Page 48 of Hard To Leave

Chapter 16

Chloe

Tanner was puttinghot sauce on his taco when he asked, “Do you really have to go back tonight, Jack?”

My eyes drifted to the man sitting next to me. He seemed pissed off at the world when he showed up at my house earlier, but the second Tanner invited him to play catch in the yard, his whole attitude changed.

Whatever was eating away at him seemed to dissolve away as they practiced catching and throwing the baseball around while he gave my son his undivided attention.

Jack took a long pull from his Corona and set it down on the table. He ran his hands through his dark, blond hair, something I’d noticed he’d been doing all day. “Unfortunately, bud, I have to go back.” Tanner’s shoulders slumped forward in disappointment. “But, trust me when I say, I would much rather be here with you and your mom.”

“Really?” Tanner replied, his voice perking up with surprise. His deep, brown eyes lit up with pure delight.

A smile split across Jack’s face as he leaned forward. He rested his hands on the table. I knew that look well. It meant he was up to something.

“Actually, I can’t imagine going another couple weeks without seeing you guys, so I had this crazy idea. I thought if you could fit it in your schedules, you guys could fly up to New York this weekend for a visit.” He shot me a crooked grin and winked.

That sly bastard.

Tanner shot up from his seat and pumped his fist the air. “Yes! We’re going to New York!” he shouted, unaware that I was silently stewing and crossing and uncrossing my legs under the table to keep my temper in check.

I was going to kill him.

“Jack,” I said, in a tone as calm as I could muster, while silently planning my boyfriend’s death. I knew that he didn’t have much experience with kids, but he should have talked to me about this first. “As much as Tanner and I would love to come to New York, I have to plan these things out. I can’t just leave on a whim.”

Jack rested his palms face down on the table and arched an eyebrow. “What exactly do you have to plan?”

“Well,” I started, beginning with my list of reasons why this little trip couldn’t work. “First, there are plane tickets that would need to be bought that I don’t have the money for. Second, I would have to take Friday off work, and they are already short staffed. Third, I’d have to pull Tanner out of school, and he’ll miss french fry Friday. Which is his favorite.”

“Mom, I can eat french fries in New York, right, Jack? And I don’t think I’ll get stupid by missing one day of school.” His smile was evidence that he was all for this trip. Jack snickered while I narrowed my eyes. I watched as Tanner threw a few nacho chips to the birds that were begging for crumbs.

I grew uncomfortable with how close the dirty pigeons were coming to my feet. I picked up the basket and pushed it aside. “That’s enough,” I said, and watched the birds fly away in search of their next meal.

Jack pulled out a white letter size envelope from his back pocket and placed it in front of me.

“What’s this?” I asked, my eyes wide with suspicion.

He pushed the envelope across the table, gesturing for me to open it. “A solution to your first problem.”

I peeled it open, and a printed receipt for a direct flight to JFK fell out in front of me. “Jack?”

“Chloe.” He grinned, sheepishly.

“I can’t accept this.” I looked down and noticed two first class tickets that were printed in mine and Tanner’s name.

“Why not?” he asked, as if it wasn’t such a big deal. I cut my gaze to the side so he wouldn’t see how much I really wanted to accept this gift. I wished more than anything that I could just jet away for the weekend on a whim, but that wasn’t my reality. This was a perfect example of how our two worlds were completely different. I couldn’t pull something like this off at the last minute.

My fingers started to massage my temple. Tanner was waiting for my answer. I really didn’t want to disappoint him, but this was too much. “This is very generous of you, but I can’t let you pay for our plane tickets.”

Jack cocked his head to the side. “I didn’t pay for your plane tickets. They were free. I had a bazillion frequent flier miles and was able to get these two puppies for zero ‘guilt free’ dollars.”

“But who’s going to pay for everything we do and all the meals we will have to eat? I know you live there, but New York is very expensive, and I can’t let you spend that kind of money on us.”

“I’m buying dinner tonight, so I don’t see what the big difference is?”

I wanted to tell him there was a huge difference, but before I got the chance, Tanner butted in. “Yeah, mom. It’s not a big deal. He’s your boyfriend, right? They’re supposed to spend their money on their girlfriends.” He shrugged before taking a sip of his Coke. “At least, that’s what Tyler’s mom tells her boyfriend.”

Jack reached over and grabbed my hand. “See, it’s my job.” He grinned with his blue eyes sparkling. It was good to see him in a better mood rather than the one he showed up with at my doorstep earlier.

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