A Family Affair(89)

Jake had had a thing for Adele for years, but it seemed the timing was never right. When he first saw her as something more than just a kid, when she was blossoming before his very eyes, she was still a teenager and he was a man in his early twenties. Then she went to college, and he fell in love with Mary Ellen and married her in short order. By the time Mary Ellen had dumped him, leaving him shattered and lonely, Addie was involved with someone at Berkeley so he put her from his mind.

But every time she was home in Half Moon Bay for holidays or just to spend a weekend with her parents, she became bigger than life and he was aware of a bothersome desire. Yet, she was involved with someone. Then he heard through her mother that her romance had failed, so he lectured himself on patience and gentlemanly distance.

When she enrolled in graduate studies, he was blown away by her brilliance. He loved talking with her when she was in Half Moon Bay because she was fascinating; he believed she knew a little bit about everything. He could sit in a mesmerized trance just listening to her talk for as long as she’d go on.

Then she confessed she was involved with someone. She didn’t want to say too much about the new relationship. “But are you in love?” he asked her.

“Oh, I’m just a goner,” she said. “But I’m playing it as cool as I can so I don’t scare him away. This time I plan to take my time, not like the last time when I dove in headfirst and almost drowned.”

He couldn’t help but think about how he’d been with Mary Ellen. She had been so beautiful, so sexy, it took him about five minutes to want her desperately, and once he claimed the prize, he found there was very little substance there. Mary Ellen, God bless her, was shallow as a birdbath. She cheated on him almost immediately.

He gave Addie a lot of credit for taking it slow.

Then she returned home. Not for a visit, but to stay. She said it was because her father was injured and facing surgeries, but Jake had known Addie for a long time and he could tell there was more to the story. Then he watched her grow before his very eyes and knew what the something more was. She was pregnant. And she did not have the love and support of the baby’s father. She was alone.

Jake made sure he checked on her often, at least a few times a week. If the moment presented itself, he just might tell her that he was willing to be that man. He had come to realize how much he wanted to be with her. But he never found the appropriate time.

There was once a moment of affection that he thought might lead to intimacy. They had a conversation about everything she’d been through losing her baby, and it was intense.

It filled Jake with joy that she felt comfortable confiding in him until she started sobbing. Jake did the only thing he knew to do—he comforted her. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead before he found his lips on hers. They kissed, clumsily, and then she’d pulled away. She’d been through so much and apparently was ill prepared to deal with anything more.

He had been waiting five years for her to decide she had a little more to give. And he gave as much as he dared.

She wasn’t the only one with fragile feelings.

A nice dinner with Jake the previous night and an invitation out for the evening had put Adele in a more positive frame of mind. But who better than her older sister to knock her off that perch. Justine called to say she was coming by because there was something she needed to talk to Adele about. It was Saturday, and she wasn’t going to her office.

Justine was Adele’s opposite, in appearance and almost everything else. She was a tall, slim blonde while Adele was a shorter, rounder brunette. They used to joke that they weren’t from the same family. But Justine’s hair was colored and she wore blue contact lenses, making her look more Scandanavian than Italian. And she was chic, but then Justine lived in a professional, high-income world and was expected to be chic. Adele, on the other hand, always thought she’d be a natural as an English professor, one who wore oversize sweaters and flat black shoes. And she usually pulled her hair back in a clip or pinned it in a boring bun.

They had very little in common, yet another reason they weren’t close.

When Justine arrived, Adele eyed her stylish haircut. “How much does that supershort blond coif cost?” Adele asked. “Because I’ve been thinking about making a change...”

“It’s pretty expensive, actually,” Justine said, giving Adele a brief hug. “I’m thinking of letting it grow out... Scott isn’t crazy about short hair.”

“So what if he isn’t? It’s your head, right? And I think it’s wonderful. Would you like coffee?”

“I suppose it’s too early for wine,” Justine said. “How are you getting along since the funeral? Are things beginning to fall into place?”

“I suppose,” Adele lied. “Not nearly as quickly or neatly as I hoped. All those things I’d been looking forward to, like having the time and energy to lose some weight and get in shape, or maybe at least look at a university program catalog, go back to my studies... Day after day goes by and I haven’t done anything. I suppose I’m a little depressed.”

“There’s a lot of that going around,” Justine said dourly. “Listen, I have to tell you some things. It’s difficult.”

Adele didn’t like the sound of that, yet she couldn’t imagine what might be coming. Justine lived a charmed life. “Where do you want to sit to have this difficult conversation?” she asked.