“I was hoping to spend some time with you after dinner,” Jack said smiling at Diane.
“You two spend some time together,” Magnolia said. “If I can borrow your car I can go look on my own.”
“It can be easy to get lost, I can take you over to look at it, if you want,” Cooper said.
“Sure, that sounds good.”
♥♥♥
Diane sat quietly nestled in Jack’s arms in the back of the truck out at their spot. Noli was with Cooper looking at the structure on his property that might be used for the reception.
“Di, dad said he spoke with you about transferring the farm to me.”
“He did. He told me he wants to travel with your mom.”
“I’ve been pretty much running the farm for the last couple of years anyway,” Jack said.
“I told him I’d draft the transfer documents if he agreed to stop talking about grandchildren,” Diane said with a smile.
“Di, how many children do you want?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it.”
“You were engaged, didn’t you two talk about how many children you wanted?”
“We both agreed we’d get our careers underway before we started a family. I guess we thought we’d cross that bridge down the road.”
“Do you even want children?”
“I do. The thought of being someone’s Mother scares me though.”
“You’ll be a great Mother. You’re kind and caring and there are so many things that will make you a wonderful Mother.”
“Thank you. I do want to have a child or two.” she said this time with a little more certainty. “I want to have your children. You’ll be a great Dad. How many do you want?”
“As many as you’ll give me. I was awfully lonely being an only child.”
“That’s obvious. If you had brother’s maybe you would have chosen better friends,” Diane said with a laugh.
“Hey give Cooper a break.”
“We digress. Are you okay with waiting a year or two for babies?”
“I don’t mind as long as I get to practice that entire time.”
“You could practice now, but you’re being so old fashioned.”
“My mother has a name for girls like you,” he went in for a kiss and she pulled back.
“Does your mother think I’m easy?”
“I’m fairly certain she thinks you’ve given up the cookies. I think she thinks you’ve given in to me. She has no clue that you’re the one trying to get in my pants every chance you get.”
She moved on top of him and straddled him. “Why won’t you give in? We’ll be married soon. Doesn’t the engagement come with some benefits?”
“You’ve waited twenty-five years, what’s a few more weeks?”
“A few more weeks of you walking around here looking like you do and talking with that deep voice will be torture.” She let her finger trace the skin above his t-shirt’s collar.
He took her hands into his to halt the assault to his senses.
“In a couple of years, will you be beautiful with a round belly regardless of if your career is exactly where you expect it to be?” his voice took a serious tone.
“I can’t promise that Jack. Two years is both a lot of time and not much time. Anything can happen or I could still be shuffling papers.”
“I know, but having children isn’t the end of your career.”
“Jack, I’ve already had to rethink my entire career path by marrying you. I don’t know how much that will hinder me being partner someday?”
His face became hard and his eyes cold as he stared into her brown eyes. “Do you think marrying me is a hindrance? It’s not too late to back out.”
“I didn’t mean it like that at all. Jack, being your wife is more important than partner. I was just saying that being so rural limits my options. I won’t have as many opportunities.”
“Would just being my wife be enough for you?”
Her heartbeat accelerated as anger erupted in her. “You want me to give up being a lawyer to be a barefoot and pregnant farmer’s wife?” she grunted out. He held her on his lap when she tried to move.
“I didn’t say that. I was asking if it came down to you just being my wife, would that be enough? Would I be enough for you or would you resent me? I know I’m asking you to give up a lot, but I can’t leave here. I can’t ask my father to not retire and I can’t let a farm that’s been in the family for generations be sold to some big farming conglomerate.”
“I’m not asking you to give up the farm. I love you for being so dedicated to your family but you don’t understand the sacrifices I’m making to be with you.”
“You’re right. I don’t know anything about sacrificing dreams for this farm.” He gently pulled her up from his lap. “We need to get back to the house.” They had no schedule, but the conversation was heading in a direction neither of them wanted it to go.
“I’m sorry Jack that was a stupid thing to say.” She realized that he’d given up dreams that would never be achieved. She was just giving up the way her dreams would be achieved.
He did not respond. Instead he got up and got into the truck without helping her in. He had always helped her in. This was the first time he did not. The drive back to the house started off quiet. He’d turned up the radio to discourage her from talking. She had never seen Jack upset with her. She did not like the way he shut down and shut her out. She looked out the window so he could not see her tears fall.
“I’m really sorry Jack. I love you,” her voice was soft and shaky.
He looked at her. She looked scared and sad. Her smile was a futile attempt. Even in the darkness her eyes were wet and her cheek looked moist.
He stopped the truck and gave her a full smile. “I love you too Diane. I’m so sorry I snapped like that. It wasn’t about you. Misti and I got a divorce after she aborted our child without my knowledge.”
Diane’s large brown eyes stared at him for a moment. “Oh Jack. I don’t know what to say. I…” she trailed off truly at a loss for words.
“When I first moved to Nashville she followed me and was itching for a ring with the promises of love and family. Instead I got infidelity and lies. I guess she just wanted her hands on my money.”
“What money?”
“I got a little over a hundred grand from my parents. It was suppose to be for college, but they gave it to me when I decided to pursue a music career.”
“That is a whole lot of money for an eighteen year old.”
“Especially one blinded by the prom queen’s confessions of love. I married her and she ran through the money as fast as she could. Well, when I got the record deal, she was in hog heaven. She had started house and car shopping. Then Dad got sick. I came home but she stayed in Nashville and refused to come home. She thought if she stayed there I’d miss her enough to return and sign the contract. When I told her that I was not coming back but planned on moving home, she was enraged.”
Diane placed her hand on top of Jack’s.
“About a month after that, she sent me an ultrasound and a note that said I would have kept your baby if you came back. When I called she said she was not going to let a baby of a nobody farmer ruin her body or her life. She was going to use her assets to get somebody that had goals and a future. I filed for divorce that day.”
“What brought her back here?”
“She tacked on to this up and coming singer that spent more money on coke than he did her. Eventually she came home but she wasn’t the big fish in this small pond anymore. She started coming back around me when she figured out me and this farm was better than a dead end job in a small town.” He let out a half hearted chuckle. “One time, Momma shot at her.”
“She did?” Diane said surprised that the loving woman would wield a gun at another person.
“Yea she did. She was willing to do jail time if it meant Misti was six feet under. Momma
wanted a house full o
f children but only had me. She was looking forward to a house full of grandchildren.”
“Jack I’ll have as many of your babies as I can whenever you want. I love you.”
“I love you too. We can wait on the children, but please never cry again.”
“I know, Mother says I’m not a pretty crier.” Diane wiped at her eyes again.
“You’re always beautiful. Even when you cry. I don’t want you to cry because it hurts too much to know I’d caused you to hurt and made you cry.”
“I wasn’t crying because you hurt me, I was crying because I thought I hurt you. What I said was thoughtless.”
“We did it,” Jack said smiling.
Diane looked confused. “What did we do?”
“Survived our first fight.” He leaned towards her. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. “I love you Diane.”
“I love you Jack.”
♥♥♥
social network:
Message from Cooper Smith to Jack Sloan: What’s the 411 on Noli? Is she single?
Message from Jack Sloan to Cooper Smith: I believe she is. Why? Keep in mind Diane is very protective of her cousin.
Diane Clark’s status: I didn’t realize how much I missed my cousin until I saw her.
Noli Freeman likes this.
Chapter 14
Diane turned the corner into the living room and stopped in her tracks. Jack stood before her in a suit, but his shirt was still undone and the tie was on the back of a chair. This was her first time seeing him in something other than jeans. He wore jeans well, but the way the suit draped over his muscles was devastatingly sexy.
“If you don’t put your coat on we’ll be late.”
“We have time.”
“Not if you keep looking at me like that, while you’re standing there in that dress looking like that.”
She twirled. “So you like.”
“Oh darling, I love.” He said picking up his tie.
“No tie.” She traced her finger along his chest exposed by the open collar of his shirt. His skin was smooth, warm and hard. Her mouth watered and her lips tingled as she thought of kissing him there. “I like the way you look without it.”
“Your mother won’t go for no tie look.”
“Is it my mother…” She planted a kiss on his neck giving into temptation. “…or me…” She kissed a little lower as her hand ran up his chest. His breath caught. “…that you want…” She opened her mouth and lightly sucked on his neck. “…to be happy?” She bit him gently by his collarbone.
“You,” he said throwing the tie. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to him. He kissed her gently on her lips. He returned the kiss to her neck, then moved up and sucked on her ear. Then he whispered in her ear, “You look beautiful tonight.”
“You look so sexy in that suit. I can’t wait until tomorrow night.”
“Me either darlin’, but if we don’t get out of here your mother will kill us and there won’t be a tomorrow for us.”
Catherine got her way about two things, the rehearsal dinner was at an overpriced restaurant in Indianapolis and Diane was to spend the night in an equally overpriced hotel in the city. Jack stood with his arm around Diane’s waist as they enjoyed cocktails with their close friends and family. Diane suddenly went rigid in his arms. He followed her glare and noticed a tall, well dressed black man.
“She did not!” Diane growled out.
Jack had never heard Diane sound so angry. He followed to where her eyes were looking.
“Who is that?” Jack asked, but Diane had already broke their embrace and started across the room.
As Diane went off looking for her mother, Jack reasoned that the man must be Alan. He strolled calmly in his direction.
“You must be Alan.” Jack didn’t bother to reach his hand out.
“You must be Jake.”
Jack ignored the fact that Alan had called him by another name because he knew it was done to get a reaction out of him. “I hope you’re here to wish Diane and me luck.”
Alan smirked. “It’s Diane and I.”
“It’s Diane and me. What it’s not is Diane and you. What are you doing here?”
“I was invited.”
“You weren’t invited by anyone that could invite you, but I’m glad you’re here. I wanted to thank you for being foolish enough to cheat on Diane. If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t be escorting you out of my rehearsal dinner tonight.”
“Are you afraid you’ll be left at the altar once she talks to me? Because I’m not leaving. ”
“You’re leaving. The only thing I’m afraid of is not having bail in time for the wedding.”
“Is that a threat?”
“He’s not threatening you, he’s warning you.” Cooper said standing behind Alan with his arms folded across his broad chest. “I mean it’s pretty brave for you to come here.”
“I wouldn’t expect any less than this kind of greeting from a couple of good ol’ boys.”
“This ain’t a good ol’ boy greeting. Good ol’ boys greet pretentious metro-sexuals from the city with their fists.” Cooper said taking a step closer to Alan.
“I think we’ll let Diane decide if I stay or leave.” Alan said.
“I can speak for my fiancée. She doesn’t want you here.”
“Listen, you were just the first thing to come along to help her get over me. I care about Diane and I don’t want her to turn the rebound guy into her husband.”
“You may care about Diane, but I love her. She hasn’t thought about you since she met me.”
“That’s not exactly true,” Diane said joining the three men. She took Jack’s hand for comfort and to inhibit it from punching anyone. The testosterone level was at a critical point. “I stopped thinking about him before I met you. Meeting you made him not even a memory.”
“Diane can we talk, alone?” Alan asked.
“No.”
“Fine, if you want to talk in front of these yahoos, we can. Don’t do this, don’t throw your life away. You could be so much more with me in Chicago than you could even dream about with him. You don’t even know him.”
“I’ve achieved love and happiness with him. That’s something I never had and could never see with you. I know him better than I ever knew you. I know he’d never have some other woman bent over the kitchen counter. I know that my happiness is important to him. I know that when he says he loves me it means he loves all of me, just as I am.”
“There does seem to be more of you to love. Did you turn to food to deal with losing me?” Sadly the genuine concern in his voice was for her dress size and not for her.
Diane stepped in front of Jack to prevent him from defending her. “I turned to food to deal with my barely controllable sexual desires.”
Words of love and faithfulness hadn’t gotten to him as much as reminding him how sexually inadequate she found him. “I doubt an ice princess like you would melt for some backwoods hick farm boy.”
“I think it’s best that you leave before I go full hick farm boy on you,” Cooper said. If there was going to be a fight it would be him doing the fighting. As best man it was his obligation to not only take a black eye in the groom’s place but also go to jail so that the groom made it down the aisle the next day.
Perhaps it was too much confidence in his workouts, but Alan didn’t move.
“Diane, do you really think you’ll be happy living in the middle of nowhere? Why did you even bother with law school? If you were going to just throw away your degree you should have just come with me to Chicago and it would have been you bent over the counter.”
The thought of Alan touching her made her want to gag. It made Jack and Cooper both take a step towards Alan. Noli had joined them and placed her hands on Cooper’s chest to stop him.
“He’s not worth it.”
“She’s right. He’s not worth it,” Diane said pulling Jack back by the arm. “He’s leaving any way.”
“Don�
��t come crying to me when you’ve realized the mistake you’ve made,” Alan said gesturing towards Jack.
Cooper had had enough if no one else had and pushed Alan towards the door. “Let me show you out.” He gave another push making Alan stumble.
“I’m so sorry Jack. I’m sorry mother invited him here to ruin tonight. I still need to find her.” Diane’s voice was part sadness, part anger.
“Don’t be too hard on your mother. She loves you.” Jack hugged her to reassure her that everything was okay.
Diane walked around for a few minutes but didn’t find her mother. She saw her brother standing on the deck with a drink in his hand.
“Have you seen your mother?”
“I saw Dad and her talking out front. He seemed more upset with her than you.”
“I can’t believe she invited Dr. Insincere to my rehearsal dinner.”
“I can. She thinks you’re making a mistake and thought you just needed see Alan again to come to your senses and leave Jack.”
“Well that backfired. Seeing him confirmed how wrong he was for me and how right Jack is for me.”
“I don’t think that you should be with Alan. Though I hate to agree with Mother, it does seem kind of fast.”
Diane let out a long breath. “You too Ryan? Jack and I love each other. We’re both certain that our future is together, and don’t feel the need to wait.” She turned to go.
Ryan touched her arm. “If you’re sure, you shouldn’t wait.” Ryan took a sip of his drink and sat on the steps. “Trust me, you’d regret it if you let love slip through your fingers.”
Diane sat next to him, studying his profile for a moment. “Did you let love slip away?”
“Something like that, but we’re not talking about me right now.”
“No, we’re talking about mother. She would never interfere with her favorite like this.”
His eyebrows raised. “You think I’m mom’s favorite? You’re crazy.”
“Crazy? You can do no wrong in her eyes.”
“She doesn’t care enough to notice if I’m doing wrong. I could bring home a meth addict and she’d say it could be worse, she could be a crackhead.”
“Well if I came home on meth she’d tell me it was bad for my teeth and I should use crack to lose some weight.” They both laughed.
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