Page 82 of Where You're Planted

“Yeah. My parents used to have themallthe time. They’d get dressed up and go to my dad’s boss’s house in the middle of the week or have their friends over and use the fancy china. And the number of holiday parties they went to…There’s a lot about my parents’ lives that doesn’t make sense to me, but that part seemed kind of nice. Of course, the only people I really know here are my coworkers, and a dinner party with them would be—” She snorted at the thought of all of them in Marianne’s apartment with her animals and Irma sharing way too much information about her irritable bowel syndrome at the dinner table.

“My sister’s always trying to get me over for dinners. ’Course, she can’t cook to save her life.”

“A sister,” Tansy said. She couldn’t imagine Jack with a sister. But she was beginning to realize she’d assumed a lot about him that hadn’t been entirely accurate. “Tell me about her.”

Jack sighed as though summarizing his sister was a big, tiresome undertaking, but he was also smiling. “She’s not my biological sister. Our parents met at this church support group for single parents. My mom passed when I was four, and Amy’s dad was never in the picture. I think it was more of a companionship thing or a practical thing for them. Or, I don’t know, it was the nineties. Maybe they just bought all that bullshit about the supremacy of the nuclear family and cobbled together an approximation for us. We lived together from when I was nine until twelve. Then they split up and married other people with other kids who were terrible. Too loud in my case. Fucking cruel in hers. And, I don’t know, we kind of rejected them and chose each other, I guess.”

“What’s she like?”

“She’s a social worker. She’s the one who helped out Lena.”

“Oh,” Tansy said in surprise. “I’d love to thank her for that.”

He nodded. “She married my best friend, Omar, who was on the boat with me.”

“He was at the recognition ceremony, too,” Tansy recalled.

“Yep. We met in college, before he left to start running into burning buildings for a living. When he and Amy met, I pretty much became an immediate third wheel.” He said this with no trace of bitterness, but something shifted in his eyes as he added, “They’re having a baby in about a month.”

“The tiny hiking boots are for them?”

“Yep.”

“So you’ll be an uncle,” she said. “Congratulations.”

He nodded, quiet. After a pause, he explained, “She had heart surgery not that long ago. She’s all clear now with that. But I guess I’ll breathe easier once the b—once she’s on the other side of this, too.”

Baby. Tansy had her own way of talking around the things she couldn’t say and couldn’t help but wonder if this was also true for Jack. She believed now that he’d wanted it back then—a family—but it seemed that the loss of his marriage over not being able to conceive had shoved him in the opposite direction entirely. Hell, the guy had gotten avasectomy. Just dropped that casually on her their first night at his place—needed it off the table. Whatever he’d once wanted or planned for, that obviously wasn’t still the case.

It reminded Tansy of their terms for this week—no strings and an expiration date. Sheknewthat. She hadn’t forgotten. But it stung as though she had.

“I think this one’s a bust,” Jack said, stopping to broadly scan the building.

They made their way outside. It was darker now, moths circling the big floodlights overhead. Tansy stopped at the sight of the dozen buildings still left to search.

“What’s up?” Jack asked, doubling back to her.

She nodded past him at the massive compound and then twisted back to see how far they were from his truck. He clocked her waning energy and clamped a warm hand on her shoulder, shaking her playfully. “You giving up already?”

He was like a dog with a bone when it came to his to-do list, which now includedherto-do list. Yet very soon, too soon, they’d separate it all again. And it was just very confusing.

“What is going on, Tansy?” he asked softly.

She blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m just trying to figure you out.”

“What’s got you so confused?”

She decided just to say it. “Well, despite what you say, you are so obviously a relationship guy.”

He clutched his chest, smiling even wider. “I’m a what?”

“You’re thoughtful and attentive and connected and, okay, also bossy and overbearing, but in a way that’s actually, deep down, kind of sweet. You like tocuddle. You cook for me. You made me take the most amazing bath I’ve had in years. You’re here on this crazy errand. If you were just in this for sex, why would you do all that?”

“I’m notjustin this for sex.”

“What?” she breathed.

He must have seen the surprise on her face because he raised his palms and doubled back. “I meant, I like doing those other things, too. So what?”

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