Homecoming Day Read online

  Today, JT barreled in and threw her book bag on the table with a loud thud.

  “JT?” Laura asked.

  “Something wrong?” He juggled Jamie on his shoulder, waiting for a burp.

  “You remember that English test on Pride and Prejudice?” JT slumped into one of the chairs.

  “Yes,” Laura said slowly.

  “Well, I read that book with you, and even watched that long PBS miniseries, and the new movie, too. I was ready for the test. Knew all the vocab. I should have done good on it.”

  “Oh, JT…” Laura started as Seth said, “Hey, it’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not okay, because I didn’t do good, I rocked it.” She pulled the test from her backpack, jumped from the chair and held it up. “I mean, the brainiacs in our class might think a B-isn’t that impressive, but, Ms. Watson, I don’t think I ever got a B anything in an English class, ever. Not even once.”

  She tossed the test on the table and hugged Laura, then turned and hugged Seth, too, squeezing Jamie in between them.

  JT picked up the test and handed it to Laura. “I think Ms. Lutz must have shit a brick when she had to give me something higher than a D.”

  Laura studied it. “JT, that’s not fair. No teacher likes seeing students struggle.”

  “No good teacher like you. But Mrs. Lutz is old and tired. She hates teaching now. And she really hates teaching me.”

  “JT…” Laura obviously didn’t know what to say.

  Seth supplied, “Well, the grade isn’t about Mrs. Lutz, or even Ms. Watson. It’s about you and how hard you’ve been working.” Jamie finally burped, as if for emphasis.

  “Yeah, but it’s about you guys, too. You are the first grown-ups who ever really cared. And I know I’m a kid, but I’m old enough to know that’s special.” She beamed at them, clearly grateful.

  “So we should celebrate, if you want? Dinner? You’d have to call your mom and see if it’s okay. Maybe she’d like to join us?” Seth offered. They’d invited JT’s mom to other events, but she’d never accepted. She never even got out of the car when she picked JT up.

  JT said she was pleased to have someone else looking after her, because it gave her mom more time with the new boyfriend.

  “That’d be great. Let me call her. I don’t think she’ll come, but I’ll ask.” JT whipped her cell phone from her pocket and dialed, then walked into the living room.

  “That’s nice of you, Seth.” Laura held out the test so he could see it as well.

  “I should have asked if you minded taking Jamie out.” He took the test and studied it. “She did great. I think that after watching Colin Firth in the miniseries, I could probably have taken the test, too. And you don’t know how unmanly that admission makes me feel.”

  Laura laughed and kissed his cheek. “You, sir, are the epitome of manliness. I’m so proud of JT I could burst with it. As for checking, I don’t mind taking Jamie out, but I could…” She hesitated, then quickly said, “I could call the Martins and see if they’d like to watch Jamie for a couple hours.”

  Seth raised a brow.

  Laura took a deep breath and nodded. “Mrs. Martin nearly swooned with happiness when she watched him while I got my hair cut.”

  “Are things still strained between you?”

  “Yes, but they do love Jamie, and for his sake I try to make sure they see him a couple times a week.”

  “How about you seeing them?” he asked.

  “Of course, I see them. They come here. Or I see them when I drop him off in order to run an errand.”

  “Laura, that’s not what I meant. They’re your family.”

  She shook her head. “They were Jay’s family and only tolerated me for his sake.”

  “Even I don’t think that’s true, and I suspect, neither do you.”

  “Seth, I don’t want to fight, but seriously, of all the people who could give me family-relationship advice, you’re not high on my list of counselors given your relationship with your parents. You’ve never explained why and—”

  JT returned but seemed oblivious to the tension that twanged between Seth and Laura.

  Seth should have known better than to bring up the Martins. He avoided mentioning them, she avoided mentioning his family. It worked that way.

  JT looked upset. “Mom said she had other plans for dinner, not that that’s a surprise. But she doesn’t care if I go with you guys.”

  Seth saw Laura’s look of concern. “Well, good. We’ve got some serious celebrating to do. How about Laura calls the chief to see if we’re taking Jamie or they are, and then we hit the road.”

  “I’ll go call now,” Laura said.

  “Well done, My Lady.” Seth gave a deep, formal bow to JT, while he juggled the baby.

  JT giggled exactly like a teenage girl. “Well, Sir Seth, may I take Sir Jamie for a bit? Yesterday he was showing me his new trick.”

  “New trick? What is this new trick I know nothing about?” He handed the baby over to her.

  “Watch.” JT sat on the floor next to the baby play mat Jamie had got for Christmas.

  She positioned him directly underneath the stuffed zebra. Jamie reached for it, and batted at it with his hand.

  “He likes the zebra the best, but he’s reaching for all the toys now, trying to grab them.”

  “Wow, should he be able to do that already?” Seth asked.

  “I don’t know,” JT said. “But he’s a smart boy.”

  “Smart? I’m going to go with he’s a prodigy.” Seth leaned down to the baby. “Look at you, big man.”

  “Sir Big Man, remember,” JT teased.

  “Sir Big Man.” Seth held the baby up so they were eye-to-eye. “Sir Big Man’s quite the prodigy.”

  The baby giggled.

  “Hey, he likes it,” Seth said.

  JT took him and said, “Sir Big Man,” much to Jamie’s giggly delight.

  “Yep, he’s a Sir Big Man, toy-grabbing prodigy.”

  For the rest of the evening, Laura felt out of sorts, ever since she stood in the doorway and watched Seth and JT play with Jamie. Seth was joking and kidding around with both kids, and her heart had melted.

  She felt whole. How could she feel so happy and content when Jay was dead?

  She put it in the most brutal terms. No easy euphemisms. He hadn’t passed. He wasn’t gone. He hadn’t moved on to a better place. He was dead, as hard and finite as that.

  Jay—the man she loved—was gone, and not only was she happy, she was attracted to another man. She and Seth had avoided any talk of that attraction, but it was there. It was palpable whenever she was with him.

  And it was growing.

  Laura was more confused than she’d been in her whole life. Every emotion toyed with the next until she didn’t know what she felt. The only respite she had was when Seth held her or kissed her. The most casual touch was enough.

  But those moments always ended, and she was thrown back into the tumult.

  She thought she had successfully hidden her feelings during dinner, and when they picked up the baby at the Martins, but Seth kept shooting her looks that told her she wasn’t managing as well as she hoped.

  “HEY, PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS?” Seth asked Laura, at her house later that evening. Laura had seemed distracted all night, and he wasn’t sure why. He knew she was happy on JT’s behalf, but somehow she didn’t seem quite happy enough. Something was bothering her.

  “I’m not sure about whether to go back to school right after Valentine’s Day, or wait until the fall. I’m torn.”

  He came over to the couch, sat next to her and put his arm around her. “He’ll be fine no matter what you decide. He’s loved. Babies sense that.”

  “I know he will, but I’m not sure I will. I like surety. I like knowing where I stand. I don’t like feeling undecided. One day I’m sure I want to go back in a month, and the next day Jamie does something amazing and I know waiting until next school year is the best decision.”

 
; Seth leaned down and kissed her forehead. “It will all be okay.”

  He wished he had some answer for her. Some wise words to make everything better, but he didn’t.

  “How can being torn in two be okay?” Laura asked.

  Suddenly, Seth wondered if they were talking about more than Laura going back to school. “Laura, I—”

  She shook her head. “Talk to me about work. About anything. Something to distract me.”

  He reached out and brushed a strand of her blond hair behind her ear. It was silky. He loved the way it felt, which distracted him from distracting her. He searched for something. “Remember those kids I took home a while back? The exchange student and graffiti kids?”

  She nodded and that strand of blond hair slid back across her cheek. “How could I forget? JT was already in trouble for skipping school and lying to you. She’s come a long way since.”

  He resisted the urge to retuck it. “I checked in on Joel, the kid who was in love.”

  “His mom was at her wit’s end, right?”

  “Right. Anyway, I got him involved with the Police Cadets at the station, and his mom is thrilled with the change in him. She got him a Skype account and he talks to Lisa after school most nights.”

  “So, you’re a matchmaker? You kept Romeo and Juliet from being totally pulled apart.”

  “Technology did that. I have kept an eye on him, and his mom says things have been much better at home. That’s one of my favorite parts of the job—when I feel I’ve made a difference.”

  “You’re a Keller, through and through, Seth.” She nodded, as if agreeing with herself, and her hair bob-bled about, brushing against her cheek.

  Seth couldn’t resist the temptation and pushed it back behind her ear again. “What do you mean?”

  “The entire Keller family seems to go out of their way to help other people. It started with your parents adopting six kids—kids who’ve carried on their legacy. You’re a cop. Dom’s a physical therapist. Your sister’s a nurse. Zac runs the grocery store, but he’s found a way to turn that into a community asset by hiring kids in trouble, or special people. Your whole family has turned giving into an art form. That’s a rare gift. I should know, since I’ve only recently been Kellerized.”

  His hand stilled, resting on her shoulder. “Kellerized?”

  “Eli used that phrase when she was here with Tucker. I like it. I don’t think I’ve thanked you enough for taking me and Jamie under your wing. I…” Laura let the sentence trail off and simply leaned toward him and kissed him, full on the lips. No hesitation. No holding back.

  Seth wanted her. He’d wanted her for a long time, but he wasn’t sure this was the time. Since that first kiss when they’d clarified their relationship as friends, they’d toyed with it being something more. But despite their joking about no huge exterior obstacles, there was something worse than pairing a cop with an international art thief, or a vegan and carnivore.

  There was baggage. They both had things in the past that held them back from the future.

  He knew it was time to let go of Allie, to move on. But he hadn’t quite managed it yet, and he knew Laura was still mourning Jay. Getting any more involved with each other could lead to pain for both of them.

  He tried to hold on to those thoughts—on to the reasons why he and Laura shouldn’t let this go any further than they already had, but she toyed with the buttons on his shirt and he forgot those very sensible reasons why they shouldn’t do what he suspected they might do.

  He stilled her hand by placing his over it and broke off the kiss. “Laura, I don’t think you want to do this.”

  “No, what I don’t want is to think. To weigh or analyze this. I don’t want to feel guilty about being alive, about being happy. All I do know is that I want you. I’ve wanted you for a while now.” She paused and added, “Unless you don’t want me.”

  “No, I guarantee that’s not the issue.” Wanting Laura. That feeling had grown exponentially. Every moment he spent with her. Every touch. Every kiss. The wanting kept growing until he hardly knew how to contain it.

  But she deserved more than just his desire, and he wasn’t sure he could give her that. He liked her. Loved her as a friend even. But more?

  He wasn’t sure. “Laura, we need to stop and think this through. I don’t want you to wake up tomorrow and regret this.”

  “I won’t,” she said with a surety he doubted.

  “But…”

  She stood, took his hand and pulled him to his feet. “Jamie’s down until one or so. We have time and I want you. This doesn’t have to be more than that. Simply two friends wanting each other. Friends with benefits.”

  “Laura.”

  “If you don’t want—” she started.

  Seth couldn’t lie. “I do want. I want a lot. But I don’t know if that’s enough.”

  “For tonight, it is.” She sounded so sure. She led him to her room and he followed.

  For tonight, desire might be enough for both of them, but Seth worried that tomorrow it might not be.

  But the worry faded as he made love to Laura.

  In every fiber of his being it felt right.

  She felt right.

  And he hoped that would be enough…for both of them.

  LAURA STARED AT THE MAN sleeping next to her. What had she done? Well, to begin with, she’d irrevocably altered their relation ship.

  Making love to Seth had felt right, but now that the moment was over, Laura felt awkward. And naked. Naked in a way that had very little to do with not having on any clothes.

  “Are you okay?” Seth asked from the other side of the bed.

  Rather than snuggling after, they’d each moved to their own side of the bed. Laura nodded in the dimly lit room. “Yeah. I’m fine. You?”

  She felt, rather than saw him nod as well. “Yeah.”

  Seth was her best friend. That should have made the aftermath of making love easier, but instead, it seemed to make it harder. “I don’t know what to do now,” she confessed.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “I mean, I’ve never had casual sex, and don’t know what to do…after. Do we both go to sleep and you stay over? It wouldn’t be the first time I’d made us coffee in the morning. Or do you get up, pick up your clothes and leave. How do people do casual?”

  “I think we can handle this in whatever manner feels right to us, but don’t kid yourself, Laura. This wasn’t casual, it’s not… What did you call it? Friends with benefits? It’s not that, either, and I think we both know that. We’ve been heading here for a long time.”

  She remained silent.

  “But neither one of us is ready. So what do we do?” he asked.

  “Seth, remember when we were joking about not having some huge conflict standing between us? No cop and art thief here. Nothing big and tangible. If that’s what we try to tell ourselves, I think we’re both lying to ourselves. We may not have Romeo and Juliet feuding families, but we do have things to overcome.”

  “Maybe it’s time we dealt with some of those things. We’ve skirted around them and know the basics. Maybe it’s time for more than that. Tell me about you and Jay. About you and his parents.” Seth pulled her into his arms.

  Laura relaxed against his chest, not looking at him helped as she forced the story. “It happened so fast. One moment, Jay was getting ready for work. It was a normal evening. We talked about the baby, about the wedding. He left and I went to bed. The next thing I knew, it was morning and everything I thought I knew, all my plans and dreams died with him. The doctor said that was it. Jay wasn’t coming back.” Her voice broke and she forced herself not to cry.

  “I was at his bedside with his parents in the hospital talking about how to handle his death. Jay had made his wishes clear. He asked me to be sure he didn’t end his life tethered to a machine. He asked me, Seth. He trusted me and I couldn’t do it for him. I don’t know how to get past that.”

  “And you blame the chief an
d Mrs. Martin?” Seth asked gently.

  That gentleness just about did her in. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes, but as she thought about that moment in the hospital, about Mrs. Martin’s words, her anger flashed white-hot and burned her tears away.

  “Of course, I blame them. Jay asked me to do that for him and they wouldn’t listen. His mother wouldn’t let go.” All that anger she thought she’d beaten just rose again.

  “But you haven’t let go, either,” Seth pointed out. “I don’t think you’re really mad at Jay’s parents. Don’t you think he’d have agreed to hang in there for a week if it would have helped his mother?”

  “Yeah. If I’m not mad at them, who am I mad at?” She sat up and pulled the sheet to herself, feeling every bit exposed.

  “You’re angry at Jay. For leaving you.”

  “Oh, really, how can I be mad at Jay? He didn’t choose to get sick. He didn’t choose to die—to leave me and Jamie. I know that.”

  “Knowing and feeling—those are two different things. And I know it because I’ve been thinking about my parents—more specifically, my relationship with them—a lot lately. I was mad when I was younger and they wanted me to wait to marry Allie. I vowed that we’d make it on our own, and we did. When she died…”

  Laura’s anger ebbed because she knew this was as hard on him as it was on her. “Tell me,” she said. “I know Allie died, I know about the twins, but that’s it. How did she die?”

  “She was six months pregnant. And huge. So giant. But rather than resent the changes in her body, she reveled in them. She called me, the day she died, crying hysterically that she was losing the babies. I told her to hang up and I called 911, then the doctor. I raced home in my cruiser. Lights and sirens. I got there right after the first responders. They’d kicked in the front door when she didn’t answer.”

  His voice cracked as he spoke. She reached across the bed and took his hand.