Unexpected Love (Jo's Story) (24 page)

“Jake, this is nowhere close to being over.  Don’t thank me until I have him out.”  I am worried about this.  We are going up against the biggest drug cartel in the Baltimore area.  “I need to talk to Sargent McDonald.  If you want to go I can get a ride from an officer.”

“No, I will wait for you,” he smiles and walks toward the waiting area. I walk to Sargent McDonald’s office and knock on the door.  I go in and I see Lisa filling out some paperwork.

“So, when will he be transferred?”  I sit next to her.

“Friday.  That gives us time to get him settled in and I know you aren’t back until Monday,” McDonald says to me.

“Good.  Ok, I am going to call Chief Lorenz and then my team and let them know what is going on.  Narcotics is not going to be happy with me, but I don’t want them involved.”

“Chief Lorenz is not going to let them take this from you.  I can tell you that right now.”  McDonald smiles at me.  “You keep this up and nail these guys you might even get his job,” he jokes. 

“Yeah, no thanks,” I laugh.  “Lisa, you good?”

“Yeah, just have a couple sheets to fill out then I am out of here.  I will see you back at the house,” she smiles at me.  I walk out into the waiting area but don’t see Jake sitting there.  I walk outside and see him sitting on a bench.  He is on the phone.  I walk up next to him and sit down.

“Yeah mom, he’s fine, or at least he will be.  He is going into rehab.”  He smiles at me.  “He talked to me, he knows he screwed up, and he wants to change.  I think this will be good for him.”  He grabs my hand and squeezes tight.  What did I get myself into?  Promising to get his brother out of this mess.  What if I can’t?  I can’t think about that.  I need to stay on top of this and hope like hell that my team can pull this off.  “Ok mom, I love you.”  He hangs up.

“Jake, you do realize this can go bad at any given moment right?”  I look at him.

“I have faith in you.  I know you are going to do the best that you can to protect him.  Jo, I know that you will not let this go down without a fight.  I just want you to be careful.  I don’t want to see you get hurt.  If I lost you, I don’t know what I would do.  I love you,” he smiles at me then kisses me.

“Jake, I had a really nice time at dinner tonight,” I say as we are walking down the beach back to Mark and Lisa’s. 

“I did too.  I love their food there.”

“Yeah it was really good.  Lisa told me they were good,” I look up at him.  He looks a lot more relaxed then he was earlier today.  I grab his hand.  “Thank you.”

“Anything for you.  You have done a lot for me today and I don’t know how to thank you enough.”

“Don’t please, not until this is over.  I told you, there is that chance that I won’t be able to help him at all.”

“I don’t want to think about that,” he pulls me close to him and puts his arm around my shoulders.  “Isn’t this amazing?”

“What?”

“Walking the beach like this and seeing this amazing view.  I want to ask you something.”

“What’s that?”

“What would you say to me buying the other half of the condo from Mark and Lisa?”

“Why would I have any say in that?”

“Because I would like for you to come down here with me.  It would be a good getaway for us.”

“Jake, I would have nothing to do with that decision.”

“Well ok, how about this, if I buy it will you come down here with me?”

“Of course I would.  I love it down here.  The last two days have been so much more than I could have dreamed of.  I thought when I brought the girls down here it would be crowded beaches, bad food, and a lot of whining.  But this has been amazing, and I have you to thank for it,” I step in front of him and make him stop.  “You have done a lot more for me then you will ever know.  You helped me remember what it was like to feel this way and I am so grateful for that.”

“I told you, I just want you to be happy.  And if I can do that, then my mission is accomplished.  Well for now,” he pulls me close and kisses me.  “I'm not ready to let you go.  Not sure I ever will be.”

“Me either,” I smile up at him.  “Let’s go back and relax.  This has been a crazy day.” 

“That it has,” he smiles at me and sweeps me up in his arms.  “I have plans for you tonight.”

“You think so?”

“Yes ma’am.  I'm going to give you a nice back massage and snuggle.  The girls should be sleeping by now, so no worries about that.”

I smile, “A massage?  Why am I so lucky to get one of those?”

“Because you have been a busy busy girl today.  Trying to save my brother and working a butt load on your day off.  I want you to enjoy the rest of your night.”

“Well thank you,” I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss it while he carries me the rest of the way to Mark and Lisa’s.

“By the way, I like this new dress too.  You look amazing in this color,” he smiles.

“Thanks, I saw it yesterday and had to have it.  I like how long and flowy it is.  I wasn’t sure how I would look in the lime green but I ended up loving it tonight.  I'm going to go broke down here if you buy the condo.  I will spend all my money at the local shops.”

“So let me spoil you and buy stuff for you.”

“No, absolutely not.  I'm a big girl and make my own money.  I won’t let you buy me all kinds of things.”

“Baby, I'm going to want to buy you stuff, you know that right?”  He stops right before the steps up to the house.

“Just because you want to doesn’t mean you will get to.”

He sets me down in front of the steps.  “Want to go look at the other side?”  He points to the side that Lisa’s mom had lived in.

“Sure.  Are you going to buy it?”

“Not sure yet, I'm still thinking.  I have been looking down here for a place but haven’t found anything, so this might be the perfect opportunity. Not only do I know the place is taken care of but it is right next to the Brooks family, can’t go wrong there.”  He grabs my hand and leads me to the back door.  Mark must have left it unlocked.  We walk in and it looks almost identical to Mark and Lisa’s side.  There are a few different things.  One thing that catches my eye is a fireplace.

“That’s beautiful,” I point at it.

“Yeah, I'm pretty excited about that.  But I want to show you something upstairs.” He grabs my hand and leads me up.  This side has three floors as well but the third floor is the master bedroom over here.  It is a lot like the one we are staying in, but bigger and it also has a fireplace.  When we walk all the way in I also notice that there is a spa bath in the corner.  I look at it and smile.

“This is awesome,” I look at him.

“I know.  I think I am most excited about this room.”

“So you’re going to buy it?”

“Now that I know you like it, yes I think I am.  Next time we come down we will have our own place to stay at.”  He takes my hand and leads me to the balcony.  I look out and see Mark and Lisa sitting on the swing by the pool.  “There are a total of seven rooms in this place between the three on the second floor and the four in the finished basement.  We can have friends and family over whenever we want.”  We stand there just looking out at the water for what seems like forever.

“We should get back,” I look up at him and smile.  “I could really go for that massage.”

He smiles, “I bet you could.”  He grabs my hand and we walk back down to the other side and up to our room.

~~~~~

“I can’t believe how quickly these four days have gone,” Lisa and I are standing in the hallway while I am waiting for Jake to get everything packed in the car.

“I know, but that is how it always goes,” I laugh.  “Just when you are starting to have fun, it’s over.”

“Isn’t that they truth.  But we will see you tomorrow for the fundraiser?”

“You bet.  I will be there about 10:00.  I think the guys are supposed to start signing autographs at 11:00.  Jake seems pretty excited about it.”

“He is, but he would do anything you asked him to I think,” she smiles.

“Yes I would,” he walks up behind me.  “But she already knows that.”

“Well here you go bud,” Mark comes into the hallway holding a set of keys.  “Next time you come down, you have your own place to stay.”

Jake smiles, “I can’t wait.  Maybe we will get down again soon.”

“Yeah, that would be nice wouldn’t it?  Well I will go round up the girls for you,” Lisa heads out the back door to get the girls from the swing set.

“Are the girls going to be there tomorrow?”  Mark asks me.

“No, Jarrod’s parents are actually picking them up at about 5:00 tonight and they are heading up to their cabin for few days.”

“Ah, so you two will have actual alone time?” He smirks at Jake and me.

“Well no not really.  With this Lewis situation my schedule is pretty much full.  Come Monday I don’t know what I will be working trying to get this thing done.  The sooner I can get him out of there the better.  The longer he is in, the more dangerous it becomes.”  The girls come running toward us and we all say our good byes and load in the car.  We ride pretty quietly the whole way back to Baltimore.  The girls are out about ten minutes into the ride. 

“Jake, there is something that I need to tell you about,” I look over at him.

“What’s that?”

“A month from today the fire department holds a memorial ceremony for Jarrod.  I will have to speak at it.  And there will be a lot of people there for it.”

“Ok, so what does that mean?”

“Well, I'm just letting you know because I know it is something that I have to do.”

“I didn’t know they held ceremonies for fallen firefighters,” he grabs my hand.

“They usually don’t.  Jarrod is the only guy that Town Street has ever lost.  The station itself is only eight years old.  Jarrod was the first round of rookies to get in there.  Most of the guys that are still there is the original group that started there.”

“I'm sorry, I didn’t know that.”

“It is what it is.  Now you know why this is such a big deal for me.”

“Yeah, I can see that.  Can I ask you something?”

“What’s that?” 

“Don’t you get money from them for him dying in the line of duty?”

“Yes, I get $10,000 a year from the fallen fire fighter association.  I put $5,000 of it in the girls’ bank account and donate the rest back to the fire department for anything they might need.”  I think he is a little shocked by what I say.  “They have taken care of me and I feel like that is not my money.  That money was meant to support Jarrod’s family.  They are his family as much as the girls and I.  I make enough to pay the bills that I need to pay and so I decided that I would give the girls half of it, and give the other half back to Town Street.”

“How do you know it goes directly to them?”

“I have an account set up with them.  It was hard to do, but I got it done.”

“Wow, just when I think you couldn’t surprise me anymore,” I see him smile.  “Do you ever do anything selfish?”

“Yes, sometimes.  Like on Sunday I would like to spend time with just you before all hell breaks loose next week.  I'm very nervous about this thing with Lewis and I would really like to have time with just you and me.”

“I think we can arrange that,” he kisses my hand.  We are just sitting there when his phone starts ringing.  “Hello?”  He answers it.  “Oh hey Molly.  What’s going on?”  I can hear her talking but can’t hear what she is saying.  “So you’re not coming home at all this weekend then?”  He shifts in his seat a little.  “Well I figured that a while ago, but I didn’t know you were going to stop coming back.  But that’s fine.  Just please be careful.  And make sure you call mom and let her know because I told her you were coming back up here this weekend.”  I don’t know what they are talking about but he seems a little upset.  “Molly, just be careful.  You know how those guys can be.  Call me if you change your mind.  Love you,” He hangs up the phone and takes a deep breath.  “You want a little sister?”  He smiles at me.

“What did she do?”

“Remember how I told you I thought she was seeing someone in DC?”

“Yeah.”

“Well she is staying with him for a couple weeks.  He asked her to move in with him and she said she would stay on a trial basis and see how it goes.”

“Big protective brother doesn’t like that idea?”

“Probably wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t a football player.”

“Wait, you are trying to get her to stay away from a football player when I have just newly started dating you?”

“He’s a rookie, there is a difference.”

“Oh really.  Care to enlighten me?”

“I'm on my third year; I have been done with the having fun and going crazy stage for a few months now.  I'm ready to settle down and find a relationship and start a life.  He’s young and dumb and horny, and he’s dating my little sister.”  I can’t help but laugh.

“From what I have heard the last couple days, you didn’t grow out of your partying stage all that long ago. And you’re young, dumb, and horny just like he is I'm sure.”  His mouth drops open.

“I don’t think I am.  I think I'm pretty mature,” I see a smile roll across his face.  “So you want to stay at my place this weekend?”

“How did I know you were going to ask me that,” I smile.  “So I get to be greedy and keep you to myself all weekend?”

“Sure, if you want to.  Otherwise I was thinking we could have a cookout at my place tomorrow night.  I know you will probably want to see Annie and Michael, and I know Mark and Lisa will be back in town.  Do you have any other friends you want to subject to me yet?”

“I can see if Bobby and his girlfriend will be around.  I'm sure he will be at Town Street tomorrow I can ask him then.  Maybe Ryan.”

“Sure, anyone you want.” He slows down and pulls into my driveway.  “So can I stay until your in laws pick the girls up or do you want me to leave?”

“You can stay, Barb has been dying to meet you.”  I look at the clock and see that it is 4:00 already.  We got a later start then I had hoped leaving because Jake wanted to get paperwork going for the condo.  Once he is parked I go into the house while he gets the girls out and I pack them a couple more bags.  They had wanted to only keep them until Monday since I was going to be off but now that I am working Barb said they could keep them for the week.  I hear Lizzy come in the house and then I hear Jake.  I'm assuming he is carrying Abby.

“Hey baby, there is a guy out in the driveway asking to see you.”  He looks at me.

“Who is it?”

“I have no idea,” he looks at me with concern.

I walk out into the garage and look out the door.  I see Bobby standing there.  I smile at him.  “Hey,” I walk up to him and give him a hug.

“Hey, you get a new boyfriend and forget about me?”  He smiles at me.

“Never, we were down at Virginia Beach for the last few days.  I told the girls I was going to take them this week.”

“I heard.  I called you last weekend and you never called back.”

“Yeah, sorry, been kinda crazy lately.  I have taken on a spotlight that I wasn’t ready for.”

“I saw.  So how have you been?”