Chapter 104

At 9:25, I pulled into the parking lot at the junior college. I got out and made my way over to the gate. The guard checked me out, recognized me and waved. I was waving back when Jill ran up to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I spun her around as she kissed me. Kind of like Mary Tyler Moore without the hat. Or was that That Girl?

"Wow. This is new. Why so affectionate?"

"Can I help it if I miss you?"

"No, I guess not. I'd rather have you in my arms than have you ignore me."

"Then stop complaining."

"I wasn't... Yes, Dear."

She grinned at me as if she'd won something and took my hand. We headed out toward the parking lot, waving at the smiling guard.

I let her in the car and walked around to my side. She unlocked my door as I walked up to it. Her belt was done up and she was holding onto my arm before I started the engine.

"How did your talk with Wanda go?"

"All right."

"You don't sound all right."

"Yeah, I know. Let's not talk about that now, OK?"

"Sure. I'm here when and if you need me."

"Jack, you don't know how much I need you. And I know you're here. Right now, I just need you to be here and let me hold you. We can talk when we get home."

"OK. Tell me about school."

"School was good. We got a project that's due in a couple of weeks. I need to use Excel to design a pie chart. Piece of cake."

"Jill, are you taking a class about stuff you already know?"

"Yes. And No. I've been exposed to most of the things we go over. I'm more advanced on a lot of it. There have been a few things we've gone over that I learned things I didn't know before. You know, tricks and shortcuts. Things I could have gone on forever without knowing about but are still nice to know. But I can't get into any of the more advanced courses without doing this one. I could probably challenge the course and test out, but that would cost the same and I wouldn't get any of the extras I'm getting now. And they don't let high school sophomores take the advanced classes. So it's not hurting anything. Plus, there are a lot of guys in the class who want to get in my pants, so I've got that going for me."

"So, should I be jealous of these guys?"

"What do you think?"

"I think I'd be devastated if you ever did anything. And I don't believe you ever would."

"What, you don't think I'm pretty enough?"

"Jill, you're beautiful. I love you more than life itself. And I'm pretty sure you love me, too. I know I can't even imagine being with someone other than you. And I hope you feel the same about me."

She squeezed my arm and scrunched up to me.

"That's what I love about you, Jack. You know me so well."

"Some things. You know what I found out today that I didn't know?"

"What?"

"Mary told me that you guys are probably going to make CIF."

"I must have told you about that."

"Nope. Today was the first I heard about it.

"If you say so. November 19^th. It's a Saturday. It looks like we'll be going to Cypress College. There will be eight teams and there'll be four matches in the morning to get down to four teams, then another two to get down to two. Those two will play on Sunday to find the Southern California winner. That team goes up to Berkley the following Sunday to play the Northern California team."

"I'm not sure, but I think Thanksgiving is one of those weekends."

"Probably. But Thanksgiving's on Thursday. The matches are on the weekend. It'll work out OK."

"Hey, I don't mind. As long as I don't miss my turkey.

"I'll make sure you don't."

"So, what do you want to do for Thanksgiving? Eat with your father and Wanda or with my family?"

"Jack, that's almost a month. I don't know if there will be a Daddy and Wanda by then. Or if I'll even be talking to my father."

"That doesn't sound like you. Are you sure you're OK?"

"I'll be fine, Jack. Just give me a while, OK?"

"OK. So what are your chances of winning the title?"

"We've got a good team. Our chances are as good as anyone's. As long as it's not rigged."

"You don't think it's rigged, do you?"

"Not really. But you hear people complain. It may be they weren't that good, it could be the judges. We'll do our best and see what happens."

"You'll be number one in my book, no matter what."

"Oh, Jack. You're so sweet."

We pulled up and the floods in front and on the side of the garage went on.

"That's new."

"Yeah, Mom told me Alex had them put on a motion sensor. I guess your father complained to him about fumbling around in the dark when he got here last night."

"Last night. It seems a lot longer than one night."

"Yeah, it seems like forever."

She squeezed me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Come on, let's go in."

We were just about to the stairs when the kitchen door opened and Sara stuck her head out.

"You forgot something."

Bozo ran out the door and up to Jill. She squatted down and made a big fuss over him as he licked her face.

"Jill, you know what else he licks, don't you?"

"Yep. Same thing I do, Jack. He licks his, I lick yours. And I don't remember any complaints from you."

"She's got you there, Jack."

"Sara, don't you have something to do in the house?"

"I suppose I can find something. Goodnight, guys."

"Goodnight, Sara."

We went upstairs and I was about to unlock the door when Jill stopped me.

"Let me. Please?"

I stepped back while Jill dug through her purse looking for her key. She grinned triumphantly when she found it; the grin got wider when she finally got the door unlocked and opened. I could have had us in the house a full minute before that. There are times when efficiency takes a back seat to love.

Jill took her laptop into the bedroom and put in on her desk.

"Let me go potty and then we'll have some dessert and talk."

I went into the kitchen and noticed that the table still had dishes on it. I took them over to the sink, rinsed them off and put them in the dishwasher. I followed them with the pots and colander from dinner. I could hear the tinkle of pee through the open door to the bathroom.

"What do you want for dessert?"

"I saw some Sara Lee in the freezer. Pull out a couple and we can warm them in the microwave. Milk to drink."

I found a package of raspberry pastries and worked a couple of them loose and put them on a plate.

"How long do I put them in for?"

I heard the toilet flush and the water go on in the sink.

"Just get the milk. I'll take care of it."

I got us a couple of glasses of milk and left the gallon on the table. Jill was putting the plate in the microwave as I got some small plates for us.

"I could have done that. I just didn't know how long."

"You're right. I just put it on 15 seconds."

The microwave dinged. Jill took out the plate, checked them and put it back in again.

"Another five."