”. Joely moved to the living room and dropped her body onto the couch. She quickly lost herself in the stillness.

The clock on the mantel chimed five times, waking Joely from the nap she hadn’t realized she’d been taking. She bolted upright and made her way to Anna’s room. “It’s time for your dad to go.” She kind of liked saying “your dad”.

Anna held a small wooden horse in her hand. “Aww, Mom. We’re just getting started.”

Joely shook her head. “I’m sorry. Aunt Kate and Uncle Mitch will be home soon and I need your help making dinner.”

“Just a few more minutes, Mom. Pleeeease.”

Joely couldn’t say no to Anna. Kate had pointed out this weakness many times. “OK. A few minutes.” She walked to the kitchen and selected the recipe for cashew chicken. She pulled some mixed vegetables out of the freezer and looked in the pantry for rice. There wasn’t any. She saw rolls and raisins, but no rice in Kate’s overly organized pantry. She let out a sigh. Chinese food needed rice.

She reconsidered her choice of dinner, but her thinking remained fuzzy.

Then she heard the garage door lifting. Oh no. She grabbed the railing and called up the stairwell. “Jake, you have to go
now
.” But it was too late.

The door from the attached garage swung open with a squeak. Kate carried a gallon of milk in one hand. “Who’s BMW is that outside?”

Joely faced her sister. “Don’t be mad.”

Kate set down the milk and hung her purse on the designated peg. She turned around and her forehead creased. “Why would I—”

Jake came down the stairs and waved with a wide swoop of his hand. “Hi, Kate. Long time no see.”

Kate’s chest rose. Redness spread from her neck up to her face. “What’s he doing here?”

Joely chewed on her bottom lip, aware that Kate was definitely mad. “He’s teaching Anna how to play chess. Isn’t that great?”

With his usual flair, Jake offered Kate his you-can’t-help-but-love-me smile. That crooked grin had probably gotten him out of a lot of jams with the ladies. But Kate was immune.

In fact it looked as if Kate were trying to poison him with her return expression. “Jake Mahoney, get out of my house. You’re not welcome here.” At that instant Mitch came in from the garage. He started to speak, but seemed to change his mind. He dropped two grocery bags onto the counter.

Jake came nearer to Kate. “Now, don’t get all wound up here. If Joely can forgive me, I think you should, too.”

Joely shook her head. “I don’t think I ever mentioned forgiveness.” No one acknowledged her mumblings.

Instead, Kate held her palm up like a traffic cop in Jake’s face. “Don’t tell me what I should do. I will never forgive or forget what you did to my sister. And God only knows what permanent damage you’ve done to my niece’s psyche by showing up suddenly after five years!”

Joely noticed Anna standing in the hallway, staring at them, her mouth agape. Joely’s pulse shot up as she summoned her firm, I’m-in-charge voice. “Anna, go upstairs.” Once Anna disappeared, Joely’s attention returned to her sister and her tone softened. “Come on, Kate. This is Anna’s dad. Can’t we—”

Cutting her off, Kate crossed her arms. “No, we can’t. He’d better leave. Right now.”

At five foot two, her sister probably couldn’t convince a Chihuahua that she was a force to be reckoned with and Jake had an extra twelve inches towering over her. But Joely wanted to shield Anna from all of this. She’d never once bad-mouthed Jake in front of her; who knew if she were listening in?

Joely scowled at Kate. “And you always said I’m the overly dramatic one.” She glanced at Mitch who looked like he wished he were still wandering the aisles at Kroger. Too bad. He owed her. “Aren’t you going to do something? After all, this is your fault.”

Always a stand-up guy, Mitch slipped his arm around Kate’s waist. “Let’s give Joely a little privacy. This is a family matter and we shouldn’t get involved.”

Kate pulled away and eyed Mitch warily. “What does she mean about this being your fault?”

He offered a remorseful glance toward Joely. Signaling Kate toward the garage to gather up the rest of the groceries, he lowered his voice. “Come with me. I’ll explain everything.”

Frazzled, Joely escorted Jake to the front door. “Sorry about this.” She found Anna lingering nearby at the bottom of the stairs. Her daughter studied them, as if watching
Mysteries of the Universe
.

Jake offered Anna his hand and instead of shaking it, she high-fived it.

He smiled at her. “Remember to keep your king castled and think about the endgame.” He slipped on the Ray-Bans that he kept in his shirt pocket. “I’ll see you.”

“But when?” Anna whined.

Joely couldn’t stand to hear the sadness, the longing, in Anna’s voice. Thanks to Mitch sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, Anna had started to bond with Jake. It wasn’t fair to rip them apart so soon. Or ever.

A sigh escaped Joely’s lips. “Maybe I can bring her over to your hotel tomorrow when she gets out of school. If you’re still going to be around.” She heard Anna exclaim, “Yea!”

He nodded and walked out the door.

Joely sent Anna to her room and went to find Kate. She discovered her sister had taken over for her in the kitchen while Mitch put away the groceries. Once the refrigerated items were taken care of, Mitch slipped out of the room.

Her sister frowned. “I hope you realize he’s going to rip your daughter’s heart out. She’ll probably have trust issues with men for the rest of her life because of him.”

Joely placed her hands on the cold granite counter, looking over the boxes of cereal Mitch had abandoned. “I know I’m taking a risk, but he says he wants to be her dad and she needs a dad.”

Kate violently pulled the sharp knife through the poultry. “I hate him. I don’t like what he did to you and I can’t stand to think he’s going to mess up Anna now, too.”

She bristled at the insult. “I’m not messed up.”

With one hand, Kate tossed chicken bits into a bowl of cornstarch, causing a puff of powder to rise. “You haven’t gone on a date in five years.”

Dalton’s face flashed in Joely’s mind, but she didn’t want to think or talk about him. She had Jake back. At least Anna had him back and that consumed her. Why start over with someone else when her daughter’s father was here?

Kate slammed down the wooden handle of the knife. “Jake is not welcome in my house. I told Mitch that, too.” She shook her head. “I don’t know
what
he was thinking—giving Anna Jake’s address. If you want to get hurt by Jake, that’s your mistake, but I don’t ever want to see his smug face again.”

Kate’s house. Kate’s rules. What was Joely? A child who had to ask Kate permission to live her own life?

KATE

After she scooped the cashew chicken onto everyone’s plates, Kate waited for Mitch to make his appearance. Without speaking, Joely took her usual seat, the one across from where Anna would be.

Anna ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, sliding in her socks across the cherry floor. “Uncle Mitch said he’s not hungry.” Her gaze landed on the brown sauce mixture mounded on her plate. “Are those peas?”

Heaving a sigh, Kate wiped her hands on a towel. “You guys go ahead and start eating without us.” She headed up to their bedroom, furious. She’d spent the time cooking dinner and he had his feelings hurt because she’d laid into him about Jake? Well, she knew she was completely right.

She marched into their room and closed the door so Joely and Anna wouldn’t hear. She spotted Mitch primping in the dresser mirror. Jutting her hip to the side, she placed her hand on it. “Why aren’t you eating dinner with us? You’ve been working late all week and now it’s the weekend and you’re still being anti-social.”

“I don’t want to be around you when you’re being so stubborn.”

“I’m being stubborn?” She walked up beside him. “When I’m passionate about something, I’m being stubborn. When you feel strongly about something, you’re being practical.”

He glared at her through the mirror. “I don’t want to fight.”

No, they weren’t good at fighting. They both preferred to avoid conflict. But lately, no one backed down, no one yielded. Instead, Mitch just disappeared.

She watched him spray Polo cologne near his shirt collar. He usually put on cologne in the morning before work, but didn’t re-apply it at night unless he and Kate had plans. Her face heated with anger. “Where are you going?”

Looking flustered, he put down the green bottle. “Out.”

She wanted to grab his sleeve, force him to face her. Instead she squeezed the bridge of her nose. “What is going on with you?”

“You act like you’re the queen of this castle, so the king is going someplace where his opinion isn’t constantly trampled on.”

Confused, she squinted at him. “I don’t trample your opinion. It’s just that I know Jake and you don’t.”

His jaw tensed. “This is bigger than Jake.” He turned around and brushed by her. “Don’t wait up for me. I’m moving into the guest bedroom permanently.”

Her heart thumped against her ribs. This was all happening so fast. Seconds later, she watched through their bedroom window as her husband drove away. She slid down onto her knees and clutched at her chest. God, it hurt.

He’d done this before—disappeared when the going got tough. He’d eventually come around to see things her way. She’d been right then and surely he’d see that she was right now.

She kneeled for a long time. The pounding in her heart had migrated to her head. Eventually she heard a soft tap at the door.

Swallowing, she tried to compose herself. “Go away.” She sat down and leaned her back against the wall.

“Aunt Kate?” Anna’s high-pitched voice asked. The willowy blond peered through a crack in the door. She was going to be tall like her mother. “Are you alright?”

“Yes.” Kate waved her hand to shoo her niece away.

“But you didn’t eat.”

Speaking without crying took so much effort. “I’m not hungry.” Her voice quivered in the middle.

She heard Anna’s footsteps patter down the stairs. She stared at the creamy walls. So plain. Why hadn’t she ever painted this room?

Hearing voices, she strained to make out the conversation, but couldn’t. A moment later came another knock on her door.

The door opened and Joely stuck her head in. “Are you sick?”

Shaking her head, Kate avoided eye contact. She pulled her knees to her chest and stared at the caramel-colored carpet.

Joely walked inside the room, closing the door behind her. “Anna said you’re not feeling well.” She started to come near, but stopped.

Kate suspected she was only being nice because she thought Kate was ill. Joely had to still be mad about her throwing Jake out. Even Mitch was pissed, although she didn’t understand why.

Not wanting to get up and search for a tissue, Kate rubbed her runny nose. She sniffled. “I’m not sick.”

Joely shifted her weight. “Are you and Mitch in a fight? He didn’t even say goodbye before he took off.”

Kate ran her finger through the carpet fibers making squiggles. “I kind of lost it when I found out Mitch was the reason Jake had tracked you down. But Mitch said that’s not why . . . .” She took a few longer breaths, trying to resist hysterics.

Keeping her distance, Joely scratched near the mole on her neck. “As your sister, I feel it’s my duty to tell you you’ve been kind of a bitch lately.”

Kate flinched at the word. Joely rarely uttered obscenities when Anna was in the house. Kate took a deep breath, ready to defend herself. “If I am, I have every right to be. My life is spinning out of control. Mitch has given up on having a baby with me. And just now he wouldn’t tell me where he’s going and said he wants to sleep in the guest bedroom. Do you think. . .” She squeezed her temples. It was too crazy. But he sprayed on Polo, the scent that made her knees go weak. “Do you think Mitch might be seeing someone?”

“Another woman?” Joely shook her head. “No way. Mitch loves you.”

“But having a baby is all we talk about anymore. We don’t laugh, we don’t do anything fun and the romance fizzled as soon as we started the fertility treatments.”

Finally Joely kneeled beside her—ready to offer the comfort she so desperately needed. “You’ve been married a while. That’s all. Romance ebbs and flows. It will come back.”