My thanks to my editor
adetaildiva
. Without her this would be a poorer story. After her any errors are mine.
*
"Since it's my turn for Saturday, can you be gone overnight? We'd run up to Martinsburg Saturday morning and you could meet my parents. Then we'd drive back on Sunday." Nan had called me Monday night about the next weekend.
"Give me a few minutes to discuss it with Linda. Oh, wait. Bobby's still up and I want to talk to Linda after he goes to bed. I'll call you in an hour or so."
I presented the request to Linda. "We probably won't leave there until after lunch on Sunday. I won't be able to do anything with Bobby next weekend."
"Why don't you plan a special outing Friday night?"
"We could go to Chuck E Cheese and play games together after dinner. He likes that. Meeting the parents is a big step, but Bobby comes first. I don't want him thinking that Nan is going to replace him."
I confirmed with Nan later.
Tuesday night I decided to call Jean. "Hi. Can we talk for a while?"
"I guess. I don't know what good it'll do either of us. You aren't ready for a relationship and I can't let my daughter get close to anyone whose might just be an emotional hobo passing through my life."
"That's a pretty harsh term, don't you think? I can't be exclusive with anyone until I can say 'I love you,' and I'm just not ready to do that yet with anyone. This isn't junior high where you fall in love and out of love in the same week."
"I know that, but I've got to protect my daughter first."
"Look, I like being with you, and I want you to do the right thing. You've got to be honest with me though. You owe me that." I paused waiting for confirmation.
"Okay." I could tell she felt a trap coming on. I didn't waste time springing it.
"Suppose we only date on weekends when Josh has Rebecca. Whether you want to continue going to bed with me is optional, too, until you've figured out where this is going."
"Well --" She hesitated. I knew I had won. "That seems reasonable."
"Good! Then we're on for a week from Saturday?"
"Okay." I could hear a new tone in her voice. Was she happier now?
"I'll call you early next week and we'll firm things up. Uh-oh, no sex, er, pun intended."
Her laughter tinkled down the line. "I'll look forward to it. Thanks for calling, Jack."
"Jean, I still don't know where we're going, but I want to take time to explore the direction. I'll talk to you next week."
Friday night Linda, Bobby and I were in Chuck E Cheese. After washing down some pizza with a Coke, Bobby and I had played several games. Now he was on his own as two adults slowly became dazed by the Terminator-like activities of dozens of pre-teens trying to beat the machines.
"Linda, how is this working out for you? I know you enjoy taking care of Bobby and I really appreciate how you take care of both of us. But personally you must need other adult company to do things with and to hear more than Pentagon gossip or seven-year old playground conversation."
"Jack, I really enjoy taking care of the house and Bobby. And you've been so pleasant to live with."
"Well, your daughter was an excellent judge of character," I smiled even if it was bittersweet.
"I always liked you, but you never know how someone's going to be to live with. I mean, everybody can be nice and considerate for a few days when you're visiting, but what happens when the alarm doesn't go off or you have a really hard day at work? That's when you find out what it's like to live with somebody."