Unexpected Love (Jo's Story) (3 page)

I shut the truck door and wave as they back out of the driveway.  I unlock the front door and go in the house.  Even Noni is in bed already.  I'm guessing the girls wore her out today.  I walk up to my room and open the door.  I turn on the light and set my phone and Jake’s note on my table and go to the bathroom and get changed and ready for bed.  I keep telling myself not to think about his note but it keeps creeping back up on me.  Maybe I should just text him and see what he really wants.

If you’re looking for a booty call you are talking to the wrong girl.  ~Jo~

I couldn’t help it.  I am curious to see what he has in mind.  Maybe I am wrong and it isn’t a booty call on his part.  I laugh to myself.  He can’t actually be interested in someone like me.  He probably has more women wanting him than anyone can imagine.

For your information, I don’t do booty calls.  Besides I think you are way too pretty for just a one night stand, or even one date.  I was hoping at least two dinner dates.

My mouth drops open.  Is he being serious or is he being a jerk?

Oh, so you are an ass kisser?  I think that might be worse than a player.

Player??  Me??  No way.  I am being nice so that you will agree to go out with me.  Oh yeah, and I know you didn’t accidentally run into me tonight.  You know if you wanted to meet me you could have just said hi, you didn’t have to have your friend push you into me.

That was just as much as a surprise to me as it was to you.  I was just fine watching you from afar like everyone else.

Are you sure about that??  I think you told her to do it.

POSITIVE!!

I laugh at the thought of watching him after he got done arm wrestling and admiring those muscles.  The thought makes me blush.

Oh, well ok if you are sure.  So…dinner tomorrow night?

He is relentless.

I don’t know, I am going to be moving all my stuff to my new place tomorrow and will most likely be spending all night unpacking.

What if I get some pizza and beer and come help?

What is this guy looking for?  And why does he want to come to my house and help?

You don’t even know anything about me.  What if I am some crazy psycho person?

Are you?

No!

See, now I know one more thing about you.  So how about it?

I roll my eyes, I will give it to him he doesn’t give up easy that is for sure.

I don’t know, but I do know that I need to go to sleep.  I have a lot to do tomorrow.  I will think about it and let you know.

OK, I look forward to hearing from yo
u


I put my phone down on the table and lay down in the bed.  Man, what am I thinking?  Am I dreaming?  There is no way that I have this good looking guy wanting to go out on a date with me.  I am day dreaming about our conversation at the bar and doze off.

~~~~~

“So, let me get this straight, he wants to come over here and help you unpack all your stuff just to be able to have dinner with you?”  Annie’s mouth drops open when I tell her about texting Jake last night.

“Apparently,” I laugh.

“What’s stopping you from telling him to come over?”

“I don’t know anything about him.  And he also doesn’t know anything about me.  Just seems weird is all,” I tell her as I get rid of an empty box and start putting the dishes away out of the next one.

“Jo that is why people go out on dates.  To get to know each other.  Happens on a daily basis.  What are you afraid of?”

I look at her.  “I don’t know.  I think I'm just freaked out because of everything happening right now.  I mean yesterday I moved out of my house that I shared with my husband and now today I am moving into a duplex and some guy wants to take me out on a date.  Well no actually he wants to come to my house so that he can say we are on a date while we eat pizza, drink beer, and unpack all my belongings.”

“I know it is hard for you, but Jo, if you don’t move on with your life then what are you doing?  I mean think about it.  You are just going to be a mom to the girls and work, that’s it?  Don’t you want to possibly have that love in your life again?”

I laugh, “Yeah, I don’t think he is looking for that!”

“Oh, come on Jo, you never know.”  I empty that box and go grab another one.  As I set it on the counter my phone pings for a new text message.  I pick it up and look at it.

Dinner time is getting closer…have you thought about it??

I laugh, “He is very adamant, I will give him that.” I hand Annie my phone and she reads it.

“Tell him yes!”  She gives it back to me.

I have, even talked to my friend, the one whose ass I still need to kick. But there is something that I need to tell you first.

Oh CRAP…you ARE a crazy psycho perso
n


NO…and it is serious…I have two kids.

I send it and set my phone back down onto the counter.  I thought for sure that would be the end of our conversation now that he knew that, but I was wrong.  I think he responds faster this time than any other message he has sent back.

Is that supposed to scare me away?

It scares a lot of guys away.  Not that I have really dated a lot the last couple years, but most guys I even mention kids and they stop talking to me.

Well, I personally love kids.  How old are they?

Lizzy is 6 and Abby is 4.

This is weird.  I thought for sure he would not talk to me after hearing that.  Maybe he is actually looking for something more than just getting some from me.  I laugh at the thought of a one night stand.  I totally would not be into something like that.

Holy crap…two girls!!  That’s a lot of girl power under one roof.

Yep…my two angels…or devils depending on the day!

So is that why you are hesitant to go out with me?  Because you think that I am going to judge you because you have kids?

I roll my eyes.  I hate it when people pretty much read my mind.

Most guys do!

It takes him a little longer to answer me this time, but when he does I understand why.  He sent a book.

Ok, let’s get a couple things straight right now.  Number one…I do not judge people until I get to know them.  I like getting to know new people I am sure there are some things about your life that you will not want to share with me right now.  I am fine with that.  Everyone has something that they need to keep personal.  I am not here to make you tell me every little thing about your life.  I just want to get to know you because I think that you are cute, and I think you are a very nice person.  Someone that I can see myself getting to know on a more personal level.  Number two…I AM NOT MOST GUYS!!!

My mouth drops open as I read his text.  “What?”  I forgot Annie was still in the room and she scares me.

No shouty caps, or I won’t let you have any of the beer you are bringing me tonight.  And I like sausage pizza with extra cheese and onion.

“I will show you in a minute,” I laugh as I push send.  I can’t believe I am going to let him come here.

I'm sorry.  I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable and overthink this.

It’s fine.  Does 6:30 work for you?  Pretty much everyone should be gone by 5:00 and that gives me time to clean up.

I will be there.  What’s your address?

Annie laughs when she gets done reading and hands me my phone back.

“What’s so funny?”

“Because he totally called you out and yelled at you.”

“I don’t get why that is funny?

“Because you are so negative when it comes to meeting and dating guys.  He hit the nail right on the head and knows pretty much what you were thinking.”

“I was not thinking that.”  I go back to unpacking to try and ignore her.  I put a couple dishes up and all of a sudden I hear Lizzy yelling for me.  I turn around just in time to catch her mid jump.  “Hey baby.”  I kiss her forehead.

“Hi mommy,” she smiles at me.  “Gramma and us brought you lunch.”

I laugh and set her back down.  “You did?  That’s good because we are all starving.”  I see my mom and Abby come around the corner with four big bags.  “Mom, did you go bug Lucas at work?”

“No, I was checking on him, making sure everything is running good at the restaurant,”  she smiles.  “He says hi, and wishes he could be here to help but he is still really shorthanded.”

“He still hasn’t hired anyone to replace the cook?”

“No, he is having a hard time finding someone that can handle that volume of food and the hours.”  My poor brother.  He has been busting his butt getting that restaurant up and running and now his head cook quit on him.  I hope he gets it figured out soon.  If I knew how to cook I would go help, but I can’t so I won’t try.

“You want to go tell the guys lunch is here?”  I ask Lizzy and Abby.

“YES!” They yell together.

“Ok, Ryan is upstairs, I think in my room, and Michael should be downstairs hooking up the washer.”  Both girls turn and run.  One goes upstairs one down.  God I love those girls.

“Lucas made all this?” Ryan asks as he shovels some more chicken cordon bleu into his mouth.

“Yes he did,” my mom says proudly.  “I don’t know where he gets it from because lord knows I can’t cook,” she laughs.  We are all sitting in the back yard at the newly built picnic table that my grandpa made for me.  The girls both finish their chicken and are playing on their swing set.  They look happy; I hope this gets easier for them.  I think they are old enough to understand everything.  The last two years have been very difficult for them.  Lizzy has taken it especially hard.  She used to go with her dad every weekend to the fire station to help wash the trucks and now she doesn’t even like to drive past.  “So, what do you have left to do?”  My mom’s voice interrupts my thoughts.

“I think just unpacking the little stuff,” I look at Michael and Ryan.  “They got all the big stuff put together and arranged the three bedrooms for me.  I just have to get the kitchen table in from the garage and the kitchen is put together.  Michael just has to get the entertainment center finished and they are done.”

“Well that’s good, I'm glad you guys got so much done this morning.” Mom laughs.  “What time did you start?”

“Ryan and I were here at 7:00 and Michael and Annie got here about 9:00.  He had to work this morning.”  I smile at Michael.  I don’t know how Annie got so lucky with him.  He truly is a great guy.  He would do anything for Annie, and her friends for that matter.  I don’t even know how many times he has come to my rescue for stupid stuff the last two years.  He even took the girls one night so that Annie and I could go see a musical.  I remember walking into the house and seeing him passed out on the couch with Lizzy on one side and Abby on the other.  Annie and I both laughed when we saw that.  The girls love him to death and they need that solid man figure in their lives right now.  Annie and Michael are going to make great parents someday.

“Well I'm glad you could all help my baby,” she smiles at them then looks over at me.  “You are a lucky girl to have such good friends,” she puts her hand on mine.

“I know,” I smile.  It’s true.  I have really learned who my true friends are over the last two years.  There are a few I lost and was sad to let go, but there where those that I was not surprised about also.  The thought of a couple people still makes me mad.  I look out at the girls trying to make my mind go someplace else.

“So, are you coming to our place to pick the girls up on Sunday?”  Mom asks me.

“I don’t know, do you want me to?”

“If you want to, John is going to be planted on the couch starting probably 11:00.  The scrimmage starts at noon I believe and I know he is going to want to watch it.  Maybe we could do lunch?”

“That sounds good to me,” I smile.  That makes me think about Jake.  Holy man, I am still in a whirlwind thinking about the fact that he is coming to my house.

“We get a sneak peek at how crappy the team is going to be again this year,” Ryan pipes in.

I roll my eyes, “what makes you think they are going to suck?”

“Well, they didn’t pick up any tight ends, which isn’t essential, but I really think they need to get their defense some help.  We need them to get something done because we all know the quarterback can’t do shit,” he says.

Annie laughs, “He isn’t that bad.  He made some damn good big plays last year.”

“Yeah, a couple plays are not going to get you through a season.  He needs to have continual good plays.”

“He isn’t that bad,” Michael looks at me and smiles.  God those two are terrible. 

“Well he sure isn’t that good,” Ryan snorts.

“Hey, he is cute,” I pipe in.

“I'm not sure how that is going to get us wins,” Ryan looks at me.

“I didn’t say it would, I was just stating a fact is all.”  I take a drink of my soda.

“Ok, come on, give me my last two days of sanity with no football please,” my mom laughs.  “I will hear about nothing but that for the next six months and I would like two more days of no football if I can get it.”  She stands up and starts cleaning off the table.  I stand up and help.  I follow her into the kitchen and throw away the empty bags and dishes.  “So how are you holding up?”  She looks at me.

“Better than expected,” I answer honestly.  “I thought this would be a lot harder, but I think I was ready for this.  I think I needed to get out of the house and get back on track with my life.”

“I told you,” she laughs at me.  “I knew that being there was making you hold on to a lot of things that you needed to let go of.  Don’t get me wrong Jo, I know you love Jarrod, but I think it is time to move forward.”

“That seems to be the census with everyone.  Annie told me the same thing last night, and this morning.”  I smile at her.

“That is because we have seen you grieve for two years now.  It’s better for you this way.  Now you can start over with the girls and be done with hurting all the time.”

I sigh, “I hope so.  I tell you what; the things that have happened already since I moved out of the house last night have me in shock right now.”

“What does that mean?”

Oh crap, “nothing really, just got hit on a lot last night,” I try to play it cool.

“Oh really,” she raises her eyebrows at me.  “Anyone cute?”

I have to hold back a laugh, “yeah not too bad.”  Not too bad??  He is a millionaire and gorgeous.

“Well that’s good.  Maybe you need to go out on a date,” she smiles at me.  She has no idea!  “Well I think I will round the girls up and head out, it’s already 3:00 and I have to go drop off some paperwork at the post office for your brother.”  She heads back to the sliding door and calls for the girls to give kisses because it was time to go.  I watch the girls circle around the table and give everyone a kiss and then they come to the door.

“Bye mommy,” Abby gives me a hug and a kiss.

“Good-bye sweetheart, you be good for Gramma ok?”

“I will,” she gives me that big heart melting smile.  Lizzy walks up to me when Abby goes by Gramma.

“Everything ok?” I ask her as she slumps to give me a hug.

“I miss daddy,” she buries her face in my shoulder.  That statement tugs at my heart.  I hear it more than I can handle sometimes, but today it is a full out heart breaking sentence.

“I know baby, I do too.  But you know what?” I pull her up so she can see me.  “We will be fine, I promise.  And daddy is always here for us whenever we need him you remember that ok?”

She nods her head at me and gives me a hug.  I squeeze her tight holding back the tears that I feel forming in my eyes.  My mom walks over and takes her hand and tells her and Abby to go get in the truck.  “You ok?”  She looks at me.

“Yes,” I force a smile.

“It will get easier.  For you and them,” she hugs me.  “I love you. Stay strong baby, you will be fine.”

“I'm trying,” I watch the girls climb in the truck through the window.  “I hate that this is so hard for them.”

“They will be fine, they are stronger then you think.  Especially Lizzy.  This is a big change for all of you but you will get it figured out.”

“I hope so,” I take a deep breath.  She turns and heads for the door and smiles at me before she closes it and heads to the truck.  I turn and look back out the sliding door and see Ryan, Michael, and Annie sitting there laughing.  I will be fine; I have great friends and family.  I have made it this far, no giving up now.  I walk back out there and sit next to Ryan.

“You ok?”  He puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into a hug.

“Yeah, just a little heart jerk from my monster,” I smile at them.  “Lizzy misses her daddy,” I say when Annie gives me a questioning look.  Her face drops as soon as I say it.

“Oh man, that poor kiddo,” Ryan rubs my arm.  “They have handled this like champs; hopefully they can keep on going like that.”

“I think it is just the realization that we are out of the house.  She knew why we were moving and that it is meant to help us, but I think it is coming into view for her that we will no longer be where mommy and daddy where together with them as a family.”  I put my face in my hands and try hard to force the tears back again.

“Jo, you can’t be a rock all the time, we all know this is killing you,” Annie sits down next to me.  “You have been to hell and back with this situation.  You know we all support you and will help you in whatever way we can.”

“I know,” I take a deep breath.  “I just hope it gets easier like my mom said.”

“Well, we are here for you to help in any way that we can,” Annie smiles at me. 

“Thank you,” I smile back.  “Ok, enough chit chat.  There is stuff to get done,” I get up and walk toward the house.  I hear them laugh behind me and get up to follow.  When I look at the clock again it is 4:45 and I see Michael packing up his tools after he is done fighting with the entertainment center.  “Get it all under control?” I laugh.

He snorts,” yes, and I have decided that you are never allowed to move again.  And if you do, we are throwing that thing to the curb and buying you a new one.  It is a pain in the ass to put together!”

I laugh, “I remember Jarrod saying the same thing when he first put it together at the house.”

“I tell you what, this thing is lucky I didn’t just throw it out the front door,” he closes his tool box.

“Oh I'm sure it wasn’t that bad,” Annie comes down from upstairs in the bathroom.  “All your towels and stuff are put away.”

“Not that bad?” Michael looks at her.

“Don’t over exaggerate sweetie,” she smiles.

He shakes his head and takes his tool box out to the truck.  She watches him go to the back of the truck.  “He has been a little cranky the last few days.  I'm not sure what is going on with him.  Maybe he is PMSing.” She laughs.

I just shake my head at her.  “He is probably stressed because you are stressed.  He knows you are under a lot of pressure to get your masters done especially with school starting in two weeks.  He is just being a normal husband.”

“Well it is getting on my nerves,” she laughs.

“Oh Annie, shut up,” I slap her arm.

“Hey Jo, did you need help with anything else?” Ryan comes in from the garage where he was putting the shelf for storage up.

“No, I think you guys all did enough for me today,” I look at him.  “Besides don’t you have to get home to Hailey?”

He looks at his watch, “yeah she should be leaving the hospital here in about five minutes,” he smiles.

“Well go then,” I laugh.  “I am sure you want to spend the extra time with her.  I mean you do have to go back to work on Monday.”

He looks at me, “yeah unlike my partner who decided to take two weeks off.” He teases me.

“Hey, I deserve my two weeks, leave me alone!”

“I know,” he gives me a hug.  “Well I am outta here, you need anything give me a call.”

“I will,” I smile.

He turns and heads for the door.  “Oh yeah, try to behave yourself with your time off.  I know how much of a troublemaker you are.”  I just shake my head at him and he laughs and heads out the door.  I see him stop and say bye to Michael.

“I suppose we should probably get going too so you can get ready for your date,” a big grin rolls across Annie’s face.

I roll my eyes, “he is only coming to help me unpack, why should I get all dolled up?”

“Oh whatever, you know you aren’t going to unpack.  The only thing you have left to do is yours and the girl’s rooms.”

She was right, I got everything in the kitchen done and she did the bathroom.  “I have the stuff in here to do.”  I look around.  I have a lot of pictures to hang and movies to unpack.

“Yeah, you’re not going to do anything.”

“Annie, are you ready?”  Michael pokes his head in the door.  “My dad just called and he was hoping we could make it for dinner.”

“Oh, yeah that’s fine,” she quick gives me a hug.  “Be good and call me in the morning I want details,” she laughs as she heads for the door.  “Don’t do anything that I wouldn’t.”  She shuts that door and I hear her giggle.  I walk over and lock the door behind her and then walk to the service door and make sure that the garage door is shut.  When I close the service door I turn and look around.  I cannot believe that after six years of being in the house I'm now living in a duplex again.  Downsizing just doesn’t seem that great.  Although I must admit this place is bigger than I had originally thought.  I haven’t had to get rid of anything yet.  But I haven’t unpacked the girls’ rooms yet either.  But on the bright side they do have a play room for most of their toys, and we have a finished basement so that makes it easier.  Maybe someday I will put a family room or something down there. 

I look at my phone, 5:30.  I have an hour.  First thing, shower.  I go upstairs to my room and look around.  This place is a disaster.  I dig through the baskets that I threw all my clothes in when I packed from Noni’s house.  I find a cute top and a nice pair of jeans.  I don’t think that I really need to impress, he thinks that he is coming to help me unpack.  As I walk in the bathroom I realize that I am super nervous.  Holy man, what was I thinking?  I should have just thrown that paper away.  I am way out of my league here.