One Road

It was already dark by the time Jordan came home from work that night. Tired and just wanting to shower and get something to eat, he didn’t really want to talk about anything, especially anything that had to do with Joshua Baker. I tried to talk to him about his day – I asked him what was wrong – but he told me everything was fine.

I didn’t believe him but I had house on my mind so I just wanted to talk about it since he wasn’t in the mood to do any talking. “So guess what?” I said cheerfully as I checked on the stew I had been keeping on warm until he got home. Jordan didn’t reply but a quick glance over my shoulder told me he was listening, barely, as he stood by the fridge drinking a glass of chocolate milk. “After practice today, Josh wanted to talk to me. At first I didn’t –”

“Anna, can’t this wait?”

“Well…” I hesitated but nodded. “It can but I just want to tell you –”

“If it can wait, then it can wait.”

“But Jordan, I –”

“Anna!”

After snapping at me numerous times for trying to bring up the conversation with Josh, I had enough of his pissy mood. “Find me when you aren’t such an ass,” I snapped at him before stomping out of the kitchen.

This house is too freakin’ small! I thought when I left the kitchen in a huff. There’s nowhere to go to blow off steam!

As I stomped down the hallway towards my old room, I heard Jenna’s little feet running on the floor behind me. “Ahh-naa-naa,” she called as she ran. “Wey Ahh-naa-naa, wey!” It was very difficult to continue my angry stomp down the hall.

I stopped, waited for her to get to me and then I knelt in front of her. “Hey Sweetie Pie, what do you have there?” Her eyes widened in childlike wonder as she held the sheet of construction paper she had been drawing on since we got home from school. “Oh! Wow!” I stared down at the multiple, multi-color circles she had drawn all over the paper. “That’s so pretty Jenna.” Handing the page back to her, I gave her a hug and suggested that she go show her daddy. “I bet he’ll want to hang it on the fridge.”

When Jenna ran to show Jordan, I continued down the hall, although, I wasn’t quite so pissed off. I ended up in my old room, a room that now consisted mainly of broken down boxes I picked up for Jordan to pack and other junk that migrated into the room over the last few months.

After moving some stuff around, I settled onto the carpet with a roll of tape and utility knife in my hand, intent on taping together some of the boxes so I could clean out that room. I’m not sure how long I was barred in the spare room before I heard the door open. I knew I should acknowledge him but I really didn’t wish to argue again, so I continued sorting through the pile of old clothes in front of me.

“Do you remember when you bought me that t-shirt?” He asked as I held up a ratty Bon Jovi t-shirt that had certainly seen better days.

“You swore up and down, you would never ever wear a non metal band shirt.”

“True,” he came further into the room. “I did say that but didn’t I wear it?” He plopped down next to me. “Hmm?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, not taking my eyes off the shirt. “Only because I got upset and cried.”

Slipping his arm around my stiff shoulders, he leaned into me. “I hate when I upset you, I never feel right.”

“Yeah…” I tossed the shirt into a trash pile while shrugging his arm off my shoulder. “What’s Jenna doing? She’s awful quiet.”

“Drawing you a picture.”

Nodding, I pushed off the floor and wandered over to another pile of stuff in the far corner. “She doesn’t have to do that.”

“No,” he followed me. “She doesn’t have to but she wants to because she loves you, just like I do.”

“Jordan…” I sighed as I turned to face him. “I know you love me, just like you know I love you with all my heart but –”

“Some times I’m an ass?”

I chuckled softly, my hand slipping over his chest. “Did I ever tell you that I over react?”

Wrapping his arms around my waist, he looked surprised. “Over react? You?” He shook his head. “No way Babe, you don’t over react at all.”

“Oh shush.” I lifted my face towards his and waited until he lowered his to kiss him. “I’m so sorry, you obviously weren’t having a great day and I didn’t…” I sighed. “I didn’t mean to keep pushing; I was just excited about the house Josh told me about. That’s all.”

“House?” Jordan frowned. “What house?”

“The one he wouldn’t let me leave the school without tell me about.” My eyes widened as I told Jordan it sounded like something we were looking for. “He told me that a friend of his in real estate told him about the house – it’s not yet listed with a company but the current owner had been talking to his friend about listing the house.”

“And Josh just knew it was what we were looking for?”

“Well…” I chewed nervously on my bottom lip.

Jordan sighed, glancing away for a moment. “When you two were together, you talked about houses, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, something like that.” Jordan asked me how that worked. “I tried to talk about a house that I would love to live in someday but he never really did give much.” I shrugged. “He always talked about the future but never anything real. You know?”

“I hope you never feel that way with me Anna.” His arms tightened around me as he held me against his chest. “I want…” He sighed. “Do you know why I was in such a mood when I got home?”

“No, I don’t know.”

“Wanda called me, the couple that want to buy this house, want to move in before the end of the month – it’s a deal breaker if they can’t.”

“What?!?!”

He groaned. “I have to pack, move and clean everything in less than two weeks!”

All Sorts Of Trouble

At the end of Wednesday’s show rehearsal, Josh asked me if I had a few minutes. Jenna, who seemed to be coming down with a cold, was cranky and whiny so I told him I really didn’t think it would be a good time. “Maybe on Friday,” I threw over my shoulder as I tried to wrestle Jenna into the boots she decided she wasn’t wearing anymore.

“It won’t take long,” he insisted. “I just had something to tell you that I believe you’ll want to hear.”

Jenna kicked at me, catching my finger just enough to bend it backwards. I bit my lip in effort to stop from crying out in pain but, to tell the truth, I think yelling would’ve made me feel a whole lot better. “I’m busy Josh,” I hissed through clenched teeth.

Sitting in the chair next to the moody little brat – I mean girl – Josh held out his hand to me. “Give it here.” When I handed it over, he wrapped his free arm around Jenna and even though she fought him a little, he continued to talk softly to her until she sat back and held up her feet and her hand, which she reached towards his face.

My eyes widened. I slowly turned towards him, a shocked expression on my face. “How…?” I trailed off as Jenna let him slide her boots on her feet.

“Practice.” A weary smile appeared on his face. “Jesse could test the patience of a saint when he wanted. And trust me, he wanted, a lot.”

Just as I went to tell him that I didn’t believe Jesse was capable of testing anyone’s patience because he was such a cute little boy, Cassie came over and asked for the keys to my car. “It’s really cold,” she told me but one glance over her shoulder told me that her desire to start my car wasn’t to warm it up – Todd was heading towards the exit with his guitar in hand.

With a smile, I handed over my keys and told her that I would appreciate it if she loaded all Jenna’s and my stuff in the car while she was at it. She sighed, said fine and then sarcastically asked me if there was anything else I would like. “Sure,” I motioned towards Jenna. “You can take her out and strap her in as well.”

Grumbling, Cassie grabbed my bag and Jenna’s toys. “I’ll be back for the rug rat.”

I waited until she was halfway to the door, where Todd had stopped to talk to his drummer, before calling out her name. “Was Ben coming home this weekend?” When I called out Cassie’s name, Todd glanced her way and smile slightly but the moment I mentioned Ben, his smile disappeared and he seemed disappointed.

Flipping her hair, she turned around causally but she really was upset. “Yes, he is.”

“Great,” I grinned. “Jordan was asking how he was doing just the other day – he wants to have you both for a movie or something.”

A sudden flood of light alerted us to someone leaving the building, it was Todd. “Thanks a lot Aunt Anna!” Cassie snapped before stomping off.

The door slammed open for the second time and beside me Josh chuckled. “You are such a troublemaker.”

As innocently as I could, I told him I wasn’t. “Jordan did ask about Ben the other night.”

“Uh-huh,” he crossed his arms over his chest and grinned down at me. “And you suddenly had to shout that out across the room?”

Nodding, I slipped my hands under Jenna’s arms and lifted her into my arms. “You believe she really wanted to start my car?” I asked him. “You don’t believe she was following Todd out?”

“So what if she was?”

“She’s seeing someone.”

“So?” He raised a brow. “To quote you, she ‘can hang out with other men without betraying anyone’.”

Rolling my eyes, I told him that it was none of his business. “No Anna, it’s none of your business. Cassie is a smart young woman and she is capable of making decisions without you butting in to tell her she is wrong.”

“Oh shut up.” I turned away from him.

He laughed. “Why?” His hand slipped around my arm and he held me in place until he came around to stand in front of me. “Because you know I’m right? That it’s none of your business and you need to butt out.”

“Just…” I waved my free hand in his direction, wishing he would just go away. “Don’t.”

Unfortunately, he didn’t disappear. “Cassie is old enough to make her own decisions Anna. She doesn’t need you to babysit her.”

“Josh!” I glared at him. “You do not need to tell me that. I know she’s old enough to make her own decisions but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to stop her from doing something she’d regret.”

“Regret?” He told me I was unbelievable. “How do you know she’s going to do something? She’s a people person Anna, much like you. So what does it matter if she wanted to follow Todd outside and talk? You, of all people, should be fine with this.”

“I’m her aunt Josh. I love her and –”

“You can’t let her live her own life.”

Rolling my eyes, I told him I was going home.

“Oh!” He grabbed my arm and pulled me just a little closer. “That reminds me; I wanted to talk to you.”

“Can it wait?”

As his smile disappeared, his shoulders slumped a little. “It could,” he replied slowly. “But I would rather tell you now.”

Glancing around the room, I realized that, besides Jenna, Josh and I were the only ones still there. “I really have to go. Jenna and I have a few things to do before Jordan gets home from work.”

“Right.” He nodded but it looked like he wanted to say a whole lot more – and none of it good. He surprised me though; he asked me how Jordan was doing with being a full time dad while Heather was away.

My attention went to Jenna as she rested against my chest, her Dora doll in a death grip in one arm as her other hand balled up in a fist around a handful of my shirt. Gone was the cranky little girl and I couldn’t be happier; I loved it when she wanted to cling to me like that. It always made me feel so special.

I felt so emotional when I said, “It’s going to be so hard when Heather comes back.” Clearing my throat, I turned my eyes back to Josh. “I don’t know how Jordan is going to handle it.”

I knew he understood, he had been through it so many times. “It’ll break your heart Anna but there is some comfort in knowing that she’ll be back again soon.”

“Yeah,” I kissed the top of Jenna’s blond head. “He’s so happy he got this time with her and so am I.”

“I had Jesse for an extra day this weekend because of the holiday,” he told me. “He got so excited about the extra day, he actually cried!” Josh spoke non stop for a few minutes about his weekend with Jesse, then, out of the blue, he inquired about our house hunting. “Have you found a place yet?”

Shaking my head, I told him that we were having a few problems finding the perfect place. “Every house so far is just that – a house. None of them feel like home and we can’t see ourselves living there.” He nodded as I continued. “But we are confident that we’ll find it.”

We talked about a little of what Jordan and I were looking for and it surprised me how interested he was. It also surprised me how easily I talked about Jordan and our future with Josh considering that not even a few weeks ago, he was being an ass about my relationship with Jordan.

And if being able to talk sensibly with Josh about my relationship and future with someone other than him was a surprise, the words that came out of his mouth the minute I stopped gushing about Jordan and my dream house classified as heart attack material.

“You will find it,” he stated confidently. “And I know where it is.”

Sharing Pain

The restaurant was nearly deserted which wasn’t really surprising since it was the middle of the afternoon on a holiday Monday. The waitress was no where to be seen as I stood in front of the ‘Please Wait to be Seated’ sign, neither was the person I was meeting. As I waited for the waitress to come over, I wondered why I was summoned out and why Jordan’s presence wasn’t requested.

“Hello there, table for one?” The waitress asked as she headed towards the side counter where the menus were waiting. She pulled out one and then went back for the second one when I told her that I was expecting another. Following her through the first few smaller booths designed for one or two people, I hoped that whatever I was needed for, it wasn’t bad news.

“I don’t understand why I can’t go,” Jordan whined when I was getting ready to head to the restaurant. “Why does he want to see you?”

“I don’t know Jordy,” I turned to him. “I don’t know what he wants, I don’t know why he wants to talk to me, and I don’t know why he doesn’t want to talk to you. All I know is that I have to be at the restaurant in less than a half hour and you can’t go!”

“Oh!” He held his hands up and backed away from me, a smile playing on his lips. “Now the gloves come off, don’t they? You get a call to have a secret meeting with someone and suddenly it’s all ‘I’m better than you, look at who’d rather talk to me’.”

I laughed. “Fool.” I shook my head and turned back to the mirror, checking to make sure I looked alright. “I don’t think I’m better than you nor do I have a secret meeting with him. I told you about it!”

“Details,” he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“I know,” I met his eyes in the mirror. “You are worried, but trust me Honey, it’ll be alright.”

“I’ll have a glass of water, thank you.” The waitress smiled, laid down the menus and nodded before walking away. Me, I thought more about the phone call and tried to remember how he sounded, if there was some desperation in his voice, or something that would give me cause to worry but he sounded like he normally did.

A bell chimed at the front of the restaurant, I looked up from the menu and smiled as he made his way towards me. “Hey,” I slid out of the booth and held out my arms, waiting for him to come close enough to give him a hug. “How are you?”

Squeezing me tight, he planted a kiss on my cheek. “I’m alright,” he replied but it really didn’t sound like he was. “Sit,” he motioned towards the booth and waited until I moved before he unzipped his jacket and took his seat across from me. “You look amazing; my brother is a lucky guy.”

I laughed. “That he is Nicky, I tell him so every single day.”

“Good,” Nick grinned. “Although, I don’t think he’s likely to forget it. He’s happier now than he’s ever been.” His smile faded slightly as he said, “Lucky him.”

The waitress came over to get Nick’s drink order so I had to wait a few seconds to ask Nick if everything was ok.

Instead of replying right away, he leaned forward and rested his chin on his folded hands. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking as he stared at me but for the first time ever, he was actually making me a tiny bit nervous.

“Were you ready to order?” The waitress asked as she placed Nick’s pop on the table. “Or did you need a few more minutes?”

Nick tilted his head, gave her a smile. “I’m ready.” After I voiced my readiness as well, he ordered burger and fries.

When the waitress disappeared again, Nick leaned back and slumped in the booth. “I know you are probably wondering why I made a big deal about seeing you without Jordan being around.”
I nodded. “I didn’t expect you to call and tell me that you needed me.”

“I know, I haven’t done that since we were still in school.”

Just mentioning that moment made my heart almost stopped and my jaw dropped. “Nick…” I shook my head, I wasn’t sure I could handle what he had to say next, not if he was referencing the time that Amy broke his heart and dumped him.

“No, no,” he reached across the table and gripped my hand.

“No?”

“No…well,” he let go of my hand and sighed. “Anna I don’t know.”

“What’s going on Nick? The other night you guys seemed as happy as you’ve always been. What happened?”

“The money.”

My brow shot up. “The money your grandparents gave you? How did that change things?”

Nick asked me if I spent Jordan’s already.

“What?” I stared at him. “Why would I spend Jordan’s money? Your grandparents gave him the money, not me. Although,” I chuckled. “He said the money goes towards our dream house, if we ever find it!”

“I wish I had that kind of authority over the money.”

“What do you mean?” I paused to take a sip of my water. “What does Amy want to do with the money?”

Nick shrugged, “What doesn’t she want to do?” With another sigh, he told me that he was happy that the banks were closed today. “Otherwise she would have most of it spent already.”

“Ok,” I took a deep breath. “What do you want to do with the money?”

“I’m tired of owing money Anna, I want to pay off everything we owe and start over.” For a spilt second Nick looked happy but then the black cloud in his eyes came back. “Amy doesn’t believe that we should get that out of the way. We fought for most of the last couple days.”

“Oh Nick, I’m so sorry to hear that.”

As time wore on, Nick told me that Amy was making lists of things she wanted to buy and on the top of her list was a new car which he didn’t think they needed. “Jordan went over that car with a fine tooth comb, he assured me that everything was sound and I don’t see the point of buying a new car just because we have a little extra money. I want to get out of the hole, I want to get out of her parents’ basement and I want to finally live life the way we’ve always dreamt.” Pausing, his eyes met mine. “I want to stop being so damn jealous of my little brother.”

“Nicky –”

“Anna, no, you don’t know what it’s like. I see what Jordan has and it pisses me off. I was a third year electrician. I had every opportunity to have everything.”

“But what happened?”

“I quit.” He looked so angry. “Amy complained that I was never around and she missed me so I quit and found a job that would bring me home earlier and I’ve been miserable ever since.” There was a fire in his eyes, one I haven’t seen in years. “I’m tired of barely making ends meet Anna, I’m tired of having to check my bank balance before I buy groceries and I’m so damn tired of feeling like a loser because I gave up something I had been dreaming of since I was a boy.”

“Have you talked to Amy about this?”

He rolled his eyes. “Like she’s going to hear what I’m saying.”

“What do you mean? What else would she hear?”

“Same thing she does every time I speak – something that lands me in the doghouse!”

I had to be careful in what I said; I didn’t want to say something that would send Nick off. “I wish I could give you advice that would make everything better but I don’t have it. I don’t know what you should do, except talk to Amy and hopefully you two can make a decision about the money that will satisfy both of your hopes and dreams.”

“I wasn’t really looking to you for all the answers,” he admitted. “I just wanted someone to hear me out.” He chuckled softly. “I wanted a woman to hear me out.”

After that admission, Nick was like a whole other person, the dark cloud lifted and he started to joke around. Conversation turned from his money problems to Jordan and my quest for the perfect house. “So? What is the perfect house?” Popping a fry in his mouth, he smirked. “Car parts in every room of the house?”

“No!” I snorted. “Although Jordy did mention that a three car garage wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

Back Into It

When I dropped Jenna off at Heather’s parents place they made a couple comments about being surprised that Jordan and I would need someone to look after Jenna that morning. I just brushed it off as them meaning that it was a surprise, with all the family that we both have, that we needed to call them.

“Everyone had prior commitments.”

Heather’s mom looked at me strangely but she didn’t say anything more, all her attention went to her granddaughter.

I knelt down to tell Jenna I would pick her up later and give her a hug. She gave me a ‘Jordy’ grin and proceeded to plant a sloppy wet kiss on my cheek. “Have a great day with Grandma and Grandpa, ok Sweetie?” With one final squeeze, I stood and turned to Heather’s parents. “Thank you both for agreeing to care for Jenna today, Jordan and I really appreciate it.”

Heather’s parents glanced at each other and then her father told me that they were happy to do it. “Tell Jordan we are happy he called. Although we understand, we were disappointed when Heather told us she was leaving Jenna with him – we didn’t think he would allow us to see her.”

“Not allow you to see her?” I gasped. “Jordan would never do that.”

“We see that now,” he responded.

“Good.” I smiled. “Now, I have to go or I’ll be late. Have a great day; I’ll be back at 3:30 to pick her up.”

As I pulled away from the curb outside their house, I happened to glance back and caught a glimpse of movement in the living room window – Jenna was waving at me.

****

I was in a little bit of a hurry when I pulled into the parking lot at work. In the rush to get into work on time, it never clicked with me that the parking lot that normally held a good twenty or thirty cars was nearly empty. Nor did it register that the truck sitting in one of the handicap parking spaces was Jordan’s. In fact, I was in my own little world that it took Jordan running up to me and taking hold of my hand for me to even realize that anything was out of the ordinary that morning.

“Jordy!” At first I was surprised – happy – to see him but soon it changed to wondering why he was there. “What’s going on? Why are you here?”

“I couldn’t go to work,” he told me.

I frowned. “Why not?”

“Closed.”

“Closed?” I repeated slowly. “What do you mean closed?”

A smile started to spread across his face. “Closed, as in not open. Much like what happens when there’s a stat.”

“A stat?” I didn’t know what he was going on with at first but suddenly, as if my brain finally woke up, it sunk in and I felt like a fool. “The Remembrance Day Stat! We don’t work today!” I slapped myself in the forehead. “That’s why Heather’s parents were so surprised that we wanted them to babysit Jenna today!”

As I lowered my hand, Jordan reached out, catching my hand in his. “You know what this means Babe?” He took a step towards me, a mischievous grin on his handsome face. “We –” Slipping my hand around his waist, he lowered his head until his forehead was resting against mine. “We get to spend some quality time together.”

It was a great idea since we barely had time during the week to spend together but I was a little confused. “What about Jenna?” I asked. “Don’t you want to go and pick her up?”

He nodded slowly, “I do.”

“Oh, then how…?” I motioned back and forth between the two of us.

He didn’t respond right away, instead, he lifted his head enough to plant a kiss on my forehead. “I want to pick her up right now but I also want to take you somewhere and….” The mischievous grin was back.

“Ok,” I chuckled. “So do you want me to meet you at home or…?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he nodded enthusiastically. “Meet me at home and we’ll go from there.”

****

Even though Jordan and I left my work at the same time, I managed to arrive to his place before he did. In fact, I went into the house, used the bathroom, changed my clothes and did a quick, simple make up job and was sitting at the kitchen table, wondering where he went, when he finally came through the front door.

“What happened to you?” I asked as he came around the table and kissed my cheek before he sat down next to me.

“Sorry Babe,” he plopped a cloth shopping bag on the table in front of him. “I just had to make a couple stops.”

“You went to see Jenna, didn’t you?” I grinned when he nodded a little guiltily. “Was she excited to see you?” Gasping, my eyes widened, “I bet she just ran to you.”

“I did, I just wanted to see how Jenna was doing.” He confessed that he felt really guilty about leaving Jenna there when he wasn’t working. “But Heather’s parents looked so crushed when I showed up and I know what they were feeling – I feel it every time I have to give Jenna back – I just couldn’t and that didn’t make Jenna happy.” His voice cracked a little. “I made my little girl cry Anna. I made her cry.”

“She’ll be alright Jordan. When we pick her up later, she won’t even remember that you didn’t take her with you this time, all she’ll be thinking is, ‘my daddy is here’ and ‘he’s the best’.”

Jordan snorted. “I don’t think she’ll be thinking I’m the best Anna.”

“No?” I scooted out my chair to sit on his lap. “She does think you are the best Jordy, if she didn’t, it wouldn’t matter that you didn’t take her with you. Jenna loves you.”

Resting his chin on my shoulder, he told me that I was the best. “I love you.”

****

With Jenna at her grandparents’ house, Jordan, after spending a good hour and a half on the couch snuggling and chatting with me, asked if I wanted to go for a drive. “It’s a beautiful day,” he stated when I moaned my distaste for leaving the couch. “We can look for houses,” he tried to persuade me.

I knew that it would be a great time to look but I didn’t really want to get up.

“Anna, come on.” He started to playfully poke me in the sides. “Our dream house isn’t going to come knocking on our door. We have to go out and find it.”

Pouting, I told him I knew. “But,” squeezing him tightly, I asked if I could have another half hour of cuddling before we went out in the cold, sunny November morning.

He gave in, some what reluctantly. “It’s not that I don’t want to cuddle, just so you know Babe.”

“I know,” I smirked. “You can’t get enough of me.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Pushing me away, Jordan shoved off the couch.

“Wait, what…” I stared after him, completely shocked.

Without a word, he disappeared only to come back a few minutes later with the Real Estate Guide in his hands. Flipping through the Guide, he lowered himself next to me again. “I was looking through this last night,” he told me as he slipped his arm around me. “I saw a couple that sounded promising. Want to see?”

I really didn’t have much of a choice; he pointed out one house and then proceeded to shove the Guide in my face. “I can’t see it when you do that.” Taking the Guide from him, I read the ad he pointed out. “1954 three bedroom, 1 bath farm house on 5 acres located 10 minutes from town…” I trailed off as I read the rest of the ad to myself. Biting my lip, I glanced at Jordan. “It sounds good Honey – a lot of upgrading, more than likely but I think we should look at it.” Flipping to the next page he marked, I asked him if he called Wanda to set up a viewing.

“There wasn’t an answer.”

For a half hour I listened to an animated Jordy talking about the houses he wanted to see and all the plans he had for when we finally found the one for us. He was eager to head out and no amount of flirting on my part was going to keep that man home for another second longer.

****

We drove around for hours, it seemed but we didn’t really get a chance to view any houses – from the inside at least. Since all we could do was drive by slowly and check the houses out from the car, that’s what we did. Unfortunately, half of the houses he thought looked good on paper didn’t hold that much promise in broad daylight.

“We’ll find it,” he insisted after the 1954 farm house turned out to be a step up from a run down shack by the glimpse we got from the highway. “I still want to see it from the inside,” he informed me. “You never know, it may just need a little outside TLC.”

“That’s possible,” I gave him a smile that I hoped didn’t show how doubtful I was that he would be alright from the inside.

“Yeah…” he trailed off. “Although, there’s no way that the house is 10 minutes from town. It’s more like 25 minutes.” With a quick glance in my direction, he told me that he didn’t want to live that far out of town. “Hell, if that were the case, I would be looking for houses in Lakeland.”

As we closed in on the city limits Jordan decided to take one of the back roads instead of following the main highway into town ‘for something to do.’ Just after he made the turn, my phone rang.

“Can you meet me later this afternoon?” The caller cut me off before I had a chance to finish my ‘hello’. “Without Jordan? I need you, I really need you Anna.”

Out of It

After their grandparents had dropped the news that they gave all the grandkids $50,000 and all the great grandkids $25,000 the evening seemed to go down hill. No one knew how to react. John. Well John was royally pissed that his parents sold the land. In not so many words, he pretty much kicked all of us out so that he could talk to his parents in private. The boys, though, didn’t want to leave but yet, somehow they all ended up back at Jordan’s house, seated around his kitchen table staring at the cheques in disbelief.

“Hey,” I tapped Jordan on the shoulder and motioned towards the sleepy Jenna in his arms. “Why don’t you let me put her to bed?”

“Hmm?” He glanced at Jenna for a moment and then sighed. “I guess I should put her down.” Instead of handing her off to me, he scooted his chair back and stood. “Excuse us,” he muttered to his brothers as he grabbed my hand and led me out of the kitchen.

First stop was to the bathroom where he held Jenna while I washed her face and hands. Next stop was in his room where Jenna left her blanket earlier that day when she sat with me while I was getting ready for dinner. Last stop was Jenna’s room where I watched Jordan dress her for bed and give her a kiss before turning to let me give her a kiss.

“Sweet dreams,” I whispered just after I kissed her cheek.

Once Jenna was curled up in her bed, Jordan reached for me. Pulling me into his arms, he lowered his head, resting his forehead against my shoulder. He was acting a little strange; he hadn’t said much since his grandparents shared their news with everyone. At first, I thought it was because he was shocked like the rest of his family but has the night wore on, I began to wonder if there wasn’t something else going on in his head.

“Jordy?” I hugged him tighter. “Are you ok?”

He took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah Babe, I’m alright.” There was something in his voice that told me he wasn’t as alright as he claimed to be but I let it go, only because I knew him well enough to know that he needed to deal with whatever was going on in his own way first. I knew he would tell me later, he always did.

With another deep breath, he squeezed me so tight, I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head. Just when I was sure my lungs were going to collapse, he stopped squeezing. Before he pulled away he pressed his lips against my neck. “You’re the best,” he told me as his eyes met mine.

Five minutes later we had rejoined his brothers and their other halves, they had moved from the kitchen into the living room. “How long do you think dad will yell at Nan and Pop before he’s put in his place?” Mike asked as we sat down. “I can’t believe how pissed he was, it’s their land and they should be able to sell it if they want.”

“Control.” Nick replied. “It’s all about his need to control everything.”

As Mike, Nick and Amy discussed their dad’s need to control everything, I sat back and, for once, didn’t voice my opinion on the subject. Instead, I held Jordan’s hand and listened.

It seemed like hours went by before either one of them realized that not only was I not saying anything but neither was Jordan. Giving his twin a questioning glance, Nick asked him what was going on. “Come on Jordan, I know you, of all people, would have something to say.”

With a slight shrug, Jordan told his brother that he really didn’t.

“Yeah, right!” Nick exclaimed. “Anna?” He looked to me for help. “What about you?”

All eyes were on me as I leaned in and rested my free hand on the table in front of me. “I don’t think that it matters much what John feels this time, your grandparents made a decision and they did what they wanted to do. John can yell and scram all he wants but it’s not going to change anything.” With a side glance at Jordan, I continued. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m shocked that they sold the land. Never in my life did I imagine….”

I couldn’t continue. It was not only shocking but upsetting that they sold the land. I spent a lot of summers running all over their land with the boys. We hiked, camped, played, swam and in our teen years, we partied. It was difficult to deal with the fact that we would never be able to roam those lands like we were accustom to. I was a little choked up when I spoke again. “It’s like losing part of our childhood.”

Nick ran a hand over his face. “Wow,” he barely whispered. “I never thought about that.”

Beside me, Jordan squeezed my hand really tight. “I always thought it would be there….that I could share it with my kids….that they would know the same carefree summers that I knew.” He turned his head and gazed at me. “I wanted…” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I had plans Anna and now….it’s too late.”

It broke my heart to see him so upset but I couldn’t help but wonder what those plans were. “I don’t want you to feel like this,” he told me. “I just want to make you happy.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t you know Jordy? I’ve never been happier.”

As Jordan wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed me, Mike cleared his throat and asked, “So what are you doing with the money?”

Jordan grinned, “Make new memories.”

****

Sunday night, like every other night of the week, except Fridays and Saturdays, Jordan and I found ourselves side by side in the kitchen, working on lunch for the next day. I was in the middle of plucking tiny seedless green grapes from the vine and rinsing them off before placing them in a small purple lid container when I heard Jordan snicker beside me.

“What’s so funny?” I asked him as I carried on with the plucking process.

Stealing a grape from the container, he popped it in his mouth and grinned. “You know,” He motioned to the mandarin orange already peeled and sectioned, the raspberry jam sandwich without crusts cut into four tiny squares, and the two juice boxes that sat just off to my right as they waited to go into the Dora lunch sac nearby. “My parents do have food at their house.”

I nodded. “I know but…” I glanced at him and gave a helpless shrug. “Jenna likes carrying her lunch sac and this way, your mom doesn’t have to worry about what to give her for snacks and stuff.” Turning back to the grapes, I hesitated, thinking I was doing something wrong. “Jordy, has your mom complained?”

“Not that I know of. I just think it’s cute.” He gently hip bumped me. “Little Mama.”

****

“What do you mean, you can’t watch Jenna?” A little later that night, just as Jordan and I finished cleaning up before heading into the living room to watch a little TV, his mom called. “Well what am I supposed to do?”

I tried to busy myself so it didn’t seem like I was trying to listen in so I wandered down the hall to his room. I had changed and was in the middle of pulling the bed covers down for later when he came into the room and plopped down on the bed. “Mom and dad aren’t going to be able to watch Jenna for a couple days,” he told me. “It seems that Dad thinks he needs to have a family meeting with Uncle Brian and Aunt Meredith – he summoned the both of them to my grandparents place.”

“Wow,” I sat down next to him. “What are you going to do about Jenna?”

“Call around, hope someone can babysit. If not, I’ll take a couple days off work.”

“Who are you going to call?”

He shrugged. “I could call Nick but I don’t know if Amy would want Jenna as well as Bradley. Mike…well maybe not.”

“We could call my brothers; see if Susan or Mary can help us out.”

“I don’t know,” he rubbed his face. “Susan would be best, since she’s in town but she’s in the same boat as Amy, would she want another kid around with a newborn? I mean, Jenna’s a great kid but will Susan be too tired from dealing with Courtney? She’s only two months old.”

“I can’t say until we call them Jordy.”

“I know,” he rolled over and grabbed the phone from the bedside stand. “I’ll try Nick first,” he told me as he scrolled through the phone’s directory.
Twenty minutes later we learnt that Amy and Nick had appointments the next morning, so they weren’t able to help. Susan was extremely apologetic but she didn’t think that it would be a good idea for Jenna to stay with her because Conner was sick. Zach told me that Mary would love to spend time with Jenna but she happened to be visiting her parents for a few days. “She is extremely emotional,” he told me. “She was crying the other night and told me that she missed her mom, so I told her to go see her.” He mentioned something about not being sorry when this baby was born. “I’d help but I’m working. Sorry sis.”

I guess I didn’t look too happy when I hung up from talking to Zach because Jordan sighed deeply. “I suppose,” he hesitated. “I could call Heather’s parents; she did tell me they missed Jenna when I was talking to her earlier.”

“You could,” I rubbed my hand over his back. “But do you want to?”

“No.” He stated as he took the phone from me. “I don’t really want to but they are her grandparents and…” He shrugged. “Maybe they won’t be available.” He sounded so hopeful, I really believe that he was actually wishing they weren’t and he could take time off work to spend with her.

I watched him as he dialled their number and took a deep breath. There was no secret that Heather’s parents weren’t Jordan’s biggest fans, despite Hank’s assumptions that they wanted Heather and Jordan together when they first came back to town. Sure, they were nice when he ran into them on the street and yes, Heather’s father did take his car to Jordan when there was something wrong but they didn’t like him when he was dating Heather and they didn’t go out of their way to be super friendly now that Jenna was around.

Jordan stumbled over his words as he told Heather’s father the situation. “It’s only for a couple days,” he insisted. “From 7 until 3:30 when Anna gets off work.” He listened for a few minutes and shook his head. “No, no, Anna will pick Jenna up – I don’t get off work until 6-6:30.” Deep frown lines appeared in his forehead as he went quiet again. “What do you mean you don’t want Anna to pick her up? You don’t get to say who can and can’t pick her up!” He paused and then his head started to shake once again. “Forget about it!” He snapped. “I’m not going to drop Jenna off, you don’t get to dictate to me who I can and can’t have around my daughter. Anna never did anything wrong and Heather is a million times happier with Hank than she was with me.” With another, ‘forget about it, I’ll figure something out’, Jordan hung up the phone.

Ten minutes later, the phone rang, Heather’s parents’ number showed up on the caller ID. “I’m not answering it,” Jordan stated as he left the bedroom to shower before bed.

The phone stopped but soon it rang again. I answered it.

“Put Jordan on,” Heather’s dad demanded.

“He’s in the shower,” I informed him. “I’d tell him to call you back but he probably won’t.”

“I want to see my granddaughter.”

I nodded. “I understand but it’s up to Jordan, not me.”

“Tell him to call me, or I’ll just keep calling back.”

Smiling, I told him I would. I was about to hang up when I heard him call my name. “Yes?”

“Tell Jordan that Jenna will be ready to go when you come to pick her up.” Before I could respond, he hung up.

When Jordan got out of the shower, I told him what Heather’s father said but he was a little worried about bringing her over there. “What if he doesn’t give her back?”

“He can’t keep her,” I told him. “If he tries, we’ll just call Zach.”

Speechless

They lost track of time. That was Jordan’s grandparents’ excuse when the boys returned to the house with them in tow. “They bumped into old friends,” Jordan explained when we finally settled around the dinning room table. “We found them standing in the parking lot, chatting like they had all the time in the world.”

Chuckling softly, he told me that his grandmother was shocked to see his brothers and him. “She didn’t seem to understand why anyone would be worried about them. She told me that they knew where they were and that was all that mattered.”

Dinner went by without an incident, which was unusual for his family. The biggest ‘argument’ that erupted was a heated discussion about potty training – Harriet was trying to get Jordan to start without talking to Heather about it and his grandmother was on Jordan’s side, telling Harriet that it wasn’t up to her. “Harriet, you didn’t like it when I stuck my nose into the way you raised your boys, don’t you think you should leave Jenna’s care up to Jordan?”

As Harriet gave into her mother in law, I wondered if that would be me in a couple years. Would I be going along with whatever she said just to keep the peace? Or would I argue my point until she gave in? I really didn’t have the answer to that question but, for some reason, I wasn’t really worried about it either; I knew I would do whatever I needed to make sure that we understood each other – or tried to.

Jordan’s arm slipped around my shoulders, “Are you coming?”

“What?” I gave him a confused look and he motioned around the nearly empty table.

“Everyone is moving into the living room,” he informed me as he stood up. “Are you coming? My grandparents have big news, apparently.”

“Oh, of course I’m coming.” I felt silly as I slipped my hand into his. “I’m sorry, I spaced out there for a minute.”

“I know,” he chuckled while we followed behind everyone else as they headed towards the living room. “I wanted to do that as well when they started to criticize my parenting skills.”

“You Nan stuck up for you. I heard her tell your mom to butt out.”

With a grin, Jordan told me he almost laughed out loud when she said it. “Mom won’t say anything back but you know I’m going to hear it later when if she manages to get me alone.”

Squeezing his hand, I gave him a smile. “Don’t worry Jordy, I got your back.”

We were the last ones to enter the living room and with everyone watching us, waiting for us to sit down, we quickly made our way towards the far corner where the only vacant seat remained. Offering that last seat to me, Jordan knelt down onto the floor beside the chair and rested his shoulder against it. “Hope this doesn’t take too long,” he whispered, his head tilted back to watch me as I took my seat. “Don’t want my butt to fall asleep.”

“Don’t worry,” I ruffled his hair. “I’ll help you wake it up, if necessary.” I guess my comment wasn’t expected, Jordan laughed out loud drawing the attention of his whole family who wanted to know what was so funny. “It was nothing,” I replied as Jordan asked what the big news was.

His grandparents glanced around the room at all of us and then at each other. “Do you want to tell them?” His grandfather asked his grandmother. “Or do you want me to tell them?”

“You can tell them Dear,” she replied with a smile. “I’ll just….” She trailed off as she turned to grab something that wasn’t there. “Johnny, where did you put my purse?” John told her he believed she left it in the dining room. “Could you fetch it for me Johnny?”

Beside me, Jordan grinned and I knew it was because of his father’s immediate move to get up to ‘fetch’ his grandmother’s purse. Jordan always got a kick out of seeing his dad do his grandmother’s bidding because it was the only time John let anyone tell him what to do.

While John left the room to fetch his mother’s purse, Jenna, who was up with John when we sat down, now found herself standing in the middle of the living room unsure of what happened. I watched her slowly look around at the many faces in the room before her big green eyes settled on her daddy. “Dada,” she giggled as she started to run towards us as quickly as her tiny feet could take her.

Jordan laughed when Jenna plopped her butt down on his lap. “Thought you forgot about me,” he teased her as she wiggled around and ‘talked’ to him.

When John came back in the room with the purse, the first thing he seemed to do after he sat down was look across the room at Jordan and Jenna playing. I don’t know if it was just my imagination but he looked a little disappointed that Jenna wasn’t waiting for him to come back. It was only a moment though, for he quickly turned towards Nick, Amy and Bradley and stood again. Holding out his hands for Bradley, John asked if he could hold his grandson.

Not a word was spoken as John lifted Bradley carefully from Nick’s arms and returned to his seat next to Harriet. Once he was seated comfortably as possible with Harriet hanging over his shoulder to coo at Bradley, John happened to glance our way again.

I caught his eye and smiled at him.

He cleared his throat. “Mom, dad, what was it you wanted to tell us?”

As if he reminded her, his mother reached into her purse and pulled out a small handful of envelopes. Flipping through them, she smiled when she came across the one she was looking for. “There you go Johnny,” she held out the envelope to her son.

“What is this?” John asked as he took the envelope.

“Open it,” his mother replied as she stood, flipping through the rest of the envelopes as she went. “You father will explain it.” Glancing up from the envelopes, she smiled and headed for Mike and Eric. “Here you go Michael,” she said as she handed him a similar envelope before moving on to Nick.

“Nicholas,” she read off as she handed him one. “And Bradley,” she handed that one to Amy.

Curiosity and confusion, that’s the look that most of his family had on their faces as she crossed the room to where Jordan and I were seated. “Jordan,” she held out the last two envelopes to him. “One is for you and the other is for Jenna.”

“What is it Nan?” Jordan asked as he stared up at her.

“Why,” she smiled at him. “It’s a gift.”

No one made a move to open the envelopes. “Go on,” she prompted them. “Open the envelopes.”

“Yes,” her husband jumped in. “Open them up.”

They waited and waited but still no one moved. “Oh my,” Jordan’s grandmother turned to her husband. “Maybe you should tell them now so they will open it.”

“Oh of course,” Jordan’s grandfather grinned as he glanced around the room at his family and announced, “We sold the farm.”

Jaws hit the floor and John hit the roof. He demanded to know why they sold and why he wasn’t aware of it. He had so many questions, all of which he fired off immediately but his parents weren’t shaken, they told him that they thought long and hard about it and it was the right choice for them. “We didn’t sell it all,” they explained when John demanded to know where they were going to live. “We kept the house and a couple acres. We didn’t need all that land Johnny.”

We watched in shock and horror as John continued to rant and rave about them selling the land without letting him or the rest of the family know. “Calm down Johnny,” his mother snapped. “Your father and I had been talking for years about selling the land and giving a little something to our kids and their families. We aren’t getting any younger and we wanted to do this now instead of burdening our children with it after we passed on.”

“Brian and Meredith already know about this?”

“No, they don’t know. We decided to tell you and your family first, since you are the oldest Johnny.” Noticing that no one had opened the envelopes still, Jordan’s grandmother ordered her grandkids to open them.

Jordan and Mike didn’t make a move to open it but Nick, after being poked in the ribs by Amy, turned the envelope over and ripped the flap open. Amy leaned in over his shoulder as he pulled out the cheque inside. Amy’s eyes popped out of her head and Nick went pale as she shrieked, “$50,000?”

“That’s right,” Nan replied. “$50,000 for each of the grandkids and $25,000 for our little great grandkids.”

A Little Something

Mornings seemed to come long before I was ready for them. That Sunday morning, seemed to come a lot earlier than most. Or maybe it was all because of the man sleeping soundly beside me and his almost insatiable hunger the night before.

Every single inch of my body was aching as I attempted to roll onto my side. “You better be as sore as me,” I muttered when I finally managed to make it over. As I lowered my to his chest, I noticed a small smirk on his lips. “You aren’t sore, are you?”


His smirk widened into a huge grin as he rolled onto his side. “I have an ache,” he whispered while lowering his mouth to my neck. “Help me with it, Babe. Please?”

Normally, I wouldn’t hesitate to ease his ‘ache’ – sex with Jordan was amazing and I enjoyed it greatly – but while he kissed my neck, I couldn’t do anything. It took all my energy just to slip my hand around his bare back. “Jordy…” I sighed.

He groaned softly and rubbed my back. Chuckling, I told him that it didn’t matter how gently he caressed my back, he wasn’t getting any. “Wasn’t the three times last night…?” Jordan started to shake his head before I even finished my question. I smiled, “Can’t get enough of me Jordy?”

Once again, he shook his head. “No,” he smiled. “I can’t. I wake up every morning and I reach for you. I find I can’t fall asleep unless you’re pressed up against me. At work, something’ll happen, I’ll think of you and I can barely concentrate on the job at hand.” Taking a deep breath, he shrugged. “I don’t know what to do anymore, this is so new to me and…” He bit his lip and shifted his position. “I want to talk about the other night. I need to tell you some things Anna.”


Silence settled over the room. I was waiting for him to continue but as he stared down at me, I started to think that he was waiting for me to say something. I said the only thing I could think of, “I’m listening.”

Over the next hour, Jordan talked to me about everything from our childhood friendship to our adult relationship. I found out a lot of stuff that I didn’t know before, like I was the ‘star’ of his first ‘wet’ dream. “Do you remember the summer after Nick and I turned 12? You went with us to our grandparents’ acreage for two months.”


I nodded. “It was the first time your parents let us stay there without them.”

“Yeah, it was the best summer ever – no dad for two whole months.” He paused as if reflecting on that first summer of freedom. “Not only was it the first summer without my parents’, it was also the first summer I realized that you were a girl.”


“What?” I snorted. “You knew I was a girl long before that summer.”

“Well…” he nodded hesitantly. “Yes, I knew you were a chick but it wasn’t until that summer, down by the pond, when I realized that you were a girl.” His eyes widened at whatever memory he was recalling.


I asked him about it. “What was so special about that summer and the pond?”

He opened his mouth to speak but it was his eyes that told the story as they drifted southwards until they came to rest on the swell of my breast. “Those,” he sighed. “I don’t know how it happened but….damn, Babe you seemed to sprout those overnight and that bathing suit you wore did nothing to conceal them.”


I laughed. “Pervert!”

“Yes,” he admitted. “But it made me feel weird. I didn’t know what the hell was going on with me; suddenly I couldn’t be around you without getting excited.” Pushing up on his elbow, he leaned in over me. “Do you have any idea what it was like for me to suddenly have dreams of kissing you? To dream that we were playing around in the water but it wasn’t the same as it’s always been.”


“Hmm, I always wondered why you acted different that summer. Nick told me it was because you were afraid that your parents would show up if you did anything wrong.”

“It felt wrong Anna. The way you made me feel then – the same way you make me feel now – I thought it was wrong because you don’t have those feelings for your best friend.”


“But…” My fingers trailed down his side to his thigh. “You obviously got over that feeling.”

“Obviously,” he kissed my forehead. “It stopped feeling wrong a while ago when I discovered that masturbating made it all better.”


Rolling my eyes, I attempted to turn away from him but he stopped me. “But seriously Anna, things changed that summer and they changed again when we decided to give us a chance. Since then, I’ve been worrying that I’m going to do something to fuck it all up.”

“Jordan you can’t –”


“But I can and I do,” he stated as he fell back against the mattress. “The other night, after we fought, I thought for sure that you wouldn’t be here when I got home – so I didn’t want to come home.”

“I know,” I stroked his cheek. “Nick told me about your visit to his place.” He didn’t say a word; he just laid there, staring up at the ceiling for the longest time. “Jordy, I won’t lie, I did think about leaving because I didn’t want to argue with you and I didn’t know what kind of mood you would be in when you did come home. I wanted to give us both a chance to cool off.”


“You stayed though,” he pulled me close.

“Yeah, I stayed. My nieces talked some sense into me, they told me that we were friends and lovers, and nothing would change that – we just needed to talk it out.”


“Smart kids,” he replied. “Weird ones too because who says ‘lovers’ these days?”

Smiling, I told him Lindsay did. “It’s the historical romance novels she reads.”


****

“I think we were going about this wrong,” he had told me while we were still in bed. “We jumped into looking for a house without really discussing what we wanted beyond my desire for at least three bedrooms and two bathrooms. We need to discuss what else we want and go from there.”


Later that afternoon Jordan and I were curled up on the couch with a copy each of the most recent Realty Guide and my laptop with the MLS option page displayed on the screen. “A finished basement,” Jordan added. “So our children will have a place to play and hang out with it is minus 40 outside.” I agreed it was one thing I loved about my brother’s house; I always had a place to play, no matter what the weather. “What would you like in our house Anna?”

I didn’t have to think too long, I knew a few things I wanted. “I would like a big kitchen,” I told him. “With stainless steel appliances, under the counter microwave and a double oven.” Looking up from my copy of the Realty Guide, I told him that I would like a window over the sink so I could look out over the yard where our children would play.

Jordan put his copy down and gazed at me. “What else would you like Babe?”

“A place for us, to enjoy ourselves once the kids are in bed – a bathroom with a tub big enough for us to both relax it in, or a living room with a fireplace where we could sit together in the glow of the fire.” Closing my eyes, I pictured Jordan and I cuddling on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate each as we talked and watched the snow fall outside our window. “Jordan.” I opened my eyes. “How much do you have your heart set on finding a house in town?”

“What do you mean?” He rubbed his jaw. “You don’t want to live in town?”

“Well…” I shrugged. “Since we are being honest about what we want, I have to admit that the idea of living in town isn’t one I’m opposed to but I do love the idea of living out of town.” I went on to tell him that, as he knew, the best times of my life (and his) happened out of town. “I don’t know, I just feel that our kids would have more room and be safer if we didn’t live in town.”

“Yes, but what about the possibility of getting snowed in? Or some other event that stops us from getting the kids to school or us to work?”

“Jordy,” I smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “We risk that living in town too but you asked what I would like and it’s something I would like us to keep in mind.” Reaching out, I placed my hand on his. “I have no objects about living in town; I just like the idea of being out of town.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “And what about something like this?” He motioned around his living room. “A house that’s on the outer limits of town so it has the benefits of both worlds.”

“Exactly!” I exclaimed with a chuckle. “We’ll have to find something like this.”

With a snort, he glanced around his living room once more before turning towards me. “Do you think I should’ve held on to this house?” Staring him straight in the eyes, I told him I was behind his decision 100%. “Good,” he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “I wanted something ‘new’ for us – something that would make us both happy.”

After a couple hours, we had found a couple houses that met some of our main requirements – 2 were in town and 1 was out of town. “I just hope one looks as good in person as they do on paper.”

****

Jordan’s grandparents were late. Dinner was supposed to be at 6 but at 7:30 we were still sitting in the living room, waiting to hear that they were ok.

“I should’ve gone to get them,” John said as he paced back and forth from the front door to the living room every couple minutes. “I told them that it was supposed to snow but they don’t listen to me.”

Jordan, who had been sitting restlessly beside me, stood up and motioned his brothers to join him. “Dad?” He followed John out of the room. “Why don’t Mike, Nick and I go see if we can find them?”

“No, no.” John stopped, shaking his. “I should go find them, they are my parents. You boys stay with your mother.”

“Dad,” Mike grabbed hold of John’s arm. “You stay with mom and the boys and I will see what’s keeping Nan and Pop.”

A brief, heated discussion John returned to his pacing while snapping at the boys to hurry up. “And call me if you find them!”