Second Chance on the Cove, page 2
A few hours passed before she finally sat down. The contractors were busy in their respective corners, and she supervised their work before leaving them to it. The thought of Aaron had been at the back of her mind since she took her first breath of fresh air, but Jeannie found herself dodging those thoughts.
Why, Jeannie? Why?
Jeannie bit her fingernails, staring into space. It was probably wrong to ask Aaron to leave too. Why did she do it? Luka had no right to be there.
Jeannie felt butterflies in her stomach just thinking about him. The setting, the mood, Aaron’s beautiful smile. It was the most romantic thing that had happened to her in years. If only Luka hadn’t shown up to ruin it.
It didn’t feel right asking Aaron to leave last night, especially recalling the look on his face right before he walked out the door. Aaron had looked disappointed. It hurt Jeannie to think she disappointed him.
Or perhaps she was overthinking it. Aaron would have understood that she was not in her right mind. It might have been the wine, Luka’s presence, or both, but she didn’t mean any harm when she had asked him to leave with Luka. She just wanted to be alone.
“Ma’am?”
Jeannie turned around.
“Yes?” she said to the electrician.
“I’m done with the repairs,” he said. “Would you like to check them?”
“No.” Jeannie shook her head. “I’m sure it’s fine. Thank you.”
“Alright. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call,” he said, picking up his toolbox. “Have a nice day.”
“You too.”
Jeannie’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out excitedly, expecting a call from Aaron, but instead she saw an unknown number displayed on the screen. Still hoping the call was from him, she accepted it and put the phone to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Jenny.”
Jeannie groaned and hung up immediately. From the way things were looking, it seemed as though Luka was going to be trouble for her if she didn’t take care of it fast.
I think I need Cathy’s opinion. Seeing as Aaron hadn’t called her all day long, Jeannie was starting to sense that he had taken offense at her actions. It was also possible that she was overreacting, but still….
It was best to call Cathy.
“What? Who came? What were you doing? Did something happen to Lily?”
Jeannie placed the phone away from her ear and shook her head. Trust Cathy to be dramatic about the entire thing. She had barely even told her half of what happened and she was already asking multiple questions.
“Would you please calm down?” Jeannie asked. “Let me start all over. Listen, alright?”
Jeannie heard Cathy gulp. “I’m listening.”
“Good. Yesterday, I told you I had dinner with Aaron, right?”
“Right.”
“Well, it started off well. But I forgot to prep the chicken on time, so it was still in the oven when he arrived. We had some wine while we waited for the chicken, and then we started dancing. Then, Aaron kissed me, and—”
“He kissed you!”
Jeannie bit her lower lip to stifle a smile. “Stay focused, Cathy. That’s not the point.”
“Alright, fine. But we’re not skipping past that. We’ll come back to it later. Go on.”
Jeannie took in a deep breath. “Cathy, he asked me to be his girlfriend with a beautiful ring and for a second, I thought I’d pass out from the excitement.”
“Oh, how romantic,” Cathy cooed. “Aaron is really romantic. I had no idea. So, what did you say?”
“I didn’t have time to respond, Cathy. That’s the thing. That’s what I was trying to tell you. Luka showed up. He showed up and ruined the whole thing.”
“What? Luka, as in… your ex-husband?”
“Yes,” Jeannie groaned. “He showed up with bags and completely ruined the moment. You know what’s worse, Cathy? I spaced out. I couldn’t think. I was utterly flabbergasted by his presence.”
“Well, what did he want?”
“I don’t know,” Jeannie answered, massaging her temple. “Honestly, I don’t even want to know. Luka was threatening Aaron. He was asking him to get away from me, he shoved him, he was practically throwing a tantrum.”
“My goodness. Didn’t you tell him to leave?”
“I did.”
“Good.”
“But I also asked Aaron to leave too.”
There was a short pause on the other end. “You did what?”
“I know.” Jeannie groaned again. “I wasn’t thinking, Cathy. They had started arguing and they were about to fight, and I panicked.”
“Luka, I understand. But why would you ask Aaron to leave, Jeannie? One, he was there first, two, you like him, and three, he likes you.”
Jeannie rose to her feet and paced. “That’s what I’m saying, I don’t know. Do you think he’s angry? Is that why he hasn’t called? I should call him, shouldn’t I? I should probably have called him first thing this morning.”
“You know what you should have done? Not sent him away.”
“We’ve established that, now tell me what to do already,” Jeannie asked, growing impatient.
“Well, what did Aaron say when he was leaving?”
“Nothing. He just took his jacket and walked out. He didn’t say a word.”
“Ouch.”
“What?”
“That’s bad.”
“Why? Why is it bad?” Jeannie stammered.
“It means he’s disappointed. He probably expected more from you.”
Jeannie frowned. For some reason, she felt like she was on the verge of tears. “Oh, I knew it. I totally ruined it all.”
“You know, seeing how this turned out, I don’t think you’re over Luka, Jeannie. At least not yet. It seems he still has some control over you.”
“He doesn’t, I assure you,” Jeannie said. “It’s probably just stress and lack of sleep for why I acted the way I did. But that’s it. It’s not Luka, I’m sure of it. Luka is my past. He’s behind me.”
“If you say so.”
“Now, tell me what to do about Luka—I mean, Aaron. I want to call him, but I don’t know what to say. What do you say to someone who is disappointed in you? How do you get them to forgive you?”
“First, get rid of the baggage, Jeannie. Luka is pushing his way back into your life and it upsets me.”
“He’s not back into my life.”
“He is!” Cathy yelled. “Are you blind? He was in your house, with bags. He didn’t come here to play around or get some fresh air. He came here for you. Now, whatever his plan is isn’t your concern, like you rightly said, but it doesn’t change the fact that he is here in Chickadee right now. Get rid of him. Ask him to go away. You need to stand your ground, Jeannie. Having Luka around is not good for you.”
“You’re speaking as if I want him around,” Jeannie said. “It’s not like I can tell Luka to go away and he would oblige.”
“Not with that attitude he won’t,” Cathy said. “What happened to being firm? You can’t face Aaron proudly and tell him you want to date him when your ex-husband is still lurking around.”
Jeannie nodded slowly and took her seat. She recalled how the meeting between Aaron and Luka went. As far as meetings go, theirs was horrible. There was no way her relationship with Aaron would thrive with Luka around.
“Cathy, I’ll take care of Luka later,” Jeannie finally said. “Right now, Aaron is a major priority of mine. How do I fix this?”
“Call him!” Cathy answered.
“And say what?” Jeannie groaned. “You know what? I’ll just call and apologize. I just hope he’s not holding a grudge.”
“Say whatever feels right,” Cathy said. “But I need to go. I’ll talk to you later, alright?”
“Talk to you later.”
“Oh, and Jeannie? Don’t ruin this.”
Jeannie hung up and placed a call to Aaron. She held her breath as it rang. There was nothing in her mind to say, nothing at all, she just wanted to hear his voice. She knew that if she did, the conversation would figure itself out.
“Hi, you’ve reached Aaron Horn. Leave a message at the beep and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
Jeannie hung up and dialed the number again. She had no idea what to say, hence voicemail was not an option. The phone rang the second time and, like before, she was directed to voicemail.
After about five tries, the calls started being directed to Aaron’s voicemail without it even ringing. She drew in a shuddery breath, panicking.
He was avoiding her calls.
Was this it? Was this the end? Had she managed to ruin everything with her sheer stupidity? The more she thought about the incident, the more Jeannie cringed. He had tried to defend her from the ex-husband who had ruined her life, and she’d punished him for it. She felt like bursting into tears. Aaron might not have been just disappointed.
“Oh, come on. Pick up,” Jeannie groaned, rising to her feet.
“Hi, you’ve reached Aaron Horn. Leave a message at the beep—”
Jeannie ended the call and squeezed the phone in her fist. Bombarding Aaron with calls was going to do more harm than good. She’d wronged him, so she had to take the bull by the horn.
Quickly, Jeannie placed a call to Cathy. She tapped her foot, listening to the phone ring. She spoke immediately when the dial tone stopped.
“Cathy, I need Aaron’s address. As soon as possible, please.”
Chapter Three
Once the text message containing Aaron’s address dropped into Jeannie’s phone, she practically sprinted out of the bakery. She went home first to put on more appropriate clothing; a pair of black jeans and a striped yellow and black T-shirt. She tied her hair up into a ponytail, so it didn’t get in her face, then she slipped on a pair of sneakers and rushed out of the house again in minutes.
Her next stop was the pizza shop. What better way to apologize than with his favorite food? She picked up a medium pepperoni pizza and a bottle of white wine from the store nearby, then took a taxi directly to Aaron’s home. The taxi came to a halt in front of a gated one-story building. The house had a nice green yard and shrubs that formed a perimeter inside the fence. Three different cars were parked out front. The building itself was white, with long pillars holding it up on two sides. It was big—bigger than she had expected it to be. If she had to make a guess, there were more than ten rooms in the house altogether.
Jeannie stared at the gate’s intercom for a full minute before she finally pressed it. She had no inkling of what to expect. A couple of days ago, she had been warning Aaron about how pizza was not a healthy choice, but here she was, desperately using it to her advantage.
“Aaron?” Jeannie said softly. He had said hello through the intercom but remained silent after. “Aaron, aren’t you going to let me in? I came here to apologize. I’m sorry for being a total weirdo. I’m sorry for embarrassing you like that. And for disappointing you.”
A couple more seconds passed before the gate buzzed and opened slightly. Jeannie walked into the yard, paused, and took a deep breath before she continued walking again. The house was a good distance from the gate, so Jeannie walked down the path, admiring the beautiful yard as she went. She reached the front door and saw a doorbell, but as she was about to press it, the door creaked open.
“Hello,” Jeannie blurted, trying to gather herself. She cleared her throat and smiled. “I didn’t think you’d let me in.”
“Honestly? I was contemplating it,” Aaron said, standing by the door. “What are you doing here, Jeannie?”
“I came to see you,” Jeannie answered. “I brought pizza and wine. You weren’t answering my calls, so I thought I’d stop by instead.”
Aaron remained silent. It was just as Jeannie had suspected. She had offended him, but he was staring at her with a placid face, making it difficult for Jeannie to tell what he was thinking.
“I am sorry, Aaron,” she said. “I can tell that you’re upset. I shouldn’t have asked you to leave. In my defense, I wasn’t thinking straight. But I truly am sorry.”
Aaron sucked in a breath through his teeth and continued to stare at her. He obviously still wasn’t convinced.
“Remember when you convinced me your name was Frank?” Jeannie asked, tilting her head to the side.
A feeling of relief washed over Jeannie’s entire body when Aaron’s gaze softened. Finally, she got him to smile. Aaron sighed loudly before stepping to the side and gesturing for her to come in.
Jeannie stepped into the house, a relieved sigh slipping from her and a wide smile on her face. Half of the work was done. She took a moment to assess the vast hallway, noticing that the ceilings were high. The house looked bigger on the inside than it did from the outside.
Aaron shut the door after her and walked in front of her. She followed him promptly. Aaron led her into the living room and took his seat on the couch. He watched her walk into the room too, and he didn’t take his eyes off her until she sat down opposite him.
“You have a beautiful home, Aaron,” Jeannie noted, breaking the awkward silence. “You seem to love the color white. A lot. Everything’s white. It’s neat and beautiful. I can’t explain the calming effect your home is giving me right now.”
“Thank you,” Aaron answered.
The silence again. They were seated too far apart from each other for Jeannie’s liking. Perhaps it was because of how vast the room was, and how much space was between them, but Jeannie would have preferred to meet at her place, where they would sit together in her living room or in her kitchen.
“Do you want to go to the kitchen counter instead?” Aaron asked, almost as if he had been reading her mind.
“Yes, please,” she answered, stifling a smile.
They walked into another hallway and soon arrived in his kitchen. Jeannie set the pizza and the bottle down on the counter and sat on a high stool. It didn’t seem like he used the kitchen at all. There were barely any pots or pans in sight, and his burners were spotless.
They sat next to each other this time at the kitchen counter. Aaron had his fingers interlocked and he sat directly facing the kitchen. Jeannie, on the other hand, turned her chair to face him. He was obviously still upset, and she had run out of ideas on how to apologize.
“Aaron, at least say something,” Jeannie asked. “You haven’t really talked to me since I arrived. I know you’re upset, so let’s talk about it.”
“What do you want me to say, Jeannie?” he asked. “You’re right to assume that I was embarrassed. I mean, who wouldn’t be? We were in the middle of something I thought was important, but apparently, you didn’t think so.”
“No, that’s not what happened, I promise,” Jeannie said. “I admit that I was startled when I thought you were going to hit Luka, but that’s why I asked you both to leave. I couldn’t deal with the violence.”
“Well, you could have asked Luka to leave, seeing as he was the one who interrupted us. But you asked me to leave first.”
Jeannie sighed. “Aaron, I wasn’t thinking straight. I’m sorry. I promise I didn’t mean it that way. I wanted to be alone in that moment. Luka’s presence completely disrupted my thinking process. I was scared at first because I thought something had happened to Lily. It just… all happened in the blink of an eye. Can you please forgive me? I’d like to think that you know me, Aaron. You know I wouldn’t intentionally hurt your feelings.”
Aaron squinted his eyes and turned to stare at her. He held her gaze for a few seconds before turning away. A half smile formed at the corner of his lips as he reached for the pizza box and threw the lid open. He took a piece out for himself, and then took another one and handed it to Jeannie.
“I thought you said pizza was bad for me?” Aaron asked, taking a bite.
“Oh, well. I knew it was the fastest way to get to your heart,” Jeannie said.
“It really is. The sodium in this just shoots right into my heart. I wouldn’t even see the heart attack coming.”
Jeannie laughed at his remark. “Oh, you know what I mean. I’m glad it worked.”
Aaron set his pizza down. “Can I ask you a question that’s been bothering me since yesterday?”
Jeannie put her slice of pizza down too. “Sure. You can ask me anything.”
“Luka called you Jenny. Not Jeannie, Jenny. Why is that?”
Jeannie exhaled loudly. “It’s a pointless story, to be honest. He refuses to stop, even though I’ve told him countless times to. It was sweet at first, that he had a nickname for me. But when he calls me Jenny now, I feel irritated.”
“Ah, a nickname,” Aaron mumbled. “Your divorce… it ended well? You both were on good terms when you signed the papers?”
“Absolutely not,” she said. “I couldn’t even look at him. It was so messy, Aaron. He refused to sign the paper for weeks. He didn’t come to the court, he didn’t come for the meetings to discuss the children, he didn’t show up.” Jeannie took in a deep breath. “When he came back the last time, and I told him there and then that I wanted a divorce, he left three days later. He didn’t actually disappear, but he started to avoid me. It took a lot to get him to listen. My lawyers were on him every day. It took threats from the court to get him to sit down. He yelled, tried to manipulate me, he threatened me, he threw a tantrum. Regardless, I stood my ground and I made sure I saw it through till the end. Then, right after that, he disappeared. And now, he’s back… again.”
“Do you know what he wants this time?” Aaron asked. “I mean, it’s different now, isn’t it? You both aren’t married anymore.”
“It’s way different now,” Jeannie answered. “I’m not the Jeannie I used to be. I’m not the pushover that he once knew. If I could get through that divorce after holding on for so long, then there’s nothing he can say to me now that can move me. Nothing at all. I don’t know what he wants, and frankly, I’m not interested in finding out.”
“You might not want to admit it, but you have to be curious.” Aaron said, rubbing his chin.
