Page 59 of Steel & Jenna
Even Chief Cunningham stopped by on occasion to check in on them. Jack had been surprised to learn that the Chief had served in the military with Mr. Zarin, but had only served fifteen years, whereas Mr. Zarin had done twenty for the larger pension. Since the Chief lived right down the road, he even joined them on their morning runs on occasion. Jack liked the Chief and appreciated him looking the other way about Jack and Lilly living with the Zarins.
Lilly laughed at something Jenna said, the cord from the wall phone completely wrapped around her chest and back. Jack shook his head at his sister, just imagining her twirling like a ballerina without a care in the world.
“You know,” Mrs. Zarin said as she handed him a soaked plate, “Ihad my doubts about you and Jenna. Both of you are so young and with the pressures of her family…” She gave him a very maternal smile. “But there’s something about the two of you. I’m so proud of the way you’ve handled everything and that you had the strength to stand up for yourself. It’s hard to explain, but the two of you just…fit. I’ve never seen another couple like the two of you. I don’t mean to embarrass you, but the word ‘soulmates’ comes to mind every time I look at the two of you. I really hope the two of you go the distance.”
Jack’s cheeks flamed a little, but it was more from her praise than her assessment of his and Jenna’s relationship. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mr. Zarin coming up the back stairs. He wasn’t wearing gloves and Jack saw something gold shine in his grip from the backlight. A glance back at Mrs. Zarin told Jack what it was Mr. Zarin had been doing in the shed.
“You’re wrong, you know,” Jack told Mrs. Zarin as Mr. Zarin came inside. The cold wind nearly blew the door out of his hand, but he managed to grab it and close it firmly again. He walked right up to his wife without taking off his coat and placed her necklace back around her neck. The small diamond on a gold chain had been the first piece of jewelry Mr. Zarin had bought Mrs. Zarin when they were still dating. It was his promise to her that he’d return to her the day he joined the Marines. The clasp had been finicky recently, and it either broke or was about to break. Regardless, Mr. Zarin had taken it out to his shed to fix it for her. “I know one other couple that fits that description. Jenna and I wouldn’t be half the couple we are without you two as role models.”
Mrs. Zarin’s cheeks pinkened as Mr. Zarin bent to kiss the side of her neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest.
“How’d the truck handle?” Mr. Zarin asked Jack. “I did notice it took youslightlylonger than usual to drop her off.” Jenna’s phone call would have been a giveaway to what time she got into her house.
Jack shrugged, recalling the feel of Jenna underneath him on the bench seat outside her house. He wasn’t allowed inside, but her parents did allow him—or the Zarins before tonight—to drive ontotheir property to drop her off so she didn’t have to walk up the long drive. They, at least, had that going for them. Otherwise, Jack would have to beg Carolyn to come pick up Jenna every time. “I took it slow with the ice on the roads.”
His chin resting on his wife’s shoulder, Mr. Zarin raised his eyebrows in a clear expression that said he didn’t believe Jack’s reasoning in the slightest. “Then perhaps it’s time for us to put the chains on your tires.”
Jack had helped the year before with that task. Mind, his injuries had kept him from helpingmuch,but he’d still liked how Mr. Zarin walked him through everything he was doing so Jack could learn. Mr. Zarin had taught him a lot in the past year. It was hard not to admire this couple and there was no way Jack could ever repay his gratitude for their presence in his and Lilly’s lives. There was so much about life itself that Jack hadn’t known, and therefore, would have never been able to teach Lilly, either. He’d done his best, but he didn’t know what had never been taught to him.
After his last growth spurt, Jack had started to grow facial hair. Like any respectable dad, Mr. Zarin had taken Jack to the store, bought him his first razor, and then shown him how to shave. While Mr. Zarin used a straight razor, Jack did not have the balls to take a blade like that to his own throat. He’d stick with the beginner’s electric one Mr. Zarin had recommended for him. He wasn’t growing a lot, but enough to make shaving necessary every day.
“My Saturday just opened up with you giving me your truck,” Jack reminded Mr. Zarin. “Are you free tomorrow?”
Mr. Zarin’s eyes narrowed slightly, but the amusement in his dark irises made it clear he knew Jack was throwing him a challenge. The man, though, called his bluff. “Sure. I want to put them on Mrs. Zarin’s station wagon too. We might be trading in the car, but I don’t want to risk her driving without them until we figure out what her car will be.”
“Have you considered the new Mustang convertible—” Jack offered.
Mrs. Zarin’s eyes lit up as Mr. Zarin said loudly, “No!” Jacklaughed at Mrs. Zarin’s forlorn expression. “You are getting the safest car we can afford, my love. I will not be moved on this.”
“Contact your old base and see if there’s any tanks for sale,” Jack suggested dryly.
Mr. Zarin made a swipe for him, but Jack easily leapt off the counter and out of reach. Laughing, he headed over to the phone and snatched it out of Lilly’s hand mid-sentence.
“Jen,” he said over Lilly’s protest, “I’m headed to my room. I’ll pick it up there.” Then he handed the phone back to his sister. “You got three minutes, squirt!”
“You’re so mean, Jackie! She’s my Jenna too!”
Jack just shook his head as he walked out of the kitchen.
Mr. and Mrs. Zarindid not live in an overly spacious house. Though they’d purchased the house with kids in mind, fate had had other plans for the couple until the previous year. The guest room Jack and Lilly had slept in their first night with the Zarins had become Lilly’s room. She’d stayed in it while Jack was in the hospital and, though it was slightly bigger than the other room, it just made sense to keep her in it.
When Jack had first come back from the hospital, the living room couch had been the most comfortable for him. During the two weeks of his recovery, Mr. and Mrs. Zarin had helped Lilly make the room more kid-friendly and less guestroom. Then they went to work taking apart their office. Mrs. Zarin’s desk was now in the master bedroom and Mr. Zarin’s large reading chair was now in the living room by the fireplace. They left Mr. Zarin’s desk in the bedroom for Jack to have for his schoolwork, since Mr. Zarin didn’t use it all that often.
A trip to the thrift store had purchased Jack and Lilly each a dresser and Jack a bed. Chief Cunningham had shown up with a mattress he said they were looking to get rid of anyway.
Then suddenly Jack had a bedroom. A real bedroom. All to himself. A room that was larger than the frame of his bed and adresser rather than a cardboard box. Between the assault, Jenna leaving for Seattle, and the kindness of strangers, Jack had been unable to hold back his tears that first night. And even though they now had separate bedrooms, Lilly had somehow known what Jack was feeling and had come in during the night to sleep in his bed with him.
For Christmas, the Zarins had gifted Jack his own telephone. While it wasn’t his own phone line, it did offer him privacy to talk to Jenna from his bedroom instead of the living room. Jack had thought about paying to get his own line, but the cost was too high and he had to think about the future. Spending that sort of money now could mean not being able to afford rent later.
Some might consider it being frugal but he thought of it as being practical.
Mr. and Mrs. Zarin did have a rule that he could only talk to Jenna until ten on school nights and eleven on weekends. The house had thin walls so they could hear the timbre of his voice from their room too. That fact alone kept all of their conversations kid friendly.
As much as Jack hated the distance her going to school in Seattle put between them, in a way, it had made them stronger. The phone conversations had given them a chance to talk about things they might not have felt comfortable saying in person. Jack had confessed more to Jenna about his childhood than he’d ever told anyone else, including Lilly.
After stripping down to his boxer shorts, Jack climbed into bed and picked up his phone. “I got it, Lilly.”
“You’re a butt-munch, Jackie! Bye, Jenna!”
