Page 37 of Despite It All
I sit in silence and when I finally feel like I can breathe again, I pull myself together and get out.
When I walk in the front door, laughter erupts from the kitchen. My heart nearly explodes from the beautiful sound.
“Ah, Mommy’s home!” Stevie squeals then races around the corner with Poppy in tow. “Mommy! We got surprises for you.” She beams.
“You do?” I ask, matching her excitement so she can’t see how fucking exhausted I am. However, not too exhausted to not notice the living room has been picked up and there’s a delicious smell also coming from the kitchen.
“Follow me, Mommy.” Stevie waves her arm for me to hurry. With a quick greeting to Poppy next, I drop my bag on the couch then follow behind her.
When I enter the kitchen, it sure is a surprise indeed. Not only is it spotless, but Jett is standing at the stove cooking a meal that looks as delicious as it smells.
His smile is effortless and so damn attractive. “Hey, Wy, how was work?”
I can’t answer because I’m too busy taking everything in. The dishes that I know were in the sink this morning are gone. There’s no paint splashes to be seen—and those are pretty common when Stevie paints. The counters look like they’ve been wiped down, and everything that was left on them is either put away or organized on the corner.
Then I see the bouquet of orange roses sitting in a vase on the table, along with a canvas that has flowers galore and a stick figure family on it. I look at Jett, who just smiles at me.
Don’t cry, Wyla. For all that’s holy, don’t cry.
“Look, mommy, look!” Stevie pulls my attention back to the table. “They had your favorite! Daddy tried to buy the red ones but I told him orange is what you like.” Stevie has a proud look on her face that gives my heart a good tug.
I force those mixed emotions back down. “Oh, baby, I love them! They’re perfect.” I lean down to squeeze her tight.
“And I painted this.” She pulls the canvas off the table, holding it out for me. “It’s me, you, and Daddy at the park. Do you like it? It’s us as a family.” Stevie bounces up and down holding the canvas.
Don’t cry, Wyla. This is your newmantra. Don’t cry.
I smile at her to mask the pain I feel in my chest. “It’s beautiful, Stevie. You did such a great job.”
“Thank you, Mommy. Can we put it on my wall? Please, please, pleaseeee.” In regular Stevie fashion, she drags out the last word.
I glance up at Jett as he grins down at us while still cooking dinner. He’s making this too hard. How could a girl not want to jump a man’s bones after he cleaned, cooked, and bought you flowers all unprompted.
“Sure, sugar. Why don’t you go pick out a spot and I’ll be right there?”
“Okie!” she squeals, and races to her room before I can even stand back up.
Jett chuckles. “She’s a ball of energy.”
Humph. “She doesn’t seem to be the only one.” I walk over to see what he is cooking. Is that alfredo? Damn, that’s one of my favorites. “Jett, you didn’t have to clean and make dinner.”
Jett shrugs. “It’s no big deal, Wy. I wanted to. How was work?”
“Eh, it was work. Very busy, made the day go by a little faster, I guess.” Jett doesn’t need to know the amount of times my thumb hovered over his contact to call or text him asking how everything was going. “I’m dying to get out of these scrubs, though. I feel like I smell like a dog.”
A smile tugs at Jett’s mouth. “Well, why don’t you go get Stevie situated and you can change if you want. Dinner should be done soon, and I’ll get out of your hair.”
I furrow my brows. “You’re not staying for dinner?”
Jett turns to me and places his hands on my arms. “Wy, you asked me to help with Stevie, not to invite myself over for dinner. I made this dinner for you two. If you want me to stay, I’d love nothing more than to join you, but I’m not going to force my company on you. I’ll leave with no hurt feelings at all.”
The look on his face tells me he means it. If I asked him to let dinner just be Stevie and I, he’d leave. So not only did he do all of this, he did it not expecting anything back from me. “Stay.”
“Wy, I don’t—”
“No, please stay,” I interrupt. “I want you to stay.”
His hands still rest on the side of my arms and the light touch is enough to make me wish they’d touch other places. Being so close to him short circuits my brain. This is why I’ve been keeping my distance, because right now all I can think about is starting that kiss we had at the beginning of this week over again.
