Just One Kiss (Whisper Lake #4) - Barbara Freethy Page 0,59
safely loaded, Jake said, "I'll meet you at your house."
"Thank you so much for this. I can pay you in cookies."
"That your mother made? I'm sure she would not want you to do that."
"Probably not, but she won't have a choice."
As Jake got into his truck, she walked back to her car and slid behind the wheel. On the way home, she called her mom.
"Everything is fine," her mother said. "We just took the last tray of cookies out of the oven, and Brett is decorating them. I also made spaghetti. It should be ready when you get back."
"That's great."
"Did you get the tree?"
"I did. But I needed help to get it back to the house. Don't freak out, Mom, but Jake is bringing the tree over. He's going to come inside. I'm probably going to give him some of your cookies."
Her mother's sigh was long and heavy. "Fine."
"I need you to be polite. He's doing me a favor."
"I just don't understand how you can give him another chance, but it's up to you."
"It is, and I'm not giving him another chance. I'm just?? Her voice trailed away as she realized she didn't know what she was doing with Jake. She just knew that she wanted to keep seeing him and talking to him. She wanted to kiss him again. She felt more like herself with him than she did with anyone else. "I'll see you soon," she said, ending the call before her mother could ask her any more questions she didn't know how to answer.
Chapter Fifteen
Jake pulled the tree out of his truck, and with Hannah's help, they carried it into her house. While he was happy to assist Hannah, he wasn't looking forward to seeing her mother again. But he reminded himself that he wasn't a teenager anymore, and Katherine Stark was nowhere close to perfect, either. They'd both hurt Hannah. Maybe they could both find a way to make it up to her.
As they entered the house, he was overwhelmed with delicious smells of vanilla, chocolate, and cinnamon. "It smells like Christmas," he murmured as they set the tree in the corner of her living room.
"Now, we have to make it look like Christmas." She stepped back, her gaze sweeping the tree. "I think the size is right."
"You couldn't have gone any bigger, not if you have an angel to put on top."
Her gaze moved back to him. "We used to have an angel. I think it's still in one of the boxes in my garage."
Brett came running into the room, his eyes lighting up when he saw the tree.
"That's what I wanted, right there," Hannah muttered. "That look on that little face."
"You got it."
"It's so big," Brett said in amazement. "I never had a tree this big. Are we going to decorate it?"
"We are," Hannah assured him. "As soon as I pull out the decorations."
Jake stepped to the side as Hannah's mother entered the living room. She didn't glance in his direction, her gaze going straight to the tree.
"What do you think, Mom?" Hannah asked.
"It's very nice. Do you still have any of our decorations?"
"They're in the garage."
At Hannah's words, he saw guilt move through Katherine Stark's eyes. No doubt she'd missed more than a few Christmases and probably had no idea where many of her things had ended up.
"Well, good," Katherine said. "I've made spaghetti and salad for dinner. It's ready now. Perhaps we can decorate the tree after we eat."
"Thanks for making dinner, Mom."
"It was nothing." Katherine's gaze finally moved in his direction. "If you'd like to stay for dinner, Jake, there's plenty."
Her invitation almost knocked him off his feet. It was certainly a turnaround from the way she'd spoken to him earlier.
"Are you going to stay?" Brett asked eagerly.
He hesitated, his gaze seeking Hannah's.
"You're welcome to stay for dinner," Hannah said. "You did help me get the tree here. And as I recall, spaghetti is one of your favorite meals."
"It is," he admitted.
"Well, I'll just put the garlic bread in the oven," Katherine said. "Brett, why don't you come with me? We'll get your hands washed so you're ready to eat."
As they left the room, his gaze swung to her. "Are you sure this is all right?"
"I wouldn't have suggested you stay if it wasn't."
"I thought you'd be ready to see the back of me by now."
She met his gaze. "I would have thought the same thing. But you're kind of growing on me."