John Francis - Chapter 69

Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 7:54 PM
The next phone call was to Matt. After speaking to his sister-in-law, Jon asked if his brother was up yet. Sounding rather hung over, Matt answered, expecting the worst from his famously bad-tempered brother lately. Surprisingly, Jon was calm, but he wanted to know who had told Matt what had happened at the stadium. The answer was what Jon expected; Maryann. They had a long discussion, with Matt promising to not ever do again what he had done the night before. The brothers exchanged ‘love ya’s’ and hung up.

The last call Jon made was to Amanda’s mother. Reaching her via information, he identified himself and asked if she would like to come to New Jersey for Christmas. He explained his family situation to her, feeling that honesty was best, and that either she came there or Amanda wanted to fly home and he wanted Amanda with him. She laughed and agreed to come and he told her he would make the flight arrangements however she would like. They agreed she would fly in on the afternoon of the 24th and stay through the 26th.

“Thanks, Mrs. Adams, I really appreciate you coming and I know Amanda will too.”

“Jon, I think you can call me Jennifer…don’t you?”

Taken aback a little at her perception, he laughed softly. “Yes, Jennifer, I believe I can. But that’s our secret, okay?”

“Of course, neither my daughter nor I are stupid, young man!”

Laughing at the ‘young man’ comment, Jon hung up, feeling pleased that he would be able to surprise Amanda with a visit from her mother.

~~~

Amanda and Richie had been talking about what would be happening over the holidays. She was trying to get a feel for what Jon did at that time and Richie stated he would probably do what he did last year, go over to Dot’s house for Christmas morning with the kids. He himself would be flying out Monday afternoon to spend most of the holiday with his daughter. He still kept a house in California and although he and his ex-wife were not on the best of terms, they managed to keep any hostilities down in front of Ava.

“It must be really hard not to see her as much as you would like.”

Shaking his head, Richie said, “It’s the hardest thing in my life right now.”

“What about the rest of the guys?”

“Well, tonight there are no plans, but tomorrow we’ll all be getting together before we take off for the holiday. If we’re not touring, we have a big shindig at one of the clubs – let me tell you, nobody drives that night!”

“So who comes to this big party?”

“Family, friends, media, PR people, music execs, the usual crazy crew!”

Her voice was soft. “Oh.”

His laughter was loud. “I know, sounds overwhelming, but don’t worry. You’ll fit right in, darlin’. You’ve got the four of us watching your back and Jon watching everything else!”

They were both laughing when the house phone rang. Richie, used to making himself at home, answered.

“Hello? Oh, hey Dot. How are you? Kids doing okay? What’s going on? Excuse me? Yes, she’s here…ooh-kay…I’ll put her on…” Holding the phone covered, he looked at Amanda and told her Dot wanted to talk to her.

Her eyes could not have gotten any rounder as she took the phone from Richie.

Her voice was tentative when she answered. “Hello?”

“Amanda?”

“Yes.”

“I was wondering if you could go to lunch with me today.”

Apparently her eyes could get rounder as she heard what Jon’s ex-wife just asked. “Uhm, sure, I can do that. When and where?”

Dot suggested a location and a time and they both agreed that would work. Before hanging up, Amanda heard, “Amanda, thanks for meeting with me.”

“Sure, thanks for asking.”

She handed the phone back to Richie with a completely stunned look on her face. Without a change in her expression she told him Dot wanted to meet her for lunch today and where and when. Her face was extremely pale and the look on her face was unfocused which is exactly what Jon walked in to see. He took one look at her, then looked at Richie, who also looked a bit stunned. Hands on hips, he waited.

Richie provided the answer. “Dot called a few minutes ago on the house phone. She wants to meet Amanda today for lunch.”

Jon swore. “Well, shit! That was fast.”

Amanda turned almost panic-stricken eyes to Jon. “Please tell me what’s going on!”

He told her then about the talk he had just had with Dot and that he wanted Amanda to be a part of his life and that meant being with his kids from time to time. He was pretty sure that’s why she wanted to meet.

He heard her mumble “ok, I’m a grown woman, I can do this” and almost laughed, but figured she would punch him again.

“Richie and I have a meeting we need to go to for a short time, so we’ll drop you and then you can call my cell when you’re done.”

Still a little stunned, she nodded her agreement.

~~~

A few hours later, a very subdued Amanda sat in the back of Jon’s car as he drove with Richie in the passenger seat. The guys made small talk, but they could see that Amanda was not interested in joining in. Pulling up to the restaurant, Jon got out to open her door and pulling her to him, kissed her hard.

“It’s gonna be okay, baby, I really believe that.”

She nodded her head at him and then turned to enter the restaurant.

4 comments

  1. Anonymous Says:

    Please don't tell me you're going leave me hanging! LOL!

    Looks like Dot has come to her senses and I hope Matt has, too.

    Maryanne might be out of a job, though...

  2. Opester Says:

    I'm anxious to see what happens next here too-I think it will go well as they are both mature, but it will be a difficult situation for both of them. I find myself growing to respect both women enormously and I just wish more people were really like this and not so bitter in such situations.

  3. Love Jon's sweet surprise in bringing her mom out for Christmas. And can't wait to see how lunch goes!!

  4. jovikitn65 Says:

    Amanda is going to love having her mom there for Christmas. Very sweet thing to do Jon. Now bring on,the lunch meeting between Dorothea and Amanda.

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