Burned (23 page)

We had a party to plan.

I tapped the notebook resting in front of Paige.

“Location,” I said. “We need to decide on a location.”

“Are you sure you’re ready to jump into this?” Clarissa asked. “Do you want to talk about what just—”

“Nope. I don’t want to talk about it. I want a distraction. And planning something nice for Holly is the perfect way to keep my mind off of things.”

“Okay then,” Clarissa said as she plucked a fry out of the pile on the plate, “let’s get started.”

My heels clicked against the mocha-colored tile as I made my way to the hostess’ podium. An immaculately put together woman greeted me with a smile.

“May I help you?” she asked.

“I’m supposed to meet a friend here. Maggie Cartwright?”

Maggie had called me last night, asking me to meet her for lunch. She said she thought she’d made some progress with Jake. She asked if I would be willing to meet her so that I could give her a better explanation of what had happened. I thought what had happened was pretty self-explanatory. But Maggie was hard to say no to. Not that I wanted to say no. I didn’t know Maggie well but I enjoyed her the few times we’d spoken. The girl was full of spunk. She kind of reminded me of myself. Mostly sweet and maybe just a little bit devious.

I hadn’t thought it possible, but the hostess’s smile widened. “Of course! Miss Cartwright has reserved a private room. Follow me, please. She’s already waiting for you.”

“Private room?” I echoed. “That seems a bit excessive for lunch.” I was speaking more to myself than the hostess but she replied anyway.

“There’s really no such thing as excessive when you are a Cartwright,” she said over her shoulder.

I followed her through the spacious main dining area of Natalia’s. The place was upscale, even for Harmony Bay. It had a rustic feel, but in the sort of way that you know a fortune was spent on decorating. Knotty pine walls covered three sides of the dining room.  A bank of floor to ceiling windows took up the fourth. The view of the ocean was breathtaking. Today the sky was a flawless blue. The sun hung brightly in the sky, causing the waves to shimmer. This was the sort of place my mother would love. I would have to offer to take her and Rick here when they came for their visit.

“Here we are!” The hostess gave a quick tap on the paneled door before sliding it open. “Miss Cartwright your other lunch guest has arrived.”

Other
? I thought to myself.

The hostess stepped aside and motioned for me to enter the room. The moment I did I found myself staring back at Jake. He seemed glued to his seat, his expression frozen.

“Lanna!” Maggie cried. “I’m so glad you could make it!”

She leapt from her chair as I took a tentative step inside. The hostess closed the door behind me. Maggie hurried over and buried me in a hug. I towered over her and it was impossible to take my eyes off Jake as I stared at him over Maggie’s shoulder.

His sister’s burst of energy seemed to snap him out of his stunned stupor.

“Maggie?” His tone was carefully neutral. “Care to explain?”

She grasped my hand in hers as she guided me to the table. When we reached the chair right next to Jake, she shoved me into it.

“Sure!” she said cheerily. “I decided to stage an intervention.”

Jake made a
hmph
-
ing
sound deep in his throat.

“Oh, knock it off,” she scolded. “You’re going to thank me for this later. We both know how stubborn you are. I’m not about to let your stubbornness ruin the best thing that’s happened to you in a long time.”

“Did you know about this?” Jake demanded of me.

I shook my head. It was hard to take my eyes off of him. I was mentally gobbling up the sight of him. His hair had been trimmed. His tan darkened, causing his steely eyes to stand out even more. My tummy did a little flip as his familiar scent wafted my way. I felt like I hadn’t seen him in years. It was hard to grasp that it had only been a few weeks.

I was glad I’d taken a few extra minutes to get ready. I knew this place was upscale so I had wanted to look nice. I had taken extra care with my hair and make-up. My black dress was simple, but it clung to me in all the right places.

“I didn’t think so,” he agreed. “You looked a little shell-shocked when you walked in the door.”

“I was. But it’s nice to see you again.”

He nodded but didn’t exactly return the sentiment.

I thought it was a positive sign that he didn’t bolt at the sight of me. Or perhaps he was simply showing some restraint.

“Jake,” Maggie coaxed, “is there something you would like to say to Lanna?”

He shot daggers at her with his eyes. She smiled back, clearly not the least bit bothered.

“Why do I put up with you?” he asked.

“Because you love me,” she said simply. “And I love you. That’s why I went to all this trouble. I know how pigheaded you can be.”

He rubbed his forehead.

“So, Jake, how have you been?” I asked.

He turned his attention to me. “Not bad. You?”

“Good.”

With that settled, the room became silent for a few moments. I could hear the murmur of patrons on the other side of the door. I wondered if a wait staff would be interrupting soon to take our order. Or perhaps Maggie had requested that they stay away.

“Oh, good grief,” Maggie said. “This is ridiculous. You two are finally in the same room. Talk!”

“What would you like me to say, Mags?” Jake asked.

“I would like you to say to Lanna that you were an arrogant grump and that you completely understand why she did what she did. And on top of that, I want you to thank her for it.” Maggie folded her hands and placed them in her lap.

Jake looked sorry he had asked.

“It’s okay,” I said to Jake. “I should be the one talking. I should be apologizing. I completely overstepped. I see that now. In fact, I realized it almost right away. But not soon enough. I’m so sorry I stuck myself in your business. I never should’ve gone to Bobby without asking how you felt about it.” I sucked in a breath. “I interfered when I shouldn’t have. I’m no better than your mom or Darby, pretending they know what’s best for you.”

He scoffed. “You are nothing like Mom and Darby. You didn’t have anything to gain by going to Bobby. I get that you were just trying to help. It’s just that,” he paused, fumbling for his words.

“You didn’t appreciate that kind of help.”

His lip quirked up, not quite a smile. “Right. I didn’t. I still feel like that should have been my choice to make.”

“It was,” I agreed. “I’m sorry I took that away from you. I know I overstepped some really big boundaries. It’s just that, I’d give anything for some time with my dad. When I found out yours was around, and especially when I found out he wanted time with you, I couldn’t help myself.”

“I never thought of it that way,” he said quietly. “That you would compare my situation with yours, with me having a dad and freezing him out. I should’ve thought of that. That you would probably give anything for some time with your dad.”

“It’s no excuse.”

“Maybe it’s not an excuse. But it is a reason. I should’ve taken the time to listen to you. I’m sorry I wasn’t willing to hear you out.” He sighed. “To be honest, I can
say
that I would’ve gone to him in my own time but I’m not so sure that I would’ve. I’ve had about all I can take of rejections. I’m not so sure I ever would’ve been ready to put myself out there.”

I tapped my fingers nervously on the table. I could feel Maggie staring at us but she was completely silent. I had a feeling she was hovering in case we needed some moderating, but so far we were doing just fine on our own.

“Do you think you’ll contact him?” I asked.

A tiny smile tugged up the corner of Jake’s lip. “I don’t need to. He came to me. He showed up and absolutely refused to go away until I heard him out. He said that he spent the first twenty-plus years of my life backing down and that only backfired. I’m not going to pretend to be okay with what he did. Or even pretend to understand it. But I do see how my mom would’ve been hard to stand up to. And even though I don’t agree with it, I think he was wrong, I believe that
he
really did believe he was doing what was best for me.”

I nodded because that was the impression that I got as well.

“I thought it was just a load of crap when he said he went to my games. But he meant it. He could tell me all about my best plays. We’ve gotten together a few times. He’s got this scrapbook. I swear, any time my team was mentioned in the paper, he cut it out. I’ve got another set of grandparents. They live in Washington. He hadn’t told them about me. But now they know and they want to meet me. In fact, I guess they’re pretty determined to come Labor Day weekend, before school starts.” He looked flustered. “It’s crazy. I have this whole other family to get to know. I’ve got two more sisters, and cousins, aunts and uncles. It’s a little overwhelming.”

“In a good way?” I asked.

He nodded slowly, thinking it over, trying to internalize it. “I think so.”

“So, it’s all good with him?” I asked hopefully.

He hesitated and his smile slipped a bit. “I don’t know what to say. We talked. He explained his side of things. But when it comes down to it, he did walk out of my life. He didn’t try to fight for me, or have any kind of relationship with me. And I get that Mom and Frederic are a force to be reckoned with, but still.” He shrugged helplessly, silently asking me to understand where he was going with this.

“I get it. You wanted him to fight for you.”

“Yeah. He’s my dad. That should’ve meant something. I keep trying to wrap my head around the idea that he thought he was, I don’t know, doing me a favor or something. But I’m just not programmed that way. I would never walk out on my kid.” He sighed. “But then again, I’ve never been in his shoes. Part of me feels like I have no right to judge him. The other part feels like I have every right to judge him.”

He dragged his hand through his hair.

“Jake, you don’t have to decide how you feel right now. Not this week, this month or even this year. Take your time. The important thing is that at least now you know where he stands. He’s reached out to you. You know you can have a relationship if you want it, but I don’t think he’s going to force one on you.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I know. I feel like for the first time in over a year I have some control over my life. At the same time, our relationship isn’t going to be wrapped up in a nice, neat bow.”

“I get that.”

He made a sound of irritation. “Then there’s Mom.” He cut himself off abruptly as he remembered Maggie was in the room.

“Oh, please,” she snorted. “As if I am not aware of the fact that our mother is slightly wackadoodle?”

“You know what?” Jake said. “I think you got what you came for. Lanna and I are talking things out. Do you know what I would really like right about now?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you’re going to say you would love some privacy. That way you can talk about things that you think my sensitive little ears shouldn’t hear.”

He smiled at her and said nothing.

“Ugh, fine.” She pushed back, scraping her chair against the floor. “You two have a lovely lunch. I’m having something sent in to you, so stay as long as you like.”

“You really don’t have to do that,” Jake said. “I don’t want you putting my meal on Frederic’s credit card.”

“As if. I,” she said imperiously, “have a job.”

“You do?”

She nodded. “Kenzie’s mom hired me to work the desk at her spa. It’s only a couple of days a week but she pays decent. So, lunch is on me.” She jabbed her finger his way. “No arguing.”

Jake looked like he wanted to argue. Apparently he wanted Maggie gone even more.

“Fine,” he said. Thank you for lunch and for arranging the time with Lanna.”

“No problem. Toodles!” she said obnoxiously. She blew us each a kiss before slipping out the door.

“Wow,” I said with a laugh. “She’s really something.”

“Gotta love her,” Jake said as he shook his head.

When I was sure Maggie was gone I said, “You mentioned your mom?”

“Right. She heard that Bobby had contacted me—probably it was Maggie who told her—next thing I know she’s at my apartment. She waltzes in like nothing ever happened. Starts shooting off insults about how I should find a decent place to live. I reminded her why I couldn’t afford a decent place to live.” He shook his head. “So she starts making all these plans…She’ll find a place…She’ll find a way to pay for it…Maybe Frederic will reinstate my allowance.” He scowled. “I cut her off right there. Told her I was done with Frederic. In fact, I’m done with her too. At least for now. I mean, I can’t even deal with her right now! Maybe someday. But not right now. I told her I’ve made it on my own this past year and I’m damn proud of that.”

“You should be,” I said softly. “You’ve accomplished a lot.” He had. He’d gotten an apartment, made the Dean’s list, secured an excellent internship. This boy was going places, I had no doubt.

“Lanna,” he said with a sad smile, “my family is a mess. We’re trying to straighten things out. But when it comes down to it, it’s one damn big mess.”

I took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Jake, if you haven’t noticed, my family is a bit of a mess too. It always has been. Hopefully my mom has finally figured things out. But as for you and me? I don’t want things to be messy. I promise, if we can try to work things out, I will never go behind your back again.”

“I promise to try not to take things so personally.” He squeezed my hand back before releasing it. “So what’s new with you?”