Mending the Soul (2 page)

Four weeks later, Jenna and Colby pulled up behind the big moving truck.  Their new house was in a town about half an hour away from where they used to live.  The school district was one of the best in the area, and the neighborhood was in a low crime area.  Living here, Jenna could afford more house for her money, so that her and Colby weren't stuck in a tiny closet that the realtors had the nerve to call a house.

Instead of the 'closet', they found a large three bedroom, two-story house with a full basement and a big back yard.  It was a charming house, and was in great shape as it was only three years old.  It had an attached two-car garage and a big storage shed that sat in the fenced back yard.  One of Jenna's favorite features was the hot tub that sat on her back deck.

Colby was excited about the new house too.  Jenna was letting him pick out the paint for his room and he was even going to get a puppy at some point.  There was so much room to play in the back yard, he could already picture the intense games of wiffle ball and kickball.

Jenna and Colby spent their day unloading the moving truck and bringing boxes into the house.  New furniture was being delivered as Jenna didn't want any of it from their old house.  She didn't know which furniture Kyle had his little trysts on with his whores, so she went for all new stuff.

While they were carrying some boxes, Jenna looked and saw an SUV pull into her neighbor's driveway.  The man that stepped out was amazingly good looking.  He went around to the passenger side and helped a little girl out of the Nissan XTerra.  He stood a little over 6' tall, and had wavy brown hair and a goatee.  The little girl with him had the most adorable blonde ringlets, her hair so light it was almost white.

The man saw her and smiled, an almost sad smile.  He held onto the little girl's hand and walked towards Jenna.  Colby walked up at the same time, and Jenna put down the box that she was carrying.

"You must be the new neighbors.  I'm Nicholas Tiller, and this is my daughter Emma."  Nick said and held his hand out to Jenna.

"Hi Nicholas, nice to meet you.  I'm Jenna Chase, and this is my son Colby."  They shook hands and after, Jenna squatted down so her eyes were level with Emma's.  "Hi Emma, nice to meet you.  How old are you?"

Emma smiled wide and said, "Nice to meet you too ma'am.  I just turned seven years old."

"Wow, you're very polite, maybe you can teach my son some of your manners.  Colby is seven years old too but he'll be turning eight in two weeks.  Maybe he'll be in your class at school."  Jenna said sweetly.

Emma turned to Colby.  "You want to play?  I have a swing set in the back yard that my dad built for me."

Colby looked at his mom, pleading with his eyes.  "Can I mom?  Please?"

"Well, as long as it's ok with Mr. Tiller you can.  You've helped me a lot today, you deserve some time to play."  Jenna said and the three of them looked up at Nicholas.

"I don't mind, you're welcome over anytime Colby.  Just be careful."  He said as the two kids ran toward the back yard.

"Thanks for letting him play with Emma.  I think he's going to need all the friends he can get right now.  This move may be kind of rough on him."   Jenna told Nicholas.  "He really has been working hard today.  I think he was just trying to act all macho in front of the movers since I told him he was the man of the house now."  Jenna chuckled.

"Do you need any help with anything?"  Nicholas offered.

"Oh, no thanks.  I only have a few more boxes.  The movers brought the heavy stuff in already, and the furniture was already brought in by the store's delivery men, so I just have a few small boxes to go.  Thanks for the offer though."  Jenna said.

"I don't mind at all.  Let me grab what you have left."  Nicholas said and walked to the moving truck.  He stacked the remaining boxes and picked them all up together.

Jenna picked up the box she had been carrying and led him into the house.  Boxes upon boxes were scattered throughout the house, leaving hardly any room to move.  "Just put them where ever you can find a spot."  Jenna said, as she looked around, a little overwhelmed.  "Well, since there's no chance of me cooking tonight, how would you and your family like to come over for pizza tonight?  We can eat out on the deck and enjoy the nice weather we're having?  I think there's a picnic table out there somewhere."  Jenna offered.

"That sounds good, as long as it's not too much trouble.  It's just me and Emma though, my wife died about two years ago."  Nicholas informed her sadly.

"Oh, I'm sorry.  I had no idea."  Jenna apologized and blushed.

"That's ok, you had no way of knowing.  It's a legitimate question when seeing my daughter and I, to think that I would have a wife to join us.  What about you?  No husband?"

"Well, as of yesterday, nope.  The ink is now dry on the divorce papers.  Ah, sweet freedom!"  Jenna said with a smile.  "Colby and I are much better off alone."

"Well, at least you're at peace with the divorce."  Nicholas joked.  "So, let's call for that pizza before it gets too late to eat outside.  I'm sure you and Colby will want to sleep early, with all the work you've done today."

"Know of a good place to order from?"  Jenna asked.

"Sure do.  Pepperoni and cheese ok?"  Nicholas suggested and Jenna nodded in agreement.  Nicholas took out his cell phone and ordered the pizza and gave them the address for delivery.

"Well, I did stock the fridge before we moved anything in, so can I get you something to drink?  We have Pepsi, lemonade, and water."  Jenna offered.

"A Pepsi sounds good."  Nicholas said and took the bottle from Jenna hand when she held it out to him.

"Smart man, good choice in drinks."  Jenna approved as she took her own Pepsi.

"Coke is too over-rated and it tastes so bitter.  Pepsi has a sweeter taste…it wins hands down in my taste test!"  Nicholas told her.  Jenna laughed and agreed with him.

Shortly after, the pizza showed up and Jenna and Nicholas brought it out to the picnic table, along with more soda, and some paper plates and napkins that the pizza place had sent along with the pizza.  Nicholas called over to his yard where Colby and Emma were playing and told them to come eat.

Colby and Emma raced over to the deck, giggling the whole way over.  The two kids had thankfully become fast friends.  After talking about her teacher, Jenna realized that Colby would be in the same class at school as Emma.  They would also be playing on the same t-ball team. 

"Well, it looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of each other.  It's nice to know I have at least one friend in our new town."  Jenna said as they were talking after dinner.  The kids ran around in the back yard playing tag after they cleaned all the pizza off their plates.

"Well, anything I can help out with…directions, best restaurants, best places to shop, just let me know."  Nick offered.

"Thanks.  I really appreciate it.  I never realized how hard it was going to be to move.  I knew we needed a clean break, but now that it's happened, it's a little unnerving!"  Jenna admitted.

"Well, I'm right next door, whenever you need anything."  Nicholas said and looked at his watch.  "Wow, it's getting late.  We better head home and let you guys get to unpacking, or sleeping…Whichever comes first."

"Ugh, you mean the magic unpacking fairies haven't paid us a visit yet?"  Jenna asked with a groan as she turned and looked at all the boxes in her house.  "This isn't ever going to end, is it?  I don't even know what's in half of those boxes, they've been in storage for so long…since my parents died."

"I was wondering how you had so much stuff after a divorce.  Most of the divorces I've seen leave people walking away with only the clothes they're wearing."  Nicholas said with a newfound understanding.

"Yeah, I left most of the stuff behind.  I didn't want anything that was his or anything that would remind me of him.  Luckily, my parents had planned ahead for this day and left me quite an inheritance when they died.  My dad always used to tell me that Kyle was no good and that someday I would come to my senses and need money to get away from him.  Boy, was he ever right."  Jenna said.  "But anyways, Kyle's part of the past, time to move on with the future."

"Funny, people tell me that all the time."  Nicholas said quietly, just soft enough that Jenna almost missed it.  She heard what he said, but chose to not push Nicholas to talk about it.  "Well, we better get going.  Let me know if you guys need anything, ok?"  Nicholas told her.  He yelled to Emma and told her that it was time to go home for the night.  Emma grumbled, and said goodbye to her new friend.  "Thanks for the pizza Jenna.  It was nice meeting you both."  Nicholas grabbed Emma and swung her over his head, then disappeared in his back door.

"Well sport, looks like you have a new friend already."  Jenna said.

"Yup.  She's so cool it's almost like she's a boy."  Colby told his mom as they headed back inside.

"Well, how about we unpack a few boxes and get our beds ready so we can sleep in them tonight, then save the rest of it to unpack tomorrow?"  Jenna asked.

"Ok, but I better get a good allowance for all my help this week Mom."  Colby moaned.

"You will, don't worry.  You're a pretty good kid, you know that?"  Jenna asked and ruffled his hair.

"Mom!  How many times do I need to tell you not to touch the 'do?"   He whined.

Jenna smiled and watched Colby as he walked up the stairs to his new bedroom.  She was so proud of the way he was handling the divorce.  He didn't cry or complain, and it seemed like it hadn't affected him at all.  Maybe it hadn't.  It's not like he sees his father any less, Kyle was never around as it was when they were living together.  The sad part was that Kyle hadn't even called to see Colby since Jenna kicked him out.

Kyle never wanted Colby, he had always been more of a hassle to him than a blessing.  Jenna thought of Colby as a gift from above and she didn't know what she would do without him.  She felt sorry for Kyle, that he didn't realize how wonderful his own son was.  Jenna knew one thing; she would never take Colby for granted the way Kyle did.

Monday morning was Colby's first day of school.  Jenna drove him and Emma to school so that she could meet with the administrators to finalize Colby's paperwork.  Once they got inside, Colby followed Emma as she led him to their classroom.  Just before he walked in the room, he turned and gave a happy wave to his mother, who stood watching him.  Jenna blew him a kiss, thoroughly embarrassing the little boy.  He shook his head and walked into the classroom.  After he disappeared, Jenna walked to the main office to finish his registration.

After Jenna was done at the school, she headed back to her new house to finish unpacking.  She had done most of it that weekend, but there were still a few boxes left.  Jenna knew that she would want to do some work around the house after moving, so she took the whole week off work.  She had to paint Colby's bedroom still, along with a few other rooms, to make the house more like their own.  All of the walls were currently white, and Jenna needed to add color…White was just too boring for her.

By the time Colby had gotten home from school, his room was completely transformed.  It now looked like a little baseball fan lived in there, and he loved it.  The walls were still white, but they had navy blue pinstripes running from the ceiling to floor, with a big New York Yankees symbol painted above his bed.  Jenna worked hard to get it finished so that she could surprise him after his first day at his new school.  He wandered around, looking at all of the new decorations that his mother had put up for him, smiling broadly.

"This is so cool Mom!  Can I show Emma?"  He asked giddily.

"Yeah, why don't you go get her.  She can come over for cookies and milk too, sound good?"  Jenna offered.

"Only if they're chocolate chip!  I'll be back."  Colby ran out of his room and slammed the back door as he left.

A few minutes later, Jenna heard the door slam again.  She went to the kitchen to get out some cookies and pour the milk, waiting for the kids to come down from Colby's room.  She heard a high pitched squeal as Emma admired Colby's new room.

The kids ran into the kitchen after a little while, looking for the after school snack that was promised to them.  They sat at the breakfast bar while Jenna handed out the cookies and glasses of milk.

"Mmm…chocolate chip!  My favorite!"  Emma said.

"Mine too."  Colby said with a mouthful.

"So, you never told me, how was your first day?"  Jenna asked her son.

"It was good."  Colby said as he concentrated on his cookies.

"Did you like your teacher?"

"Yup."

"Did you make any friends?"

"Yup"

"Are you going to wear a skirt tomorrow?"

"Yup"

Emma started laughing, and Colby broke out of his cookie spell.  "What are you laughing at?"  Colby demanded.

"You just told your mom you were going to wear a skirt tomorrow silly!"  Emma kept laughing.

"Nuh-uh!"  Colby chimed.

"When Colby has chocolate chip cookies in front of him, he becomes lost to the rest of the world Emma.  Get used to it."  Jenna teased.

"My dad gets like that a lot, but not over cookies.  He's kind of weird like that."  Emma told Jenna as she shrugged.