by Marchman, AC
I jab him right in his jaw and he swears loudly. Ha, direct hit and I feel a small triumph.
“Get off of my property, Matt. Right now before I call the police on your ass, again.” Julie storms out of the house and is heading right towards us. “You have no right to be here, and obviously, you aren’t wanted here.”
“Fine, I’ll leave. But uh, dude. Just so you know, she kissed me back and she liked it. Just ask her.” Matt has a bruise forming on the left side of his face and I don’t think I could have been dealt a lower blow then he just did. He hops in his beat up piece of crap truck and spins gravel as he leaves.
Julie looks at me, giving me a what the hell was that look and I shrug my shoulders. She gives me a slight smile and heads back inside to tend to a little boy who’s looking out the glass door.
I turn to Allie and I shove my hands in my pockets. “Is it true? Did you kiss him back?” My heart drops to my feet as I wait for her answer, which is taking far too long. I nod my head. “I get it. If you want him back, take him. I won’t interfere with you two. I wish you nothing but happiness, Allie.” I turn around, because I can’t stand to look at her. I understand that I hurt her, too, but this...this is like cheating.
“Donovan, wait!” she yelps and I stop in my tracks. I don’t turn to face her yet, but I feel her presence right behind me.
“What? What is there to say?”
“There’s a whole lot to say. We need to have a serious conversation, like now. But I need to take Jackson home first.”
“Jackson? As in your son, Jackson?” This time I do turn to look at her and her eyes immediately shift towards the house. The little boy comes running out and grabs ahold of Allie’s legs. Her hand rubs tiny circles on his back. She’s a natural at this mom thing.
“Momma, who is this?” He stares at me with the same green eyes as his mother’s.
“Hi, my name is Donovan. I’m one of your momma’s friends.” I bend down to his level. I’ve learned to do this when I have children as patients. If you get on their level, they aren’t nearly as scared of you. Too bad I don’t have a sticker or sucker right now. All the anger I had just five minutes leaves me as I look as the flesh and blood of the woman I love. “What’s your name, bud?”
“Jackson Marshall Anderson,” he says proudly. It makes me smile, even though my heart hurts right now.
“It’s nice to meet you, Jackson Marshall Anderson. My name is Dr. Donovan James Callahan.” His eyes become wide with fear and he hides behind his momma’s legs. “Don’t worry, I’m not your doctor. No shots, I promise.” I hold my hands up so he can see I don’t have a huge syringe. He peeks at me, and when he’s satisfied that I’m not going to hurt him, he comes back out.
“You’re a doctor?”
“Yep, you got it.” I glance up to Allie and she’s smiling, watching her son’s interaction with me. I’ve always been good with kids. I wanted to be a teacher when I was really little, but that changed when I helped my baby sister with a really bad cut on her knee. Or at least, I thought it was terrible when I was six. She cut her knees on the gravel in the driveway, so I ran to get water and bandages. She was screaming and crying so loud, but when I put the band-aids on her knees, she calmed down. That’s when I knew what I was destined to be. Since then, I’ve always wanted to be a doctor.
“Are you rich?” His green eyes become bright and full of curiosity. I can’t help but to laugh.
“A lot of people think doctors have a lot of money. I only do it because I want to help people. It doesn’t matter if I make all the money in the world or nothing at all. I do it because I want to.” My answer seems to satisfy him.
“Do you cut people open?”
“Uh, no. I have, but not on a daily basis.”
“Cool! Momma, did you hear that? He’s cut someone open before!” He wraps his arms back around Allie’s legs and jumps up and down. I stand to face them. She smiles sweetly at her son and it makes me miss my own mother. I remember her smiling at me like that before, like she was proud of me. I haven’t had that in a long time.
“We don’t have to take him home right now. He can stay and hang out, that is, if your momma says it’s okay.” I wink at Jackson and he grabs her hand and yanks.
“Please, can I stay for a little while? Please?” he begs.
“Sure, that’s perfectly fine with me. You know I love having you around, bud,” she smiles, ruffling his dark hair.
He runs back inside to Julie, yelling, “Gramma Julie, I’m hungry. Can we have chicken nuggets?” He slams the door behind him.
We stand there, just staring at each other. Words seem to be failing us both. I try to speak, but I can’t seem to form a complete sentence. I want so bad to tell her my heart hasn’t been whole since she left me in Savannah, that I love her more than life itself, and that I want my forever to be her. She speaks first instead.
“Donovan, I know you drove up here to see me. And I’m sorry that you saw Matt kissing me. But yes, I did kiss him back; to get back at you.” Tears start trickling down her cheeks. “You have no idea the hurt that you caused when I realized you lied to me. I told you before, I can’t stand lying. I detest it, and you blatantly lied through your teeth to me. Why couldn’t you be honest?” She puts her face in her hands and I know she doesn’t want me to see her cry.
I take a small step towards her, wanting nothing more but to hold hold her. “Allie, I’m so, so sorry. I know I should have been honest with you. I was going to be; I wanted to tell you when we were alone and I could tell you myself. I didn’t want you to hear that shit from Frankie.” I look at the ground; I can’t bear to see the hurt I have caused her. “Can you blame me? Would you think differently of me if I told you to begin with? Would you even consider being with me once you learned that I slept with my best friend’s step-mom?” I feel the sting of unshed tears, but I try to hold them back. “I hate that I’ve lied to you and I hate myself even more for causing you all this pain. I wanted to tell you, I really did. But I was too much of a pussy to.”
I hear a muffled sob come from her and it breaks me down. I let the tears fall unchecked. Then she says exactly what I didn’t want to hear. “Donovan, you need to leave. Now.”
Chapter 27
Allie
Those five words I just said to him break my heart, but I needed to say them. I can’t think straight with him here. I want him to take me in his arms and take me back to Atlanta; I want everything to be like it was before this crap happened. But it’s not. It’s all different now.
“Allie, please...,” his voice cracks and it almost breaks me down. I inhale, find the courage to stand by my decision, and breathe out.
“I’m not saying goodbye forever. I’m saying I need to think and I can’t do it with you right here. I need to figure out if you’re the one I want to be with. I don’t even know if I can trust you right now. Please, all I’m asking for is time.” I back up, not bearing being so close to him. “Go home, Donovan.”
He lifts his head and I see the tears that dampen his cheeks. Oh my God, this is so hard. I turn and walk towards the house, not looking back. I can’t take it and I want to just spend some time with my son before he has to go home. I open the door and I hear Donovan jerk his car door open. It doesn’t shut immediately, but I refuse to look back. I let the glass door slam behind me and walk into the kitchen where Jackson and Mom are putting nuggets into the oven.
“Where is Dr. Donovan?” my son asks. He stretches his little neck to look behind me.
I sigh, then I hear the car peel out of the driveway. “He had to go home, baby boy.” I leave it at just that. I’m not going to tell him I sent him away, that I need to sort out my screwed up feelings.
“Oh,” his little face drops, then goes back to helping Mom. She gives me a sympathetic smile.
“You guys need some help?” I rub my hands together, ready to throw myself into something, anything, to get my mind off the man just drove all the way here to talk to me. The man t
hat I just told to leave. My mom hands a masher to me and points to the silver pot of boiling water.
“Jackson wanted some of my homemade mashed potatoes with his chicken nuggets. It’s still boiling, so keep an eye out.” My mother knows me so well. She knows that I need distraction in order not to think about the problems in my life. However, I know the conversation that will happen later. I dread it, so I dive right in and help make Jackson the best mashed potatoes he has ever had.
I put the side dish on the plates while Mom gets the nuggets. Jackson set the table for us. We sit down and I ask my son to pray for us. He folds his tiny hands and closes his eyes. He clears his throat before he begins.
“Dear Jesus, thank you for our food. Thank you for Mommy and Daddy. Thank you for Momma, Uncle Jon, Aunt Jodi, Gramma Julie, and my cousins. Thank you for Dr. Donovan and his really cool car. Thank you for letting me meet him today. Amen.”
The last couple sentences almost make me burst into tears, but I refrain. I don’t want my son to see me cry. We eat the rest of our lunch, engaging in small talk with the little guy. He tells us how he does not like Kara and that she follows him around all the time. Jackson tells us about his little friends in the neighborhood, his toys, and how much he wants to go to a monster truck rally. I absorb everything he says like I’m a sponge, never wanting to miss a moment that I’m blessed with to have him around. I look at the clock and frown. “It’s time to go back home, Jackson. Let’s go, buddy.” He hops down off the chair and hugs Mom around her legs. She returns it with a bear hug of her own and gives him three kisses, which mean ‘I love you’. He runs to get his shoes and I stand in the kitchen with Mom. I know what’s coming.
“What exactly happened? And why isn’t Donovan here anymore?” Her face is stern and I know she means business. I gulp back my fear of the woman that gave birth to me. She doesn’t scare me often, but right now, I want to jump out of my skin.
“Because I needed to come here and think. I can’t have him here, clouding my ability to sort things out. I don’t really want to talk about this right now. Can we talk when I get back home from taking Jackson back?”
“Oh, you better believe it.” She turns away from me and it makes my heart drop. Why is she so pissed off at me? Why can’t she understand what I need is time? Before I really get the chance to think anymore about it, the super cute kid that I birthed comes around the corner.
“I’m ready, momma!” He has put his shoes on the wrong feet and it makes me giggle.
After I help him fix his sneakers, we walk back hand in hand to the Anderson’s. Mary is outside, weeding the flower beds when we come up the sidewalk. “Hi, Mommy!” he shouts as he throws his arms around her neck. I can’t lie; it send just a pang of jealousy through me. It doesn’t last, because I know this is the best decision I could have made for him. I bend down to his level.
“I’ll see you around, sport. I’m in town for a few more days, so we get to hang out some more.” The thought makes me crack a smile and he squeals.
“Yay! Can I see you tomorrow?”
“Sure thing, baby.” I wrap my arms around him. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Will Dr. Donovan be around this time? I like him.” He rests his head on my shoulder. I try not to shudder.
“I doubt it, but we’ll see.”
“Okay, bye bye, Momma.”
I blow him one last kiss as he heads inside, probably to get back to his football game he left. Mary grins at me. “So, who is this Donovan? Is he your new boyfriend?”
I lightly groan and pray she doesn’t hear me. “Well, it’s a bit complicated right now. We’re having a bit of a rough patch.”
“Well, sweetheart, I’ll tell you this. If you love him, try to make it work. You will only kick yourself later on down the road if you didn’t at least try. But I think you realize that. So I won’t stick my nose where it doesn’t belong.” Her gray eyes express understanding, like she knows what she’s talking about from experience. I don’t ask questions. I just smile and wave bye as I head back down to Mom’s house. I don’t even want to go back, knowing she is going to have a nice, little sit-down with me.
As I walk in the door, Mom is sitting in the living room, obviously waiting on me to come home. The look in her eyes says that she’s not to be messed with. She pats the seat next to her and I don’t question it. I plant my butt right next to her and prepare for the worst.
“Allison, I don’t know what the hell you’re thinking, but I think you’re making a big mistake with Donovan. I know he lied about things, but you have to understand why he did what he did.” I try to speak, but she cuts me off. “It’s pretty obvious he loves you, or he wouldn’t have driven over eight hours to see you. That should count for something.”
“Mom, I see where you’re coming from. Trust me, I really do. But I’ve told you before, I detest lying. It has a snowball effect. What if he couldn’t stop the lies once he started them? How am I supposed to know what to believe from him?”
“Granted, this is true. You have to understand, Allie, that life is way too short. You should know that firsthand. I didn’t get nearly enough time with your dad. His life was taken way too soon, and now I regret that getting in more time with him. Now, I’ll never get the chance.” Her look softens as she takes my hand into hers. “Just think about it, sweetheart. You don’t want to let something slip through your fingers forever.”
I nod my head, knowing she means well. However, my hard headed ways come from my father. I still need the time to think this out. As much as it breaks my heart that I forced him to leave, I have to stand by my decision. We sit in silence for awhile; her thinking about Dad and I about Donovan.
I’m the first to break the quietness. “Mom, did Dad ever lie to you? Not just a white lie, but about something bigger than that?”
She lets out a heavy sigh and clutches her chest. “One time, and it was the only time. It was so long ago. He had went out one night with the boys one night, before we were married. He said he would call me when he got home at ten. I waited by the phone for hours, with no word from him.” Mom wipes a stray tear from her cheek. “Back then, we didn’t have cell phones or even pagers. So, all I could do is worry sick about him. I finally fell asleep on the couch. When I woke up the next morning, I was furious. I took my dad’s car keys and was bound and determined to lay into him.”
She lets out a little laugh. “I was going to let him have it. I pulled up to his house and saw his car. I knocked as hard as I could, not even caring if the whole neighborhood heard me. When he answered the door, he was dressed in a gray suit. When I gave him the death stare, he smiled and took my hand. Without so much as a word, he took me downstairs to the basement. When I saw it, I almost passed out from shock. There were roses petals and candles lit.” I look at her, urging her to continue.
“The basement didn’t have any windows, so it wasn’t as weird as it sounds. Anyways, he had spent all night setting up the basement. He never even went out with his friends. That’s when he asked me to marry him.”
I sit, stunned and confused. “So, Dad told you a lie about going out, when he was actually preparing the place to ask you to marry him?” I shake my head, then giggle. The thought of Mom and Dad young was...well, I never thought about it.
“Yep, that’s exactly what he did. Now, sit on that one and think about it.” She stands to answer the door. I walk off into the kitchen, hoping I can find some chocolate to calm my nerves. As I search through the pantry in search of some M&M’s, Mom comes back in with a brown paper package.
“It’s addressed to you.” She studies the postmark. “There’s no return address, but it came from Georgia.”
“That’s weird. I don’t even know if Donovan is back in Atlanta, so there’s no way it’s from him.” I take the small, square box and shake it. I don’t hear anything, so I carefully tear open the tape on the sides. I open the top and look at it in confusion. “What the hell is this?” I pull out a tiny hourglass. There’s
a note on the bottom, so I unfold it and read it aloud. “Your time is almost up.”
I throw the box down, all of a sudden terrified. Whoever this is knows my mother’s address and surely, my address in Atlanta. “Who would do such a thing? And why?” My voice trembles as fear starts to consume me. My mother wraps her arm around my shoulders, not saying a word. Then it hits me. Only one person would do this; Claire Dubois.
Chapter 28
Donovan
I sure as hell don’t know my way around Lynchburg. When Allie told me to go home, I didn’t listen. I’ve decided to stick around until she decides she wants to go back to Georgia. I figure I can find some stuff to do around this place. But geez, it’s confusing. I don’t understand how I can be on 29 South and 501 North at the same time. Thank goodness for GPS, otherwise, I’d be wandering around this place like an idiot.
Apparently, the best hotel to stay in this town is the Wingate. I checked in there as soon as Allie told me to leave. I’ll stay as long as I need to get her to talk to me. If nothing else, I’m persistent.