As if reading her mind, Jenna reached out to touch the back of her hand. "Hey, it's not a big deal. Honestly. I think it was a mutual split. They tried dating but were too different to make it work. They each went their separate ways, no hard feelings. They still talk when Jared comes over to the house."
Somehow, that last bit didn't make Amy feel better. "Jared and I don't have much in common," Amy mumbled.
Jenna blushed and set her fork down, a worried expression on her face. "I'm sorry, I'm really bad at this. I shouldn’t have said anything. Honestly, there’s nothing going on between Jared and Sharon. He has no feelings for her other than friendship. Trust me. What he feels for you is way different. It's like, when he's on the job or at the house his mind is always on you and there's always this half smile on his face. Not something I've ever seen before. He adores you and dotes on your sisters. You have nothing to worry about."
Amy sighed deeply and shook her head as if trying to shake away the negative thoughts. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm not usually this insecure. But then, I've never dated anyone like Jared before. He's just so… larger-than-life, I guess."
"Yeah, that's a good way of putting it. I felt the same about Vince when I met him. Those guys are just too much."
Jenna picked up her burger and took a big bite of out of it, closing her eyes and relishing the taste. She waited to swallow the food before she started speaking again. "When I first met Vince, he seemed impossible to me. Too big, too tattooed, too grouchy."
Amy let out a giggle. Jenna's description of her own husband was very close to how Amy described him in her mind.
Jenna continued, "But he turned out to be everything I could've ever hoped for. He is the exact opposite of my ex-husband. He's kind, gentle with me and the kids, attentive and super protective."
"That's exactly how Jared is with me and my siblings," Amy said enthusiastically.
Jenna nodded knowingly. "Jared has a huge soft spot for women and children." Seeing the look on Amy's face she was quick to reassure her, "No, he doesn't go picking up women anywhere and everywhere, he just doesn't like seeing a woman in distress. Not that you're in distress." Jenna smacked herself in the forehead and grimaced. "This is probably why I don't have more friends."
Amy laughed so hard she spit out some of her Coke. "No, it's fine, I like hearing about Jared. Honestly, I'm not worried about other women, you’ve reassured me."
"Good, because he's a great guy and he's absolutely head over heels for you. I'd hate to be the one to do something to damage your relationship."
Now it was time for Amy to reassure Jenna. "Our relationship would have to be pretty fragile for something like this to damage it. You have absolutely nothing to worry about. I'm pretty head over heels for him too."
The two women continued to talk, finishing up their meals. Amy was astonished by the amount of food that Jenna could pack away. Maybe she really was pregnant again. The thought filled Amy with longing and an image of Jared flashed into her mind. He would make an amazing father.
She was getting ahead of herself though. They'd only been dating a few weeks. No one had said the ‘L’ word yet, let alone any kind of proposals or talk of future children. Despite that, Amy was pretty sure Jared wanted them. The way he was with her sisters spoke volumes about how much he liked children. He spoiled them, played with them, acted like a child himself more often than not and he seemed to understand them.
The two women spent more time chatting than they did shopping, walking past row after row of stores without going in. Amy left the mall empty-handed, but with a heart full of hope. She was making a solid friendship with someone she genuinely liked. Even though Jenna was older than her, they had a lot in common. They both had children to take care of, both dated possessive ex-biker bad boys, and they had similar personality traits.
As Amy climbed into the SUV, heading for home, she contemplated her former friendships. When her family life exploded into a million pieces of drama, it had become extremely telling who her real friends were. Only a handful of her former friends stuck around to help her pick up the pieces. Two to be exact. Rhoda and Lindsay. Rhoda had moved away about a year ago to attend college, and though Lindsay was still around, they each had their own busy lives to attend to and couldn't see each other often.
It felt good having another female friend that could relate to Amy's life, even a little bit.
She parked the SUV in her garage, at Jared’s insistence since she had to work at the factory in the morning, and locked up and headed inside, checking her phone. It was 4:00 pm. Millie and Sarah were over at Jared's house, baking cookies. Amy would drop her purse off, take a quick shower and head over.
She unlocked the door and pushed it open, calling into the shadowy house, "Teagan, are you home?"
She only half expected him there. Even though he was coming around more often, he was still prone to spending most afternoons and evenings with his friends. Amy wasn’t surprised when no one answered back. She reached out to turn on the living room light.
Amy gasped as light filled the room, illuminating utter chaos. Her home had been torn apart. She started to step inside, her eyes glued to the couch where the cushions had been throw off. Papers were strewn everywhere and she could see broken dishes through the opening into the kitchen.
She froze, midway to reaching out to pick up a doll which had been upended from the girls’ toy chest. What if the burglar was still there?
Without thinking twice, Amy turned and fled out the door, heading straight over to Jared’s place.
Thirteen
Jared was in the middle of explaining to a rapt audience of two young girls how it was entirely possible to have pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs and all the amazing breakfast food they could possibly want, for supper. Apparently, this was not something their family had ever done. Breakfast for supper was a go-to meal for Jared. It was easy, comforting and filled his belly with bacon. Jared loved bacon almost as much as he loved sex.
Jared's brain immediately latched on to Amy and he nearly groaned out loud, closing his eyes for a few seconds as her luscious curves filled his mind. Then, he gave himself a sharp reminder that there were two children in his kitchen and his brain absolutely could not go there.
As he turned back to the stove to check on the bacon, as if she had been conjured up from his imagination, Amy came hurtling into the kitchen.
"Amy!" Millie called out and threw herself at her sister.
Millie was the youngest and more prone to wanting physical contact with her older sibling. Amy had explained to him that after the death of her parents, Millie had become so attached that she'd spent nights in Amy's bed until she was comfortable enough to be move back to her room. Apparently, she still experienced anxiety when separated from Amy.
Amy clutched her sister hard, pulling her into a hug that was so tight Millie squeaked and protested. Amy loosened her hold and murmured an apology as Millie hopped back up on her stool. Then Amy’s eyes lifted to Jared's and he knew something terrible had happened.
Her beautiful hazel eyes were filled with terror and her face was white, as though she'd seen a ghost. Her hands were shaking as she clasped them in front of herself. Luckily, neither of her sisters noticed and sat happily chattering at the island, each with their own colouring book that Jared had provided for them.