Just then James walked up with a glass of punch that he sat down on the table in front of Lisa. “What are you two lovely ladies talking about?”
Neither one of them said a word. They just looked up at him and smiled. He got a feeling in his gut he was in trouble somehow.
*******
When it finally came time for Luke and Mindi to leave the reception, Luke asked her to close her eyes before he opened the door. He turned his back to the door and took her hands in his. Then using his body, he pushed the door open, and guided her through it.
He led her outside and around the corner of the building to where her car was parked. He stepped back out of her line of sight and told her, “Open your eyes, please.”
When she opened her eyes, she squealed with excitement. “Oh, wow! It’s finished. Phillip, it’s gorgeous.”
“Thank you. I finished it as a wedding present. James did the stereo for you. And of course, you know who rebuilt the motor. It’s a good thing you just married the best mechanic in the country, or you would be in hock up to your eyeballs,” Phillip laughed, giving her a hug.
“Yeah, she just married me so I could keep her car running for her,” Luke said, laughter in his eyes, as he watched her run her hand over the emerald green paint.
She turned back to her new husband and smacked him in the belly with the back of her hand. He just grunted and grinned at her. “I love you, you crazy man.”
“Yeah, I know. And I love you.”
James leaned over to Lisa. “Do you still want a sixty-four and a half Mustang?”
“Yes,” Lisa answered without thought. If she had been paying closer attention, she might have said no. She didn’t want him buying her cars. All she wanted was for him to love her. She didn’t need anything else.
Chapter 19 – Thursday, January 17
Lisa was outside on the porch with Jenny and Mindi sitting on the porch swing talking. They were taking the time to get caught up before time to cook dinner. This was the first time they had seen Mindi since she and Luke had gotten back from their honeymoon.
“Hey, let’s take a walk. I can’t sit on a hard surface for very long. It starts to hurt my back.” Lisa said, standing up to stretch, trying to pull the kinks out. The farther along she got, the harder it got.
“So, Lisa, how are you and James doing?” Jenny asked out of genuine concern, as the two of them, with Mindi, started down the driveway.
“Stressful. I’ve been trying to put some space between us, to see if it might help clarify things. It’s just making both of us miserable.” She could hear the pain in her own voice, and wondered if her sisters thought she had lost her mind. She was starting to think she had. “I’m not sure it’s helping.”
“Then stop,” Jenny said with sincere honesty.
“Yeah, just kiss him silly. It’s a lot more fun,” Mindi said with a grin.
“Oh, you’re back to that again, are you?” Jenny asked very dryly.
“No. I never stopped.” Mindi looked over at Lisa, this time sounding serious, “But basically, that’s what she really needs to do. Not kissing him is what is making them both miserable.”
“I’ve told you, Jenny, I miss the closeness you get from...” She just stopped mid-sentence. It was too painful to continue.
Mindi just nodded her head. “I understand.”
“So, she really wasn’t just feeding me a line to get me to say yes to Mark? There really is a stronger bond created by sex.”
“Well, thanks for being so blunt, but no she wasn’t,” Mindi said, giving Jenny a strange look.
“Sorry, I was trying to get straight to the point.” Jenny just shrugged her shoulders with a very unrepentant look on her face.
“There is a reason why we are supposed to wait till we are married, and why we’re only supposed to have one partner. All the other just causes to much pain and confusion. I think you can see what sex before marriage has done. They’re both miserable. Now, I do believe they are going to work this out, but it’s because they both want to.”
Lisa had her head down, and looked like she was about to cry. Jenny motioned to Mindi and mouthed, “Maybe we should change the subject.”
Mindi just looked at her, hands out, as if to say, to what.
“So, Mindi, how was the honeymoon? Was it as good as you thought it was going to be?” Jenny asked, obviously holding back a laugh.
Mindi gave Jenny a dirty look, and mouthed, “Great subject change.”
Jenny shrugged her shoulders and mouthed back at her, “I couldn’t think of anything else.”
Mindi decided to do the best she could with what she had been handed. Besides, she really had enjoyed her honeymoon. “Florida was great. It was actually pretty warm, and I loved Disney World.”
“That wasn’t what I meant, and you know it,” Jenny said, giving her a perturbed look.
“What? Are you back to the vicarious thrill thing again?” Mindi said, shaking her head at Jenny, and mouthing, “Do you really think that’s going to help?”
“Oh, give,” Jenny snapped sounding irritated.
Mindi decided to give her what she wanted, and then some. “Let’s just say, my husband is very thorough. And I am a very happy girl,” Mindi said, giving her sister a knowing smirk. “There isn’t an inch of my body that he is not familiar with.”
“Okay, you can stop now,” Jenny said, holding her hands over her head like she was trying to block a physical attack.
“You asked,” Mindi said, grinning. “Is Mark still trying to drive you insane by kissing you.”
“Yes, and it’s starting to be too much. I don’t think I can take much more. I really can’t take the thought of getting married. Every time I think about it, I start to panic. I’m panicking now,” Jenny said, holding her hands to the sides of her head like she was getting a headache.
“Stop thinking, Jenny, and just do it.” Mindi looked like she was starting to feel sorry for her sister. “Have you begged him to make love to you yet?”
“No, but it’s a really close thing. I keep trying to rip his clothes off him. But once I start working on taking his clothes off him, he pushes me away,” Jenny said, shaking her head. “I’m not sure what that means.”
“It means, when you get to that point, that’s all he can take,” Mindi said, clearing the issue up really quick.
Jenny turned her head, and stared at her sister for a few seconds. When she spoke, she sounded real small. “You mean, like he’s close to making love to me anyway?”
Mindi just nodded her head. “Jenny, I know why you’re afraid to get married, but even you should realize, those fears are completely invalid where Mark is concerned. If he wasn’t completely in love with you, he would have given up and moved on long ago.”
“I know, but I don’t know how to get past it.” Jenny wrapped her arms tight around herself, trying to stop the tremors running through her from the outside. “I’m also afraid, if I don’t get past it soon, he will move on.”
“Look at him and say, take control, then close your eyes until it’s over. Figuratively speaking I mean. He’s not going to hurt you. I’m telling you, like you kept trying to tell me about Luke.” Mindi stopped and turned her sister to face her so she could look her in the eyes. “He loves you. You’re the only one he wants. He stopped dating when he started kissing you all the time. He’s dating was the same as Luke’s. He’s been trying to stay busy.”
“I promise, I’ll try.” Jenny said, sounding real small again.
“Hey, what’s that? Where’s all that smoke coming from?” Mindi and Jenny could hear the concern in Lisa’s voice and looked up and saw what she was talking about. There was a large cloud of smoke rising toward the sky, and it wasn’t very far down the road from there house.
“Oh, boy. That don’t look good. Doesn’t it look like it’s coming from the Jones’ house,” Mindi said, the fear showing in her voice. “They use wood heat, don’t they?”
“We better get the guys. I�
��m not hearing any fire engines yet.”
They had just made it back to the house, and Jenny didn’t wait on the other two. She went running in. Once she told her dad what was going on, he had grabbed Zane and Mark, and they were already heading back out the door before Mindi and Lisa had even made it to the front door.
When they got in the house, it was to find James, Luke and Phillip getting ready to leave. They were waiting for one of the other three to call and let them know what was going on as soon as they knew themselves what it was.
It wasn’t a full two minutes before James’ cell started ringing. He was only on it for a few seconds. “They said they hadn’t even made it all the way there, and they could tell it was the house. That was Zane. He said Carl was on the phone with the fire department and to go ahead and come down. They’re going to need help.”
A couple hours later, when the guys finally made it back to the house, Zane and Mark both looked like they had been through the fire, and the other four didn’t look much better. Both Izzy and Zack had gotten caught in their rooms and couldn’t get out, and neither one of their parents had been there. Mark and Zane had gone in after them.
“Can you call the ER, and see how they’re doing?” Mark asked as he sat down on the couch. He looked like he wasn’t feeling so hot himself.
“Are you sure you don’t need to go to the ER, yourself?” Jenny asked with a look of concern.
“I’ll be fine. I’m just exhausted.”
“Did they have the fire out already?”
“No, but they were just trying to control it till it burned out. That house is old, and it was already a total loss. The paramedic talked like Izzy and Zack might have suffered smoke inhalation. They were giving them oxygen in the ambulance.”
“Where were John and Elaine?”
“Apparently they had gone to the store. The fire trucks were already there by the time they pulled up. They’re at the ER now. John says the insurance should cover it, but he’s not sure it’ll be enough to rebuild. Even with what they have in savings. They’re not wanting to have to move, but he’s not sure how they can afford to rebuild it. Between rebuilding expenses and finding somewhere to live till it’s done, it could be more than they’ll have.”
“Sounds like that’s bothering you.”
“It is. And I’m going to do something about it.” Mark stood back up and stretched, “Jamie, do I have any clean clothes here? I’d really like to take a shower.”
“Yeah. Why don’t you go use the bathroom in our room, and Zane can go downstairs? The other four can either wait to use the bigger bathrooms, or use the smaller ones. Go on. Someone can bring your clothes to the bathroom. You look like you’re going to fall over.”
After he turned and walked down the hall, Zane looked over at Jenny, who still had a look of concern on her face. “He didn’t think he was going to get Izzy out. At first, he couldn’t find a way to get to her, but he could hear her screaming. He wouldn’t let me stay in there with him. He wanted me to go ahead and get Zack out. By the time I had started back in, he had made it to her, and was on his way out. I have no idea how he did it. Once he got her outside and turned her over to the paramedics, he started bawling. I don’t know for sure. He might have been remembering when their old house caught on fire, and Abby was trapped. It might explain why he was feeling so desperate.”
Jenny turned and walked out of the room, tossing over her shoulder as she went, “Yeah, maybe so. I’m going to go get his clothes.”
“Sounds like he is suffering from emotional exhaustion,” Jamie said, after watching her daughter walk out of the room.
“Yeah, I think so. He nearly collapsed from relief once he was out of the house.”
“Has he said anything about it?”
“No, we couldn’t get him to talk. I don’t know how many times Elaine and John thanked us for getting the kids out, but he never even managed to respond.”
They were still talking, and didn’t notice when Jenny came back through with his clothes and started down the hall.
*******
When Jenny reached the bathroom door, she didn’t even stop to knock. She just walked right in. She didn’t really know what she had been expecting to find, but it wasn’t Mark sitting on the toilet with his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands.
“Hey, are you okay?” She reached out and pulled one of his hands away from his face. He had been crying again, and she wiped a tear away with a brush of her finger tips.
He sat back and just looked at her. After a few seconds, when he finally spoke, he sounded completely drained. “I really wasn’t trying to hide. It just seemed to overtake me once I got away from everyone else. When I heard her screaming, all I could remember was hearing Abby screaming and wondering if Dad would get her out in time. Zane had to nearly tackle Zack to get him out of the house. He didn’t want to leave his sister. I could remember how that felt.”
“Zane said at first you couldn’t figure out how to get to her. What happened?”
“I’m not sure. All I remember was begging God to show me a way to her. The next thing I really remember was walking out with her.”
“Sounds like a miracle to me.”
“Yeah, it was.” Mark leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees once again. “You heard me saying I was going to do something about them having to maybe move. I’m going to tell you this, because you’re my personal assistant, and you’ll find out anyway, but please, keep it completely quiet. I’m going to donate all the building materials, so they don’t have that expense. I’m not sure how I’ll be able to keep it anonymous, but I’m going to try. You’ll have to help me with that. Hopefully it will be enough that they’ll be able to afford the rest. The only other thing, is if it came down to it, we could work together to build the house for them, so they didn’t have to pay labor cost. Your dad and Zane were talking about maybe doing that in the truck on the way back.”
“Sometimes, I forget how truly generous you are. I’m really sorry for that,” Jenny said, sounding like she was about to cry.
He just looked back down at the floor, grinning and shook his head.
“You look like you could use a hug. And you definitely deserve one.” He sat back and held his arms out. She didn’t even give it a second thought. She walked over and wrapped her arms around him.
She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that. But it was long enough her mom had come looking for her. She didn’t seem all that surprised to find her there. She just looked at her and shook her head. “Come on, let the man take his shower. Him and Luke are the only two left to shower, then we can eat dinner. I’m sure he’s starving. To hear Alex tell it, you’d think he was going to die of starvation.”
*******
When Jamie had called the ER to check on the kids, she had managed to get to talk to Elaine. She told her they could all come and stay with them for the night once they were done at the ER. Once they had finished dinner, Jamie had sent Mindi and Jenny to the local department store to get all of them socks and underwear, a set of sleep clothes, and one everyday outfit. She wanted to make sure they had clean clothes to put on.
By the time the girls got back from the store, the Jones family had made it there. Thankfully the kids were in good enough shape they had gotten released.
When Gabe realized they had gotten there, he come running down the hall. He come to an abrupt stop and just stared at Izzy. It seemed like he was making sure she was okay for himself. Once he had decided she was going to live, he turned and ran back to the game room. He never said a word.
Izzy had a puzzled look on her face. “What’s his problem?”
He’s a nine-year old little boy. They’re just weird,” Teresa said, winking at Izzy. Izzy just laughed and snuggled back down into her daddy’s arms. She hadn’t been willing to let go of him since they got there. She was still trying to get over the trauma of being trapped. The closest she had come to letting go of her dad was when Mark walked
over and asked her how she was feeling, she had reached one arm up and asked him for a hug.
“I think she considers you her guardian angel. She hasn’t said a whole lot since we left the hospital., but everything she has said has been about you. I’m hoping eventually, the only part she really remembers is you getting her out. It seems to be the part she is focusing on,” John said, looking like he might start crying at any minute.
“Well, I think her guarding angel and mine were working together. I don’t remember anything after Zane dragging Zack out until I walked out with her, except for begging God to show me how to get her out.”
Chapter 20 – Thursday, January 24
Ever since Luke and Mindi’s wedding, Lisa had been making it harder on him. She would barely let him touch her. Most of the time, he was lucky if he got more than a hug and a quick peck. He was going crazier now than he had before.
She was still saying she wanted to marry him, but she felt like they needed some space between them. She felt it might help him figure out what she was waiting for from him.
When James got to Carl and Jamie’s that night, Jamie told him they didn’t have anything for the salad. She asked him if he’d mind going with Lisa to the store for lettuce, tomatoes and carrots. He suspected Jamie was trying to help him by getting them out of the house alone. He wasn’t sure how it was supposed to help. Lisa just kept giving him a sour look, and then turning back to look out the windshield.
When they got to the store, he tried to help her out of the truck, but she smacked his hand away and tried to climb down herself. She slipped on the nerf bar and fell into him. He immediately wrapped his arms around her to prevent her from falling. She wrapped her arms around his neck out of reflex. He took advantage of her slip and picked her up in his arms.
He moved his mouth to her ear and whispered, “If you wanted a hug, all you had to do was ask. You didn’t have to throw yourself at me.” He felt her shiver and barely resisted kissing her.
Oh, Baby! (The Townsends Book 2) Page 18