She nodded, unable to find her voice. Ryan raced off, leaving her alone with Jake again. The mood had shifted back to their more comfortable, friendly relationship. She took a deep breath, but she couldn’t shake the lingering sense of disappointment. If Ryan hadn’t interrupted the moment, would Jake have kissed her? Would she have let him? To her surprise, the answer was yes.
Jake stood and picked up the plant stands. “Next time I won’t let pizza get in the way.” He started down the stairs, leaving her to wonder if that was a threat or a promise. She wasn’t sure which frightened her more.
* * *
Jake arrived at the soccer field early, hoping to keep his mind preoccupied with the game and not that moment in the attic with Annie. He’d almost kissed her. He’d alternated between wishing he had and wishing he’d shown more restraint. He knew she was drawn to him. But he also understood the wall between them was tall and wide. He’d have to be more cautious and avoid being alone with her any more than necessary. Especially in the hot close conditions of an old attic. His tutoring was done. He’d miss those evenings at her house, and he’d miss working with Tyler. Teaching him in class didn’t afford the same one-on-one connection that sitting together at the table did.
He opened his game folder and read his notes on the opposing team and decided who he’d start in the first half. A firm pat on his shoulder broke his concentration.
Harley grinned at him. “How’s it going?”
His friend frequently came to the games to offer support and unneeded advice. “Good. I have a great group of kids this year. They play well together. Too bad I can’t say the same for some of the parents.”
Harley exhaled a low whistle. “Sometimes I think it would easier to play the games without the parents around.”
Jake nodded. “I’ve got one who’s a piece of work. He likes to stir up trouble.” He glanced across the field as the players and their parents began to arrive. He searched for Annie and the boys.
“You looking for someone? Aren’t the Shepherd twins on your team? Which means their pretty mom will be here too, right?”
Jake had to admit he was enjoying this year knowing Annie would be at the practices and games. Like a teenager with a crush on the new girl, he liked showing her his coaching skills, though he often found himself distracted by her presence on the sidelines.
“Why don’t you admit you like the lady? I’m all for it. She’s the first woman in a long time you’ve cared about.”
“It’ll never work.”
Harley glanced over his shoulder. “Oh look. Here she comes now.”
Jake tensed. Today was going to be even more distracting than normal. He was anxious to see how she would react since their encounter in the attic. Would she avoid him or would she behave as if nothing had happened? He knew she was attracted to him. He often caught her watching him, but was it attraction or something else? She hadn’t resisted when he’d almost kissed her. He took that as encouragement.
For his part, the thought of kissing Annie kept him up at night. Everything about her intrigued him. And frightened him. She held the power in her hand to ruin him.
The players started to arrive and he caught sight of the boys running toward the field. Annie followed more slowly. She looked cute in a pair of denim shorts and a yellow blouse tied at her waist. She didn’t look anything like a mother of ten-year-old boys.
She looked up and their gazes collided. He tensed. Would she smile or would she ignore him? A player dashed up in front of him, severing the moment and forcing him to focus on the game.
The opposing team started to arrive, but a familiar figure set his teeth on edge. Clark Tullos. He’d heard the Tigers had a new coach, but he had no idea it would be Clark. The man met his gaze and lifted a hand in greeting. Jake nodded, a knot forming in his chest. Nothing good ever came from interacting with the man.
The referee blew the whistle and play began. Jake immersed himself in game strategy, making sure he rotated the players for equal time on the pitch. At half time the Hornets were ahead by a goal thanks to Ryan’s corner-kick score. Jake resisted the urge to go and speak with Annie. He’d deal with their awkward situation after the game.
The second half was a struggle and the game ended with the Hornets on the losing end.
Annie came toward him at the same time Clark approached from across the pitch.
“Good game, Jake. Too bad you don’t have a striker worth their salt. You might have won.”
Jake refused to rise to the bait.
Clark smiled at Annie. “Good to see you again. I have room on my team for a couple more players if you’d like to switch to a winning team.”
Jake could stay silent no longer. “It’s not about winning, Clark. It’s about having fun and learning the game.”
“But winning is fun. Speaking of winning, how did you do at the Beau Rivage last week? I’m thinking you’re a blackjack kind of guy right? Me, I’m all about the craps table.”
Jake glanced at Annie. Her eyes were wide with curiosity. “I wasn’t there to gamble.”
Clark glanced between him and Annie. “Oh, sorry. Did I spill the beans? Sorry about that.” He leaned toward Annie. “Take my advice and don’t waste your time on this one. Once a bad boy, always a bad boy.” He patted Jake on the shoulder. “Good game, Coach.” He sauntered off, leaving Jake to deal with the fallout.
The shock and disbelief in her eyes sliced through him.
“You’re a gambler?”
“No.”
“Why else would you go to a casino?”
“I was there helping a friend?” Would she believe him or take Clark’s word as truth?
“Doing what?”
“I can’t tell you. I have my reasons.”
Without another word she started to walk away. “Annie. I’ll tell you why I was there if you’ll tell me why you’re continuing my sentence.”
She stopped and looked back at him, her blue eyes filled with doubt and confusion. As if he didn’t have enough strikes against him, he’d just given her one more.
* * *
Annie had tossed all night trying to come to terms with Jake’s statement. He didn’t deny being at the Beau Rivage Casino, but he also stated quite emphatically that he wasn’t a gambler. She wanted to believe him because she would never get involved with someone like that again. What bothered her was the fact that he wouldn’t tell her why he’d been there.
His challenge didn’t set well either. She could settle the matter with a simple explanation of why she was honoring her aunt’s request, and he would tell her why he was at the casino. But if she did, he would probably never speak to her again. She didn’t want him to think she was like her aunt, though how could he not when she was essentially his jailer?
That man Clark had stirred up her doubts. Jake had warned her he was a troublemaker. Jake had never lied to her. He’d admitted he’d been at the casino to help a friend. She could easily believe that. Jake was always ready to lend a hand.
The widows had pointed out to her during their recent session that her tendency to distrust others could be stifling her ability to move forward. If that were true, then she needed to let go of her fears and believe in Jake. If she looked at this situation objectively, Jake was entitled to his personal life the same way she was. Whatever reasons he had for not explaining were his own, and she had the right to keep her reasons for the choices she made, as well.
Tomorrow night Jake was coming over to work on the advertising booklet for the festival and finalize the designs for the signs honoring the top donors. She’d promised him a Mississippi Mudd pie. This might be the perfect time to give it to him. An apology of sorts. Let him know they were still friends.
A knot suddenly formed in her center. Their almost-kiss still replayed frequently in her mind, stirring up her confusion. There’d been other people at the
game yesterday to act as a buffer, but alone with him in her kitchen would be a different story.
Needing a distraction, she went to the living room and picked up the small wooden box she’d found in her aunt’s bedroom. Sorting through the contents was a perfect diversion.
She lifted the lid and frowned as she saw a small stack of dollar bills clipped together. Her heart thudded when she realized what they were. Fourteen one-dollar bills. Jake’s yearly payment. The dollar he’d given her, still in the drawer in the living room, would make fifteen. She set the bills aside and pulled out the next item. The front page of an old newspaper. The feature article was about a tragic bus accident that had claimed many elderly citizens of Hastings. A small article down at the bottom showed a picture of Bobby Lee, announcing his death in an auto accident. Little information was given. She could well imagine the anger her aunt had felt at her son’s death being treated as a mere footnote to the news that day.
Below the article she found a small box with a lock of hair and a baby tooth. A laminated obituary from her uncle Mike, and one from her cousin. At the bottom was Bobby Lee’s yearbook. She pulled it out and started leafing through the pages, curious to see his valedictorian picture. Only it wasn’t her cousin. It was a girl. A quick search revealed that Bobby Lee wasn’t president of his class or any other of the things her aunt had told them.
She leaned back, trying to make sense of it all. Jake wasn’t the bad boy. Bobby Lee was. She didn’t want to believe her cherished memories of her cousin were a lie, but she held the proof in her hands. She’d been wrong about everything. Her aunt, Bobby Lee and Jake.
And she’d been very wrong to agree to this ongoing punishment. There was nothing she could do to go back and fix the past, but maybe there was something she could do to correct a terrible mistake and change the future. It was time to end the senseless punishment.
She placed the call to her attorney. Unfortunately he couldn’t see her until the end of the week. However, taking action had soothed her conscience and freed her heart from the tightness she’d been carrying since meeting Jake.
Chapter Nine
Jake bounced nervously on the balls of his feet as he waited for Annie to open her front door. They were getting together to work on the final phase of the publicity campaign. Their relationship had settled back down into their familiar comfort zone again, for which he was grateful.
Annie opened her front door with a sly smile on her face, triggering his curiosity. “What’s going on? You look too happy for committee work.”
“I have something for you.”
He followed her into the kitchen, where a large pie sat in the middle of the breakfast table. He knew exactly what it was. “My Mississippi Mudd pie.”
“I should have gotten it to you sooner.”
He leaned over and inhaled the heady chocolate aroma. “Can we have some while we work?”
“Sure.”
Jake had two pieces as they worked on the layout for the ads booklet and finalized a design for the signs that would honor the top business donors.
Jake poured himself a cup of coffee and added a dash of cream before returning to the table. He always felt at home here, or was it Annie that made him feel that way? He sat down, noticing her worrying her thumb. “Something on your mind?”
She met his gaze, her blue eyes troubled. “Yes. I found some things my aunt had saved of Bobby Lee’s. Things that proved he wasn’t the person I believed him to be. You hinted there was something else to the accident. Can you tell me what it was?”
Jake wrapped his hands around the mug. “Are you sure you’re ready to hear it?”
“Yes. Please. Tell me. What really happened that night?”
Jake searched for a starting point and offered up a prayer that Annie would understand the things he was about to share. “There were several parties going on that night because most of the class was heading to college in the next few days. Bobby Lee and I had been to nearly all of them. He didn’t want to miss any of the fun. But he’d gotten drunk. More than I’d ever seen him. I managed to convince him to call it a night. He gave me his keys and I started home.
“We were almost to his house when his cell phone rang. It was Clark telling him about a wild party at someone’s house. He decided he wanted to go, but I knew he was in no condition for any more drinking. I told him I was taking him home and he exploded. He was shouting and cursing. Next thing I knew, he grabbed the wheel and yanked it like he was trying to take it out of my hand. I tried to keep control, but he yanked again and we slammed into the tree.
“When I came to, Bobby Lee was laying half out of the car and I had blood running in my eyes. Someone must have reported the wreck because I heard sirens. Then the police came and started questioning me. I was behind the wheel so they assumed the accident was my fault.”
“Why didn’t you tell them what happened?”
“Because I was a foster kid. Bobby Lee was the son of the mayor. Who were they going to believe?”
“But it was Bobby Lee’s fault. That would have changed everything.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. The bottom line was that I was driving and I had been drinking. That’s all they needed to know.”
Annie’s eyes were moist as she reached over and took his hands in hers. “I’m so sorry, Jake. You didn’t deserve what happened to you.”
“Thank you. That’s sweet but the truth is we should have both died.”
“Don’t say that. You’re not to blame. You shouldn’t have been punished.”
Jake shook his head. “Don’t make something noble out of this, Annie. I was still behind the wheel. I still had been drinking. Your cousin still died.”
“Yes. But this changes everything.”
“No. The only thing it changes is that now you know the truth.”
Jake gave her hand a squeeze and pushed back from the table. “It’s late. I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”
She nodded and then quickly covered the leftover pie and handed it to him. He smiled, marveling at how, even in the middle of an emotional moment, she thought of others first. Thought of him first. If their situation were normal, he’d start to believe she cared for him, but even with the truth out in the open, too much still lay between them. But for his part, his heart was fast falling into the hands of this woman and he had no idea how to take it back before his heart was shattered into smithereens.
* * *
Annie couldn’t believe how quickly the rest of the week flew by. Work on the carnival was gearing up and enthusiasm was spreading. Excitement filled the air at Jefferson Elementary. She and Jake had made several more trips to local businesses and managed to sell more ads and gain more sponsors. Sharee was thrilled with their accomplishments and had threatened to put them on the same committee next year too. Her relationship with Jake had shifted from one of friendship into something more, but she wasn’t ready to examine it too closely. Her heart, however, had other ideas. She had to face the fact that if it weren’t for the sentence, she could easily fall for him.
The only dark cloud was knowing that Jake was paying for something that wasn’t entirely his fault. Jake’s explanation the other night changed everything. It confirmed that he wasn’t the villain she’d always been told he was. That, coupled with the things she’d discovered in her aunt’s belongings, confirmed that Bobby Lee wasn’t the person she remembered from childhood. Somewhere along the way he’d become a selfish, unfeeling and malicious man.
Jake, on the other hand, had overcome his difficult past and become a man of honor and dedication. A man who had more than paid for his crime.
She was finally meeting with Dalton Hall today to discuss Jake’s release. Mr. Hall greeted her warmly and then sat behind his desk. “What’s happened? My secretary said you sounded anxious on the phone.”
She took a deep breath and prayed there would be a simp
le solution to this problem. “I want to end the sentence imposed on Jake Langford. I think he’s been punished enough. My aunt should never have continued this farce, and I should never have agreed to the arrangement.”
Hall leaned forward and rested his forearms on the desk. “I agree with you completely and I tried to talk her out of this stipulation, but she was a hard woman. And as my granddad used to say, determined to get her pound of flesh.”
Annie’s hopes vanished. “What can I do to change this? It’s not fair.”
“I agree. But I’m sorry, Annie. There’s nothing I can do. If you decide to end Mr. Langford’s sentence, then you’ll have to relinquish the house and the bequest.”
Tears were forming behind her eyes but she fought them off. “There’s got to be a loophole or something,”
He shook his head. “I wish. I wrote the will. I would have tried to put some sort of exemption in it, but your aunt was also very smart and she went over every word.”
“So there’s nothing I can do?” Her heart felt immobile, as if someone had tightened a steel band around it.
“I’m afraid not.”
Annie walked out of the office, returned to school and reclaimed her class from Sharee, who had agreed to fill in. She was glad she hadn’t told Jake about her plan. It would have been cruel to get his hopes up only to have them shattered.
She had no idea what she would do now. There had to be a way to help Jake, without putting her own family at risk.
Why was doing the right thing so difficult?
* * *
Jake gathered up the practice soccer balls and put them in the large net bag. The boys had played well today, but they’d missed a big opportunity to score and ended up losing again. Even though he knew this team was about having fun and learning the game, the coach in him had to admit that he would rather win than lose.
Most of the parents were wandering off back to their vehicles, offering condolences to their kids. He caught sight of Annie coming toward him across the grass. He stopped and allowed himself a moment to simply admire her graceful walk. Things had been going well between them. He’d feared that telling her the truth about the accident would push her away, but their relationship had deepened. Annie had been more cheerful and upbeat than he’d ever seen her.
Their Family Legacy Page 11