Ch. 4: regrets and secrets

Renee woke up, sore and with a headache. Not sure how much she drank last night or what happened, she sat up to get the kids to school when she seen it. A note on her table with a coffee, "I hope you don't mind, you wanted me to stay until you passed out, I got you coffee for your headache." How did he know? she kept reading, " I had an enjoyable time with you last night, I also apologize if it was out of line. Hope to hear from you soon. from Jake", Renee's face flushed immediately. " Last night was real? did we... " She asked herself to look down to find she was only in a shirt and underwear, but it was not her shirt. She jumped up to go shower and change before the kids woke up, by time she got out they were up and dressed for school. Renee made them their lunches while they ate cereal and sent them off to school. Now that she had time alone, she could finally process the will, should I take it? Will the kids be okay with this? The longer Renee thought about it, the more she realized she could not turn this down, even if it were from Leo, it was the house that she picked for them. She has decided that house is hers now to tell the kids. She realized she also had to call Jake, let him know she had decided, so she could get the information and keys. Embarrassed, thinking of the night before, their hot sex, she picked up her phone and dialed his number. Before she finished it, her phone rang, Jake was calling her. Perfect, she thought. "Hello?" she said answering the call, " good morning, how do you feel?" Jake asked. Renee could not help but think about how sore she was, but how good it felt," I am good how are you? I have some news I was just calling to talk to you about" Renee blurted so he could not ask about last night. Jake laughed, "what's the news? did you decide to quit drinking?" she laughed with him. "No Jake, drinking with you was..." She stopped flushing hot thinking about the fun they had, " it was nice, I had fun, But I called to tell you I made my decision." There was silence for a few minutes when Jake spoke, " you're making the move aren't ya?". Renee thought he sounded a little sad but ignored it, telling him she was.

After talking, Renee got off the phone and decided to go pick the kids up and enjoy the day with them before bringing up the news. Nate did not seem to mind he was your typical teenager, hated school and was happy to get out of it no matter what the reasons were. While Nate hated school LJ was the opposite, he loved it. He was not too happy to be picked up early but once he saw Nate everything changed, he loved his brother. "Hey mom what's the deal? why did you pick us up?", "are you sick too?" asked the kids. With a little giggle she shook her head, "No boys, I want to spend some time with you and talk to y'all about something but first, burgers and fries, anyone?" Renee wrapped each arm around them and pushed them in the direction of her diner, where the best burgers and saltiest fries were. They sat down and ordered their food and before the server could leave, she asked if a meal could be brought out a few moments after theirs did. Confused, the kids looked at each other to their mom, "who is the extra food for mom?" Nate asked. Renee was about to answer him when her phone went off, a text from jake. "I'll be there a few minutes late this meeting is running longer than expected please don't wait to order." She could not help but smile then looked up to answer the kid's question. After putting her phone away, she simply said, " it is for Jake, he will be here he is just running late". LJ was excited being 10 he likes anyone who gets him stuff, and getting new games and books on the same day from Jake won him over. Nate on the other hand was more curious, " mom are you two... you know...?" He was trying to ask it without being obvious. He did not want to hurt his brothers' feelings about the possibility of mom moving on from dad. Renee shook her head no, although she was not lying there was a chemistry, even before. The two of them smiled and looked at LJ who by then got interested in some video on his phone. The food had arrived and within minutes so had Jake, and then his food. He was as surprised as Renee was, the day before, "how did you know this was my go-to burger?" he asked, biting into a big southern BBQ bacon burger with onion ring on it. Renee smiled, " I remember when we used to come this way with Leo, he always ordered an extra burger and never knew who it was for when I see the office was so close I just knew it was your order."

After they ate, Nate once again asked his mother, "what did you want to talk to us about if you two aren't..." he stopped once again. Jake, confused, laughed, and looked to Renee for the answer as well. She sighed and got to it, " Mr. Jake here got in touch with us, he found a will that somehow got lost in the office and when he was going through your father's stuff, he found it and well, your dad left us a house with a little bit of money." She was hoping they would not ask for too many details, she hid the past well from them. "Where is it at?" LJ asked her, "do we need to move again, change schools again?" "Is it bigger? Renee started to laugh as she was being asked a lot of questions. "Please slow down, that is why Mr. Jake is here. He has answers and says he would explain it for y'all if you wanted to" Renee then looked to Jake with a smile and let him take over. He explained to the boys they would indeed have to move, but to a different state, yes, they will be switching schools again, but these schools were smaller, and people were a lot nicer there than in the city. They listened to him as he explained the 15 acers, a farm without animals, they did not have a lot of people around them and showed pictures after it all. By the end of their lunch meeting the kids were excited asking for pigs, and cows, just no chickens, LJ was terrified. Having her mind at ease she needed to get one more thing straight, Jake. While she really enjoyed, no loved the other night even if it was not like her, she wanted to keep the friends she thinks she made even before the long night of hot sex. They walked home, and Renee told them to go in, and she would be up in a moment. Once the door was shut behind them, she did not turn around all the way before Jake grabbed her and kissed her.

Taken by surprise she kissed back, but pulled away, "Jake..." He kissed her once more and turned to leave, he said nothing and just left. Renee called out to him, but he kept walking to his car, could he be upset with her? He could not be, they only knew each other through her late husband, and a one-night stand surely, he was not upset about her leaving. As she wondered what it was, she turned to go inside when she got a message, from Jake. She decided she would read it when she got inside. Once upstairs she went to the fridge, grabbed her a drink and put a movie on. A few hours later she is woken up by a knock at the door and Nate wakes her up to answer it. Renee looked at the tv the movie was over, she slept for 2 hours? Renee, still waking up stood up and stumbled to the door " I'm coming I'm coming hold your horses" she yelled as she reached the door. Opening the door, she was expecting some salesperson but again there was Jake at her house, "I'm sorry come in, is everything okay Jake?" she asked, making her way back to the kitchen for coffee. Jake followed behind her, "Everything is fine Renee, I was coming by to drop off the key to your new home, also did you get my message?" he asked, handing the key to her. Renee jumped and ran to her phone, " I did I must have fallen asleep before reading it." she paused, clicking on his message, and opening it. She blushed after reading it and said I will be right back," she disappeared to nates room, then came back a few moments later. "Give me one hour I can be ready." Jake smiled and agreed, he turned and headed to the door, " I'm going to grab us some good coffee I will be back when you're ready". When the door shut behind him, Renee panicked. He wants to take me out, is it as friends, or more? What if he wants to do it again? Renee started to get ready, after an hour she called Jake, " I am ready now". she blushed, thankfully he did not know that.