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"Sorry about that." I swallowed hard, hoping she didn't ask any more questions, or worse, that Jackson didn't tell her how he had found me.
"It's okay. I know you were in good hands now."
"How are you doing, Mrs. Scott."
"Oh, Jackson, don't be ridiculous. I think we are long past the Mrs. Scott nonsense."
"How are you doing, Donna," he corrected.
Mom stood there laughing as she pulled off one of her gardening gloves to push a strand of hair back off her face. "I'm fine. Always tending to the gardens."
"They are looking great." He smiled. "Think you might win that award this year?"
"Thanks. I certainly hope so. So did you two have a good time last night?" she asked, leaning down on the edge of the car.
Jackson glanced over at me, allowing for me to answer. I cleared my throat. "Yep, great time. Jackson, thanks for the drive home. Seriously, though, I could have taken an Uber from Cara's."
Mom looked from me to Jackson and back to me, and the uncomfortable feeling started to settle around me.
"You could have, but then I wouldn't know where to find you, now would I," he said, reaching out and tweaking my chin.
Mom let out a little giggle. "I'll let you two say good-bye," she said, and made her way back over to the flowers she'd been working on.
I turned and met his eyes, which were full of laughter, and shook my head. The last thing I needed was my mother to think we were getting back together. I pushed the car door open and climbed out and was about to close the door when he yelled out loud enough for my mother to hear, "I'll call you later."
I turned around and glared at him. "Don't do this, Jackson.," I bit out as I closed the door and walked away from the car.
"I'll see you soon!" he yelled as he waved and backed out of the driveway.
"Well, that was a nice surprise. Did you guys have a good time? Working things out between the two of you?" Mom asked, standing up from where she'd been sitting.
"We aren't getting back together, Mom. He was there at Cara and Ryan's this morning, and he did me a favor and brought me home," I said, heading up the front stairs of the house.
"But you took your car to Cara's," Mom said, stopping me in my tracks. "I saw it there when I went out to the garden center this morning.
I bit my bottom lip. "Sierra has the same car I do. I left mine downtown last night. I need to go shower."
10
Jackson
It’s beentwo months since Bailey spent the night on the very couch I was now relaxing on. Even though that much time had passed, she hadn't been far from my mind. We had been spending a lot of time together during those months, working on the plans for Cara and Ryan's wedding. We'd spent nights sending texts back and fourth, mostly about the wedding, but on occasion, the conversations would drift to subjects I could only dream about. Now that the wedding was drawing near, I was hearing from her less and less, yet she barely left my mind. So you can imagine how surprised I was when my phone rang and I saw Bailey's name on the screen.
"Hello," I answered, turning the TV down.
"Hey, what are you doing?" she asked. I could hear loud music in the background and guessed she was probably at work.
"Trying to find something on TV. You?"
She cleared her throat. "Feel like getting out of the house?"
I sat up. I could tell from the tone in her voice that something was up. "Are you all right? What's going on?"
"It's just quiet at work tonight. Just wanted some company."
I flipped the TV off, threw my T-shirt over my head, and grabbed my keys. "On my way."
Twenty minutes later, I was walking through the door of Hooligans bar. I expected the place to be empty and was surprised to find that the place was almost full, judging from the fact that Bailey had commented how quiet it was. She was behind the bar preparing an order, so I just straddled a stool at the end of the bar where she was working away and waited for her to turn around.
