by Terry Spear
Jack quickly interceded before his mother said anything more. Gigi just stared at him as if she couldn’t believe he’d be here. Which, if he’d been working, he wouldn’t have been. She raised her hand to slap his face. He quickly grabbed her arm. “I’ll call the police and swear out a complaint against you if I have to,” he growled at Gigi.
“You would too.” Gigi’s green eyes were darkened in anger, her mouth curved down.
“You’re damn right.” Jack released her wrist and turned to his mom and gave her a hug. “Are you all right?”
“Yes. I’m fine. Where are your mate and your adorable kids?”
He couldn’t believe his mother would antagonize Gigi by making up a story about Dottie, or mention his having kids. His mother was normally so mild-mannered, except she’d always felt Gigi and her family were bad news. She’d been right.
Jack led her away from Gigi. “Mom, we thought we’d lost you,” he said, as if she hadn’t known that. Maybe she hadn’t realized it yet, if she thought they were still where’d they’d been a few minutes ago.
“I saw you near the carousal, and it looked like the kids were going to ride it, so I went to the glass blower’s booth and went inside to look at the glassware in the shop. Right as I was coming out of the shop, Gigi stopped me to harass me. I didn’t even recognize her at first. If she hadn’t corralled me and I couldn’t have found you, I would have gone to the Lost and Found.”
“Are you sure you’re fine? Gigi didn’t touch you, did she?”
“No, Jack. I’m really okay. She just went ballistic when she saw me. It was just a shock to see her and to hear her tirade. If she’d gotten physical with me, I would have screamed for the police.”
He texted everyone to let them know he had found his mom. And that Gigi was here harassing her. Dottie and the rest agreed to have lunch at the Old Cantina. Roberta said she was having lunch with Phillip at the Cabaret and would see them later tonight. Phillip would take her home. “Hey, have fun, both of you.” Jack wondered how long that would last between them this time.
“Aunt Emily, Dottie, and the kids went to the Lost and Found to look for you. I tried calling you,” Jack said to his mom.
“I left my phone at home. You know me, I forget to charge it up, so I had it charging, and then I forgot to bring it.”
“Okay, no problem. We can all get together and eat lunch then. Roberta is visiting with Phillip.”
His mom’s brows rose. “Her old boyfriend?”
“Yeah, surprised me too. They were both looking for you also.”
“I’m so sorry that I lost you,” Lisa said.
“No problem.” Still, Jack took a relieved breath, and then saw the rest of the gang headed their way.
He glanced back at where Gigi had been, figuring she might have been watching them to see who his wife and kids were, but she had slowly followed them. He’d hoped she’d taken off. He just hoped she didn’t get into a fight with them. He would call security if she harassed any of them further.
Dottie took hold of Jack’s hand and kissed his cheek, whispering seductively in his ear, “You can pretend we barely know each other, or we can give her a real eyeful.”
“I agree,” Aunt Emily said.
“Mom already told her we were a couple and the kids are mine.”
“I sure like your mom,” Emily said.
Jack smiled at her.
“Mommy said we had to hold hands all the time,” Jeff said to Lisa as if she needed someone to watch over her better.
His mom took hold of Jeff’s hand, and Emily took hold of his other. “Then you can make sure I don’t get lost.”
“Did you get scared?” Trish asked, hugging Lisa.
His mom’s eyes filled with tears as she hugged Trish back with her free hand. “If a woman hadn’t been talking my ear off, I might have been. But Jack found me right away.”
Jeff and Trish looked at her ears.
Jack hadn’t realized the kids took comments so literally. “We won’t lose the two of you. We know everything you’re up to. We have eyes in the back of our heads to keep a watch on the two of you.”
“No, you don’t,” Trish said.
Jeff had to take a look to see. “No, you don’t,” Jeff agreed.
Everyone laughed.
Jack lifted Trish onto his hip, wrapped his arm around Dottie’s shoulders, and leaned down to give her a real kiss. They definitely looked like they were one happy family. And he liked feeling this way.
After that, they headed to the restaurant to eat.
“Okay, so why in the world is she harassing your mom?” Dottie asked. “It’s been more than five years since you broke off the engagement with her, for heaven’s sake.”
“Yeah, I never gave her another thought. I never believed she’d be here or hassle my mom or any of us. Maybe scowl at me if she saw me when I was running around town. That’s about it. If I’d even given her a thought, I would have believed she’d gotten married already herself.”
“She has been,” Lisa said. “Twice before. I saw the wedding announcements in the paper. Maybe two years apart?”
“Can you imagine what it would have been like if you’d married her?” Aunt Emily asked.
“Horrible,” Dottie said, answering for Jack.
He just smiled at them as they made their way into the restaurant. He did wonder why Gigi was here at the theme park by herself. Though he’d come here with her a few times when they were dating. Was she dating someone then? If so, why was she harassing his mom? His mom didn’t have anything to do with Gigi’s brother going to jail.
When the hostess escorted them to their seats at the Old Cabana, he saw Gigi come into the restaurant with a guy, shaggy brown hair, jeans, black T-shirt featuring a white skull.
“Is she stalking us?” Lisa asked.
“Looks like it. Otherwise, why come to this restaurant? Why not go somewhere else?” Dottie asked.
“Looks like she has a new boyfriend.” Lisa put her napkin on her lap. “You’d think that would satisfy her.”
Dottie began reading the menu to the kids so they could decide what they wanted.
Jack studied Dottie and his son and daughter for a moment, realizing how this was the first time he’d taken his kids out to a restaurant, and how much he loved that they were going to be able to share lots of first times together, once he moved close to Dottie in Yuma Town.
“Don’t look now. That guy who’s with that woman is headed toward our table.” Aunt Emily grabbed up her phone, and he knew she was getting ready to call the police, or at least threaten to call them.
Jack turned to see if the guy truly was coming to confront him or not. Sure enough, he was headed straight for Jack while Gigi was standing in the waiting area, her arms folded across her chest, as if she was still waiting with the other customers for a table.
Jack rose from his chair, nodded in greeting. He remained serious in case this became ugly. He was going to ask him to step outside to talk if the guy became belligerent.
The guy held out his hand, surprising Jack. He shook it in good faith.
“Okay, listen, my name is Al, and Gigi said you were harassing her when I went to the men’s room.”
“She’s a liar,” Lisa jumped in to say. “She was threatening me because her brother tried to kill my son, and then Jack testified to help put the guy away. He used a gun in a burglary first, then threatened my son with it.”
“Well, I didn’t believe her. Not when you’re here with a family and you came into the restaurant before we did. I mean, how can you be stalking her if we followed you in here? I just wanted to get the facts straight,” Al said. “She said that you were seeing someone else when you were engaged to her, Jack. And by the looks of it, you got the other woman pregnant.”
“She’ll tell you whatever she wants you to hear,” Jack said. “She’s the one who had three boyfriends on the side when we were engaged. When I learned of it, I broke it off with her. A few weeks later
, I met Dottie. That was five years ago. Gigi needs to get over it.”
“She’s been married twice herself already. If she’d wanted to be with my son, and only my son, they would have been married. Just be careful around that one. Her brother is a real psycho,” Lisa warned.
“I’ve heard about her brother, trumped up charges. He was the fall guy. He didn’t do anything.” Al frowned. “Gigi was married twice? She told me she’d only been married once.”
“You can do a search on the Internet. It’s all right there in black and white.” Lisa drank some of her water. “Same with his criminal charges. Not trumped up at all.”
“Thanks, I wanted to just learn what was going on. I’ll let you get on with your lunch.” Al offered his hand to Jack and they shook.
“Sorry, man, that you had to get involved in her stuff like this.”
“Hey, I’m used to it.” Al smiled at Dottie. “I just need to find the right woman for me.”
Then he turned and headed back to where Gigi was waiting. She frowned at him and began to say something. He brushed past her and left the restaurant. After giving Jack a growly look, she turned and hurried after her newest boyfriend. Or maybe, her already ex-boyfriend.
Jack wondered how long that was going to last, if it wasn’t over already. He hoped the guy would make a quick escape from the relationship, much sooner than Jack had. He retook his seat and the waitress returned to take their orders.
After they ordered and the waitress left, Jack said, “I wonder if Gigi harasses the men she married and their families also.”
“Who knows? Maybe it was her idea to divorce them. I suspect if it’s her idea, she doesn’t have any problem with it. If it’s the guy’s idea, she can’t deal with it,” his mother said.
“At least they left the restaurant.” Jack placed his napkin on his lap, glad that he was going to be living in Yuma Town near Dottie and not anywhere near his crazy ex-fiancée.
Forty minutes later when Jack was paying for the meal, he received a call from security at the theme park. Now what?
“I’m Tim Edwards, head of security at the park. Is this Jack Barrington?”
“Yeah. What’s the problem?” Jack suspected it all had to do with Gigi.
“A woman named Gigi Crichton said you threatened her boyfriend, and he was so afraid to be with her, he left the park without her.”
Jack couldn’t believe it. Along with her brother, the woman was certifiable. “I don’t know Al’s last name. We had a nice, congenial chat, and he left. He seems to me like he has a good head on his shoulders. She was trying to get him riled up to confront me for something that didn’t happen. If you want to know his side of the story, you’ll have to speak with him. But we shook hands and there was no trouble at all. As to another matter, she was verbally abusive to my mother before I rescued her from Gigi’s tirade.”
“Okay, thanks, Mr. Barrington.”
They finished the call and Jack paid the bill.
“What was that all about?” Dottie asked.
“Gigi’s new boyfriend left her at the park without a ride. Serves her right for sending him to threaten me.”
Everyone agreed.
After a long day of rides, the last one on the train, they headed home, the kids were tired, but they’d had a great time. Except for Gigi and her nonsense, they’d all enjoyed the day. He thought he really suited being a dad.
They had dinner with his family after that so that his dad could meet the kids. He was just as thrilled to be their granddaddy as Jack was to be their daddy. He believed they could really be a permanent family when he was through with the army.
The next two and a half weeks meant runs with the kids as cougars, a paddle wheeler trip, a visit to the zoo, and finally the Renaissance fair. Up until today, both his parents, his sister, and Dottie’s aunt had been coming to some of the activities.
Today was Dottie and the kids’ last day here. Tomorrow, they were taking them to the airport. And he had to leave the day after so he could save up his leave time for Dottie and the kids.
“I can’t believe the whole family bowed out of going to the fair with us today,” Dottie said, helping Trish into her purple and green fairy princess gown.
Jack was helping Jeff dress in his Robin Hood costume—velvet-like green vest, blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a green velvet Robin Hood hat complete with feather.
Aunt Emily had even bought a medieval gown for Dottie—a lovely dark blue gown with lots of gold braid that made her look like a princess. She purchased it through an online store, but they only had clothes for women and Jack wasn’t sure he wanted to dress up. Certainly not if he had to wear tights.
“You look like a princess,” he said, pulling Dottie close and kissing her.
“What about your costume?” Jeff asked.
“I’ll probably pick up something at the fair.” Not that Jack really intended to. He figured the kids would be so caught up in all the sights and fun that they wouldn’t really think about what he was wearing.
“We’ll help your daddy pick out something that he’d like.” Dottie gave him a little smile that said he wasn’t getting out of dressing up like the rest of them.
He laughed.
Then they left the house and drove to the fairgrounds. But Dottie wasn’t letting Jack off the hook about the costume business and took him into a leather store first. Leather arm bands and leggings were a start. Leather boots. This wasn’t so bad. As long as he didn’t have to wear Robin Hood tights. A white peasant shirt and a hat with a feather in it completed the ensemble. He really did feel the part when Renaissance fairgoers welcomed the family.
And that’s what they truly were. He realized that was probably some of the reason his family and Aunt Emily bowed out of going with them today. They’d wanted them to do something as a real family. Just the four of them. Begin to have some real shared experiences and make some new memories.
They watched the comedic shows, listened to singers and watched dancers, and saw the knights jousting. Jeff wanted to be a knight when he grew up. “Uncle Hal could even give me a horse like that one.” He pointed to the palomino.
Jack agreed that would make a great knight’s horse.
“Why don’t you fight the bad knight?” Jeff asked, looking up at Jack as if he truly believed all of this was real.
“Well, I wouldn’t get very far, I’m afraid. I’ve never ridden a horse, remember?”
Jeff’s eyes grew big. “I forgot. Uncle Hal will teach you how to ride a pony when you come to live with us. You can ride one of his ponies until you know how to do it and then you can ride a big horse.”
Riding horses wasn’t something Jack had ever thought he’d do. But for his son, he’d definitely give it a try.
After they watched the joust, they had pizza and ice cream cones, watched a couple of more shows, then headed home. When they arrived at Aunt Emily’s, she had dinner waiting for them and treated them as if they were special medieval guests. She smiled at Jack. “I love all that leather.”
“So do I,” Dottie said, hurrying into the kitchen to help serve up the food.
Chicken drumlets, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and chocolate cake were eaten with relish. The kids told all about the exciting day they’d had and after baths and putting them to bed, Jack asked if Dottie wanted to go for a run. He rarely was able to run as a cougar unless he did so when he came home on leave. It just wasn’t safe for him to do it when he was stationed at Fort Hood, or most places where he’d been assigned.
“I’m going to miss doing this with you and having my aunt to help out. Maybe we can run with the kids in the morning before we fly out in the afternoon. They love to run with you, but they were too tired tonight.”
“I’d like that.”
She smiled. “They’ve been having so much fun, they don’t want it to end.”
“And you?””
“Especially me.”
He was so glad to hear it. Now if nothing came
between them while he was away, he thought they had a real chance together as a family. The time had gone by so quickly that Jack couldn’t believe it was nearly time for Dottie and the kids to return home.
Dottie and Jack drove out to their favorite spot in the woods and hid their clothes as usual, shifted, and ran. He chased her tail and tried to capture it as she waved it back and forth like a flag in a teasing way. But man was she fast. Still, he could take her down with one powerful, male cougar leap, and he did.
She came up play fighting, but he pinned her down and licked her muzzle. She licked him back. He’d miss her and the kids terribly until they were together again. He’d always had high hopes he’d get together with her. Now with having seen her and gotten to know her all over again, as well as the kids, he knew he’d want even more time with them.
They laid together for a long while, just enjoying being cougars until she finally sighed and licked his cheek and rose to her feet.
They returned home and made love half the night. He loved waking up with her snuggled against him. He was certain she was feeling the same as him, and he couldn’t wait to get out of the army.
The next day, he and her aunt took them to the airport. It was heart-wrenching for the kids, who felt they were losing their daddy when they’d never really had one. Both Jeff and Trish cried, and that made Emily and Dottie all teary-eyed also. Jack too.
He promised he’d talk to them on the phone and on Skype, send presents even, if he couldn’t see them before he left the service.
Dottie hugged him and kissed him like she couldn’t get enough of him. If he didn’t have to return to Fort Hood, he would have been flying out with them today to Yuma Town.
“I’ve had such a lovely time with all of you,” her aunt said, kissing and hugging the kids, then Dottie.
“Same here,” Dottie said. “We won’t wait so long to see you the next time.”
“Good.”
When Dottie and the kids took off for security checks at the airport, Jack was feeling a multitude of emotions between wishing she and the kids didn’t have to leave, and he didn’t have to go, to being eager to get his remaining obligation over with.