by Rue Volley
“Brian? He was the friend who died?”
Jerod nodded to me. “Brian was a childhood friend, his father did business with ours, that was the original arrangement, but out there—I mean, at the estate, it was nice to have a friend. Brian was that to me and Jack. We knew him for years, him and his sister, his twin. Tasha.”
“I’m sorry, Jerod. It must have been horrible.”
“When Rose veered off of the road, we all laughed. I can still hear it in my head, but the laughter stopped when we hit the railing and then the car plunged into the water. Rose hit her head on the glass and the water was leaking in. She was out, so was Brian. I was awake and I had to shake Jack, I thought he may be...” he paused. I know that he thought that Jack was dead. He wrung his gloved hands and went on, needing to let this spill out of him. “He woke and then we did the only thing we could think of. We fought our way out of the car. I grabbed Brian and swam to the surface. Jack had to fight to get Rose out of the car. She was under too long and her head was bleeding very badly. By the time Jack surfaced, I knew that Brian was dead. I shook him; I tried to wake him up, but his neck was broken. I didn’t know it at the time, I mean, how could I?” He stopped as I placed my hand on his, and he looked down at it and sighed.
“Jack did CPR on Rose until she started breathing, but she never opened her eyes. He held her on that sandy shoreline, rocking her back and forth as he cried. It was the only time I ever saw a tear on my brother’s face.” I let my coffee spill as he held me transfixed with his retelling of what happened that night. I hissed as it hit my leg and soaked into my jeans. I stood up and Jerod followed, leaning over to see what I had done.
“Here.” He produced a handkerchief and I wiped it off as I shook my head.
“I’m so clumsy, I swear.”
Jerod smiled at me. “I would assume that is something my brother enjoys about you.”
I looked up at him, and my eyes became glossy for a moment. “Jack doesn’t enjoy anything about me; he left me, Jerod.”
Jerod placed his hands into the pockets of his coat. “Jack never leaves anything behind, not once he notices it.”
The words struck me. I let them absorb into me as the last bits of coffee soaked into my jeans. The burn fading as the mere thought of Jack holding onto me soaked in.
“You said that he married Rose on a dare?”
Jerod shifted from one foot to the other. It upset him, and I could tell. “I loved her, Abi. I did; I still do. I was young and stupid, I took her for granted, and I cheated on her. Their marriage was just as much a stab at me as it was at our mother. So it benefitted both of them in that sense. Rose was able to crush me and mother lost control of Jack. Little did we know that it would end like this.If I had only had a clear mind that night, then…”
I stopped him. “People make mistakes, Jerod. We have to take them and learn from them so that we don’t repeat it.”
He leaned in close to me. “Then learn with Jack, Abi. Stay away from him.”
My heart sank, but his words floated to the surface. They needed to; he was right. This was fruitless and without another thought, I tried my best to leave Jack Landon behind me in Rose Valley, where he probably belonged.
I sat on the edge of my bed. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun on the back of my head. I put my red tennis shoes on, dark skinny jeans, and my favorite black sweater. It was worn,but like most things we cherish, they usually are so that we settle into them. I blinked as the buzzer went off and stood up. I grabbed my purse and headed toward the door.
I opened it to see Sam standing there. He had dressed as casually as I had. It was welcoming. I grinned. A genuine one, to match his own. He looked down and saw my shoes. I followed his eyes and noticed his own. He had also worn red tennis shoes. I laughed.
“We look like we coordinated this attack on fashion.”
He laughed right along with me. “I never claimed that I cared much for it; shopping makes me nervous. I usually try to let the people at the store pick my stuff out and then I whittle it down to a realistic ensemble that I can deal with.”
I smiled. “Ditto. Well—I don’t have much, and if I need anything more, then I can shop Avery’s selection in her closet.”
“Must be convenient. Maybe I should get a roommate who has better taste than I have.”
“Hey,” I laughed. “I don’t think I have terrible taste; I just have a small budget.”
“Budgets smudgets,” he said as he waved his hand.
I shook my head. “Are we doing this or what?”
He nodded to me. “Yes, my lady.” He followed it with a bow and a roll of his hand. I nodded to him, very dignified.
“Well then, move aside, peasant.”
He stood up and watched me walk by him. He shook his head; I would have too.
We arrived at the pub and it was teeming with people. Of course, it would be. It was a Saturday night, and we were in the city. I had hidden out for so long that it was easy for me to forget where I was. There was so much to do and see. I had forgone all of it as I submerged myself in school and the idea “sacrifice now, to enjoy life later”. It seemed like a fair trade and everything was going to plan until he showed up and threw a monkey wrench in the works.
“Sam!” the bartender yelled out to him as we stepped into the place. The music was loud and just my style. In fact, the pub had me written all over it. Everyone was dressed as casually as we were, and a few people smiled and said hello to Sam as we passed them by. This was his bar—a place he felt most comfortable in, and I was honored that he wanted me to come here and experience it with him. We all have our spots; mine is the coffee shop.
We stopped at a tall table and Sam pulled my stool out as I smiled and sat down on it. He took his place across from me as I scanned the room and saw all of the happy faces. It was easy to forget that people could be joyous. Especially when you spend so much time wallowing in your own regret.
I was so happy that I said yes to him. This was a good thing for me to do. The day had not been as easy as I had planned, but the answers, and the straightforward words from Jerod, had made me feel as if I had taken a step forward—finally. It had been upsetting, but much needed. It lifted a weight that had been holding me down for months.
“Beer?” Sam asked and I nodded to him.
“Dark.”
He winked at me. “That’s my girl, go dark with the lager.”
He left me sitting there as he walked to the bar. The attractive bartender smiled at him. Long brown hair, perky smile, straight teeth. She was very pretty. She cocked her head to one side and grinned up at him, reaching forward and touching his hand. I noticed, but quickly looked away, rubbing my neck as Sam looked back at me. So what? They know each other. Why would I even care? Sam and I were friends, at least I hoped that we were and would remain that way.
Sam grabbed the beers and as he walked back to the table, the front door opened and there he was. Jack. He looked different, not so much older as weathered. He sported a five o’clock shadow and didn’t have a suit on. In fact, he was wearing jeans and a button down. He still looked nice, of course—the best to me. My lips parted as he scanned the room, and then he saw me. We stared at one another like two long lost lovers after years of being apart. My heart fluttered in my chest and I was taken aback at how easily I fell right back into him. Right when I thought I had started to see the light. If I could think straight, then I would be furious.
Sam walked up to the table and set the beers down; he turned and saw him at the door. He bit his lip and looked back at me. I was still caught up in Jack and he spoke to break the trance.
“Thirsty?”
I took a breath, not even knowing that I stopped. I reached out and took the tall glass. I placed it to my lips and started to drink it. It went on and on until I finished it, and Sam had an eyebrow raised, shocked or amused, I couldn’t tell.
“Damn, Abi.”
I wiped my mouth and held onto the table. “He’s here.”<
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“I can see that,” Sam said as he took a drink of his beer and set it back down.
I looked up and saw Jack making his way toward us. “Oh shit, oh shit—oh shit. He’s coming over here.”
Sam reached out and touched my hand on the table. Jack noticed, but kept coming toward us. I stared down at Sam’s hand until he removed it. I looked up at him and wanted to say something nice; anything at all would do, but my mind was swimming. Sam took a breath and grabbed his beer.
“You need to talk to him.”
I nodded, and he half-grinned at me. “It’s okay; you should.”
Jack stepped up behind Sam and Sam turned to face him.
“Hi, Jack.”
Jack never took his eyes off of me. “Sam.”
I bit my lip as Sam looked toward the pool tables. “I’m going to show off my skills at pool.”
“Sounds good,” Jack said without letting go of me with his eyes. I stood there, caught up in him as powerfully as I had been before. I wanted to hate him, but it was impossible.
“Abigail.”
I held a hand up to him. “It’s just Abi, Jack. Look around us, do you think this is your house?”
He nodded to me. “Abi. Can we talk?”
I sighed. “Talk? It’s beenmonths; you could have talked to me months ago.”
He let his eyes lower. They caressed my neck and then my chest. I fidgeted with my neck and he looked back up. “You look amazing, good enough to eat. Are you wearing a bra?”
“Don’t,” I whispered to him as he stepped closer to me. His smell engulfed me and I closed my eyes. He reached down and took my hand. I wanted to jerk it away, but his fingers played with mine. He fingered my scar and it sent the same old shock wave through me. The same control that I couldn’t shake. I kept my head tilted down as he leaned into my ear.
“Do you really mean that, Abi?”
I sighed, of course I didn’t mean it. I knew it as well as I knew the beer that I had chugged was warming my stomach and relaxing me. I was grateful for that.
His lips grazed my ear. He whispered, his tone intoxicating and sending a pulsating feeling down my neck and over my chest. “I missed you—so much. Please talk to me. I’m sorry, baby.”
His words were so soft, and yet I hated them. At least I could hate something about him.
I pulled my hand away from his and he placed it into his pocket. “Why don’t you go home, Jack? Where you belong.This isn’t anyplace you would ever come to.”
“Oh, Abi. Don’t you know that wherever you are, so am I?”
I swallowed hard as he leaned in and kissed me. The kiss was slow and soft. A poisonous thing. He reached behind me and cradled the base of my back with his firm hand, he pulled me toward him as he lifted his other hand and gently caressed my jaw. His thumb moving slowly to match his tongue that played inside of my mouth.
Sam stood by the pool table and watched on as I had no control over it, or myself. Jack owned something in me, something I had never even claimed for myself. I suddenly opened my eyes and leaned back. I smacked him across the face and Sam grinned and looked down. I ran for the door as Jack turned to watch me. He smiled as he touched his face, the sting I left behind, switching something on deep inside of him. Something he missed and wanted again.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
SECOND CHANCES
I stood on the street and desperately tried to flag down a cab. I looked back at the door to the pub a few times. No Jack. I hoped he would just let me go. My senses were on fire; my head spinning. I was angry, an anger that I had denied myself. How dare he just show up here, and how? How the hell did he know where I was? The timing was ridiculous, intruding just as I was allowing myself some relief. It wasn’t like I wanted Sam in that way, but his want to be out with me mattered. It meant more to me than I admitted to.The door opened and Jack stepped out, he looked around and spotted me.
“Abigail.”
I sighed as I waved a few more times. I needed an out; I need a cab like yesterday. Jack started to walk toward me and then Sam stepped out of the pub and called out to me.
“Abi, are you okay?”
Jack stopped, sighing once and then he turned back to Sam.
“It’s fine, Sam. I got this, go back and play your game.”
Sam raised an eyebrow as he walked toward him. He veered to the right and Jack stepped in his way. I looked back and crossed my arms over my chest, tightly tucking my hands to ward off the chill of the night air.
I called out to him. “I’m taking a cab, Sam. I’m fine.”
Sam stared Jack down. Two men, no words. Probably not a good sign. “Abi, I brought you here; I would be happy to take you home.” He spoke in a calm tone as he kept his eyes locked on Jack’s.
Jack rubbed his neck and glanced back at me. “Abigail. I can take you home. My driver is right…” Sam reached up and pushed Jack on the shoulder. It moved him back. Jack turned to look at him.
“Do you have a problem with me, Sam?”
Sam shook his head. “Abi said she’s okay, she doesn’t need your help.”
Jack laughed. “What the hell is this? Some kind of claim?”
Sam crossed his arms on his chest and glanced at me as I walked toward the two of them.
“I don’t own things, Jack. I’m not like you.”
The words sounded harsh, so I spoke up. “I can go home on my own; I am a grown ass woman.”
Neither one of them looked at me. It made me feel as if this was something old and had nothing to do with me.
“Oh, I see, Sam. Jealous?”
Sam gritted his teeth and took a swing at Jack. I screamed as Jack leaned and then with one swing, caught Sam across the jaw and he went down, hitting the concrete with a dull thud. I yelled as I ran to Sam, dropping to my knees and checking him over. He rolled onto his back and spat out some blood onto the concrete. I parted my lips and the anger rose in me. I don’t know if it was about Sam or more about me and what Jack had done. How he abandoned me like some animal that he no longer wanted to play with. I stood up and walked toward him as he backed up. I stopped,and so did he. My finger rose, and the venomous words spewed forth like a fountain of hate. I couldn’t even stop myself.
“Fuck you. Seriously, Jack. Leave.”
He tilted his head; I’m sure that he was sort of surprised. I don’t curse very often, let alone drop the F-bomb,but it seemed appropriate. “Abigail, you don’t mean-”
I cut him off and took the upper hand.
“I don’t need you, Jack, in fact, I don’t even want you. You remember want and need, don’t you?” I held my finger up. “And this? Why does your wife have the same scar as I do, Jack?”
He blinked a couple of times. “Rose, Jack. You remember? The girl who can’t remember who she is? What was that, Jack? The game? You poison everything around you.”
He stood his ground, but looked as if I had physically struck him. I stepped back, shocked at the words I had thrown at him. They were harsh and came from a pit deep inside of my soul. I didn’t mean to throw it up in his face, I didn’t want to sound so hateful, but I couldn’t help myself. I was so hurt, I remembered all of the lonely nights, the way I had cried into my pillow for him. The ache. The longing. He had hurt me so badly I could barely crawl out of it and now he strikes the first person who made me feel human again? No. He wouldn’t do this to me. I wouldn’t let him.
“You won’t see me again,” he said in a soft voice. A small one, not like him at all. He had been wounded and for a moment, I wanted to run to him, apologize, tell him that I didn’t mean it. It was the pain talking, not me. I stepped forward as he turned and walked down the sidewalk. He reached his car and the driver opened the door. He didn’t even look back as he slid inside and disappeared into the night.
Sam hissed as I held the ice pack to his lip. He half-grinned, but winced from the pain. The cut to his lip was a nasty one. Jack could hit pretty hard, why was I even surprised? He had a heavy hand, I knew this already
, but in an entirely different way.
I leaned back on my couch and placed a hand to the side of my head. I pulled my legs up and stared down at the fresh coffee that wasn’t even luring me into drinking it. I drifted off until Sam spoke to me and broke the terrible thoughts about how I had spoken to Jack. The things that I said were mean and vindictive. Regardless of his past, I had no right to talk to him that way about those things. That was his life before me, not with me.
“Thank you, Abi.”
I looked over at Sam as he pulled the ice pack from his lip. “All I did was act like an asshole. No awards for that.” Sam sighed and laid the ice pack on the coffee table. He touched his lip and winced.
I looked at it, the cut looked deep. “You may need stitches.” The words bothered me.
“Oh no, it’s fine. He’s hit me harder, I think he may have been holding back on me.”
My eyebrow rose, and I let my hand rest on my lap. “You fought with him before?”
Sam laughed and nodded to me. “Oh yeah. Listen, Jack is no fan of the press, and I will be honest, I rode his ass pretty hard about the accident. I pushed—he pushed back. It’s just how it goes. I think he bought the newspaper to spite me.”
“You weren’t at his house—I mean, when I was there after he saved me.”
Sam looked me over in the soft light of the room. His eyes gentle, his nature is so opposite of that of Jacks. They couldn’t be two more different people if they tried. Sam may have some money, but you would never even know it. He didn’t wear it on his sleeve, but then again, did Jack? Can you be blamed for your station in life? Not really. He was a Landon, he was born into that life, he didn’t choose it. “No, I didn’t come. I don’t go to the Landon estate. It’s a part of the agreement that I signed with his mother, Victoria, after Jack and I had our brawl. I think she kept me on at the newspaper so that I wouldn’t go rogue and try to dig into their family’s secrets.”