Page 30 of Jobe

She sat in her office for the next hour, making calls about the upcoming GED examination and getting two of the women signed up for it. She fielded a call from Tony’s wife, Sherrie, a paralegal who was assisting her with fundraising.

Carla stopped in to let her know that she was reasonably sure that one of the other women was pregnant also. Mackenna looked at her incredulously. “You’ve got to be kidding?”

“She’s been throwing up every morning. I’m sorry, but I thought you’d want to know.”

Sighing deeply, she agreed. “Yeah, I’ll talk to her and then make an appointment with the Health Department.”

Carla smiled and turned to walk out of the office. At the door, she glanced over her shoulder and said, “You’re doing a good job, Ms. Dunn. I know it sometimes doesn’t seem that way…but you are.”

Mackenna watched the dark haired beauty walk out and close the door behind her. Carla would soon be leaving them, having completed the integration back into society and training program. With a smile curving her lips, she went back to work.

* * *

On the outside of the building, the Alvarez men had been joined by BJ, who was ready to check the connections to the security wiring.

The center had been set up with cameras on the back and front of the building, as well as ones pointing toward the street and back alley. Tony had hired men to put in bars on the first-floor windows and the front door had been replaced, complete with a new latching system.

As the men were finishing their work, the conversation turned to the inhabitants of the center and what Mackenna was accomplishing.

“In theory, it sounds a lot like what Jennifer is doing with her elder care, but I gotta tell you, man, my wife’s is a helluva lot safer,” Gabe expounded.

Jobe ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. “Yeah, I know, but it’s what’s she’s been working for. I can’t demand she give it up.” He looked away for a moment, then added, “Hell, I can’t make any demands on her. I gave up that right. All I can do is try to protect her in whatever way I can.”

Vinny stared at his friend for a long time. “Bro, you gotta get over yourself. The past is done with. You gotta get in there, talk to her, and try to move on.”

Jobe turned to the Vinny and asked, “You ever tell Annalissa about your experiences? About the music that died for you?” Seeing Vinny’s evasive expression, he then looked at Gabe. “And you. You ever tell Jennifer about that boy? The one that haunted you for-fuckin-ever?”

Both twins drew in sharp breaths, knowing how touchy the subject was.

Vinny answered first. “Yeah. Eventually, but…not at first. In fact, not until much later.”

Gabe chimed in, “Same here. I told Jennifer about the kid over there, but not until after we were married. I thought about it, but the time just wasn’t right.”

Jobe gave a nod as though his point had been made, when Gabe continued, “But our situations were different. We were just meeting women who hadn’t been in that past with us. Mackenna was. Hate to dig it in, but it’s not the same, bro.”

BJ entered the conversation, saying, “I got no idea what went down with you two other than what you’ve told me. But it sounds a lot like Suzy and me.”

Jobe turned to BJ, remembering what it was like for his friend when he was working to get his girlfriend back. “So how’d you two do it?”

“Our situations were reversed. Suzy left me and I had no fuckin’ clue why. After a while I gave up but, I gotta tell you, it marked me. Losing the one you love and thought you’d marry? Not ashamed to admit it gutted me. When our paths crossed again, I wasn’t sure I wanted to wade back into those waters again. Hell, once bit by a shark, who wants to take a chance again?”

By this time, the others were listening as well, their minds moving back to two years before. They had all advised BJ to go after Suzanne and find out what had happened. And it worked…for him.

“But I knew she was worth fighting for, so I waded back in. She told me why she left and we talked. Hell, we talked, argued, cried…but when it was all over with, we knew that we were supposed to be together. It wasn’t easy, but I knew she needed to get it off her chest and I needed to forgive. That was the only way we could move forward.”

Vinny eyed Jobe, asking, “You talked to her yet? Told her what happened?”

Shaking his head, Jobe admitted, “Not yet. I was going to and then all of this latest shitstorm happened. Now, I don’t know. She’s got so much on her plate. Do I really want to dump on her?”

The others could not give him a good answer, each thinking that Jobe was always the one they turned to when they needed help. Finally, BJ spoke up, “Yeah, Jobe. You do.” He saw the looks the others gave him and he quickly amended, “I don’t mean dump on her, but you gotta look at it from her point of view, which had been mine. I had no fuckin’ idea what had happened. She doesn’t either. One minute you’re engaged, the next…you break it off. And it sounds like you broke it off clean.”

Jobe winced, knowing it was the truth.

“She deserves to know it all. Now I’m not saying she’s gonna forgive and forget and everything’s gonna be fine. She may hate your guts.”

This time Vinny winced as much as Jobe. “Fuck man, you know how to give someone hope, don’t you?”

BJ ran his hand through his hair and glanced away for a minute. He then turned to Gabe and said, “Do you remember what ya’ll told me back then? You said that if you find a woman that you can’t live without, you do not let that walk away.” He paused, pinning Jobe with his stare. “You gotta let her know what tore you apart and then work like hell to make it right.” With that BJ moved back to the van to continue checking the security system feeds.

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