Free Seasons by Bonnie Hopkins Page B

a couple of times, but she managed to fight off the temptation. No, she decided, she would wait for
     his call on Monday.
    Monday was hectic! An unscheduled staff meeting interrupted her plans to begin writing the disposition reports from Thursday’s
     hearing. And her daughter called and begged Jaci to accompany her to a doctor’s appointment. Randi’s second pregnancy was
     turning out to be difficult.
    Jaci knew she probably wouldn’t be returning to work, so she was trying to get as much as possible done before leaving. It
     was almost lunchtime when she remembered J.P. Gilmore’s promised call. Oh well, it must not have been too important, she decided.
    As if her thoughts had somehow been communicated to J.P., Jaci’s phone rang, and when she heard his voice, she couldn’t help
     but wonder:
Wow! what’s up with this?
    “Ms. Winters, how are you today?” She felt a shiver travel down her spine. His deep voice caused all kinds of reactions in
     Jaci. “I hope I caught you before you had lunch. I was wondering . . . if you’re free, I’d like to take you to lunch. I apologize
     for the short notice, but it’s been one of those mornings.”
    The invitation was the last thing Jaci expected, so she was caught off guard and left floundering for a response. She finally
     pulled her haywire thoughts together enough to recall her plans. “I . . . uh . . . I can’t today. I’ll be leaving here shortly
     for a doctor’s appointment with my daughter.”
    “Well, how about dinner then? That would be better anyway, since we won’t have to watch the clock.”
    Again, Jaci hesitated. She really didn’t know the man and had no idea what he wanted to talk to her about. Under these circumstances
     she didn’t feel comfortable going to dinner with him. “I don’t think so, Mr. Gilmore. I’d better not make any plans. You never
     know how these doctor visits will go.”
    “Okay. But before we go any further, I have a request. Would you please call me J.P. or Jason. Every time you call me Mr.
     Gilmore, I look around for my father.”
    Jaci laughed. “Only if you’ll call me Jaci, or Jacetta.”
    “Whew! I’m glad we got past that! Now, how about dinner tomorrow night? Think you can make that?”
    “Sorry, I have choir rehearsal tomorrow night. Let’s make it lunch and you’ve got a deal.” She could tell J.P. was disappointed,
     but he covered it well. They arranged the time and location, and just as she was about to hang up, he said, “Tell me if I’m
     too presumptuous, but is anything serious going on with your daughter?”
    “No, but it’s very nice of you to ask. Hopefully, it’s nothing a little time won’t cure. She’s just having some complications
     with her pregnancy.”
    “Pregnancy!” he yelled in an amazed voice. “You have a daughter old enough to be pregnant?”
    Jaci laughed. “Yes, and if that’s a shock, you’d better sit down for this one. I’m already the grandmother of an eighteen-month-old.”
    After a stunned silence he said, “I see I have a lot to learn about you, Ms. . . . uh, Jaci. I never would have thought you
     were a grandmother.”
    “Well, thank God it’s not the case with me, but you know these days you can find grandmothers in their twenties.”
    “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
    Jaci had another restless night as she raked her mind for some fathomable reason for J.P.’s request to talk to her. She really
     hoped he wasn’t seeking a casual affair. For some reason, she knew she would be very disappointed if that was the case.
    The next day, she was nervous all the way to the restaurant.
What if he doesn’t show up? What if all he wanted was to make some kind of pass.
Jaci made a lifestyle of rebuffing passes and had finally gotten to a point where her body language and the way she carried
     herself sent the message that she was not interested. Men still made passes, but she could tell they were doing so only to
     see if they could get a different