“If you get a young ‘un then I’m sure they would be. Though it seems every kid now has a cell phone attached to their palm.”
If I had my choice, I would choose an older kid, any age after five. I wasn’t sure I could do another three-year-old. I would be reminded too much of Gina.
“I know you miss them,” Mom said, sitting down next to me. She placed her hand down on my arm, squeezing it lightly.
“I do miss them,” I said, finally opening up. Since coming down, we’d avoided talking about Noah and Gina at all. It hurt too much. But now I felt as if I needed to talk about them. To get over them. To heal. “And I’m worried. I hope Noah can find someone who will take care of Gina. Someone who really cares for her. Like I do.” Then quickly amended, “Did.”
“You can still care for her,” Mom said. “She had an impact on you, just like you did for her.”
“Not enough of an impact for Noah to keep me.”
“Yeah, well, that’s how life works sometimes. You’re going to have to get over it.”
I nodded and sipped my coffee. I would get over it. Someday. But for now, I had to heal. And for me to heal, I had to think about them. Enough that maybe I’d wake up one morning and it wouldn’t hurt so much.
The phone rang from inside, and Mom got up to get it.
I sat back and peered out through the slats of our fence toward the beach in the distance. This was my life now.
I was out there for a few minutes before Mom returned.
She stood in the doorway, staring at me with the strangest expression on her face.
“Who was on the phone? Does Bobby need me to work today?” We didn’t have any other relatives so there was no emergency situation that would warrant that sort of look from her.
“No,” she said. “I suspect you’ll already have another job shortly.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
She waved me over. “You have some visitors.”
Mom wasn’t making any sense.
“Just come ‘round front,” she said then closed the door.
Out of pure curiosity, I set down my mug and crossed the patio to the gate. As I came around the house, the first thing I noticed was a black sedan driving away from the house.
“Jess!” someone called, the voice flooded my body and my head whipped toward the source.
Gina came bounding across the front yard. I dropped to my knees and my vision blurred.
Her little arms wrapped around my neck and she squeezed. “We’re here!”
“You are,” I said, closing my eyes. I rocked her for a few minutes and inhaled her scent. God, I’d missed her. Tears welled behind my eyelids.
“Are you happy?” Gina asked.
I opened my eyes and wiped at them. I glanced over a Noah, who stood with Mom at the edge of the lot. His hands were in his pockets, and his shoulders were tense. His expression gave nothing away. Had he wanted me to come back to Minnesota and watch Gina? I knew him and the way he threw away his money. And as much as I was happy to see Gina, I wasn’t going to be someone he could buy.
“Gina, love,” Mom said. “Let’s go inside and get you sorted.”
Gina kissed my cheek then ran off with Mom. Mom winked at me and then took Gina’s hand before leading her away from Noah and me.
Once they were inside, I stood up. Then, I realized I was in my bathrobe. I tightened the robe around me and stood there, waiting for Noah to make the first move. The feelings and thoughts I had of him since we broke up swirled around inside of me like a hurricane. Flashes of anger moved through me like lightening while the core of the storm wanted to hear what he had to say.
He took a step toward me, and I matched it. We came together in the middle of the yard, neither of us saying anything.
“Hi,” he said.