Then Rod walks out behind me and Reed stops dead in his tracks. Then he starts coming at Rod, fast and furious. I hold out my hand. “No! He didn’t hurt me. He didn’t do anything to me. He just cried and hugged me. No reason to fight. No reason to fight at all.” I take a step to the side and turn to walk away.
Reed calls out, “Where are you going?”
“To the car.” I walk faster, as I feel like I might pass out. “I have to get away from here.”
“I’ll be out there in a minute, Angel,” Reed says.
Then I hear Rod say, “Reed, you and I need to talk.”
I run the rest of the way until I get outside. Then I sit on a bench and try desperately to catch my breath. My world is turning upside down, and I can’t find the right direction I need to be going in.
The fact is, I’m ripping this family apart. Rod wants me; Reed wants me; and neither will give up.
I waited a long time to hear Rod admit he loves me, and I thought that, with my love for Reed, it wouldn’t affect me. But it did.
Not in the way I expected. It made something inside me happy he finally admitted it. And I found I do still have love for him buried deep in my heart.
His pain hurts me too. And I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about that. Our history has affected me. I guess that love I found for him all those years ago was strong. So strong the small flame sparked up when he finally told me he loved me.
But the fire I have for Reed is huge, and it runs deep. And in a perfect world, Reed and I could get married and have babies and all would be right. But this world is far from perfect. With Rod’s stubborn refusal to let me go and do what’s best for me, I will never have what I crave with Reed.
No family functions will go smoothly. His mother will most likely die from the stress their feuding will cause her. And there I’ll be, the big catalyst who single-handedly destroyed a family. A once very happy family.
A car pulls up and their father, Jason, gets out of it. His face is pale with worry and he looks down. He doesn’t even see me.
As he passes me, I say, “Hello, Jason.”
He stops and turns back. “Jenna? Why on Earth would you come here? This is all your fault. You know that, right?”
His accusation has me cringing. “No, I don’t think this is from me. Rod said himself it was he who caused her stress.”
“Only because of you. I never knew you to be selfish. But you are one selfish woman, Jenna. My family has fallen apart, and you did that.” He turns back and takes two steps, then stops. He doesn’t look back. “When are you going to stop being selfish?”
I look down as his footsteps fade away.
When will I stop?
Chapter 30
REED
Rod takes me by the shoulder and steers me to a waiting room. “Reed, you and I need to talk. I can’t take life like this anymore, and Mom obviously can’t either.”
I go along with him, in a very odd state of mind. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here. This situation is beyond odd and confusing. “I agree. We have to work things out. Jenna was nearly hurt because of this.”
He nods and looks sad. I’ve never seen my brother look sad in my entire life. “I know. I was crazy with jealousy. I’ll never hurt her again. I tore up the contract she and I had. I know it was just a piece of paper, but to me it was more than that. And I thought it was to her too. Guess I was wrong about that. I’ve been wrong about so damn many things.”
“I’m glad to see you’re coming to grips with things. This will make Mom happy. I know we can put this all behind us.”
He looks at me with a certain grimness in his expression. “Reed, I want you to know that I love you. I know I was a mean little shit, and I hurt you plenty. I’m sorry.”
I about fall out of the chair I’m sitting in. Then I feel like I should do a little apologizing too. “Sorry about breaking your arm.”
He nods. “Thanks. Anything else you feel sorry for, Reed?” His steel-blue eyes twinkle a little.
“I know you want me to tell you I’m sorry for stealing your girl, Rod. But I don’t see it like that and you know it. I liked her a good two years before you even knew she existed. And I never made a move on her until you left her and had been gone a couple of years. And now I love her more than you can even imagine,” I tell him, and look right into his eyes so he knows I’m telling him the God’s honest truth.
He can’t hold my eyes though and looks away. “I know you do. But I do too. And I need her more than I’ve ever needed anyone or thing in my life. I need her to get me off this bad road I’ve gotten myself on. Only she can do it.”
I hold my breath to steady myself. The guy’s talking about the love of my life, the woman I’m about to marry.
I try very hard to say the right words without doing damage to how far we’ve come. And I know Mom’s words to Jenna went deep into her brain. So I have to try hard to make something work between me and my brother.
“Rod, I can’t walk away from her. And even if I could, I don’t think she would go back to you. She’s changed.”
“I know she has. She’s blossomed. And I know you have everything to do with that. I know you paid for her college and kept her going when I left her. I know your pure love for her opened up her soul. She glows with all you’ve brought out in her. I know this, and I’d just walk away if I didn’t have this all-encompassing love and need for her myself.” He looks away as tears start to fall.
Next to me is a box of tissues and I say, “Here you go.” Then I toss the box to him when he looks back at me. “Never seen you cry before.”
He shakes his head. “Yeah, I don’t cry. But now I do. Man, I cry all the fucking time. I tried to get my head going in another direction. I got a new chick and treated her like shit, all the while trying to change her into Jenna. I was a real asshole. And I know I was one to Jenna too. But not that last year, I wasn’t.”
“After the incident, you mean?” I ask, as I feel kind of like crying myself.
He nods and blows his nose, making a loud elephant-like sound and I laugh a little. He grins, then says, “Yeah, after I threw her around the front yard and the cop came and she had the chance to be rid of me. But she asked him not to take me to jail. She didn’t do that because she was afraid of me like I thought I needed her to be. She did it because she loved me. It made something snap inside me. I changed that day. If I wouldn’t have been an idiot and sold drugs in the first place, then I’d have married her and we’d probably have a bunch of rugrats running around by now.”
I tap my fingertips on the arm of the chair I’m sitting in. My mind is spinning, and I don’t know what to do. “But you did do those things, and it all stopped for you two. No one but you caused that. I don’t see how you think she will be able to trust you again. I mean, even if she wasn’t with me, I still don’t know if she would take you back.”
I watch my older brother get off the chair he’s sitting in and get on his knees on the floor. A knot forms in my throat as he scoots on them across the floor. Stopping at my feet, he looks up at me with tears in his eyes.
“Reed, I have no idea if she will either, but I need to find that out. All I’m asking is for you to set her free. Who knows if she’ll come back to either of us. But I’m asking for one last chance with her. She is the love of my life, Reed. I know she’s yours too.” He stifles a sob, and my throat clenches as I try hard to hold back my own tears. “Mom told me you guys have scheduled a wedding in May. That’s about six months away. Set her free. Don’t talk to her, and I’ll leave her alone too. But if she attempts to contact either of us and wants either of us back then we agree to accept who it is she picks. And if she moves on to another man, we agree to accept that too.”
“Rod, if I break up with her it will hurt her. I never want to hurt her.” I shake my head, as I don’t think I’m capable of doing what he’s asking.
“Did Mom talk to her? Because she said she did. She said that Jenna agreed to take
herself out of the picture if you and I couldn’t come to terms about her.” He looks up at me from his place on the floor with pleading eyes.
“She did. And if I know Jenna, she’s taking Mom’s words very much to heart.” I glance to the side as I see our father walk past the waiting room. Then he opens the door.
“Thank God. Come with me. They’re about to take your mother into surgery, and she’s making them wait until she sees you two.”
Dad doesn’t ask why Rod’s on his knees in front of me. He just holds out his hand to Rod and Rod takes it and gets up. Then we three walk down the hall with clicks and clacks of our shoes to see the woman who has held this family together all this time.
She breathes a sigh of relief as we all walk into her room and find her on a gurney, prepared to leave the ICU to go to surgery. “My men!”
We take turns hugging her and each of us tells her we love her and will be praying for her. Then she gives Rod and me a stern look. “Can I see you two hug before I go?”
I turn to my brother and open my arms and he does the same and we hug. A real hug, not one for show. One that says we can put this bad shit behind us, but it will take some doing. It will take some sacrifices.
And I’m not sure I want to make them.
And I won’t if Jenna doesn’t want to. I will never hurt her. I can’t do that.
We stand back and watch them move the gurney out of the room and wave to our mother. We hold it all back until she gets good and gone, then, collectively, we sniffle as we let a few of the tears free that we all were holding back.
With a clap on Rod’s back, I say, “I’ll go talk to her.”
We walk down the hallway and Rod looks at me. “Can I talk to her after you have?”
My father has been eerily silent, and he turns to us in the hallway. “What have you two decided about that girl?”
“We have a bit of an idea, but I haven’t talked to Jenna about it yet,” I say.
Dad opens the door to the waiting room they told him we needed to wait in so we could be updated about the operation as it goes. “Whatever your plan is, I just want you both to know that if Jenna doesn’t stop being selfish then she has no place in our family.”
Rod gets an angry look on his face. “Look, Dad, Reed and I can work this out. This is our problem. It’s not Jenna’s fault. And I don’t want you talking about her like that. She’s anything but selfish. She’s selfless!”
Dad looks kind of shocked. “Well, I talked to her outside and told her to stop being selfish.”
Rod wags his finger at our father. “Then when Reed brings her back in here you had better apologize to her. She’s not selfish. Reed and I are, but not her.”
I nod in agreement and Dad looks kind of sheepish as I say, “I’ll go get her. For now, we won’t talk about anything. Let’s get through Mom’s surgery. Then we can talk to Jenna. Okay, Rod?”
He nods. “Yeah. Right now all that matters is Mom. Tell her there’s nothing to worry about. I’ll be cool, and so will Dad.”
I leave the room and go outside. She’s sitting on a bench with her head hanging low as she looks at her phone.
“Hey, gorgeous,” I say and she looks up at me.
“Oh, it’s you. How’s your mother?” she asks with a lot of sadness in her eyes.
“They just took her in. I’m here to get you to take you into the waiting room. Dad told us what he said to you and he has an apology waiting for you. Rod jumped his ass about telling you that you’re the selfish one. Rod and I both know it’s us, not you.” I reach out to take her hand and she just looks at it.
“No, he’s right. I am selfish. I want it all, I guess. And that’s not fair, and it is selfish. I was waiting for you to come out so I could tell you that I’m going to go to my parents I think. Your family needs this time alone. This time should be about your mom, not anything other than that.” She looks back at her phone, and I kneel down in front of her.
With a gentle tug at her chin to make her look at me, I catch her eyes with mine. “Jenna, come inside, please. I need you, and Rod has promised he’ll be cool. Dad’s sorry. My parents don’t understand things, but Rod and I are coming to terms with things. And we can talk about it later. For now, I need you to come hold my hand. Rod may need you to do that for him too, and I want you to know that if you feel like comforting him, you can. Don’t do it if you don’t want to, though. It’s all up to you.”
She looks a little stunned. “Are you kidding?”
I shake my head. “No. The fact is, you loved him once, and I could tell by how you looked, the things he told you in that closet had you feeling conflicted. He and I have had our ropes on you for too long now. We’ve pulled and pushed you and that’s going to stop.”
“I don’t know what to do, Reed. I love you, and I’d like a friendship with Rod,” she says as she looks confused. “But right now I feel in the way of your family and your obligations to them.”
“I can see you feel that way. So let me tell you that if I go back in there without you, it will make all three of us Manning men feel terrible. And you can decide what you want to do with that information.”
I wait for her to digest what I’ve said, then she takes my hand. “I’ll go. We can deal with the other stuff later.”
I wrap my arm around her shoulders and take her inside. Jenna Foster has had a place in our family in one capacity or another for a very long time. Now is not the time to toss her aside as if she’s no part of it.
And I hope I have the strength to handle it if she decides not to be a part of it after this.
Chapter 31
JENNA
The Manning men’s faces as I come into the little waiting room are an odd combination of grim and happy. Rod gets up and walks up to me as Reed still has his arm around my shoulders.
He reaches out and takes both my hands in his. “Hey, Jenna. I just want you to know I’m going to be cool about shit. And Dad has something he wants to say to you.” He keeps one of my hands in his, but lets the other go.
The feeling as both of them touch me is odd and I feel uneasy. Then Jason stands up and I feel very uneasy as he says, “I’d like to apologize for what I said earlier, Jenna. The boys have explained things to me and I am sorry. This stuff with Sue has me on edge. I hope you can accept my apology.”
“Of course. I understand, Jason.”
Rod pulls me along and sits down. I sit in the chair in between him and Reed. Reed’s arm moves from my shoulders and he takes my other hand. Rod still has the one he’s been holding.
So here I sit in the most awkward position I have ever been in. Both know I’m holding the other’s hand, and no one is mad or jealous or anything. Only worried about their mother.
I sit back and do my best to relax as Reed’s thumb runs nervously back and forth over my knuckles and Rod’s hand makes little squeezes every once in a while.
After a while, the phone in the room rings and Jason picks it up. “Yes. Okay. Thank you.” He hangs up and smiles. “They have the tumor out. She’s doing fine. Now they have to close her head back up; they’ll call when that’s done.”
My heart jumps with the good news. Then Reed stands up and pulls me along with him and Rod follows too, as he still has my hand.
He lets it go as I turn to hug Reed and I wrap my arms around him. “I told you it would be okay,” I say as I hug him.
Reed lets me go and gestures with his head for me to turn around. I do, and find Rod there with tears in his eyes. “I was so worried about her.”
I hold open my arms and he hugs me. “She’s going to make it through this, Rod. She’s a tough lady.”
“Thanks, Jenna.” I freeze as his lips touch my ear for a second, then he lets me go.
I look at Jason and say with a laugh, “How about you? Do you need a hug too, Jason?”
He steps forward. “I really do.” He takes me up in his arms in a hug too and I smile.
I really do have a place in this family!
We all sit back down and Jason laughs, then says, “Do you kids remember when we had that last big New Year’s party and Sue did shots with Rod and the cousins? Man, she got wasted. I had to carry her to bed that night.”
Rod laughs. “She downed those shots like a sailor on leave in Singapore!”
Reed starts chuckling too. “The next morning she looked like something that cat had dragged in.”
I add in my memory of that day, “I had to take her to the bathroom and brush her hair. She seemed to have forgotten to brush it with that monster hangover she had, and she whined with every brushstroke I made.”
Reed laughs harder. “Oh yeah! One side flat and one side frizzed all out. Poor Mom!”
We all laugh with the memory, then Jason’s eyes tear up. “Man, I hope we get a hell of a lot more days with her.”
A few tears leak out and then my hands are quickly taken again by Sue’s sons. And now I see how I can be of help. “Hey, remember when the pool was first put in and she slid down that slide hollering wheee all the way down, like a little kid?”
Jason starts laughing. “And she made the biggest splash and her face went all red when she came out from under the water to see us all laughing at her!”
I nudge Rod’s shoulder with mine. “And you had to go and take a video of her with your phone. Remember how mad she was at you when you posted it on Facebook?”
He laughs and shrugs. “It got like a zillion likes!”
“I never told her because she would’ve killed you, Rod, but I saw that video on YouTube a whole year later and the remarks were hilarious,” Reed says.
Rod jerks my hand. “And when you and Mom tried to light the barbecue pit on your own, Jenna!” He laughs so hard he doubles over and Reed joins in.
Reed says in laugh-choked words, “Mom’s eyebrows were gone, and Jenna’s bangs were singed almost completely off.”
Jason struggles to stop laughing as he says, “Then Rod came outside and saw the two of them and laughed so hard he fell off the porch, so Reed had to go help him up.”
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