Page 70 of Loving Lizzy

Victoria narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms as Kassie backtracked. “Hey, you taught me how to do it for survival. This time, you’ll use your powers for good.”

Maddie pinned her goddaughter with a motherly stare, “Exactly why and who do you lie to?”

“Ugh… Victoria taught me how to do it in cases of emergencies. For instance, when James took me and Em,” Kassie offered.

Maddie visibly relaxed. “Under those circumstances, lying’s completely acceptable. This makes me think of you on the run with Em. Joe and I felt desperate to find and help you. Lizzy, I agree with Victoria, if this will benefit her and the kids, you stand a good chance of her accepting the help. What can we do for the older woman?”

“She’s very independent. I think she’ll prove the most difficult,” Lizzy pondered.

“Why don’t you start with helping the younger woman and we can work on the older woman. It’ll be awful if we make too much food, and you can’t store it in your fridge. A couple of us got our weeks mixed up and the food will go bad if someone doesn’t take it off of your hands. The bakery throws out the leftovers at the end of the day, you asked if you could take it to the patients. How many people arrive in the infusion room at one time?”

Lizzy counted the chairs in her head. “There’re twelve chairs total. The last two times I’ve gone in for treatment people come and go at different times. Maybe a total of fifteen people at most.”

“I’ll put them in bags and mix each bag with different things to make it less obvious. At least they’ll get a few items right away,” Bryanna volunteered. “You can pass out the bags to everyone.”

“It’s a great idea, Bryanna, thank you.” Lizzy smiled as the women formulated a plan.

Kassie took out a pen and paper and began making a list a young mother and her family might need. When she returned home, she planned to type it out and make it official with a made-up letterhead.

“I can make up gift bags of peppermint tea, and some of the lavender and mint salves to help with nausea. We can add some detox bath salts and lotion too,” Samantha suggested.

The doorbell rang as the women finished their plotting. Maddie stood to answer the door. Joe and Jake entered with Chase, Saint and Shadow following behind them.

Jake scanned the room until his gaze landed on Carol. He tipped his hat to the women as he greeted them. “Carol, I wanted to ask if I can have a word with you on the porch?”

The room fell silent as Carol stood. Jake pulled her jacket from the hall tree and held it out while she slipped her arms through. He led her outside.

“Where’s Leo?” Catherine turned her attention to Shadow and Saint as Chase sat next to Kassie trying to hold back his laughter.

“We left him at the team building,” Shadow answered gruffly.

“Oh no, what did he do now?” Catherine cringed.

“He bought a baby food maker. He wants us to learn how to make baby food because he read it’s better for an infant. He sent us to find organic farmers in the area. We guessed Samantha might know people,” Saint started to explain.

“No. We can’t do this. Catherine you gotta talk to him. We realize he’s excited and we’ve gone along with most of his drills, the CPR, timing us on how long it takes to put in a car seat, learning what to do if a kid chokes, but we didn’t train as SEALs to become baby food makers. He got a package in the mail today and it’s from a company which produces the first man bras for men to feed their infants. He hasn’t shown it to us yet and we hoped you might return with us and talk him back to sanity. I don’t want to see him wearing a boob. Did you know about the class on infant massage? Michael mentioned it to him, and he signed us all up. I’m begging you Catherine, if you don’t help rein him in, we’ll shoot him in the ass.”

The women burst out laughing as Shadow pleaded for a semblance of his manhood to be saved.

The front door swung open as an enraged Carol stomped inside. A flustered Jake followed.

“All I’m saying is dating different men isn’t a good idea. Some of these men might get ideas.”

Carol bristled as she stared menacingly at him. Her hand balled into fists as she placed them on her hip. She stomped toward him, making him walk backwards.

Her finger jabbed at his chest as she enunciated each word. “I can date whomever I please. I’m a big girl and last time I checked, I didn’t have a ring on my finger. You don’t get a say on when or who I date. You made it clear you only care for one woman, and I hope her memory keeps you warm at night, Jake Harper, because I certainly won’t be.”

She stomped out of the house and headed to her own home across the street. Jake held his hat tightly in his hand.

“I’m sorry about all the ruckus, Lizzy, I only meant to have a private word.” His crestfallen face showed his feelings toward Carol.

Victoria stood like a queen holding court and dismissed the group. Everyone began to gather their things.

Chase walked to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, “I love you as a second father. You’re a grandfather to my daughter. I’m giving you some advice a wise man told me long ago.”

Jake glanced up at his godson, hoping he shared a bit of wisdom to clean up the mess he’d made.

Chase turned and pulled Kassie closer to him and cupped her cheek. Her hand met his as she stared lovingly into his eyes, “He said, ‘If there’s a pretty lady around and it takes one man too long to make a move, someone else will.” He twisted back to meet his godfather’s eyes. “Thanks Jake, for those words of wisdom because it gave me the love of my life.” He smiled down at his wife and walked out the door as Jake stood speechless.

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