Tay and Lance ch 5

 

Chapter  Five.

Landon finished up in the kitchen and headed to Lynn’s office.  “I saw you didn’t come out of your office at lunchtime and thought I’d bring you something to eat.” He handed her a plate with a sandwich and sliced

cucumbers.

Lynn turned and smiled as he approached. “Thanks, Lance. That’s very sweet of you to think of me.  And I am finally at a good spot to break.”

“Have you taken a break today?”

“Only long enough to start a second pot of coffee.” She smiled as she raised her coffee cup.  “I drink it like crazy when I’m on a roll with a story.”

He smiled.  “It gets the creative juices flowing?”

“Yeah it helps.”

She took a bite of her sandwich. Peanut butter and blackberry jelly. Her favorite.  How did he know? She had 5 different kinds of jelly  in the fridge.  Maybe he just got lucky.

“Mmm, pb&j, my favorite.  How’d you guess?”

“Just got lucky.  It’s my favorite too.” He  smiled, glad he had the answer ready if she asked.  He couldn’t remember how many times he had made one for her during the time they were dating.  It was always what she asked for.

“So what do you normally do for a living, Lance” She asked.

How did he answer that?  Normally he spent his days with his family in heaven.  But he couldn’t tell her that.  Why hadn’t he and Jacob gone over all the possible questions she could ask about him and his past?  “Well, I used to work on cars. But I am thinking about a career change.  That is why I took this job.  I needed time to think about my future.”  Good one he thought.

“Did you enjoy it?”

“Yes. Just not all the grease being everywhere all the time.”

She laughed. “I can relate to that.   I had a friend once who worked on cars.  Grease was forever everywhere.”  Her smile turned wistful for a moment and he knew where her thoughts were. She shook off the moment and looked at him “So what do you want to do?”

“I’m thinking about going into the ministry.”

“You’re a Christian?” She asked

“Yes. I became a Christian about 15 years ago.  Thanks to a girl I was dating.”

“That is so cool.  What church do you go to?”

“I’ve only been in town here for a little while so I haven’t found one yet.”

“Well, maybe you could go with us sometime.  If you are comfortable with that.”  Where that had come from, Lynn wondered.  She had just asked her new employee to church.  That would make them friends.  Was she ready for that?  To be friends with a guy who made her heart skip a beat?

He smiled that smile that made her breath catch “I’d like that.”

They continued to talk about their faith for another 15 min while they both ate. “Well, I should get back to work.” Landon said

“Me too.”  She smiled.  “These characters have a mind of their own and want to be written about quickly today.”

“Do you have a copy of one of your books I could read?”

“Sure.”  She went over to the small bookcase in the corner.  “This is the first one I had published.  It isn’t as good as my newest one, but it is still good.”

He looked at the cover and smiled at the title.  Living A Dream.  He scanned the back cover and looked up, “It sounds good.  I’ll be sure to get it back to you when I am done.”

She smiled at him as he walked out the door.  It felt funny knowing he would be reading her book, that he was even interested in reading it.  But it was a good funny.

 

Two hours later, still immersed in her writing she heard the front door close followed by Jazzy’s voice.  “Mom,

were home.”

“I’m in my office still.” She yelled back.

Jazzy’s blond head popped around the corner. “Are you going to be in here much longer?”

“Maybe another hour or so.  I’ve gotten a lot written today and I want to finish my current thought process. Can you watch the boys for a little bit?”

“Sure. Seth is going to be over tonight for the BBQ.  He said he would teach me how to run the BBQ if you wanted.”

“Seth would do anything for you.  I guess it is ok if he comes, but I wish you had sent me a text and let me know.”

“I did. Before I left school.  Check your phone.”  She scolded her mom.

Lynn picked up her phone and saw the missed text. “Oh, I guess I missed it.”

“It’s ok.  When you didn’t reply I figured you were on a roll with your writing and I told Seth it would be ok.  Because you love him and don’t mind him being here.”

Lynn laughed.  “I wish my parents had been like that when I was dating your dad.  They didn’t like that we were so serious about each other.  And after I lost your brother they didn’t even allow him to come over anymore.  Grandma says now if she had known how things would turn out or how much I truly loved him they would have handled it differently.”

“You have been thinking a lot about my dad today.  How come?”

She didn’t dare to tell her daughter the real reason. That Lance reminded her of her lost love.  Then Jazzy would start getting ideas about matchmaking.  “I don’t know, Jazzy. Maybe because it is getting close to his birthday. You know he would be 32 next week.  We always had fun on his birthday.”

Jazzy smiled sadly, “I know Mom.   I’m gonna take the boys outside to play for a bit while you finish up here.”

She gave her daughter a grateful smile. “Thank you.  Just make sure you all stay out of Lance’s way.”

“Ok.”

Jazzy headed out and into the living room where her brothers were watching TV. “Jace, Jonny, let’s go outside to play.”

 

“Owsie” they both yelled enthusiastically and headed for the back door.

 

“Whoa, careful there cowboys.” The boys giggled as they almost ran into Lance.  “Gotta watch where you are going.”

 

“Otay.” They yelled over their shoulders as they headed for the swing set in the yard.

 

“Sorry, they took off before I could grab their hands.”

 

“It’s ok Jazzy. No harm done.  I have nieces and nephews. I know how quick a 2 year old can get away from you.”

 

Jazzy smiled.  “Did you have a good day?” she asked

 

“Yes I did. I got a lot of painting done out here.  Should be completely dry tomorrow.”

 

Jazzy liked how the white paint changed the look of the back deck.  “Should we not BBQ out here tonight?”

 

“just keep the BBQ well away from the house.  There shouldn’t be a problem if you do that.”

 

“Good.  My aunt and uncle are coming over with their family tonight so we can BBQ.  And my boyfriend.”

 

“Sounds fun.  Aren’t you too young to have a boyfriend?”

 

Jazzy laughed.  “I’m almost 14.  Seth and I have been together for a year already.  Mom fell in love when she was young and she said she would support me.  My grandparents weren’t very supportive of her. And she doesn’t want to be like them.”

 

“Really?  That’s good that she supports you. Not all parents do. ”

 

“Yeah,” Jazzy said with a wry smile.  “But she also says she knows about teen hormones and won’t let us be alone together.”

 

“What does that mean?” Although he knew exactly what she meant and was glad his Tay was so supportive, but careful, with their daughter.

 

“Well, you see that big oak tree over there?” She pointed to the side yard.

 

“Yes,” his heart constricted remembering the day the two of them had planted it. 

 

“That tree was planted by my mom and dad when my brother was stillborn.  Mom had him at 20 weeks.  Just too young to survive.  She has a picture of him that she looks at when she is missing my dad.”  Both sets of eyes were misty, but for different reasons.  Jazzy for the brother she never knew, and Landon’s for the pain Tay still felt.

 

“That must have been hard on them.”

“Yes. Mom said it was a very hard time.  A year later she got pregnant with me.  I was born early too but not too much.”

“Really? You don’t look like you might have been a preemie.”  Why hadn’t Jacob shared this tidbit of info on his daughter? He’d known most everything else that had happened to her.

“Yeah.  When mom was 8 months pregnant with me my dad was killed in a car accident.  I don’t think she has ever really gotten over my dad.  They loved each other so much Aunt Savi said.  They were together 4 years and

were planning to get married as soon as she was 18, or could talk her parents into it.”

Landon hadn’t known the crash that took his life had also caused Tay to go into labor. While he had been happy to be in heaven, he had anger that his life was over and that he wouldn’t get to watch his daughter grow up.  Seeing his son for the first time and watching him grow had helped.  He hadn’t asked Jacob any questions about his lost family for months.  Jazmyne was 6 months old the first time he had gone to observe her.  And it had broken his heart to see Tay so sad.

 

“That must have been hard on your mom.”  He whispered.

“Yeah.  I was 8 before she went on a date again.  I was 11 when she met my brothers’ dad.  I guess they were together for a year but it seemed a lot longer.”

“Do your brothers see their dad?”  he wanted to know if he would have to limit any of his time around Tay so as not to run into her ex.

“No.  We haven’t seen or heard from him since we left. Mom left him when he was in jail and didn’t tell him where we would be.  But he never tried to contact my grandparents to find out what happened.”

“I’m sorry.  Sounds like life has been pretty rough for you.” He was enjoying getting to know his daughter a little better.

“Not really for me.  Yes, living with Adam was hard, but Mom didn’t stay long once the abuse started.  She got out and showed me how strong she really is.  She has an amazing faith in God and I hope one day to be just like

her.” He heard pride in her voice. Pride that her mother had such faith after all she had been through

The words warmed Landon’s heart.  Tay had done an incredible job raising their daughter so far.  He hoped to help in whatever way he could while he was here.  Just by being her friend  and Tay’s friend too if she would let him in.