The Right Bed?: Your Bed or Mine?

Jake wandered back to the bedroom, grabbing the flashlight along the way. It felt good to have Caley in his house. It felt right. He could imagine them here together, spending their summers on the lake. Everything would be so much more interesting if she were a part of his life. They’d begin and end each day together and in between, they would swim and cook and make love by the light of the moon.

Jake rummaged through the papers and then found one more packet of letters, this one much smaller and tied with a black ribbon. He brought them back to Caley and sat down beside her.

“See, it’s all right.”

She stared at the packet as she slowly untied the ribbon. As she read the first letter, Caley slowly shook her head. “No,” she murmured. She glanced over at Jake and he saw tears in her eyes. “This one is from his mother. He died in France in 1944.” She flipped through the rest of the letters. “These are all from his mother.”

Jake reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “It’s all right. Why are you crying?”

“I don’t know. It’s so sad. They were in love and then they lost their chance to be together.”

He kissed the top of her head, unable to soothe her distress. “I guess you have to just appreciate the time you have,” he murmured.

Caley nodded, wiping her eyes on the corner of the sleeping bag. “I do appreciate it.” She looked at him. “I do.”

Smiling, Jake dropped a soft kiss on her lips. “Why don’t we get dressed and I’ll take you back to the inn. You can have a nice hot bath. We’ll pick up a pizza on the way back and we’ll spend the night watching movies.”

Caley put the letter back in the envelope and retied the ribbon. He pulled her to her feet and helped her get dressed, wiping away the tears that continued to trickle down from the corners of her eyes.

Jake was sure she wasn’t crying about the letter anymore. But he couldn’t figure out what the tears were for. Had she realized that they wouldn’t have much time left? Was she already contemplating leaving? Or was it something else?

“You should probably check on Sam and Emma before we leave.”

“They’ll be fine,” Jake said.

He held her jacket out for her and as she pulled it on, she looked around the great room. “I really like this place, Jake. It doesn’t matter how much you paid for it or how much it will cost to fix it. It was worth every penny.”

Caley followed Jake back into town. He pulled into the parking lot of a small Italian restaurant next to the post office downtown and waited for her to pull in next to him. Jake had survived on their take-out pizza when he had visited North Lake in the winter. As they stood at the bar perusing the menu, he glanced at a waitress standing near the end. She smiled at him and gave him a little wave.

“Hey, Jasmine,” he murmured as she approached.

“Jake,” she said, smiling brightly. “You’re back in town.”

“My brother’s getting married,” Jake explained. He turned to Caley. “This is Caley Lambert. My brother is marrying her sister, Emma. She’s the maid of honor.”

Jasmine nodded. “It’s nice to meet you.” She turned all her attention back to Jake. “So why didn’t you call me when you got in? I still have your jacket at my place. And that fancy corkscrew of yours. You should really come over and pick them up. And bring a bottle of wine along.”

Jake had decided to forfeit the jacket and the corkscrew just so he wouldn’t have to see Jasmine again. She was one of those women who looked good on first meeting but grew more demanding with each successive date. Jake had dated her for three months, off and on, and when she’d begun talking about kids and marriage, he’d decided to stop.

He’d never had the heart to lead a girl on, to make her believe that he felt something more than he actually did. When it got to that point with Jasmine, he’d stopped calling. But it appeared that she didn’t think it was completely over. “What do you want on your pizza?” Jake asked.

“Everything,” Caley said. “But no meat.”

“Then that’s not everything,” he said.

“It’s all the vegetables,” Caley said.

“Are olives vegetables? What about anchovies?”

“No anchovies—anchovies are fish. Green and black olives, green peppers, roasted red peppers, mushrooms and spinach.”

Jake wrinkled his nose, then repeated the order to Jasmine. “And then I’d like another pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms.”

“Are you going to eat that here?” Jasmine asked.

“Can you have them deliver it?” Jake asked.

Her smiled dissolved. “Sure. Where to?”

“Northlake Inn. Room 312,” Jake said. He pulled out his wallet and handed her enough for the bill and a nice tip, then took Caley’s hand and headed back toward the door. Jake could feel Jasmine’s eyes on him as they left, but he didn’t care. He was with Caley now and, as far as he was concerned, he was off the market.

“So, obviously you two dated.”

“We did. Last summer. And into the fall for a while. But she lives here and I was in Chicago, so we didn’t see much of each other.”

“She seems nice,” Caley said.

Jake smiled. “I don’t want to see her. I like seeing you.”

“But I don’t live here.”

“Maybe we’ll have to find a way to work around that,” Jake suggested. He knew he was taking a risk, but it was time for her to know where he stood. He’d grown too attached to Caley to not wonder if she felt the same way.

When they reached the street, Caley turned to him. “Jake, we both know how this is supposed to end. I have a job in New York. I have people who depend on me. I can’t move back here. If I did, I’d lose everything I worked so hard to build.”

“I know,” Jake said, nodding. He glanced down at her hands, her fingers so small and delicate in his. So now he knew. He’d suspected when it came down to choices, she’d choose her life on the East Coast. But the last few days, he’d felt they’d come close to considering a future together. And it was silly to think that she was the one who would have to relocate. He could work out of New York just as easily as Chicago.

But Jake wouldn’t make that offer until he knew for sure what the future held. “Why don’t you head back to the inn,” he said. “I’m going to pick up some beer and a bottle of wine. I’ll meet you there.”

As he watched her leave, he felt the distance between them growing—not just physically but emotionally. She’d begun to pull away now, as if she were preparing herself to leave. He’d seen her do it time and time again in the past, when she’d been hurt or afraid of her feelings for him. Her offense had always been a stubborn defense, choosing to stand back and shut him out rather than admit she might feel something deeper.

But this time, Jake saw her retreat as a good sign. She was fighting her feelings for him and that must mean that she felt something. It wasn’t much to go on, but Jake was satisfied that it was enough.

CALEY MUNCHED ON A PIECE of pizza as she flipped through the channels. She stopped at a Star Trek rerun and frowned. She didn’t watch much television and she couldn’t believe that they were still showing Star Trek. The program had to be fifteen years old. “This is still on? Remember how you used to make me watch this? I hated this show.”

“You loved this show,” Jake said, popping open a can of beer and pointing to the screen.

She shook her head. “No, I didn’t. It was too confusing. And that Captain Picard was so … bald.”

“Then why did you come over and watch it with me every day?”

Caley picked a mushroom off her pizza, then threw it at him. “Duh. Why do you think? Because I was hoping that one day you might be overcome with desire for me and throw me down on the sofa and kiss me.” She took another bite of her pizza. “I had a very active fantasy life.”

“Did you ever see us together?” Jake asked.

“All the time,” she replied.

“No, I mean together. For good. Forever.”