“The press found out and started following us around everywhere. We couldn’t even go to a club and get a drink and dance. Joyce was a teacher. She taught fourth grade.”
The way he smiled at the memory made my heart jump.
“I went to her house one night—had to sneak in through the backyard so no one would see me going in. She’d made us dinner.” He chuckled. “Spaghetti and meatballs. She was Italian, you see, and made the best sauce I’d ever had.”
I grinned.
He smiled back at me, then looked back out over the scene. They were getting ready to start filming again and were attempting to get Lucy to stand next to Kathleen. Apparently, the dog smelled a rat.
Jack’s smile faded. “That was the night she told me she could no longer see me.”
I took in a sharp breath.
“She said she loved me, but she also liked her quiet, simple life, and that she couldn’t take the chaos that would come from being with me.”
I covered my mouth with my fingers as I felt this man’s pain down to my core. Had this been how Luke felt that day I’d told him to leave my office? I’d said nearly the same words to him.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
Jake drew in a deep breath and smiled sheepishly. “Nothing like having the woman you love tell you that you bring chaos to her life. Luke told me about you right after you met. I told him the story of me and Joyce. He asked if I’d change anything if I could go back.”
“Would you?” I asked.
He looked out over the lake, seemingly lost in another world. The sadness on his face was so evident it nearly brought me to tears. He finally spoke.
“I would have walked away from all of this. Instead, I threw myself into it even harder in hopes of forgetting her. I found out two years later she’d gotten married. He was a teacher as well. They had two kids. I got married four times, had six kids with four different women. I love my kids and wouldn’t take that back for the life of me. But I never truly loved their mothers.”
I blinked to keep my tears back. “Have you…have you ever reached out to Joyce?”
He laughed. “No. She moved on with her life, and I’m happy she’s happy.”
It was my turn to look out over the lake. If I had moved on from Luke, gotten married and had kids, would I have been truly happy? I searched the group of people until I found him. He threw his head back, laughing at something someone said, and I quickly wiped away the single tear that was sliding down my cheek.
“Most of my friends think I’m this strong, independent woman,” I said. “I talk a lot of shit. But when I told Luke to leave and he turned and walked out of my life, I’ve never felt so devastated. I was positive my heart would never be the same.”
I could feel Jake’s gaze on me.
“If he hadn’t come back to me, I probably would have settled down and gotten married eventually. But that’s the key word, Jake. I would have settled. And even though it wouldn’t have been fair to the man I married, my heart—I can say with every ounce of my being—would have belonged to Luke. Always.”
His dark blue eyes misted with tears before he nodded and cleared his throat.
“Will you tell me one thing?” I asked.
Jake looked back at me. “Of course.”
“What was it like to work with Gene Kelly?”
He let out a roar of laughter. “Your young Luke reminds me of him. Looks like a younger version of Gene too.”
“I know,” I said with a smile. “Did you know he can sing too? He sings in the shower.”
Jake laughed and shook his head. “I did not know that, dear.”
The somber mood quickly changed as Jake told me what it was like to work with Gene Kelly. I got lost in the conversation, and when they called him over to do his part, I was a bit sad. The immediate connection we had formed was amazing.
“Jake?”
He turned and looked at me.
“Will you do me one more favor?”
“Yes, I will.”
I chewed on my lip for a moment. “Will you look her up? Joyce, I mean. Will you do that for me?”
He stared at me for a long moment and then gave one nod of his head before he headed over toward where Luke was standing. He’d told me he was playing Luke’s father in the movie. My heart ached as I thought about Jake’s story and how easily that could have been me and Luke.
Glancing down at my paper ring, I clutched my hand and pressed it to my heart.
I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in Luke’s chair and watching them film the final scenes of the movie. I watched as Luke and Jake had a private moment set apart from everyone else. They embraced, and I saw Luke quickly wipe a tear from the corner of his eye. He made his way around to the crew, thanking them and shaking hands.