A Daddy for Jacoby(62)

“Where’s your dad—”

“Jacoby, did you say something—”

Justin stepped into the living room, pulling a denim shirt over his shoulders. He froze in the doorway and she was powerless to look away. He looked the same but different. There were lines around his eyes, like he hadn’t slept well. Considering all that had happened she wasn’t surprised, and she wanted nothing more than to go to him and wrap him in her arms.

Instead, she held up the bag of food. “I have your order from The Blue Creek. Delivery service complimentary.”

“Ah, thanks,” Justin said. “We just got back this afternoon and there’s no food in the house.”

“Come on in, Gina, I’m starved!”

She pulled her gaze from Justin and smiled at Jacoby. Entering the cabin, she set the bag on the dining room table and tried not to watch as Justin buttoned up his shirt, but it was impossible.

The last two weeks had been quiet and lonely without these two guys in her life. She missed seeing Jacoby at the library and stopping by the ball field to watch him play. And after that amazing night she and Justin had shared, she missed him, too.

“You’re going to have to eat after practice,” Justin said. “Unless you’d rather stay home tonight?”

“But I’ve missed a lot already ’cause of—’cause we went to Colorado.” Jacoby turned to look at Gina. “I guess you know about my mom, huh?”

Gina dropped into one of the chairs at the table. “Yes, and I’m really sorry.”

“We had to go to her funeral. There were a lot of people there.” Jacoby shrugged. “I didn’t know any of them except my dad. My mom…she was laying in this really fancy box with lots of flowers around her. She looked like she was sleeping, but I knew she really wasn’t.”

Gina willed away the sudden sting of tears. Her resolve was tested even more when Justin moved in behind his son and placed his hands on the boy’s tiny shoulders.

“My dad didn’t make me go up and look at her,” the boy continued. “But I’m never going to get a chance to talk to her again. That stinks.”

“I know what you mean. My daddy died when I was a little girl and I still miss him very much.” Gina glanced up at Justin, finding his gaze on her. She focused on Jacoby again. “But when I want to share something with him I still talk to him.”

“Really? Do you think he hears you, even if he can’t answer?”

“Yes, I’m sure of it.” She nodded, watching as Jacoby seemed to think about what she said for a long moment.

“We stayed in a motel for a couple of days.”

Surprised at the switch in topics, she went with it. “Was it a nice place?”

“Yeah, then we went to stay with my grandparents. They’re my mom’s mom and dad. They said they had plenty of room for us and, boy, do they ever! Their house is huge!” Jacoby spread his arms wide. “They have a ton of bedrooms and a three-car garage and a great big backyard with a swimming pool and it has a waterfall and jack-uzie.”

“Jacuzzi,” Justin cut in.

“Right, one of those things. The water gets really hot and there’s lots of bubbles and— Oh, wait until you see this!” Jacoby pulled from his father’s touch and raced to his bedroom. Seconds later he was back, pushing a shiny two-wheeled bike. “Isn’t this cool?”

Gina looked from the bike to where Justin now stood at the kitchen counter, but his attention was on emptying the bag of food. “Wow, that’s a nice bike.”

“Grandpa Richard and Grandma Liz gave it to me. And guess what? I have another one just like it down at their house, so I can ride it when I go to visit.”

Before Gina could think of a response, a car horn beeped.

“That’s Dustin. I gotta go.” Jacoby turned to his dad. “Can I leave this out here for now?”

Justin nodded. Jacoby put down the bike’s kickstand and grabbed his baseball glove and duffel bag from the couch.

“Hey, hold on.” Justin handed Jacoby a small cooler. “Your aunt Racy made your favorite sandwich and I added a couple of bottles of water.”

“Thanks, Dad. Bye, Gina.”

Gina waved goodbye. Justin walked Jacoby outside and helped him get into the already-crowded minivan. Justin watched the van drive away, and once it was out of sight, he went to his truck for a moment before coming back inside. Closing the door, he slumped against it, his posture one of hopelessness.