Unexpected Attraction

by Stella MacLean

  “I’m pretty sure Shannon acted impulsively rather than out of any lack of caring for you.”

  “Why do you always say the right things?” she asked, soaking up his warmth. “Why do you never get angry?”

  He held her close, his hand in hers. “When Maria wouldn’t listen to me about her addiction, I was furious. I said things that hurt both of us. I created a division between us that we never healed.”

  Seeing the sorrow in his eyes, she kissed him, offering him comfort. “It is so awful when you can see the problem but not be able to do anything about it.”

  He sighed. “I couldn’t find a way to get through to her. She hid her pills and never confided in me again.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Me, too,” he whispered, pulling her closer. He gaze held hers, his sadness reflected in his eyes. “You and I have both had to deal with our anger. You’re dealing with yours better than I did. I let Maria go. You will never let Shannon go. You love her too much.”

  She’d never felt so close to another human being as she did to Jake. “Can you stay for a while?” she asked.

  “I’d like to, but I have a session that I can’t cancel. I would if I could,” he said, his eyes roving over her face, his smile warming her. “Remember I’m cooking dinner one day soon.”

  She followed him to the door. “Can’t wait. What can I bring?”

  “You.” He pulled her against him, his kiss knocking any sane thought from her mind. “I make the best pasta. You’ll see what an amazing cook I am.” He tapped her nose playfully. “Don’t be late.”

  * * *

  THE FOLLOWING MONDAY, Shannon had the best time she’d had in weeks. Sweat rolled down her back as she tipped the last ball over the volleyball net, the final shot in the game. The cheer of the crowd was exhilarating, pushing the burn of her leg muscles to the back of her mind. In the seats under the windows, Kyle sat clapping wildly.

  Surrounded by teammates as they jostled one another onto the court in celebration, Shannon searched for her mother. She wished she hadn’t had to tell her mother she was gay. She couldn’t help feeling she’d let her mother down. All the times her mother had made quiet inquiries, dropped little hints about a boyfriend, Shannon had had to pretend she didn’t hear her or outright not answer her.

  Mrs. Chapman had said there was a meeting today with the principal. Her stomach ached at what might happen when the school took action against Stuart and Eric.

  Would everyone turn against her for reporting them? If Stuart was angry, he would tell everyone about her. If he hadn’t already. Regardless of Mrs. Chapman’s concern and support, Shannon was afraid of what it would be like once the word got around.

  “Great game,” Kyle said as he strolled up to her.

  “Thanks. Have you seen my mom?”

  He glanced around. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve got my phone. Do you want to call her?”

  Her mother was probably busy at work. Since she reached her sales target, she’d been determined to beat it so that they’d have a great vacation. She probably hadn’t noticed the time, but she’d be all upset when she realized she missed the game. “She’s probably roaring into the parking lot as we speak. What are you doing tonight?” Shannon asked.

  “I have to get home. My mom wants me to mow the lawn, and I have an economics test tomorrow.”

  Shannon had stopped showering at the school because she didn’t feel comfortable in the locker room. “I’m ready to leave when you are.”

  They walked out of the building into the late afternoon heat. She didn’t see her mother’s car. “Can I get a ride home with you?”

  “Sure.”

  “I promised to cook dinner for my mom tonight,” she offered as they crossed the parking lot.

  “Hot dogs and doughnuts?” he teased.

  She faked a scowl. “That’s the kind of attitude that won’t get you asked to a meal at my house.”

  They reached his car and she tossed her sports bag in the backseat then rolled down the window after they got in. “So, what are you going to make for dinner?” he asked as he put the key into the ignition.

  Shannon didn’t answer because her gaze was locked on a spot just beyond his shoulder.

  “What is it?” He turned his head. Stuart was bearing down on them, a cruel smile on his face.

  Shannon swallowed over the lump in her throat. Fear ballooned around her heart.

  “What do you want?” Kyle demanded.

  Stuart braced his hands on the door, hostility oozing from him. “Well, hello, Mr. Donahue and Ms. Taylor. I haven’t had a chance to thank you both for getting me dragged into the principal’s office. You know that being accused of bullying has never happened to me before.”

  Shannon wanted to tell Kyle to drive off. She’d had enough of Stuart. She hated violence and fighting, but if she had to, she would fight. It was better than feeling like a victim every day.

  Kyle gripped the steering wheel, glancing quickly at Shannon. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll take care of this,” he said, before taking a deep breath. He squinted up at Stuart. “I don’t have all day, so if you have something to say—”

  Stuart kicked the side of the car. “Get out and fight like a real man. Defend your gay friend. Let’s see how that goes.”

  * * *

  ANDREA DROVE QUICKLY along the ring road that framed the school grounds. She and Gina had met with a company relocating to town that wanted to contract them to help their employees find housing. It was a huge opportunity to grow their business.

  Andrea hadn’t wanted to miss Shannon’s game, but she’d felt she had no choice. She’d apologize when she picked Shannon up, and they’d go out to dinner to celebrate. She’d texted Shannon to say she’d be late but didn’t get a response, which meant that her phone was probably in the bottom of her gym bag.

  Andrea had briefly called Jake to tell him about the potential new clients, and he’d been excited for her. It felt wonderful to have someone to share news with, especially because he’d been so pleased for her.

  She pulled into the school parking lot, spotting Kyle’s red Toyota and steering toward it. As she got closer, she could see Shannon running around the front of the car toward...Kyle and Stuart. Even from a distance she could see the tense situation. There was something about the way Kyle and Stuart squared off...

  Shannon ran toward Stuart, her hands raised. Andrea hit the gas. Tires squealed on the pavement as she clutched the wheel.

  Barging between Shannon and Stuart, Kyle reached for Stuart, just as Stuart turned and pushed him into the driver’s door. Andrea hit the horn long and hard, causing the three teenagers to glance her way. She pushed hard on the brakes, shut off the engine and jumped out.

  “What is going on here?”

  “Stuart came after Kyle,” Shannon said, breathing hard.

  “I did not. I was just talking to him. You were going to hit me and Kyle was, too. You saw it, Mrs. Taylor, didn’t you?”

  While his story was technically true, she definitely didn’t believe he was an innocent party in this matter. “Stuart, move away from them this minute,” she said, striding toward them, her heart hammering in her chest. “Are you all right, Shannon?”

  “I’m fine. I wanted to hit him so bad, Mom.”

  “Shannon, this is wrong. I’m sure you have your reasons, but violence is not the answer.” She turned to Kyle. “What got into you two?”

  Kyle slumped against the driver’s door, his eyes never leaving Stuart. “I’m in trouble now, aren’t I? But he threatened to go after Shannon if I didn’t get out of the car.”

  “And I didn’t want Kyle to face him alone, so I got out with him. When he said I was trash just like my mother, I was so angry,” she said as she flexed her fingers, staring at her hand as if it belo
nged to someone else.

  Kyle shook his head. “Then he said my father was a liar and a cheat, and he knew some parents that were going to sue my dad.” Kyle shoved away from the door and went over to Stuart. “You leave us alone, Stuart. We’re not bothering you.”

  “We’ll see who’s bothering who. I’m going to the police. You and your bitch buddy, Shannon, assaulted me—”

  “Don’t you ever say that again,” Andrea yelled. She was tired of this. Tired of bullies like Stuart—like Scott—shooting off their mouths as if their mean-spirited opinions meant anything. If she didn’t stand up for what she believed in and protect her daughter, she might as well go home. “Shannon is off-limits to you and all your ugly friends, do you understand?”

  Stuart took a step back, his eyebrows shooting up his forehead. “Chill out, will you?”

  This kid, standing there with a cocky look on his face, needed to be stopped. “You get in your car and you drive away from here now.”

  “Or what? You’ve already got us called into a meeting over bullying Shannon, but I’m not putting up with it. I’ve now got proof that they’re bullying me. So good luck getting anyone to believe them. Go ahead and try to get me and my friends suspended from school.”

  “That’s a very good idea.” Her calm words momentarily wiped the smug smile off his face.

  “Just try it,” he warned, his lips curled in a sneer.

  “You stay away from my daughter and Kyle,” she said with a power and authority she didn’t necessarily feel.

  “This isn’t the end of it. Those two punks—” he nodded at Kyle and Shannon “—assaulted me and they’re going to pay.”

  Andrea was flushed with the same emotions she’d felt all those times she endured Scott’s putdowns and nastiness. She wanted to strike out at something, anything that would make her feel as if she’d avenged herself and her child.

  Stuart, with his snide, cocky attitude, would grow up to be a bully, just like Scott. Until someone stronger shut him up.

  The truth was she’d never really confronted Scott. It was time she showed her daughter and Kyle that being bullied didn’t have to be tolerated, that standing up for yourself was better than allowing someone to hurt you. “You just try doing anything to either of these two, and I will go to the police. That’s a promise.”

  “Like hell you will,” Stuart shot back as he moved toward his car, his feet almost dancing on the pavement. “I’ll get you for this.” With that he climbed in his car then drove off with a scream of tires on pavement.

  “Mom, you were amazing.” Shannon cocked her head and watched the retreating car, a triumphant smile on her face. “Totally amazing. I’ve never seen you like that before.”

  “And I’ve never seen you threaten to hit anyone before. What’s that all about?” Andrea asked.

  “Something snapped when Stuart threatened us. Kyle and I were minding our own business. Even though Stuart and his gang had been warned about bullying us, he acted as if no one could touch him. That’s not right.”

  “Well, we have no choice but to go to the police and tell them what happened. But first, we’re calling your parents, Kyle.”

  “Ah, please, don’t. I’m supposed to be at home doing some yard work for Dad. I’ll tell them what happened. I promise.”

  Andrea understood where he was coming from. She was so desperately tired of all this upset and uncertainty. But she was determined to defend her daughter properly, and that meant going to the police and having Kyle corroborate. “Okay. Shannon, you come with me. Kyle, after you talk to your parents, ask them to call me. I’ll call the police and set up an appointment. I’ll try for early tomorrow morning, but we’ll take whatever we can get.”

  “But we have school,” Shannon complained.

  “You can be late for once, if need be.”

  “Okay, if you say so.” Shannon hugged Kyle, grabbed her things, then trudged off to Andrea’s SUV.

  At home, Shannon made for the kitchen. “I’m starving.”

  “As a matter of fact, so am I,” Andrea said, amazed that she could be hungry after what had gone on in the school parking lot.

  “Okay. So you talk, and I’ll make grilled cheese sandwiches with dill pickles.”

  “Yuck!” Andrea teased. “Hold the dill pickles. And thank you for offering to make dinner.”

  “I’d hardly call this dinner,” Shannon said, pulling the frying pan from the drawer next to the stove, and getting the ingredients from the fridge.

  “Mom, this probably isn’t the greatest time to tell you this, but I really need to get it off my chest,” Shannon said as she placed the sandwiches carefully in the pan.

  Andrea’s heart beat harder. “Go ahead,” she said warily, fearing that Shannon had more bad news for her.

  “I didn’t mean to make you worry the way I did. Every time I had the chance to say what was going on, I didn’t, and I’m sorry.”

  Andrea breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s okay. I didn’t do a very good job of listening, and we kind of got stuck not saying what we really believed. But it won’t happen again, will it?”

  Shannon flipped the sandwiches from one side to the other before turning to face her mother. “I don’t know, Mom. But I know one thing I know for sure—you are a good mom, and I’m so lucky.”

  Her eyes filling with tears, Andrea went to her daughter and wrapped her arms around her. “I’m the lucky one.”

  Andrea was incredibly thankful that they now had a chance to get their old relationship back. It was so important to be together, to have her daughter happy. “It’s always been you and me, hasn’t it?”

  “Mom, I’ve been thinking about things. As much as I want to see Dad, I don’t want to babysit for him. It isn’t fair to me. If I go there, I want to visit with him, not look after his kids. I guess I’ll have to find a way to tell him.”

  Andrea smoothed the hair off Shannon’s forehead the way she’d done so many times when she was a child. “I’m so glad you told me this. I’ve worried that your dad was trying to take advantage of you, but I didn’t do a very good job explaining that, either.”

  Shannon eased out of her mother’s arms before answering. “For a long time, I thought you and Dad broke up over me, that I did something.”

  “Oh, no, baby. Never.” She hugged her daughter close again. The things we do without knowing the damage we cause. “You had nothing whatsoever to do with us splitting up. We were simply not compatible on so many fronts. When you find someone to love and who loves you, I want you to be sure that you are with her for the right reasons.”

  The sizzling sound emanating from the pan reminded them that dinner was about to burn. Shannon took the frying pan off the burner. “If I had a dollar for every time Chloe and I made grilled cheese sandwiches—”

  “Speaking of Chloe, what’s going on with her? Why is she involved with Stuart?”

  Shannon loaded two plates, grabbed the pickles from the fridge then went to the table. “Chloe and I had an argument. She believes she loves Stuart, of all people. How dumb is that?”

  “I think Chloe has to work out her own problems, but maybe one day she’ll come to you for help or advice, and you can be there for her.”

  “After today Stuart won’t let Chloe speak to me again. Anyone that’s part of his group at school has to be totally loyal to him.”

  “That’s too bad. You must feel awful to think that Chloe and you aren’t friends the way you used to be.”

  “I do. That’s been part of the reason I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to hurt Chloe, but the day Stuart and Eric knocked me down and I ended up in the emergency room, Kyle and I knew we couldn’t rely on Chloe to help us.”

  “That’s awful. You and Kyle have had a lot to deal with. I wish I’d been more help to you.”

&nbs
p; “You are helping us, Mom. Really.”

  As Andrea got a couple of napkins from the drawer she tried to think of something uplifting to talk about. “Oh, I nearly forgot my news. What would you say to Disney for New Year’s?”

  “Mom! That’s awesome!”

  “I thought so, too. I’ve booked a week at Disney World for us. We leave the day after Christmas.” She smiled at her daughter, making a silent vow to settle the bullying issue before they left for Florida. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of their first real vacation in years. She was still smiling when the phone rang. The caller ID showed Jake Polegato. Thrilled to be hearing from him, she answered.

  * * *

  JAKE HEARD ANDREA’S voice on the other end of the line, her soft tone taking the edge off his worry, making him feel better about the past few hours. He’d had another appointment with a young teenager today, a child so withdrawn Jake had referred him to a psychiatrist, thinking the child needed medication to help manage his anxiety.

  Then his sister Amelia had called to say her husband, Greg, a fighter pilot, was being posted to Hawaii. Jake was closest to Amelia, and he would miss her a lot. They’d agreed to meet during Thanksgiving for a family reunion that Amelia was happy to organize.

  “How’s your day going?” he asked.

  She gave a long, contented sigh. “So much better than I expected. I’m hopeful Shannon and I may be getting back to our old selves.”

  “That’s great.” He leaned against the headboard of his bed, contented that he was getting his wish to talk to Andrea, to share his day. He loved feeling connected to her.

  This morning as he was feeding his cats, he’d missed having someone in the house, someone to wake up to, to share something as silly as feline antics. It was the first time in such a long time he’d felt his solitude. But deep inside he was acutely aware that since he’d gotten to know Andrea a little better, he wanted to have someone in his life to love, someone to care about.

  “Can you hold on for a minute? I need to get out of my suit. I’ve been in a meeting all day,” Andrea said.