Third: Chapter 7
Story Summary
Written: February - May 2011
Status: Finished
Starring: Zac
Number of Chapters: 10 + Prologue and Epilogue
For: The Spark Inside: Spring 2011
Following his wife's shocking death and the exposure of her dirty little secrets, Zac leaves Tulsa and heads to the Oregon coast for a few weeks to escape his overbearing family. His goal is to be alone, with only the company of his bull dogs Butch and Cassidy, but then he meets Harlow Lowry, a woman who is unlike anyone he has ever met. Will the walls that Zac has built around his heart stay strong or will Harlow find her way in?
Masterpost
Chapter 7
Over the course of the next week, Harlow made herself present several times a day, but unlike his family, she didn’t fret over him. She simply went with him when he walked the dogs in the early morning and went with him when he went running before dinner like a friend would do.
They had even carpooled into Lincoln City for supplies in the middle of the week. They had made their required grocery stops then had shared lunch at a hole in the wall diner, where they had gotten to know each other while they had eaten. She had talked about her life in Seattle. How she had been a kindergarten teacher by day and a crazed Seattle sports fan by night. He, in turn, had told her about his comic strip and, though she had never seen it, she was amused by the different plots he told her about. He had also opened up to her about his first wife.
As the week came to an end, Zac found himself on his ratty sofa with Butch and Cassidy sitting between himself and Harlow as they watched a movie. The four of them together seemed to make sense and the more time he spent with her, the more he felt drawn to her and it scared him. She was different in every way from his ex-wives. By just being herself, she made both of his exes look like prissy snobs. He knew that if he let himself, he could easily fall for her.
“I love that movie,” Harlow said as the ending credits of Field of Dreams rolled by. “Hell, I love baseball in general.”
“It’s alright,” he shrugged.
“You’ve obviously never been to a game in your town for your team,” Harlow stated. “The excitement that fills the ballpark is amazing.”
“Oklahoma doesn’t have a pro team,” he replied. “Besides, I’m from football country.”
“Did you play football?”
“Well, no, but I was in a bowling league.”
“A bowling league?” Her amusement started at her smile and moved up to her eyes.
“Hey, don’t laugh. It was fun.”
“Can you still bowl?”
“Of course. Why? Do you want to challenge me or something?”
“If you’re that good.”
“Name the place and time, I’ll be there.”
Two days later, Zac was struggling on a new strip when the dogs announced Harlow’s arrival. Standing, he crossed the room and opened the front door as Harlow was getting ready to knock.
“Oh, hi,” she said, recovering quickly from her initial start.
“Hey,” he replied. “You know, for someone who looked petrified in fear over my dogs a few weeks ago, you seem comfortable around them now.”
“I was startled,” she stated. “And you never know what dogs are trained to do these days.”
“Uh, huh, right,” he replied.
“Whatever, I’m here to challenge you to a game of bowling,” Harlow stated. “And just know, if you refuse, I will not hesitate to resort to kidnapping you.”
“Kidnapping?” Zac raised his eyebrows. “Are you serious?”
“Don’t tempt me,” she replied. “Papa has a gun and I know how to use it.”
“What about the neighbors?” He asked. “Wouldn’t you be afraid they’d call the cops?”
“There aren’t any and if there were, they all know me,” she stated, grinning.
“Fine, I’ll go,” he said. “No need to kidnap me.”
“Don’t knock it until you try it,” she said. “I had a pair of handcuffs all ready.”
Jaw dropped, Zac watched her walk down the front steps.
“You have ten minutes,” she called over her shoulder. “I’ll bring the handcuffs just in case.”
Ten minutes later, Zac exited his yard and climbed into Harlow’s waiting car.
“Thirty more seconds and your hands would have been in those,” she said pointing to a pair of fuzzy, blue handcuffs that were hanging from her rearview mirror.
“Do I even want to know?” He asked.
“They were a gag gift from my old roommate,” she replied. “I found them this morning when I was digging through a box for my bowling shoes.”
“You have bowling shoes?”
“My mom bought us each a pair when we joined a mother daughter bowling league. We didn’t make it through the first night.”
“And you gave me all that crap about being on a bowling league,” he shook his head.
Instead of replying verbally, she just smiled and focused on driving.
Zac leaned back in his seat. He had to admit the last week hadn’t been bad. He knew that Harlow was doing everything she could to ease him back into society. It was more than his family had done. She also hadn’t shown pity on him or tried to talk about what happened; he appreciated that.
When they got to the bowling alley, they went inside. She paid for the lane and he paid for his shoe rental. They took several minutes to find balls then went to their lane.
“Ladies first,” he said, motioning for her to go when they were both ready.
He watched her take her approach then cringed when the ball went straight into the gutter. Her shoulders slumped and she didn’t look at him while she waited for her ball to return. When it did, she took her approach and hurled the ball down the lane so it knocked down two pins.
“No need to say what we’re both thinking,” she stated.
“I could offer you some pointers next time,” he offered.
“Let’s see how good you are first,” she replied, taking a seat.
Zac picked up his ball then took a deep breath before stepping onto the hardwood. He relaxed his shoulders then began his approach. The ball left his hand spinning and knocked down all the pins.
“Ok, I’ll take those tips,” she stated.
Over her next couple turns, he coached her along. He helped her with her stance and corrected her habit of crossing her body with her arm, which, he explained, sent the ball crooked.
He took a step back during her 6th frame and let her bowl uncoached. The ball came out of her hands beautifully and he couldn’t stop himself from joining her as the ball got closer to the pins.
“Oh my god!” She exclaimed as the ball knocked down all the pins. “I got a strike! I got a strike!” She turned to him and jumped into his arms.
The next thing he knew, their lips were connected. Her lips were soft against his own and her body fit snuggly against him. As soon as he realized what he was doing, he broke the kiss.
“Sorry,” he said, quietly.
She smiled. “It’s your turn.”
After the kiss, his mind was on everything but bowling and his pathetic score showed it. It didn’t help matters that she was reaping the rewards of his advice. Even with his horrible second half, he managed to pull off the win, though his average took nearly a 100 point dip.
“Do we want to get something to eat or just go home?” She asked him as they left the bowling alley.
“Home,” he replied. “I have to feed the dogs.”
While she drove, his thoughts turned to her. She was beautiful, he couldn’t deny that. She was nice and funny, too. Plus, she kept surprising him. And she had great lips for kissing. He mentally slapped himself when he wondered what else her lips would be good for.
“Zac?” Harlow said. “We’re home.”
Blinking, Zac looked around and saw they were parked in front of her place.
“Are you ok?” She asked him. “You’ve been really quiet since the kiss.”
“It shouldn’t have happened,” he said, matter-of-factly. “You’re beautiful and you’ll make some guy really happy, but after two failed marriages, I can’t go down that road again.”
She was quiet for a couple seconds before she replied, “I get it, you know I do. But I also know it was my ex that left me and you told me that your wives left you. So, yeah, we’ve both been divorced, but maybe we weren’t the problem. Maybe we just married the wrong people.”
Written: February - May 2011
Status: Finished
Starring: Zac
Number of Chapters: 10 + Prologue and Epilogue
For: The Spark Inside: Spring 2011
Following his wife's shocking death and the exposure of her dirty little secrets, Zac leaves Tulsa and heads to the Oregon coast for a few weeks to escape his overbearing family. His goal is to be alone, with only the company of his bull dogs Butch and Cassidy, but then he meets Harlow Lowry, a woman who is unlike anyone he has ever met. Will the walls that Zac has built around his heart stay strong or will Harlow find her way in?
Masterpost
Chapter 7
Over the course of the next week, Harlow made herself present several times a day, but unlike his family, she didn’t fret over him. She simply went with him when he walked the dogs in the early morning and went with him when he went running before dinner like a friend would do.
They had even carpooled into Lincoln City for supplies in the middle of the week. They had made their required grocery stops then had shared lunch at a hole in the wall diner, where they had gotten to know each other while they had eaten. She had talked about her life in Seattle. How she had been a kindergarten teacher by day and a crazed Seattle sports fan by night. He, in turn, had told her about his comic strip and, though she had never seen it, she was amused by the different plots he told her about. He had also opened up to her about his first wife.
As the week came to an end, Zac found himself on his ratty sofa with Butch and Cassidy sitting between himself and Harlow as they watched a movie. The four of them together seemed to make sense and the more time he spent with her, the more he felt drawn to her and it scared him. She was different in every way from his ex-wives. By just being herself, she made both of his exes look like prissy snobs. He knew that if he let himself, he could easily fall for her.
“I love that movie,” Harlow said as the ending credits of Field of Dreams rolled by. “Hell, I love baseball in general.”
“It’s alright,” he shrugged.
“You’ve obviously never been to a game in your town for your team,” Harlow stated. “The excitement that fills the ballpark is amazing.”
“Oklahoma doesn’t have a pro team,” he replied. “Besides, I’m from football country.”
“Did you play football?”
“Well, no, but I was in a bowling league.”
“A bowling league?” Her amusement started at her smile and moved up to her eyes.
“Hey, don’t laugh. It was fun.”
“Can you still bowl?”
“Of course. Why? Do you want to challenge me or something?”
“If you’re that good.”
“Name the place and time, I’ll be there.”
Two days later, Zac was struggling on a new strip when the dogs announced Harlow’s arrival. Standing, he crossed the room and opened the front door as Harlow was getting ready to knock.
“Oh, hi,” she said, recovering quickly from her initial start.
“Hey,” he replied. “You know, for someone who looked petrified in fear over my dogs a few weeks ago, you seem comfortable around them now.”
“I was startled,” she stated. “And you never know what dogs are trained to do these days.”
“Uh, huh, right,” he replied.
“Whatever, I’m here to challenge you to a game of bowling,” Harlow stated. “And just know, if you refuse, I will not hesitate to resort to kidnapping you.”
“Kidnapping?” Zac raised his eyebrows. “Are you serious?”
“Don’t tempt me,” she replied. “Papa has a gun and I know how to use it.”
“What about the neighbors?” He asked. “Wouldn’t you be afraid they’d call the cops?”
“There aren’t any and if there were, they all know me,” she stated, grinning.
“Fine, I’ll go,” he said. “No need to kidnap me.”
“Don’t knock it until you try it,” she said. “I had a pair of handcuffs all ready.”
Jaw dropped, Zac watched her walk down the front steps.
“You have ten minutes,” she called over her shoulder. “I’ll bring the handcuffs just in case.”
Ten minutes later, Zac exited his yard and climbed into Harlow’s waiting car.
“Thirty more seconds and your hands would have been in those,” she said pointing to a pair of fuzzy, blue handcuffs that were hanging from her rearview mirror.
“Do I even want to know?” He asked.
“They were a gag gift from my old roommate,” she replied. “I found them this morning when I was digging through a box for my bowling shoes.”
“You have bowling shoes?”
“My mom bought us each a pair when we joined a mother daughter bowling league. We didn’t make it through the first night.”
“And you gave me all that crap about being on a bowling league,” he shook his head.
Instead of replying verbally, she just smiled and focused on driving.
Zac leaned back in his seat. He had to admit the last week hadn’t been bad. He knew that Harlow was doing everything she could to ease him back into society. It was more than his family had done. She also hadn’t shown pity on him or tried to talk about what happened; he appreciated that.
When they got to the bowling alley, they went inside. She paid for the lane and he paid for his shoe rental. They took several minutes to find balls then went to their lane.
“Ladies first,” he said, motioning for her to go when they were both ready.
He watched her take her approach then cringed when the ball went straight into the gutter. Her shoulders slumped and she didn’t look at him while she waited for her ball to return. When it did, she took her approach and hurled the ball down the lane so it knocked down two pins.
“No need to say what we’re both thinking,” she stated.
“I could offer you some pointers next time,” he offered.
“Let’s see how good you are first,” she replied, taking a seat.
Zac picked up his ball then took a deep breath before stepping onto the hardwood. He relaxed his shoulders then began his approach. The ball left his hand spinning and knocked down all the pins.
“Ok, I’ll take those tips,” she stated.
Over her next couple turns, he coached her along. He helped her with her stance and corrected her habit of crossing her body with her arm, which, he explained, sent the ball crooked.
He took a step back during her 6th frame and let her bowl uncoached. The ball came out of her hands beautifully and he couldn’t stop himself from joining her as the ball got closer to the pins.
“Oh my god!” She exclaimed as the ball knocked down all the pins. “I got a strike! I got a strike!” She turned to him and jumped into his arms.
The next thing he knew, their lips were connected. Her lips were soft against his own and her body fit snuggly against him. As soon as he realized what he was doing, he broke the kiss.
“Sorry,” he said, quietly.
She smiled. “It’s your turn.”
After the kiss, his mind was on everything but bowling and his pathetic score showed it. It didn’t help matters that she was reaping the rewards of his advice. Even with his horrible second half, he managed to pull off the win, though his average took nearly a 100 point dip.
“Do we want to get something to eat or just go home?” She asked him as they left the bowling alley.
“Home,” he replied. “I have to feed the dogs.”
While she drove, his thoughts turned to her. She was beautiful, he couldn’t deny that. She was nice and funny, too. Plus, she kept surprising him. And she had great lips for kissing. He mentally slapped himself when he wondered what else her lips would be good for.
“Zac?” Harlow said. “We’re home.”
Blinking, Zac looked around and saw they were parked in front of her place.
“Are you ok?” She asked him. “You’ve been really quiet since the kiss.”
“It shouldn’t have happened,” he said, matter-of-factly. “You’re beautiful and you’ll make some guy really happy, but after two failed marriages, I can’t go down that road again.”
She was quiet for a couple seconds before she replied, “I get it, you know I do. But I also know it was my ex that left me and you told me that your wives left you. So, yeah, we’ve both been divorced, but maybe we weren’t the problem. Maybe we just married the wrong people.”