girls, or something to make Amy's life easier. It became such a routine that Millie and Sarah would watch out the front window expectantly each afternoon for Jared's arrival home from work. He waved at the girls, going to his place for a shower and then making his way over to theirs.
Even Teagan was beginning to like Jared. Or, more like he met and worshipped Jared's bike. Jared also promised to take him for a ride, which helped ease any potential animosity. Teagan had come home for more clothing to take over to his friend's house and had walked in on Jared and Amy sitting on the sofa watching TV.
At first, he'd been standoffish and angry. His usual attitude. But once the guys started talking bikes, tattoos and other things a teenage boy might be interested in, Teagan loosened up enough to actually have a respectful conversation with Jared.
At first, Amy was surprised at how accommodating Jared was with Teagan, given how pissed off he’d been at the teenager for making Amy's life miserable. But gradually, Amy saw the wisdom in Jared's approach. He took Teagan for a motorcycle ride and Teagan had been hooked on bikes ever since. It was all he wanted to talk about.
Jared promised to show Teagan how to ride by himself but had told the teen it took a great deal of responsibility to own a bike. Jared insisted that Teagan would have to show him what a responsible person he could be if he was going to learn how to ride.
From that moment forward, Teagan began coming home every day, spending the night more often, even helping Amy around the house without his usual attitude. He was determined to show how responsible he could be.
The only bone of contention between Amy and Jared was her job. Surprisingly, it wasn't her nighttime phone sex job he despised, but her morning job at the factory. He hated that she had to get out of bed so early. Hated that she was treated like a second-class citizen at the factory. But he tolerated her job, telling her that she would be quitting sooner rather than later.
Amy let his words roll off her. She was already so happy she could burst with it, but with that happiness came terror. She'd seen just how badly relationships could end, and though she knew she wasn't her mother and Jared wasn't her father, the whole experience left her nervous about allowing so much happiness in her life. A happy person became a vulnerable person, because that happiness could be taken away.
Today, Amy was meeting Jared's friend Jenna for lunch. When Jared had taken Amy on a tour of one of his job sites, they'd run into Vincent and Jenna. Amy thought that Vince was a big grumpy guy, who was better left alone. Jenna, on the other hand, was sweetness incarnate. She looked sweet, acted sweet, spoke sweet.
Amy was instantly drawn to her and after a long discussion, the two women agreed to meet at the mall for some food and shopping. Jared let Amy take his SUV. In fact, he’d been insisting that she take it more and more often while he rode his bike. She suspected he didn’t like her taking the bus all the time.
"Hi girlie, how goes it?" Jenna waved Amy down in the food court where they’d agreed to meet.
Amy walked toward the other woman, her arms laden with a disgusting amount of fried Chinese food. It wasn't often that she ate this much greasy food, but she and Jared had been doing so much home cooking lately she thought it was time to indulge herself in a treat.
"I'm good. How are you?" Amy glanced around. "Where's Lola and Vince Junior?"
Lola was Jenna's six-year-old daughter, just freshly started grade one. Vince Junior was her brand-new, absolutely freaking adorable baby boy. According to Jenna, she was supposed to have a girl, but the couple had been surprised with a little boy. Jenna had been over the moon with happiness and drugs and had subsequently named him after the love of her life.
"They're with the nanny," Jenna answered, leading them to a table. They both sat, setting their trays down.
"You have a nanny? What do they do?" The words slipped out before Amy could call them back and she blushed when she realized what she'd said. She'd assumed since Jenna didn't work anymore, that she wouldn't need a nanny. Plus, Jenna, a former nurse, was down to earth