Chapter 3

CHAPTERTHREE

Jody lay on her bed the next morning and stared up at the ceiling. Yesterday had been…interesting. The last five years of her life she’d enjoyed a kind of comfortable routine. Looking out for her kids most mornings before school started, coming home and doing some work, heading back to the beach again in the afternoon, then spending the evening at home alone, eating dinner and often working again, before heading to bed to do it all over the next day.

Yesterday had been quite a change from that routine, and she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. There was safety in doing the same thing day in and day out. Jody’d had enough surprises and change to last her a lifetime.

Yesterday had shaken her out of her comfort zone. First off, there was Ben. Something was wrong, and she desperately wanted to talk to the teenager and see if there was anything she could do to help. She didn’t know a lot about the boy, just that his parents were wealthy and he was a fairly quiet but well-liked kid.

Then there was Baker.

Sighing, Jody closed her eyes as last night replayed in her head. It was hard to believe that he was actually interested in her. She wasn’t anything special. Some days she felt as if she was barely holding her head above water. Yet Baker seemed to be completely serious when he’d told her he wanted to see where things could go between them.

He was slightly arrogant, but Jody knew if she’d rebuffed his advances in any way, he would’ve backed off. But she hadn’t. For the first time in a long time, she was taking a risk.

Mana would’ve told her it was about time.

Thinking about her son, Kaimana, was still painful, but this morning, picturing her son smiling at her and giving her a high-five wasn’t as debilitating as it had been in the past. She missed her goofy kid more than she could put into words. It had been just the two of them for so long, it still felt odd to wake up and not have him in the house.

Knowing if she dwelled on the loss, she’d be in a funk for the rest of the day, Jody forced her thoughts back to Baker. She liked how upfront he was. He was intense, but she definitely knew where things stood between them, which was a relief. She was too old to play dating games.

Their walk to the beach had been nice. They’d held hands and talked about the day’s surfing competition—and how much they hated the resulting traffic—among other things. Baker had told her just a little about his time in the Navy, and his decision to stay here in Hawaii after retiring from the SEALs. It was comfortable, and Jody felt as if she’d known the man forever. She was still confused about how they’d gone from barely friends who saw each other a few times a week on the beach, to apparently dating, but she couldn’t say she was upset about it, even if nerves still plagued her.

Baker was…it was hard to come up with the words to describe him. All Jody knew was that she liked being around him. He filled her up inside, and she’d felt utterly empty ever since Mana had died.

Refusing to let herself get morose, Jody sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She was taking a rare day off from going to the beach. This was the last day of the surfing competition and her kids would most likely be there watching, as they’d been the last few days. Tomorrow they’d get their beach back, surfing in the early morning hours before school started, and Jody would be there to keep her eye on them.

She had today to herself…which wasn’t exactly her favorite thing. But she had a few graphic design jobs she wanted to work on, as well as a website she needed to build from scratch. Jody was very thankful for her job…it gave her something to focus on when the pain of losing Mana became too much, and it allowed her to stay in the house she’d shared with her son.

After showering, Jody grabbed a Pop-Tart out of the pantry and stood in her kitchen as she ate it. She knew they weren’t healthy, like at all, but they’d been one of Mana’s favorite things to eat, and having one for breakfast every morning made her remember her son.

She’d just finished the treat when her phone beeped with a notification. Frowning, not sure who would be contacting her so early, Jody walked over to the table where she’d left her phone the night before and picked it up.

Seeing Baker’s name on the screen made butterflies swim in her belly. They’d exchanged numbers last night.

Baker

Had a good time last night. I’m trying not to come on too strong, so I’m gonna resist the urge to come over today.

Knowing she had a goofy smile on her face, Jody leaned against her counter and used her thumbs to type a response.

Jody

You weren’t kidding about not fucking around, were you?

Baker

Nope. You’ll learn that about me. When I want something, I give it my all. What are your plans for the day?

This felt nice. It had been a long time since she’d had someone to share plans with.

Jody

Nothing exciting. Doing some work.

Baker

No beach?

Jody

You told Rome I wouldn’t be there, so I’m going with that. Besides, it’s Sunday. No school and the competition is still going on. My kids will be too busy trying to soak up the rad vibes from their favorite surfers to get into trouble.

Baker

But tomorrow you’ll be there?

Jody

Yeah. Why?

Baker

Just making sure I’ll get to see you soon.

Goose bumps broke out on Jody’s arms. Man, this guy was lethal. Then she frowned. He could tear what was left of her heart out of her chest and stomp it into bits. Second thoughts raced through her. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.

Baker

No rush and no pressure, Tink. Just being real.

It was as if he could sense her freaking out and did what he could to try to alleviate that. She took a deep breath and replied.

Jody

I can’t pretend this isn’t making me nervous…but I did wake up with a smile on my face for the first time in years.

Baker

Good. Expect a call from Elodie today.

Jody blinked in confusion. She knew who Elodie was. She was married to one of Baker’s Navy SEAL friends. She’d met a few of them over the last year or so, but had no idea why the other woman would be calling her.

Jody

Elodie? Why?

But instead of three dots appearing at the bottom of the text screen to indicate Baker was replying to her question, her phone rang in her hand, scaring the shit out of Jody. She laughed at herself before clicking on the icon to answer.

“Hi,” Jody said a little shyly.

“I hate fuckin’ texting,” Baker said in lieu of a greeting. “And I’d much rather hear your voice in my ear anyway. Good morning, Tink.”

The last three words were said a little softer and gentler than the others.

“Morning,” Jody told him.

“Elodie will be in touch because I talked to Mustang this morning and happened to mention that I’d spent the evening with you. He’s gonna share that with his wife, and I have no doubt she’ll get super excited and call me, wanting your number so she can welcome you into the fold…so to speak.”

Jody wasn’t sure what to say about that. “Um…okay.”

“It’s how she is,” Baker said gently. “How all the women are. They’re curious about you, and they’re gonna want to get to know you. If you want me to tell them to back off, I will.”

“No!” Jody said quickly. “I mean, I’m curious about them too, if I’m being honest. The few times I’ve met some of them, they seemed nice.”

“They are nice,” Baker reassured her. “They’re also nosey as hell, so if they ask you anything you aren’t comfortable answering, don’t. They won’t get upset.”

“Maybe I’ll grill Elodie about you,” Jody teased.

“Go for it,” Baker said.

Jody shook her head. Figured the man wouldn’t be afraid of what his friends had to say about him. But that also comforted her.

“But seriously, Jodelle, you don’t want to go there with Elodie or any of the other women yet, just say the word. I’ll tell them to back off, that we’re still getting to know each other and they can just wait until we’re more solid before inviting you to their sleepovers.”

Jody laughed. “They have sleepovers?”

“Yeah. Usually at Kenna and Aleck’s penthouse. The view is awesome from up there. Anyway, Aleck makes himself scarce and the girls do their thing. And before you ask, the guys are all more than all right with the tradition because it beats the women getting dressed up and going to a bar to get drunk. Much safer.”

A longing swept through Jody, along with sorrow. She couldn’t help but remember some of the sleepovers Mana had when he was younger. The sound of boys giggling had long since faded from her house, but the memories were as vivid as if they’d just happened yesterday.

“Tink?” Baker asked.

“Sorry, I’m here,” Jody said.

“Fuck. Didn’t mean to make you sad.”

How this man could read her moods through a phone line was beyond her, but Jody didn’t dwell. “I’m not sad, exactly. It’s just been a long time since I’ve thought about sleepovers.”

“Heads-up, Tink…I’m gonna want to hear all about your boy at some point.”

Jody closed her eyes. She wasn’t sure what to say. Mana’s death wasn’t a secret, and she wasn’t surprised Baker knew about him.

“Because straight-up, sucks hard that he died,” Baker said. “I wish I’d known him. With how amazing his mom is, I know he would’ve been a hell of a man.”

Two tears fell from Jody’s eyes as she blinked at Baker’s words. It had been a long time since someone had come right out and talked about Mana. Most people avoided talking about him at all costs. She knew it was because they assumed talking about Mana would upset her, but by avoiding the topic, it almost felt as if they were doing their best to erase him altogether. But not Baker. “I wish he could’ve known you too,” she said after a long moment.

“You want me to tell Elodie to give us…you…some time?” Baker asked.

Jody swallowed and wiped her face. She’d experienced just about every emotion possible this morning, and it wasn’t even nine o’clock yet. She’d felt numb for so long, and while she wasn’t a huge fan of these wild mood swings, she couldn’t deny that she felt more alive than she had in a very long time. She felt as if she was slowly thawing after spending years encased in ice. The jury was still out on whether or not that was a good thing.

“No. I think I’d like to talk to her,” Jody told Baker.

“Okay. I hate to admit this…but I don’t know what it is you do for a living.”

Grateful for the change of topic to something less deep, Jody chuckled. “I’m a graphic designer. I do everything from making logos, to designing T-shirts, to putting together websites.”

“And you can do that from home?”

“Yeah, luckily. My hours are my own, so I can fit in work when I need to. There are times someone has a rush job they need completed, but generally I pick and choose how much to work and when.”

“I like that your schedule is flexible, Tink.”

She couldn’t help but smile at that. Again, Baker didn’t hesitate to tell her what he was thinking, which she was really starting to enjoy. “Me too. What about you, Baker?”

“What about me?”

“What do you do? I know you’re retired from the Navy and you used to be a SEAL, but what do you do now?”

“I’ll tell you when I see you again,” Baker told her after a pause.

Jody frowned. That sounded a bit ominous. “That sounds kind of scary,” she told him.

“It’s not. It’s just hard to explain. And I’d rather not have you misconstrue anything I tell you. If I’m face-to-face with you while we have that talk, I can nip any misgivings you might have in the bud.”

“Am I going to have misgivings?” she asked.

“It’s possible.”

Shit. Jody didn’t like the sound of that.

“But if you do, I’ll make sure you don’t by the time we’re done talking.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at his conceit.

“I like that,” he said softly.

“What?”

“Hearing you laugh. Gonna make it my mission in life to hear that every day.”

A weird feeling settled over Jody then. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had looked out for her. Concerned about what she was thinking or feeling. Or wanted to make sure she was eating, resting, laughing…just happy.

“Jodelle?” Baker asked when several seconds went by without her saying anything.

“I’m here. I just…it’s been years since anyone’s cared about what I was doing or thinking.”

“I care. I’m gonna let you go so you can get some work done before Elodie interrupts you. Don’t be surprised if you’re agreeing to host a Tupperware party or some shit for her and the other women without a clue how she talked you into it.”

Jody smiled. “Okay.”

“I mean it. The woman’s got some sneaky skills. But, Tink, if you aren’t ready or comfortable, don’t be afraid to say no. It’s not going to turn Elodie off. You tell her you need time or space, she’ll give it to you.”

“All right.”

“You good?” he asked.

“Yeah, Baker, I think I am.”

“I’ll be checking in today to make sure you stay that way. You okay with that?”

“By checking in, do you mean peeking in my windows at random times of the day or showing up at my door?”

It was Baker’s turn to chuckle, and Jody loved hearing it. She had a feeling he didn’t laugh all that much either. “I was thinking more like sending a text now and then. Maybe calling you tonight.”

“I’m okay with that,” Jody told him. “But for the record, I wouldn’t have minded if you said you were planning on popping over either.”

It was Baker’s turn to be silent for a beat. “Fuck. Killin’ me. Love that you don’t play games, Tink. I’ll touch base later. Have a good day.”

“Okay.” Jody realized that she hadn’t asked him what he was doing today, but it was too late now. “You too.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.” Jody clicked off the phone, but didn’t move from her position leaning against her counter. She realized after a minute or two that she was still smiling.

Eventually, she headed into her bedroom and the small desk in the corner. Her house had two bedrooms, but even after all this time, she couldn’t bring herself to turn the second room into an office. That was Mana’s room. Would always be his. She’d given most of his clothes to charity and packed up his belongings, but still, seeing the bare double bed and the stickers Mana’d put on the drawers of his dresser was enough to make her break down, even all these years later. She’d thought about transforming the room into an office, but…she honestly couldn’t imagine changing anything about it.

So the room sat empty, and she did her work on the small desk in the corner of her bedroom. If she wanted a change, she brought her laptop out to the living area and worked on her table or on the couch.

Jody wished she had some sort of glorious view to gaze at while working, like the waves rolling to the shore from the ocean, but her house was small and tucked behind an even larger one, so all she could see was the neighbor’s house out of her bedroom windows and trees out of the larger windows in the living room. She did have a fairly good-size backyard, which was a blessing. The fruit trees were a bonus as well.

The lack of a view was probably a good thing, since it made it easier to concentrate. But today she was having a harder than normal time keeping her mind on what she was doing…thanks to Baker. A part of her thought maybe she was hallucinating, that the handsome man hadn’t actually declared his intent to “stop fucking around” when it came to a relationship with her. But all she had to do was glance at her text messages to reassure herself that she really had spent yesterday afternoon and evening with him. And that he seemed to be into her.

It was weird. She was a middle-aged, divorced, messed-up-in-the-head woman still drowning in grief. So much so, sometimes she barely got through the day. Not to mention, she carried too many extra pounds on her slight frame and found it easier to get along with a bunch of teenagers than people her own age. What in the world did Baker see in her?

Jody wasn’t convinced a relationship between them would work out, but she couldn’t deny that for the first time in years, she wanted to try. She was tired of being sad all the time.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to put everything out of her head except the graphics she needed to work on. Her client needed a large cling that would be placed on a hotel elevator at a conference. It needed to be eye-catching and easy to read at a glance. And he’d given her carte blanche to create what she thought would work best.

Three hours later, Jody leaned back in her chair and stared in satisfaction at the screen in front of her. She loved what she’d designed, and just hoped her client would as well.

Focused as she was, her ringing phone scared her so badly, she almost fell out of her chair. Chuckling, and thinking it was kind of sad that she hadn’t heard her phone ring in so long it could actually made her jump in fright twice in one morning, Jody answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi. This is Elodie. Is this Jodelle?”

“Yeah, but please call me Jody. Everyone does.”

“Everyone but Baker,” the woman said with a laugh.

“True. I’ve told him that no one calls me that, but he doesn’t seem to care.”

“That sounds like Baker. How are you?”

“I’m good.”

“I’m sorry we missed you at the surf thing yesterday. Baker was nice enough to get a friend to let us hang out in his backyard so we’d have a bird’s-eye view of the action without dealing with the horrific parking. I don’t know how you do it.”

“Do what?” Jody asked, somewhat amused at Elodie’s slight rambling. If she didn’t know better, she’d think the other woman was nervous, but that was crazy. If anything, she should be the nervous one, not Elodie.

“Live up there with that traffic all the time.”

“Well, yeah, it’s not fun, but it’s not as bad all the time as it is when there are surf competitions. And is the traffic on the H1 any better?”

Elodie laughed. “Good point. So…you have to know…we’re all really curious about you.”

Jody scrunched her nose. “I’m really not all that interesting.”

“Wrong,” Elodie said without hesitation. “Look, I’ve known Baker for a while now. He actually saved my life. And that man does not suffer fools. He’s super picky about who he gives his time to, and you are definitely included in that rare club.”

“He saved your life?” Jody asked.

“Yup. And I’ll tell you all about it—and how he also had a hand in saving the lives of all my friends—if you’ll meet me for lunch one day.”

Jody couldn’t help but laugh. God, she’d laughed more today than she had in a very long time.

“What? Was that funny?” Elodie asked.

“It’s just that Baker warned me you’d have me agreeing to host a Tupperware party or something by the time we finished our talk.”

Elodie chuckled. “So? Wanna have lunch? I was thinking that maybe we could meet halfway. Just south of the Dole Plantation on H2 is a place called Sunset Smokehouse that Scott says is fabulous. But if that’s not okay, we can go somewhere else.”

“I’ve been there, the barbeque is awesome,” Jody told her.

“Cool. And I’m gonna push my luck here, but how do you feel about some of the others coming too?”

“The others?” Jody asked.

“Monica, Lexie, Ashlyn. You’ve met Mo, and you waved at Lexie when she was up meeting with Baker once, and Ashlyn is actually protective of the man…if you can believe that. It’s kind of crazy, but true. Kenna and Carly want to meet you too, but they magnanimously said they could wait until you came down for one of our sleepovers.”

Truthfully, Jody was a little freaked out, but she had to laugh yet again. “Baker told me about your sleepovers too.”

“Good. Because we totally want you to come to one. Soon.”

“Um…forgive me if this sounds bitchy, I don’t mean it to…but you don’t know me. And Baker and I literally just agreed to give this dating thing a try last night. It hasn’t even been a day, so I don’t understand how you and your friends can be so…excited about meeting me.”

“Here’s the thing, Jody…Baker’s the shit. He’s done more for all of us than you can possibly even imagine. I’d do anything for that man, and I don’t mean that in a weird way. But he’ll never ask. He exists in a bubble. He’s happy to help others, but never reaches out for himself. He’s been interested in you for a long while now. And if Baker’s interested, that means you’re a hell of a person. When Scott, my husband, wants something, nothing keeps him from getting it. And while I might not know Baker all that well, I do know that he’s a lot like my husband.”

“Yeah, I’d have to agree that it sounds like it.”

Elodie chuckled again, and Jody found herself smiling in response.

“So, you’ll come to lunch?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Good. How about this weekend?”

“Oh, um…okay.”

“Saturday? One o’clock okay? And as much as it pains me, don’t let Baker talk you into letting him come along. Girls only.”

“It pains you?” Jody asked.

“Baker is mysterious. None of us have really hung out with him much. He kind of just appears, then he’s gone a minute later. So yeah, I’d love to actually sit down and chat with the man when the shit isn’t hitting the fan, but first, I just want to get to know you.”

Jody wasn’t feeling all warm and fuzzy about the shit-hitting-the-fan thing, but she didn’t dwell on it. “Sounds like a plan. Saturday at the Sunset Smokehouse. One o’clock.”

“It’ll be fun. Promise,” Elodie said.

Jody wasn’t so sure about that. She was already having second thoughts. But all she said was, “I’m looking forward to meeting some of Baker’s friends.”

“You’ve got my number, so you can call or shoot me a text if something comes up. I’m looking forward to meeting you,” Elodie said.

“Same.”

“Okay, talk to you later.”

“Bye.” Jody clicked the connection off and immediately added Elodie’s number to her contact list. It was kind of sad how few people she had in her address book, and it actually felt good to be adding someone new.

Without thinking about it, Jody opened her text messages and began typing out a note to Baker.

Jody

Elodie called. No Tupperware party planned, but we’re going to lunch on Sat.

Not even a minute after she’d hit send, three dots appeared as Baker replied. It was so like him not to make her wait to get a response.

Baker

You okay about that?

Jody

Sort of.

Baker

Explain.

Jody

Elodie said Monica, Lexie, and Ashlyn would be there too. I’ve met Monica and she seemed shy, but nice. I saw Lexie one time, as well, but she said Ashlyn was protective of you.

Baker

You need me to call Elodie and tell her that it’s too much, too fast? I don’t want you to feel ganged up on.

It didn’t escape Jody’s notice that Baker didn’t address the protective thing, but maybe text wasn’t the best place to talk about that anyway.

Jody

No. I’m a big girl, Baker. I can deal.

Baker

All right, but if you can’t, it’s okay.

Jody

I kind of feel like I need to make friendship bracelets to distribute on Sat.

Baker

LOL

Jody

OMG, did you just say LOL?

Baker

You’ve got eyes, Tink. Looks like I did.

Jody

I just didn’t see you as a text-speak kind of guy.

Baker

I’m not.

Jody

And yet you typed LOL.

Baker

It was either that or tell you what a kook I think you are, and how much I fucking love that you can be that way. And I’m thinking it’s probably a bit too early to be calling you a kook and telling you that I love anything about you. So…I settled with LOL.

Jody swallowed hard and goose bumps once more broke out on her arms. God, this man.

Baker

And now I’ve told you anyway. And freaked you out. Sorry.

Jody

No! Okay maybe a little, but in a good way. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been anything but Mana’s mom, or Miss Jody, or the graphic designer someone hired.

Baker

You’re all that and more to me. You done with work today?

Jody

No. I got one project done, but have two more to start, and I need to check my emails and see what projects I want to line up next.

Baker

Then I’ll leave you to it.

Jody

Okay.

Baker

Elodie and the others are good women. You have nothing to worry about. I’ll call later.

Jody

Sounds good.

When three dots didn’t pop up on the screen, Jody figured their conversation was over. She took a deep breath, shook her head at how crazy her life seemed now, compared to twenty-four hours ago, then stood up to head into the kitchen and grab some lunch before getting back to work.