Thank You, Janie

During the drive, their phones figuratively blew up with text messages and missed calls from people wanting the scoop. Both enjoyed the mystery and feeding the rumour mill.

Janie's children knew Jason from taekwondo. They sat them down in the living room after returning home.

"How would you like it if Jason stayed with us for a while?" Janie asked.

"Are you dating?" Caroline was eleven and way too smart for her own good.

"Yes, we are," Janie replied, her eyes wide.

"So is Jason living with us?" she asked. "Like Dad and Brittany did before they got married?"

"Kind of like that," Janie frowned at the mention of her ex-husband.

"Are you getting married?" Olivia was nine and didn't talk as much as her sister, although she was just as smart.

"No, not any time soon," Janie replied, her face flush, although she should have expected these kinds of questions from her children.

Jason sat quietly, unsure of how he would fit into the family's established dynamic. The girls liked him, though, and that helped.

The three of them ended up all sitting around the dining room table doing homework before it was time for showers, a little bit of TV and then bedtime.

It was 9:30 by the time the girls were in bed. Janie and Jason curled up on the couch. The Monday Night Football game was on, but they weren't paying attention to it. After another half hour, they checked on the girls and found them asleep in their rooms.

"That's how a typical night goes around here," Janie led Jason to the bedroom, where they changed, brushed their teeth and then crawled into bed. "We have a routine. It's not very exciting."

"I just want to be with you," Jason whispered and rolled over to kiss her.

To his surprise, Janie pulled back. There was a flash of fear in her eyes. The bottom fell out of his stomach when she spoke. "We need to talk."

She stood, and Jason followed her to the dining room table. Janie reached for a legal pad and a stack of papers.

He sat in the chair next to her.

Janie's hands were shaking. Her voice was soft, but firm. "I want to talk to you us. And about money."

Neither spoke for a long moment. After a false start or two, Janie reached over and squeezed his hand. Her eyes bored right into his.

"I make enough for you to live here," she said gently, as if she was trying not to belittle or patronise him. "And I know this sounds kind of crazy, but I want . . . I want to start thinking about 'us' . . . you know . . . in kind of a long-term way."

Jason's heart skipped a beat.

"Yes, I'm getting way ahead of where we are now," Janie shook her head, as if she couldn't believe the words she was saying. "But I feel so . . . so . . . safe and comfortable when I'm with you. And I never want to let you go."

"But . . ." Jason saw where this was going.

"I have two children who come first," she said softly. "I need to look out for them . . . and myself, before I start thinking about bringing another man into my life. Their lives. I'm going to ask you a bunch of stuff about money. I need you to be completely truthful with me. And you can ask anything you want from me. Do you understand?"

Jason nodded weakly. Janie reached for her notepad.

"Do you have any credit cards?"

He shook his head.

"Do you have any student loans?"

"About seven thousand dollars so far," he said nervously as she scribbled away.

"Is your car paid off?"

"Yes."

"Who owns your car? You? Your parents?"

"I do."

"Do you have any other debts or loans out?"

"No."

Janie smiled reassuringly. "Good."

"Do you know why I want to know all of this?"

"Not really."

She sat back and stared off for a moment. "When my husband and I got married, we had just graduated from college. He is an accountant and I am a nurse. He started working right after getting his CPA and I went on to become a nurse anesthetist. Tuition alone for that was about sixty thousand dollars. Both of us had loans from undergraduate; that was a long time ago but we started life with over a hundred thousand dollars in debt."

Janie paused for a moment to take a deep breath.

"I want . . . well, I want you and I to be together," Janie's voice trailed off and she stared off wistfully for a while. She snapped back to the present and picked up her pen. "I'll make you a deal . . ."

She started a list.

"Tuition at Valencia is, what? . . . A hundred dollars a credit hour?"

He was taking a full load of classes plus a lab. "Yeah, just over three thousand for this year."

"How much are books?"

Jason thought for a second. "About four-fifty this semester."

Janie started rattling off expenses and Jason filled in the blanks. Auto insurance. Gas. Food. Cell phone.

"Here's what I'll do," she said after tallying up his costs. Even with two jobs and some financial aid, he was in the red. "If you can cover tuition and books, you can live here with us."

"But that—"

"I know," Janie smiled, and his resistance evaporated without much thought. "Most of my expenses are fixed. You living here will use a little more water and some more food, but my mortgage, satellite TV and stuff like that will cost me the same either way."

She took his hands again.

"We'll work the rest out later."

Jason sat there speechless, his mind racing, trying desperately to process what this meant for their relationship. And wondering whether this woman was his lover or his angel.

"Say, 'Thank you, Janie'," she giggled before pulling him to his feet and leading him back to the bedroom, a trail of clothes along the floor.

"Thank you, Janie," he whispered as they fell into the bed and he entered her, Janie's arms and legs wrapping him in their tender embrace.

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To be continued . . .