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No, it was better to just let the matter blow over. And to give her time to cool off. The next time he saw her, she’d be over the anger and perhaps then they could really talk.
He couldn’t guess when that would be. With the community center shut down for days, what were the chances of randomly running into Jess even given the size of Martha’s Vineyard? Maybe it was better that way. They both needed to cool off for a bit. But he couldn’t stand the prospect of not seeing her smiling at him or hearing that melodic laugh of hers for days or maybe even weeks.
Jordan stood and started to pace, sloshing some of the wine in the process. Such a waste but he could hardly bring himself to care. He didn’t even know what he wanted anymore. What had happened to him since moving out here?
Wrong question. A more fitting one would be to ask what had happened to him since meeting her.
He’d always prided himself on knowing exactly what he wanted and how to go about getting it. Even after life had thrown him a curveball in the form of a tiny little girl who had no one else, he made sure he had a purpose. But then Sonya’s accident had happened. Her hearing issues started immediately after. All his priorities shifted overnight. It didn’t make any kind of difference how many times the experts told him the two events were unrelated. The injuries Sonya had suffered were unlikely to have caused damage to even one ear, let alone both. The doctors had all been unanimous. At the most, they all agreed, the trauma might have triggered a genetic predisposition to a hearing impairment.
On the surface that all made sense. But Jordan didn’t care.
The accident had been his fault.
Jess had no idea how unworthy of her love he really was.
* * *
Jess sat in front of her laptop staring into the dark screen. As much as she needed to talk to someone right now, she felt selfish for what she was thinking of doing.
She moved her fingers over the keyboard to call up the contact option for the one person on earth who’d been there for her since they’d first met. Then she shut the laptop closed with a deep, resounding sigh. She couldn’t do it. Kelly had enough to deal with, between managing a demanding toddler and another infant due any day. Any minute perhaps. Kelly was that far along. Jess couldn’t bring herself to dump her own problems on her already overextended friend.
She’d just sit here and nurse her wounds on her own with a pint of Bimby’s mocha chip. She’d stopped by for some on the way home from Jordan’s.
She popped off the lid and reached for her spoon. But the ice cream could only do so much. She set it back down and lifted the laptop open once more. Would it really be so bad to video chat Kelly? After all, she should probably check on her anyway. Without giving herself a chance to back out, she hit the appropriate button. Kelly’s smiling yet clearly tired face appeared on the screen a moment later.
“Hey, bff.”
“Hey. Long time, no speak.”
Kelly pointed to the screen. “Is that Bimby’s? Lordy, I miss that place.”
“I’ll try to find a way to ship some to you.”
Kelly patted her belly. “Baby and I would very much appreciate it if you started working on that immediately. What flavor have you got?”
“Mocha chip.”
Kelly drew back. “Uh-oh. I distinctly recall you only got that particular one when you were upset or angry. Or both.”
Here was reason number thirty thousand why Kelly was her best friend. The woman knew her so well, down to which flavors went with her mood.
Jess heard the wail of a small voice in the background.
“I don’t want to keep you, Kelly. Your son sounds like he needs you.”
“Well, it sounds like my dearest friend needs me, too. And my son happens to have another parent in there with him. So, fess up already. What’s got you so upset?”
“You may find it all hard to believe.”
Kelly gasped on the screen in front of her. “A man! Jessalyn Nadia Raffi, you’ve been holding out on me. You met someone?” she asked with an excited squeal. Then her eyes narrowed into a squint. “Wait. What did he do? Did he hurt you in any way? I’ll have to fly down and throttle him.”
Jess laughed out loud, the first genuine hint of amusement she’d felt since leaving Jordan’s house this afternoon. “You don’t do a lot of web surfing or TV watching, do you?”
