Chapter 36: Not in love

“Ah, young love,” Wendy said coming up the porch steps.

Wes and Janet broke apart and gaped at her, both panting.

“Can’t catch a break today, can we?” Janet muttered irritably, slipping off his lap and wondering how she got on there at all.

“Um, hello, Ms. Meadows. How are you tonight?” Wes said, a sheepish grin on his face.

“Oh, I’m fine, better than you anyway. I hear you met Janet’s father,” she said, shaking her head in mock disapproval. “Tsk-tsk-tsk.”

“Uh…yes,” he said, casting a guilty glance at Janet.

“You gave him quite a shock. He wasn’t expecting to find his baby…”

“I’m NOT his baby!” Janet snapped.

“…in a compromising position,” Wendy finished unperturbed. “I told him that you’ve grown up, but he insists you’ll be his baby even when you’re ninety years old.”

Wes smiled. “That’s awfully nice,” he said, grabbing Janet’s hand.

Janet snatched her hand away and folded her arms over her chest. “It’s none of his business what I do,” she said, angrily.

“It most assuredly is his business, Janet. He’s still your father and you will respect him,” Wendy said, her playful tone now gone. 

“Fat chance,” Janet muttered.

“He’s only separated from me, not you or your brother and sister. Try to remember that,” Wendy said. “That being said, Wes, I’d appreciate it if you would listen to Jeffery. He may not live here, but he still has authority with the kids. He told me he had asked you to leave. I have to agree. It is very late.”

“Yes, I’m sorry about that, but Janet was upset and she asked me to stay,” he said anxiously. “It’s not that I ignored him. I didn't mean to be disrespectful. Please, tell him that for me.”

“I don’t blame you, Wes,” Wendy said, smiling at him. “I’m sure you can tell him yourself when you see him again. Unlike Jeffery I do remember what it’s like to be young and in love.”

“I’m not in love,” Janet said harshly. She glanced at Wes and seeing the hurt expression on his face she touched his hand. “I mean…”

“You’re right, Janet. It’s way too soon for that,” Wendy said. “But I am safe in saying you like each other quite a bit?”

Janet pressed her lips together and looked down at her shoes, unwilling to answer. 

Wes, on the other hand, grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “Yes, we do, very much,” he said, staring at Janet’s down-turned face.

“Well, then, Janet and you need to understand that liking each other so much does not preclude obedience to your parents and following their rules. Getting each other in trouble isn’t a good idea if you want this relationship to work. You’ve got five minutes to say goodbye. Good night, Wes,” Wendy said before going into the house and leaving them alone.

Janet knew every inch of her shoes by now, but she kept staring at them. She felt Wes squeeze her hand and still she wouldn’t look up.

“I like your mom. She’s so much like my mom,” he said.

“Maybe she’ll adopt you,” she said.

“Wouldn’t like that,” he said, smirking. “I don’t think I could handle a sister like Jasmine.”

That made her finally look up. She stared at him frowning slightly. “You don’t like her at all, do you?” she said.

“Not as much as I like you,” he said. He stood up pulling her with him. “When two parents tell you to leave you kinda should and I’m sure my dad is wondering where I am.”

“Okay,” she said.

“Would you like to come to church with us tomorrow?” Wes asked wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer.

“Your dad won’t mind?” she asked, placing her hands on his chest.

“No, he likes you. He thinks you’re funny,” he said. “I was hoping you could use your yenta skills to get him to forget about work for one day. Maybe we can do something fun again.”

“I’m sure I can do that,” she said smiling at last. “Did you tell him about your cousin’s party?”

“Oh, hell! No, I totally forgot! We have to get him to come with us,” he said.

“Leave it to me,” she said. “I’ll have him eating out of the palm of my hand.”

“Just like me?”

She stared at him wondering what that meant when the porch lights flickered.

“Two minute warning,” Wes said, pulling her closer. “Better say a proper good night to my yenta.” 

She waited for him to kiss her, but all he did was stare. “What?” she asked.

“It’s funny. We spent all day together and I don’t wanna say goodbye yet,” he said.

“Me too,” she whispered, clutching his shirt.

“What did I tell you about touching my pecs?” he teased.

“Um, I dunno,” she said, grinning impishly.

“Mmm, I think you do. Too bad I have to go,” he said, leaning down and pressing his forehead to hers so their noses touched. “I guess I’ll have to dream of it instead.”  

He kissed her then, slow and lingering. “Yeah, I’m definitely gonna dream about it. Good night, my sweet yenta.” He opened the front door for her and kissed her again.

“Good night, Wes,” she said, reluctantly slipping out of his arms and into her house. She leaned on the door and sighed as she heard the roar of Wes’ car fade to nothing.

“There you are!”

Janet jumped and glared at her twin who came out of the family room with a magazine in her hands. “Jazz, do you have to do that?”

Jasmine grinned. “So, how was it?”

“What?”

Jasmine gave her a knowing look. “You know,” she said. “Your day with Wes.”

“Fine,” Janet said slipping out of her shoes.

“Nice flowers,” Jasmine said.

“Well, nighty-night,” Janet said sprinting up the stairs as if the devil himself was after her.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Jasmine shouted. She threw down the magazine and chased her into her room.

“I’m tired, Jazzy, I want to go to bed,” Janet whined tossing her shoes down and heading to the bathroom.

“Tell me everything,” Jasmine said.

Janet frowned coming back into the room with a vase. “I don’t ask about your dates,” she said arranging the flowers to her satisfaction.

“You don’t have to. I tell you everything whether you want to know or not. I have to, you know. It’s in the Good Sister Manual, page fifteen, chapter two, paragraph five and I quote ‘All good sisters must reveal in great detail the events of monumental change such as all firsts and wonderful happenings’. It has been mostly me doing the telling the past few years, but now it’s all you,” Jasmine said grinning.

Janet rolled her eyes. “Are you done? I’d like some sleep,” she said. She smelled the heady fragrance of the Star-gazer lily and smiled. She caught Jasmine grinning at her and she frowned again. “What?” 

“It’s so nice to see you in love,” Jasmine said.

“I’m not in love!” Janet said adamantly. “We’re just friends.”  

“You are not just friends. It’s obvious you’re crazy about each other. You’re so cute together and good for each other, too, I think. The perfect couple,” Jasmine said.

“You’re not gonna leave me alone until I tell you something, are you?” Janet said as she began to undress. 

“Nope!”

“Well, it’s nothing amazing. First, we went to Gideon’s florist shop and....”

“That explains the flowers. Continue,” Jasmine stated matter-of-factly.

“The next stop was The Picadillo’s....did Mom tell you about...”

“Her new job as head chef, yes. She’s so excited she’s beside herself. Continue,” Jasmine said.

“Then we went to lunch...oh, no, wait...he had an emergency call at the lumber mill. Aunt May Lyn’s brother-in-law was there.  He thought I was you.”

“Wow,” Jasmine said.

“That took a while for Wes to fix. Then we went to lunch where we met his cousin Billy and his girlfriend Joanne. Wes will design a website for her new fashion house. She designs all the clothes herself. You’d like her. Billy is Luke Tramaine’s agent and he might be able to get us some tickets to Luke’s next show. You know who Luke is, don’t you?” Janet asked, slipping into her night gown.

“Sure, the singer. Have you met him?” Jasmine asked, eyes wide as saucers.

“Yeah, we saw him and his girlfriend at Rosy’s ice cream palace tonight after we went to the movies.”

“Is he as good looking as everyone says?” Jasmine asked excitedly.

“Oh, yeah,” Janet said. “Well, I’d like to go to bed now, so...”

“That couldn’t be all. You stopped at lunch. That leaves several hours unaccounted for.”

“Gees, I didn’t realize you needed to know what we did every single minute,” Janet said sarcastically.

“What did you do after lunch?” she said.

 Janet rolled her eyes again. “Wes took me to his palace and...”

“Hello! His palace?” she repeated incredulously.

“It’s a great house. You should see it. Three of ours can fit in it with room to spare,” Janet said.

“Wow. So, what did you do there?” she asked.

“He showed me this awesome website he designed for my yenta business. After church tomorrow maybe we can finish it up. So, that’s it. He’s coming to pick me up for church early, so I need sleep. Be gone with you!” she said shooing her sister away.

“Excuse me? When are you getting to the good parts?”

“The website was the good part,” Janet said, hopping into bed.

“I don’t think so. I saw you on the porch,” Jasmine said.

Janet’s mouth fell open. “You little sneak! You spied on me!”

“And it’s a good thing I did. You aren’t telling me anything,” Jasmine said.

Janet narrowed her eyes. “Oh all right! Wes’ sister caught us kissing and yelled at him for stealing Troy’s girlfriend. Are you happy now?” she shouted angrily.

Jasmine stared at her, mouth agape and then burst out laughing. “She thought I was you?”

“I don’t see what’s so funny,” Janet said, thoroughly annoyed. “Everyone confuses us. Even Dad thought I was you tonight when he caught us…” 

Jasmine gasped. “Daddy caught you making out? And you weren’t gonna tell me?” she shrieked. “What did Daddy say?”

Janet pulled the covers up to her chin and frowned. “The bastard told Wes to go home.”

“I wish you wouldn’t call him that. Daddy didn’t do anything to you, you know,” Jasmine said, her smile gone now.

“He did it to all of us,” Janet retorted.

“Whatever happened was between them has nothing to do with us kids.  Mom’s getting over it. Why can’t you?”

“Getting over it? Is that what you think she’s doing when she cries herself to sleep every night?” Janet said angrily. “She’s not over it and she won’t be until she cuts him completely out of our lives.”

“Stop it!” Jasmine said suddenly angry. “It’s not up to you what she does. I’m still hopeful they’ll work it out. They love each other and…”

“I’m going to sleep,” Janet said snapping off the light and turning her back on her sister.

Jasmine sighed. “You’re wrong, Janet,” she said sadly and she left through the adjoining bathroom.

Janet stared at the flowers Wes gave her.  From where she lay, she could smell their lovely perfume. She wished she could preserve them forever. They were the first flowers she’d ever been given and they were so pretty. 

But flowers were just like love, she thought as she turned away from them and shut her eyes. They both eventually die.