by D. F. Jones
Rachel glanced over her shoulder and looked back at Jerry. “So not going there. Come on, Mac. I see that you’re well on your way to getting drunk, and I have no plans. Plus, I’m staying at our house on Main Street.”
Jerry wasn’t taking Rachel’s bait of subtly mentioning her house on Main Street. Rachel had been trying to get her hooks into him since she’d moved to Tennessee. He held his beer in his hand. “I’m celebrating tonight. Anna has received a full-ride scholarship to medical school. Yay.” He twirled his forefinger in a circle and took another long pull. Oh, what the hell. He chugged the rest of his beer and set the empty bottle on the bar. “She’s going to the University of Florida.” Jerry dragged his fingers through his hair, and his shoulders slumped. Rachel was quick to place her arms around him. He couldn’t help it. He hugged Rachel back.
Rachel rubbed Jerry’s back softly. “I’m sorry, Jerry. I know how much you love her.” Her arms dropped away, and she slid back onto the bar stool. “I take it you didn’t know she had applied, and that’s why you’re so upset?”
Jerry scratched his head and turned to Rachel. Without much thought, he began to ramble on about his relationship with Anna. From the beginning until tonight, and Rachel listened and never interrupted or offered advice, which he appreciated. When he finished talking, he felt better but was shitfaced. “I think Anna believes we’re going to keep up a long-distance relationship. But I can’t do that, Rachel. I mean I could, but eventually, I would resent her. I know in my heart our relationship is over, and it hurts like hell.”
A tear trickled down his cheek, and Rachel took his face in her hands. “Jerry, I wish I could tell you that it’s going to be all right. That everything happens for a reason, and you’ll find your happily ever after. But I don’t believe that bullshit.” Rachel’s hands dropped to her slender thighs, and she leaned back in the stool. “You’re going to hurt for a long time. But you’re strong, Jerry, I’ve seen it in you, and you’ll survive. Dad said your business opens in June. Well, that should be your focus. That’s where you need to place all of your energy. Computers are the way of the future. You’re going to be rich, my friend. And while money can’t fix a broken heart, it can sure as hell give you plenty of toys to occupy your time. Anna is going to live her dream. You live yours.”
Jerry reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, but Rachel stopped him. She said, “I’ve already paid the bill. My treat.”
Jerry stood and began to weave back and forth. He held on to the back of the chair for support. Slightly slurring his words, he said, “Rachel, you’re all right. You try to be this uptight rich bitch, but you’re not. You’re solid. Thanks for the drinks, but I gotta go.” He turned to walk out of the bar and stumbled. Rachel ducked her head under his arm and linked her arm around his waist.
She said, “Jerry, you can’t drive. You can stay with me, and I’ll bring you back in the morning.”
Jerry pointed his forefinger at her. “No hanky panky, Rachel.”
She laughed and said, “No hanky panky.”
* * *
The next morning, Luc walked from the antebellum courthouse in the middle of town square down the historic East Main Street with stately Victorian and Italianate façade homes dating before the United States of America’s Civil War. That war between the states was one Luc had sunk his teeth into pitting brother against brother. Over a million lives lost, and families split apart forever. He smiled at the memory.
Luc walked down the tree-lined sidewalk with its old oaks and maple trees to Rachel’s driveway. A bucket truck pulled in front of Rachel’s Queen Anne house and stopped on the side of the street. A man got out and put on goggles and hard hat. The worker pulled a monster chainsaw from the toolbox on the side of the truck. Luc chuckled. “Now, that piece of equipment could do some serious damage.” The man stepped into the bucket and ascended to the trees close to the electrical wires. The traffic was steady, and Luc decided to play with the human. The man fired up the chainsaw and began cutting down tree limbs.
Luc glanced to the left as a beat-up Oldsmobile approached the truck. The older lady who was driving turned on her car’s blinker to go around, but Luc waved his hand and made the Oldsmobile plow into the back of the bucket truck. Luc heard an agonizing scream and materialized at the top of the maple tree. The man in the bucket truck dropped the chainsaw and cut off his arm, and blood sprayed in a steady stream. The lady in the Oldsmobile began screaming as blood ran from the bucket onto her car and passing drivers stopped to help. By the time another human male lowered the truck’s bucket, the worker had bled out.
With an evil grin, Luc said, “Another banner day at the office and that human is one of mine.” The soul departed from the physical body of the human male while two of his death demons engulfed it. He waved. “Bye-bye.”
By the time Rachel pulled into the driveway, an ambulance and police cars were on the scene. Rachel pulled her car into the garage, and less than a minute later she walked up the front steps.
Rachel frowned and gave him a weird look. “Who are you? And what happened out there?”
Luc rocked in Rachel’s front porch swing. He’d watched Rachel and Jerry come into the house last night from the bar. He knew Rachel wanted more from Jerry than a casual relationship. If Luc could offer her Jerry on a silver platter, the Campbell Ridge wards would be weakened. It would be easier for him to absorb their powers if their team split apart.
Luc waved his hand toward the truck still sitting on the street in front of her house. “Someone just died. And I’m your new best friend. Please join me on the swing and I’ll spin you a tale.” Luc smiled seductively at her. Rachel seemed mesmerized and willingly sat down and listened to his proposal.
“Well, Rachel, do we have a deal?” Luc looked inside Rachel’s soul. Baelezael, a Demon of Jealousy, had already made a home in her soul years ago. Baelezael smiled back at Luc as Rachel fell quickly into Luc’s trance. “Come forth, Baelezael.” The demon angel departed from the soul of Rachel.
Baelezael stretched his neck and spanned his black wings. His black eyes resembled what the humans called alien eyes. He had greasy, inky, shoulder-length hair, and the tint of his skin was a coppery orange with Rachel’s blood plasma. “Ahh, Master, it feels good to stretch.”
Luc smiled and squeezed the top of Baelezael’s right shoulder. “You have done well with this soul, my son. Keep up the good work, and when this soul becomes mine, you will be promoted to divisional leader of the Southeast region of the United States. I have plans for this female. See to it you carry out my demands or don’t report back.”
Baelezael bowed before Luc and said, “It will be as you wish, sire.” Baelezael entered Rachel’s soul again, and she awoke from the trance.
Rachel nodded. “We have a deal.”
* * *
Rachel looked down at her watch. It was nearly four o’clock in the afternoon. She had no recollection of coming home from dropping off Jerry. That had been hours ago. Rachel didn’t remember walking up the steps or sitting on the porch swing. She shook her head. Surely the blanking out episodes wasn’t starting up again.
She went inside the house and up to her bedroom. She grabbed the pillow Jerry had used last night and inhaled. It still smelled of him. She was crazy about Jerry, and Anna was moving to Florida. Something inside her soul told her to be Jerry’s friend, and that would lead them to a deeper relationship. Yes, Jerry McDaniel would be hers someday.
* * *
Forty-eight hours passed with no word from Jerry. Anna left several messages, and he never returned her calls, so she decided to drive out to Everglade. Thunderclouds rolled in from the west and lightning struck in the distance. Spring in Tennessee could be beautiful one minute and tornadic the next. Anna flipped the car radio on to check the forecast. Heavy rains were on the way to Murfreesboro as she drove down Salem Highway toward Jerry’s house.
Jerry had every reason to be mad at her, but she had to take the only full scho
larship offered. Anna had to try to make him understand how important going to the University of Florida was to her.
If BCS bought his software package, Jerry’s business would be taking off in the right direction. She wouldn’t hold him back in his ambition to succeed. Surely he would do the same for her. A couple of years ago, Jerry had turned his parents’ detached garage into an apartment and computer lab. He would be moving to Murfreesboro after graduation and was set to open his new business, Tech World, during the first week of June.
Anna pulled into Jerry’s driveway and noticed his truck parked next to the fencerow of old cedar trees. She glanced into the rearview mirror and rummaged through her oversized purse until she found pink lip gloss. She applied it to her lips, checked her teeth, and quickly ran a brush through her hair.
Anna stepped out of her car and walked along the sidewalk to his door. Jerry’s cat ran out of the shrubbery and threaded its body in between Anna’s legs. She reached down and scratched behind his ear. “T.C., what are you doing outside?” The cat purred. Anna knocked on the door. There was no answer. She tried the knob. It was unlocked, so she walked inside.
Jerry was asleep on the couch. She looked down at all of the empty beer bottles strewn about the floor. Uh-oh, this doesn’t look good at all. He still looked gorgeous in a disheveled sort of way, his thick blond hair tussled and his luscious lips slightly open. Anna eased down on the couch and curled up beside him. She placed her head on his chest and threw an arm around his waist. She took a deep breath and waited.
Jerry stirred restlessly and opened his eyes. He glanced down at her. He seemed so distant and withdrawn but didn’t move or push her away. He said gruffly, “What are you doing here?”
Anna’s mouth went dry, and she choked out, “I-I’ve been trying to call you, and you never called me back. You missed school today, too. I-I wanted to see you.”
“Anna, what’s the use? You’re leaving. It’s over. It’s all over. Don’t you get it?”
Anna didn’t know what she could do or say to make it any better. “Jerry, I love you. Please love me back.”
Jerry tensed. His whole demeanor resonated with sorrow. He dragged his hand across the stubble of his beard and pushed Anna off him. Jerry stepped over to the window, placed his hands on either side of the window frame, and looked out at Versailles Knob. Anna ducked underneath his arm. She pressed her face against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. He didn’t hug her back, which made tears spring into her eyes. Anna angled her head against his chest to peer outside the window.
Gusts of wind blew the budding flowers and trees back and forth like they were dancing to the howl in the air. Anna heard the thud of his heartbeat against her ear. A brilliant flash of lightning struck across the sky, followed by a loud boom of thunder. Anna whispered, “I can’t stand you being mad at me. I love you so much.”
Jerry wrapped his arms around her. “I love you, too. But do you have any idea how I feel? You’re breaking me up into a million pieces. Hell, it’s worse than Humpty Dumpty.” A small smile curved his lips.
Anna drew in a deep breath, and her pulse leaped with a little hope. She hated the awkwardness between them. “Yes, I know exactly how you feel. I’m leaving you to go to medical school. But Jerry, it’s the only scholarship I’ve been offered. I don’t want my parents to mortgage their home when I can go to school for free. I get that I’ll not be seeing you for months at a time. And there’s a chance we won’t make it. It’s ripping my heart out, too. Come with me, Jerry. But please, please, don’t shut me out and don’t turn me away.”
Jerry trailed a finger over her cheek. “If you would’ve only asked me before you applied to the University of Florida, I would’ve made different plans. I would’ve followed you to the ends of the damn earth. You didn’t give a shit what I thought. You didn’t even talk to me about it, Anna. You just mailed off the application and accepted the scholarship without considering my feelings or what it would do to us. Anna, you knew I was making plans with my business. It’s too late now. I’m not going to stand in your way, but you can’t stand in mine, either.
Anna ran her hand down his biceps and caught his hand in hers. “You’re right. I should’ve trusted you. But I was scared. Hell, I’m scared to death of losing you. But I also know in my heart that I’m making the right decision about school. I want you to succeed more than anything, and I’m not going to stand in your way. Can’t we try a long-distance relationship?”
* * *
The night Jerry had his big fight with Anna, he woke up the next morning in bed with Rachel. He sprang from Rachel’s bed like a scalded dog. Thankfully, they both still had on clothes. Rachel had reassured him nothing happened and took him back to his truck. He had never cheated in his life. Even now, he guiltily looked down at Anna. The realization hit him in the chest that Anna was leaving. He shouldn’t feel guilty about anything.
The scent of Anna’s perfume filled the air when she snuck into his place and laid her sweet little body next to him. Evidently, being pissed was a huge turn-on. Part of him wanted to flip her over on her back, and the other part wanted to kick her out the damn door.
The stress of Anna moving away, along with him opening a brand spanking new business, had lit a very short fuse to his temper. Jerry loved Anna, but she’d hurt him. He wanted Anna to succeed beyond her wildest dreams, but not discussing her school options with him had driven him crazy mad. She’d cut him to the core by excluding him from her decision-making process. Anna could’ve told him before he locked into a twelve-month lease on the office space for Tech World, and he had just placed another lease on a condo he thought they’d both live in—married.
Anna waited until the last damn minute to ask him to move to Florida. Well, right now was a day late and a dollar short. But, God help him, he still wanted her as he held her in his arms and kissed her. It didn’t change his feelings. He loved Anna, but their relationship was over. He knew it and was pretty sure she did, too. And it didn’t matter she was leaving him for school. Nothing mattered except she would be gone. The heart doesn’t grow fonder with separation. Separation just makes the heart grow harder.
Jerry looked into Anna’s deep blue eyes. She had the face of an angel. He took a deep breath. “Anna, we can try to make a long-distance relationship work, but you’re going away for a long time. And we have little time left together before you leave. I guess I can follow my mom’s motto and just take it one day at a time.”
Jerry scooped her up in his arms and carried her to bed. “I need you to make love to me.”
Anna nodded and pressed her face into the curve of his neck. She murmured against his skin. “I love you, Jerry.”
Time slowed, and his anger lessened as he caressed her soft skin and ran his fingers over her lovely face. The rhythm of their love was perfect. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, and the love she returned sent him over the edge into oblivion.
Later, as they lay in each other’s arms, he stroked her hair, her face and entwined their fingers together. Who was he kidding? He would never get over her. Anna’s moving away was going to crush him. There would never be another Anna in his life. That knowledge gave him great sadness, but life goes on and so would he.
Jerry thought about all the laughter and the love they’d shared over the last two years. It had been a gift, really, a reprieve from reality. He would stay with her until she moved. Then he couldn’t see her again. It would be too painful, a reminder of what they had once shared.
Chapter 7
We Are Family
A U-Haul truck sat in the Bell Street house driveway. Anna, with Sandy’s and Ruby’s help, had packed most of her belongings, and they were clearing out the rest of the house. Sandy had packed her things a few days ago. Sandy had landed an entry-level position as a field reporter for the Channel 3 News in Nashville, and she started after graduation.
Sandy came inside the back door and wiped sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. She sat do
wn on one of the boxes and propped her elbows on her knees. “That’s about it, kiddo. All you have to do now is drive that U-Haul next Monday to the Sunshine State. I know you’re excited about the cute little apartment your daddy found.”
Anna took a brief break to drink a Dr. Pepper. “Promise me you’ll come and visit. We’ll drive over to St. Augustine for some fun in the sun.”
Sandy jumped down, draped her arm around Anna’s shoulders, and gave her a hip bump. “You know it, sister. Fun in the sun, cold brewskies, and hot guys with suntans.”
Anna wrapped newspaper around a glass and tucked it in the box. “Oh, Sandy, I’m going to miss everyone so much.” Anna choked back her tears.
“Well, we’re going to miss you more.” Sandy hugged her. “Listen to me, you’re daring to live your dream. You have a great gift from The Creator, the ability to heal. You’re doing the right thing.” Sandy grabbed a piece of newspaper, wrapped another glass, and stuck it in a box.
With sadness, Anna said, “You think so?”
“I know so. Wow. This house is empty. It’s like the night we brought Ruby here on her twentieth birthday, remember?” Sandy walked around the empty den and looked out the window toward campus.
Anna sighed and wrapped the last glass with newspaper and stuck it in the box. “It feels like yesterday when we moved in, and now it’s over. Ruby’s married, you’re moving to Nashville, and I’m on my way to Florida. Life goes by too damn fast.”
Ruby had left about thirty minutes earlier to meet Reed after work. Anna reminisced about Ruby and Reed’s wedding. It had been a wonderful evening close to Christmas, and three inches of snow had fallen. Everglade Farms had been decorated for Christmas, a virtual winter wonderland. Anna had stared at Jerry during most of the ceremony. His smiling eyes had returned her knowing look that someday it would be them saying their vows. It was such a happy memory. Ruby and Reed were meant to be together.
Anna loved Jerry very much, but she wasn’t so sure their relationship would survive her moving to Florida. She’d made a colossal mistake by not telling Jerry the moment she applied to the University of Florida. If she had just talked to him months ago before his plans, before hers, then he could be moving with her. God, she was an idiot.