As the days passed, Kelli's bruises slowly disappeared. Jack was still worried about her emotional bruising and made sure she scheduled appointments with a psychotherapist. He insisted on driving her to each appointment. In fact, they were never apart. Jack loved being with her, but he also thought it had been too easy with Bill. They had heard nothing from Bill.
The assistant district attorney who was handling the case against Bill contacted Kelli to discuss what would happen at trial. The attorney was a female and Kelli found it easier to discuss everything with her. But she was still very anxious about testifying.
Kelli also searched for and found a lawyer she thought she would be comfortable with. It didn't take her long at all to decide that her divorce from Bill would start a new life for her. Her new lawyer was not entirely happy with Kelli's wishes. Kelli was willing to walk away with nothing as long as Bill left her alone. She said the same thing to her lawyer that she had said to Jack many days earlier. There was nothing she wanted or needed from her life with Bill.
Jack fully expected to see Bill again. In addition to being charged, now he was being served with divorce papers. He had to be angry. But it had been quiet.
Despite all of that, Jack would wake up every once in a while, to hear Kelli having a bad dream. He didn't try to wake her. He simply pulled her into his arms and held her. She almost always woke up when he did that. She would cry a little and then feel guilty that she had kept Jack awake. But Jack always told her that there was nothing to apologize for. He would hold her until she fell asleep again.
Sex was fantastic. They had both missed the pleasure of such passion. Sometimes, they would romantically make love. Kelli had forgotten what that was like. She even teased Jack now and then because he was such a romantic. And then there were other times where they enjoyed lust-filled fucking. Neither of them could get enough. To Jack, it seemed like decades since he had this much sex. He joked with Kelli that he was beginning to feel old and worn out. But the truth was that Kelli made Jack feel young again.
The fact that Jack worked at home made things easier for both of them. Jack never pushed it, but he was glad that Kelli started to talk about finding a job. He wasn't worried about the two of them financially. But he believed it was healthy for her to restart her career. It was a definite sign of Kelli moving on with her life.
That very morning, Kelli and Jack were sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee. Kelli was circling ads in the paper for retail marketing positions. Jack was teasing her a little.
"You know you might do better if you stepped into the 21st century," said Jack.
"What do you mean?" asked Kelli.
"I mean that you'll do better if you create your resume and build a profile on a job search site." Jack didn't realize that his teasing was hitting a nerve.
"I have been so out of the loop for so long. I don't even know how to search for a job. And build a resume? That will be a joke. I'll have the shortest resume employers have ever seen." Kelli put down the pencil. "You're right. This is a waste of time."
"Kelli, that's not what I meant. I won't allow you to give up so easy. I'll help. We'll work on the resume first. Once we're satisfied with that, we'll create you a profile on Monster.com. Employment contractors and head hunters have searches set up on sites like that from all over the place. But you have to think positive and you have to be confident enough to sell yourself."
Kelli watched Jack talk and slowly started to smile. "Your optimism is contagious, Jack." She got up from her chair and leaned over to kiss him softly. "I love you."
Jack smiled. "I love you too, Kelli."
This was not the first time they had used those three words for each other. But once they each had the courage to say it, they seemed to say it a lot. Jack couldn't remember who said it first. But if wasn't really that important to him. He only knew that she was the woman he fell in love with and never wanted to lose her.
The doorbell interrupted his thoughts. He stood up and said, "I'll get it."
Kelli sat down again and decided to read the rest of the paper rather than look at ads. But she looked up in surprise when she heard, "Hi Dad!" She smiled and got up to meet Jack's son. And then she realized she was dressed in nothing but one of Jack's t-shirts. She wasn't wearing any panties either. "Shit!" she muttered. And she sat back down, not knowing if she should try to run to the bedroom or just wait it out.
Jack was giving his son, Jason a hug. "God! It is so good to see you, Jason. You must think my social skills suck. I'm sorry I haven't called."
"Hey, it's ok. I know you're busy, although an e-mail now and then wouldn't hurt." Jason loved to give his dad grief. And then he looked at Jack's face and realized his dad was trying to think what to say. "Dad? What is it?"
"Ummm .... Jason, I have a woman here."
Jason's face grew into a wide smile. "Excellent! It's about time." And then it hit Jason. "Oh shit. Am I interrupting something?"
"No, no. You're not interrupting. It's just that it suddenly dawned on me. I have a lot to tell you."
"Well are you going to introduce me?" asked Jason. "Or is she not decent? You look like you just got out of bed." Jason couldn't help but grin.
"Well, now that you mention it, she probably would like to change before she meets you. Do you, ummm, mind turning around?" Jack was beginning to turn red.
Jason started to laugh and turned around. Jack stepped back into the living room so he could see Kelli and motioned to her to head to the bedroom. And she did, but not without a lot of giggling as she ran through the living room.
Jason, without turning around, said with a chuckle, "I think I like her already."
"Ok. The coast is clear," said Jack. "Come in and sit down."
Jason, still with a smile on his face, followed his father into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Jack pulled out another coffee cup and poured Jason a cup. Jason kept quiet. He wasn't going to ask. He figured if Jack wanted to tell him anything, he would. As he sipped his coffee, he looked at his dad over the lip of the cup.
"I know I should have told you I was with someone," started Jack.
"Dad, you are not obligated to tell me anything. But I have to admit I'm curious about this woman," smiled Jason.
Jack sat down at the table across from Jack and suddenly looked serious. Jack told him about Kelli. He told Jason about how they met and became friends. He talked about Kelli being married to an abusive husband. He described what she looked like after her husband had beaten her and that he took her to the hospital. Throughout the entire story, Jason's face also got serious, but he didn't interrupt with questions. He waited until Jack was finished.
Jack finished tell the story and waited for a response from his son. He was prepared for the worst when Jason surprised him. "She's lucky to have found you, Dad."
Jack's eyes got wide and he didn't know what to say for a moment. And then he found his voice and said, "You don't have concerns?"
"Of course I have concerns. But I would have concerns no matter what this woman's history would be. I'll always worry about you, Dad. It was tough on all of us losing Mom. But I can't imagine what it was like for you. So yes, I have concerns. I worry about you filling a void because you're lonely. If you really care about her, I hope it is for all of the right reasons."
Jack smiled. "You know how much I love you, don't you?"
"Wow! Like father, like son!" Kelli had overheard what Jason had said.
Jack and Jason turned to see Kelli. She was smiling and her eyes began to tear up.
Jason started to blush and began to stammer, "I'm sorry if I offended you. I ....."
