Which was why I spent much of Saturday morning brooding over what might happen that evening. Since school had begun, I only went into work on Saturdays if Jenna was available to hang out with the kids. Given everything that was going on right now, we’d decided it would be a better idea for me to stick close to home.
So Ollie and I worked outside, mowing the lawn, clipping hedges and cleaning the garage. The physical work kept my mind from dwelling on Becca, still sulking inside, and on the Suttons, who were probably blissful just now in their ignorance of what was coming tonight.
We went inside for a late lunch of leftover pizza, eating it while sitting in front of the TV watching the Georgia game together.
“Hey, Dad?” Oliver wiped his mouth with the back of hand. “Is Jenna going to move in with us?”
I hid a smile. For my son, this whole situation was fairly simple. Jenna was part of our life, and it was a matter of what we were going to do next. I loved this kid.
“I don’t know for sure, Ollie. I’d like it. I think it’d be fun for all of us to have her around.” Lots of fun for me, for sure. “Why do you ask?”
He shrugged. “She likes to watch football, too, and it would be fun if we could hang out like this every weekend and eat pizza and maybe wings, just watching the games.”
“That’s very true, bud. Let’s bring that up to her when we see her later.” I hadn’t told the kids that we were all going out to the Suttons’ house tonight, but maybe now was the time. “Uh, tonight we’re all going to eat dinner at Jenna’s parents’ house. That sound okay to you? You remember Miss Millie and Mr. Boomer.”
“Yep. What’re we having to eat?”
I laughed. “Not sure, son. It’ll be good, whatever it is, I’m sure.”
There was a knock on the front door, and Ollie jumped up to answer it, yelling, “I’ll get it!” at the top of his lungs. Usually he was racing with his sister to open the door, but I was sure Becca wasn’t in competition today.
“Look, Dad, Jenna’s here.” Oliver loped into the living room, with Jenna following. I stood up to greet her, but one look at her face stopped me.
“Ollie, can you go outside and finish putting all those tools away? The ones we were organizing?”
Oliver glanced from me to Jenna, and he seemed to realize what I was asking. “Sure. Be right back.”
Once the garage door had slammed behind him, I drew Jenna into my arms. “Babe, what’s wrong?” I traced the line of her cheekbone. “You’ve been crying.”
“I was up all night, Linc, worrying about Becca. Worrying about my family. I love you, you know I do, but we’re making so many people unhappy. I don’t want to be responsible for you and Becca not talking. She looks at me like her enemy now, and it about kills me. Maybe . . .” She looked up at me, her teeth sinking down into her bottom lip. “I couldn’t stand to sit at home alone anymore, so I came over here. I just hope we’re not making the wrong decision.”
“That’s ridiculous.” I blurted out the words, mostly because Jenna was echoing the fears that had been nagging at me all morning. “Jenna, don’t do this to yourself. It’ll all blow over.”
“But what if it doesn’t? Becca’s at an age where she needs you. And my parents . . . I’ve made their lives difficult enough in the past few years. I can’t put them through more worry. They’re not going to understand.” She sank down onto the sofa, buried her face in her hands and wept, breaking my heart into a thousand shattered bits.
I sat next to her and wrapped one arm around her shoulders. “Jenna. Shhh. Babe, it’s going to be okay. You’re just tired and worried, but it’s going to be okay.”
“You don’t know that, Linc. You can’t know that.”
“Daddy?”
Jenna and I both jerked our heads up, over to where the living room led into the kitchen. Becca stood there, one hand on the arched doorway, her forehead drawn together and tears in her eyes.
“Why is Jenna crying?”
I exhaled heavily. “Why do you think she’s crying, Bec? Maybe because you’ve been rude and nasty to her since Thursday night. Maybe because she loves you, and she’s afraid that by loving me, too, she’s hurting you. Maybe because she’s been nothing but kind and generous to you for months, and you’ve just thrown all that back in her face.” I flipped my free hand, the one that wasn’t holding onto Jenna. “Take your pick.”
Becca’s face crumpled. “Jenna, please don’t cry. I’m sorry. I really am.” She sucked in her lower lip as her eyes darted between us. “I just—I was scared, again. I was afraid that everything was going to change, again. And I thought maybe Daddy might want us to go back to Gramma, if he was going to have you, Jenna. And . . . and I don’t want to forget my mom, but I’m starting to not be able to remember everything.” She took a few tentative steps into the room. “But Jenna, I don’t want you to be scared. You told me that we didn’t have to be afraid, remember? Please don’t cry. And don’t—I’m sorry for how I acted. Gramma says I was being a little brat. I’ll be better, though. I promise. But don’t give up on me, okay? Please. I can be better.”
Jenna sat very still at first, as though she was afraid that any movement might break the spell. When Becca finished speaking, her voice rising on a sob, Jenna stood up and gathered my daughter close.
“You don’t have to be sorry, sweet girl. You don’t have to be sorry for anything.” She held her away for a minute, gazing down into her tear-streaked face. “We’re all entitled to behave like little brats now and then, right? I know I’ve had my share of doing that.”
Becca giggled through her hitched breath.
“I told you before, Bec, and I’ll tell you now. I don’t want to replace your mom. I don’t want to change what you and I have at all. We’re friends, sweetie. And that is entirely separate from what your dad and I feel for each other. Okay? I don’t want you to call me Mom or feel like you have to treat me any differently.”
“Are you going to move in with us?” Becca glanced over Jenna’s shoulder at me. “Because I guess I’d be all right with that, as long as I don’t have to share a room with Ollie.”
I laughed, relief making me weak. “Honey, if and when Jenna moves in, I promise she won’t be kicking you out of your room. It’ll be me who’s going to have to share.” I winked at Jenna, and Becca rolled her eyes. “And actually, I’m all right with that.”
“Gross. Is there going to be icky lovey stuff around here all the time now?”
Jenna raised one eyebrow at me but spoke to Becca. “Is that going to be a problem?”
Becca hesitated and then shrugged. “I guess not, as long as you don’t mortify me in front of my friends. I mean, Bridget’s parents are always all over each other, touching and kissing and, like, saying things.” She smiled. “Bridget acts like she hates it, but it’s really kind of awesome.”
“I think we can give Ali and Flynn Evans a run for their money when it comes to the, uh, what did you call it? The kinky lovey stuff?”
“Daddy!” Becca shrieked. “I said icky, not kinky, and ewwww!”
I laughed and gathered my two best girls to me, one arm around each. “So sorry, my bad. You know, they say hearing’s the first thing to go.” I squeezed them both in a massive group hug, until they both squealed. “Now that we’re a united front on the Turner side, are we ready to face the Suttons and break the news there?”
Jenna groaned. “Don’t remind me, please. You know I don’t drink much, but I think I could use a stiff one before we go over there.”
Becca shook her head. “Don’t worry, Jenna. Your mom and dad are going to be fine with it. I mean, who wouldn’t love us?”
I grabbed my daughter and kissed the top of her head. “Isn’t that what I’ve been saying all along? That’s my girl. We got this, right?” I snaked my free arm around Jenna’s waist and pulled her close for a smacking kiss square on her lips. “We got this.”
In the end, we were all right. All of us except Jenna, that is. And I was okay w
ith that, too.
Family dinner at the Sutton home was crazy and loud, just as family dinners should be. Jenna had led us into the large kitchen, where we were quickly recruited into helping with cutting vegetables and then moving dishes piled high with food onto the long table. There wasn’t a chance for anyone to say anything serious until the whole family was seated and ready to eat.
Boomer stood up to give the blessing, but before he could begin, Jenna rose. “Daddy, could I say something before you pray?”
There was a rumble of exasperation among her sisters, and Carla groaned. “We’re hungry! Let him bless the dang food so we can eat.”
Jenna glared at her sister. “It’s only going to take a minute. And it’s important.” She took a deep breath and then reached for my hand. “I wanted to tell you all, while we were here in one place . . . Linc and I are, uh, together. We’re dating. We’re a couple.” She paused, glancing over at her parents. “I know this is a surprise, and maybe I should have told you before, but—”
“Wait. This is your big announcement? That you’re with Linc?” Jenna’s sister Courtney shook her head. “Since when is this news? We all knew, right?” She looked around the table, which was now filled with bobbing heads.
“Jenna, honey, I’ve known how you felt about this boy since the Fourth of July.” Millie smiled. “Which is why I felt so terrible, assuming he was a married man and asking him about his wife, God rest her soul.” There was a murmur of sympathy among the family. Millie hesitated before adding, “And I felt even worse about what I said to you that day, sweetie. I didn’t mean it. I hope you know how proud of you Daddy and I are, of everything you’ve accomplished and how strong you are. If we’ve made you feel otherwise, then we’re sorry.”
Jenna blinked, and her fingers tightened around mine. “No, actually. I didn’t know. I thought you saw me as . . . weak. A screw-up. Someone who would always make the wrong choice.”
Boomer cleared his throat. “Now that there’s just wrong, Jenna. Your mom and I have always had your back. We love you, darlin’, and there’s never been nothing we wouldn’t do for you. If we haven’t made that clear, well . . .” He coughed, and I thought I saw a gleam of moisture in his eyes. “Well, that’s a damn shame, and we all ought to do a better job of communicating, I guess.”
“We’re happy that you and Linc found each other, too.” Millie beamed down the table at the kids and then at me. “I think you’re all darn lucky to have each other. He’s a good man, and he’s raised lovely children. We couldn’t be more pleased that they’re going to be part of our family.”
“All right, are we done with the touchy-feely stuff? And with telling news that we all knew, anyway? Because if we are, can you let Daddy bless the food so we can eat before it all gets cold and we starve to death?” Christy, sitting across from us, stuck out her tongue. “God, Jenna, always such a drama queen.”
And so the family was laughing as Jenna sat down again, her fingers laced through mine. Boomer intoned a fast and fervent prayer, and as the noise swelled again, Becca leaned around her brother to grin at Jenna and me.
“See? I told you so. We’re irresistible.”
“And so, in the end, they lived happily ever after.” I held Jenna’s chin between my fingers and thumb and turned her face to me. Her eyes drifted shut as I touched my mouth to hers, nibbling on her full bottom lip.
“Did they?” She snuggled closer to me, her sweet ass rubbing over my already-stiff cock. We were on my sofa, sitting in the dim light of the television, making out like teenagers. After dinner, we’d stayed at the Suttons’ house for a while, visiting and talking. Jenna had hung out with her sisters, who’d cast several assessing glances my way, along with grins that made me wonder what they were talking about.
When we’d finally left, Boomer had pulled me aside, rubbing his jaw and shifting his weight from foot to foot before he spoke. “Listen, son. I know you’re not a kid. You’re a grown man with kids of your own. I see how you look at my Jenna, and I see how she looks right back. It’s good. I’m not going to bust your balls about that. I been through this, you know? Four daughters. This ain’t my first rodeo.”
“No, sir.” I stood tall and kept my answers short and respectful.
“But Jenna, she’s my baby girl, you know? She’s the one who always had time to hug her old dad. She used to come into the shop with me when she was really little, and she’d pick up each tool and make me tell her what it was for. I still hear that little voice some times.” He sniffed, once. “Anyway, point is, I like you, and I think you can make my Jenna happy. You’re doing okay so far. But if that changes, and if I ever find out that you’ve done anything to make her cry or break her heart, boy, I will come for you. There won’t be a place for you to hide. So you just keep that in mind, all right?” He slapped me on the shoulder as Jenna took my hand to draw me outside. “Y’all have a good night, hear?”
“Yes, sir. You, too.” I’d half-stumbled after Jenna, a little stunned. But then as we drove home, I thought how I might feel when some bozo came around saying he was in love with Becca. Yeah, when I considered it that way, Boomer had actually gone easy on me.
Which brought us back to me, sitting on the sofa, necking with the girl who lit my fire like no one else and whose smile I wanted to see to my dying day.
“Yeah. Happily ever after. Why? You have doubts?” I threaded my fingers through her hair.
“Not doubts, no. But what does that mean, happily ever after? Does it mean nothing ever goes wrong again? Because I don’t think that’s realistic.”
“Of course it isn’t. But it means we’re going to navigate those bumps in the road together.”
“Hmm.” Jenna traced my jawline. “Did you . . . back then, did you think you were going to live happily ever after with Sylvia?”
I blinked. “Sure I did. And we did have it. We had eight wonderful years together, made two perfect children. We laughed a lot, we loved whenever we could, and we held it together.” I thought about my first wife, seeing in my mind’s eye her smiling face, the way she’d look at me first thing in the morning. I remembered Sylvia at seventeen, my lighthearted, laughing first love. “Sylvia was my happily-ever-after then. But who I am now is someone Syl never knew. She might not even recognize parts of me. This is the me who’s crazy in love with you, who’s cocky enough to want another happily-ever-after, with the woman who is my future now.” I kissed her nose. “That’s you, by the way.”
“I’m glad to hear that, because I’m not planning to let you go. Not ever.” She leaned back her head against my arm and steered my lips to hers again. When we came up for air, she murmured against my mouth. “I thought I was too broken to be good for anyone again, but you proved me wrong. I’m ready to take a chance, as long as it’s with you.”
I stroked my tongue against hers, fanning the flames that were building between us and then tickled her upper lip, teasing. “So what were you and your sisters giggling about tonight? I saw the looks they were giving me. Should I be scared?”
“Terrified,” Jenna giggled. “They were asking me if we were getting married or just planned on shacking up.”
“And what did you tell them?” I slid my hand down to just below her breast, my thumb rubbing the lower slope.
“Hmmm. I told them that we were taking it all slow.”
“Did you?” My fingers crept closer to her nipple, and she moved a little, trying to get me to touch her where she needed me. “Does taking it slow include you giving your landlady notice and moving in here next month?”
“Next month?” She quirked an eyebrow at me. “That’s not slow.”
“Hey, I didn’t say tomorrow. Next month sounds like a fucking eternity away.”
“Linc, do you ever notice that you drop the F-bomb a lot more when you’re getting aroused?” She slid a hand between us, her fingers curling around the hard ridge of my cock. “Exhibit A.”
“Maybe I feel like if I say it more, I have a better chance
of doing it.” I waggled my eyebrows at her. “And stop trying to change the subject. You might as well accept it, babe. You’re going to move in here sooner or later. And be ready, because I’m going to propose to you one of these days, too. I want you to be my wife. More than that, I’m fucking dying to be your husband.”
“Annnnnd there it is again.” She sighed, moving her palm languidly against me, getting me hotter with every caress.
“Maybe if I do this . . .” I closed my fingers around her nipple, pinching lightly through her clothes. “You’ll start saying it, too. What do you think?”
Jenna hummed, arching her back, thrusting her boob into my hand. “I think you might be onto something. Matter of fact, if you keep that up, I can promise you one thing.”
“What’s that?” I nuzzled her neck, breathing in the sweet scent that was pure Jenna.
“We’re definitely going to live happily ever after.”
The End
A SOFT SPRING BREEZE BLEW across the manicured lawn in front of the Oak Grove Plantation House Historic Site. On the wide front porch, now painted pristine white, Cora Wellburn stood behind a podium, beaming at the crowd before her. It seemed the whole town of Burton had turned out today to celebrate the official grand opening of the plantation.
Behind Cora, I stood with Linc, our hands not quite touching as we listened to my boss outline the process we’d all gone through to bring the plantation from ruin to restoration.
“Hey, do you think she’s going to mention me?” Alex Nelson nudged me and winked. On his other side, his new husband, Cal Rhodes, shot him a quelling glance. Cal was here in his capacity as Baker Foundation board member, and Alex, as he’d cheerfully told us all, was just along for the ride. The two were full of chatter about the baby they were expecting at the end of the summer.
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