Love Me Again Read online

Try as he might, Dave could barely remember a time when he’d so much as taken the time to just relax—except for those times with Jenna when they were dating. She was his light. Her carefree ways, artistic fire, and energy made him happy. Dave instinctively knew that they were right for each other. Being with Jenna had made him want to be happy too. For him—and for her.

  Dave was determined to change the life they had—or what it had become.

  He looked around. The house was pristine, just as Jenna liked it. Dave skipped the vacuuming. He didn’t think it needed it. Instead, he got on the phone and called a friend from college. “Jackson—it’s Dave Stewart.”

  “Dave, man, how’s it going? I was just going to call you.”

  Dave and Jackson had been buddies in college, and they’d kept in touch over the years. After they’d exchanged pleasantries, Dave got down to business. “Are we still on for tomorrow?”

  “Yeah definitely. I spoke to the college dean, and she’s all for it. They all remember her and they think it would be a great morale boost for the students.”

  Dave made a fist and bumped the air. Yes! “That’s great, man. I owe you one.”

  Chapter 11

  The next day, Jenna woke to the same scene—Dave had made breakfast. This time, though, it wasn’t on the table.

  “Good morning, sunshine,” he said, as he met her at the bottom of the stairs and handed her a coffee. “Sleep well?”

  Jenna nodded as she walked suspiciously across the room. “What’s all this?” She noticed that he’d packed a wicker picnic basket. He’d also rolled up a red and white checker blanket and set them by the front door.

  “I thought we could go for a picnic this morning. More of brunch, actually.” Dave removed his apron. He pulled it over his head, slightly rustling his brown hair. He needed a haircut, Jenna instinctively noted. Stop it! Jenna reminded herself that it wasn’t her problem any longer. But deep down, she wanted still wanted it to be hers.

  “I—um—I was going to go downtown to do the grocery shopping, before I have to pick the children up from the sleepovers.”

  “That can wait, can’t it? We can do it together later. And I can help.” Dave suggested. “What do you think?”

  “Oh, Dave...” Jenna shook her head. He wasn’t serious, was he? A picnic? They hadn’t been on a picnic in forever. “I really hadn’t planned for a picnic today and—”

  “No one plans for a picnic, Jen. Let’s just go and you know—be spontaneous.” Dave grinned. “Yeah? Just like old times.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes. She remembered the old times. Where had they gone? She never could say no to him. She was like a moth to a flame when it came to Dave. “Fine... but you’re doing the shopping with me this afternoon, and it doesn’t matter how tired you are.”

  “YOU’VE GOT YOURSELF a deal!” Dave beamed. It felt like he’d won a prize or something.

  Jenna looked beautiful and perfect as usual. She wore a romper—was that what it was called? It was kinda like a T-shirt and shorts sewn together as one, so you’d have to put it on like a bathing suit. And it had little speckles of flowers. Whatever—she looked gorgeous. It felt like ages since he’d last noticed—or paid attention—to what she was wearing. “You look gorgeous, Jen,” he said to her.

  Jenna looked at him. A small smile lifted from the right side of her mouth.

  He’d made the right decision taking time off work, realizing that it wasn’t just his marriage that needed it... he did too. He needed a break. “Let’s get outta here then, yeah?”

  Jenna nodded, and this time, she gave him a full smile.

  It was great to see her smile. This was just the beginning. He knew it. “You look beautiful,” he said.

  Jenna ran a hand through her hair, almost shyly. “Stop it.”

  Dave eyed her. He could see the rise and fall of her chest. Was she nervous?

  “You already said that,” she said.

  Jenna gave him a smack on the chest—a friendly one which Dave caught and brought to his lips. As he did this, he kept his eyes on hers.

  “What are you up to?” Jenna pulled her hand away and laughed, not used to the attention he was giving her. She opened the front door and walked out.

  “I’m changing our lives, Jenna,” Dave said as he followed her out the door, shutting it behind him. “I’m doing what I should have done long ago.”

  Chapter 12

  They drove out to Eugene; and although it was quite a long way to go for a picnic, Dave had his reasons.

  Despite Jenna’s reluctance to engage, the trip was great. Dave drove through wide green farmlands as it narrowed into a winding, tree-lined road. It was their first time there, and it surprised them to see some people fishing off the bridge—although it certainly was a good day for it.

  Dave decided on a semi-private spot in the reservoir not far from the main campgrounds. He laid out the red and white gingham blanket on the ground, next to the lake.

  “So why did we drive out this far for a picnic again?” Jenna asked as she sat cross-legged on the blanket.

  Dave looked around, covering the glare of the sun with one hand. “Because we can,” he replied and shot her a grin.

  Jenna narrowed her eyes at him—or it could have been the sun. Dave couldn’t tell. But she did so with a smile, and Dave was happy with that.

  “Here you go.” He handed Jenna a sandwich clumsily wrapped in a brown paper bag and then opened a bottle of orange juice as he poured some into a plastic wine glass.

  “Thanks.” Jenna unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. “Where’d you find this blanket?” She smoothed a hand over it and tugged at some tassels.

  He flashed her a smile. “Do you remember it?”

  Jenna bit her lip and smiled. “Of course, I do.”

  Then

  JENNA AND DAVE LAY side by side on the red and white gingham blanket that she’d picked up from a thrift store. Dave was visiting from Portland and she’d packed a picnic to take to the botanical gardens.

  “So, how many children should we have?” Jenna asked as she laced her fingers around Dave’s and turned her head to face him.

  “Six.” Dave faced her and smiled.

  “Six!” Jenna laughed and put a hand on her stomach. “Oh gosh, no... I don’t know if I can handle six children.”

  “Okay”—Dave paused to think—“how about four?”

  “Hmm... I don’t know. Still seems like a lot to me. Can you imagine what chaos it will be?” Jenna laughed.

  “It’ll be great to have a big family.” Dave took her hand to his lips and kissed it. “It was pretty lonely for me growing up as an only child.”

  Jenna turned on her stomach and faced him. “Well, I grew up with three older brothers—but they left me out of everything. Never let me hang out with them. I might as well have grown up an only child.”

  “That’s because”—he put a finger on his nose—“you were the princess.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes. “I just wanted to hang out with my big brothers, but they were always off doing their own thing.” Jenna looked down at his handsome face and traced a finger along his strong jawline. His brown eyes stared back at her with a twinkle in them.

  “Alright. How many kids do you want then?” Dave played with the ends of her hair that hung loose.

  “I don’t know,” Jenna said dreamily. She looked off in the distance as she leaned on his chest and gave it a thought. “Maybe two? Or three?”

  “Having three will mean having a middle child. Aren’t there all these studies about middle kids?” Dave laughed.

  “So, then we should have two! Perfect!”

  “I don’t care how many kids we have, Jenna,” Dave said. “All I care is that you are the mom and I’m the dad.” And with that, Dave pulled her close and pressed his lips against hers.

  Jenna’s hair covered both their faces as she let Dave kiss her... giving him as sweetly as he gave.

  Now

  “THANKS FOR DOING THIS, Dave
.” Jenna folded the empty paper bag and popped it in the picnic basket. She picked up her juice when Dave made a toast.

  “To us,” he said, as he raised his glass to hers.

  Jenna contemplated on the toast and hesitated. She set her glass down. “What are we doing here, Dave? I thought you wanted a divorce.” Her sigh contained all the hurt she’d been nursing over the past few days. “What you’re doing—yesterday, and now today—you’re giving me mixed signals and I don’t think I can take it. I feel really overwhelmed right now.”

  Dave took her glass and set it aside. And then he took Jenna’s hands in his and looked her in the eyes. “I never wanted a divorce, Jen. I told you. What I’d done was stupid.”

  She studied his eyes for clues. “Then why did you do it?”

  It was his turn to let out a sigh. What that sigh held... she didn’t know. “At the time, it felt like I was doing something about it. Rather than just aimless thinking. I know I’m not explaining myself very well, and it must be hard to understand; but Jenna, I never intended to act on it—much less have you find it in the horrible way that you did. I never meant to hurt you. I should have thrown it out—never should have done it.” Dave rubbed his face. “Please believe me.”

  “I still don’t understand,” Jenna ran a hand through her hair. Jenna wanted to believe him. She wanted so badly for all this to be over. But in the last few days, something inside her had started to agree that they had in fact grown apart. She shook her head. “But clearly you thought there was something wrong between us. I mean,”—Jenna threw her hands up—“you actually went to see a lawyer and had those papers drawn up.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “Right,” Jenna scoffed.

  “Okay,”—Dave inched closer—“yes, I did think something was wrong.” He looked away and then back at her. “And I still do—”

  Jenna rolled her eyes at him. “Then what are we doing here? What’s all of this?” Jenna motioned to the picnic set-up. “The picnic, wine glasses... the blanket?”

  “That’s because I want to work on our marriage, Jenna. We used to be so great together—we were strong. In the past, you and I... we were connected.”

  “You can’t bring back the past, Dave.” Jenna blinked and looked away. She didn’t want to cry. She’d always been strong, and now wasn’t the time to cave.

  “I know that.” Dave took her hands in his again. “But we can change the future.” He brought a hand to her face and cupped her cheek.

  Jenna leaned into Dave’s hand. She closed her eyes. Her heart was racing. She could taste the tears that welled up at the back of her throat. “What if you were right? What if we’ve grown too far apart to find our way back?”

  “Knowing is half the battle, Jen. You can’t change what you don’t know—or even acknowledge. But because we now know, we can work together to fix it.”

  Dave leaned in to kiss her, but Jenna looked the other way so that his lips only brushed her lips. He didn’t let go of her hand—and she was glad for that. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt the soft gaze of his eyes on her.

  “Come on,” Dave said. “Want your juice?” he asked as he packed up the basket.

  “Thanks.” Jenna downed the juice and handed him the glass.

  “I’ve got something else planned.” Dave winked at her.

  “Oh Dave, we need to get back and do the shopping.”

  “The shopping isn’t going anywhere. Besides, we didn’t come all this way just to drive back so soon.” Dave stood up and then reached for her hand. “Come on,” he said with a smile.

  Jenna took Dave’s hand. He pulled her up, and she eyed him suspiciously. “Now, what are you up to?” Jenna dusted her legs, making sure there was no grass stuck to her. She had to admit, she was curious... and whether or not she admitted it, she was enjoying the morning. It had been a long time since she and Dave had had some alone time together. He’d certainly piqued her curiosity.

  “You’ll see...”

  Chapter 13

  Jenna sat back in the car as Dave took her to yet another surprise. She rested her arm behind her head, supported by her elbow on the door. The scenery was breathtaking. They were lucky to be surrounded by so much nature.

  “What are you thinking?” Dave asked.

  Jenna gave him a sideways glance and smiled. Was it surprising that after all these years he still made her feel giddy? Or more aptly—was it surprising that after the last few days, he still makes her heart skip? “Nothing... just enjoying the drive.”

  Dave took her hand and smiled. He turned his attention back to the road. “I’ve got it all under control, darling. You just sit back and relax. Today is your day.”

  Jenna shifted on her side to face him. “Won’t you tell me where we’re going?”

  “Almost there.” Dave gave her hand a squeeze as he indicated right.

  “Oh, look!” Jenna sat up as Dave drove into University Road. “Well, that’s a sight that brings back memories, doesn’t it?” Jenna looked on as students gathered in groups—crossed the road or sat under trees. She watched a young girl on a bench put her headphones on.

  “Sure does,” Dave said. “Ah! There’s one!”

  “One what?” Jenna looked around.

  “A parking space.” Dave maneuvered the car into the spot and turned the engine off.

  “Are we going into the college?” Jenna couldn’t hide her excitement. It would be good to see the old campus grounds, where she’d spent four years of her life.

  “I thought we could have a wander and see what’s changed.” Dave looked at his watch. “It’s almost 4:00. We can see if there’s anyone we know.”

  Jenna brushed her hair with her fingers. “But it’s Sunday—everyone will be out. And I doubt there’ll be anyone we know left around here. They’re all probably old and retired or old and jaded, like us,” she laughed.

  “I don’t know about you, missy, but I am not old,” Dave said with a grin.

  “Just jaded, huh?” Jenna laughed.

  “Come on.” Dave got out of the car, and Jenna followed.

  They crossed the road and walked through the nearest campus gates. Dave stopped and looked at Jenna. “Hold my hand,” he said as he reached out for hers.

  Jenna paused and smiled up at him. “What are you up to?”

  Dave took her hand in his, as he gave it a kiss. “I’m going for a walk to remember.”

  Jenna stared at him; her mouth hung open in a half-smile. “Oh, you’re cheesy!” She knew it was in reference to a movie they’d seen together when they were in college. She had cried throughout the movie, sniffling on his arm.

  “Weren’t we always the cheesy ones?” He winked at her and pulled her along.

  Then

  JENNA LOOKED AT HERSELF one last time in the mirror and loosened a few strands of hair from her ponytail. She had considered doing some soft curls on the bottom half of her hair, but Charlotte was right. She didn’t want to seem like she was trying too hard. Besides—he was the one who asked her out. She wasn’t going to go out of her way to look like she’d gotten all dolled up for him.

  Jenna painted another coat of soft blush on her lips and smacked them together, tossing her lipstick into her purse. She typed a quick message off to Charlotte.

  Wish me luck! xx

  Charlotte instantly replied.

  If I don’t hear from you by midnight, I’m calling campus police.

  Jenna wished that Charlotte was there with her, but she’d gone back home to Willow Oaks to visit her father who’d been admitted into the County Hospital.

  I’ll be fine! Give my love to your parents.

  Jenna hit the send button and then tucked her cell phone into her purse, along with the lipstick, her ATM card, and a compact mirror. She shut the door behind her and ran down the steps. Walk Jenna. Don’t run!

  As she walked out of her building, Jenna saw Dave leaning against the short wall by the steps. He flashed her a smile causing her stomach to
do a little somersault and a couple of back-flips. Jenna gave him a shy wave as he approached her. “Hey there, big bear,” she said. Noooo, Jenna! Don’t do your silly rhymes! It’s too soon—not now!

  “What’s up, buttercup?” Dave grinned.

  Jenna’s heart skipped yet another beat. That was definitely a sign. They were both cheesy!

  Dave shook his head and put a hand over his heart. “You look... ah-mazing.”

  Jenna looked down at her dress. Charlotte was right. The mustard looked great on her. “Thanks—you’re looking pretty fine yourself.” A million thoughts raced through Jenna’s mind. Was she saying the right things? What if he thought she was being childish? He was, after all, pre-med. She might have heard somewhere that pre-med students preferred more intelligent conversations.

  “Shall we get going then?” Dave asked and offered his arm.

  Jenna looked at his arm. “Ah! Good looking and a gentleman.” Tonight was going to be a glorious night—and nothing was going to ruin it. Jenna shushed her thoughts and took Dave’s arm. “Sounds good to me.”

  “So, how’d the rest of your day go?” Dave asked as they walked through the campus grounds and towards University Street.

  Jenna looked up at him. She knew he was tall, but gosh—he really was very tall! “Not much, really. After concert practice, I called my best friend, Charlotte. Her dad was admitted into hospital, so she’s gone back home for a while to help her mom out.”

  “She goes here too?”

  “Uh-uh, not here.” Jenna shook her head. “But in Eugene as well. She’s at the community college taking commercial baking and pastry.”

  “A baker! Sounds cool.”

  “It is! She’s so good at baking. She’s going to open up her own cafe when she finishes the program,” Jenna said. She was proud of her best friend.

  “Do you guys see each other often?”

  “Yeah! All the time.”

  “It’s good to have a best friend close by.”