Afew hours later, Jackson was forced to admit there wasn’t anything else he could clean up or move around in the backyard. His parents had taken care of packing up the leftover food and Matt had stayed to help him corral all the recycling and trash containers into the garage.
There was simply nothing left for him to do. Except go in the house and face Ridley.
You’re an ass, you know that?
He cringed. Introducing her to his cousins and then leaving her to fend for herself had seemed like a good idea at the time. She was just so beautiful and fit in far too well with his family and friends. The last thing he wanted was for them to start something they couldn’t finish.
He’d been this close to kissing her in the middle of the yard before his parents had shown up and he had no doubt it would have been as hot as he thought it’d be. But as hot as the fire sparked between them, it would be a temporary thing at best. She deserved better than that.
“I’m going to take off.” Matt appeared at his left elbow holding one of the plastic containers of food that Julia had divvied up for everyone to take home. “Hopefully Mara and Trent will already be asleep by the time I get there.”
Jackson clapped him on the shoulder. “Are you going to be okay? Seriously?”
Matt shrugged. “Yeah. It’s weird. For months all you can think about is coming home but when you get here, you realize everyone else hasn’t been sitting on their hands while you’ve been gone. Things change and you just have to deal with it. I’ll be fine.”
“Getting your own place would help.”
“Funny you should say that. Nick has decided to take care of that for me. He’s taking me out to look for condos this week. You know how he is. According to him, I just need to get laid and not having my own place is blocking my swag.”
“That sounds like something Nick would say.”
They both shook their heads. Jackson had gotten a reputation over the last year as a player, but it was nothing compared to Nick’s. His brother took debauchery to another level and treated it like a career.
“Where’s Ridley?” Matt asked.
Jackson nodded toward the house. “I noticed her go in a while ago. I think the boys wanted to show her some of their games. I should probably go rescue her. I’m sure they’re tired and cranky by now and need to go to bed.”
“Can I tell you something? Without you getting mad?” Matt shuffled his feet.
“We’ve been friends too long for you to hold back on me now.”
Matt stared at him for a moment, then said, “Ridley’s great and I think she’s perfect for you. So get off your ass and do something about it before I do.”
Then he turned and walked off.
“Good night to you too, old friend!” he called out after Matt’s retreating back. The only reply Matt gave was raising his hand and pointing his middle finger to the sky.
Jackson was still smiling when he walked into the house. A light glowed faintly in the kitchen. The rest of the house was dark.
“Ridley?”
The counter was wiped clean and all the party platters had been stacked neatly next to the sink. He walked back out to the family room and up the stairs. Ridley was no doubt exhausted and had probably gone to bed already. Not that he could blame her. He was used to listening to Chris’s chatter but someone who wasn’t would feel like their head was spinning after an hour or so.
“Come on, boys. It’s time for bed.” There was no reply. He hadn’t really been expecting one.
Despite the fact that bedtime came around the same time every night, it was always a fight to get them to brush their teeth, put on their pajamas, and stop asking for water and bathroom breaks. It was usually a good hour before he was able to get them settled down and in the bed. As he approached the boys’ bedroom door, he heard the soft murmur of voices.
He pushed the door open and to his delight found both boys clustered around Ridley on floor pillows as she read from one of their favorite books.
“But I was never to see Peter Pan again. Now I tell his story to my children and they will tell it to their children, and so it will go on—for all children grow up. Except one.”
As she finished the last page of the book, she hugged them to her before waving them over to their beds. Jackson watched, astonished, as they scrambled beneath their covers and waited patiently for Ridley to tuck them in.
Who are these angels and what have they done with my real children? Jackson thought.
Normally he would give the boys hugs and kisses good night, but he was afraid to break the spell. He backed out of the room and waited in the hall for Ridley to come out. She appeared a moment later, pulling the door closed behind her.
“Hey. Is everyone gone?”
He nodded and leaned his head back against the wall. The day was starting to catch up with him and he was suddenly exhausted.
“So, did you guys finish cleaning up outside?”
“We did. Matt helped me put everything back. Sorry for just leaving you on your own at the end there.”
“I hardly expected you to stick to me all night. Besides, I got a chance to chat with your brother, Bennett. Did you know he’s been cultivating new strains of disease-resistant crops?”
“No, I had no idea. He’s always so quiet.” His oldest brother was usually reserved around people he’d just met, but it wasn’t hard to believe that he’d opened up to Ridley.
She seemed to have that effect on people.
“He said he’s working on a new corn hybrid right now. I only work with flowers, but it was so interesting to hear about how technology is changing the farming industry.” Ridley tucked her hands in her pockets and leaned against the wall next to him.
“I really appreciate you putting the boys to bed. You didn’t have to do that. I know they’re a handful. Jase is usually up five or six times wanting water or something. Anything to keep him from having to go to bed. Luckily Chris sleeps just like I do—like a corpse.”
“It was no problem. They’re wonderful. Boisterous and happy just as they should be.” A wistful look passed over her face as she glanced back at the closed bedroom door.
“You really love kids,” Jackson said. He didn’t phrase it as a question. “I noticed it when we first met and even more so today. And the boys adore you.”
“I adore them, too. Children represent the best of us. My mom had to work late a lot of the time, so my sister and I were usually on our own. We used to take turns ‘mothering’ each other. It’s sad, but we were just imitating the bedtime rituals we saw on television. Our own mother wasn’t the most maternal person.”
“Sorry. That’s rough. I know how hard it is to be a single parent, but I’m trying to make sure my kids never feel it.”
“Now that I’m older, I’m trying to understand that it wasn’t personal. She got pregnant accidentally and we never had a lot of money. So, I think under the circumstances she was doing the best she could even if it wasn’t anywhere near good enough.”
Jackson looked over at her. “It still sucks.”
Ridley laughed out loud before covering her mouth with her hand and glancing at the boys’ door. “Oh, Jackson. You have such a way with words.”
Just then the boys’ door opened and Jase came out into the hallway. “RiRi, I want kisses.” He raced over and threw his arms around Ridley’s legs. She scooped him up and kissed him soundly on the cheek before depositing him back on the floor. He then grabbed Jackson around the legs and hugged him, too.
Jase pointed at Jackson. “You put Daddy night-night with kisses, too?”
“I don’t think your daddy needs help going to sleep, baby.”
“You’d be wrong about that,” Jackson muttered.