Not Quite Dating (Not Quite #1)(41)
Author: Catherine Bybee

“Katie?”

“Jesus, Jack, it’s what…six there? Isn’t it early for you to be partying?”

Jack sat before he fell. “You don’t hold the rights to self-indulgence.” Besides, he’d had a bad day.

“First, I hear you’re not coming home for Christmas, now you’re wasted in the middle of the day.”

“I-It isn’t the middle of the day.”

“Blurred speech takes some time to achieve, Jacko. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Women! “Nothing. I’m fine.” Drunk, but fine. As long as he sat perfectly still, the room only swayed when he inhaled…or exhaled.

Katie’s uppity voice dropped. “Who is she?”

Damn woman. “I’m hanging up now.”

“Jack. Don’t you dare. I’ll be the—”

He lifted the phone in front of his eyes and hit the End button…twice.

Then, because the bedroom was too far away, Jack sat back and closed his eyes.

The next twenty-four hours were a blur for Jessie. Danny’s fever rose and fell, but by nightfall, she thought she’d seen the worst of his symptoms. By tomorrow morning, he’d be hard to hold down.

Danny asked about Jack too many times to count.

Where was he?

Was he coming back?

Why did he leave?

Would they be seeing him for Christmas?

With every question, another nail was jammed into the coffin she’d made of her life. Monica was due back that night, and Jessie could hardly wait for her sister to get home so she could cry on her shoulder and hear what a fool she’d been.

Without a doubt, Monica would be calling her all kinds of stupid for saying no.

They would argue. Jessie would put into words why she had to cut Jack loose, and Monica would try to change her mind.

But Jessie was older. She knew better.

Her phone rang. Jessie’s heart leapt in her throat. What if it was Jack?

Jessie waited for the answering machine to pick up.

“This call is for Jessica Mann. Ms. Mann, this is Phil Gravis over at Upland Toyota…”

Her car. She scrambled to pick up the phone. “Hello?”

“Ms. Mann?”

“Yes, this is her. Sorry, I was in the other room,” she lied. “Didn’t hear the phone.” Lie number two.

“Not a problem. Ummm, about your car.”

Oh, please…no more bad news. She really couldn’t take it. “Yes?”

“We had a slight mishap here in the garage.”

“Mishap?” That couldn’t be good.

“A fire, actually.”

Her car. Bad as it was, was only insurance for the other guy. Dammit, the sky was falling and Jessie was standing dead center of the funnel cloud.

“A fire?”

“Yes. A fire mishap. Don’t worry, your car is—”

“Fine? My car is fine?”

Mr. Gravis laughed. “Your car is a total loss.”

Cue lightning, funnel clouds, and Dorothy’s house flying through the air. “That’s not funny.”

“Well, the car was in need of a lot of work.” His voice was flat.

“It’s my only transportation.” Her voice started to rise, panic started to set in.

“Oh, Ms. Mann, please…it’s OK. We here at Toyota are completely responsible and want to invite you over to pick out a replacement vehicle.”

“A replacement vehicle?” She was back to parroting his words.

“Let me start over. I can tell you’re upset.”

Understatement of the year.

“There was a fire, your car is a total loss, but we are offering you a brand-new car in its place. Unless you have some kind of emotional attachment to the early-model Celica, this will turn out to be a good thing for you.”

Thank goodness she was sitting, because when his words sunk in, Jessie felt light-headed.

“A new car to replace my broken-down piece of liability?” Her car had probably caused the fire.

“That’s right. When would be a good day for you to come in?”

This wasn’t happening. She was having a dream and she really needed to wake up.

“Ms. Mann?”

She wasn’t waking up. “Yes?”

“Can you come in tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” She stared at the wall across the room.

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, you can come in tomorrow?”

Jessie slowly started to nod. “Yes, I can come in tomorrow.” The fog started to lift. “Is nine too early?”

“Nine would be great. Just ask for me.” He sounded amused.

“This isn’t a joke, is it, Mr. Gravis? Because I’ve had a couple of really shitty days, and I can’t take a practical joke right now.”

He laughed. “It’s not a joke, Ms. Mann. Be thinking about what kind of car you’d like to drive. Four doors, two doors, truck, crossover, or maybe you’d like a hybrid? Your choice.”

She thought for a moment about Christmas, Danny, the medical bills that would be coming in. “Can I take the money and pick out a used car?”

“Sorry. I was given specific instructions to offer you any new car we had on the lot.”

“Instructions?” The parrot was back.

He hesitated, coughed, and then said, “From my boss.”

“Oh, OK. That sounded ungrateful of me. I’m very grateful. Really.” She was. It wasn’t the new bike Danny wanted, but a new car might make up for it a little. The money she’d save on repairs would help her afford more for her son in the long run. “I’ll see you at nine.”

They hung up just as the door to the apartment opened.

Monica stepped inside, still bundled in a parka.

The sight of her sister reminded Jessie of Jack.

Monica’s eyes caught hers. She opened her mouth to say something, and then her smile fell. “What happened?”

Tears popped up out of nowhere. “I slept with Jack. He asked me to marry him. I said no. He left and hasn’t called. I think I may have made a huge mistake.”

Monica dropped her bags at the door and walked to Jessie’s side. “Oh, Jessie.”

Her sister’s arms around her brought on a new flood of tears.

Chapter Thirteen

Monica pushed Jessie onto the sofa and let her sob.

“It’s OK,” Monica cooed. “I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

No! It was worse.

As her tears started to dry up, the words started tumbling from her mouth. “Danny spiked a fever night before last. I called Jack.” Just saying his name brought a physical pain to her chest.