Officer Jones

Chapter 65

Gwen stirred a spattering tomato sauce with the help of Tommy, who stood on a stool, wearing an apron that was about five times too big for him. After an overdue hot shower, I changed into a Delaney Construction T-shirt and a pair of jeans, borrowed from her father.

The four of us then ate dinner together at the kitchen table. Everybody knew this was the way it should have been, but nobody brought it up. The adults were quiet, while Tommy made loud sucking sounds as he slurped the spaghetti into his mouth.

After dinner, a group effort of cleaning dishes took place, in which, predictably, I was the only one to break a plate. Soon after, Mr. Delaney ordered Tommy to his room to do his homework. Then a half hour after Tommy’s departure, Mr. Delaney called it a day for himself, leaving Gwen and I to struggle with the awkward alone time.

We sat at the table with a bottle of Pinot and a lot of memories. I noticed her hands were still shaking as she lifted her wine glass.

“It’s going to be okay, Gwen,” I attempted to comfort.

She forced a smile. When I peered into her beautiful green eyes, I saw a look I hadn’t seen in a long time. She’d let down the wall, exposing a fragility, but also her firm resolve. It reminded me of the pleasant past.

She poured me another glass of wine. In doing so, she got close enough for me to become intoxicated by her perfume. It sent my memories back to prom night. Dancing to our song-“Never Say Goodbye” by Bon Jovi. I was just glad we never had the opportunity to say goodbye.

“It’s going to be okay,” I said again, this time with more conviction.

Gwen didn’t seem so sure. She took another gulp of wine and looked across the table at me.

“Something on your mind?” I asked.

“When you took the full-time job at GNZ, you told me if you ever got my call in the middle of the night you’d be right by my side, no matter where you were in the world. It took you a while, but you kept your word, JP Warner.”

I smiled, then took a glance at the clock in the kitchen. “I should be going.”

“You better stay a little while longer-with all the wine we’ve had, I don’t want Officer Grady Benson to lock you up and throw away the key.”

I shook my head at the absurdity of the whole thing. With all the dangerous places I’d traveled to throughout the world, I couldn’t believe the irony of meeting up with such danger in quaint Rockfield. In our teenage years we used to constantly whine, “I can’t wait to get out of this town-it’s so boring! There is nothing to do!”

“I only had one glass. You’re the one drinking like there’s no tomorrow.”

Bad choice of words.

I thanked her for dinner, stood, and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.

As I began to walk away, Gwen grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me around. Then she kissed me.

My mouth engulfed hers. We slammed up against a wall, knocking a family photo to the floor. I pulled away and tried to catch my breath. “I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

“JP, I know eventually you’re going to leave. I’m okay with it. I’m not concerned with the future anymore. Nobody’s guaranteed tomorrow.”

Instinct took over and lips locked again. We crashed into another wall, hoping we didn’t wake Tommy and Mr. Delaney.

“I’m not going to leave, Gwen.”

I knew she didn’t believe me, but didn’t seem to care. “Will you please shut up JP?”

Good enough for me. First, off came her sweatshirt. My T-shirt was next. She reached up to the waist of my jeans, and began to unbuckle them. After a struggle that briefly turned comical, they came off and she threw them onto the coffee table, knocking over a remaining glass of wine.

We swept through the living room and into her bedroom.

Gwen pushed me onto the bed and then climbed on top. She looked down at me intently and said, “Because he wasn’t you.”

“What?”

“You’ve been dying to ask me why my marriage broke up. I finally decided to answer you.”

There was nothing left to say, so for once we didn’t.

I would not get the rest I sought for my trip. I didn’t want to go to sleep, worried that I might wake to find it was a dream. I barely got an hour, but being intertwined with Gwen’s body made it the best sleep I’d had in years. I woke to streaming sunlight coming through the small crack in the shades. I kissed her and she woke with a smile. It was not a dream.

I was sure of this, because in no dream I’d ever had about this moment was Tommy Delaney standing in the open doorway that we forgot to close in our haste. “Gwen and Mr. JP sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” he sung out gleefully.

Mr. Delaney arrived to remove Tommy. He didn’t look the least bit shocked, and smiled at us as he pulled Tommy away from his sightseeing and shut the door.

After we dressed, and I ate a plate of leftover spaghetti for breakfast, Gwen drove me home so I could pack. We kissed again before I exited the van, and I pleaded with her to be careful when she followed Jones. I’d given up on trying to stop her.

I walked into the house, whistling, and was surprised to see my mother. I suddenly felt like a teenager again-Mom waiting up for me as I tried to sneak in.

She inspected me as I came through the door. “Well, look what the cat dragged in.”

It was nice to see the peaceful smile on her face. I walked over to where she was sitting on the floor and took a seat beside her.

“You aren’t using your cane,” she observed.

I’d almost forgotten. “After seeing Byron in his wheelchair, it made my problems seem as if they weren’t problems.”

“It’s nice to see you smiling again. It’s been a while. That wouldn’t have anything to do with that pretty girl that drove you home this morning?”

There was no way to fool Mom. “She is pretty great, huh?”

“It took you long enough to figure that out, John Pierpont.”

“I figured it out a long time ago, but things were just a little complicated. They still are.”

“Yeah, it’s called life. But when you find a way to be with the one you should be with, it sure makes things seem less complicated.”

My eyes wandered toward the old cardboard box she’d been sifting through, and realized it contained Noah’s old junk. I noticed a high school yearbook, assorted photos of Noah and Lisa, and some sort of ugly contraption he’d made for a school project. I thought it was an ashtray, but my mother contended it was a paperweight. Noah had always claimed it was a key-chain holder.

I joined her in the sifting. I came across a second-grade paper with the topic being who Noah wanted to be like when he grew up. When I read it, I felt my eyes well-up with tears.

“He never wanted you to see that. He was afraid you wouldn’t think he was cool with all the mushy stuff he wrote about you.”

“I wish I’d lived up to his expectations.”

She looked shocked. “Noah was so proud of you, JP. You should have heard him talk about you, and I’m sure he is especially proud of what you are doing for him right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“JP, I wouldn’t feel the same sense of peace if I believed Noah took his own life. I want you to nail that bastard, Jones.”

“I plan on it. In fact, that’s where I’m headed right now. Do you think Dad could take me to the airport? I’m kind of in a hurry.”

“I’m sorry, your father is bailing your brother Ethan out of jail this morning.”

I looked at her with surprise. “Ethan’s in jail?”

“I guess some loud mouth at Main Street Tavern said some not-so-nice things about his brother and Ethan socked him in the nose,” she added casually like it was some mundane event. After what she’d been through the last few years, maybe it was.

“They were saying bad things about Noah?” I asked.

“No JP. He was defending you.”