Chapter 27 #2
Joci slowly pulled her hand away from Connor.
Now she was mad. She closed her eyes for a long moment, shook her head, and looked at Connor.
Softly as she could, she said, “How long are you going to do his dirty work? When he left, you stepped in and picked up some of the brunt. You were doing what he should have done. Now he’s dying and wants to absolve himself of his wrongdoing, and once again, he sends you here to do his dirty work.
How dare he want to see us when he is dying?
He isn’t thinking of us; he isn’t thinking of Gunnar.
He’s worried that he won’t get into heaven without asking for forgiveness. It has nothing to do with us!”
She stood up. “You go tell him that, Connor. He has no right to ask this of us. He has no right to try and use his final days to disturb our lives to ease his guilt.”
Joci started to walk outside when she heard Connor say, “You’ll regret this, Joci. I know you. You’re the one always saying to step up and be the better person. If you let him die without seeing you, you’ll always wonder if you should have given him the chance to apologize.”
Joci spun around to yell at Connor, but Gunnar punched him in the face first. Connor flew back and fell off his chair. Gunnar went to lunge at him again when Jeremiah stepped in and grabbed him.
“Son, it isn’t Connor’s fault that Keith is a coward. If you hurt him, you’ll feel bad about it. Let’s just let it go. Please.”
Gunnar looked at Jeremiah for a few beats, then nodded his head.
He walked out past Joci and into the backyard.
She followed him out, not wanting him riding his bike when he was pissed.
She caught up to him and asked him to sit with her on the swing she’d brought from her house.
She used to swing with Gunnar in the evening while they read books.
Later, when Gunnar was older, they would sit in the swing most evenings and talk about what had happened during the day.
Gunnar would tell Joci about school, and Joci would tell Gunnar about her latest project at work.
She started to move the swing back and forth—slowly—to help calm them both down. Neither said anything for a long time. They just let the soft, calming motion soothe them as they collected their thoughts.
Finally, Gunnar took in a shaky breath. “I’m sorry, Mom. I don’t want to see him. Are you mad at me?”
Joci pulled Gunnar to her for a hug. He rested his head on her shoulder like he used to as a kid, though now he had to hunch over to do it, and she rubbed his back.
“I’m not mad at you, baby. I don’t want to see him either. I can’t even process what’s going on.” After a short silence, she said, “I had no idea you loved Jeremiah like a father. You’ve never said.”
Gunnar smiled. “Didn’t you wonder why I always tried to get you to go out with him?
There was something about him right away.
I was drawn to him in a way I couldn’t explain.
He’s been so patient and kind to me. Always teaching me things, just like his boys.
Never yells, just corrects and explains, and we move on.
Just like I always dreamed my father would be.
“Mom, when you finally started dating him, I was so fucking happy. I thought I would finally get my family. I don’t mean to make you feel bad, but I always wanted a dad. You’re a great mom, and Uncle David has been great over the years. But I wanted a dad. My dad and not Keith. A dad who loves me.”
Joci had no idea. Tears slid down her face and into Gunnar’s hair.
She didn’t care; she let them flow. What a weekend.
Never had she been on such a roller coaster ride.
And as the universe has its way of putting things in your way to change your direction, here was another one.
She loved Jeremiah, and she’d do what it took to work this thing out with Deborah.
If the baby was his, Joci would find a way to be a good parent to it.
Though she hoped Jeremiah was right, and it wasn’t his.
They sat and swung for quite a while, each lost in thought.
Gunnar raised his head and looked into her eyes. “Are you and Dog okay?”
Her lips turned down. She looked away from the hopeful look in Gunnar’s eyes and stared at the bright pink polish on her toenails. “It will be. Last night was quite a shock, and more than anything, I’m pissed that he’s been hiding it from me. It doesn’t help me to trust him.”
Gunnar sighed. “I know. But you’ll be able to. Right?”
Joci lightly pushed his shoulder and chuckled. “Yeah. You better not be ganging up on me, though.”
Gunnar laughed. “Nah. I won’t do that.”
She nodded, then a tall figure cast a shadow on them where the sun had just been shining.
“May I join you?”
Joci and Gunnar both looked up into Jeremiah’s beautiful face. She smiled and scooted over to make room for him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and rested his hand on Gunnar’s.
“I take it Connor left,” Joci said.
“Yes, quite a while ago. I cleaned up the table and wanted to give you two some time to talk. But I was spying on you. I sat at the table and watched you two sit and swing out here for a long time. I got jealous and decided to come and join you.”
He looked at her so lovingly her heart melted. She leaned up and kissed him. “You’re always welcome to join us. You should never feel like you can’t.” It had been the first time since last night. She saw his eyes grow moist, the edges red and knew he realized it too.
Gunnar nodded. “Agreed.” He looked around Joci. “Is Connor okay?”
“Well, he has a sore jaw, but nothing’s broken. He feels bad. He said you had a point, Joci, about his doing Keith’s dirty work. He had never looked at it that way. He wanted me to tell you both he’s sorry he came here to ask you to see Keith.”
They sat quietly for a while.
Jeremiah said. “My mom called and wanted to know if we would like to go to Pamperin Park for a barbecue this afternoon. How do you guys feel about that?”
“Nothing I would like more than to be with my family,” Gunnar said. Jeremiah smiled and nodded at him. He squeezed Joci’s shoulders.
“You good with that?”
She nodded. Tears slid down her cheeks again. Stupid emotions.
“Yes, that sounds like a fabulous way to spend the day.”
* * *
Joci had been working on the plans with Jeremiah for the employee party for the past few weeks.
She had also worked hard on the video from the Veteran’s Ride.
Even with their setbacks this past couple of weeks, life was slowly getting back to their normal--what they'd become accustomed to. Since she’d met Jeremiah, the new normal still had to show itself.
Today, she was meeting him for lunch at Rolling Thunder to discuss preparations for the annual staff dinner.
She walked into the shop, and Janice greeted her with a huge smile. “Hi, Joci. How are you?”
Happy to see her, Joci greeted her warmly. They spoke for a few minutes, and Joci walked upstairs to the offices. Jeremiah’s office door was open, and she walked in to find him reading something. She walked over and kissed the top of his head.
He looked up and smiled while pulling her down on his lap.
She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his lips.
Kissing him was something close to heaven.
His lips always molded to hers. Soft and supple while commanding her in ways she would never tell him lest he use it against her.
A gravelly voice from the doorway said, “Well, well, well. What do we have here?”
Jeremiah touched his forehead to hers and hissed, “Fuck.”
Joci turned to see a woman who looked like an older version of LuAnn. Oh. My. God. Bleached blonde hair. Tattoos everywhere. A ton of jewelry. Over-tanned skin. Dark eye makeup. She looked like someone had dragged her behind a bike.
Jeremiah stood, holding on to Joci. “Barbara, what brings you here?”
Barbara? This was Barbara? She looked like LuAnn’s mother…or grandmother.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your plaything of the day?” Barbara smirked.
Jeremiah took a deep, calming breath. “Barbara, first of all, she’s not my ‘plaything of the day.’ This is Jocelyn James, my girlfriend, and I won’t allow you to disrespect her.”
“Joci, this is Barbara, JT and Ryder’s mother.”
Joci cleared her throat. “It’s nice to meet you, Barbara.”
Barbara sneered. “Sure.”
“I need to speak with you, Dog…” She looked at Joci and raised her brows. “Privately.”
“Tough. If you have anything to speak with me about, you’ll say it in front of Joci,” Jeremiah ground out.
Barbara sauntered in and flopped onto the chair across the room like she owned the place. “Suit yourself.”
Jeremiah sat in his desk chair; Joci leaned against the desk, hands on either side, bracing herself. Joci glanced at Jeremiah, trying to gauge his mood.
“Go ahead, Barbara. Spit it out. We’re on our lunch break here.”
“Yes, I saw what you were eating,” she snorted. “I need money, Dog. I’ve kind of fallen on hard times.”
Jeremiah huffed out a breath. “Tough. JT told you last year, and I’m telling you this year, no. If you need money, get a fucking job like everyone else.”
“I bet your little ‘girlfriend’ gets all the money she needs from you.”
Joci opened her mouth to say something. Barbara’s little air quotes as she said girlfriend was the last straw. Before she could say anything, Jeremiah jumped up and pointed to the door.
“Get the fuck out. For your fucking information, Joci works. She’s always worked for a living. Something you wouldn’t know anything about. I told you I wasn’t going to let you disrespect her, and you’ve done it again. Get the fuck out.”
Barbara smirked as she got out of her chair. She walked to the door and looked over at Joci. “See how he treats the woman who bore him children?”
She walked out. Jeremiah picked up the phone and barked at someone on the other end. “Barbara’s on her way down. Make sure she doesn’t grab anything and make sure she walks straight out the door.”
He hung up and rubbed his forehead. “I’m sorry you had to endure that. She’s a crass bitch. Always has been.”
“So, that was Barbara.”
“Hey, you know she was just trying to get to you. Don’t let her.”
She looked up into his handsome face. Worry etched his brow; his mouth, moments ago so soft and demanding, now took on a hard line. “You good?”
She swallowed. “It’s not her comment as much as it is how she looks. LuAnn looks just like her. Clearly, that’s the look you go for.”
He let out a pent-up breath. “When I hooked up with Barbara twenty-seven years ago, I just wanted to get laid. She looked like someone who wouldn’t want anything more than that.
I told you, no commitments, just fucking.
LuAnn dresses like she dresses. I don’t know why.
What I like…love is this beautiful woman standing right here in front of me, with sandy brown hair and eyes like a stormy sky.
I think you’re the most beautiful woman in the world. ”
She ran her hands over her face. An effort to wipe away the worry. “I’m sorry.” She smiled at him. “Are we finished dealing with shit this week, because, honestly, I’m not sure I can handle any more.”
He kissed the top of her head and hugged her close. “I sure hope so.”
Jeremiah pulled back and smiled. “The best part about Barbara coming around is that it’s usually only once a year. We won’t have to see her for another year now.”
Joci giggled.
“Okay, come on. I was just reading the menu that the restaurant emailed over. Let’s get this ironed out and go for some lunch.”
They finished up the plans for the staff party.
The menu was set, the DJ selected, and the gifts were taken care of.
Jeremiah gave each employee a bonus every year, based on their performance and the shop’s numbers.
This year, the bonuses were very generous.
He had also put a little extra in the checks for Deacon, Gunnar, JT, and Ryder for all of the additional work they’d done on the Veteran’s Ride.
After they ordered their meals, and while they waited, Jeremiah took a deep breath.
“Joci, don’t make any plans this weekend. I just want to spend the weekend alone with you. Just the two of us. Maybe we’ll tell everyone we’re going somewhere, so they don’t come over.”
Joci sighed. “That sounds fantastic.”
“Let’s just tuck in at home and hide.”
She smiled. “I would love that.”
He chuckled. “Great. I was worried you wouldn’t want to. Friday too. Three days, just us. I think we need it.”
Joci giggled. “You can see how hard it was to talk me into it. I’m looking forward to not having to share you with anyone for a few days, no exes, no pretend baby mommas, no one.”