Jaci dazedly opened her door, walked into her room, and sat down heavily on the bed. What in the world had gotten into her? She had just acted in a way that was totally out of character. Never had she imagined herself in that kind of scene with J.P. Gilmore. She was sitting there puzzling over her behavior when the phone rang, startling her.
“Hello?” she answered softly.
“I don’t know what the heck just happened, but I wanted to say good night. See you at seven in the morning, okay?” He paused a few seconds. “Jaci? Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“I apologize. I didn’t plan on that happening, believe me. I wouldn’t do anything to harm you or our friendship. You know that, don’t you?”
“It’s okay, J.P. No harm done. Good night.” She hung up the phone and shook her head in amazement. What was I thinking? I should be very grateful to him. If he hadn’t stopped, I might have done something I would really regret in the morning. Deciding it was just a fluke, she convinced herself not to waste any time analyzing it, but instead to just forget it and get some much needed sleep. In her prayer before getting into bed she added, “Lord, I don’t understand what happened tonight, but strengthen me in my weakness and help me to be very careful around Mr. Jason Gilmore.”
“I’m very pleased!” J.P. told her the following morning on their way to the airport. While they waited to board the plane for home, he continued talking about the intricacies of the software he was developing for the hotel. Neither gave any indication that something out of the ordinary had happened between them. “I have no doubt we can produce a software program to fit the hotel’s needs, but I’m not certain we’ll make the cut because they’re concerned that we’re too small to handle the level of technical support they’re going to require. I am very satisfied with what we accomplished, though, and I know after talking with the manager that he’ll keep us in mind. You never know what might come up at a later time. They were certainly impressed with you.” He said smilingly, “How do you feel about things so far? Think you’re going to like it?”
“I think so,” she answered. “It’s like putting a puzzle together, and I love jigsaw puzzles. So, I think I’m really going to enjoy it.”
Since they both liked the window seat, they had agreed that Jaci would have it on the trip from Houston and he would have it on the trip back. He followed her onto the plane to their assigned seats in first class, admiring her from behind. When she stopped beside their row, the man sitting in the seat across the aisle jumped up to grab her carry-on bag. Smiling down at Jaci, he asked, “Is this your seat? Here, let me put this up for you.”
“No. That’s okay. I’m going to keep it with me. Thanks though.”
Jaci stepped back to let J.P. slide into the window seat.
J.P. noticed the man smiling at Jaci and looking at her like he could eat her in one bite. “Go on honey, you can have it,” he told Jaci.
“No, it’s okay. We agreed, remember?”
“Jaci, we’re holding up the line. Will you go on and sit down!”
She shrugged and scooted into the window seat. He followed her and took the aisle seat, then reached over to buckle her seat belt.
“I think I can handle that,” she told him in a soft voice, before digging in her carry-on bag for a book.
“What’re you reading?” he asked, trying to gauge her feelings.
She held up the book for him to read the cover. Trying to Sleep in the Bed You Made. “Interesting title. Was there any particular reason for selecting that book?”
Ohhhh yeah! she thought, but said, “Not really. My book club is reading it for our next meeting. One of the members read it and said it was pretty good.”
“So you like to read, huh? I wonder what else I don’t know about you?”
“I would guess there’s a whole lot about me you don’t know,” she answered with a smile.
He grinned. “Yeah. But not for long if I have anything to do with it.”
She pretended she didn’t hear his last comment, and after the plane took off, she read for a mere ten minutes before she felt her eyes getting heavy. She closed the book and twisted around in the seat until she found a somewhat comfortable position.
“Would you like a pillow and a blanket ma’am?” the flight attendant asked.
“Yes, thank you, I certainly would,” Jaci answered appreciatively.
She went through the process of getting into a comfortable position again, and before she knew it she had drifted off.
“Jaci? You want some lunch?” J.P.’s voice invaded her sleep-dazed mind.
“No thanks,” she whispered before slipping back into sleep.
J.P. woke her when the plane was about to land.
After landing they walked with the man who had been seated across the aisle to the baggage claim area. Jaci found out he was from Arkansas and was traveling to several states on a business trip.
“Oh! I’m from Arkansas, too,” she told him excitedly. “Where do you live?”
“Little Rock,” he answered. “But I grew up in Camden.”
“Oh really! I’m from Texarkana—or what might be called the suburbs,” she said laughing. “I know a lot of people from Camden. How long are you going to be in town? Do you know where you’ll be staying?”
The man quickly pulled out a card and wrote the name of the hotel on the back of it. J.P. took the card and put it in his pocket, giving Jaci an irritated look.
They retrieved their bags and walked out of the airport. As soon as Jaci stepped through the door, a man called her name. She turned and waved, then walked toward him. J.P. followed her and watched as she and a tall bald-headed guy hugged each other. She finally turned back to him.
“J.P., this is my friend, Leon. Leon, my boss, J.P. Gilmore.” The two men shook hands before Leon grabbed her bags and put them in the car, then opened the passenger door for Jaci.
Jaci waved to him as they pulled away from the curb, leaving J.P. standing there feeling like someone had punched him in the gut. No wonder Jaci hadn’t wanted a ride to the airport with him, he thought angrily. She had a ride.
He and Jaci spent a lot of time on the phone the following week, discussing the information they had collected and how it would be applied to the software program. He used it as part of her training and was pleased with her progress so far. She was going to be an asset to his company in a significant way. He asked her point-blank who was the man who had picked her up from the airport. He had to know, but her answer didn’t bring him the relief he’d hoped for.
“Leon? Leon is the choir director at my church.”
“You guys seemed to know each other pretty well,” J.P. commented.
“We do. I’ve known him for years. He’s a pretty good friend.”
J.P. berated himself. Why was he so reluctant to push for information? He had never been intimidated by a woman—with the exception of his mother, who could intimidate the president.
The time he had spent with Jaci convinced him that he wanted a deeper relationship with her and he was even more determined to make it happen. He spent hours strategizing about that when he should have been concentrating on other things. He hadn’t spoken to his family since his trip to D.C., but he knew the questions were coming sooner or later. He had hoped for later.
“How are things progressing with your lady?” his brother Ron asked as they sat in J.P.’s family room watching the Tennessee Titans lose yet another game.
He groaned. He was discouraged by Jaci’s actions since their trip. She had reverted to her old, reserved persona—her outer armor securely back in place.
“You would have to ask! I don’t know, man. I thought I had made some progress when we went to D.C., where I saw a whole new side to her. In fact, we actually had a lot of fun together.” He remembered their easy camaraderie and the heated scene in his hotel room. He still couldn’t believe the powerful chemistry between them. But that balloon had quickly popped with the appearance of the man at the
airport. “Since then, it’s like we’re back to square one. The only thing I’m sure of is that I want a relationship with her, but no matter how hard I try, Jaci won’t let me get close. She won’t go out with me. I have to go to a hearing or call her for a job just to see her, and every time I try to slip in questions and comments that would shed light on her personal life, she adeptly side-steps them and returns to business. When I ask about her daughter—I told you she has a grown daughter, who’s expecting a baby?—all she’ll say is that things are still not going well. I’m really struggling with this one. I think she might be a little afraid. We’ve already discovered there’s a strong physical attraction between us.”
Ron’s head popped up. “How did ya’ll find that out? What exactly happened in D.C.?”
J.P. looked at him pointedly. “Now brother, you know that’s none of your business. Back off.”
Ron, suitably reprimanded, tried another line of questioning. “Did you offer to help with her problems? Every woman has some kind of problem she needs help with, and sometimes offering help will soften her up. Maybe there’s something I can do, you know, to help fan the flames a little.” He grinned at his own suggestion.
J.P. gave Ron a “give me a break” look. “She just tells me it’s not my problem. And that there’s nothing I can do.”
Ron laughed, enjoying his brother’s frustration. “This lady sounds like she’s a hard nut to crack. I’m just trying to help.”
“Nope. I can handle my own affairs.”
“Speaking of affairs, exactly what kind do you want with this woman? I mean, do you want something short- or long-term?”
“Right now, I’m just trying to get to know her. There’s plenty of time to decide where it’s going after we get past that point.”
“Well just remember to enjoy the game and then run if things start getting too serious.”
“How do you know I don’t want them to get serious? Man, I’m tired of the games. I want a good woman to settle down with.”
“Aw naw!” Ron’s reaction was one of shock. He was happy in his confirmed bachelorhood and thought his brother was too. “I know that’s not J.P. Gilmore, legendary ladies’ man, I hear talking about settling down. Man, you’re working too hard. You need to take a break and have some fun.”
“I know what I need. And right now it’s to get to know Jaci Winters. I told you I’m ready for a change. Have been for a long time.”
Ron gave him a look that said “traitor” before turning away.
J.P. hadn’t talked to Jaci in almost two weeks and was starting to get a little anxious. He didn’t have an assignment for her at the time and was working on an excuse to call her when it seemed a higher power intervened, providing him the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time with her. A call came in from a customer about a software problem and instead of assigning someone else to work it, J.P. decided to go himself and take Jaci along. He said a brief prayer before calling her.
“Jaci? J.P. here. How about driving down to Galveston with me Friday on a troubleshooting job? This is an existing customer who is not happy with the software we developed. They claim it’s not performing as promised. We have to determine if it’s actually the software or incorrect application of it,” he explained. “This will give you another perspective on the overall process we go through in the development of efficient programs and will show how important it is to work with the customer both before and after the software has been installed.”
“Sure. I guess so. What time?”
“Galveston’s only an hour’s drive away, so why don’t I pick you up about nine? That’ll get us there in plenty of time for our ten-thirty appointment.”
“I can meet you at your office. That way you won’t have to drive across town to pick me up.”
“Nope. I’ll pick you up. And please don’t argue this, Jaci.” He had decided to stop allowing her to put up barriers between them.
His plan was to use the trip to break down some of Jaci’s reserve. After picking her up Friday morning, he executed his strategy by telling her about his son and the ups and downs of getting him through high school and into college.
“I didn’t know you had a son,” Jaci exclaimed, turning toward him in her seat as much as the seat belt permitted. “How old is he?”
“Nineteen. He’s lived with me since he was ten. After a short, rocky marriage, his mother and I split up and she remarried right away and had a couple of other children. It was rough on Patrick. The new husband tolerated him until he got older. Then his tolerance ended when Patrick, who had always felt like an outsider, began acting out.”
“Oh my. That kind of situation is never easy for a child. That’s one of the reasons I remained single. I didn’t want to put my child in a situation where she was vulnerable and merely tolerated.”
Bingo! J.P. thought. That answered his question about her marital status.
“That was probably a good decision. Patrick was shipped back and forth between us until we all got tired of it. I tried to stay out of it as much as possible, but he’s my son and I didn’t want him to feel like I was abandoning him. Patrick was angry and hurt that his mother didn’t take his side in the conflicts, but she was still his mother and he loved her. So, when I suggested that he move in with me, mainly just to show my support, I expected a negative response. Nobody was more surprised than I was when he asked if he could come right away. It was the middle of a school term and although it was a big adjustment for both of us, we worked it out and handled it pretty well.”
“So, does his mother and her family live here? Or did he have to move from another city?”
“Yes, they live in Chicago. Patrick went through a lot of changes when he first got here—new city, new school, new home environment, the whole works. And he was at a pretty susceptible age, so I really had to be there for him, you know, give him a lot of attention, spend lots of quality time with him, the whole parenting scene. Thank God my family—especially my parents—were able to pitch in and help. I don’t know what I would have done without them.”
“I’m impressed. I never would have considered you a single parent. Do you ever regret your decision to have him live with you?”
“Heck no! I wouldn’t do anything differently, even if I could. Many times when people assumed I was out partying or chasing women, I was actually at home with my son. It’s very gratifying for me to see the well-adjusted young man he’s grown into and know I helped to influence that process. I wouldn’t trade that for all the tea in China.”
“I do understand,” Jaci said. “I missed out on quite a lot as far as dating and pursuing a lot of dreams are concerned. But when I look at the woman my daughter, Randi, has become, I almost burst with pride and joy. Sometimes I feel like she was a little girl one day and then without my realizing how or when it happened, she was all grown up and telling me she wanted to get married. I often tease her when she walks into a room by asking her who she is and what has she done with my baby. I don’t have to wonder how she turned out so well. All her life, my constant prayer to God was that He would make up the difference between my shortcomings as a parent and what she needed. He did that. Although I would have preferred for her to do some things differently, like waiting a while before marrying and getting her college degree before having a family, all in all, she hasn’t done badly.”
J.P. was overjoyed with the way the conversation was going. Jaci was relaxed and open and seemed to be enjoying the conversation as much as he was. “It sounds like you two are still pretty close, even though she’s married and left home. Is her husband an okay guy?”
“Oh yeah. He treats her well, works hard, faithfully serves the Lord. What more can I ask for in a son-in-law? And of course my grandson is just the icing on the cake. He’s the sunshine of my life.”
This is good, J.P. thought. It was going much better than he had hoped. “What about Randi’s father. Does she see him often?” J.P. knew he was treading on thin ice, but he needed
to know. He could have kicked himself when he felt her immediate withdrawal.
“No, she doesn’t,” she answered in a quiet, cool voice, and turned away from him to stare out the window at the passing scenery.
He hurriedly sought to mend the breach. “Obviously, I’ve touched a sensitive issue with you. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. It’s just that I’m enjoying sharing information about our lives, and I guess I got carried away and went too far, huh?”
Jaci was quiet for a few minutes, then she turned to look at him, her large eyes, now more gray than green, reflecting her turbulent emotions. “No, I’m sorry. I’m the one who should apologize. I’m pretty touchy on the subject of Randi’s father. You see, we haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since the night I told him I was pregnant.”
J.P. almost ran off the road as he stared at her in amazement. “What!”
Again, Jaci was quiet for several minutes. Then, drawing a long breath, she said, “I admit I don’t like to talk about him. He treated me badly and hurt me very deeply. In fact, it took years of struggling—with the shame of having a baby out of wedlock, against the joy of receiving such a special gift from God—before I could move on. Add to that struggle the common survival issues of barely making ends meet while raising a child alone and you get a very difficult existence. If it hadn’t been for my child, I probably would have given up. But with the help of God, we made it.”
J.P. was still trying to deal with the matter of the man who had abandoned her. “But what about her father? Why did he do that? Did he think the child wasn’t his? Any fool can tell you’re not the type of woman who sleeps around. Do you mind sharing what happened with me?”
She hesitated. “To be honest, not many know the full story, but no, I don’t mind sharing it with you. Frankly, I don’t know what his problem was, other than being just plain rotten and no good. That’s one reason it was so hard for me to deal with it. I still can’t comprehend, even after all this time, why I was foolish enough to fall for someone like that. Yes, I was young, straight out of college, and straight from the woods, not the country—the backwoods—but I wasn’t dumb or ignorant. I knew right from wrong. I was still a virgin at that point and planned to remain one until I was married. But I let that man with his sophisticated ways and smooth talk convince me to ignore good judgment, disregard my carefully laid out goals, and act in a careless, stupid way.
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