AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Damn, I forgot the directions mentioned 'at onset of cramps' on it. I felt my face turn red. "Um..."
There was no point in denying it. He handed me the dose along with a bottle of water that he must have grabbed on his way back. Then he disappeared again. Not that I could blame him. I knew men were squeamish about “female issues.”
I opened my eyes to a rustling noise and found him plugging in a heating pad. I'd forgotten that I had it stashed in the back of my bathroom cabinet.
"Do you think you can roll over to your side?" he asked. His voice was calm and soothing, not that of a man who wanted to run to the hills.
I moved a little, unable to stifle the moan as a wave of pain gripped my pelvic region. I felt him place the pad against my lower back and support it with a pillow. His fingers began to rub the back of my neck with just the right amount of pressure to massage the muscles without pain.
Several minutes later, he broke the silence. "My mom used to disappear into her bedroom almost once a month. She said she was sick and to let her sleep. It wasn’t until I was older I understood what was happening. I'd forgotten until now, but I remember my dad would get our heating pad and chase after her. I honestly don't know if it helped, but he never left her to suffer alone."
Whether it was the medicine or his touch, I felt my shoulders drop from their hunched position, and the pain in my head slowly started to ebb. "Your dad sounds like he was a wonderful husband and father. You must miss him."
His fingers stilled for a minute. "I do. Even now, it's hard not to wish he had never been called up to active duty. Sometimes I wonder how things would have been different if he hadn't died.”
"Thank you for staying. I didn't want you to see me this way, weak and useless."
He stopped his ministrations once again. "Don't you ever say you're weak. You're in pain, and that's different. I saw you try to work through it to help those kids when you should've come home and gotten the medicine sooner instead of suffering." A finger tipped my chin to look up at him. "You're an amazing woman, Grace. I'm not sure what it is you're doing with me, doing to me, but honest to God, I hope you don't stop. There's nowhere I'd rather be than here. I just wish you weren't in pain."
I smiled and grabbed his fingers, leaving a kiss on them as I succumbed to the tiredness that accompanied the relief I was finally feeling. His words and his actions all combined into a powerful feeling.
I was falling in love with Jaxson Carter.
24
Jax
"Do you want to play with me, Jaxie?"
My mom smiled as my new sister took me by the hand and led me toward her bedroom. "Dinner will be in about an hour, kids." My stepdad smiled, too, and he pulled my mom close and kissed her on her forehead.
I'd never known what girls liked to play, but when my mom started dating Gene, his daughter seemed cool. She liked to ride bikes, climb trees, and best of all, she wasn't afraid to get dirty on the baseball field where my friends and I liked to be any time we could. As we spent more time together, it became clear she could handle a ball and glove pretty well, and she could hit a baseball better than some of the guys. They never seemed to mind when she tagged along, partly because of her skills, but also I'd observed several of them staring at her. I guess she was kind of pretty, but I secretly thought they liked her because she had bigger boobs because she was a couple of years older.
We settled into playing a board game, one of her favorites that she nearly always won. I was almost finished finding all the clues I needed to solve the murder. I only lacked the mystery weapon. I could feel victory in my clutches when she suddenly shoved the board away, playing pieces and cards scattering across the carpet.
"What did you do that for?" I asked, angry that she'd ruined my chance to finally win.
She played with a piece of her hair. "I dunno. I'm bored."
"Well, next time, just say so." Irritated, I started collecting all the pieces and putting them away in the box.
"I think my father really likes you," she said, still twirling her hair around her finger.
"Well, that's good, right? I mean, my mom likes you. A lot."
She shrugged. "I guess." She eyed me shrewdly. "He does seem very affectionate toward you."
I had no idea what her point was, but I guessed what she said was true. He was constantly squeezing my shoulder, patting my back, and recently he
'd started hugging me. But isn't that what dads, even stepdads, did?
"My mom does the same with you," I pointed out. "It's just part of being a family."
She shrugged again and put the game away. That night at dinner, I noticed she focused more of her attention on my mom, complimenting everything, helping clear the table, and at one point, I saw her hugging my mom. Normally, she avoided contact. I supposed it was a good thing since my mom was now her mom. My mom appeared thrilled with the new situation.
Eventually, it was my bedtime. It might have been my new awareness, but it felt like Gene was extra attentive. He sat on my bed and rested his hand on my back while he listened to me recite my prayers. He touched my cheek when he said goodnight, then leaned over to kiss my forehead. "Good night," he said. "I love you, Jaxson."
I couldn't bring myself to repeat the words. I squeezed my eyes shut to recall my real dad. I remembered him swinging me up in his arms and carrying me on his shoulders when I was little. And he was always the one who tucked me into bed at night, and he, too, kissed me goodnight and told me he loved me. Maybe my new sister was jealous that she had to share her dad's attention with me. It wasn't any different than how my mom now had to split her time between us. I wasn't jealous; my mom was happier than she'd been in a long time. Still, there were times I missed it being just her and me.
