Chapter 16
Lisa
Ever since we got off that Ferris wheel, Jennie had been very different with me—more affectionate. I was ecstatic about it. I offered to let her drive again on the way home.
"No freaking way! I don't think my nerves can handle one more thing today." She climbed up into the passenger seat and snuggled up for the drive home. "I was thinking we could lounge around and watch a movie after I put the girls to bed?"
"Sounds perfect."
She reached over, laced her fingers in mine and closed her eyes.
Once home, Jennie took the girls to their rooms and tucked them in while I took Kuma out for a long walk. He gave me the cold shoulder, clearly annoyed that I'd blown him off all day for a girl. He'd better get used to it because if it were up to me, Jennie was going to become a permanent fixture in my very near future.
Kuma and I played some make-up fetch and then he pranced around the lake for a while, trying to prove his masculinity by biting fish. I was also stalling. I didn't want to smother Jennie. We'd had a monumental day, in my opinion, and I didn't want to pressure her to hang with me and have her freak out again. After a little bit, Kuma and I headed back up to the house.
We walked through the back door. Jennie was already curled up on the couch under a blanket, a sexy, sleepy look on her face as she looked up at me. I walked over and sat down on the other end of the couch near her feet. She immediately sat up and crawled over, lying back down with her head on my lap.
"What are we watching?" I asked her, not even remotely interested in the TV.
"You've Got Mail." She looked up at me, nervously awaiting my response, which she got when I rolled my eyes and fake snored.
"Come on," she argued, batting her long eyelashes at me. "It's romantic, the way they fall in love without ever meeting?"
"I'll watch anything you want. I'll even suffer through the Kardashians, as long as you stay right where you are."
She beamed up at me, struggling to keep her pretty eyes open.
"I think we should talk later, you know … about stuff. I'm just too tired now," she murmured, cozying up to me.
"I know, we will." I threaded my fingers in her hair, rubbing her forehead with the pad of my thumb. "Not now though, tomorrow. Just rest."
She didn't resist. The corners of her plump, pink lips curled up in a half smile and she blinked one last time. I watched her, waiting to see if her eyes would flutter open again. It's a very relaxing thing watching someone fall asleep, that moment where they lose all control of their minds and surrender to their subconscious. They say you often dream about something that happened in your day, good or bad. I was pretty sure I'd be dreaming about Ferris wheels later, I hoped she was too.
I quietly propped my feet up on the coffee table, careful not to disturb her head and slowly shimmied the remote from her lifeless hand.
Jennie asleep on my lap and SportsCenter on the TV… heaven.
"Lisa. Lisa, wake up."
I pried my eyes open and lifted my head to see who was calling my name, as pain shot up the right side of my neck. I must have fallen asleep in a funny position, but I was groggy and last thing I remembered was watching Baseball Tonight's Web Gems with Jennie sound asleep on my lap. Where was she, anyway?
"You okay?" Fred asked in a loud whisper.
I rubbed the pain away. "Yeah, I'm fine, Fred."
"Let's go fishing again." A wide grin crossed Fred's face, making him impossible to turn down, even though I wanted nothing more than to crawl up the stairs to my room and go back to sleep. I grabbed my phone to check the time but all I noticed was the little envelope lit up in the top right corner signaling a text from Jennie.
"Sure, Fred, I'm up for fishing again. Just give me a minute to use the bathroom and grab a quick bite and I'll meet you out there."
His face lit up as he reached down and patted my shoulder. "Sounds good, see you in a few minutes."
I gave him a little wave as he disappeared out the back door and then turned my attention back to my phone.
HEY! I WENT TO BED BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO WAKE YOU BECAUSE YOU LOOKED SO PEACEFUL. SEE YOU AT BREAKFAST.
Relief washed over me. I was slightly worried after her little nap last night, she would wake up feeling like she'd made a huge mistake and possibly regret last night, especially that kiss.
Holy shit, that kiss.
"Thought maybe you'd bailed on me," Fred said as I sauntered down the hill toward his run-down red canoe.
I ran my hand through my hair and forced a smile at him. "Nope, just moving slow this morning, sorry."
"No problem." He hopped out of the canoe and walked around next to me, motioning to his small wooden death trap. "Let's push her off and hop on in."
Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind fishing with Fred at all, it was actually really relaxing. We just had a really long day yesterday, both physically and mentally exhausting, and I didn't exactly sleep well sitting straight up on the couch overnight.
I liked Fred, but I loved sleep.
It really was a beautiful morning out on the lake though. The fog was still sitting just on top of the calm water, the birds were just starting to chirp, not a soul around. Fred and I paddled about fifty yards from the shore before he spoke again. "This look good?"
"Sure. Looks great," I said in between yawns.
"You're gonna let the flies in," he teased.
"I don't know what's wrong with me today, I'm never like this." I reached down and scooped up a small handful of lake water and splashed it on the back of my neck, hoping the shock of the chilly water would wake me up.
"Well, sleeping on that couch like you were all night certainly doesn't help. I'm glad you came out here with me though, I want to talk to you." He stared off in the distance and squinted his eyes. "I've known Sophia and Jennie for about ten years now. Sophia and I have grown to be great friends, and Jennie … well, she's like a daughter to me, Lisa." He looked me square in the eye and I focused right back on his. "I don't know how much she's told you about her past, but when that little prick left her four years ago, it devastated her."
Jennie hadn't filled me in on many details yet, so part of me felt like I was betraying her by listening. The other part of me didn't dare interrupt him because I wanted every bit of information I could get about her.
He continued, "When she called her mom from Minneapolis and told us that he was gone, we immediately went into worker-bee mode. Painting rooms, putting together cribs, buying stuffed animals … all so they would feel at home when they got here. When they did finally arrive a few days later, they weren't ten feet in the door when Jennie set the girls down and collapsed in her mom's arms. She didn't leave her bed that whole first week." Fred took his glasses off and used his pointer finger and thumb to rub his eyes. I wasn't sure if he was tired also, or if he was getting choked up reliving this. "Sophia would make her food and take it in to her. An hour later she would go get it and bring back an untouched plate along with a small trash bag full of tissues. She was crushed, heartbroken." He let out a heavy sigh.
I put my hand up before he started talking again. "Wait, I don't get it. If he was such an asshole, wouldn't she be happy he was gone?"
He looked down at the bottom of the boat, kicking at loose paint with his worn out leather boots. "I'm sure she didn't tell you anything about her dad either?"
She hadn't said one word about him. I just shook my head, not sure I wanted to hear any more about what she'd gone through.
"I can't say too much about that, I wasn't around when he was. All I really know is that he was Jennie's hero. She followed him around like a shadow her whole life, a real daddy's girl. Then one day, he up and left Sophia and Jennie when Jennie was ten. Divorced Sophia and left her for another woman, never really kept in touch with Jennie either. When Jennie found out she was pregnant, she was hellbent on keeping her family together and giving the girls all that she didn't have. Then when Kai left, she felt like she was not only reliving everything with her dad again, but she'd somehow failed Ruby and Jane too."
We both sat in silence for a minute, staring at our feet, taking it all in.
"Anyway, the reason I'm telling you all this is because I made a promise to myself during that time that I would never allow someone to hurt Jennie like that again. She's an amazing girl, as you've seen. She's smart, she's beautiful, and she's an outstanding mom. Those girls are her life and she protects them fiercely. Sophia and I both agree though, she does deserve more—she deserves to be happy." He looked up from his boots and stared at me again, his eyes softer now. "I haven't seen her look at someone like she's looking at you … ever. Not even Kai. In all honesty, Lisa, it scares the hell out of me."
"Let me stop you for a second, Fred. I don't know what you've heard or read about me, but I'm not a bad person. I'm not a love 'em and leave 'em. I'm not a playboy. I've never been in a serious relationship, though I'm not sure that's a good thing." He let out a nervous laugh as I continued. "What I do know is that I like Jennie. I like her a lot. Am I in love with her? No, I just met her a week ago, but there's something about her that just gets to me. Something that keeps me wanting to spend more and more time with her and I'd like to explore that."
Our eyes were locked and a faint smirk teased the corners of his mouth as I kept going.
"I know that what I do for a living is hard for some people to grasp. It's not typical, and it's not always an ideal situation, but I'm really hoping that it won't interfere with Jennie and me. I also hope no one will interfere."
His eyebrows shot up in surprise, but his smile remained.
Crap, I hadn't meant for that last part to come out as aggressive as it did.
"I like you, Lisa. I don't know why yet, but I like you. Please be gentle with her. She acts like a tough, stubborn little shit, but she's fragile." He extended his hand out to me and I grasped it with my right hand then clapped his with my left.
"You have my word, Fred. No games."
The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled and nodded once at me. "Good, cause this lake is pretty deep out there in the middle, and I have a lot of old weights from my military days just laying around, looking for a new purpose."