Page 24 of Steel & Jenna
CHAPTER 7
2 YEARS, 3 MONTHS, 5 DAYS
Amonth passed by in the blink of an eye. Winter was coming in fast, making Jack extremely grateful he’d gotten Lilly her jacket instead of waiting. His life fell into a routine of sorts but was in no way boring or predictable.
In the mornings, Lilly and Jack would get up for his paper route before he took her to school. Mrs. Zarin had spoken to the teachers who ran the before school program and one was usually there a few minutes early to take Lilly so Jack could leave for school. Jenna would meet him outside the high school where, hopefully, they could catch a few minutes of alone time before first period.
Twice Jack had been late and Principal Foote had been waiting at the entrance with a yellow detention slip. Jack refused to allow Jenna to take detention with him, not wanting her to be punished or to get on the principal’s bad side. Not that the man had a ‘good side’ in Jack’s opinion, but at present, her last name was saving her from the Foote’s nastier, more vindictive side that was laser focused on Jack.
Classes continued on. Jenna even made a few girlfriends, whichmade Jack happy for her. As much as a part of him craved her every attention, he knew it wasn’t feasible or healthy to be her sole focus.
That didn’t stop her from being his—with the exception of Lilly.
After school, Jenna and Jack would walk to the elementary school to pick up Lilly. Snow came earlier than normal, making it hard to use the bike and the wagon. Jack absolutely hated that Jenna was subjecting herself to the cold just to spend time with him. However, she was always adequately dressed and had even brought a pair of her old gloves and a scarf and hat she claimed were too small for her for Lilly. Jack was extremely adamant that she never spend money on him, but he would never turn away anything she brought for Lilly.
That didn’t mean he didn’t find the occasional ‘anonymous donation’ in his backpack or locker. Thermal socks were the latest. When he argued, because he knew damn well they were from Jenna, she brought him to the school’s library and made him read through the dangers of frostbite and hypothermia for the entire hour while still claiming that she had no idea how the socks got into his possession.
As the end of October neared, there was an excitement around the high school that had nothing to do with Halloween. A new movie,The Terminator, was about to hit the theaters and it seemed like everyone was making plans to attend opening night. Port Townsend’s movie theater was small with only three movie rooms and was cancelling all other films that weekend. Behind the movie theater was a field where they occasionally hosted a drive thru movie for festivals and holiday events for the town. On Friday and Saturday of opening weekend, the theater was also putting on an evening and a midnight showing of the new movie.
The movie theater’s owner was also refusing to sell advance tickets and had threatened termination to any employees who disobeyed that ruling. So, of course, some of the tickets had been stolen behind the owner’s back and were circulating around town at nearly five times the rate of the movie.
Despite the movie being an action film, Jenna had expressed interest in going. With no car, the drive thru wasn’t an option for them. Plus, there was Lilly. Based on what Jack knew about the movie,it was not going to be a movie appropriate for her to see. Half of the guys around school were going to see Arnold Schwarzenegger kick ass while the other half was going to see Linda Hamilton, as it was rumored there was a nude scene.
Jack, of course, also wanted to see the movie. More than that, though, he wanted to take Jenna on a real date. Just the two of them. Jenna and Lilly got along like they had been best friends their whole lives. But it was still a bit of a buzzkill to always have his little sister around them. Jack loved Lilly and leaving her alone wasn’t an option. Jenna knew and understood this, but Jack still wanted to take her on adate.
They mostly hung out at the library with Lilly after school or took her to the park on the warmer days. Mowing lawns wasn’t an option once snow started to fall, but Jack made up the income by shoveling parking lots and sidewalks outside of businesses around town. Jenna even hung out with Lilly while he worked so Lilly wasn’t waiting in the cold for him to finish. Jack had yet to go to Jenna’s house, but Lilly had been twice. According to Lilly, it wasHUGE!“Like a princess’s castle!”
Despite his determination to take Jenna on an actual date, Jack was just starting to think that he wouldn’t be able to pull it off when an opportunity presented itself the day before Opening Night.
Mrs. Zarin, who was warming to Jenna’s constant presence, asked Jack if they were planning on going to the movie.
“It’s not a movie I can take Lilly to,” Jack carefully explained.
“Very good point.” Mrs. Zarin glanced down the hall. Lilly and Jenna were walking towards Mrs. Zarin’s classroom to see if they could find Lilly’s missing glove. Mrs. Zarin couldn’t leave the cafeteria area as there were still other students who were waiting to get picked up. “You know, my nephew works at the movie theater.”
In a small town like Port Townsend, everyone was related to someone in one way or another. Jack and Lilly even had grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins living in town—all of whom would have nothing to do with them. If the town’s opinion of John Duncan was low, it was nothing compared to his blood relatives’ opinions. Jackhad even gone to his grandparents about Lilly after their mom had left and had had the door slammed in his face before he could even ask for help.
Jack did not pay attention enough around town to know the different relationships or how people were related to each other. Unlike most of the town, he had far different priorities. However, Jack did recall from his own time in Mrs. Zarin’s first grade class, that her brother was a firefighter. He and his squad brought a firetruck to the elementary school to give a demonstration on fire safety each year.
He had no idea that the fireman he’d met nine years ago was married or had a kid—or where Mrs. Zarin was going with this conversation.
“I didn’t know that,” he said carefully.
She nodded proudly. “He’s gotten employee of the month three times in a row. They get free movie vouchers when they win. He offered my husband and me a couple, but my Arnie doesn’t like the movies all that much.”
Jack still was not following and said nothing, even though Mrs. Zarin paused as if waiting for him to speak.
“Lilly is such a doll too,” Mrs. Zarin continued when he said nothing. “I told Mr. Zarin about her and he’s in agreement with me that she’s welcome in our house anytime. We also have a guest room too.”
Jack blinked. Was Mrs. Zarin saying what he thought she was saying…?
“Mr. Zarin makes the absolutelybestsmoked brisket you’ve ever tasted in your life. It just falls off the bone like butter.”
Jack opened and closed his mouth. He hadn’t had fresh meat, or a home-cooked meal, in a very long time and the sound of that brisket was making his mouth water longingly and his stomach rumble.
“Are you…” He didn’t want to be presumptuous, but he also couldn’t ignore the hints she was dropping. “Are you offering to babysit Lilly and give her dinner while giving Jenna and me free movie vouchers to go seeThe Terminator?”
Mrs. Zarin smiled. “Dinner’s at five-thirty. And popcorn really isn’t a filling dinner. Don’t worry, my Arnie always makes too much.There’ll be plenty of time for Jenna and you to eat too before heading to the theater.”
