Jack & Diane

by Hampton, Lena

  “We offered for her to stay out at the farm. We have plenty of room.”

  “Give me strength,” Catherine said to no one in particular or perhaps it was a prayer to God.

  “Well. There seems some logic to that,” Robert said. He looked from Jack to his daughter and then back to Jack. “Can we come out to your farm and meet your parents? I’d like to see where my daughter may be staying.”

  “Yes sir. Just let me call and let them know we’ll have two more for supper.”

  Catherine mumbled something with the only intelligible words being Jesus, supper and Mayberry.

  It took Diane only a few minutes to pack and grab her phone charger. Once outside Diane started towards the safety of Jack’s truck to head to the farm.

  “Diane, where are you going?” her mother chastised her. “You are riding with us.”

  “Mother, it would be rude to have Jack ride by himself.”

  “You are right. Your father can ride with him.” Catherine didn’t wait for any further discussion of the matter.

  Jack stood closely behind Diane and whispered in her ear, “I’ll drive fast to make the ride quick.” He kissed her on the top of her head and headed to his truck. She smiled. He knew her so well it was like he was reading her mind. She felt herself fall a little more in love.

  The door to the car had barely closed before her mother began her inquisition. “Diane, is this Jack Sloan boy just to help you get over Alan?”

  “No Mother.”

  “Then what is the boy to you?”

  “Jack is not a boy. He’s a man.”

  “What is the man to you then?”

  “I don’t know exactly. I do know that he’s more than just a distraction, much more.”

  “How can he be much more than a distraction when you have only known him for a couple of weeks?”

  “I’ve known him three weeks and emotions can’t tell time.”

  “What emotions could you possibly have for him?”

  “I don’t know,” she said raising one shoulder to emphasize her lack of knowing. Diane wished she could talk to her mother and tell her that she was falling hard and fast in love with this man, but she knew she couldn’t. She knew she’d only get judgment and her doubt would increase.

  “Have you talked with Alan?”

  “No I haven’t.”

  “Why have you not talked to him?”

  “I don’t know what there is to talk about.”

  “Are the past four years of your life not worth talking with him about?”

  “I haven’t had time to talk to him.”

  “Perhaps you would find some time to talk with him if you were not out wasting your time with a relationship that is not going anywhere. The term relationship is used very lightly.”

  “Why do you think our relationship isn’t going anywhere?”

  “Diane, are you really delusional enough to believe he wants a relationship with you? You are just some fetish for him to check off his bucket list. Once he gets what he wants, all the lovely things he is saying to you now will cease and you will be left with a broken heart.”

  “That won’t happen,” Diane said with a little more confidence than she felt.

  Catherine gasped and looked at Diane for a moment before returning her eyes to the road. With forced calmness she asked, “Have you had sex with him?”

  “No Mother,” Diane said on an exhausted sigh. She was tired of the interrogation and lecture her mother passed off as a conversation.

  “Well, that is good. Diane?” she paused wanting her daughter to respond so she could be sure she was listening to what she said next.

  “Yes Mother?”

  “Be careful. The emotion with the least concept of time is regret.”

  They drove the rest of the way in an unusual silence.

  ♥♥♥

  Diane was surprised to see Jack and her father laughing when they got out of the truck at the farm. Their ride was obviously more congenial than her drive with her mother. Jack walked over to Diane and took her by the hand then kissed her on the head.

  “You ok?” he asked deeply in her ear.

  She was now. She liked that he was concerned about her. It was also attractive that he felt the need to protect her, even from her own mother. She smiled up at him and nodded then rose on her tiptoe to brush a quick kiss on his lips.

  Her mother cleared her throat and said, “It is rather cold out here, perhaps we should go in.”

  As they walked through the front door, Jack’s Momma came from the kitchen smiling and drying her hands on a dish towel hanging from the waistband of her apron. She kissed Diane on her cheek as usual. She then approached Catherine with a smile.

  “You must be Cathy,” she said and forced the other woman into a hug. “Di is the spittin’ image of you.”

  “It is Catherine and my daughter’s name is Diane,” she said not returning the unwelcomed embrace.

  “Isn’t that what I said?” Before Catherine could respond she’d moved over towards Robert. “You must be Rob.” She surprised him with a warm friendly hug as well. “You’re not lacking in the looks department either.”

  “It is Robert,” Catherine corrected.

  “Isn’t that what I said?”

  “Mrs. Clark, Robert, this is my mother Rose Sloan.”

  “Jack, take their coats and put them in the closet please. Rob, my husband is in the family room watching football if you and Jack want to join him. Di, I know you want to join them too, but I’d like your help in the kitchen for a bit. Cathy, Jack will introduce you to my husband and then you can join us girls in the kitchen.”

  “It is Catherine,” she said not hiding the frustration by the use of the shortened form of her name.

  “Isn’t that what I said?” Rose said feigning ignorance with a glint of amusement in her eye.

  Everyone followed Roses’ instructions, even Catherine, though with a slight delay in protest. She was used to doing the ordering around and not being ordered around.

  “Rose, why do you keep calling my mother Cathy?”

  “Because it is really getting her goat. It’s really funny that something so small would bother her so.”

  “All this time I thought you were so sweet.”

  “Too much sweetness causes cavities.”

  ♥♥♥

  “Dad, this is Catherine and Robert Clark, Diane’s parents. Mr. and Mrs. Clark this is my father Peter Sloan.”

  Jack was glad to see that his dad hadn’t tried to stand. Last time he tried to stand too quickly he’d gotten dizzy and lost his balance. He stretched his hand out. Catherine looked a might perturbed that Peter had failed to rise to greet her and she kept her arms folded in front of her. When Peter tried to stand to appease her, Jack waved him off.

  Robert took a step forward and shook Peter’s hand. “Nice to meet you. You can call me Robert.”

  “Nice to meet you too. Call me Pete. Please have a seat.” Robert sat in the recliner next to Pete.

  “Jack, can you direct me to the restroom?”

  “What kind of car do you drive Robert?”

  Jack heard the question as he left the room. He knew this was the question his father asked to judge every man’s character. Degrees and net worth meant nothing to Peter if you did not drive American.

  “A three year old Charger. I want the new Camaro, but I’m having a hard time getting that one by my wife.”

  Jack was relieved. Not only did he drive American, but he’d mentioned wanting a Chevy product.

  “Chevy makes a mighty fine vehicle. I’ve had my truck for fifteen years and in runs like I bought it tomorrow.” Pete laughed at his own joke. “You can’t go wrong with anything made in Detroit. If Diane wasn’t driving one of them foreign jobs she wouldn’t have broken down on the side of the road.”

  “I’m thankful for that foreign car. If she were driving American, I wouldn’t have met her that day,” Jack said from the doorway of the room. He was waiting for Ca
therine so he could escort her to the kitchen.

  ♥♥♥

  Diane sat at the table cutting cucumber and tomatoes for the salad while Rose stood at the stove frying pork chops in a cast iron skillet. This had become their routine, talking and laughing while fixing dinner. They were both laughing about one of Jack’s childhood stories when Jack escorted Catherine into the large kitchen.

  “Jack, Momma just told me another story about you. Pretty soon I’ll have the whole scoop on you.”

  Catherine felt disconcerted by her daughter’s use of the affectionate term for this other woman. She was also taken aback by the easy camaraderie the two shared. Her relationship with her daughter was full of tension with an origin unknown to Catherine. The relationship between Diane and Rose was what Catherine had always wanted with her daughter, but had never been able to obtain. Her daughter’s closeness to her father was one thing, but this hurt more.

  To knock that point home, Diane stood. “I’ve finished the salad. May I go watch the game now?”

  It seemed to Catherine that Diane could not get away from her fast enough and that her daughter interacted with Rose as if she were her mother. Catherine realized that she felt jealous that her daughter was giving motherly affection to a woman she hadn’t known existed until today. She wondered if her daughter would keep a secret from Rose the way she’d kept her relationship with Jack secret from her.

  “Thank you for offering my daughter a place to stay for the remainder of the semester.”

  “It was no problem. When she told us what her roommate said, we didn’t feel she’d be safe there.”

  Diane had called them before her own family. The pain fed by the closeness with these relative strangers grew in Catherine. “Yes, I agree. It is probably best she not stay there. She does not need any distractions during finals. After break we can find someplace else for her to stay.”

  Rose just smiled but did not respond and the room went quiet for a few awkward moments. Finally Catherine broke the silence. “We must compensate you for her expenses.”

  “No need. She’s been eating here regularly for the last few weeks and it just means a few less leftovers for my midnight snack. She has been going through desserts though. She has quite the sweet tooth.”

  The room fell silent once again as Catherine contemplated how well Rose knew her daughter and how much Jack seemed to care for Diane. It had not passed her notice that he had even tried to protect Diane from her.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” Catherine asked.

  “Oh no, you’re a guest.”

  Diane was a guest, but she was not treated as such. “You have a lovely home,” she said changing the subject before it fell into more silence.

  “Thank you. I’ll give you a tour of the house after supper. If it weren’t so cold, I’d take you on the full tour of the farm.”

  At dinner Diane sat between her mother and Jack’s mother. Jack was across the table giving her indecent smiles. The smiles weren’t really indecent, but they made her have indecent thoughts.

  “These pork chops are better than the ones my mother used to make,” Robert said as he cut off another bite.

  “It’s the freshness,” Jack’s father responded. “We have a place we can get them really fresh.” Once again he was the only one to laugh at his lame humor.

  “I’d love to take some home. Where do you get them from?” Robert asked

  “They raise pigs, I mean hogs, Daddy,” Diane answered her father’s question.

  “Sweetie, can you use your phone to reserve us a room in town. I think it’s best we wait until the morning to head back home.”

  “Nonsense, you can stay here. We have plenty of room,” Rose said.

  “That is a kind offer, but a hotel will be just fine,” Catherine said wanting to be alone with her husband to process the events of the day.

  “We insist. There’s no need for you to spend your money on a room,” Jack’s father said.

  “We have the money so it is not a problem for us to get a room,” Catherine said a defensively.

  “It won’t be a problem to stay here either Catherine,” Robert simply stated to his wife.

  ♥♥♥

  The rest of dinner passed with only a few stilted words. Late that night Jack found a moment of time alone with Robert.

  “May I speak with you a moment sir?”

  “Yes Jack.”

  They walked into the den and sat in two chairs that are separated by a small table with a lamp on it. Jack took a deep breath and began to speak.

  “Sir, I know you didn’t even know of my existence prior to this afternoon. I also know that I’ve only known your daughter for a brief amount of time. That being said, I want you to know that I have thought greatly about this. What I’m getting at sir is that I would like your permission to ask your daughter to marry me?”

  Robert did not say anything for a moment. Jack looked at the desk across the room instead of at the other man. His hands rested clasped together on his lap so that he wouldn’t fidget with them nervously.

  “You definitely have not known her long. Are you certain?”

  “Sir, I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.”

  “Is she pregnant?”

  “No sir. I respect that she wants to wait until she’s married.”

  “Is that the reason then?”

  Uncomfortable with discussing sex with Diane’s father, Jack smiled an awkward smile. “Not at all, I just love your daughter sir.”

  “If you truly love her now, you’ll love her a year from now. Why the rush?”

  “I’ve come to understand how fragile life can be and not to waste a single moment. I don’t want to squander time when I know this is what I want.”

  “This may be what you want, but what about what Diane wants.”

  “I think she feels the same about me. She is cautious because it isn’t logical to her. I suspect I’ll have to ask her about three times before she says yes.”

  Robert chuckled because he knew his daughter could be overly cautious. “If I say no will you hold off from asking her?”

  “With all due respect sir, I likely will still ask her.”

  Robert smiled. He liked that Jack was respectful, honest and did not back down from his feelings. “Are you trying to have a quick wedding?”

  “Whatever Di wants. The next day or the next year is fine as long as she becomes my wife.”

  “It’s good you know before marriage who is in charge. That being said, the wedding will likely be based on what Catherine wants. Even if she’s not thrilled about you two getting married, which she likely won’t be, there’s no way she won’t have something to do with the planning.”

  “If that’s what Di wants, that’s fine.” Jack simply stated expressing that this was about what Diane wanted and not her mother.

  “I know it’s old fashion for you to ask for her hand, but I appreciate that you did. Alan didn’t bother to. If he had I don’t know that I would have said yes. I never trusted that boy, he has shifty eyes. Catherine and I had only been dating for a couple of weeks before we married. Granted we’d known each other longer than you and Diane. I can understand that when you know, you know, even if you can’t explain how or why.”

  “Does that mean I have your blessing sir?” Jack asked for clarification.

  “It does. Though I think it may be best for me not to mention this conversation to my wife.”

  “I can handle that.”

  ♥♥♥

  social network:

  Message Diane Clark to Ryan Clark: Thanks for the warning about Mom and Dad.

  Message Ryan Clark to Diane Clark: You’re welcome. I did try to warn you, but your phone’s dead.

  Message Diane Clark to Ryan Clark: You could have sent me a message, an e-mail, or used smoked signals. You know I hate being caught off guard.

  Message Ryan Clark to Diane Clark: I’m sorry I could have been more persistent, but I have a few thi
ngs in my own life that I’m trying to deal with.

  Jack Sloan’s status: Keep your phones charged. If you don’t it may result in a surprise visit from your girlfriend’s parents.

  Chapter 10

  Diane stepped out of her final exam confident that she had passed it. She reached into her purse for her phone to call Jack. He’d sent a text just before her exam that said he needed her with a wink.

  “Hey Di,” he said wearily.

  “What’s wrong? It sounds like you’re crying.”

  There was a pause before he spoke so softly the words were almost inaudible. “I need you.”

  “I’ll be at the farm in twenty minutes.”

  “I’m not at the farm. I’m at the hospital in town.”

  Diane stopped in her tracks. “What’s happened?”

  “Dad passed out. Di, I know you have finals, but I could sure use to see you right now.”

  “Don’t worry about my finals. I’ll be there.”

  Jack hugged Diane so tightly when he saw her that it felt like she became part of him. When he let go she kissed him comfortingly.

  “Thank you for coming.” He took her hand in his.

  “No need to thank me for being where I’m supposed to be. What happened? How serious is it?”

  Jack explained, “Back in October there was a spot on a CAT Scan Dad had. It was small and Dad convinced the doctors to wait until after the holidays to do a biopsy. Then today, I found him passed out in the barn.” Tears began to fall from Jack’s blue eyes.

  “Oh, Jack.” She wiped the tears away.

  “He was still breathing and had a pulse but he wouldn’t respond. I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do.” Diane began to cry too. She began to stroke the back of his hand with her thumb. “They did another scan and it showed a larger spot. It was more aggressive than they thought. They went in for emergency surgery because they didn’t want to chance it getting any bigger.”

  Diane wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest. It was as much to comfort him as it was to comfort herself.