AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We leave Jack in the shed while I rush Oscar and Olivia back to my house to get cleaned up. We make it just before Ellen and Will walk in the door and Ellen’s pleasantly surprised when she finds them clean and already in their pajamas.
“Wow, look at that. Aunt Lulu being all responsible,” she jokes, giving a wink to the kids as they watch an episode ofTeen Titans Gobarely noticing the arrival of their parents.
“I’m always responsible,” I retort back, also winking at the kids. “And I even made dinner.”
Ellen follows me into the kitchen, the table already set with plates, salad and wine, and while it’s by no means gourmet, I did manage to make a couple of frozen pizzas. It won’t impress Ellen, but it would if she knew I threw this all together in ten minutes and managed to scrub her children clean.
Will is much easier to please, giving me a quick smile and simple hug as he takes in the pizza.
“Nice work, Lauren. Nothing like coming home to a nice home cooked meal,” he says, winking at me because he knows what a pain in the ass Ellen can be.
We eat and chat, but we only make it about ten minutes before Olivia rats me out and confesses that we spent the afternoon covered in grapes.
Both her and Oscar are so animated and excited as they tell Ellen and Will about our afternoon. They leave no detail out, and as much as I know Ellen isn’t a fan of me wasting grapes and teaching her kids to chuck them at each other, she takes in their every word.
The night ends with Ellen and Will carrying the kids out to the car since they both passed out on the couch, exhausted from their day. I follow them out, opening the car doors so they can slip the kids in.
“Later, guys,” I say, waving to them as I walk back to the house.
“Lauren,” Ellen calls and I turn back toward her finding Will already in the driver’s seat and her waiting outside the passenger’s side. Thinking she’s going to make some snarky comment about me letting her kids get dirty I almost roll my eyes. “Happiness looks good on you. It’s been a while,” she says.
I smile a thank you, but say nothing more.
She’s right. I haven’t felt this free, this happy in so long. My whole body feels different, almost healthier and as much as I should confess this to her, I keep it to myself, wanting to enjoy it a little longer.
I walk back into my house and grab a beer from the fridge. It’s a beautiful night of clear skies and stars and warm breezes as I take a seat on my front porch. I hit play on my phone and the music comes through the Bluetooth speakers, playing softly.
Only a few seconds later Jack walks up. He’s clean, but his clothes are still stained from earlier today, like he hadn’t gone back to change.
“What are you doing out here?” I ask, stepping off the porch, meeting Jack at the bottom of the stairs.
“I was fixing the gutters on one of your outbuildings,” he says, tossing his head in the direction of where he just came from. “Damn gutter was all clogged up and wasn’t draining properly.”
“You didn’t have to do that Jack. I’ll make sure that Ellen pays you for your time.”
“I didn’t tell you because I expect you to pay me. I’m telling you because it’s something that needs to be done regularly and it seems like it hasn’t been.”
I swallow hard; even though there’s nothing in Jack’s words or the way he speaks that indicates that he thinks I’ve done something wrong. I know I’ve slacked on things and playing catch up is more difficult than I thought.
“I know it needs to be done regularly,” I say nodding my head in agreement. “Things just got a little…” I trail off not finishing my thought because I don’t want to get into it with Jack right now. He doesn’t need to know that when I fell apart, I practically took the business down with me.
I change the subject quickly. “So, Ollie, huh?”
Jack shrugs his shoulders, but that cheeky grin is written on his face. “She liked that I call you Lulu. Thought I’d give her a nickname too.”
“She loves it. She adores you, you know? They both do.”
Even in the dim porch light I swear I see a small bit of blush creep onto Jack’s cheeks and it makes my heart skip a beat.
“They’re cool kids.” Jack laughs a little and steps closer to me. “You know what’s funny, Lu?”
“What’s that, Jack?”
“I thought they were your kids when I first got here.” We both chuckle a little at his words. “Crazy thing, it kinda got me right here,” Jack says, his hand over his heart and now I’m laughing even more at his dramatics, shaking my head at him. But what he says next makes my breath catch in my throat. “I always hoped you’d wait for me.” His tone now serious and all humor is gone.
There’s a stillness between us now, a silence as his words hang heavy in the air, and there’s no joking passing between us at this point.
I don’t know what comes over me, but in the quiet of the night I murmur, “Maybe I still am.”
