Unexpected Love (Jo's Story) (11 page)

“Hi,” I laugh.  “Who was that?”

“My sister Molly, the interior designer.  The one whose clothes you are wearing right now.”  He smiles.  “She travels down to New York and D.C. a lot so she is around once and a while, but it is usually only for a day or two here and there.  I think she met someone down in D.C. because she has been staying there a lot more.”

“Is that big for her?”

“Yeah, only two of the kids are married in my family, and we never know the dating situation.  Like my brother Jeff, he has like five girlfriends a month so we never know what to expect with him.”

I laugh, “I'm guessing he is younger and in college?”

“Yeah, he is 21 and goes to NYU.”

“Ah, that explains it.  And if he is as good looking as you, I can understand.” His mouth drops open, “what’s wrong? Did I embarrass you?”

“No, I just don’t think I have heard you say that you think I'm good looking.”

“Oh please! You know you are, and you know I think you are.  You are by far the best eye candy I’ve seen in a long time.” I laugh as he rolls his eyes at me.  “I should warn you about my step dad,” I reach over and grab his hand.  “You already know he is a huge football fan, but he is somewhat obsessed, so don’t be surprised if that is all he talks about tonight.  And he is a little over protective of me.  Even with Jarrod he always joked around telling him he would kick his ass, so just be prepared.”

“An overprotective, football loving dad.  Perfect!” He laughs at me.  “They will probably be here soon.”  He moves closer to me again.  “One more kiss before I have to be a gentleman?”

I smirk at him, “I think it’s adorable that you ask.”  And before I can say anything else he is kissing me again.  We are disrupted by a buzzing noise.

“They are here,” he smiles and walks to what looks like an intercom and pushes a button.  I see the gate open at the end of the driveway and I see my mom’s van coming up the driveway.

“Ready for this?” I look at him.

“I am, are you?”

“I'm not sure, but too late now.”  I walk to the front door and go outside.  I can see the girls’ faces in the window and I see my mom’s mouth hanging open.  I can only assume it is from the sight of the house.  I stand at the end of the walk way and I feel Jake grab my hand.  My mom gets an instant smile on her face.  John parks the van and the girls get out and come running.  I catch Abby in mid jump.

“Hi mommy!” She gives me a kiss.

“Hi baby,” I kiss her back.  “Did you have fun at Gramma’s house today?”

“Yes,” she beams at me.  I set her down and bend down to Lizzy.

“How about you?”  I ask her.

“Yeah, we played Candy Land and beat Grandpa John,” she smiles.  “Mommy, who is he?”  She points at Jake.

I stand up and smile at him, kind of a look asking him if he is ready for this.  “This is mommy’s new friend, his name is Jake.”

“Is he your new boyfriend,” she smiles at me.

I laugh; the mind of a six year old is an amazing place.  “Yes, he is.”

“Hi,” he says to both of them.

“Hi, I'm Lizzy,” she walks over to him and puts her hand out.

He smiles at me, “Hi Lizzy, it’s very nice to meet you.  I have heard a lot about you from your mommy.”

“I'm Abby,” she walks over and does the same thing as Lizzy.

“Hi Abby,” he bends down and shakes her hand too.

My mom and John join us at the walk way.  “Hey sweetie,” my mom kisses my cheek.  “Hi Jake,” she smiles at him.  “Quite the place you have here.”

“Thank you Cindy.” He smiles at her.

“Jake, this is my step dad John, John this is Jake.”

“Nice you meet you,” Jake puts his hand out.

“Oh man, it is so awesome to meet you,” John smiles and shakes his hand.  “You are an awesome football player, and I never thought I would get the chance to meet a guy like you.  And now look my little Jo has snatched you right up for her own.”

“John,” my mom slaps his arm.

Jake laughs, “Its fine Cindy, she has done that.”  He looks at me and gives me that heart stopping smile that makes me blush.  “Come on in and check the place out,” he motions for everyone to go to the house.

“Thanks for making me blush on command,” I tease him as we walk into the house.

“Sure, no problem,” he kisses my temple.  “But, it is the truth; you have snatched me for your own.”

“Stop,” I poke him in the arm.  “I thought you were going to be a gentleman?”

“I am,” he smiles and closes the door behind us.  “So can I get you something to drink?”  He asks John and my mom.

“What do you have?”  John asks him and follows him to the bar in the dining area.

“Mommy, his house is really big,” Lizzy comes over by me.

“Yes it is,” I smile at her.  “So what do you think?”  I sit on the step behind us.

“About him?”  She sits next to me.

“Yeah.”

“He seems nice, kind of cute,” she smiles.  “I think I like him mommy.  He was holding your hand when we got here, does that mean he loves you?”

I smile at her, “no baby, he just likes me a lot.  We just started being boyfriend and girlfriend a couple days ago.”

“Oh, well I think I would be ok with him loving you,” she smiles and gets up and runs by John.

“That little girl is too smart for only being six,” my mom walks up next to me.

“Tell me about it,” I stand up.  “Did you hear her?”

“Yes I did.  She is ok with you dating and I love that,” she grabs my hand.  “Are you ok with dating?”

I can’t help but laugh, “Mom, you have no idea! He is amazing.  I feel like I have known him for years.  He kissed me out on the porch today for the first time and I felt like I was going to collapse.  I don’t know what is wrong with me.”

“It’s called dating sweetie, it happens when you find someone that is perfect for you.”

“Don’t say that, this is only our second date remember?”

“Yeah, so, I knew John was the one on our first date.  And I told him that too.”  She laughs.  I do remember her telling me that.  She started dating John when I was four and they were married on their one year anniversary of being together.

“Well I don’t think that is going to happen.  I have a lot of things to consider.  And John isn’t a famous millionaire football player.”

“No, your right there, he isn’t.  God this house is amazing.  But why does he need so much room?”

“I asked myself the same thing,” I laugh.  “But he has a big family so I can only assume it is in case they come up for a game or something.  His one sister stays with him once and a while when she isn’t traveling for work, but that sounds like only a couple nights a month.”

“Hey babe,” John walks up to my mom and hands her a glass of wine.

“Thanks,” she takes it from him.  “Where did the girls and Jake go?”

“Not sure, he said something to them about a game room and they ran down the hall,” John says.  I laugh and head down the hall.  I open the door to the game room and see Jake and the girls throwing balls up the ski ball ramp.  He is laughing just as much as they are.  I just stand there and watch and my mom squeezes my shoulder.  I feel tears in my eyes.  I have not seen the girls play with another guy like this since Jarrod.  I turn and walk out to the dining room where the patio door is.  I stand there just looking out not really sure what to think.  I grab a bottle of water out of the fridge behind the bar and sit on one of the stools.  I hear Lizzy squeal then hear her running down the hall.  She comes running into the dining room and hides behind me.

“Oh Lizzy,” I hear Jake call.

“Come out where ever you are,” Abby says from right behind him.  Lizzy giggles and takes off into the living room and Abby is off right behind her.

“Hi,” Jake comes up behind me and traps me between him and the bar.

I laugh, “Hi.”

“Still worried about me meeting your family?”

“I guess not,” I smile at him.

“Jake, I got her!” I hear Abby yell from the living room.

“Duty calls,” he gives me a quick kiss and runs into the living room.  I hear both girls squeal.

“He doesn’t have kids does he?” John sits next to me.

“No, but he has seven younger siblings so I am sure he is used to being around kids.”

“Holy cow,” my mom walks up next to John.  “That’s a big family.”

“Yeah, twelve kids total for his parents.”  My mom and John both look at me in shock.  “I thought the same thing,” I laugh.

“So, I haven’t talked to you about last night,” John looked at me.

I had honestly forgotten about my encounter last night.  “Yeah, what about it?”

“Did you really pull your gun on the guy?”

“Yes, she sure did,” Jake walks up behind them.  “I was a little concerned for my safety,” he jokes.

“Wait, he was at your place last night?”  My mom looks at me in shock.

“Oh, um, yeah, I forgot to tell you that.  We had pizza and unpacked some stuff.  That was our first date.” I smile at her.

“Oh really?  So when I called you to check on you he was there with you?”  I nod and don’t say anything.  I can tell she wants to be mad but she is so excited about it I don’t think she can be.

“She handled it very well, I mean I knew the guy wasn’t going anywhere or I'm pretty sure she would have shot him.” Jake smiles at me.

“I don’t think your helping,” I push him away.  “Where did you lose my kids?”

“They went back to the games, got sick of beating me up I guess.” He goes behind the bar and grabs John and himself another beer.  “Want something?”

“No, I have water, thanks,” I smile at him.

“Ok,” he comes back around and stands next to me with his arm on the bar around me.

“So, Jake, let’s talk some football,” John says.

My mom and I both laugh at the same time, “we will be outside,” I stand up and walk with my mom to the porch.

“He is really great with the girls,” my mom says as we sit on the chairs on the porch.

“Yeah, he is.  I think I knew he would be.  He was so excited about meeting them.”

“I was really surprised that you wanted us to bring them here.  I thought for sure you would wait a couple weeks for them to meet him.”

“I had planned on it, but it just seems silly to wait.  I mean we are crazy about each other, and I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous but like he said all we can do is be ourselves and let happen whatever happens.  And since the girls are a big part of who I am then he should be around them too.”

“I agree. And I don’t think it is ridiculous at all.  I can see how happy you are.  What surprises me is how quickly you let him in.  I thought for sure you would make him chase after you a little bit.  You didn’t seem ready to date yet.”

“Honestly, I didn’t think I was.  But when I went out with Annie and Michael Thursday night she and I were talking.  It has been almost two years and I have moved out of the house and I am ready to move forward with life.  As much as I love Jarrod, I can’t hold on to what we had forever.  That’s not healthy for me, or the girls for that matter.  They need someone that they can trust too.  They need a father figure.  I know that I have my friends that will always be there for us, but I need someone to come home to.”

“I agree sweetie.  I agree 100%.”

“So you like him?”

“Absolutely! He is crazy about you, I can see that.  And I know you are head over heels for him.  And look at the girls with him.”

“Yeah, I just hope that this isn’t a big mistake.  I know they are going to attach to him, and he isn’t going to be around a whole lot during the season.  Hopefully they understand that.”

“Oh I am sure they will.  Besides they will get to see him play on TV so they will know why he isn’t around.”

“Yeah, I guess that will probably help.”

“So are you excited about your two weeks off?”

“Well, I was.  I don’t know that I will get the entire two weeks after today.”

“Why? What happened?”

“I stopped by the station this morning to see if there was paper work to take care of after last night and Ryan got all over me about how he thinks I lost my edge to do the job.  When I stopped back to talk to Chief Lorenz after he was gone Chief decided that we are having a division meeting Monday afternoon.  He left it up to me to decide on Ryan’s future in my division and after the phone call he made to me about two hours ago I decided he will no longer be working with me.  So I have to go in at about 1:00 on Monday to sit down with Chief and go over some things and talk about replacements for him.”

“Holy cow, I guess I thought Ryan was a better person than that.”

“Yeah, so did I.  But looking back at it, I can see him wanting to try and get me to relocate or ask to be brought down out of my position because he wants my job title.”

“You think he would do something like that?”

I nod, “Yeah, I could see him trying it.”  I look at my watch.  A little after 4:00, Annie and Michael should be showing up soon.  “So what do you guys have going on for the rest of the night?”