“It’s not the same, Laura! I was married to the man! I shared his bed, lived with him every day! I should have been able to see what he was really like.” Jordan stopped to wipe her eyes. “Maybe I didn’t want to see what he was really like. I mean, he was there for me when Rob and I broke up and I guess it never occurred to me that he was anything but decent.
“Then again I thought that about Rob, too,” she said with a mirthless laugh.
“Oh, sweetie, Rob is nothing like him.”
“Rob wasn’t honest with me either.”
“You were kids back then, Jordan! He is nothing now like he was back then. Even I can tell that after spending some time with him. So what is it you think you’ve done to force him away?”
“The list is endless.”
“Come on,” Laura coaxed. “It can’t be that bad. Tell me.”
Jordan told of the time they had spent together, including the afternoon they’d left the boys with Claudia. “When we came home here that night, he asked me to move here and I just, I…I…clammed up. I told him I needed to think about it and he said that if I didn’t know what I wanted with him by now, we weren’t on the same page.” Taking a tissue from the box Laura held out, Jordan attempted to clean up her face.
“I told him he was being unreasonable; I needed time to think about it because I wanted to be sure. He never once said he loved me. There was no mention of feelings; it was all just ‘Move here, Jordan.’ In the end, he drove off and I didn’t hear from him until I woke up in the hospital.” Taking a deep, cleansing breath, she looked at her sister. “Oh, Laura…I’ve made a mess of everything. Again!”
Big sisters were great for many reasons, Jordan realized. The main one being that they didn’t judge too harshly and always seemed to know what to say.
Laura sat back down on the bed beside her sister and hugged her while Jordan cried it out. Sometime later, Jordan just seemed to sag against her. “Why don’t you rest for a little while? I’m going to see what’s in the house for lunch. I’ll come back in a few minutes and check on you, okay?”
Jordan nodded and reclined against her pillows. It felt so good to get it all out in the open. She was thankful to Laura for listening to her, and she found herself fighting to keep her eyes open. As soon as her head hit the cushioned softness, exhaustion claimed her.
Casually walking down the hall and into the kitchen, Laura suggested the boys go outside and play while she made lunch. Once the door was securely closed, Laura went in search of Jordan’s laptop, booted it up, and began a people search. Only partially finding what she was looking for, she grabbed her cell phone and called information in search of her old friend Claudia.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, Laura was wiping tears of laughter from her own eyes. She and Claudia had been close in high school, and this conversation had really reminded her of how much she had missed her old friend.
“You know, as much as I could sit here and reminisce with you all day, we have got to do something to help these two out,” Laura began.
“The way I see it, you’ve got to orchestrate a way for them to be alone. How hard could that be?”
Laura described to Claudia how she’d tried to do that earlier and how Rob clearly had not taken the hint.
“Men,” they said in unison.
“Do you think this is going to work?” Laura asked.
“It has to, Laura. I’ve been worried about Rob all week long. I told them both I wasn’t sure if their getting involved again was a good idea, but I thought they deserved a second chance. Seeing them together that day? You’d have to be blind not to see how much they feel for each other.”
“Same here. After seeing the two of them together this morning, well, it just about broke my heart watching him leave the boys. I wish Jordan wasn’t so stubborn!”
“Please!” Claudia laughed. “My brother goes full throttle like a steamroller when he wants something. No doubt he just started making plans for them without even talking to Jordan about it first. Men can be such idiots.”
“That I have to agree on.”
“I tried explaining to him, from a woman’s point of view, why he needed to give Jordan some time, but he just couldn’t see my point.” After a derisive snort, she added, “Well, maybe I should say he wouldn’t see my point. He always was a stubborn one.”
“I think Jordan’s giving him a run for his money. She is so convinced she is incapable of making the right decision about anything that she’s afraid to take a chance on this relationship. I never thought of her as being insecure, but after sitting and talking with her today, I am well and truly shocked.”
“Her ex must have been some monster to turn her into such a mess.”
“You have no idea.” Laura sighed. “But to be honest with you, we’ve been dealing with her physical recovery for what seems like forever, and I guess Jordan didn’t want any of us to know how much damage he’d done to her psychologically. I never saw this coming.”
“And then there’s my brother just plowing through and pushing her to do things his way and on his timetable. That poor woman hasn’t had a chance to figure out which end is up in her life.” Claudia got quiet for a moment. “I can only hope he’ll learn something from this and figure out not everyone thinks and feels the same way he does.”
“Amen to that,” Laura said.
At the sound of the front door opening and the boys coming in, Laura cut the conversation short. “I’ll call you later,” Laura whispered into the phone as she quickly hung up.
“What’s going on there, big man?” she asked as she put the finishing touches on the soup and sandwiches she had prepared while on the phone.
“Is lunch ready, Aunt Laura?” Joseph asked, poking his head through the doorway.
“Sure is, handsome! Tell your brother to come on in, too, and wash up while I go see if your mom is awake yet.” Joseph agreed and ran around to the backyard to expedite the process of getting to lunch.
Gently knocking on Jordan’s door before entering, Laura found her sister just beginning to stir. “Hey, are you hungry?”
“I don’t deserve to eat,” Jordan mumbled and pulled the blankets over her head.
Laura rolled her eyes, walked over to the bed, and yanked the blankets out of Jordan’s hands. “Okay, drama queen, that’s enough now.” After a brief tug-of-war with the blankets, Jordan finally sat up.
“Look, you can sit and wallow in here all day if that’s what you really want, but I’m telling you, it’s not healthy, it’s not going to help anything, and your children would really like to spend some time with you. I think it would go a long way toward making them feel better if they saw you up and about, trying to interact with them.”
Laura simply stared down at Jordan and waited for her to make a move to get out of bed. Seeing she need a little more convincing, Laura sighed wearily, sat down on the bed, and offered up a lengthy list of reasons why it was important to get up and to be done with her pity party, for the boys’ sakes.
After a long pep talk, Laura led Jordan out of the bedroom and helped her to the living room sofa. She stood in the kitchen and prepared Jordan a sandwich while Jake and Joseph chatted quietly with their mother about all they wanted to do that day with Aunt Laura. Jordan smiled at them and once again felt grateful for her sister’s presence.
“Hey, guys, you know what I was thinking?” Laura said from the kitchen as she placed Jordan’s lunch on a tray to carry out to her.
“What?” they asked excitedly.
“I was thinking that maybe we should give your mom a little peace and quiet tonight since I know she didn’t get much of that at the hospital last night. I thought we’d grab some dinner, see a movie, and then maybe, just maybe, we could…oh, I don’t know…maybe we could…get a room at that hotel I saw on my way into town. What do you think?”
“Yea!” they squealed with delight. Jordan cringed at the loud tone of their voices. “Can we, Mom? Can we? Can we go with Aunt Laura to the hotel?”
“Can we have dinner at Rob’s restaurant?”
“Can we get the extra-large soda at the movie theater?”
“There’s a really great ice cream guy down by the beach. Can we go there, too?” Laura’s head moved back and forth as if she were watching a tennis match as she tried to keep track of her nephews’ endless chatter.
“Laura,” Jordan began in a hushed tone, hoping to prompt her boys into lowering their own voices. “You don’t have to clear out the house for me, you know. I’ll still sleep if you’re all here.”
“Well, maybe I’m not doing it for you,” she said with a smirk. “Maybe the thought of sharing the bed with you or sleeping on the couch is unappealing to me.” Her eyes twinkled with amusement. The sisters looked at one another and laughed.
“I don’t kick anymore, Laura,” Jordan said teasingly.
“Sure, and I don’t snore anymore, either.” They burst into another fit of giggles while Jake and Joseph watched them in confusion.
“Grown-ups are weird,” Jake whispered to his brother.
“Look, if that’s what you want to do, then far be it from me to stop you. All I ask is that I have my prescription here so I can sleep.”
“Great. We’ll hang out here until around four o’clock and then we’ll be out of your hair. Besides, that hotel I want to stay at is right on the beach! It’s not every day that I get the chance to sleep in oceanfront property.” Waggling her eyebrows, she added, “I’m considering this a minivacation. Just don’t tell Mark I said that! He’ll think we cooked up the whole thing as an excuse for me to get away!”
Jordan tried not to take it personally that her sons were packed up and bouncing up and down at the front door by three thirty that afternoon. After all, how could she possibly compete with dinner, a movie, ice cream, and a night away at a hotel? She knew her children loved her; it was just that at this particular point in time, she was pitifully boring.
Again.
“I’ll hit the pharmacy and get your prescription back to you as soon as possible, okay?” Laura said as she grabbed her purse.
“Thanks, Sis. I took some ibuprofen earlier so I don’t want you to rush back here. As long as I have something before I get into bed, I’ll be fine.”
“What are you going to do with yourself tonight?” Laura asked before handing her overnight bag to Joseph to place in the car.
“Oh, big night,” Jordan teased. “I plan on sitting here on the sofa for an extended period of time channel surfing. Then I think I’ll make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner, followed by a nice hot shower to wash the hospital smell off me.”
“Sounds exciting,” Laura enthused. “I know we’ll all appreciate coming home to a cleaner you.”
“Ha, ha, very funny,” Jordan deadpanned.
“Do you want me to pick up some dinner and bring it back to you when I bring your prescription back? It won’t be a big deal, plus it would save you having to do anything.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll be fine. I don’t have much of an appetite, and a sandwich sounds like the perfect thing. Just as long as I eat something with that pill, I’ll be okay.”
She stayed in her position on the sofa as she kissed them all good-bye and watched as her sister and sons left the bungalow, talking excitedly about all the fun they were going to have.
She wanted to pout; she wanted to resent the fact that she was missing out—again—on having fun with her boys, but realized it was pointless. She pushed the petty thoughts from her mind and reminded herself she was fortunate her boys had their aunt to have fun with and make them smile.
The sun was beginning its glorious descent in the sky and the bungalow was cast in sun-streaked shadows. Silence followed, which was almost deafening, and for a brief moment, Jordan panicked. It was almost as if she was, yet again, back in the solitude of the hospital room—alone with all her fears and worries.
Tossing all negative thoughts aside, she shifted herself into a more comfortable position and scanned the television channels until she decided on a home-makeover show to pass the time. The show reminded her of her own situation. It would be so much easier if all it took was a bulldozer and a pretty home put together by a team of designers to put her life back on track.
In a perfect world…
* * *
“See, Aunt Laura? Isn’t this place great?” Jake exclaimed as he dragged his weary aunt through the doors of Rob’s restaurant.
Since leaving Jordan, Laura had taken the boys to play on a local playground, had ice cream on the beach, and checked into the hotel, where her nephews promptly demanded to swim in the indoor pool before heading out for dinner. Walking through the door and looking around, Laura prayed for at least a few brief moments of silence while they ate.
Rob spotted them through the wide front windows before they came through the door. His chest ached when he realized they would be leaving Virginia Beach soon and this could possibly be the last time he’d see them. If he didn’t do something soon, they wouldn’t be coming to see him anymore. Forcing a smile to his face, Rob walked over to greet a weary-looking Laura.
“Are we having fun yet?” he asked with a chuckle as he led them to a table.
“If I were Jordan, I’d pass out more often just to get a night away from this! Even if it would be in a hospital, it would be worth it!” They both laughed, and Laura reached into her purse and handed the boys some quarters to spend in the game room. “I wouldn’t doubt it if somehow that ear infection was related to all the nonstop talking Jordan has to listen to! The home version of these two is a lot less demanding than the vacation version! They never ran me this ragged during Jordan’s recovery. And believe me, we spent a lot of time together. Must be the beach air or something.” Laura laughed as she sagged a little in her seat. Rob smiled and was just about to hand Laura a menu and tell her what the specials were when suddenly Laura gasped.
“What’s the matter?” Rob asked, his voice laced with concern. “Are you okay?”
“In all the hoopla that’s gone on this afternoon, I forgot to run Jordan’s prescription back over to her.” Laura looked nervously over her shoulder in the direction of Jake and Joseph. “I hate to interrupt their fun, and I also hate the thought of them disrupting Jordan’s rest if we wait until later, and then there’s the movie we’re trying to make…” She stood, still lost in contemplation for a long moment.
“I could take it over to her,” Rob suggested.
“Really? You sure you wouldn’t mind?”
Oh, Laura. You evil genius.
“Sure. You sit, relax and eat with the boys, and go on with your plans. I’m not really needed here; I just hang around for lack of something better to do,” he said with an easy laugh.
“Oh, Rob, that would be great. I can’t believe I forgot to run that stuff over to her! Where is my head at?” she said jokingly as she collapsed back into her chair.
“Those boys certainly can do that to you,” Rob mused, remembering all the times in the last three weeks they had left him feeling a bit scattered, overwhelmed, and exhausted. He had loved every minute of it.
Laura fished in her purse and pulled out the bag from the pharmacy. “All the instructions are on the bottles.” She showed Rob. “She seemed to be doing fine with just the ibuprofen earlier, but it might be nice to have something a little stronger before going to bed.”
Rob took that comment in his own way. I’d like to be that something stronger that she took to bed tonight. Shaking his head clear, he took the bag from Laura.
“I’ll call Jordan and tell her you’re on your way,” Laura said as she rummaged around in her purse for her cell phone. “You have no idea how much I appreciate your help.” She smi
led brightly at him as Rob nodded and waved good-bye.
“Hey, Laura?” Rob called from the doorway.
“Yes?”
“Dinner’s on the house.”
Laura watched Rob walk out of the quaint little Italian restaurant with a look of amused satisfaction on her face. Certain she had just orchestrated a promising evening between two of the most clueless people she had ever known, she mentally patted herself on the back. Closing her eyes with a feeling of peace, she awaited the insanity that would surely return when the boys ran out of quarters.
Snapping out of her inner praise for her evil-genius behavior, she went back to searching through her purse for her elusive cell phone, pulling it out triumphantly and putting a call in to Jordan.
When she received no answer, her first instinct was to panic, but then she realized Jordan was probably in the shower. Besides, after witnessing her sister’s fragile state regarding Rob, maybe it was best if she didn’t know he was coming over. After leaving a brief message on voice mail, Laura hung up and immediately dialed Claudia’s number.
At the sound of Laura’s voice, Claudia grew anxious. “Well?”
“I just sent him on his way. He looked a little like I was sending him off to the executioner.”
“Oh, I think he’ll be just fine. Now we can sit back and bask in the pure genius of it all!”
Laura was laughing like a loon when the boys came back to the table. She didn’t dare explain why.
Chapter 12
He cursed himself as every kind of fool. He questioned his own sanity. He seriously reconsidered his offer as he drove past Jordan’s house for the third time. In the end, however, Rob finally pulled up in front, cut off the engine, and took a deep, fortifying breath before walking up to her front door and ringing the bell.
He waited. And waited. And waited some more. He rang the bell a second time and glanced through the front windows for signs of her.
Maybe she was sleeping.
Surely Laura would have called by now and told Jordan he was on his way. Just to be sure, he took out his cell phone and called Jordan himself. He heard the phone inside ring several times and then began to panic. Why wasn’t she answering the phone? What if she was lying somewhere in the house bleeding again?
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