Page 112 of Other Side Of Never
Knowing him, it would be soon.
No matter what was to come, I needed to be there for Jake.
And keep Gary away from Kian and Isaiah.
This time, I wouldn’t have to do it alone.
27
Hang Tight
Anitasquealedwithexcitement,then grabbed Jake and danced him around the kitchen when we surprised her the next morning.For the next few hours, while he had her by turns scolding him and uproariously laughing down in the kitchen, I worked upstairs in the apartment to move my things from what I now considered Jake’s closet.Even though Jake brought next to nothing with him, I planned to fill that closet to overflowing with everything he needed, including a new guitar, as soon as possible.
I moved about in some sort of dream state, hardly believing he was here, and jumping at every little noise as I waited for his father to show up.
And then there was Kian.
Hauling out the boxes I’d broken down and stored when I first moved in months ago, I taped the seams and set them out side-by-side in a line.It wasn’t that I was hell-bent on moving, but there wasn’t a whole lot of storage space in Anita’s apartment.
And I had to be practical.
I swiped away the tears pooling below my eyes.There was no time for crying.If Kian decided to move back home or move on without me, I needed to be ready to forge my own path.
I’d done it twice before and I could do it again.
I hoped, God, I prayed I wouldn’t have to, but his actions since leaving didn’t lend me much in the way of confidence.
A broken sob made it halfway up my throat, but I stuffed it back down because as much as I feared Kian moving on without me, the threat of Gary showing up loomed larger every second.
Now that I’d started packing, I didn’t see the point in stopping at the closet.I pulled out my suitcases and started throwing in the clothes I wouldn’t need for the next month.A month should be enough time for me to figure out where Jake and I were going to live.
How I was going to support us.
Because this apartment was only supposed to be temporary.And Jake was anything but.
I used to dream about it, scooping Jakey up and taking him with me to start over.Back then it would have been tantamount to kidnapping.
Now?I could make that dream come true.
Or I could raise him here in Sage Ridge, stay where my roots had begun to go to ground, exchange one dream for another.
If Kian was moving on without me, I could take over the chocolatier and make a home for Jakey and me.
But if Kian stayed?
We’d be a family.
Maybe.
Me, him, and the iceman.
And Jakey.
I hoped.
Round and round the possibilities flew.
And the answer rested on a single question.A single question who hadn’t contacted me since yesterday.
