The sign gave an address for the new location on Candlestick Street. That is way ‘cross town. How are we going to continue our love for one another if she is way ‘cross town? Jimmy Early knew that if he was in better shape, he could ride his bike over to Candlestick and back and still make curfew at the halfway house before 10:00 each night. It wasn’t fair. What Janie is trying to do me ain’t fair. Jimmy Earl was hit with a dizziness akin to vertigo throwing him off balance. He didn’t like the feeling.
He would show her how imbalanced felt.
The sense of calm was short-lived for Ethan. It was after midnight when Ethan’s phone began to buzz. His hand was asleep as it groped in the darkness to find the disturbing noise that had interrupted his sexy dream of Janie in a hot red bikini running down the beach.
“Hello,” he mumbled in the phone.
“Ethan, wake up. It’s Holden,” the voice said.
He sat straight up in the bed. “”What is wrong?”
Holden took too long to respond. Ethan was on his feet, half wearing a pair of sweat pants, his keys in his hand, and down the front stairs. He didn’t know where he was going but he would start with the Comic Book. If she wasn’t there, he would head to her parents. His heart was bumping against his rib cage as he heard the first siren roll past, then another, followed by two police cruisers. It didn’t matter what Holden was saying to him on the phone; Ethan had hung up.
He drove as fast as he could to the Comic Book, arriving to see the flashing lights. It was the blaze that nearly stopped his heart. The car was barely in park when he jumped out and ran toward the flames screaming, “Janie? Janie?”
Holden grabbed him before he ran into the burning building. “She’s safe, Ethan. She’s over here.”
“Janie...Janie, are you okay?”
“No! Someone set my building on fire with me in it, Ethan!” She told him after she ran into his outstretched arms. “I barely made it out alive.”
Her face was smeared with dirt and soot. Her hair was singed and she shook like a leaf in his arms. “Who would do this, Ethan?”
Ethan didn’t have an idea, but Holden was leaning towards that sniveling coward Jimmy Earl Leenes.
The tears overcame Janie. “Everything I own is in that building. Who would do this to me and leave me with nothing? I don’t understand...”
She sobbed into his shirt, “I have nothing!”
Ethan lifted her into his arms and carried her to his car. “You have everything, Janie, and most of all you have me.”
He nodded to Holden as he secured Janie in the car and drove toward Delaney Street. She would have to stay with him until the Roxy was ready for her to move in to the new space. In the interim, he would take care of her like she deserved.
The buckles that had been holding his heart in freeze mode gave way. Janie needed him. She needed his compassion and she needed his love. Both, he was resigned to give to her.
Chapter 18. Breaking Down the Conflict...
Janie was barefoot. The only thing she personally owned was what she was wearing on her back. Whoever torched her store also torched her beat-up old Volkswagen Bug. This attack on her was personal.
Ethan started the kettle before he filled up the tub with warm water. Thank goodness I cleaned the bathroom this morning. She watched him walking to the bathroom with the container of dishwashing liquid.
“What is with the dishwashing liquid?”
“Well, if it works on baby birds covered in slick from oil spills, it should work on removing that soot and singe from you,” he told her. “Besides, it’s the closest thing I have to bubble bath.”
A lone tear rolled down her cheek. “Ethan, what am I going to do?” She implored of him.
“Take a bubble bath. That is all you can do tonight. Give me those dirty things you are wearing, and I will wash them. While you are soaking, I will get you a clean tee and some skivvies; I have an unopened pack. I can get you a safety pin.”
Gently guiding her by the hand, he led her to the bathroom. There was a futon in the second bedroom that he made up for her with a spare pillow and blanket. He added a couple of drizzles of honey into a mug with a finger of whiskey and some hot water and lemon juice. The toddy would do well to settle her nerves so she could sleep.
“Ethan,” she called to him.
He stood at the bathroom door. “Yes, Janie?”
“Will you come in and wash my back?”
“Hell no,” he told her. “I have a toddy out here for you and the futon is made up in the guest room. Don’t stay in there too long.”
He loaded the dirty clothing she had left outside the door into the washer, set the machine to clean a small load in a cold water wash, and headed to his bed. He knew he wasn’t going to get any sleep, but he was going to try. His moving day was tomorrow, and he needed as much rest as he could get. He already knew it wasn’t going to happen and tonight would probably be one of the longest in his life.
He was right.
Janie didn’t bother to go to the guest futon, but marched right through his bedroom door, pulled back the covers, and slid into bed with him. To make certain Ethan knew she was there, she grabbed his arm, pulled it over her, and plopped her handful of ass against his thighs.
“Janie, I made up the futon for you to sleep on tonight,” he told her.
“Yes, but there is someone trying to kill me,” she responded.
“So you thought it would be a good idea for them to get me, too?” he asked as he pushed her to the other side of the bed.
Janie scooted back underneath him. “We are in this together, Baby.” She laughed as she snuggled close. The sound of their breathing filled the empty spots in the room. “Seriously Ethan, I am scared out of my mind. Someone set my building on fire...with me in it...and I think they knew I was inside. Why would anyone want to kill me?”
“I don’t know Janie. Let’s get some sleep and we’ll tackle it tomorrow,” he told her as his chin rested atop her head.
She stayed quiet for five minutes before she began to wiggle her hips against him. “Ethan...”
“No! Go to sleep,” he said with a firm voice.
“But...” she mumbled into the fleshy part of his arm. “...you feel so good.”
Ethan knew she was experiencing a delayed reaction to losing everything she owned, so he spoke softly into her ear, “You have experienced a major trauma and you’re vulnerable. I would feel like I took advantage.”
“I wouldn’t feel that way,” she whispered.
“I would. I have to live with my actions. If or when there is a time for us to go that route, it will happen on its own course,” he told her.
“I’m really scared, Ethan...” She said it again, but this time it did not have the same meaning as it did when she said it out of fear for her life; this had a different connotation.
“Tell me your fears, Janie,” he said softly.
She pulled away from him and settled her head into the pillow. She was facing him in the dimly lighted room, which only had a faint light from the kitchen striking the space they were sharing. “I am afraid that I will always love you more than you will love me.”
His hand reached out to caress her chin, “I don’t think that is possible; now get some sleep.”
Even after declaring his love for her, it took everything in his will to turn his back to her and try to sleep. He closed his eyes and began to pray for understanding. If she called his name once more, he knew his strength would fail him, so understanding of the situation was what he needed to get through the night. His prayers must have been answered because Janie was asleep. More importantly, Janie was safe.
Ethan sighed deeply as his father’s words crept across his thoughts, “the only woman who should spend the night in your bed should be your wife.” He had always held those words dear, and until this night, no woman had ever stayed the night with him, nor had he ever stayed the night with a woman.
Damn, Janie.
Surrender seeme
d a forgone conlusion in Ethan’s mind. For some reason, he was okay with it.
The smell of sausages sizzling in a frying pan woke Janie. Sleepily rubbing her eyes, she made her way to the kitchen to find Hester standing over the stove. Hester poured pancake batter onto a griddle and picked up the kettle to pour hot water over a tea bag.
“Oh! You’re up. Good morning, Janie,” she told her as she set a small plate of sausages on the table.
“Good morning, Mrs. Strom,” she said softly. Where’s Ethan?
“Ethan told me what happened to you, and My Jesus, child, I am so sorry. After we have breakfast, I’m going to take you shopping. I guess at some point I will have to take you to the DMV to get a new driver’s license and all that stuff as well.”
Janie was eyeing the sausages. Her mouth began to water when Hester set the pancakes on the table. She was ravenous. “No, for some reason, I actually forgot my purse yesterday, so it is still at The Roxy. I got up last night to get my phone out of it to charge it up when I realized I didn’t have it. That was when I smelled the smoke...” Janie shivered.
Hester gave her a warm hug. “Don’t worry, you’re in good hands. Let’s get you fed, dressed, and ready to go shopping. I brought a sundress that I think you can wear and some sandals, so we will have you outfitted in no time at all.”
Janie burst into tears. Why can’t I have this with my own mother?
In a flash, Hester gathered Janie in her arms, rocking and smoothing down her hair, which would need to be cut and reshaped after the fire damage. “Janie, God sends us what we need exactly when we need it. Now come on before this gets cold.”
Hester blessed the food and mid-way through her fourth pancake, Janie started to talk. It was something she had been wanting to tell someone all of her life and never had anyone to say it to...until now.
“My parents are not bad people; they are just clueless in the ways of the world. I was born on a cooperative commune in Colorado. My parents, once they married, followed an enigmatic man named Homer from the commune here to Georgia. It was their intent to start a new branch of the cooperative. It went well for a while, then Homer left my dad in charge when he moved on to Dahlonega to open another branch,” she told Hester.
“My Dad is not a leader. Even on a good day, his best is to be a follower,” she said as another tear ran down her cheek.
“We were damned near starving when I took the job at the Comic Book and honestly, I think Mr. Habersham gave me the job because he knew...but I worked hard, Mrs. Strom. I earned my check. I even made a few bonuses, which kept fuel in the generators to keep our lights on. I began to understand how to survive in the world my parents despised,” she said.
Janie went on to explain how she got Holden a job as an electrician’s apprentice one summer. With their combined part time incomes, they were able to make repairs to the trailer, buy decent food, and ensure that everyone went to bed with a full belly. “Nothing scars a child like hunger, Mrs. Strom. I was not going to let Meg, Jem, and Johnny grow up like Holden and I did.” She bit into a sausage as she wiped away another tear.
“No, Ma’am. Meg starts college this fall and Jem is heading into his junior year of high school. He’s a talented artist and is going to be someone,” she said.
“I am going to be someone as well. It may take me a bit a longer because I have to take care of my sister and brothers, but I will get there, Mrs. Strom. This is only a setback, but this ain’t shit in comparison to what I have endured living with those two clueless hippies as parents. So don’t feel sorry for Janie because Janie is a scrapper. Janie is going to be just fine!”
Her back was straight as she wiped her face. Pride sat on her shoulders when she faced Ethan’s mother, wearing the drawers and tee shirt of Hester’s son
“Janie,” Hester spoke. “That day I met you in Bartleby’s was one of the lowest days in my life. I had just lost my dearest friend and there was a hole in my heart so big and wide from missing her that I didn’t know how I was going to get through the day, let alone my life without her.”
She was grinning at Janie. “You saw a sadness in me and embraced me full on, surrounding me with love because you knew that was what I needed at that very moment.”
Janie started to cry again as Hester spoke. “I am here not because I feel sorry for you, but to return the favor. I will surround you with as much love and support as you need.”
Hester stood and opened her arms for Janie to run into. It was the kind of hug that made a person close their eyes in order to fully enjoy it. The kind of hug that made a child feel that everything was going to turn out just fine. Ethan was lucky to grow up with such a loving Mom.
Chapter 19. Getting to that Climax...
Ethan was so tired he could barely drive. He made it home a little after six with Janie’s purse slung across his shoulder. It had been his intention to stop and pick up something to eat, but he didn’t have a house phone and found out that Janie’s phone was in her purse after he called her and followed the sound of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies to her bag. He even called his mother, but found out that she had dropped Janie off hours ago with her brother.
He only hoped she would call. He found himself worrying about her as he inserted the key in the lock to let himself in. Inside, he walked into a surprise.
Candles were lit on the table. A bottle of wine was chilling and Janie was in the kitchen pulling garlic bread from the oven. She said nothing as she smiled at him. A glass of wine was poured and placed in his hand along with a fresh towel and wash cloth.
“Okay, I like this,” he told her as he made his way to the bathroom to wash the day from him.
When he returned to the kitchen, a plate of roasted chicken with fingerling potatoes and mini carrots was made and set before him.. “This looks amazing, and so do you,” he told her.
The long blond hair was gone and she sported a pixie cut. The orange sundress she wore brought out the peachiness in her skin and Ethan found he was having trouble concentrating on the meal.
Janie still had not said anything.
“You are uncharacteristically quiet,” he said to her.
“I figured tonight I wouldn’t make a fool out of myself by trying to get you to make love with me. You love me like a good friend. I am grateful for what you did for me last night, so I cooked you a meal to say thank you,” she said.
Ethan had stopped chewing and sat watching her. She has totally misread everything.
“It is a lovely meal,” was all he could think to say, versus what was actually on his mind.
“Holden will be by at 8:30 to pick me up, and I’ll stay with him until I can get the space above The Roxy ready for me to live in,” she told him.
This wasn’t right.
He rose slowly from the table to retrieve his phone. He scrolled though his recent calls to locate Holden’s number. Ethan pressed the button to dial Janie’s brother. Holden answered on the third ring
“Hey, it’s Ethan...I’m negotiating my terms for surrender,” he told Holden.
“So I don’t need to pick her up tonight?”
“You won’t need to pick her up ever again. She is home,” Ethan told him.
“Welcome to our crazy-ass family,” Holden told him before hanging up.
Janie was only half listening. “What do you mean by surrender?”
“It has taken everything in me these last four months to keep my hands off you, and last night nearly broke me. I want you, Janie. I want you so badly that I am working myself to the bone so I will be able to go to bed and not be tormented with thoughts of you running through my head...keeping me up at night with longing,” he told her.
Janie’s cheeks became rosy. Her face was flushed like it was the afternoon in The Roxy, where on the dusty table Ethan brought her pleasure with his fingertips. This brought back another memory; his finger in her batter. “The taste of you has been burned so deeply into my brain that every time you walk past me, I want to drop to my knees
and drink my fill.”
Janie was stammering, “Whaaaaa.... are...ahhh...whaaa...are you saying, Ethan?”
“I’m through talking, Janie...I’m not saying anything else,” he told her. He was out of the chair and on the floor in front of her. Strong hands turned the dining room chair, her body still in it, to face him. Ethan pushed the dress up her thighs, gripped her by the hips, and pulled each of her legs over his shoulder. The heat of his breath penetrated the soft cotton of her panties as he inhaled deeply and blew hot air into her flower.
“Damn,” Janie said as she arched her back opening her legs to give him more access.
Ethan used two fingers to pull the fabric to the side as his tongue explored her femininity. Janie hips rose to meet the onslaught of his mouth, crying out his name as her hips moved against the pleasure he was bringing her. The sound of him slurping at her nearly drove Janie beyond the point of reason. She started to convulse, then twitch.
“Oh, no you don’t. Not this time...” he told her as he rose to his feet, bringing her body with him. In one motion, he lifted her over his shoulder with her butt turned up in the air. He smacked it softly while telling her, “...You are not finishing without me.”
He carried her to the bedroom and dumped her like a sack of potatoes onto the bed, “Clothes...off...now...” he told her as he pulled his white tee over his head. The drawstring on his lounge pants was pulled, allowing the fabric to pool at his feet. He stood at the side of the bed completely nude.
Janie had stopped fumbling with her dress. Hester had taken her to a Goodwill in the nicer part of town and picked out an entire wardrobe for less than $60.00. She leaned back on her elbows and stared at him. “Whoa...wow...hmmm...wow,” she told him.
“No wonder Kate has been stalking you. You look...wow, look at that...” she pointed at his person. “...Whoa....I want it!”
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