HE SAT DOWN. She smiled. "Hi Dad."
Otto reached across the table and squeezed his daughter's hand. "Haven't seen you in awhile, honey. Been occupied?"
She looked at him, trying to figure out what he meant by that. Had someone told him about her and Jax? What was there to tell, exactly? And why the hell did she care? She was a grown woman, having a grown-up…whatever it was with a grown man.
"Yeah, I've been working hard." That was true. On many levels.
Otto nodded. "Anything you wanna share?"
Kris shook her head. "Not right now. How are you? Everything alright?"
Otto smiled. "Just another day in paradise, honey."
She could hear the sadness in his voice and she wanted to hug him. She knew the guards wouldn't let her, but the impulse was there. Which was odd. She hadn't had the inclination to do for a very long time.
They talked for a little while longer. About nothing, like the weather, the news… It was nice to have a semi-normal conversation wit her father, Kris thought.
"I don't know if I'll get time to come back between now and hearing, okay?"
Today was Monday and the hearing was one week from today. Plus, Natalia would be arriving on Thursday.
"Alright honey, you know where to find me."
Kris flashed him a smile. "I'll see you soon Dad." Otto nodded, watching his daughter go before he lot led away as well.
Once in her rental car, Kris rolled down the window and turned the radio on. It was a beautiful day here in Charming and Kris wanted to slam her head off of the steering wheel.
She still had no idea what she was going to say to the parole board. She hoped like hell that someone or someone, like Natalia perhaps, would provide some insight.
When she pulled up to the hotel, she was surprised to see Gemma's vehicle, with Gemma still sitting in the driver's seat.
Kris approached the window, eyebrows raised. "Gemma, twice in two days. To what do I owe this honor?"
Gemma smiled, turning the radio down. She then produced a bag.
"Brought you some good food to eat. Figured you might be getting sick of take-out."
She was right about that. There were some days Kris wished she had rented a house or an actual apartment that had a kitchen. She wans't the best cook in the world, but she could hold her own.
"And, I wanted to let you know that I have a desk in my office at TM. If you want a change of scenery. It would be nice to have some more estrogen around."
Kris was about to say something, but Gemma put the vehicle in reverse and smiled. "Enjoy that.", She said, pointing to the food. And then she pulled away.
Shaking her head, Kris, unlocked her door and set the bag down on the table. Opening it, she had to smile. Gemma had loaded her up with homemade food. You could say what you wanted to about that woman, but she certainly knew how to take care of people.
"HEY, YOU GOT the keys to the Blazer you were working on?"
Jax looked up. He wiped his hands on the rag he kept in his back pocket. He nodded. "Yeah, they're in the office. I'll get 'em."
Opie nodded, watching his friend go.
Jax made his way to the office. He called out, "Ma! I need the keys to that Blazer. Have you seen…?"
He led off when he saw that it wasn't his mother in the office. Her head was down, looking at some papers and she was wearing a T-shirt that provided a very nice view of her cleavage. When she looked up, he couldn't help but smile. She was wearing reading glasses. It made her look like a really hot librarian.
"Kris. I didn't know you were gonna be here."
Kris nodded, leaning back in the chair. "Your Mom stopped by my motel yesterday and offered me a change of scenery. Thought if I had different surroundings, something might come to me."
Jax nodded, folding his arms and leaning against the doorway. "How's that workin' out for you?"
Kris sighed, removing the hot librarian glasses and closing her eyes. "So far, not very well."
Jax stepped away from the doorway and toward her. "What are you doing tonight?"
Her eyes flew open and she looked at him. "Why?"
His smile was mischievous. "Abel's been asking about you. I told him I'd see if you wanted to come over and play dinosaurs with us."
Kris didn't know how to take that. Abel wanted her to come over? What about Jax? It would be really helpful if she knew what Jax thought about what was going on between them. But once you started talking about it, it actually turned into something. So they wouldn't be doing that. At least, not if she had any say in it.
"Dinosaurs, huh?"
Jax smiled. That was one of his favorite things to do with his son. Abel loved the noises that Jax made when he pretended to be a vicious dinosaur.
"What's your kitchen like?"
OPIE NARROWED HIS eyes as Jax walked toward his bike. It was the end of business day at TM and Jax said he was going home. Kris was coming over.
"Abel said he wanted to see her again, so I asked her. She told me she would cook dinner."
Opie raised his eyebrows. What the hell was going on here? He knew that his best friend and Kris were screwing around, but now she was making him dinner? She was spending time with Abel? Opie knew his best friend well enough to know that Jax was falling hard for this girl. In fact, it might already be too late.
"Dude, promise me you'll just…be careful."
Jax looked at him, confusion on his face. "Nothing to be careful about, man. It's just dinner."
Opie watched his best friend ride off and shook his head. It was anything but just dinner.