“Get off him, you animal! What’s wrong with you?!” She beats him so many times, the bread breaks in half and crumbs go flying everywhere.
Sarah’s standing in the doorway, holding a pot of sauce with her eyes bugging out of her head.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Jeremy roars.
The wrestling stops and both Rob and James look up at him.
“This is my home! What is your goddamn problem, James?!”
James slowly releases Rob’s head and stands, straightening his shirt.
Rob stands and does the same, but then really quick punches James in the side.
James grunts, but does nothing in return.
“Somebody better start talking or I’m canceling this dinner.” Jeremy puts his hands on his hips and stares at the men across the room.
“No one’s canceling anything,” Sarah says, walking in and putting the pot down on the table. “I’ve been cooking this sauce all day. It’s home made.”
“Start talking James. Or Rob.” Jeremy glares at them one at a time. “No one touches that sauce until you tell me what’s going on.”
“I already told you what’s going on,” Leah says, rolling her eyes. “Geez. Weren’t you listening?”
“Just because Rob and Jana are together does not explain why these two idiots think it’s okay to break my dining room chairs.” He walks over and holds one up, displaying its broken leg.
“I’m sorry about that,” James said.
“Money talks, bullshit walks. Send me a check for six hundred bucks and we’ll call it even.” Jeremy turns to Rob. “Did you do something wrong?”
Rob shrugs. “Not from my point of view, I didn’t.”
“Mine either.” I walk over and stand next to Rob, holding Cassie on my hip. “Sorry, James, but you can’t stop this. We’re together. We’re going to see if this thing we’ve been thinking about for way too long is real. You just need to stay out of it.”
“What’s the big deal?” Jeremy asks James. “He’s your best friend. He’s like a brother but without the weird blood tie that would make this all very wrong.” He kind of laughs at his own joke. “Seriously, I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“I do.” Sarah sighs, looking at all of us. “If it doesn’t work out, what happens then? James loses his best friend, and his relationship with his only sister becomes strained. I don’t blame him for wanting to keep them apart. Not that I recommend that or anything, but I see where he’s coming from.”
I want to hate Sarah for what she said but I can’t. How could I? She gets it. She understands my brother and she has compassion for him. And she’s not judging us either. I think our family needs a referee like her around.
“Good, I’m glad we have that all worked out,” Leah says, taking her seat. “Because I’m starving. Where are the noodles?”
Jeremy moves around his brother and goes into the kitchen. “Coming right up.”
Rob looks at James and holds his hand out. “We good?” he asks.
James looks at Rob and then at me. I stick my chin out, daring him to defy me.
James shakes Rob’s hand, gripping it hard enough that I see Rob wince. “Just don’t hurt her, or I swear to God, I’ll make that nose of yours twice as ugly as it is already.”
We all laugh and move to our seats.
Leah sighs as she looks on the floor. “I guess there’s no garlic bread tonight.”
“Maybe next time use something else for your weapon,” James says, kissing her on the head as he sits down next to her.
“How about next time you take your testosterone out into the backyard so I don’t have to grab the nearest baguette.”
“Done,” he says, taking her hand in his and putting it in his lap.
Two seconds later he jumps and yelps and then glares at her.
I can’t stop laughing for the next five minutes. Every time I look in their direction, all I can see is his surprised expression and Leah’s sneaky smile.
“You happy?” Rob asks me quietly as everyone chats about what’s new in their lives.
I nod. “Very.”
“We okay?”
I nod again. “Very.”
He leans in closer and whispers. “You want to get naked?”
I keep chewing, acting like he didn’t just get me all revved up. “Very,” I say when I think I can manage to not smile too hard.
Rob gets a goofy grin on his face and shoves a giant bite of food into his mouth.
“So what’s new with you?” Leah asks Rob. “Other than the obvious?”
He puts down his fork as he chews and rests his hands on either side of his plate. Eventually, everyone realizes that he’s about to say something interesting, so the rest of the conversation dies off and we listen to what he’s going to say. I’m very nervous he’s about to make some kind of declaration about our love, which would be awesome on one hand, but terribly embarrassing on the other. This relationship is so new; I don’t want to jinx it by calling it something big too prematurely, even though I know in my heart that Rob is the man for me.
“I actually have some very big news that’s been about thirteen years coming.”
The number thirteen strikes me as important, but I don’t realize how important until he starts to elaborate.
“Fourteen years ago, when I was finishing up law school, my girlfriend Val became pregnant.”
You could hear a pin drop in the room. Even Cassie seems to understand what’s expected of her. She plays quietly with her noodle pieces, pushing them around her high chair tray with her finger, trying to get one to stick.
“She gave birth to my son, Brian.”
“You have a son?” Jeremy asks. He looks over at James. “Did you know about this?”
James nods, his face a mask.
Leah bumps him on the arm. “Hey! You didn’t tell me about Brian!”
“Just listen,” he says softly, staring at his best friend.
“Brian was born with severe cerebral palsy. He’s lived in a skilled nursing facility his entire life.”
“Oh my god,” Sarah says. “Where?”
“About an hour and a half from here.”
I know what the unasked questions are, so I elaborate, worried they’ll think less of Rob if they don’t know the whole story.
“He needs expert nursing care around the clock. And it’s a really, really nice place. His mom is there a lot and so is Rob.” I look up at my man with shining eyes. I love him so much I can’t even say how much.
“How long have you known about Brian?” Jeremy asks me.
“I just met him the other day.”
“Babe, this isn’t about you,” Sarah says, nudging him.
“No, of course not.” Jeremy shakes his head. “I’m just surprised is all. How come you didn’t say anything?”
His insinuation is clear. Are we judgmental people? Was Rob worried what we’d think or say behind his back?
Rob shrugs. “It was what his mother wanted. She was worried that having a bunch of people come in and out of his life would be difficult for him. That he could get attached to someone who’d get busy and not come around anymore, and we’re never sure how much he understands when we try to explain things.”
“Oh.” Jeremy looks down at the table and then at his own daughter. “I get it.”
“Sarah,” I say, the offer I made on her behalf jumping into my head, “I was wondering if you’ve ever done any work with handicapped people. With your painting, I mean.”
She smiles. “As a matter of fact, yes. When I was in college, I did an internship at a center for adults with disabilities.”
“Brian likes to draw with his mom,” I explain. “They use crayons and pencils, but I suggested that maybe you’d like to help him paint.”
“She doesn’t have to do that,” Rob says, hurrying to cut off Sarah’s reply. “It’s a long drive, and with winter, that makes it really hard to get there. Plus she’s busy with Cassie.”
“No, I’d love to.” Sarah’s face is glowing. “Seriously. If Jana doesn’t mind helping me with Cassie, I could do it. Maybe once a week? Once every two weeks? Whatever you and his mother think is a good idea.” She looks at Jeremy. “I told you something would come up.”
Jeremy looks out at us and shrugs. “I’ve been trying to get her out of the house, and she’s been telling me she’d go when she was ready.” He looks at her and smiles warmly. “Taking care of Cassie is a job and a half.”
It doesn’t hurt quite as much to hear Jeremy say that as I know it would have yesterday or even an hour ago. Rob squeezes my hand under the table and I know he understands.
“If you want to come, that’d be great,” Rob says. “Even if it’s just once. Val and I talked about it, and we decided that Brian’s old enough now to have some more transient type relationships. We’re not worried as much about explaining why people are there or not.” He looks around the table. “Change is good, right?”
“A necessary part of living,” Leah says. “Now can someone please pass me the salt?”
“No.” James says, glaring at everyone. “No salt for you.”
She pouts at him and grumbles as she gets her next bite of noodles on the fork. “Party pooper.”
When I laugh, I feel like I’m filling with helium, I’m so light. I’m not even really sitting on my seat anymore. I never would have imagined this night going this well when Rob first suggested I come. I’m so glad I listened to him. I’m so happy I have him in my life now, and not as my brother’s best friend who I’m crushing on from afar, but as my boyfriend. And maybe in the not too distant future, something even more.
“We good?” Rob asks me as we dig into our dessert.
“Yes,” I say, watching Cassie feed her daddy a handful of cake. She smears it all over his face, but all he does is try to lick it off, leaving her to do her worst, which she happily continues to do. Sarah watches them off to the side, smiling with her gaze full of love. “Better than good.”
Chapter Forty
I’M STANDING IN THE MIDDLE of my fixer-upper that’s now almost completely done. My hardwood floors are glistening with the new wax coating they just got, and the stain my contractor used matches the beautiful muted gray/green color I put on the walls perfectly.
Rob stands next to me, wiping his hands off on a rag. “Not bad at all,” he says, looking around and nodding in admiration.
“More like excellent.”
He comes over and kisses me softly on the lips. “I never had any doubts.”
The doorbell rings, and I leave my lover to go answer it. I have one more walk-through to finish up before I call it a day over here and go back to Rob’s place where I’ve pretty much moved in. Three months ago we both decided that the commuting between my place and his was getting annoying. And now we’ve made plans to move in here together, two miles away from my brother and his wife and Cassie. I couldn’t be happier.
I open the door and smile at who’s standing there on my porch. “Jake! I’m so glad to see you!” My tall plumber acts like he’s going to shake my hand, but I take him into a hug instead. He quickly changes stride and hugs me back.
“Nice to see you too.” He stands back straight, looking around the house from the foyer. “Wow. You’ve gotten a lot done since the last time I was here.”
“I know, right? Come check it out.”
Jake and I proceed into the living room, and Rob steps over to shake his hand.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Rob asks.
“Well. And you?”
“Couldn’t be better.” Rob hangs his arm over my shoulder and smiles.
I recognize Rob’s peeing-on-the-territory thing for what it is and stay there. I don’t need him getting jealous over feelings I don’t have for the plumber.
“Did you get that faucet changed out?” Jake asks. “If not, I have one in the truck.”
“I fixed that,” Rob says. “No problem at all.”
“Great. And the gasket around the sink drain?”
“Fixed that too,” my boyfriend volunteers, sounding very proud of himself. He might as well whip his pants down and start comparing penis size. I roll my eyes.
“Awesome. I guess you’ve been kind of doing my job for me around here.” Jake looks at me. “Sorry about that. Big job over in Long Island was killing me.”
“No problem,” I say, poking my thumb at my boyfriend. “I have Mister Fixit here taking care of things.” And not just things with my house, but my heart too. He’s fixed everything.
Jake nods, looking Rob up and down before turning his attention back to me. “Good for you. Really. I’m happy for you.”
I walk out from under Rob’s arm toward the hallway. “Come check out the window seat he made me. You’re going to love it.”
Jake follows me into the master bedroom where Rob not only built me a cushioned window seat with storage underneath, but a whole wall full of custom book shelves. Crown molding rings the ceilings and baseboards six inches tall frame the floors. It’s my dream bedroom.
Jake’s gaze moves around the room, and he walks over to run his fingers on the fine wood of the shelves. “He does good work. Is he a contractor?”
I laugh. “No, he’s a lawyer if you can believe that.”
“Huh.” Jake looks at the window seat and then at me. “You seem really happy.”
“I am.” I grin. “Come see what he did in the other room.”
Jake follows me into the guest room where we installed a huge window that looks out into the back yard. A box of freshly planted spring flowers are just outside, the tops of their many colored petals peeking up above the windowsill.
“Nice.” He takes in the crown molding, the huge closet, and the attached bathroom.
“It’s handicap accessible,” he says, standing in the entrance.
“Yeah.” I lean on the doorframe. “Rob’s son has cerebral palsy. We’ve been talking about having him over for a sleepover once in a while.”
Jake turns to look at me. “Where is he? With his mother?”
“At a skilled nursing facility.” I point to the two beds, one regular twin-sized and one hospital bed with side rails. “Hence the second bed for the nurse.”
Jake turns and stands in front of me, looking down. “You changed your life.”
I shrug. “A wise friend once told me I just needed to start looking at things differently and then my life could be different.”
“Sound kind of far-fetched,” he says, the hint of a grin there.
“Yeah, it’s a little new agey for me, but what can I say; the proof is in the pudding.”
He looks around. “The proof is in the changes you made. Good for you.” He envelopes me in a strong hug. “I’m really happy for you.”
“Thanks.” I pull away and smile. “So maybe you can bring your dog by sometime when Brian is here and we can all watch him perform.”
Jake looks out to the backyard. “There’s not much room out there, but if you guys want to meet us at the park, we’d love to show off for ya. We’ve been working all winter, and Bosco’s ready to run off all this extra energy he’s got.”
“Cool.” I gesture for him to follow me as I walk out into the living room. I stop under the new chandelier that used to be a hole where mice fell out on innocent people’s heads, and I shake Jake’s hand. “It’s a deal. The next really sunny day and we’re there.”
“Great. So, is there anything you need me to do?” Jake asks. “Plumbing good?”
“It’s all good.” I pull out a pre-filled and signed check from my back pocket and hand it to him, the last payment for all his work. “I’ll be in touch for my next project. And for the performance.”
“Performance?” Rob walks up, drying his hands off on a towel.
“Jake has a frisbee-playing dog, and I told him maybe when Brian comes for a visit, we could all go to the park and watch.”
Rob’s smile is slow in coming, but it’s real. “That might be cool
. I’ll run it by Val.”
I nod at Jake. “Val will love it. Trust me. And you’ll love her. She’s awesome.”
Rob jabs me with his elbow, but I ignore him.
“Talk to you soon?” I say to Jake as I walk him to the front door.
“Absolutely. Just text me when you want to go to the park.”
“Will do.” When I shut the door behind him, I turn to glare at Rob. “What’s up with the elbow to the ribs?”
He shrugs, grinding away at his fingers with the towel. He has a permanent layer of glue on his hands that he says makes his clients suspicious. “Nothing. Just didn’t want you to encourage him too much.”
Rob’s tone is funny.
My eyes narrow as I try to figure out what he’s thinking; I sense jealousy, or concern, maybe. “Encourage him? About what? Or whom? Brian or Val?”
Rob turns to go into the kitchen. “Neither. Whatever. Are we ordering pizza for dinner or what?”
I catch up to my silly boyfriend before he can escape into the dining room. “Hey,” I say, making him turn around and hug me, “you don’t need to worry about Jake. He’s a good guy, I promise.”
“Oh yeah? How do you know? Val’s very special to me, you know. I don’t want you hooking her up with just any guy.”
I lean back and frown at him. “Does that sound like something I’d do?”
He sighs. “No.”
“Okay, then stop it. Just hug me.”
He throws his towel on the counter and bends over a little, enveloping me in his strong arms.
“Thanks for fixing all the things around the house,” I say into his shoulder.
“You’re welcome.”
“Thanks for fixing me.”
He kisses my neck. “You weren’t broken.”
I kiss his neck, pulling his shirt out of the way so I can reach his sensitive skin. “My heart was, but it’s not anymore.”
“I love you, you know.” He pulls me in even tighter, almost taking my breath away.
“I love you too, babe.” I lean my head back. “You okay?”
He nods, his eyes shining as he looks down at me. “I just can’t believe you’re mine.”
I smile. “Yours? Well, I’m not sure I’d go that far. I am an independent woman, you know.”