Wrecked (Stories of Serendipity #8): #8

by Anne Conley

  He maneuvered himself to come out of the row at about the same time Renae did, so she wouldn’t be able to miss him. He hadn’t been able to catch her eye during the service. When he ended up next to her, she dropped her eyes, and he knew the sermon had gotten to her.

  “Hey there,” he said softly, pulling her into a hug. Others were greeting each other warmly, and he used it as an excuse to touch her as much as he could. Her body pressed against his stiffly, but he rubbed his hand up and down her back in a friendly manner, urging her to relax.

  “Hey, Jason,” she breathed into his shoulder. Pulling back, she greeted Joe and Jodie. Jason introduced her to his brother’s family.

  “It’s very nice to meet you. This is my mother, Mary Colt.” The diminutive woman with Renae’s slate eyes smiled warmly and held out her hand for him to clasp.

  “It’s a pleasure, Mrs. Colt. I’ve heard a lot of great things about you.”

  Renae had leaned over and was talking to Jodie’s girls while Jodie and his wife were being introduced to Joe’s friends in the surrounding pews that had come in late and hadn’t gotten the round of introductions before the service started.

  Mrs. Colt didn’t immediately let go of Jason’s hand, clasping it tightly in her cold, dry grasp. “I haven’t heard near enough about you. Won’t you join us for lunch? We usually go back to my center for lunch. They have pot roast on Sundays. Your family can come, too, if they want.”

  Joe had heard the exchange, and said, “Go on, Jason. We’ll meet up with you later. Emily’s got some sort of salad waiting for us at home.” His grimace spoke volumes about his opinion on the salad. “It was good to see you again, Mary.” He doffed an imaginary hat at Renae’s mother.

  “I would like that, if it’s okay with Renae.” She was still bent at the waist, talking to Savannah and Sarah, probably to avoid looking at him. Hearing her name, she looked up at Jason.

  “What?”

  “Your mother invited me to lunch with you guys. I haven’t had pot roast in ages.” He smiled, hoping the blanch on her cheeks would fade.

  “Um… sure.”

  “I rode here with Jodie, so can I ride with you?”

  Mrs. Colt jumped in. “Absolutely, dear. But you’ll have to sit in the back. I can’t climb in the back seat of that monstrosity she calls a vehicle.”

  Jason chuckled. “I wouldn’t dream of doing it differently.”

  Lunch was an experience for Jason. Mary Colt lived in an assisted living institution, but it was a nice one. Effort had been put forth to make the cafeteria like a restaurant: linen tablecloths and napkins, votive candle centerpieces, real plates and servers. Jason was impressed. He wondered which card he’d have to sell to afford a place like this for his dad.

  They ate with Mary’s constant chatter about her schedule for the week. She talked of bridge on Tuesday, Bible study on Wednesday, bingo on Thursday, Zumba classes, a sewing group, and her book club. Amid that were interruptions from friends, more elderly ladies and men, coming up to introduce themselves to Jason, the fresh face in the crowd, and greet Renae, a familiar visitor. Mary fairly glowed under the attention.

  “Joe’s son? How’s that old coot doin’?” A huge man about his dad’s age, had stopped to greet everybody warmly.

  “He’s doing really well,” Jason lied easily. Strangers didn’t need to know all the details. “My brother and his family are in town this weekend, so he’s getting lots of attention for his stories.” He wondered if Renae was feeling more relaxed after church or if she was still wound up from the sermon. He snaked his hand over to rest on her thigh and could feel it stiffen under his touch. Yup. Still tense. Gently he massaged her leg while listening raptly to the man talk.

  “Joe could tell some doozies, too. You the younger son? Aren’t you a musician or something?”

  No secrets in a small town… “Yes, sir. The saxophone.”

  “You should come out here and play sometime. Us old folks would really enjoy that.”

  “I just might, if it’s all right with the management.” The retirement facility was a really nice place, and Jason wouldn’t be surprised if they jumped to have him play some music at dinner. It seemed like they would do whatever it took to make it a really nice experience for the residents.

  Mary let a huge yawn escape after she’d finished her lunch and blushed. “I’m terribly sorry. It’s past my nap time.” She offered weakly as an excuse.

  “It’s no problem, Mom. I’ve got to be getting back, too.” Renae looked at Jason. “You ready?”

  He nodded and thanked Mary for lunch, grabbing her chair for her when she stood. “It was a real pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Colt. I hope we can do this again sometime.”

  She patted his hand. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of each other, what with Renae in her situation and all.”

  What situation? He looked at Renae with a question since he had absolutely no idea what Mary was talking about, and he saw every drop of blood drain from her face.

  “Thanks, Mom. See you later.” Renae grabbed Jason’s hand, the first touch she’d actually instigated all day, and pulled him from the building. He followed dutifully.

  In her van, the easy banter they had shared the night before was gone. Jason could tell something was bothering her and thought he had an idea what it was. In a gesture he thought would be reassuring, he reached over and laid his hand on her knee, patting it gently. It served to make her nervous though, as she stiffened visibly.

  “I think I know what’s wrong,” he offered hopefully.

  She increased her speed, and Jason saw she was suddenly in a hurry to get him home so she didn’t have to talk to him.

  “You have no idea what’s wrong, Jason.” The words came out with a tired sigh that tugged at Jason’s heart.

  “All that talk about temptation and God’s judgment on the weak is just that. Talk.”

  “How can you know that?” The disbelief in her voice was evident.

  “Discussions on dogma and theology aside, I have an observation, if I may.” Removing his hand from her knee, he turned his body to watch her as he spoke. She nodded, almost imperceptibly, so he continued. “We have something, Renae. God, or whoever, created us to go together, man and woman. He created us to enjoy the experience. Do you really believe he would have made sex so enjoyable if he didn’t want us to do it? I think it’s a strong compatibility indicator in our decision to find a mate.” He took a deep breath. She could easily take this next part the wrong way. “You and I fit together better than most, don’t you think? That night we shared was amazing, and as an indicator, I’d like to further our relationship. I know we’ve sort of done things backwards, but for us, it seems to work. I saw your reaction to the sermon, and I know you’re bothered by the preacher’s words.”

  She snorted, an endearing noise from the back of her throat.

  “I’m not just trying to get you back into bed. I haven’t ever felt this way about a woman before, and if I were a religious man, I’d think it was God’s way of saying we’re supposed to be together. Not the other way around.”

  She sighed. “I know, Jason. That’s exactly why this is so hard. There’s more, but this isn’t the place to talk about it. Sorry.”

  She kept being evasive, and he chalked it up to inexperience, getting to know her, whatever. “Fair enough. I’m not pushing, I just didn’t want this to come between us. Last night was great, and I want to keep seeing where we’re going. I just don’t want you to shut us down.”

  “I’m not shutting anything down. I just want to think.” She pulled up in front of the shop and put the car in park but didn’t shut off the engine. Apparently, she wasn’t planning on coming inside. If she wanted to think, he would let her take her time. Something told him it would be worth it if she ever came to the conclusions he’d come to.

  “You take your time. I’m not going anywhere. I think we’re right together, and I think we should see where this takes us. I’ll wait for you to come to the s
ame conclusion, or not.”

  He looked into her gray eyes and saw confusion searching his face. Her irises danced from one eye to the next. She seemed to want to say something but was unsure of how he would react.

  “Talk to me. What’s going on behind those beautiful eyes of yours?”

  She took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and paused for a small eternity before finally saying, “I’m—” Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. “I’ll call you later. Okay?”

  “Okay.” He didn’t kiss her even though he badly wanted to. She was wrestling with something big, and he would let her battle her own inner stuff. He wanted to help, but if she wasn’t comfortable opening up to him, he would let her take her time.

  Chapter 20

  Renae watched him walk away with a determined step, sniffling back tears of frustration. She could only blame hormones because she couldn’t figure out why she was frustrated. He was behaving perfectly.

  Too perfect.

  He was easy to talk to, said all the right things, a great kisser, gorgeous, and fantastic in bed if her drunken recollections could be trusted. He seemed to understand her, really understand her, as a person. She’d never met anyone like him.

  For the last eighteen years of her life, she’d been a mom first and foremost. She didn’t know how to be anything else, and if her activities since Renae had left were any indication, she didn’t really know what else she wanted to be. Renae obviously wasn’t a quilter, a reader, a work-out junkie, or a crochet queen. But she was about to be a mom again.

  And she couldn’t understand why the words didn’t come. She’d intended to tell him. He needed to know. He’d been so understanding about everything else, was willing to give her the space she needed to think, wasn’t pushing her into bed again, and even went to church to see her. He went to lunch with her mom, for crying out loud. That couldn’t have been fun for him, being introduced to every nosy little bitty that stopped by the table to see who the stud was Renae had brought.

  A hysterical giggle escaped her throat as she started the van and started driving home. She was waiting for the other shoe to drop. To find out he was exceptionally gassy or didn’t like kittens or had a terminal illness or…

  Hated babies.

  She was pissed at herself for not just saying the words. How hard could it be? “I’m pregnant.” Two words. One of them had actually come out, but her throat had closed up, and she couldn’t tell him. Saying them in the front seat of her van wasn’t exactly how she’d pictured the conversation, and something inside her had clutched those two words in its grasp and hadn’t let go of them.

  She had to tell him before she found out how perfect they could be together. Jason said they were good together, and she’d felt it too. She was getting attached to him, couldn’t stop thinking about him. She was falling for him. It would be typical of her luck if she fell in love with him before she told him she was pregnant, and he didn’t want to have anything else to do with her.

  The sermon about consequences for succumbing to temptation had hit her below the belt. Literally. The nausea she’d fought down the entire service was only quelled by nibbling on the crackers she’d stashed in her purse. Her mother’s glances at her belly hadn’t helped either. And her parting words about ‘Renae’s situation’ had cut deeply. Her mother had guessed, too.

  She had to tell him before he figured it out as well. She wasn’t far enough along to be showing yet. She could tell, but her stomach just looked like it did after a huge meal, nothing obvious. And the morning sickness wasn’t that bad, just random moments of nausea at inopportune times. But some of her co-workers had been eyeing her suspiciously, and soon enough the rest of her friends would figure it out. And then she would be showing, and it would be undeniable.

  Pulling into her driveway, she vowed to tell him the next time she saw him. That week. If he didn’t contact her, she would call him and invite him over for dinner. She would tell him then. He deserved for her to be up front about the whole thing.

  When she got inside her kitchen, her land line phone was ringing. She knew it was her mother, the only person who refused to use her cell phone. Mary Colt thought they were more expensive than regular phones.

  “Why haven’t you told that young man you’re pregnant?” Renae flinched under her mother’s accusatory tone.

  “What?”

  “Why haven’t you told him?”

  “How do you know I haven’t?”

  “A man acts differently when his girl is pregnant. He was staring at your breasts, your face, touching your leg. If he’d known, he would have been looking at your stomach, touching you more. Why haven’t you told him? Is he the father?”

  “Of course he is… ugh… I can’t talk about this with you right now, Mom.” Would he really react that way? Would he touch her more?

  “He needs to know.”

  “I know, I just don’t know how to tell him. I’ll do it though. I promise.”

  “If you haven’t told him by the next time I see him, I just might have to let it slip.” The sudden threat in the tone of Mary’s voice sent Renae’s hackles up.

  She lowered her voice to a near whisper but sounded more desperate than threatening. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “I wouldn’t want to meddle, but you’re doing this wrong.”

  “How do you know what I’m doing?” Her frustration was rising. This was exactly why she hadn’t told anyone. EVERYBODY had an opinion when it came to pregnancy. Every aspect of it.

  “It’s clear to me you are having problems right now. You need to fix this. This stress isn’t good for my grandchild.”

  “Right.” Renae was trying to hide the cynicism from her voice but feared she was unsuccessful. Her mother, however, was undaunted.

  “Listen, Renae. I love you and Dalton more than my own life, so I think I know what’s going on. I can relate.”

  How could her mother relate to getting knocked up by a stranger in her mid-forties? She suppressed the scoff rising in her throat, but her mom continued.

  “I’m a mom. I know that you’re afraid to live and forget that you’re a mom too.” A sigh rang through the phone lines, and Renae settled herself in for a self-deprecating, guilt-inducing lecture. Of course, her mother was right. She was afraid of forgetting she was a mother because around Jason, she forgot everything except the two of them. “When you kids were little, Richard and I scheduled date nights.”

  “I remember those.” Of course, once she’d gotten old enough, Renae had to baby sit Dalton.

  “That was our time to be away from y’all and be together. We got to forget we were parents for a little while. Richard took me out to eat, dancing, or drinks. A couple of times, he rented a motel room, and we…”

  “I get it mom. Please don’t finish that sentence.”

  A girlish giggle that was so uncharacteristic of her mother made Renae want to take an ice-pick to her mental eyeball.

  “I’m just saying that you need to forget every now and then that you are a mother. Live your life with Jason because whether you like it or not, he’s a part of it now. And he seems like a nice man who would love to take care of you. If he’s not in love with you already, he’ll probably be there soon enough.”

  “Geez, Mom. I barely know him.”

  “You know him well enough to spread those legs for him.”

  Her mother’s blatant observation was enough to silence Renae for the next twenty more minutes of lectures before she was finally able to hang up the phone. Going into the living room, drained from the conversation, she picked up the coffee mugs left over from last night and took them to the kitchen to put in the dishwasher. Her mother was right, and she hated to admit it.

  She needed to tell him, and the longer she waited, the harder it would be. She knew why it was so hard now. Renae couldn’t handle the rejection. She really liked Jason and didn’t want to screw it up. She wasn’t sure she could trust him not to hurt her the way Cody had. She didn’t t
hink he would be the controlling monster Cody had turned out to be. But she’d put her trust in the words Cody had said when they’d first dated, and he’d ended up throwing all those words back in her face later in the marriage, making a mockery of them. And she was afraid of forgetting her responsibilities as a mother to both Kelly and the baby.

  And then there was the sermon. If the preacher were to be believed, her mortal soul was in danger of an eternity of hellfire and damnation.

  She looked at her calendar hanging on the wall to see what she had going on this week. It was Thanksgiving, and she had plans to make. Kelly would be here for dinner but couldn’t stay since she’d gotten a job at a department store and had to work most of the week, including Black Friday. It made her sad. She’d been counting on spending time with her daughter to help get her mind off the baby. But that wasn’t going to happen. In fact, after listening to her friends talk about their plans, it looked like she would be spending a lot of time alone.

  Yay.

  Chapter 21

  On Monday she traded shifts with a woman at the bank so she could make a doctor’s appointment. Cheryl, her coworker wanted to go shopping on Friday after Thanksgiving, and since Kelly wouldn’t be in town for their annual shopping extravaganza, Renae was eager to acquiesce. It would be painful to stay at home doing nothing when she and Kelly were accustomed to making a game of the day. If she wasn’t going to go shopping with her daughter, she may as well work.

  Her appointment was uneventful except for peeing on her hand instead of in the cup. At least they didn’t require huge amounts of urine for their testing since Renae only managed a few drops in the required receptacle. She listened to the heartbeat, only shedding a few tears, wishing with all her heart she had actually told Jason, and he was there with her holding her hand through all of this.

  She would tell him soon, she promised herself, yet again.