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He even gets Dad’s mood to improve, and as we follow them into the living room, Mom grips my arm to hold me back.
“He’s the one,” she whispers excitedly.
I laugh. “We’ll see.” I don’t want to dash her hopes, but as perfect as Jack is, it is too early to tell if we have a future. We barely know each other, and there’s a lot that Jack hasn’t told me about himself.
We stay and have a cup of coffee with my parents, and then we leave. They’ll have someone coming in from the hospital to show my dad how to move around.
“You were great with my dad,” I tell him. “You’ve won my mother’s heart.”
“It’s nothing,” he says.
I’m super curious about him. “How did you know how to get him out of the car?”
“I’ve garnered a lot of information over the years, most of it useless, to be honest. I’m glad that this time it helped,” Jack says.
“I’m so relieved that my dad is fine, and it was nothing worse than a broken leg.” I sink back into the seat and allow myself to relax. The panic that had gripped me when we were driving to the hospital has dissipated.
I glance at Jack’s profile, and gratitude flows through me. “Thank you for driving me,” I tell him.
“You’re welcome,” Jack says.
I rarely ask personal questions, but there’s something about the evening or maybe the day itself that makes me more uninhibited than I would normally be. The sun is slowly dipping behind the clouds, leaving a brilliant orange hue in its wake.
“Tell me about your family.” I hold my breath waiting for him to answer.
“What do you want to know?” Jack says without taking his eyes off the road.
“Everything.”
He chuckles. “That’s a big task, but I’ll try. I’m an only child.” His voice takes on a faraway tone as if, with a single sentence, he has moved to another time and place.
“I’m an only child too. Did you long for siblings?” I ask him.
“Constantly.” I feel Jack’s stare. “What about you?”
“Only when I lived with my biological parents. Then I constantly wished for a sibling to share in the nightmare that my life was. After I started living with my adopted parents, I stopped obsessing over a sibling. Life became good.” I can’t believe I said all that. I’ve never told anyone this.
“I never stopped wanting a sibling.” Jack's voice is tinged with sadness, and it makes me want to throw my arms around him and comfort him.
He doesn’t explain any more, and I don’t ask. I feel as if I’ve asked as much as I can for now. The highway grows deserted as we get closer to LA.
The sound of the car, the silence of the night, all lull me to sleep. The next thing I know, someone is shaking me.
“What?” I wake up confused, but one look at the handsome face staring at me reminds me of where I am. I feel a trickle of drool, and I wipe it off with the back of my hand.
“You are home,” Jack says.
I sit up in my seat. “Sorry I fell asleep and left you without company.”
“It’s fine; you’re beautiful to look at when you’re sleeping,” he says.
“Flirt.” My heart swells with gratitude. It would have been tough to drive myself back and forth. I lean across and kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Can I leave with your car and pick you up in the morning?” Jack says.
“Yes, of course.”
“Is seven okay?”
“I’ll be ready.” I lean across, and this time, I kiss him on the mouth. He strokes my cheek, and then I pull back and open the car door. “Good night.”
I notice that he doesn’t move the car until I open the building door and shut it behind me. Despite the exhaustion I feel, I’m grinning like an idiot as I ride the elevator up to my floor. I feel as if spending the day with Jack has made me know him a little bit more.
Inside my apartment, I go to the kitchen and make myself a badly needed cup of coffee. When it’s ready, I fish out my phone as I sip my coffee. Isla has called me three times. It’s half-past nine.
I apologize for calling late when she picks up.
“Nonsense,” Isla says. “I was worried about you, and I’m glad you’ve called. Where were you all day? I’ve called at least three times.”
“I know, sorry.” I tell her about my dad and about Jack driving me home.
“He met your parents,” Isla says after asking how my dad is.
I giggle at the tone she uses. “He took me to visit my dad in the hospital. He really is wonderful.”
“You sound like a woman in love,” she says.
“No, it’s nothing like that. I don’t even know him that well.”
