"Jenna & Luke" - Chapter 6

Jenna heard her landline phone ringing through the front door and hurried inside. She dumped the bag of groceries she was carrying on the floor next to the table in the hallway and grabbed the handset without checking the caller ID.

“Hello,” she answered the phone, slightly out of breath.

“Hey sis, been out running?” It was her younger sister Joanna.

“Hi Jo. No, I just got home and heard the phone through the front door. I rushed to answer before you hung up.”

“Ah, I see. How are you? I haven’t heard from you since Dad’s birthday a few weeks back.”

 “I’m very good, how ‘bout you and Shannon? How’s business?”

“We’re both good, so is the business. How’s your business going?”

“Still kinda’ slow, but things have been picking up lately. A couple of Sarah’s connections have proved themselves useful. I hope it continues.”

“Glad to hear it. I know you took a chance when you moved out there and threw everything into this.”

“So far it has been very worth it,” Jenna answered, a smile evident in her voice.

“Who is he?”

“What?”

“I can hear it in your voice and it’s not like you to stay out of touch. You’ve met a guy haven’t you?”

“I have,” Jenna admitted with a small laugh. “Can’t get anything past you, can I?”

“I know you, Jenna. Now, tell me all about your man.”

“His name is Luke and he’s amazing.”

“How did you meet?”

“He’s an accountant and works around the corner from my office. We have lunch at the same Starbuck’s and we had an eye on each other for a while. The manager there introduced us to each other. I guess she had enough of us smiling and exchanging glances.”

“Is he handsome?”

“Very. Dark brown hair and eyes, chiseled jawline...”

“Sounds dreamy! I hope I get to meet him this weekend!”

“What? You’re coming to LA this weekend? Or did I misunderstand you?”

“We arrive at LAX around noon on Friday.”

“Right. Have I missed an email from you or something? I can’t remember hearing about this before.” It was Tuesday and this was the first time she heard about it.

“It was a bit of a spur of the moment thing. We’ve been thinking about coming out for a while and yesterday Shannon said we should look for tickets and we got a great deal this weekend.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy you’re coming. I was just a bit surprised, that’s all. Where are you staying?”

“Umm… I was kinda’ hoping we could stay with you, you have a guestroom, right? But if you have plans we’ll look for a hotel, I know it’s short notice.”

“I do have some plans with Luke, but I’m pretty sure we can include you in them. My guestroom is kinda tiny, but you’re welcome to stay here.”

“If you’re sure it’s not a problem we both really appreciate it.”

“I wouldn’t offer it was a problem.” Jenna realized she should tell her sister about Luke’s disability before she met him. “Umm…there’s something you need to know about Luke.”

“What? Is he married? He has three kids? He’s a celebrity? Tell me!”

“No, he’s disabled. He’s a quadriplegic.”

“What? He’s in one of those scary wheelchairs with a ventilator and needs you to feed him?”

“NO! Well, I guess the wheelchair is a bit imposing; it’s a power chair with a high back and a headrest and he’s strapped into it because he doesn’t have the strength to sit unaided, but there’s no ventilator. He breathes just fine on his own.”

“Right…” Joanna seemed skeptical.

“He has limited movement in his arms and hands, but he can do most things for himself. He has a great job, makes good money; he owns a nice house. And he’s the best man I’ve ever met. He’s smart, funny, caring, a great kisser…”

“Jenna, are you serious?”

“Do I sound like I’m joking? Could you please keep an open mind and try to look past his disability?”

“I’ll try. When you say he can do most things, what do you mean?”

“He needs help to get out of bed and get dressed in the morning and the reverse in the evenings. When he’s in his wheelchair he’s mostly independent.”

“Right… And you don’t mind that? Remember how we struggled with Grandpa.”

“He has several PCAs. Luke is very adamant that I’m his girlfriend, not his caretaker. And you can’t compare him to Grandpa, Jo.”

“Well, I can’t wait to meet him and I’ll do my best to keep an open mind.”

“Thanks, Jo. I hope we’ll have a good weekend.”

“Me too. I’ve got to run. See you on Friday.”

“Text me your flight details. I’ll pick you up at LAX.”

“Will do. Love you, Jenna.”

“Love you too. Say hi to Shannon from me.”

Jenna ended the call and decided to put away the groceries before she called Luke. He had invited her to spend the weekend at his place and after lots of persuasion he had agreed to have Kevin teach her how to help him transfer in and out of bed. With Joanna and Shannon coming to town there would be a change of plans.

When the groceries were put away Jenna flopped down on her couch with her phone in hand and dialed Luke’s number. He picked up on the third ring.

“Hey babe,” he answered, obviously happy to hear from her. “What’s up?”

“My sister called. She and her girlfriend are coming to LA this weekend. They fly in on Friday.”

“That’s short notice,” Luke stated. “I have a feeling this means a change of our plans this weekend?”

“Yeah…” Jenna sighed. “Jo said they’d been thinking about it for a while and they got a bargain on the plane tickets and since they both have the weekend off work for once they decided to jump at the chance.”

“So where are they staying? Hotel? Or your place?”

“They’re staying at my place.”

“I see. I guess that means you’re not spending the weekend here,” Jenna didn’t miss the disappointment in his voice.

“I’m sorry, Luke. I just couldn’t say no to her. She was so excited and we haven’t spent time together in a long time. I saw her in Dad’s birthday, but she flew in on Saturday and left Sunday morning. We didn’t have time to catch up and Shannon wasn’t with her. I miss them.”

“I get that, I was just looking forward to having you to myself the whole weekend. I like waking up with you in my bed.”

“I like waking up in your bed too. Maybe I can spend one night with you and the other at home with Jo and Shannon. I’m sure they won’t mind. They want to meet you, so we’ll have to go on a double date.”

“You told her about me?”

“Yeah. She asked if I had a boyfriend and I said yes. She wanted to know everything about me. I gave her a brief overview.”

“Right…I bet she’s thrilled about you dating a cripple.”

“I wish you’d stop referring to yourself as a cripple. I hate that word, Luke. I won’t lie though; she’s skeptical, but I know you’ll win her over with your charm and good looks.”

“I hope you’re right,” Luke replied, he didn’t sound convinced. “Did you tell her your boyfriend used to be Lucas Stevenson?”

“I didn’t. Have to admit I didn’t think about it. You’re Luke Hillbrook to me.”

“Well, you should probably tell her that too, before she meets me. Maybe she recognizes me.”

“Good thinking. I’ll tell her before she meets you.”

“Great. Wanna come over for dinner tomorrow since we probably won’t be getting much alone time this weekend?”

“I’d love to. See you at lunch tomorrow?”

“I’ll be in meetings all day, remember? Catered lunch.”

“Sorry, I forgot all about that. When do you want me to come over?”

“Six? Do you want to spend the night? We could watch 'Suits' in bed after we eat.”

“I like the way you think, Mr. Hillbrook. See you tomorrow.”

“Can’t wait. Bye.”

“Bye,” Jenna wanted to add “I love you”, but she had a feeling it was too soon and she restrained herself. After all they hadn’t even known each other for two months.

…

Luke was looking forward to his evening and night with Jenna. He was still a bit disappointed that their weekend together had been called off because of her sister’s visit, but he was also eager to meet some of Jenna’s family. And nervous about how they’d react to him. But he figured her sister was probably the most open-minded person in her family. She was bound to have dealt with prejudice because of her sexuality and Luke hoped she managed to use her own experience to see past his disability. He pushed his worries to the back of his mind and turned his attention back to the task at hand; preparing a wok for dinner, his rocking T-knife, which made it possible for him to chop the vegetables and chicken himself. It took more effort than he liked, but he knew Jenna appreciated his efforts in the kitchen and it was good to know he was still capable of preparing dinner for his girlfriend.

Luke had finished chopping all the ingredients when the doorbell rang half an hour later. He did his best to wipe his hands on a towel and placed his hand on the joystick of his chair and headed to the front door. When Luke got to the hallway he pushed the button on the wall that opened the door and moments later Jenna was kissing him passionately.

“Good evening, Miss Garrity,” he said with a grin when they pulled apart. “Glad to see you.”

“Glad to see you too, Luke.” Jenna placed quick second kiss on his lips and then she grabbed her duffle bag from the doormat and headed inside.

“I’ll go back to the kitchen and finish our dinner.”

“What are we having?”

“A chicken and vegetable wok with sweet n' sour sauce and rice.”

“Sounds delicious. Anything I can do to help?”

“Nah, just keep me companied,” Luke said with a smile as he turned and headed back to the kitchen.

…

Jenna smiled as she slipped into bed next to Luke. Kevin had helped him with his evening routine while Jenna showered and changed into her pajamas in the guest room. She resumed her usual position with her head resting on his chest and her left arm draped across his stomach. He wrapped his left arm around her. The first time she’d felt his soft belly with no muscles she’d been a bit taken aback, but now she didn’t think about it.

“I’m sorry our weekend plans have changed,” she said apologetically. “But I have to admit I’m looking forward to spending time with Joanna and Shannon.”

Luke kissed the crown of her head before he replied. “It’s ok. I understand and we can spend next weekend together instead. It’s not a big deal. Right now I’m more nervous about how your sister and her girlfriend will react when they meet me.”

“They’ll like you, I know they will. Just be your usual charming self.”

“I wish I had your confidence,” he sighed.

“Joanna isn’t that hard to win over and Shannon is really easygoing. Don’t worry, it will be fine.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I know I’m right. Now hit play!” Jenna said as she smacked his chest.

“Ouch! I felt that,” Luke winced.

“I know you did. Smacking your stomach is no good,” Jenna said with a teasing grin on her face.

“Sheesh, you’re mean,” Luke laughed as he fumbled with the remote. After a moment he managed to hit ‘play’. Soon they were both immersed in a ‘Suits’ marathon. On the morning of their first sleepover Jenna had been surprised to find out that Luke hadn’t seen an episode of the show and had insisted he downloaded the first season to his Apple-TV immediately. They had spent the morning watching TV in bed and three episodes in he was hooked.

To be continued...