Jack & Diane

by Hampton, Lena

  “Is that Anthony Hamilton?”

  “It sure is.” He smiled at her. “He’s singing with Josh Turner.”

  They sat listening to music as the sun dipped below the horizon. The sky was alight with hues of purple, blue, peach and orange. There were still remnants of snow that had survived the unseasonable rise in temperature since the holiday.

  As they listened to more songs by many of the names she did not recognize on his iPod she moved closer to his warmth as it grew cooler without the warmth of the sun. The gentle rhythms of the music and soothing vocals about love wound a spell around her. She leaned into him and he took her hand into his. With each song that played he told her who it was and would interject musical knowledge into it.

  “This is the song that I heard just before I met you.”

  “I’ve heard that song before. A different version though, on the contemporary Christian station I listen to sometimes.”

  “Dave Barnes did it last year.”

  “You know a lot about music.”

  He sat quietly for a moment and looked out over the horizon. “I had a record deal once.”

  She waited for him to elaborate, but he did not. He seemed lost in thought. “What happened?”

  “It’s a long story. I don’t want to bore you.”

  “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” She was disappointed that he did not want to tell her. Without thinking she took her hand from his.

  He could feel their emotional closeness change with the physical distance. He wrapped his arm around her a pulled her back into him. She came easily without a fight because that’s where she wanted to be.

  “When I graduated from high school I moved to Nashville with dreams of becoming the next big thing. I worked odd jobs and played any gig that came along. After about two years I finally caught a break and started getting into some better places. I was writing and even had a couple of songs recorded by major artists. A manager of one of the artist liked my voice and started representing me. About a year later I had a contract. Half way through writing songs for the album I got a call from my momma saying that my dad was sick. She could not take care of him and the farm so I came home to help and I’ve been here ever since.”

  “You gave up a lot. You gave up what you love.”

  “No, I gave up my passion. What I love is my parents and this farm. Passion is something that has the tendency to burn out, but love can burn forever. I knew if I didn’t come back it would only be a matter of time before the farm would have to be sold. It’s been in our family forever and I didn’t want some pipe dream of mine be what ended the legacy. Having a record contract doesn’t guarantee success. Looking back, it was likely for the best.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Young and stupid was the best way to describe me. I was partying way too hard with no fame and a little money. If I had hit it big then I wouldn’t have handled it well. Money and fame would have been like striking a match to gasoline drenched TNT.”

  “Were you doing drugs?”

  “No, but Jack, Jim, and Jose were good friends.”

  “Who are they?”

  “Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, and Jose Cuervo.”

  “Were you an alcoholic?”

  “No, but the hard stuff makes me stupid. Some of my worst decisions were made after a night with any one of those three.”

  “What was wrong with your father?”

  “Cancer. After surgery and chemo it went into remission for a while.”

  “A while? Did it come back?”

  “Last month, his doctor found a tumor. They aren’t sure that it’s cancerous. He has a biopsy scheduled for after the holidays.”

  “Jack. I’m so sorry to hear that.” He went quiet again. She could tell how much his father’s illness bothered him. “I didn’t know there were this many stars in the sky. It’s beautiful. Thank you for bringing me out here.”

  “You’re beautiful Diane.”

  “Thank you.” As they lay there her hand made its way under his jacket. Initially it was just for warmth, and then it began to move over his stomach muscles. He grabbed her hand to stop it from moving back and forth on his chest

  “Diane, I need you to stop that before I, at the very least, kiss you again.”

  “Maybe I’ll kiss you this time.”

  She moved her mouth to his. The kiss started off tentative and sweet. He let her control the kiss at her pace until she let out a little moan and then he deepened the kiss. That caused her to moan again. He took the opportunity her parted lips offered and slipped his tongue into her mouth. She matched the movement. Heat exploded in her.

  His hand moved down her back and cupped her jean clad bottom. Every nerve ending in her body came alive, craving more of his touch. She pressed her body closer to his. He kissed his way to her neck. She moaned his name. He stopped kissing her neck. He rested his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent and trying to catch his breath. “Diane, we need to stop now or I won’t be able to. I don’t want to rush things.”

  If he hadn’t stopped she wouldn’t have been able to. She realized she hadn’t wanted him to. This lack of control was foreign to her. The fog in her brain was clearing and she was embarrassed by the way she had behaved. Her body on the other hand wanted nothing more than for him to continue. Her heart was afraid it would be broken because she was falling hard for Jack.

  “Jack, I don’t understand my feelings.”

  “There’s no need understand. Let’s just enjoy it.” He knew if he let her think about her feelings too much she’d run from them and him. “We need to get you home. You have class tomorrow and I have an early morning. I know the proper etiquette is that I should take you home, but your car is ready and I thought you’d like to drive it. I can follow you to make sure you make it okay.”

  “How much do I owe you for the repair?”

  “Nothing. It was an easy fix.”

  “You’re a farmer, and a musician, and a pseudo mechanic. What other talents do you have?”

  “I’m a pretty good lover too.”

  Diane laughed nervously. From the way he kissed her she was sure he was. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

  “I can’t walk on water,” he smiled, “yet.”

  ♥♥♥

  social network:

  Diane Clark Status: This may be the most memorable Sunday I’ve ever had.

  Comments:

  Noli Freeman: More memorable than the Sunday we were in church for six hours next to the lady that smelled like garlic and had on the sequin hat?

  Diane Clark: This Sunday was more memorable than that. Though, that Sunday was the only time I’ve ever seen Jesus depicted in sequins.

  Jack Sloan Status: I didn’t want this night to end.

  Chapter 6

  As usual, Jack showed up right on time Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately, Diane was running behind because one of her professors had her come to her office to talk about a position at her firm after graduation. To get some experience straight out of college, even in a small college town, would be a great opportunity. The thought of being near Jack also crossed her mind. Jack’s truck was already in the lot when Diane arrived at the apartment.

  It had been two full days since she’d seen him last and she couldn’t wait. She ran up the stairs excitedly. When she entered the apartment, her roommate, Megan, was cross examining Jack like he was on the witness stand. It’s the type of scene usually reserved for fathers and their teenage daughter’s first date.

  “Sorry I’m late Jack. Hi Megan.”

  “You’re worth the wait Di,” he whispered into her ear as he took her into her arms for a hug.

  “Hi” Megan said and exited the living room to her bedroom.

  “It was nice to meet you,” Jack said to Megan’s retreating body. She waved over her shoulder and closed her door.

  “Can you give me a few minutes?”

  “Of course, but hurry. It’s been two days and I’ve
missed you.”

  She smiled and hurried to freshen up. It only took her a few minutes to change shirts and touch up her lipstick. As she was changing from her tennis shoes to her boots, Megan walked in. “Is this the guy you met over break?”

  “He is.” Diane smiled.

  “Is he your type?”

  “I don’t know that I have a type. If I did, he’d fit.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. He’s different than he seems on the outside.”

  “Are you two serious?” her roommate asked concerned.

  “We’re just getting to know each other.”

  “Don’t let him get in the way of your finals.”

  “I won’t and he wouldn’t. He knows how important school is to me.”

  “If he knew how important school was to you, he wouldn’t be here to take you out when you have class tomorrow.”

  “Listen Megan, it’s sweet of you to be concerned about me, but everything’s fine.”

  “Fine,” was Megan’s final word as she left Diane’s room.

  “Your roommate is intense.”

  “She was more intense than usual. Finals have her on edge. What do you have planned for our second date?”

  “Something fun as a break from the doldrums of studying.”

  After a very brief drive, Jack parked near a building Diane vaguely recognized. “Is this the Wonderlab?”

  “It is.”

  “Isn’t this place for elementary school kids?”

  “It’s for all ages. The website says so. I thought it would be fun for you to let your hair down and act like a kid again.”

  For the next hour they did act like kids again. They played in a bubble room and shot at each other with an air cannon. She couldn’t remember how long it had been since she laughed so much that her stomach hurt. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that Jack was her type.

  After their “play date” they went for pizza. Instead of sitting across from her in the booth, he sat next to her. She enjoyed the closeness.

  “I’m nervous about meeting your parents.”

  “Don’t be. If anything I should be nervous. My parents will likely drive you away with stories about me.”

  “Let’s face it Jack, if the mullet didn’t scare me off, stories of childhood pranks certainly won’t.” She added to herself that the only thing that came close to running her off was the confederate flag on the front of his truck the night they met. The thought turned her mood serious. “How will your parents react when they find out I’m black? Do you think they won’t like me?”

  “They didn’t react to it one way or the other. I don’t know that it mattered to them. Anyway, my father likes whatever my mother likes. The only things that could make my mother not like you is if you don’t like her cooking or if you break her little boy’s heart.”

  “They already know?”

  “Momma asked how you looked so I told her. How did your parents react when you told them about me?”

  “I haven’t told them about you yet.”

  “Hmm,” was his only response.

  “It’s not like you’re a secret. I don’t talk with my parents the way you talk with yours. My mother hasn’t really talked to me much at all since Thanksgiving other than to make sure I was still alive. I did tell my best friend all about you.”

  “When do you think you’ll tell your parents about us?”

  “I was thinking around Christmas. It’s best if I tell my mother things face to face. She’s also still operating under the delusion that I’ll get back with Dr. Insincere.”

  “Is that a possibility?”

  She thought for a second how very deficient her ex-fiancée was in comparison to Jack. Jack was kinder, funnier, more thoughtful and sexier just to start. She didn’t know if any man would ever be able to compare to the man she was getting to know. The thought made her smile.

  “No, it’s not possible.”

  Her pause made his chest feel a little tight. She’d been planning a life in a big city with a doctor and maybe a life in the country with a farmer wasn’t as appealing. Perhaps she was just being nice and saying what she thought he wanted to hear.

  “What about your family? Will me being white matter?”

  “I can’t see why it would. My mother won’t approve of you because you’re just Mr. Sloan and not Dr. Sloan. You could be a minotaur, as long as you were Dr. Minotaur my mom wouldn’t care.”

  “It sounds like you have a complicated relationship with your mother.”

  “It’s not complicated at all. It’s simple. She’s in charge. She is the Empress of my life and if I don’t live according to her dictates it’s like I stabbed her in the back on the steps of the senate.”

  “Et tu Brute?”

  She smiled that he got her Julius Caesar reference. “Exactly. I think she actually said that to me once.”

  “Did you ever just do what you wanted to?”

  “Yes, all the time.” She thought for a moment and then a smile crossed her face. “This one time, I went out for the high school basketball team. My mother thought sports, especially such a common sport, was improper for her children.”

  “Did you make the team?”

  “Heck no. I’d never played and it showed. I was awful. I’m just grateful no one got video of it.”

  “I wish they did. I need proof that you’re not perfect.”

  “Oh, I’m not perfect. Ask my mother. She’d tell I’m not perfect.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Well I think you’re perfect.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. I don’t understand why your mom can’t see that. Is she as hard on your brother?”

  “Can we talk about something other than my mother? I have the rest of my life to discuss her with a therapist or four. What about your mom, where did she learn to cook?”

  “She’s from down south, Arkansas. Knowing how to make great food is a requirement there.”

  “How’d your parents meet?”

  “The met at an FFA convention when they were in high school.”

  “FFA?” She shook her head not knowing the abreviation.

  “Future Farmers of America,” he explained. “They say it was love at first sight. The story goes they wrote each other a letter every night and talked on the phone once a week. At the next convention, he greeted her by falling on one knee and proposing. She said yes, but there was another year of letters and phone calls because her parents wouldn’t let her get married until she graduated high school. She got her diploma on Friday and was married on Saturday.”

  “That is the sweetest and most irrational thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “What’s irrational about it?”

  “They were young. They barely knew each other.” She ticked each point off on a finger then threw her hands in the air. “How could they base the rest of their lives on two meetings? What about school? What about experiencing life before committing the rest of it to another person?”

  “I was wondering where Nancy Grace was hiding.” He smiled when she rolled her eyes at him. “They didn’t want to live a life that didn’t include the person they loved. They found a way to do everything they wanted to with each other. Momma got her degree and became a teacher and daddy took over the farm.”

  “But what if…”

  “There are no what if’s Nancy Grace. They followed their hearts. They are living their happily ever after complete with a smart, handsome, and dang near perfect son.”

  “I didn’t know you had a brother.”

  “Oh you’re so funny. Let me get you back to your studying before your overprotective roommate tortures me for taking you away from your studying.”

  ♥♥♥

  social network:

  Jack Sloan’s Status: It’s important to follow your heart.

  Diane Clark’s Status: It’s important to use your brain.

  Comments:

  Jack Sloan: Anytime you want to follow your heart, I’m the ma
n for the job.

  Diane Clark: I’ll keep that in MIND.

  Chapter 7

  Jack pulled up with Diane on Sunday. No matter what he said, Diane remained nervous. She’d also brought a gift though he insisted it wasn’t necessary. He helped her out of his truck in the traditional manner which consisted of a lot of body to body contact. He then kissed her on the forehead.

  Before they could make it to the porch step, the door was opened. His mother came out onto the steps. She stood with her eyes narrowed and her hands on her hips as she looked at Diane from head to toe. Her perusal did not help ease Diane’s nervousness.

  “Well aren’t you even more beautiful than Jack said.”

  “Thank you.” Diane extended her hand towards the woman. “It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Sloan.”

  Rose Sloan looked at her hand as if she had leprosy. Diane wished she had drove so she could flee back to the safety of her apartment. If his mother did not approve of her she was willing to cut her losses before her feelings developed any further.

  “Get that hand nonsense out of here and give me a hug.” She said stepping in with a bright smile that instantly relieved all of Diane’s fears. Jack’s mother kept her arm around Diane and guided her into the house. “We need to decide what you’re going to call me. I’m either Rose or momma because I don’t nearly have enough wrinkles to be Mrs. Sloan.” Jack’s mother pulled her closer and smiled brightly at her. “I’ll show you a picture of my mother-in-law and you’ll see.”

  “The way you cook, I’ll call you whatever you tell me to.”

  “You’re right she is a beautiful and smart one Jack.”

  Jack took her hand and gently pulled her away from his mother. “I’ll return her to you in a moment. I want to give her a tour of the house.”

  “Take your time. I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”

  Jack took Diane on a tour of the surprisingly large house. The last room they visit was his. She felt nervous being in his room alone with him with his parents in the house. His room was almost like a master suite. It had its own bathroom and a sitting area. He sat on the bed and she sat across from him in a chair.