Heated

S E V E N ~ R O O T S

J A C K S O N

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...Juliette up above
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I gently rubbed up and down Nerida's back as she sat comfortably on my lap. Yes, we were still out shopping and Nerida was clearly starting to feel the negative effects of being on her feet all day.

"I think somebody is going to have to start coming to the gym with me," I whispered to the tired girl.

We were currently sat in a private viewing room inside of this expensive ass dress store. Juliette's winter formal was coming up and she wanted to buy her dress here.

I'd taken a seat on the purple, semicircular lounge chair when Nerida just plopped herself down on my lap. She placed her head on my chest like a little puppy and whined at the pain in her legs.

I should've figured that she would be in pain. She's never walked this much in her entire life and it was irresponsible on my part to allow her to walk so much today.

"Do you think I'm fat?" She gasped and looked at me as though I'd just slapped her across the face.

"What? No, of course not baby. Fitness is not about being fat or skinny but it's about having good cardiovascular health," I explained.

"What does that mean?"

"Well, the heart is a muscle and when you exercise it by engaging in vigorous activity, you build it's endurance. Do you follow?"

She nodded quickly, completely engaged in the words that were coming out of my mouth. It felt incredibly satisfying to share my knowledge with her, no matter how minuscule. She appreciated every bit of it and that alone made me happy,

"So when you continuously exercise, your heart gets stronger and you're able to do more activities. This also applies to the different muscles in your body."

She stayed quiet for a moment, spending some time absorbing and processing this new information.

"So if I start going to the gym and exercising with you, we can come on more outings like these?"

I nodded, delighted by how she took the knowledge and applied it to something in her life.

"Then I can't wait to go to the gym. You're so smart Jackie, I wish I could be smart like you." She frowned and I held her closer, wanting nothing more than to grant all her wishes.

"I've always wanted to go to school. I always wanted to decorate my own locker and try out for the cheerleading team, just like the kids my age do in the movies," she admitted sadly. "Every time I asked my dad he'd always say that he missed the admission date and he'd try again next year. Guess it's too late now."

Admission date?

I knew he had to lie to her in order to keep her from getting suspicious but damn... he really did deny her of an education. It's so mind-boggling to me and I had so many questions that I would never know the answers to.

Why keep her away from school if you were never going to be home anyway? What was George thinking about all the time, knowing he had a little girl back home with no guidance. Was he worried?