Page 16 of This Time Around
She sighed. “How about I mail it to you?”
On the other side of the door, Jack stayed quiet. She thought for a second he’d gone away, and it annoyed her that she felt the tiniest hint of disappointment. She should probably just grab the damn sweater and toss it to him. It would take all of thirty seconds, and then he’d be on his way and out of her life for good.
“Allie, come on. Don’t be vain. I’ve seen you looking worse.”
“Thanks, Jack. That makes me feel much better.” Her cheeks burned hot with embarrassment, but she’d infused her voice with enough steel to cover it.
“Just toss it out the door,” he coaxed. “I won’t look at you, I swear. Or just have your fiancé bring it out.”
Something bubbled hot and shameful in her chest. She felt tired and embarrassed and really, really exhausted. Maybe it was the stress of planning her grandma’s funeral. Maybe it was the evening spent surveying the dilapidated B&B. Maybe it was something else entirely. Something that had been brewing long before last night’s silly game of make-believe with Jack.
Before she realized what she was doing, she turned and flung open the door.
Jack jumped back, startled either by the door opening or by her appearance again. Probably both. “Allie?—”
“Look, I’ve had the week from hell,” she snapped. “My grandma just died, and I had to visit both my parents in prison to tell them, which was about as much fun as ripping off my own eyebrows with duct tape. I just spent my whole evening crawling around in basements and crawlspaces to realize I’ve just inherited a massive tax liability filled with dry rot and woodpecker holes and cat fur. Pardon me if I’m not thrilled by unexpected company.”
Jack blinked, his expression ashen. “Your grandma died?”
The sympathy in his voice made her eyes sting with tears. Allie nodded, afraid to trust her own voice.
“God, Allie. I’m so sorry.” He started to reach for her, then seemed to stop himself. “Your dad’s mom? The one with the B&B?”
Again she nodded, and felt something thawing in the center of her chest.
“Shit, I’m so sorry. I know how much you loved her. Why didn’t you say something last night? We could have cancelled dinner or?—”
“No, we couldn’t, Jack.” Allie shook her head, feeling deflated. “I wanted everything to be perfect. I wanted you to see how fabulously awesome my life has turned out without you. I wanted to impress you and your gorgeous wife, so I cleaned my house and faked a fiancé and squeezed into Spanx so tight I still can’t feel my thighs, all so I could spend an enchanting evening listening to you talk about your amazing, perfect life.”
Jack just stared, and it dawned on her that she hadn’t meant to say any of that out loud. She sounded like a crazy person. Looked like one, too, considering the mud mask and the hair from hell. God, she was pathetic.
“My amazing, perfect life,” he repeated, looking a little dumbstruck. He nodded once, then turned. “Wait here.”
He jogged off down the driveway, and Allie stared after him. She should probably shut the door. This was her chance to lock it behind him and pretend none of this had happened. Last night, right now—hell, maybe even sixteen years ago.
But instead she turned and walked down the hall, leaving her front door wide open. It was probably a dumb move, though not much dumber than opening it in the first place when she looked like this. She opened the coat closet. The little cream-colored sweater hung right there in front, and Allie pulled it off the hanger.
It had daisies stitched around the collar and on the front pocket, and a silly pang of longing rattled through her chest. She’d always imagined herself buying clothes like this for her own daughter, laughing and smiling as they sipped Italian sodas at the coffee shop next to Nordstrom. She folded it over her arm and walked back to the front door.
Jack had already returned from wherever he’d gone, and had set up camp in her living room. He’d closed the front door and parked himself right in the middle of her sofa with a shopping bag on the coffee table in front of him. He looked up as she walked in, and gave her a smile that made her traitorous heart surge in her chest.
“Hi,” he murmured, and her heart thrummed faster.
“Make yourself at home,” she muttered, trying to muster up some indignation. In truth, she wasn’t that annoyed. It felt good to have another living, breathing human in her home, someone who wasn’t looking at her like she was crazy or pathetic despite all evidence to the contrary.
“Please join me,” he said.
“Just let me change into?—”
“No.”
The forcefulness in his voice surprised her, and she started to tell him to stop bossing her around in her own home. That’s when he reached into his shopping bag and pulled out a box of Crest whitening strips.
Wordlessly, he opened the package and peeled the back off one of the strips. He pressed it against his front teeth, using his oversized fingers to smooth out the edges. He repeated the process on his bottom teeth, then worked his way around the sides.
Allie stood watching, fascinated, not sure if she’d entered some sort of Twilight Zone episode or if she’d finally gone crazy.
“You’re whitening your teeth,” she said unnecessarily.
