Chapter 27
A week later, Taylor still had no answers. He wasn’t sleeping because of the situation, and the bags under his eyes were a dead giveaway. Once again, his family was concerned and left messages on Taylor’s answering machine.
“Hey Taylor, it’s Mom. Haven’t heard from you in a while...”
“Hey, it’s Zac. Listen, uh, Mom’s really concerned. Call her when you have a second because she’s calling me every 5 seconds...”
“Hey baby, it’s me, Nat. Um, I just wanted to see how you were doing ‘cause you haven’t called for a while now...”
“Hi Daddy. I miss you...”
Even Issac managed to slur his way onto Taylor’s machine.
“It’s Ike. Caaaaaaaaall me. And if not, you suck. ‘Cause I’m the moody one. You’re the pretty one. Pretty pretty pretty...”
One by one the messages collected dust in his memory and were deleted soon after. He was beginning to feel terrible about stringing everybody along.
Taylor looked around his apartment at his photos. There was a picture of him and Ezra during Ezra’s first summer. The baby had a hat on and Natalie had put sunglasses on him along with green sunscreen on his nose. Taylor had Ezra over his shoulder and was looking over at his son. It had always been one of Taylor’s favorite photos.
Then there was the photo Taylor couldn’t bear to take down: he and Natalie on their wedding day. It was a picture that Mack had taken of the unsuspecting couple. Taylor and Natalie had sequestered themselves after the ceremony to have a few moments of privacy. Taylor had his arms around Natalie’s waist and she was holding onto him as well. They had their foreheads together and they were smiling at each other. It was a priceless photograph that they had turned into a black and white print and then had tastefully framed. To Taylor, the picture seemed to capture him and Natalie perfectly.
The next picture that Taylor loved was one of him and Jody. It was taken on a night when Taylor had invited Zac and Kate over for dinner. Jody had fun showing off her culinary skills with chicken cordon bleu. Zac, Kate, and Taylor were more than impressed, and it was the first time Jody really felt accepted into the Hanson circle. It had been a wonderful early spring evening. Taylor had pulled Jody onto his lap when she was in the middle of telling Zac a story and, as a direct result, Jody had messed up Taylor’s hair. Kate, who had decided to grab her camera so she could remember such a night, walked into the living room at that precise moment. So there stood the picture of Jody in her light blue sweater with a big grin on her face, sitting on Taylor’s lap. And there was Taylor looking somewhere between absolutely mortified and rather amused. Either way there was a happy air about him in the snapshot and it was truly a slice of personality caught on film.
Taylor picked up the frame of him and Jody and ran his fingers over her, as if he could somehow pull her through the photograph.
“I don’t know, Eve. He said to meet him at his apartment,” Jody reported after she exited the subway.
“Anything else?”
“No.” Jody sighed. “I don’t know what this is about.”
“Maybe he finally made up his mind.”
Jody scoffed into the phone. “Eve, he has no idea what he wants.” She rounded another corner onto Taylor’s street. “But, um, I’m on his street, so I should get going.”
“You gonna be OK?”
“Probably not, but I’m so numb at this point that I just want to get it over with.”
“Call me after?”
“Yeah.”
Both parties hung up shortly after.
By this time Jody was at the steps of Taylor’s apartment. Taking a deep breath, she smoothed her shirt and ascended the stairs. She hesitated as she went to ring the doorbell and wondered if she was doing the right thing. Maybe she should have cut all ties with him in the first place.
Much to her surprise, the door swung open before she could ring the doorbell.
“Taylor!” she exclaimed out of shock.
“I, uh, saw you walk up the steps.”
“Oh...” Jody was now officially mortified at her lack of courage.
“So, uh, come on in.”
And she did- awkwardly.
Taylor watched as she passed him. She was so nervous that it made him smile.
He followed her into the living room and sat at the opposite end of the couch. He looked her over. Her head was down and she was fiddling with her rings- a sign that she was unsure of herself and the situation.
He reached a hand over and placed it on top of hers to stop her fidgeting. “Relax, Jode,” Taylor said soothingly. She still wasn’t looking at him.
Having Taylor so close to her nearly killed Jody. All she wanted to do was collapse into his arms and pretend this whole fiasco didn’t happen. However, she knew that could never be a possibility.
Taylor left his hands on hers and scooted a little closer. He wasn’t sure how to start this.
“I, um...”
Jody glanced up at him and they locked eyes. The room lit on fire once again.
“I, um...”
“You what?” Jody coaxed, slightly unsure of what was to come out of Taylor’s mouth.
Taylor took a deep breath and unconsciously squeezed her hands for courage.
“I can’t see you anymore.”
All the breath escaped from Jody’s lungs at once. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears. The sound of those words instantly broke her heart.
“What?” Jody whispered as she searched his eyes for some kind of answer. “Taylor...”
He withdrew his hands from hers and looked down. “I’m sorry, Jody.”
Jody didn’t know what to do. She was certain that she wasn’t able to stand, yet she wanted to leave so badly. She wanted to get away from him as soon as possible.
She looked away and wiped a stray tear. Her mind spun and she was in a daze. There was no way this was happening.
“So you chose her.”
“Yeah,” Taylor said softly. It hurt him as well to know that he had caused her so much pain.
Jody sniffed and took a breath. “Why?”
“Why?” he repeated. Jody nodded. “Jode, she gave me Ezra.”
Jody wiped more tears and winced. Her tears were falling harder now no matter how hard she tried to control them.
Taylor sighed and reached over to the coffee table. “Here,” he said as he grabbed a tissue from the tissue box and leaned over to tend to her tears.
Jody batted his hand away. “Don’t touch me.” She glared at him.
He backed off. “OK.”
Jody started to collect herself. “I should have seen it coming.” Taylor didn’t say a word. “You chose her over me from the beginning.”
Taylor looked up at her. “I don’t know what to tell you.”
Jody snatched her own tissue and wiped her eyes as she shook her head. “I should have seen this coming,” she said softly. “I set myself up for this.”
Taylor was at a loss for words. He had known that she would cry- that was inevitable. But he hadn’t expected her to be so calm.
“I should get going,” Jody said after another sniffle.
“OK.”
Jody took a moment. “Can I at least say goodbye to Ezra?”
“Um, yeah. He and Natalie should be home soon anyway.”
She looked up at him with more tears in her eyes. “Thanks,” she said sincerely.
“He’s gonna miss you.”
“I know. I’ll miss him too.” She sniffled again. “I’ll miss all of you guys.”
They spent the next few minutes in silence.
A key in the door signaled that Natalie and Ezra were home. Taylor glanced at the door and then to Jody, unsure of what to do.
“Go to her,” Jody said as she made his decision for him. “You chose her.”
Taylor reluctantly got up and greeted his family in the foyer.
“Hey baby,” Natalie greeted as they kissed. She squinted at him. “You OK?”
“Yeah,” Taylor fibbed softly. “Um, Jody’s here.”
“Jody?!” Ezra squealed excitedly as he tried to run off to see her.
“Hold on a minute little man,” Taylor said as he caught the running munchkin. “Let’s take off your jacket first.”
Hearing the situation unfold in the hallway made it clear that they were a family and Jody was an outsider. Her hurt returned all over again as more tears fell out of her eyes.
“Jody!!” Ezra yelped as he ran over to her.
“Hey sweetheart,” Jody said as the little boy leapt into her arms.
Ezra frowned and looked at her. “Why are you crying?”
“Because,” Jody said as she swiped at her tears and thought quickly, “I’m moving.”
His face fell. “You’re moving?” Jody nodded. “Where?”
“I’m moving far away.”
“Can you still come over and play?”
Jody shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
Ezra flung himself at Jody for a second time and latched on. “I don’t want you to move.” His voice was tinged with pain and it was obvious that he, too, was crying.
“I know, sweetheart. I don’t want to move either.”
“Come and live with us.”
Jody chuckled. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. But you and Mommy and Daddy are gonna have a lot of fun together, OK?”
He hugged her tighter. “Don’t go, Jody.”
Jody opened her eyes to see Taylor standing in the doorway watching this entire situation. He looked as upset as Jody felt, and that offered some consolation. Natalie could be heard in the kitchen preparing dinner.
She pulled back from the hug and wiped Ezra’s tears. “Now no more tears, OK?” She somehow managed a smile. “Only happy thoughts.” Ezra nodded miserably. Besides Uncle Zac, Jody was his best friend and he wanted her to stay more than anything. “I have to go home now,” Jody told him. The child wiped his eyes and shook his head. “I’ll tell you what- any time you need me to tell you a bedtime story, just ask your Dad and he can call me so I can tuck you in like last time.” She looked at the boy again. “Deal?” Ezra nodded again and rubbed his eye. “Come here, you,” she said as she hugged him again. New tears began to roll down her cheeks as Ezra held onto her for dear life.
“I love you Jody.”
Jody’s heart broke again.
“I love you too sweetheart.” After a moment, Jody tried to let go, but Ezra thought otherwise. “I have to go,” she told him. Ezra wouldn’t budge. “Ezra, you can let go now.”
“Nope.”
Jody sighed. Seeing no way out of it, she scooped up the boy, swung him around to get him laughing, and promptly deposited him in Taylor’s arms.
Taylor smiled at the situation despite its context. Jody was an amazing woman filled with kindness and compassion and Taylor instinctively knew that there was someone out there who could treat her the way she deserved to be treated.
“I think I’m gonna go back home,” Jody said, putting on a brave face in front of Ezra. “I don’t want those moving trucks leaving without me.”
“Hey,” Taylor said, slightly tickling his son, “why don’t you go see what Mommy’s up to?”
“What about Jody?” he questioned.
“I’ll be in to say goodbye before I go, OK?”
“OK.” Ezra ran through the living room and disappeared into the kitchen.
Taylor and Jody turned to each other.
“So I guess this is it.”
“Yeah,” Jody agreed. There was a horribly awkward silence. “Um, I, uh, I meant what I said to Ezra about the stories.”
“I know,” Taylor said. “And thank you for what you said to him about moving. You didn’t have to be so nice about it.”
Jody shrugged. “Ezra didn’t need to get caught up in what happened between us.”
“Listen, Jode, I know it won’t be easy for either of us, but, um, I’d like to keep in contact with you.”
Jody bit her lip. “I don’t know about that, Taylor.”
“I’m not saying that we have to be all buddy-buddy or anything. It’s just that...” He balked at what he was going to say. “Everyone really likes you. You’re part of the family to them.” He checked for her reaction. “Please, Jode?”
“One thing at a time, Taylor. Let’s see what happens.”
“She’s out here, Mommy!” Ezra said as he dragged Natalie out of the kitchen.
Taylor looked mildly horrified at the situation.
“What are you up to?” Jody questioned the child.
“You can’t leave without saying goodbye to Mommy.”
If it wasn’t for the fact that Jody was so upset, she would have thoroughly enjoyed how uncomfortable Taylor was.
Jody took a moment to collect her thoughts as Taylor picked up Ezra.
“He’s a wonderful man, Natalie. You’re very lucky.”
“Oh,” Natalie said, obviously taken off-guard. “Thanks.”
“Take care of him, OK?”
“Sure.”
Taylor opened the front door as Jody took one last look around. Taylor, Natalie, and Ezra all walked her outside.
“Well, it’s time for me to get going.” She turned to each of them. “Goodbye Natalie.”
She then turned to Ezra. “Bye sweetheart,” she said as she kissed his forehead. “Be good for Mommy and Daddy.”
Last but not least, there was Taylor. “Bye Taylor,” she whispered as tears ran down her cheeks.
“Goodbye Jode.”
They made eye contact one last time before Jody turned and descended the steps for the last time.
Chapter 28
Index
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