Saving Jake

by Sharon Sala

  She drove straight to Jake’s house, so angry she was shaking.

  When she pulled up in front of the house, the porch light came on. The door opened as she walked up the steps. Jake was standing in the doorway. She started talking.

  “I am so sorry. I couldn’t go to bed tonight until I made sure you were okay. I have no explanation for the fact that my parents turned into jackasses. Can you—”

  “Yes, I can,” Jake said, and put a hand on either side of the doorframe. “But you need to know that if I let you into my house, I will take you to bed, so it’s your choice.”

  Her heart was pounding, but she didn’t hesitate. “I choose you.”

  She saw his eyes flash as he crossed the threshold. He swung her up into his arms, carried her back into the house, kicking the door shut behind him as he went. He didn’t put her down until they were in his bedroom.

  The light in the hall turned their embrace into a shadow dance as Jake cupped Laurel’s face and lowered his head. Her lips were parted, her breathing was rapid and ragged, and that’s when a quiet peace washed through him. This moment and them—he’d questioned the wisdom of this before, but not again. This was so right.

  Her face was cold, but his lips were warm as they slid across her mouth, then centered. The kiss deepened, and when he heard her moan, he cupped her hips and pulled her close.

  Time ceased until he paused to inhale. His lungs were burning because he’d forgotten to breathe. Her arms were around his neck, and the curves of her body were aligned against him as if she’d been made to fit. There was a knowing inside him that once they did this, despite the chaos in his life, he would never let her go.

  “Sweet mercy, woman, you turn on every male instinct I have. I want you so much.”

  Laurel was shaking, but not from fear. “I want this to happen. I need to feel like I matter again.”

  “Ah, Laurel…you matter to me.”

  She started to undress, but he stopped her with a look.

  “Let me,” he begged.

  She took his hands and put them on her body. It was all the invitation he needed. He stripped her of her slacks, pulled the sweater over her head, and dropped her underwear at his feet before she knew what was happening.

  Then he reached behind her head, pulled the band from her hair, and when it fell across her shoulders, covering her breasts and his hands, he lost his mind. He took her standing up, with her back to the wall and her legs wrapped around his waist, and then took her to bed and started all over again.

  When Laurel climaxed the second time, she couldn’t believe it was happening. The body-shattering rush of blood went from her belly to her brain so fast she thought she was falling, and while she was still riding the high, he took her back to that pinnacle so fast that she screamed. That was when Jake’s climax finally rolled through him.

  Laurel was lost. She didn’t know what just happened had even been a possibility.

  Jake was still, and then he raised up on both elbows. “That happened before I thought. I didn’t use protection. I—”

  Laurel put a finger across his mouth. “I’m on the pill. We’re good.”

  “Oh, thank God,” he said, and brushed a kiss across her lips, then kissed the hollow at the base of her throat. “I never meant to put you at risk.”

  She was looking at the scars now, trying to wrap her head around someone being injured like this and being alive. “Oh, Jake…these scars. I hurt for every agony you suffered.”

  “It’s over and part of my past. Now is what matters. This thing that’s happening between us means everything to me. I know it happened so fast, but—”

  She interrupted. “No. Fast does not factor into this. When a person has faced their own mortality and lived to tell about it, I think the rules of polite society fall by the wayside. You have seen how fast life can end, and waiting for what you want seems unnecessary when it’s already been offered. We made magic, Jacob. I don’t take that lightly.”

  He traced the lower edge of her lip with his thumb, then pulled her close and whispered in her ear. “So I think our first kiss has possibilities.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Yes. Definite possibilities.”

  He rolled over onto his back and took her with him, then pulled her close and closed his eyes. He didn’t intend to fall asleep, but he did, and she had not intended to stay the night, but she was.

  And he began to dream.

  * * *

  Laurel woke in a panic as Jake groaned in her ear. At first she thought she was home and someone was breaking into her house, and then she saw where she was and remembered.

  Jake moaned again, and then moments later the muscles in his arms begin to twitch. He had readily admitted he suffered PTSD, and she suspected this was what was happening. He was dreaming, and there was no telling where the dream would take him. Staying where she was might be a mistake, and while she wasn’t afraid of what was beginning to happen, she had the good sense to make sure she got out of the way.

  Without making a sound, she slowly eased out of the bed. The house was a bit chilly, and she didn’t know where to look for a blanket, so she began getting dressed instead. Then she curled up in a rocker near the window, pulled her knees up to her chin, and waited.

  * * *

  Jake’s unit was on the move. They had bivouacked outside a small village the night before and Jake, along with some of the others, was standing in the strip between their camp and the village, handing out gum and candy to the little ones who were curious about the Americans bedded down in what amounted to their backyard.

  Jake squatted down to get on eye level with a little boy and was handing him a piece of gum when they began hearing artillery fire.

  Women in the village began screaming for their children, and the soldiers were on their feet and running for their vehicles when the first missile hit the village.

  He turned to look just as the little boy he’d been talking to disappeared in falling rubble.

  “Son of a bitch!” he yelled, and started back when they were ordered to move out. “Sarge, the kid—”

  “Get in your truck, Lorde. They’re shooting at us. We’re moving out.”

  Jake could hear screams even as they were in motion. There was a lump in his throat and a knot in his gut. The dust was billowing up behind their transports, and they were sitting ducks.

  When Jake threw up his arms, Laurel knew something bad had happened in his dream. She flew out of the chair and ran to the foot of the bed, wanting to hold him, but afraid to get too close. “Jake, wake up. You’re having a bad dream. You need to wake up.”

  That voice.

  He sat up with a jerk, his heart hammering against his rib cage, and saw Laurel dressed, standing at the foot of his bed.

  “Oh my God, did I hurt you? Did I scare you? What happened?”

  She crawled into bed with him and grasped both of his hands. “No, no, nothing like that. But I woke up when you started to dream, I think. I just got up and got out of the way.”

  He pulled her into his lap. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I got selfish and let what I wanted override what I knew was best. I shouldn’t have—we shouldn’t—”

  “Oh no. You don’t make my choices for me,” Laurel said. “I’m not a fool. I saw some of this with Adam. I’m not a novice at anything anymore. Trust me. I can handle this, if you can handle me.”

  Jake pulled her close. “It will get some better. The doctor said it will get better.”

  “Then so it will,” she said. “In the meantime, can we just let this relationship do its thing without trying to force something into a place it doesn’t need to go?”

  “What do you mean?” Jake asked.

  “I mean, if you’re willing, I’m willing to do this with you. I don’t want to wait until you think it’s okay.”

 
He gave her a quick hug of thanksgiving. “One day at a time?”

  “Yes. One day at a time,” she said.

  “Come get back under the covers. The house seems cold.”

  Laurel gasped. “Oh no!”

  “What?” he asked.

  “I have to go home and turn the heat lamp on for Lavonne. It wasn’t that cold when we fed her, but if the temperature drops, she could freeze. I’m sorry, but Bonnie would be devastated if anything happened to that chicken.”

  Jake got up and started pulling on clothes. “I’ll follow you home.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” Laurel said.

  “Our night is only half over,” Jake said. “I’m down with ending it in your bed instead of mine.”

  “I don’t have a single reason to disagree,” Laurel said, and grabbed her coat and purse.

  Jake sat down to put on his boots, then got his coat and car keys and paused by the window. “The wind is up. No wonder the house is getting cold. I’m going to turn up the heat before we go.”

  The bitter blast hit them face-first the moment they walked out of his house.

  “Oh my lord,” Laurel said. “Winter has come to the mountains for sure. I’ll see you at the house.” Then she made a run for her truck.

  Jake was right behind her.

  They arrived at her trailer within minutes, and instead of parking where she usually did, she drove past the house to the chicken coop and used the headlights to see by.

  Her hands were shaking as she struggled with the latch, and then suddenly, Jake was right behind her. “Let me help,” he said.

  As soon as he opened the gate, she ran into the little yard and then opened the door to the coop. There was just enough light for her to see the little black Australorp fluffed up in her nest.

  “Poor little chickie, are you cold?” Laurel said, as she quickly plugged in the heat lamp and then put more straw into the little hen’s nest, piling it high around her so that she was neatly tucked in.

  Lavonne clucked a couple of times in what Laurel read as a gesture of gratitude.

  “You are so welcome, little girl. Sleep warm,” Laurel said, and then slipped out of the coop, locked the door behind her, and ran out.

  “I’ve got the gate. Get in the house. You’re freezing.”

  She stopped by her truck to kill the engine and grab her purse. She was sprinting for the back door when Jake caught up with her. They went up the steps together and then into the house as she unlocked the door.

  The relief of being out of the wind was immediate. Laurel ran to turn up the heat while Jake locked up behind them. She was back in the kitchen within seconds.

  “Thank you for coming with me,” she said, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

  He tilted her chin to meet his gaze. “Baby, there’s no way I would have let you drive off in the night alone. Without rushing anything between us, I’d like to think you’ve dealt with your last crisis on your own.”

  There were tears in her eyes, but her voice was steady. “You have become my knight in shining armor. I never thought I’d feel hopeful or happy again.”

  He brushed a kiss across her lips and then let her go.

  The central heat kicked on as Laurel was hanging up their coats. He was still thinking about the job offer with the ad agency when Laurel’s cell phone rang.

  She jumped.

  “Oh no, that has to be Mama.” She looked at caller ID and frowned. “And it is. I hope Bonnie’s not sick.” She answered quickly. “Hello, Mama, is Bonnie okay?”

  “Yes, but she woke up crying. She heard the wind, I think, and won’t go back to sleep until she knows Lavonne’s heat lamp is on.”

  Laurel’s panic eased. “Put her on the phone,” she said.

  She listened, waiting for her mother to give the phone to Bonnie, and then heard the teary little voice. “Hello? Mommy?”

  “Yes, honey, it’s me. Granny said you were worried about Lavonne, but she’s fine. I put more hay in her nest and turned on her heat lamp.”

  “You did?”

  “I sure did, and you know what, she went ‘cluck cluck’ twice. I’m pretty sure she was saying thank you.”

  She heard Bonnie giggle softly.

  “Now you go get Brave Bear and crawl back into bed. You can tell him Lavonne is fine, and you’re fine, and Granny needs her sleep, okay?”

  “Okay, Mommy.”

  “I love you,” Laurel said.

  “I love you, too,” Bonnie said.

  The connection ended.

  “Is she okay?” Jake asked.

  “She is now that she knows Lavonne isn’t cold. Oh my gosh, I am so glad I thought of it.”

  “You take care of everyone and everything, including chickens, but who takes care of you?”

  She looked at his face then, seeing the honesty in his expression and the dark, steady gaze in his eyes. “You did tonight. The job is open if you want it.”

  He leaned across the table and took her hands. “Yes, I do. Actually, it’s the second job offer I’ve had in the past few days.”

  “Really? What was the first?” she asked.

  “Working for an Atlanta ad agency.”

  She tried not to let on what she was feeling, but she was somewhat anxious now. “You’re moving?”

  He shook his head. “No. Never. It would be a working-from-home job. Technology will be my friend.”

  “Thank goodness,” she said. “I’m not much of a city girl. So how on earth did you find advertising?”

  He grinned. “Actually, advertising found me,” and he proceeded to tell her about convalescing with a buddy from his unit and how what began as a joke turned into a talent he never knew he had.

  “Oh, Jake, that’s amazing,” Laurel said. “Congratulations.”

  “I haven’t accepted yet, but I’m probably going to.”

  The wind popped the skirting on the trailer. The sound made her shiver.

  “Do you want anything warm to drink? Some coffee, some hot chocolate?”

  “All I want is you,” Jake said.

  She held out her hand. “I know where there’s a big bed just waiting for us.”

  “And I know how to warm it up,” he said.

  “Yes, you sure do,” Laurel said, and led the way.

  Chapter 17

  Nester was sporting two black eyes and a bandage across the bridge of his nose. His upper lip had a couple of stitches in it, and his nose, for the time being, was still packed with gauze. The last person he wanted to see on his doorstep was Truman, and he fixed him with a pointed stare.

  “What the hell do you want?”

  “I need to talk to you, Nester. My heart is heavy, and I can’t let these hard feelings go on between us any longer.”

  Nester sighed. He didn’t believe a word Truman was saying. He wanted something else, he just knew it, but he looked like he’d been run over by a herd of sheep, and he didn’t have the heart to turn him away.

  “Well, get on in here, and get it said. I’m still not feeling so great, as you can see.”

  He led him into the kitchen and pointed to a chair on one side of the table.

  “You sit there,” he said, and then took the one on the other side so that they were sitting face to face. “Okay, you’re sorry. What else brings you here?”

  And Truman unloaded his woes, beginning with waking up to no heat or electricity, which morphed to the story about sliding off in a ditch and losing his pants in front of a tow truck driver and a cop, and ending with getting shot at by his aunt and admitting he needed a place to stay.

  Nester wanted to tell Truman it was no more than he deserved, but Truman had been his friend since grade school, and he didn’t have it in him to be that mean.

  “If I let you stay here, you have to clean up
after yourself and wash dishes when you dirty them, and you have to take a bath.”

  Truman stifled a groan. “Every night?”

  “Mostly,” Nester said. “I don’t live with no pigs.”

  “I’ll be happy to do that and whatever you need me to do, buddy,” Truman said. “And I’m real sorry about busting your nose. I was just shit-faced drunk. You know I don’t have any sense when I get like that.”

  Nester blinked and then winced. “Well, I know it now,” he muttered, “so get your things and bring ’em on in. You can have the bedroom at the end of the hall.”

  Truman shifted in his seat. “Well, I didn’t actually pack a bag, so—”

  Nester slapped the table with the flat of his hand. “Then go home and pack one. You aren’t going to wear my clothes, use my razor, or anything else personal like that, understand?”

  Truman nodded. “Yes, yes, I do. I’ll head on home now and get some things. I sure appreciate this, Nester, and as soon as my monthly check comes, I’ll get square with the world and be out of your hair.”

  “Alright then,” Nester said. “Hurry on back. I’m not keeping late hours since I got out of the hospital.”

  “I’ll be back within the hour, I promise,” Truman said, and bolted out of the house before Nester could change his mind.

  By night they were settled in front of the television with Pepsi-Colas and popcorn, watching an NFL game. Even though the heat was on and the curtains were drawn, they couldn’t help but notice the house was getting cold.

  Finally, Nester got up to check the thermostat, and when he walked into the hall, he could tell that the wind had risen. He turned up the heat and then went to the kitchen and looked out toward the security light in the backyard. Nothing was falling, but the temperature drop was drastic.

  “Ooh boy, it’s gonna put ice on the ponds tonight,” he said, as he went back into the living room.

  Truman thought about his cold house and shuddered. “I can’t thank you enough for taking me in like this.”