Page 63 of The Coppersmith Farmhouse (Jamison Valley 1)
We’d left the station on Sunday and come straight home. After I’d calmed Rowen down, we’d sat together on the couch and I’d apologized for Jess’s behavior. Her feelings had been raw. He had hurt them. Mine too.
I’d had a fitful night’s sleep, tossing and turning, the faintest noise sending me back and forth to the windows so I could look outside and make sure no one was there. That Jess wasn’t there.
The next day had been brutal. I’d checked my phone at least a hundred times, expecting to see some sort of communication from Jess. But there had been nothing.
That had been four days ago and I still hadn’t heard from him.
I was confused and angry. Jess’s silence was making me nauseous. Just because I’d asked for space didn’t mean he couldn’t apologize.
I hated that I didn’t know what was going to happen with us. I was mad at him but that didn’t mean my feelings for him had disappeared. This separation between us had made me realize how much it would hurt if we ended our relationship.
Even though I’d said I would call him, I couldn’t find the courage to pick up the phone. I didn’t know if I wanted to break up with him or try and work it out.
I was scared. Scared we’d be here again.
“Do you want to have a dance party, Mommy?” Rowen asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Do you?”
She smiled huge and nodded, bouncing from one foot to the other.
When she was two, I had invented dance parties as a way to cheer her up or distract her from a tantrum. And we’d been having them ever since.
I would crank the music and we’d dance around the house like crazy people. We’d shake our booties and laugh until our cheeks hurt. The last dance party we’d had was before Ben died and we were overdue.
“Okay.” I smiled. “Go get the speaker from the office.”
She scampered as fast as her feet could carry her, squealing with joy, and met me in the living room, shoving the Bluetooth speaker into my hands.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Yeah!”
“The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World started blaring through the house.
As we danced and laughed, I raised my arms above my head and let loose, jumping around my beautiful daughter as she giggled and danced her heart out. The lyrics reminded me of what I needed to hear.
Everything was going to be all right.
When it was over, I was laughing and dancing so hard I was out of breath.
“That was fun!” Rowen shouted, beaming with happiness.
“Yes it was.” The smile on my face was real and wide.
“I liked it.”
At the sound of Jess’s voice, I jumped back and clutched my hands to my pounding heart.
He was leaning against the wall, his long legs crossed at his ankles, his arms resting lightly on this chest. And he had a huge smile on his face.
“Jess!” Rowen screamed and launched her little body at his. Either she had forgotten about the incident at the station Sunday or she had already forgiven him.
He picked her up and threw her up in the air a couple feet. She giggled hysterically as she flew. He caught her on the way down and planted her firmly on his hip.
“We were having a dance party,” she said.
“Is that what that was?”
