Page 101 of Thick & Thin

Josh

Something was off with her,and it worried me. It seemed every time I mentioned Caleb’s father, Jenny got tense and her face would turn pale. It was as if I was mentioning a ghost or a moment she wanted to forget. I knew how that felt. If I could, I would forget Afghanistan and all the moments that changed me because of it.

Thoughts filled my head that I despised, sending my protective side into overdrive. Thoughts like, what if she had been forced? What if I had spent the past three years of my life mad at the woman I loved and blaming her for being raped.

She didn’t have a name. Or if she did, she never mentioned it. And anytime I even brought it up, she would openly ask to change the subject. She wanted to forget Caleb’s father, and while I okay with that, I still wanted to know why.

Guilt was eating me alive, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask her if she had been raped. If she wanted to forget, I certainly didn’t want to force her to remember.

Time slowly passed. Mom was released from the hospital after a second open-heart surgery, which was unexpected, and once we got her settled at home and back on her feet, I got a flow to working the farm and dealing with the horses. I had done it almost all my life, and it was as if I had never stopped.

Genie and Jimmy came by almost every night, bringing the girls and dinner for Mom and me, and after dinner and once I cleaned the kitchen and got Mom settled into bed, I would go to Jenny’s for a few hours, spending time with her watching movies and being together like old times.

Sometimes, Caleb would wake up and climb onto the couch with us, and those nights were even better. If I closed my eyes and imagined I hadn’t gone into the military, I could pretend Jenny and Caleb were mine, and I had my own little family. It hurt to think a child of my own could never be, but if Jenny would let me, I would be there for Caleb as if he were my own if we continued the path we were on.

“You’ve been spending an awful lot of time with Jenny and Caleb lately,” Mom said, smiling around her cup of coffee.

She was in her favorite purple housecoat and was wearing the fluffy slippers Genie had gotten her for her hospital stay.

Her shoulder-length hair was a mix of darks and grays and hung loosely beside her aging face.

My parents had children later in life, so my parents were older than most people’s my age. I never paid attention before, but I know it had a ton to do with how good my life had been growing up. My parents were settled and ready and had given Genie and me the world.

I set a plate of eggs in front of her and grinned.

“I have. It’s been nice spending time with them.”

“What’s going on there?” she asked. A small smirk forming on her lips.

I sat down at the table with her and dug into my own eggs. “We’re just getting to know each other again,” I said around my food before I chugged my glass of milk and washed it down.

“Uh-huh.” She stirred her coffee a bit more after adding some sugar. “Just be careful. I don’t want either of you getting hurt.”

“Of course. The last thing I want to do is hurt Jenny. I especially don’t want to hurt Caleb. He’s a good kid.”

Mom’s face cleared, and she nodded, her eyes drifting away from mine as if she were hiding something. “He really is.”

After that, she went quiet, eating her breakfast and reading over the paper. Once I finished my eggs, I collected my things and went to work cleaning out the stalls and feeding the horses. I had learned a few new tricks on the farm in Texas that I used at our place, and it made things much easier. Once I was able, I would hire on a few more people and maybe pick up a new stallion or two for breeding.

Two hours passed and I was working on the tractor when I heard a set of steps crunching over the grass and heading in my direction. I pulled my hat from my head and swiped at the sweat on my forehead with the back of my arm as I waited for the person to come into view around the tractor.

It was Jenny.

She walked toward me, her legs looking long in a pair of shorts and a green tank top. Her toes were painted blue, and I grinned, knowing Emma bear, Devin’s daughter, had gotten her hands on Jenny.

She looked beautiful with her long hair piled on top of her head and a pair of aviator shades shielding what I knew were an amazing set of green eyes.

“Hey, you,” I greeted her with a smile, climbing down from the tractor and pulling off my work gloves.

She grinned at me and tossed a brown paper bag my way. “Hey, yourself. What are you doing out here?”

I opened the bag to find a sandwich from my favorite small-town sandwich shop inside. Ham and turkey on wheat with tons of pickles and mayo. Moving the sandwich, I saw my other favorite, a can of Dr. Pepper, rolling around in the bottom of the bag.

“This is perfect. I’m starving. Thanks,” I said, popping the can of Pep open and taking a long swig.

It burned the back of my throat a bit before the cold liquid slid down and cooled me.

“I’m just tuning up the old tractor. It needs maintenance every now and again.”

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