It was a week and a half after Collins Falls. During that week, Jacob had done a lot of thinking. About life and what he needed to take away from Mabel and her sad fate. Would Mabel have left that town had things turned out different? Probably. Part of him hoped where ever she was, that she was finally free.
The best thing he could do for Mabel now was to honor her memory by living his life. He hadn't been quite able to explain to her that part of his responsibilities had been his son. She would have given him another pass like she had him trying to keep the business afloat. What Jacob should have been doing was getting Max the hell out of there. Josie too. They should have left that town when they got married.
He wasn't so sure that would have saved their marriage. That probably would have fallen apart anyway. But maybe Josie would have liked the real him. And maybe there was a side of her that would have come out in a new circumstance that he would have liked. Or at least, maybe even if their divorce was a certainty, she might have ended up in the end with a man that was good for her. After all, she was a good woman who deserved someone better than Chuck.
He at least knew that Josie's mind was at ease knowing that Max was thriving here. He'd just been graduated out of his program and on their advice he'd gotten Max into a preschool. The term had already started but they were good about allowing late comers. He'd start on Monday.
Jacob was thinking about going into the Annex on Monday and coming clean to the others about his family. The job was dangerous, after all, though he had made contingency plans in case he met the fate of many Librarians before him. But it was getting harder and harder to juggle childcare with the demands of the job and he realized maybe it wouldn't hurt to explain his circumstances to the others.
Besides that, Mabel's life had shown him he needed to not only embrace this new world for himself, but introduce Max to it as well. All that knowledge and the world literally at his Back Door? What an amazing opportunity for a child.
Perhaps Max was a little too young right now for it. But in a few years they could travel, anywhere they wanted to go. And he wouldn't have to worry about airplanes and hotels and taking him out of school. They could nip to Athens for dinner or China for the weekend. Yeah, he'd probably have to wait until he was older. It would be hard to tell a 4 year old to not quite tell his friends about a magic door.
Jacob chuckled to himself and said 4 year old looked up at him.
"Sorry cowboy, I was thinking of something funny that happened at work. How was your last day at the center?"
Max frowned. "It was okay. I'm gonna miss Andra. She wasn't there today and she was sad last time."
Jacob put his arm around Max. Max had talked a lot about the volunteer who had befriended him. Jacob hadn't met Andra (he assumed her name was Andrea) but he had intended on asking about her today. But it had slipped his mind in his haste to pick Max up. There had been paperwork and his mind had been full of other things. Most of them were about Mabel, but partly Cassandra too. She'd been avoiding him since Collins Falls, he was pretty sure that she thought he blamed her for what happened. He needed to make that right, his turning down what was probably her attempt at clearing the air had probably hurt her. Poor thing, he knew about guilt and what had happened was not her fault.
"Well, I can give them a call on Monday and see about getting her phone number. I'm sure she'd love to hear from you, okay?"
Max grinned up at him, "thanks, Daddy."
"Alright, ready to get this grocery shopping done?"
"Yes, sir." And Max flipped him a salute that always caused Jacob to laugh.
Cassandra was busy doing her grocery shopping. She was trying to keep all thoughts of anything else than what she was going to have for dinner for the next week out of her head. Even though that was pretty much an impossible task. She always had dozens of things going through her mind at any one second.
But mostly she was trying to not be sad about knowing that when she went back to the center next week, little Max would not be there. She was happy for him, it was so good that he was moving on. But she'd miss his happy smile and his polite manners and the way he reminded her of the other person she was trying not to think about.
Stone. Today she realized that he'd noticed her avoiding him. She was way too obvious about it today. And he'd looked hurt. She sighed. They usually didn't go in on weekends unless Jenkins called them in so she'd have to be a big girl and talk to him on Monday.
She was both looking forward to it and dreading it.
She squared her shoulders and deliberately concentrated on the nutritional information on the two boxes of cereal she was considering. Shopping and only shopping. Finally making her decision, she went over her list again in her head. She needed to concentrate because this trip was taking her far too long. It was time to hit the dairy section.
Shopping with a four year old was an experience, Jacob thought as he put items back on the shelf that Max kept putting in his cart. The boy was mostly good but if you told him to grab his favorite cereal, he would grab five boxes of it. Or five different flavors. The different flavors of boxed macaroni and cheese had thrown them both for a loop. Who knew they came in so many flavors and shapes? Jacob was pretty sure they'd grabbed them all. Including jalapeno that Jacob knew Max wouldn't eat despite his insistence that he could.
"Okay, okay, well we're gonna need milk for all this cereal and mac and cheese." Jacob sighed, steering the cart toward the back of the store.
Max was slightly ahead of him, but Jacob could see him, that is until he turned the corner.
"Max!" Jacob rolled his eyes, the kid would be fine for a minute out of his sight. Until he heard the boy shout. His heart started beating hard though just as suddenly he realized that it was a happy shout and he slowed down. There were probably Chewbacca gummies or something on a display. He'd done that earlier in when he'd seen Star Wars shaped cookies down another aisle.
Cassandra was debating whether to get the skim milk or the 1% when a small boy came running around the corner. He gave a happy shout and she looked at him and a smile broke out on her face.
"Max!"
"Andra!"
She knelt down to give him a hug.
"My daddy is around the corner," Max said, before Cassandra could ask why he was there.
"Oh, you slip away from him just a bit?" she asked with a chuckle and as the boy sheepishly nodded.
Jacob came around the corner to see a woman kneeling before his son, the little boy's arms still around her neck. A red haired woman that was very familiar to him. For a moment, he just stood there, his mouth open in shock, luckily Max and the woman were looking at each other and not him.
Finally willing his voice to work, he called out her name. "Cassandra?"
Shocked by the calling of her name, Cassandra raised her head, her eyes widening as she looked from the boy in front of her to the man calling her name.
Now she knew why the little boy had always reminded her of Stone. Having them in front of her, she could clearly see the resemblance. A nephew? But Max had said Daddy . . . .
"Stone?" she asked, brushing off her skirt and standing up. Eyes that looked just like Max's met hers and she knew. All of the strangeness of his actions since Christmas and even before began to fit together, she still had a lot of missing pieces but now she had the main component of the puzzle. "You're Max's father."
Stone took a deep breath through his nose and nodded. Next to him Max, suddenly spoke up. "Daddy, you know Andra?"
"Andra. . . of course. Andra. I thought he was saying Andrea. But he can't . . . ."
"Say Cassandra. I let the kids call me anything they'd like, they've been through enough they don't need to be corrected over something like that."
"Daddy?" Max was really confused now.
"Sorry," Stone broke off his stare at Cassandra. "Yes, Cassandra and I work together. So, I guess you will be able to see her now."
"If you'll let me, I'm really very fond of him."
"Of course, you can see each other." He, after all, was going to look up this volunteer for Max's sake. And it was time he told Cassandra that he was learning to trust her, how better than to allow her to spend time with the child she was so fond of. But there was so much he still had to explain to her. He bit his lip. "Cassandra . . .we have to finish shopping. But we need to talk."
"Right, yes . . . . Hey, I was making spaghetti and meatballs tonight. I can easily make enough for three. Would you like to come over? We'll talk?"
Both pairs of blue eyes were pleading with him and he was having a hard time resisting. He closed his eyes trying to avoid them but he could hear Max.
"Oh please Daddy! I'll be on my best behavior!"
"Stone? I mean, I just figured it . . . ."
He opened his eyes and nodded slowly. He knew she had so many questions and she was showing amazing restraint. Especially since she had to have know Max's situation with Chuck and his mother.
"Alright, we'll come for dinner."
Max squealed and hugged his knees.
Jacob laughed down at Max, ruffling his hair and then turned to Cassandra. "Text me your address? Baird drove the only time I've been to your place. "
She nodded. "Five o'clock? I'm sure you have to give him dinner early."
"Sounds good," Stone leaned past Cassandra to grab a gallon of whole milk. "Thank you, Cassandra. For a whole lot of stuff."
She nodded and gave Max another hug before waving goodbye to them both.
She turned back to her milk studying with a deep breath. Stone had a son. And an ex-wife.
What else didn't she know?
What she did know was that she needed to buy a bigger loaf of bread and a bit more ground beef. And maybe another box of pasta so she'd have some for later. Ranch dressing for the salad? She doubted Max would like the Italian that she and Stone would have eaten. Oooh, ice cream sandwiches. Max was the perfect excuse for that splurge.
She clapped her hands in delight and motivation. She really was looking forward to this. And making a plan would keep her from being too distracted by questions and thoughts about Stone. He was keeping a lot but his eyes said that he was ready to talk to her now. That was major and she was honored.
