Hasty Resolution

by Mullens, Sam Taylor

Jennifer turns to Jake on the balls of her feet. “Jake, Liz is all mine in the morning, and the kids are all yours.”

  “Do I have a choice?” he asks smugly, passing Carter off to Jennifer.

  Jennifer and I both shake our heads simultaneously. Jake wraps his arms around my shoulders and kisses my neck. “Anything you want,” he whispers in my ear.

  Doug walks through the front door, announcing, “Sorry, appointments were scheduled late tonight.”

  The girls run to the kitchen from watching TV. “Daddy, we won our game, both of us!”

  The evening at the Howard home passes quickly. As we eat dinner, we make plans to go snowmobiling in a few weeks. Jake is excited to check out the trails before all four of us go out together. We laugh and talk until it is late in the evening.

  When Jake and I retreat to the guest bedroom, I find it is decorated in a floral Victorian style, but I don’t mind what it looks like because I am exhausted. I shower and dry my hair after an arduous day.

  When I collapse on the bed, wearing one of Jake’s T-shirts, I realize the headboard bangs against the wall. I sit upward. There are also creaks in the mattress springs.

  “Uh-oh, Jake,” I say, standing. “This isn’t like our bed.”

  “So? Are you going to be all right with it?” he asks with a crooked smile.

  “Everyone will hear us!”

  “Well, then, you’re just going to have to be quiet. You’re the noisy one, not me,” Jake says with a snicker.

  I pick up a pillow and playfully hit him with it. Jake pulls me onto the bed with him and I fall into his kiss. I cannot think of a day when Jake and I haven’t been intimate with one another. Do we know how to just lie in bed and fall asleep?

  “Tonight, I felt so domestic with you,” I say in the darkened room with Jake’s arms around my waist.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You changing kids, me fixing dinner. We play house quite well together.”

  “Yeah, we do.”

  Jake pulls the comforter over my shoulders and kisses me. I thought he was going to give me a simple kiss before rolling over to go to sleep, but his warm lips pressing mine turns into so much more than a simple kiss goodnight.

  “Liz, I don’t know what I would have done if anything happened to you today. If you were hurt, it would have haunted me for the rest of my life. To not have you with me would be so painful. I need you.”

  He kisses my ear in a ticklish way and I want to giggle.

  “Don’t giggle,” he whispers as he kisses my other ear in a sensuous way.

  “Don’t moan,” he whispers as he presses himself against me before sliding my panties off. He takes off his jockey shorts under the covers.

  “Don’t scream,” he whispers and pulls the shirt I am wearing over my head and slides back under the covers.

  “Don’t wiggle,” he whispers before burying his face in me under the covers.

  I cover my face with a pillow to muffle any sound that may escape my mouth. Jake gently slides into me.

  “Don’t move,” he whispers and my eyes widen. “Just lie back.”

  He kisses my neck as our hands intertwine with one another’s over my head.

  “Let me have you gently tonight.”

  He slowly glides in and out of me softly enough so the bed does not move. I whimper as he moves about on top of me.

  “Shh!” he whispers, bringing a finger to my mouth. “Someone will hear you and we can’t let that happen.”

  He slowly pushes himself into me deeply and my face contorts in pleasure. I lick my lips and he kisses them to conceal my pants.

  “I know this is hard for you, Liz,” he whispers before he licks the tips of my nipples. “You look like I am tormenting you, Liz.”

  “You are,” I whisper, “but in a good way.”

  He looks at me with a sheepish grin as he continues to sway his hips into mine. This quietness and discreteness feel as restrictive as if he were to bind me up. I wrap my legs around his waist and he grinds deeper into me. Jake gently pushes my shoulders down, pulls the covers over us, and lies on top while still inside of me. His naked body presses against mine. I feel so heated with him on me like this.

  “You’re such a good girl, Liz. So innocent-looking.” He plants his lips on mine. “And I like you that way.” He nibbles on my ear. “But I also like that you can get a little bit naughty with me.” His hips meet mine and I bite my lip to keep quiet as we climax simultaneously, his weight is still on top of me. “We have to keep that secret just between the two of us.”

  “Last summer, I never thought we’d become like this,” Jake says as he rolls onto his back and the bed squeaks louder than ever.

  “Like what?” I ask, sitting up on my elbow.

  “So intimate and close.” He runs his fingers along my arm. “I can’t even watch you get ready for bed without getting aroused.”

  He presses his lips to my bared shoulder to plant a kiss on it.

  “That’s not a bad thing,” I say as I pull Jake’s shirt back over my head.

  Jake sits up and asks, “What are you doing?”

  “If you want to keep any part of what is going on between us a secret, then you better put your pajama bottoms back on.”

  I reach for his flannel pajamas. My backside is up in the air when Jake teasingly slaps it and I let out a yelp. I cover my mouth.

  “See, you’re the loud one,” Jake says humorously.

  “Put these on before someone walks through the door. The lock on the door will not keep out those girls who wake up and want to see their Uncle Jake,” I say as I swat him with his pajamas. He grabs me and I giggle.

  “Shhh!”

  “Don’t tease me, Jake. We’re going to wake up someone in this house.”

  I fall asleep in the comfort of Jake’s arms.

  * * * * *

  Early the next morning, little fingers rap on the bedroom door. Someone is wiggling the handle, trying to get in our room. I hurry and pull on some leggings and throw on a sweatshirt over my head before they wake Jake. The sun is not shining, but these girls are ready to begin their day.

  The girls turn on the television and I offer to make some German pancakes. I feed the girls and make another pan for everyone else. The smell of breakfast and the sound of the girls playing wake up the rest of the house. Jennifer comes down groggily to make a pot of coffee while I help the girls dress for the day. I then finish getting myself cleaned up. I offer to bathe Carter so Jennifer can dress. I want to be on time for our appointment. I’m excited to get my hair cut by a professional. My hair has become too shaggy and beyond my reach to cut it myself.

  I place Carter in his swing, I hear Jake’s phone ring. I answer the phone, knowing Jake was waiting to hear from the people replacing the windows. I ask the person on the phone to wait while I go to get Jake. I have his wallet in my other hand because I don’t know which card he wants me to use when I go to the salon.

  I hear Jake’s voice in the kitchen with Doug and Jennifer, so I keep the phone muffled in my palm tightly. I stop in my tracks and make the window people wait until I can interrupt their conversation. Jennifer, Doug, and Jake don’t see me in the hallows of the kitchen.

  “Jake, Liz is amazing,” Jennifer says and Jake nods in gleeful agreement while sipping his coffee.

  “You seem so happy with her, Jake. The girls love her. Dinner last night was delicious, she got my kids going this morning and made them a breakfast they devoured.”

  Doug cuts Jennifer off. “She should be able to make breakfast for her own kids and get her own kids going for the day.”

  Doug is scowling fiercely at Jake.

  “Jennifer, did you know Jake abducted Liz? He snatched her right from her family, her career, her home.”

  Jennifer’s jaw drops open.

  “Oh, it gets better. Jake here stuffed her in a potato crate to get her over the border. Then, he chained her up in his grandpap’s old cabin until he could figure things out. Now
they are up giggling all night and blissfully cohabitating in Jake’s secluded cabin.”

  “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen; you know that, Doug!” Jake roars.

  Doug slams down his coffee. “What did you think would happen?”

  “I don’t know!” Jake yells.

  “Jake, this isn’t real! She probably has Stockholm’s Syndrome or something. I think you’ve let this go too far.”

  I clear my throat and everyone in the kitchen stands abruptly at my interruption.

  “Jake, the window guys are on the phone. I thought it was urgent, so I answered your phone.” I hand the cell phone off to Jake.

  Everyone is too stunned at my appearance to utter a word. They know I endured their conversation in its entirety. In my other hand, I have Jake’s wallet extended. The kitchen remains silent.

  “Which card would you like me use today?” I ask softly, trying to hold back my tears.

  “Take this one,” Jake replies delicately as he points to one.

  I set Jake’s wallet on the kitchen counter.

  Doug steps toward me. “Hey, Liz, I…”

  Jennifer doesn’t allow Doug to finish speaking. Jennifer grabs her purse and pushes me out the garage door to get in the car, scowling all the while at Doug. I hear Jake yell and curse at Doug in our wake as I grab my coat and slide the credit card in the front pocket of my jeans.

  Jennifer opens the garage door. I climb into the passenger side of the black SUV. I reach over my shoulder for the seat belt and keep my eyes glued to the window, not looking at Jennifer. I can’t bring myself to make eye contact with her as we drive.

  “I had to sneak out of the house before the girls saw me leave,” Jennifer says dismissively as she turns down the street.

  Tears form in my eyes. They tumble down my cheeks once we are a few blocks from the house.

  “It sounds pretty horrible when you put the way Doug did,” I tell her quietly.

  I finally turn my head to face Jennifer. “I just haven’t felt horrible about anything of this the whole time. Jake didn’t mean to abduct me the way he did. He hasn’t hurt me at all. I want to stay with Jake. I have chosen to stay with Jake.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Doug has been working a lot and he’s a little stressed right now. He’s just worried about Jake and it didn’t come out the right way in the kitchen.” Jennifer pauses.

  “But, I always wondered how you two met.” She winks at me.

  I laugh. “It’s a little more complicated than what Doug revealed in the kitchen.”

  Jennifer smiles at me and says, “I thought it would be. Nothing is simple with Jake, not anymore.”

  We drive and park at a shopping mall.

  “The lady who does my hair moved her business into the mall. She added some ladies who will give us a manicure and pedicure with our appointment,” Jennifer explains.

  We walk into the salon, where two stylists await our arrival. With my hair freshly washed, conditioned, and my scalp massaged, I am asked how I would like my hair cut.

  “Blunt. I’ve been growing it out, so no layers, no bangs, no angles, and no wisps of any kind. I just need everything evened out on my shoulders,” I say, being very direct so she cannot talk me into a trendy-style cut.

  The stylist behind the chair looks at me through the mirror and asks, “A little texturizing on the top or the back so it’s not so heavy?”

  “Yes, that will be fine,” I say.

  The girl combs through my hair with her fingers. “Do you want a few highlights to replace what the sun naturally does in the summer? It won’t take long and I have time.”

  I crinkle my nose and talk to her in the mirror. “Sure. Just a few so it doesn’t look too drab for the rest of the winter.”

  I add, “But, not too many and not too light.”

  After my hair has been cut, highlighted, dried, and styled, Jennifer and I walk to the back end of the salon for manicures.

  "What you like?" the petite Asian lady says in broken English as we approach the back of the salon.

  Jennifer is taken back when I step forward to speak. "I'd like a manicure and a spa pedicure. No acrylic nails and no shellac.”

  I cross my hands to emphasize the no.

  "Just a basic manicure. I want cherry red on my toes, no shellac. Where would you like me to sit?”

  The Asian lady points to a tall, oversized massage chair. I unlace my tall snow boots and roll up my jeans as far as they can go to my knees. A basin of water fills at my feet.

  "Too hot?" she asks.

  I dip my toes in. I give her an okay signal with my hand to indicate the water is fine. Jennifer sits in the chair next to me.

  Jennifer relaxes in her chair and adjusts the pulse on her massage chair.

  "Do you do this often?" Jennifer asks.

  "What? Get my nails done? All the time. I just haven't since I've been at the cabin with Jake. It's been a nice break from having to go religiously every two weeks to get them done or keep my standing hair appointment on the first Saturday of every month. Everything with Jake has been a nice break.”

  I smile and focus my attention on the television.

  There aren't many people in the salon. The station is tuned into the Calgary television news. They report on entertainment news, sports, and the latest local weather report and forecast.

  I watch the pedicurist work on my toes. "Tiny toes, tiny toes," she says while the Asian woman working on Jennifer peeks over at my toes. Jennifer chuckles at how they are making a fuss.

  “I can’t cut my cuticles the way they can, which makes it all worth it," I say, shaking my head.

  Once we leave the salon, I notice a clothing store a few shops down. “Let’s stop in here real quick,” I suggest, and Jennifer doesn’t resist.

  I find a few sweaters with coordinating scarves along with some earrings. I help Jennifer pick out some long-sleeved tops and accessories. We both leave the mall freshly spruced, a bag of new clothes with accessories in our hands. We celebrate with one last stop at a coffee shop, a latte before heading back to reality.

  Chapter 44: Jake

  I pace the entire time Liz is gone. I feel like I could jump out of my skin. Doug wasn’t called in, so he was able to stay home to help with the kids. I am ecstatic when I hear the garage door open, signaling Jennifer and Liz’s return. Liz goes right to the stairs with a bag in her hand. I catch her midway before she reaches the top.

  I grab hold of her hand. “The windows are fixed. We can head home before the next heavy snowstorm hits this afternoon.”

  She shrugs her shoulders. “Okay. Let me change and I’ll gather up our things into the overnight bag,” she says brightly.

  Liz takes another step before turning back to me. “Here’s your credit card.” She hands over the card and our fingers touch. “I’ll pay you back.”

  I grab her wrist. “Don’t ever think you owe me anything.”

  She smiles and kisses me on the cheek before finishing the climb up the stairs. I know Liz has been making a mental note of everything she has cost me and I wish she wouldn’t. It’s as if she can’t allow anyone to take care of her and she can’t allow herself to be obliged to anyone.

  When I return to the kitchen, Jennifer is sitting next to Doug on a barstool.

  “I like her Jake. I like Liz a lot. She is a wonderful cook, has impeccable taste in clothes, and she is amazing with the girls. Jake, she makes you happy, really happy. Liz is choosing to stay with you. What happened last summer is history. Don’t let anyone tell you any different,” she says, narrowing her piercing eyes at Doug. “I made another hair appointment for us both in six weeks, so be sure you get her here on time. I like going with her and I think she enjoyed herself.”

  When Liz walks down the stairs, I take the bag from her grasp and head to the truck to warm the cab and clear the snow from the windshield. The girls pull her to the couch to have her read a book to them before we leave. I take the bag to the truck and clear the sno
w from the windshield.

  Once I walk back into the house, I don’t interrupt Liz with the girls. I just watch. The two girls are on each side of Liz, sitting on the couch as she is explaining basic ecosystems and habitats from the book she has just read. She is so good with kids. Liz, in her jeans, sits with her legs crossed. I notice her new silver earrings when she scoops her sleek, shoulder-length hair behind her ears. She is wearing a tailored cobalt sweater. She must have bought it today while she was out with Jennifer. The color of the sweater makes her eyes pop. Her face is not caked with make-up; there’s just a little lip-gloss on her lips. Liz is naturally beautiful. My eyes cannot get enough of her, but this time, I see another side of Liz, how she can be away from the cabin, away from me. This is how she must be when she is at home.

  Liz notices me over her shoulder. She looks at me like I have never hurt her in any way, but I have. Perhaps this isn’t real between the two of us and maybe I have let this go on too long. It’s time I take her back, back to her family, back to the life she knows, even if I am not ready.

  “I think Jake is waiting for me,” Liz tells the girls before she stands up to walk over to me.

  Doug walks us to the door and says, “You two are welcome here any time.”

  Doug turns to Liz, “Sorry I was a bit of a dick this morning.”

  Liz crinkles her nose and smiles warmly. “Don’t worry about it.”

  Doug slaps me on the back, “If I don’t hear from you sooner, we’ll be up in two weeks to go snowmobiling. You’re the guide, Jake, so have fun checking out the trails in the meantime.”

  I help Liz into the truck. She stops me from closing the door.

  “Are you all right, Jake?” she asks with a raised eyebrow. “You seem worried, like you are overthinking something.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I lie before I close her door and walk around the truck.

  I guess this is the day, the day I take her back. I turn to drive southbound on the interstate. Liz notices and immediately becomes alarmed.

  “Where are you going, Jake?” she asks with a stern voice.

  “Taking you back,” I say with no emotion.