10

Chapter 90 House Return

After Jax left the hospital, security escorted them to the drugstore so he could get his prescriptions filled. One of the security staff was also a medic. He would monitor Jax's scrapes for infection and change his dressings daily. He would even remove the stitches when it was time depriving Tara of an opportunity to see Jax which made Ava happy.

She didn't know why she disliked Tara so much, but she did. For better or worse, she was stuck with Jax until they could get divorced and she would be damned if she would let Tara take him from her. Her father taught her that if something was yours and you didn't fight to keep it, it wasn't going to be yours for long. She needed to stay married to Jax for about two and a half more years before they could split up and never have to see each other again.

She ordered her nurse's costume in time for it to be delivered by late afternoon tomorrow. She was surprised that Jax hadn't made fun of her when she mentioned a nurse's costume and told her not to be childish. The more she was around him, the less she minded having to be around him.

When Jax was settled in bed, she gave him pain medication and a muscle relaxer with a glass of water just like a proper nurse. He quickly fell asleep and Ava went back to watching Hallmark movies. She did take her nursing duties seriously by keeping a watchful eye on him.

He did look kind of cute with his blonde eyelashes resting on his cheek. His hair looked damned good and he was shaving. She loved rubbing her face against his smooth face and made a point of telling him that hoping that would encourage him to keep shaving. He was actually pretty damned attractive after she gave him the stealth gum makeover when he got drunk.

When he said that he was glad that she wasn't with him when he got hurt, he sounded like he actually meant it. He then said she wasn't going to go riding with him until the person trying to kill him was caught. He didn't have to concern himself with her safety. She remembered again how sweetly he'd taken care of her when she'd gotten drunk and her heart felt a little warmth. It didn't mean anything. She just liked the feeling of being cared for. It was something she'd only ever experienced by her father's hired help and never from her father.

They had dinner informally in the kitchen. The chef plated the meals and left them in the warming oven. TB hadn't wanted formal meals but different tastes of New Orleans from fried shrimp to jambalaya to red fish finishing with bread pudding with Bourbon sauce and whipped cream for dessert. They drank the Muscadine wine that Ava had sent to her father.

"I can't believe I haven't had this wine since your mother and I went to Louisiana," TB said savoring the unique taste of the wine. "I'm going to keep a supply on hand from now on. It was a perfect present, Ava, and it reminded me of happy times that I haven't thought about in years," TB said as they began eating their bread pudding.

Ava still found it hard to believe that she had actually given her father a present that he liked. Hell must be about to freeze over.

Jax waited until after they had finished dessert before bringing up the subject of the house. He didn't want to bring it up while they were eating because it would kill his appetite.

"We went to see the house today," Jax began.

Ava watched her father's face carefully wanting to see his reaction.

"It was been trashed. There are rats, mice, roaches everywhere. The place is a disaster," Jax said.

"All that can be handled. We can have a company come and clear out everything and then have exterminators deal with the other problem."

Jax nodded his head as though he were actually considering doing what TB was suggesting. Ava almost said something when Jax began talking again.

"Ava and I had a long talk and if we fix up the house and move in, it's always going to feel like my house no matter how much we change it. We think that we should begin our lives together by finding a place to live together. The house was a very generous gift, but it's best for us to find a place that can be ours."

Ava was pretty sure they hadn't had the discussion that Jax was telling him they'd had. Either he was lying and doing a smooth job of it or he was hallucinating from the drugs. It didn't matter; his explanation worked for her.

"It was your mother's idea," TB said. "I think she wanted you to have your house back as a way of giving you your life back. I'll have one of my assistants deal with the house and get it fixed up. I can either sell it or rent it. It's not a problem. This latest attempt on your life has really made me think about security. There is a lot of land here. We can build a house nothing like a huge mansion but a nice house maybe a little bigger than your old house here. It will be in both your names and you can have all the input you want in the house's design and build.

"One day, you may want to live somewhere else and then I'll buy the house from you. This area is secure with a wall and a security system. From now on, I'll have security. Thought Charming would be safe. Turns out it's just any other place."

Ava loved this idea. She could stall the construction of the house for at least a year and a half and then add in furnishing it—this could take two years at the least. It was perfect.

"I love the idea," Ava said quickly. "A nice little home of our own and I would feel so much safer living near my father and with security."

Jax wasn't comfortable with the size of the gift, but when he split from Ava, he could give her his half of the house. It wouldn't be like he was living off his father-in-law.

"Nothing huge or fancy," Jax said. "Just a normal house."

"Great," TB said enthusiastically. "I'll have one of my assistants set up a meeting with an architect. To save time, I'm sure there are existing plans that could be modified. You two just need to figure out if you want one or two stories and how many bedrooms."

Ava was suspicious at how quickly Jax agreed to allow her father to build them a house. She was glad that he had agreed; it saved them an argument.

"Until the house is built, you can stay here. It should only take a few months for your home to be built," TB said.

Ava wasn't worried about her father's optimistic timetable. She was going to do everything in her power to delay it as long as possible. Even as a kid, she hadn't enjoyed playing house. Being an adult hadn't changed that.

"I thought Ava and I could get an apartment, but now that we have to be worried about security. I don't know that whoever is trying to kill me won't try to take Ava and use her to get to me," Jax said.

It had never occurred to her that someone might try to kidnap her to get to Jax, but it made sense. Once more, Jax was looking out for her.

TB was pleased that Jax and Ava had agreed to stay near him where he could make sure that he could protect Ava and what Jax said about them wanting to choose a home together was nice. It showed they were trying to build a life together.

When they were back in their room a short time later, Ava could tell that Jax was in pain. He winced ever so slightly when he moved and she could tell that going from standing to sitting was painful for him.

"Time for your medication."

"If I take it now, I'll fall asleep. I want to talk a little, but first I'm going to change and get ready for bed."

The painkillers had worn off as Ava correctly guessed and his body ached. He wanted to talk a little about the house and then take the medication and get some sleep. He was grateful to Tara for giving him the powerful painkiller he needed to deal with the pain from his busted ribs.

A long hot shower had eased a little of the aching. He put on his boxer briefs with a great deal of pain.

When he emerged from the bathroom, Ava looked at him in surprise. She could see the bruising on his body and knew he must be in a lot of pain.

"Do you want me to help you finish dressing?" Ava asked.

"Could have used some help with my boxers," Jax said with a tight smile. "You mind if I just sleep like this tonight?" Jax knew that Ava was still skittish about nudity and he had learned that if he respected Ava's boundaries, things worked out better. He also knew that once they were together more, she would lose some of her shyness. He needed to be patient.

"No, it's OK," Ava said sweetly because he'd asked her and not told her. "Your poor body. You're getting quite a collection of injuries."

Ava turned down the bed and hovered near Jax as he got into bed in case he needed her help.

"That stuff about the house just came to me," Jax explained.

"It was a gracious way to turn down the house," Ava said.

"Part of the reason I agreed to the house was for you. I figured when we split, I would sign over my half of the house to you. Maybe I'll even buy back my old house depending on how the renovation goes."

"I'm sure my father would let you have a say in the renovation."

"I'm meeting with TB tomorrow to talk about studying law. He'll probably laugh me out of his office," Jax said.

"He likes you," Ava said. It was surprising but true. Her father seemed to like Jax. "He'll be nice to you. It's only me that he isn't nice to and anyone that crosses him in court."

"He was nice to you tonight."

"It was strange. I can't figure it out."

"Could be he's trying to make amends for the past," Jax suggested.

"Time for your medication and sleep for you," Ava said ignoring his comment about her father. She filled a glass with water and handed him his medication and the water.

"When are you getting your nurse's outfit?"

"Tomorrow," Ava said. "I love dressing up for Halloween. You should be able to dress up for other times too."

Jax realized that his idea of dress up and her idea of dress up might be different, but then with time, that could change too.

"How about a good-night kiss?" he asked.

"If I had my nurse's outfit on, I couldn't kiss you," Ava said seriously, "it would be unprofessional, but since I'm not an official nurse until I have a costume, I'll give you a kiss." She leaned over in bed and kissed him on the forehead. "Now get to sleep like a good patient."

She turned on the TV and watched a movie while Jax shut his eyes. For some reason when he mentioned splitting up and signing over the house to her, it made him feel bad. He'd never been with a girl for more than a few nights and he thought he would be bored, but he was getting to like being with Ava all the time. She wasn't nearly as annoying as she'd been when he first got out of prison.

Today, she'd actually been worried about him. It just seemed weird to put a time limit on their relationship. What if they hit the three year mark and he wanted to stay with her?

Allie Lowen was scared. Clay spoke to her briefly telling her he was on his way over to see her. By his brusque angry tone of voice, she knew that he had found out about her latest botched attempted on Jax's life.

She knew this was the most dangerous week of her life. That idiot that screwed up killing Jax just may cost her her life.

Ava figured that Jax was asleep judging by his regular breathing and his shut eyes. He was sleeping on his back to avoid putting pressure on his ribs, the sheet pulled down to his waist so his chest was bare. She avoided looking too much at his body because he would get conceited and she didn't want him to catch her staring at him. Now that he was asleep, she could look at him as much as she wanted.

His muscles didn't look so unattractive now. His chest was tan from the trip to Hawaii and it was hard, tight and muscular. He was different from the slender guys she'd been with before because his body was strong and powerful and no one would ever mistake him for a girl. That had happened to one of the guys she'd dated briefly. He was wearing clothes, but still . . .

Her fingers longed to stroke his tight abs, but she kept her hands to herself. She didn't want to wake him and his abs were all bruised up from getting run off the road.

Jax looked at her checking him out through the tiniest opening of his eyes and smiled to himself as he fell asleep.

Author's Note: Haven't been motivated to write much lately because I never get input from readers good, bad or otherwise (with a few very rare exceptions). I have been torn between wrapping this story up and continuing it. I'm going to hit a cross roads soon where I have to make that turn to get the plot to come out right. I was planning on ending it in six months or maybe keep writing it for longer and add more to the plot.

It's hard to always write in a void. I don't mind negative comments if they are constructive saying "this sucks" really doesn't tell me much but if you say you don't like Tara being turned into a stalker then I can explain it a little or I can suggest you wait to see how the story unfolds because it may not be what you think it's going to be.

So, I am now hoping to wrap this story in about ten chapters because there's no point writing my heart out for this story and getting nothing in return. I will finish it though for the story's sake.

It would help me to know what readers are thinking for example what do you think is going to happen in the story? You can PM me if you are afraid of giving away spoilers in a review.

I do greatly appreciate the readers who do provide input—sadly they are too few. Time to end this.