"Jenna & Luke" - Chapter 10

Jenna got through the weekend and Labor Day, but Wednesday morning she decided that she needed a break from Maryanne Stevenson. Although her attitude had mellowed a bit, but it was still clear that she didn’t trust Jenna and her intentions and Jenna was getting tired of her snarky comments and sideways glances.  She figured she’d go back to Luke’s house.  That would give her a couple of days to relax and she figured it would be good for Luke to spend some alone time with his parents as well.  She just hoped he wouldn’t be too upset with her.

She looked toward the bathroom door; the shower had just been shut off, so Luke and Kevin would be out in about 10 minutes. With a sigh she picked out an outfit for the day; a pair of dark skinny jeans and a white linen tunic and laid it on the bed with a set of clean underwear. Then she grabbed her well-worn Louis Vuitton duffle bag, a high school graduation gift from her grandparents, and stuffed her dirty clothes into it. She left the clean clothes in Luke’s closet since she planned on coming back to spend the weekend.

Little over 10 minutes later Kevin pushed Luke out of the bathroom; he was still in his shower wheelchair, with a towel draped across his lap. Luke immediately noticed Jenna’s bag on the bed, which didn’t surprise her. He was one of the most astute people she’d ever known.

“Jenna, what’s going on? I thought you were staying here this week.” It was clear he wasn’t happy and Jenna’s heart sank at the thought of upsetting him. He instructed Kevin to park his chair next to where Jenna was sitting on the edge of the bed and give them a few moments of privacy. He obliged and left the room.

“I’m sorry, Luke. I’m running out of clean clothes and honestly; I need a break. I’m tired of walking around on eggshells in fear of insulting your mom or saying something wrong.”

“Please don’t let Mom come between us,” Luke pleaded.

“I’m not. I just need a couple of days to breath, okay?” Jenna said as grabbed Luke’s right hand and laced her fingers with his.  “You know I love you and I’ll be back Friday evening.”

Luke sighed and briefly closed his eyes. “I know Jenna and I love you too. I’m sorry Mom is giving you such a hard time. She has always been pretty protective of her children and me getting hurt didn’t help. I just wish she’d trust my judgment and see what an amazing person my woman is.”

“I’ll do my best to convince her over the weekend, but I need a couple of days to recharge my batteries.”

“I understand, babe. Just promise me you’ll be back.”

“Of course I’ll be back,” Jenna said and then she kissed him passionately.

…

“Where’s Jenna?” Thomas asked his as he entered the kitchen were Luke was scrambling eggs for breakfast. “I noticed her car isn’t in the drive.”

“She went home. She’ll be back on Friday. She needs a break from Mom,” Luke snapped. Although Jenna had assured him she’d be back it upset him that his mother’s behavior had caused her to need a break. He didn’t turn to face his father; he was focused on the pan in front of him.

“You know how protective your mother can be, Lucas,” Thomas sighed. He liked Jenna and had noticed the change in Luke’s mood and attitude; he seemed to be happy and he was more energetic and enthusiastic than he’d been in a long time. Jenna was definitely good for his son and he wouldn’t let his wife ruin that. “Do you want me to talk to her?”

“I’m an adult; I don’t want you to fight my battles, Dad. I should do that myself. I just don’t know what to say to change Mom’s mind.”

“Son, I know you’re capable of fighting your own battles, but I see how good Jenna is for you and I don’t want you to lose her. I won’t allow your mother to ruin your relationship and I think I stand a better chance at getting through to her than you do.”

“I guess you might have a point there. It’s still a bit surreal to me that I’m in a relationship with a woman that fully accepts me as I am. Honestly, I’d pretty much given up the idea of having a girlfriend when I met Jenna.”

“Because of your disability?”

“Yeah. One thing is the wheelchair, but it’s the less obvious stuff that worries me the most. The catheters, diapers, the fact that I need assistance in the mornings and evenings, the braces… Even I find all that overwhelming from time to time, so I didn’t really expect to find someone that is as accepting as Jenna. For some reason it doesn’t seem to faze her; she just takes it in a stride and claims that as long as I’m honest and open with her she can deal with things.”

“I think that openness and honesty is a good idea in any relationship.”

“True,” Luke agreed.

“How long ‘til breakfast is ready?”

“Give me about ten minutes and we’ll be good to go. Why?”

“That’s enough time for me to have a quick word with your mother,” Thomas said. He squeezed Luke’s shoulder as he passed him and left the kitchen.

…

Friday morning a college buddy of Thomas’s called and invited him and Maryanne to spend the day with him and his wife.  Luke encouraged them to accept and Thomas told Luke they’d probably be back late in the evening; their plans included lunch, a round of golf that would probably take most of the afternoon and dinner in the evening.

Luke appreciated the break; as much as he loved his parents and enjoyed spending time with them he also appreciated some alone time and a break from his coddling mother. He spent most of the late morning and early afternoon reclined in his wheelchair, listening to the first part of the audiobook version of “Life of Pi”. Kevin had been raving about how brilliant the guy that read it was and he’d been right. Luke was hooked pretty fast.

When part one ended little after two in the afternoon he decided it was time for a break. He was getting restless and cabin fever was hitting him; he’d spent most of the time since his parents’ arrival the previous Friday at home and he decided to take a drive to get out of the house.

After about half an hour of driving around rather aimlessly Luke found himself on Jenna’s street. With a sigh he parked outside her building and figured he’d call her and see what she was up to. Before he managed to get his phone out of the pouch under the armrest on his wheelchair she came out of the front door, dressed in gym clothes with a duffle bag slung over her shoulder.

…

Jenna had just closed and locked the front door behind her when she spotted the familiar black van parked a few feet away. The disabled plates on it confirmed that it was indeed Luke. A smile spread across her face as she hurried over to him. He lowered the driver’s side window and smiled back at her.

“Hey you,” Jenna greeted him. “I was waiting for your call.”

“My parents are spending the day with friends and I got restless and decided to go for a drive. Haven’t been out of the house much this past week, so…” Luke shrugged. “Going to the gym?”

“That was the plan. I need to get my exercise routine back on track. I’ve been lazy lately.”

“Right…” Luke sighed slightly. It was clear that he was disappointed.

“But I can skip the workout, if you had something else in mind.”

“Honestly, I don’t have any sort of plans. I just got restless and needed to get out of the house. And I missed you.”

“I missed you too. Here’s my suggestion; you park your car, there are several handicapped spots in the lot around the corner, and I run in and change my clothes and we can go to the café down the block for a late lunch. Then we come back here and I can pack my bag and I come back to your place with you and spend the weekend like we planned.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Luke grinned. Jenna gave him directions to the parking lot and they agreed to meet outside her apartment in about 15 minutes.

…

“Thanks for lunch,” Jenna said as she and Luke headed back to her apartment. Despite her objections he had insisted on paying, like he always did.

“My pleasure,” he smiled.  “So, you’re coming back to my place?”

“Yeah. If you give me a few minutes to get some things together I’ll catch a ride with you.”

“If you’re sure you don’t want to bring your car it sounds good to me.”

“I won’t need it,” she shrugged. “Um, I’m not sure how accessible my apartment is, but I think you’ll be okay in the living room.”

“Don’t worry about it, if I can’t get in I’ll just go get the car while you pack.”

“Yeah, I guess that will work too.” Jenna was embarrassed that her apartment wasn’t accessible, but at the same time she knew it was a bit ridiculous. It wasn’t like she knew she’d be dating a quadriplegic when she signed the lease.

“Don’t worry about it, babe. I’m used to not being able to get in to places. I’d like to see your place, but if I can’t get inside it’s not a big deal. I won’t be offended.”

…

Luke followed Jenna into her apartment. The door was a tight squeeze, but he got in and before he could think more about it he found himself in her small living room. He was grateful she didn’t have much furniture. It made it easier to get around the small space in his rather bulky wheelchair. The apartment was run down and in desperate need of an upgrade and the furniture appeared to be old and worn.

“It’s a shit hole, but it’s what I can afford right now,” Jenna said as she tossed her keys on the kitchen counter and leaned against it.

“How much do you pay in rent?” Luke blurted out.

“$1700 a month.”

“For real?”

“Yeah, and believe it or not it was one of the cheaper options in my preferred area.”

“Move in with me instead,” Luke blurted out. He had thought about suggesting it for a while, but he’d decided it was too soon. Seeing Jenna’s apartment and hearing how much she paid in rent changed his mind.

“You want me to move in with you?” Jenna asked, she sounded surprised.

“Yeah. We love each other and I love having you around. I’ve actually been thinking about it for a while. I understand if you think it’s too soon.”

A smile spread across Jenna’s face. “I think it’s a great idea, Luke. I’d love to move in with you.”

To be continued...

Quick note:

I need to focus on my other stories and update/finish them. I've also finally got ideas for the story I've got on Paradevo, so I'm eager to write that and hopefully finish it. This means I'm placing "Jenna & Luke" on hiatus for a while. Don't worry - they'll be back. I love writing this couple and the more I write about them the more I fall for Luke. I wish he was my man. 

Thanks for all the feedback - keep it coming. :-)

XOXO, 

Mille