Page 13 of Forever Foolish

“As every young girl should be – including my own.”

“I agree.”

There was some sort of unspoken communication hidden in those words between her father and J.J. as they stared at each other for a moment before her dad nodded. Her friend,her boyfriend, turned to her and dropped a slight kiss on her cheek before nodding.

“I’ve got to head out. Will you text me later?” he asked openly, and she gave him a brilliant smile. No more hiding, no more secrets. He was telling her parents that they were talking and communicating despite the distance between them. He was claiming her – and she loved it.

“I promise. Be safe.”

“Always,” J.J. replied in that gentle way of his before turning to her parents once more. “Mr. and Mrs. King, it was wonderful to see you both again – maybe next time we can talk about it and plan for a little more time. I would be honored to have everyone for dinner if you ever head up to Alaska.”

“Where are you stationed? Juneau?” her father asked, not missing a beat.

“My time is up in the Army, and I’m heading back home – but again, we can talk over dinner sometime in the future maybe whenever Chloe gets stationed somewhere or maybe in Annapolis. It would be my treat – and my honor.”

Her father grunted simply, but he did hold out his hand again, shaking J.J.’s, and her mother gave him a quick yet awkward hug. They were trying to be understanding and accepting – and she knew it. Her eyes watered for soooo many reasons as J.J. looked at her again, giving her a fainthalf smile before he kissed her once more on the cheek, whispering ‘bye.’

Not a moment later, as he was walking out the door, she saw an Uber pull up outside of the building and his blond head disappeared inside. A shiver raced down her spine as she stood there, crossing her empty arms to keep from reaching after him, and swallowed painfully at the sudden sensation of loss washing over her once more.

“So it’s like that between you two,” her father said simply – and she turned to look at him, a tearful smile wavering on her face as she nodded.

“It’s just likethat, Daddy.”

Her father held her gaze for a moment, looking at her curiously, before nodding. She almost thought he was going to say something or become upset regarding J.J. like in the past, but instead, he turned to her mother… and cracked a smile.

“Huh, go figure. Annabelle, I guess maybe you are going to get that Alaskan cruise you’ve been wanting to go on sooner rather than later.”

“Do you mean it?”

“Yup. I think we’re going to be having dinner with that young man and his family in the not-so-near future.”

4

J.J. POST

Several months later…

“All right, kiddo,” Mr. Murray was nodding and pointing at the onslaught of tagged animals in the refrigerator. “Nothing like jumping into the deep-end, eh? I’ve tried to take it easy on you the last week or so, but hunting season is upon us, and I need some younger muscle to help with the load. Let me show you the first few steps, and we can tackle this together.”

J.J. jerked his oiled leather apron over his head and wrapped it around his waist, already smelling the salty scent combined with animal musk in the air as he stared in disbelief at the sheer volume of carcasses before them both.

“I know it’s a little late to ask, but you aren’t squeamish – are you?”

“No, sir.”

“Back in my day, when I first started working for myfamily, it wasn’t much different. I remember yacking up my breakfast for a few days until I toughened up a little bit, so don’t be surprised if you do the same. Wooo, my grandpa laughed and laughed at me.”

“Really?”

“Yup. Became a vegetarian for about four years too…”

J.J.’s eyes nearly popped out of his head at the revelation casually tossed in his direction as he looked around the room once more – and swallowed the faint taste of bile in his mouth as Mr. Murray used a massive hook to drag the first animal toward the doorway. Hunters fieldstripped the animals in the field, but there was no hiding the fact that this was going to be a massive amount of work.

“Let’s go,” the man said openly, waving him forward. “Don’t think, just do and listen. Sometimes, the men take the horns, but other times, they leave it for us. This order, he wants the rack mounted, so grab the saw, and let’s get started.”

“I’ll be right back,” J.J. whispered, feeling his breakfast coming up as he turned and made a beeline for the bathroom. Five minutes later, he walked back into the rear of the butcher shop and saw Mr. Murray’s knowing smile.

“Feel better?”

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