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“Amen, Daddy!” Kate chimes in.
Devon leans forward towards Liam and continues to pretend I’m not sitting right here.
“Liam, she’s a sweet girl and I was there all those years ago and got to watch it from the start. I can tell you, this thing between them, it’s the real deal. Now if we can just figure out how J can snap her out of keeping him in the friend-zone, and how he’s gonna deal with her big brother, life will be sweet.”
In unison Kate and Fiona ask, “Big Brother?”
D takes pleasure in filling them in . . .
“Oh, did he leave that out? Her big brother works with our boy here and is also a cop. He’s not just a co-worker, but he is Mickey Freaking Jacobs. He’s a bad man that you don’t want to mess with. He’s also very protective of Emily and Ireland. This could become a situation if he found out about our star-crossed lovers,” he says leaning back in his chair with a look of satisfaction on his face.
“Wow, this just gets better and better dude,” Liam says with a shake of his head.
“I still can’t believe that her daughter is named Ireland . . . it’s like it was meant to be or something.” Kate says with a dreamy look on her face.
“Oh good God, she didn’t name her after me! Her Grandmother’s maiden name was Ireland! Enough about my non-existent love life people. Let’s play a game or something. I can’t take much more of this!”
“Spoil sport . . . as for the game how about Would You Rather?” Liam chimes in and we all groan at his suggestion.
The next morning the five of us get up early so we can get to Pine State Biscuits for breakfast as soon as they open. Then we take a whirlwind trip to the waterfront so that the Fanuas can visit the Saturday Market before they leave. It’s a good thing we ate at Pine State first or we would have never gotten out of the Saturday Market in time with all the food options they have.
We make it back to the house by noon and when we walk in the door I see their packed suitcases waiting to be loaded into their rental car. My chest tightens at the thought of them leaving. I loved having them here and I’m actually starting to miss home for the first time since moving to Portland.
I help them load the car and Kate, Robert and Liam give me hugs, thanks for having them and see you laters. Liam and I both hate goodbyes so this works for both of us, and besides, we text so often it’s like we talk all the time anyway.
Fiona stops me outside the closed passenger side door and takes one of my hands in hers and cups my cheek with the other. She has tears in her eyes, but she isn’t letting them fall. This is something she seems to have perfected over her years of raising kids.
“Dear boy, your mother would be so proud of you. You have a good job that means something to you, you have a beautiful home, a beautiful heart and most importantly you are a good man. We love you so much and if you need anything, even just to talk, you know that we’re all here for you.”
“I know, Mrs. F.”
Letting go of my hand and my cheek she pulls me in for a hug and whispers in my ear. “You stay safe out there, honey. Go get your girl and once you have her you better bring her home to meet me. Now give me a kiss and let this old lady go so I can cry in the car.”
I give her a kiss on the cheek as I let her go.
“Love you, too. Safe flight home,” I say quietly.
She nods, gets in and Robert reverses out of the drive to head to the airport.
Frances and I watch until we can no longer see their car.
Stressed Out
Emily
It’s been a week and Jesse still isn’t back in class. I sure hope that I did the right thing. It really worries me that he hasn’t been back. It’s been keeping me up at night that he hasn’t returned and I don’t know what to do. I’m a member of the staff here and it wouldn’t be professional for me to reach out, but I am going to make a point to stop by the office today and see if they will tell me anything at all. I’m sure they won’t as it’s all confidential, but it’s worth a try.
In the meantime, I need to focus on the kids that are here in class today, one of those kids being Austin. He seems to have a bit of hero worship going on since I helped Jesse. Some of these kids don’t have the support that they need at home, so the fact that an adult actually took his concern to heart and acted upon it, means a lot to him. I think it helps for him to feel as though he has somebody on his side now, but I’m afraid that he’s starting to feel a bit too close to me.
“Hey Austin, how’s it going? Any missing assignments?”
“Nope, I’m all good Miss Jacobs.”
“Good, need any help with math this week?”
“Nope, not so far.”
“Hey, you heard from Jesse?”
