Jordan's Return (8 page)

Once he was sure they were asleep and secure, he locked up and left, feeling like he had just left a little piece of his heart inside the little beachside bungalow.

Jordan woke the following morning, not quite remembering going to bed the night before. As she lay there, the morning light filtering into her room through the window shades, it dawned on her how she must have gotten there and felt herself flush with embarrassment. The only upside to it was that she hadn't had to face Rob again last night. She knew the hurt she was feeling over finding out about Kelly would surely have been obvious in her eyes. Rob had always said her eyes betrayed her every thought.

She stretched, rose slowly from the bed, and left the room to go find the boys. They were in the den watching TV and eating bowls of cereal. Jordan took a moment to observe them before letting her presence be known.

“Good morning,” she said as she sat down on the sofa with them. “Sorry I fell asleep on you last night.”

“It's okay, Mom,” Jake said around a spoonful of Frosted Flakes. “Rob took care of us.” That thought warmed Jordan for a brief moment, and then she remembered Kelly.

Pushing all thoughts of Rob to the back of her mind, she asked, “So, how was the rest of the movie?”

“It was great. Thanks for letting us rent it,” Joseph said, his eyes on the TV the whole time, milk dribbling down his chin. He wiped it away with the back of his hand, never breaking stride.

Jordan went into the kitchen to pour herself something to drink and announced she had a surprise. With eager anticipation, the boys jumped up from the floor, leaving their bowls and spoons where they lay. Jordan took them each by the hand and led them back to her room, where she pulled out two large, wrapped boxes from her closet.

“Wow, how'd you get these in here without us seeing them?” Joseph asked.

“It's a special gift moms have,” she replied with a mischievous smile.

The boys tore into their gifts and shrieked with delight when they found model airplanes that they could build and then fly on the beach with remote controls. They were totally psyched at the prospect.

“Cool! Thanks, Mom!” they shouted and ran to make room at the kitchen table to begin their tasks.

All day Friday was spent working on the planes. Jordan tried to help where she could, but found the boys enjoyed doing the craft by themselves. She wasn't offended. In truth, she had no idea how to put a model airplane together and would probably end up messing it up or gluing her own fingers together in the process. It was times like this that Jordan felt most inadequate as a parent; this was a time a dad would come in handy. She didn't let herself dwell on that fact for too long. It was too depressing. Besides, the only one who seemed to be struggling with that right now was her.

While the boys worked together on their planes, Jordan took the time to enjoy the peacefulness of being on vacation and pulled out a book. Curling up into the corner of the sofa, she let herself get lost in the story, only stopping when it was time to fix a meal or stretch her stiff body. Who needed distractions? This was what the vacation was supposed to be about—time alone with the boys, a time to get reacquainted with one another and figure out what they wanted to do with their lives and their future.

Returning to her novel, Jordan lost herself in the story and forgot the worries of what was, what could be, and what might have been.

After breakfast on Saturday morning, they were out on the beach enjoying the fruits of their labor and Jordan was able to go for more than a few minutes without thinking about or looking for Rob. It was strange how much of an impact he had made on their lives in the short time they'd been on the coast.

“Hey, Mom! Look at this!” Jordan looked up in the sky to where the planes were flying and all thoughts of Rob were forgotten for the day.

While they were out on the sand, Jordan took advantage of another task she wanted to accomplish on this trip—taking pictures of her family. This was an important time in their lives and scrapbooking had always been a favorite pastime of hers.

Snapping one digital shot after another, Jordan knew they were making memories here that would last a lifetime.

Just then, Jake let out a laugh of pure glee and Jordan quickly aimed the camera and captured it. Smiling, she realized it would make the perfect cover shot for her scrapbook.

* * *

The remainder of the weekend flew by and by Sunday afternoon, one plane was demolished, she had taken close to a hundred pictures, and Joseph had a touch of sunburn. Jordan had convinced herself it was a good thing Rob had gone away with his blond. She and her boys did not need him around to have a good time. They were having fun together and were bonding for the first time in a long time. She would do well to remember that if they ever saw him again.

That was the million-dollar question: Would they see Rob again? Jordan knew she had behaved childishly when they had come back to the house after dinner the other night. You'd think that at this stage in her life she would have matured a little and moved on from being so easily hurt.

Her marriage had taught her a lot about being hurt, and even after everything Eric had done to her and her children, Jordan realized the emotion she felt most strongly was anger. Rob's betrayal had left her broken when they were younger, and here she was hurting again. When would she ever learn?

That train of thought had to stop; Rob was not betraying her and really, what had happened between them was ancient history, and it was time she stopped carrying it around with her every time she and Rob were together. It was time to let the past stay in the past and to focus on the present. Jordan had no idea what was even going on between her and Rob, but maybe this time around they could be friends.

Yes, she thought, that would be the answer to all the questions swirling around in her head. They would be friends. There was no reason to feel betrayed by—or jealous of—Rob going away with this Kelly person if they were just friends. She would welcome him back into her home for her sons' sakes and they would all be friends.

It made sense, and if there was one thing that Jordan prided herself on at this point in her life, it was that she was doing things that made sense. She was proud of herself for finally coming to this point.

Jordan was enjoying the peace and quiet after the boys had gone to bed Sunday night. The phone call from her sister was a welcome interruption.

“Listen,” Laura began, “Mark is coming up that way for a conference tomorrow and wants to come by and say hello.” Mark was Laura's husband and a favorite uncle to Joseph and Jake. “Is there anything from home that he can bring you?”

“Oh, Laura, that would be great!” The women spoke on the phone for the next hour. Jordan had a list of items she had forgotten to bring with her but didn't want to go out and buy, as well as foods the boys liked that she hadn't found at the local grocery store.

After jotting down all Jordan needed, Laura wanted to get down to the real reason for her call, to check on Jordan's progress. After months of looking after Jordan and the boys, Laura had been hesitant to give her blessing for this trip. As the older sibling, she had always been protective of Jordan, and after witnessing all that her sister had been through, not only during her marriage and divorce but the physical recovery process as well, Laura had been unsure Jordan was ready to be so far from home.

Of course, Jordan would have been furious if Laura had voiced that opinion. Lord knew Jordan was ready to have control of her life once again, and even though her family was only looking out for her and wanted what was best for her, Laura was sure on some level they were smothering her.

“Okay, you've had some fun with the boys, the house is lovely, your scrapbook is going to be fabulous, blah, blah, blah,” Laura said. “Now tell me how you're really feeling.”

“Physically? I feel okay. I'm getting plenty of rest and it's so peaceful here that I'm finally getting my head together.”

“That's good. I knew some time away would work wonders,” she lied. “Now tell me how you managed to get Joseph to relax! He was totally against this trip from the get-go. What changed his mind?”

Jordan took a deep breath and forced herself to talk about the one person she had avoided talking about all weekend. “Well, do you remember Rob Tyler?”

“Rob Tyler? Your ex-boyfriend, Rob Tyler? Sure, what about him?” Before Jordan could answer, Laura put it all together. “You don't mean that you've run into Rob and he's been spending time with you and the boys, do you?”

“Yes.”

“Why would you do that to yourself, Jordan?”

“Do what? We ran into him in town one day and he's come over a couple of times. It's no big deal. Really.”

“Uh-huh.” Laura stayed silent for a while and waited to see if Jordan would offer up any more information. When she didn't, Laura continued. “So? Is he still as cute as he was back in high school?” Her tone was playful and Jordan couldn't help but smile.

“Oh, yes. If anything, he's gotten better with age.” Images of Rob running on the beach with the boys sprang to her mind, and she felt that familiar flutter in her tummy.

“Is he married?”

“Nope. Never got married. He's an architect now with his own firm here in town and he also owns a restaurant he inherited from his grandfather.”

“Sounds like he's doing well for himself.” She paused again. “You're not thinking of doing anything with him again, are you?” Before even giving Jordan a chance to respond, Laura rushed on, “Because I remember how devastated you were when you broke up back in high school. I mean, I know you're not kids anymore, but I just don't want to see you get hurt again.”

Jordan sighed. “I was thinking along those lines at first, but it turns out he has a girlfriend. One he's with right now.”

“You sound disappointed.”

“I guess I am, a little. But I'll get over it.”

Laura wanted to press Jordan for more details but held her tongue. It was a good thing Jordan was at least tempted to go out and have an interest in the opposite sex once again. After all that Eric had put her through, Jordan's whole family had begun to fear she would just give up on that part of her life and try to be content being a single mother for the rest of her life.

Not that there was anything wrong with not wanting to date, but Jordan was made to be in love and to be married. It broke Laura's heart that Jordan's marriage had ended the way it had. Having a successful marriage herself, Laura knew she'd be devastated if it ended. She was proud of Jordan for being so strong and for overcoming so much. Someday she'd have to tell her how much she admired her strength. Tonight was not that time.

The conversation went on for a few minutes after that, and Jordan felt herself getting depressed, so she feigned exhaustion and pleaded off the phone. Besides, she knew Mark would be arriving early, and she needed to get some sleep so she'd be up and ready for him when he showed up. The boys were going to be so surprised!

* * *

Monday morning dawned bright and early. Jordan had made sure to set her alarm so she would be ready for Mark's arrival. The boys were already up when she came out of her bedroom. “You haven't eaten yet, have you?” she called out on her way to the bathroom.

“No. Why?” they asked.

“I just want us to eat together this morning, okay? Give me a few minutes.” Jordan entered the bathroom and washed up quickly. A glance at her watch as she walked back to her bedroom told her it was almost eight o'clock. Mark would be here soon.

No sooner had that thought hit her than there was a knock at the door. She stepped out of her room, still dressed in her flannel pajama pants and a T-shirt. “Who could that be?” she said dramatically as she let the boys run to answer the door.

“Uncle Mark!” they squealed as they jumped into his arms. Mark swung them around in turn and then took them out to his car to get the things he had brought with him at Jordan's request. She had followed them outside to Mark's car, heedless of the fact that she wasn't properly dressed.

“Nice of you to dress for the occasion,” Mark commented sarcastically with a smile. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief and an early morning breeze blew his blond hair around.

Jordan stepped forward and hugged him tightly to her, thankful for a friendly face from home. Neither she nor the boys noticed the black SUV parked several houses away, observing the scene on the front lawn of the bungalow.

“You sure Laura sent enough?” Jordan asked as Mark released her and she looked into the interior of his car at all the bags and boxes.

“God, I hope so,” Mark laughed. “I'll get better gas mileage now that all this weight is out of the car.” Mark carried a large suitcase and a couple of grocery bags. Joseph and Jake carried the remainder of the bags and Jordan carried a box. Back in the house, the boys began to tell their uncle about all they had been doing since their arrival while Jordan went to the kitchen to make breakfast for all of them.

“You brought all our favorite foods, Mark,” Jordan commented as she unloaded the food. In a matter of minutes, everything was in its place and she had begun preparing their breakfast. Off in the distance she heard the boys telling Mark about their room, the town, and how their days were going and all the fun they were having. It warmed her heart to hear their voices filled with excitement and happiness. This trip had been the right choice.

She called them all to the table a few minutes later and placed their food in front of them—western omelets with toast and home fries.

“I sure wish you'd teach your sister to make omelets like this, Jordan. No matter how hard she tries, they always just come out scrambled and a little burned. Don't tell her I said that,” he joked as he pointed a fork at his nephews. They poked fun at Jordan's sister's cooking skills while they ate.

“You must have been on the road while it was still dark out to get here so early,” Jordan said.