Page 62 of Finding Jacob
“Who cleans?”
“I have someone here for that. But not on weekends. I prefer to have the house to myself...ourselves.” He corrected himself wisely.
We sloshed our way into the kitchen and while Jacob headed to the utility room, I headed to the loo. He returned with a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair standing on end, and holding a large bath towel for me when I joined him. I rubbed it over my head and then wrapped it around myself.
“Sit, have a cup of tea,” he said, indicating to a chair.
I did so, and it was a short while later that he joined me.
“Tell me about your wife?” I asked, gently.
He smiled at me. “We’d only known each other a short while before we ran off and got married. Mostly to piss off Nathan, I should add. He was very protective of his sister. They were twins, I don’t know if you knew that.” I nodded. “Anyway, it was a whirlwind romance and ended way too soon.”
It was scant information, but I wouldn’t push too hard. “When did she die?”
He huffed and pursed his lips. “Twenty years ago, now. You know, right or wrong, I blocked the actual date from my mind. I’d need to look it up to know for sure.”
A wave of insecurity washed over me. With it came an annoyance at myself for feeling insecure. I swallowed both down and sipped my tea. He hadn’t responded in kind to my declaration of love, though.
“Twenty years,” he repeated to himself and then shook his head. “It was another lifetime ago.” He picked up my hand and kissed my knuckles. “And now I have a second chance.”
Okay, it was close to telling me he loved me, but it wasn’t quite the same. I begged my hormones to not make my eyes water.
“Nathan is visiting later, I thought we could eat out on the terrace,” he said, and I wondered if he’d picked up on my deflated mood and changed the subject.
“That would be nice.”
“He has news about Hannah and Jules, I believe.” Jacob had taken our cups and placed them in the dishwasher. “I have an hour of work to do, is that okay?”
It surprised me that he felt the need to ask. “Of course, I think I’ll take a nap.”
I left him to his work and headed upstairs. I knew I’d mull over his words and could only blame myself for asking about his wife initially.
As I lay on the bed after a shower, I thought about Jacob and his life prior to me crashing into it. I didn’t want to feel any insecurities, but it was hard not to. He clearly loved his wife, and she had been so brutally wrenched from him. I didn’t believe he’d ever recover fully from that, and I totally understood.
Equally, that meant, the Jacob who I hoped would love me back would only ever be part of the whole man, so I thought. There would always be a part of himself he’d hold back for her. I got it, I wanted to accept it. I didn’t, though.
I sighed and closed my eyes. I was tired. I was anxious for the upcoming funeral. When I finally drifted off, it was with an unsettled mind.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
“Hey, baby. It’s dinner time,” I heard. It was accompanied by a gentle shake to my arm.
I jolted awake. “What?”
“It’s dinner time. Nathan is here, and you have about ten minutes before food will be ready. I’m cooking outside on the terrace, okay?”
I sat up, my eyes still blurry. “Jesus, how long have I been asleep?”
“Only about three hours.”
I blinked, it seemed only three minutes ago I’d managed to drift off. “I won’t sleep tonight, now,” I said, grumbling.
Jacob laughed. “I can think of lots of things to keep you entertained if you like.”
I smiled at him. He leaned down to kiss my forehead. “I’ll see you downstairs.”
I nodded and watched him walk from the room. His nice tight arse was encased in jeans, he had flip-flops on his feet, a change from the usual bare feet, and a white casual T-shirt. I noticed the rope bands on his wrist and wondered why I hadn’t seen them before. To top it all off, he wore a baseball cap back to front. A small amount of dark hair protruded from the sizing band. Add the stubble around his jaw and he looked verycountry rock. He was as tempting casually dressed as he was in a suit.
