Chapter 52

Just because I found things to do while Jack conducted his interviews doesn't mean I let the second wave of girls have at him. I answered the door for three of them and made an appearance in the kitchen after I'd been down to the house for the last. All of them were well aware that I was there and had staked my claim.

I'm pretty sure Jack knew what I was doing by the way he smiled at me as I delivered each one to the kitchen and replenished my apple juice when I got back from Mom's.

He took Beth, the last girl, to the door and watched as she made her way down the stairs. Closing the door, he walked over to the couch where I was sitting and sat down next to me. He put his arm around me and kissed me on the forehead.

"Miss me?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, I'm still here."

I leaned over and kissed him.

"I know. I knew you would be. But it was really weird tonight."

"Weird?"

"Yeah. I know we each do our own thing all the time but if you come across something while you're surfing the net or I find something interesting when I'm doing my homework, we can always talk to each other about it. It was kind of like you were off limits tonight and I couldn't share what I wanted with you."

"So, what did you want to share tonight?"

"I was looking through a photo album my mother left to me. It's the first of three of them and it has pictures of her and Daddy before I was born and a lot of pictures of me when I was little. There are some baby pictures and pictures of me when she was still there and then there are some she took of me and Daddy after she left. I would have liked to look at them with you."

"Well, get the album and we'll check it out."

I jumped off the couch and ran into the room, pulling the album out from where I'd left it, in our bedroom closet. I sat down next to Jack, pulling my feet underneath me and leaning into him so he had to put his arm back around me. I put the book in his lap and opened it to the first set of pictures.

"Boy, she sure looks young in these. Look at how young your father is."

"I know. She was all old and skinny when she came back but she looks like a totally different person here."

"Look at her hair. It's just like yours."

"Uh huh."

"She was a beautiful woman." He squeezed me, nuzzling the hair above my ear, making me shiver. "Just like you."

I turned and kissed him. I really kissed him.

After a while we broke apart and he started slowly turning pages in the book. He got to where she was obviously more pregnant in each picture and turned back to the previous shots.

"I wonder if she was pregnant in these."

"I don't know. I don't see any bump. Daddy might remember."

He turned back to where he'd just been, then moved forward until he got to the page with her in the too-small bathrobe.

"Damn! That's one hell of a picture. I think it catches her better than any of the others. She's so alive. So playful. And sexy. Damn, it makes you want to take her in the bedroom and rip that robe off of her. I'll bet you anything that's what your father did right after this picture was taken."

"No way. Look how big she is."

"Doesn't matter. You can always figure out a way if you're both horny enough. Hell, he probably had her lean on the counter and just lifted the back of her robe up and did her from behind."

"Come on, Jack. This is my father. He wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

"Jill, take a look at her. She's practically daring him. He wasn't about to hurt her."

"She does look kind of predatory."

"You better believe it. You get that look. A lot. Like mother, like daughter." He pulled me a bit closer and kissed me again."

He got to the pictures taken in the hospital. "Didn't you say there were no baby pictures of you?"

"I said Daddy only had one with me and her."

"Well, here's where they all went."

"Yeah, I know."

"Look at your father in this one. Tell me he wouldn't do anything for you."

"He still would."

"I know."

He kept going, making comments along the way, then he got to the blank page. He turned it and looked at the shots of me playing with Daddy in the park.

"Oh shit."

"What?"

"The mood change. Can't you feel it? Up to here, all the shots have been full of love, caring, joy. Now it's sadness and a sense of loss. Kind of a 'can't go home again' feeling."

"I just thought she was hiding so she wouldn't get caught."

"Yeah, I can see that. But there's a longing, a need in every one of these pictures. Like she's begging for forgiveness. The way these pictures are taken, it's like she's trying to pull you and your father in, through the lens. I don't think your mother was as one dimensional as you've always thought, Jill."

"I'm beginning to see that. I've been seeing it from the first time we talked, at the hospice."

"I'm not saying she was mother of the year or anything but it's pretty obvious she cared a lot about you, even after she gave you and your father up."

"Yeah, but it still hurt."

"I know. Anything else you looked at?"

"I've got the journals. I just didn't feel like reading them after I saw the pictures. Oh, Shit! I forgot to tell you."

"What?"

"I took Bozo out and Mary and your mom talked to me. They got a call from the police that worked on the attack. The guys that did it pled out."

"What do you mean, they pled out?"

"They got off without any more jail time. They're on probation for a while and have to do some kind of community service but they pretty much got away with it."

"Shit. I bet Mom was pissed off."

"Oh, yeah. She thinks they should have been castrated."

"They should have. It just shows you how far downhill the society has gone."

We went downstairs and Jack hugged Mary, then told her and Charlie how sorry he was that they had gotten off. I told Mary that I was going to talk with Sensei about more advanced classes and she said she was interested. Charlie told me he'd like to find out about it, too. Since I was going to talk to him before or after our regular class, Charlie agreed to come with us on Saturday.

Mom told us that she wasn't going to take it sitting down. She'd already called my father to get the name of a good lawyer so she could sue the bastards. Daddy gave her a couple of names but warned her they might not be able to get much money from them and a civil court couldn't put them in jail. She was talking about calling newspapers and TV stations if the lawyers couldn't help her.

It was late when we finally got to bed. Jack held out his arm and I snuggled up to him, my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me and held me close. That simple action made everything right. I'd continue to find out more about my mother but nothing was going to change who she was. And while others might hope, I was the one in Jack's arms, feeling his love.

The alarm rang too early once again. We both stumbled out of bed. I headed to the bathroom while Jack detoured to the living room to let Bozo out. I was in the shower when he came in.

"Good morning, Beautiful."

"Good morning, Jack. How are you feeling?"

"A little tired. This interviewing stuff is harder than I thought it would be. And I still need to start my computer log and transcribe my notes. Just the interviews are turning into a full time job."

"Why don't you just put all the notes in a text file. You can make sections for each girl. I can come up with some kind of format for the log and get you started with a calendar. Once it's in the text file, I can cut and paste wherever. Have you figured which way you want to go on the calendar?"

"Yeah, I think I'm going to go with Google. That way I can access it anywhere. You can even check on my appointments if you want."

"I think they let you have multiple calendars. I can put one together for me so you'll know where I am. We'll just come up with a user name and password and share them."

"Sounds good."

"OK. I can work on that tonight while you're doing your interviews. Then you can enter tonight's notes. I'll see if I can find a shareware address book while I'm at it."

I poured a couple of cups of coffee and took Jack's in to him. I'd just put some pop tarts in the toaster when Charlie came in.

"Hey, Charlie. Want a couple?" I held up the box.

"Sure. Can I get some coffee, too?"

"No problem. The cups are in there. Milk's in the fridge and there's sugar in that cupboard if you need it."

Charlie got himself some coffee and I gave him the pop tarts I had in the toaster, replacing them with new ones. I put a paper towel on the counter near the toaster.

"Do me a favor and put the ones in the toaster on this when they pop up? And put a couple more in for Jack?"

"OK."

"I've got a couple of things to do in the bedroom before we leave."

The shower wasn't going anymore so I stuck my head in the bathroom door. "Charlie's in the kitchen so you might want to put some clothes on or a towel around you before you come out."

"Thanks."

I went into the bedroom and got my books and my laptop. I thought about taking one of Vivian's journals with me but decided against it.

I'd just finished putting my stuff in Charlie's car when Wanda drove up with Laurie in the back seat.

Laurie was out of her car seat with her arms out for me to pick her up before I even got the back door open. I sat her down on my hip and she wrapped her legs around my waist.

"Hi, Jill. I get to stay with Mary today."

"Hi, Laurie. That sounds like fun."

Charlie came over. "Hi, Laurie."

"Hi, Charlie. I get to stay with Mary today."

"Yeah, I heard that."

"I had peaches for breakfast, Jill. Did you have peaches?"

"No. We had pop tarts today."

"Mama Wanda? Can we get pop tarts?"

"I don't know if I can keep up with you. Maybe you should just eat breakfast with Jill from now on."

"OK."

I said, "You really need to think before you speak, Wanda. Next thing you know, you'll find yourself driving her here and back every morning for breakfast and wonder how the heck that happened.

"Yeah, you're right. Maybe you can come over for breakfast once in a while, Laurie. Did you tell Jill and Charlie what else you're doing today?"

"I'm going to see a doctor."

"How come?" I said.

"So he can make sure I'm not sick."

Wanda said, "John had to reschedule from yesterday. You guys had enough going on."

"How's she going to get there?"

"John's going to come over late this morning and take her with him. He'll bring her back when she's done. I'm so glad Mary volunteered to help out. I don't know what I would have done."

"I'm sure she's happy to help out. What plans do you have for getting someone else?"

"John called a couple of agencies and explained the problems with had with the two that were sent to us. I've got four people stopping over after school for an interview."

"If you decide on someone, you should have her spend a half hour or so with Laurie to make sure they're compatible."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

Charlie said, "We've got to get going, Jill."

I gave Laurie a kiss, then handed her back to Wanda. "See ya. Bye, Laurie."

School started out like the day before. I had just started to write a note for Ms. Evans when she came into the office.

"Oh, Jill. I'm glad I caught you."

"Hi, Ms. Evans."

"I'm surprised to see you here after the news you got yesterday."

"Well, I'm here. I'm anxious to talk with you so I can get started on my program."

"All right. Let me give you a note for first period." She scribbled something, then handed me the piece of paper. "Give this to your teacher, then come back and we'll talk. Do you like coffee?"

"Yes, I do."

"Good. Give me a chance to settle in and I'll see you in about five minutes."