Breakup in a Small Town

by Kristina Knight

  “I thought Adam might make it,” Leo McCartney said.

  “He had another commitment.” Funny how easy it was to lie for her husband. Jenny pushed that thought out of her mind to focus on the contract at hand. “I worked up a few numbers on what we can provide your company. You know we do the design, and build on an individual basis, so our costs will be higher than those companies who offer prefabricated cabinetry.”

  McCartney flipped through the pages as he spoke. “My clients want economical, but they’re will to pay for quality products. Cherry and mahogany, oak.”

  “We are familiar with all the best woods. Last winter, the design team tested out bamboo. We aren’t quite ready with that option, but we’re getting there.”

  McCartney sat back in his chair. “I like a prepared contact. I know about Adam’s, ah, problems.”

  “He is still very involved.” Jenny squeezed her hands together in her lap at yet another lie that slipped from her lips so easily. “Before the accident, we had divided the work. He built and designed, I handled contracts. Nothing has changed.” Nothing except everything. Nothing was the same as it had been before the tornado in May, but if it took another year, she would stabilize her life. The business. The boys’ outlooks.

  “I’ll take this to my office manager—” Leo grinned “—who also happens to be my wife. I’m sure she’ll be as pleased as I am.” He stuck his hand out and Jenny took it. “I’ll be in touch.”

  When the older man had gone, Jenny sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. Step one in her plan to get the business back on track was complete. Leo McCartney was one of the best builders in their part of the state. He handled contracts for subdivisions as well as single builds. Partnering with him would lead to more contracts. A stronger profit margin. More financial stability for the boys would be important if—no, when—Adam moved out.

  Now, she just needed her meeting with the Springfield distributor to go as well. She finished her coffee as she went over the proposal one more time.

  * * *

  ADAM’S ARMS WERE TIRED. He didn’t think he’d expended this much energy since...well, since he’d been in high school. After taking the boys to school and stopping in at the coffee shop, he’d wheeled himself to the police station to see his friend James, who hadn’t been in the office. So he’d continued to the new grandstand area, which had been built after the tornado decimated much of the downtown. It was impressive.

  Several of his employees had worked on the project, and from what he could see from the outside, they’d done good work. The live oak that Collin Tyler and Savannah Walters had planted soon after the dedication of the grandstand looked good, too. The two of them had placed a plaque, too, which read, “The strength to rebuild is one of the finest acts of courage.”

  Adam cringed as the words circled his mind. Walking away might not be courageous, but he would make sure Jenny and Frankie and Garrett would be okay before he bowed out of their lives.

  He blew out a breath when he reached the corner of the street. All this wandering, which would have taken him an hour, max, before the accident, had taken closer to three, and he was starving. For a moment he considered going to Buchanan’s to see if Jenny wanted to have lunch.

  Not the best idea, after this morning when she’d suggested he move out. He didn’t think a quick pop-in for lunch would help that situation. On the next block, Rock Pizza’s sign beckoned, as did the smell of baking pizza. The growl from his stomach shocked him. It had taken a while to regain his appetite after leaving the hospital, but most of the time he still ate out of necessity, not for enjoyment.

  A truck honked from the street and he raised his hand in a wave. Calvin Harris, an older gentleman who ran a dog school near Walters Ranch, stuck his arm out the truck window as he passed. A few minutes later, Adam made it to Rock Pizza, a fine sheen of sweat covering his face and rivulets running down his back. He was tempted to leave the chair, just to give his back a break from the vinyl covering. If something happened, though, it would be better to be safely sitting. He reached for the door handle and froze.

  Jenny sat at a table inside with a man Adam didn’t recognize. A handsome man. He forgot about food and simply stared. What about her having no time to do her job because his parents were messing things up? This didn’t look like work to him. Which left one explanation: this was the real reason she had asked him to move out. Because she was ready to move on. It made much more sense than the idea of his doing laundry sending her over the edge.

  His wife picked up a pizza slice from the tray on the table, took a bite, then laughed at something the man said. He looked to be solidly built, maybe five years older than Adam, with dirty blond hair that brushed his collar. Jenny tucked a wayward curl behind her ear and said something to the guy. He laughed in turn. Adam wanted to go inside, grab the guy by the collar of his shirt and drag him into the alley behind the pizza place. Or pretend he hadn’t seen anything and just go home.

  Except it wasn’t his home, not anymore. She’d told him he should leave. Had accused him of not being present in their lives. He’d been there. She just hadn’t paid attention.

  She laughed with the guy at the table again. Adam couldn’t sit here and watch his wife having lunch with another man. He backed away from the door before either of them noticed him. Something hot and prickly stabbed his belly, and he pushed against the wheels, wanting to get away from there as quickly as possible.

  She wanted him to go.

  He knew he should.

  Adam rounded the corner that would lead to the pretty street where he’d been building a life with Jenny for the past three years. She wanted him to go. The house came into view, with its blue-shingled roof and blue shutters. Jenny had taken out the petunias and impatiens from the summer, replacing them with big pots overflowing with chrysanthemum blossoms. A riot of yellow and orange greeted him as he pushed the wheelchair into the driveway. She’d cut back the rose bushes, too, in preparation for the winter months.

  He’d done nothing to get the house ready. Hadn’t finished the backyard fence that she wanted. Hell, he hadn’t even started it; the boxes of supplies still sat in the corner of the yard. He hadn’t cleaned out the shed so the lawnmower and other yard tools had space. In his defense, he wasn’t technically allowed any heavy work. But he could have hired a handyman to do it.

  No wonder she wanted to move on. He wasn’t holding up his part of the bargain. The minister had said for better or for worse, hadn’t he? Adam couldn’t see how things could get any worse than they were right now, and what was he doing to get through it? Nothing.

  He took the ramp through the back door, and left the chair there before stripping down and tossing his sweaty clothes into the washer. He added the boys’ pajamas and a few other items, then started the load. He needed a shower, then he needed to pack his things.

  Adam froze. Packing meant leaving. Leaving meant more space between him and Jenny. She was already going to lunch with some dude he didn’t know. If he wasn’t at the house, would those lunches turn into dinners? Cold spread through his body at the thought of the other man in his house. On his couch.

  In Adam’s bed.

  He wasn’t moving to the B and B so some other guy could make Jenny laugh. If Adam was to reach his wife, he had to be here, not in some guest room at the Slippery Rock B and B. Being in the house, though, meant going against Jenny’s wishes. Adam considered his options. Stay in the house even though she’d asked him to go. Move to the B and B, and put even more space between them. He didn’t think Jenny would like him camping out in the backyard.

  Camping out. That might work. Not in a tent.

  Adam grabbed his cell phone from the counter and punched in his dad’s phone number. Owen answered on the first ring.

  “Hey, kid, how’s it going today?”

  “Fine. Dad, I was wondering if I coul
d borrow the RV.” Owen was silent on the other end of the line, so Adam kept talking. “Could you bring it by the house this afternoon? I’ll explain when you get here.”

  “You want to borrow the RV?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why?” Owen asked after another long pause. Adam didn’t have a good answer, at least, not one that wouldn’t add even more stress to Jenny’s life.

  “I have to pick the boys up at three, but I’ll be home until then.”

  “I guess I could drive it over in a little bit. But, son, the RV?”

  “It’s a surprise,” Adam said, knowing how much his father liked surprises. “For Jenny.” And that would ensure that Owen didn’t say anything to Jenny until after the RV was here.

  “I’ll see you in a little bit, then,” Owen said, and ended the call.

  Adam put the phone down, then stepped into the shower. He didn’t know if he could reach Jenny, but he was going to try. First step, move out. Second step, win his wife back.

  After showering, it took him only an hour to pack the few things he’d moved to the guest room. And that was just depressing, he thought. A duffel with a few clothes, and he was ready to go. He limped down the hall to the wheelchair. A horn honked in the drive, and he wheeled himself outside.

  His father was backing his RV into the drive. Adam waited near the garage until his father had the camper positioned as he wanted it. He climbed down from the high seat.

  “You gonna tell me what kind of RV surprise you have in mind for Jenny, son?”

  “Thinking about taking a trip.” He’d decided a little lie was better than telling his father he planned to live in the RV until he’d won Jenny back. Owen would tell Nancy, and Nancy would hover. Over him. Over Jenny. It would make things only worse. He wasn’t sure Jenny could take any more worse, especially if it was linked to him. “Kids have a long weekend coming up, and you and Mom aren’t heading back to Florida until after the holidays.”

  “Until you’re ready to come back to work.”

  They would cross that bridge later. Adam wasn’t sure he would ever be able to go back to Buchanan’s. Not if he couldn’t do the things he used to do. It would be too hard. “We can figure that out later. You’re sure this is okay?”

  “Sure, it’s just sitting in our side yard until we turn into snowbirds again. You kids can use it for as long as you like.” Owen eyed him for a long moment and Adam cringed. His mother might be the one who hovered, but Owen was the parent who always seemed to know what was going on with his sons. “Weekend trip, hmm?”

  “Yeah. Branson, maybe. Or down to Eureka Springs. We’ll figure it out. I, ah, want it to be a surprise for Jenny. So don’t mention it when you get back to the shop.” He tried to find the right words. “This has all been really hard on her. A break will do us all some good.”

  “How was the doctor?”

  “The same. He says this medication regimen might be the right solution.” Adam wanted to be as certain as the doctor had seemed.

  “He say anything more about the dog?”

  “Jenny has a number to call.” Adam definitely didn’t want a dog. A dog would make this permanent. Wanting his wife back didn’t mean he was ready to capitulate to everything. He was not going to be an epileptic for the rest of his life. Not if there was anything he could do to stop it.

  “And the physical therapy?”

  “Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the clinic.” Not that he’d made a single appointment yet. The lies were piling up faster than he wanted. “I, ah, need to go get the boys. I promised I’d walk them home this afternoon.”

  “Want me to drive you over?”

  Adam shook his head. “I’ve got it covered. But thanks,” he said.

  Owen tossed the keys to Adam, who caught them one-handed. “Why don’t the four of you come over for Sunday dinner this week? We can barbecue.”

  “I’ll talk to Jenny.”

  Owen strode off toward downtown and the cabinetry shop. Adam waited until he was out of sight before tossing the packed duffel inside the RV. At least his father hadn’t asked about the bag.

  Adam started toward the school. He had a place to live; that was a good step forward. Now he just had to make sure he didn’t end up living in his parents’ RV for the rest of his life.

  * * *

  THE BOYS WANTED to go to the park after school. Then they wanted sodas. He convinced them to settle for lemonade from Bud’s, and laughed with them as they told him about the school assembly that day.

  The Mustang sat in the drive, looking dwarfed by the RV. Frankie’s eyes widened. “Mamaw and Papaw are here?”

  “Just the RV. We’re borrowing it for a while. But we’re going to their house for a barbecue on Sunday.”

  “Barbecue!” Garrett exclaimed, before grabbing his backpack from the wheelchair and rushing inside. Frankie followed, telling his younger brother to settle down. Adam had seen the excitement in his older son’s eyes, though. Frankie loved visiting his grandparents, and they hadn’t spent much time together since the tornado. Another misstep by Adam.

  Well, he was fixing those missteps.

  He started around the side yard to the back door ramp and stopped short. Jenny knelt in the garden, stabbing her spade into the rich earth over and over. Weeds landed in a bucket beside her, along with the last blooms of lazy Susan and daisies.

  Her hips were covered in denim, and her legs were bare. A thin T-shirt covered her torso, and she’d pulled her wild curls into a ponytail that hid her face from him.

  God, she was pretty. She had been his entire world for most of his life. And now she wanted something, someone, else. That prickly feeling hit his belly again.

  Adam left the chair by the back door, and stepped onto the lawn for the first time in weeks. Grass tickled his feet. He’d shoved his feet into flip-flops before getting the RV keys from his father. He thought it might be the best feeling he’d had in a long time.

  “Jenny,” he said, and saw her shoulders stiffen at the sound of his voice. He hated that he made her uptight.

  She turned, then stood quickly and started for the chair he’d left on the walk. “You aren’t supposed to be—”

  He reached out a hand and stopped her. His palm sizzled at the touch. She was so soft. He’d missed the feel of her skin. “I’m capable of walking in the backyard.”

  “But—”

  “I’m not going to have a seizure, and I thought we should talk.”

  She studied him for a long moment. “Okay.”

  “I’m moving into the RV.” He didn’t know a better way to tell her what the plan was. Well, what part of the plan was. He didn’t think she’d be receptive to the winning-her-back part, at least not right now. He stroked his hand up her arm. “I thought that might be less, ah, gossipy than moving into the B and B or with my parents.”

  “I think you moving anywhere other than this house is going to start a game of Telephone all over Slippery Rock.”

  “I told Dad we’re going to take a weekend trip. Get away. No one has to know I’m actually living in there.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “You don’t think the neighbors are going to notice?”

  He hadn’t thought of that. “I’ll be careful. And this way I can still walk the boys to school and back. Take some of the burden off you.”

  She folded her arms across her chest. “Thank you. Adam. I...”

  He couldn’t stand that sad look in her eyes. Didn’t want her to tell him she was glad he was moving out. He didn’t want to talk about this at all. He wanted... It didn’t matter what he wanted, he wasn’t going to get it, not in the backyard. Not tonight.

  “I went to the pizza place for lunch today.”

  Her eyes widened. “With your dad?”

  “Before he dropped off th
e RV. It felt good to be out of the house, so I went downtown for coffee, and then wandered around a bit until lunch.” He waited, but she didn’t say anything. That feeling in his gut was back. He liked the prickliness even less than he liked that look he’d seen in Jenny’s beautiful eyes a moment before.

  He didn’t want to talk about whoever she’d met for lunch or what that meant. He didn’t want to talk at all. He just wanted to feel her mouth on his. Adam reached across the space between them and pulled her closer. Her mouth opened slightly, and her hazel eyes went dark.

  “Jenny, I saw you,” he said, but he didn’t know what else to say.

  “Saw me?” She frowned.

  “At the table. With that guy.”

  “Mike Harrison?”

  “That’s his name?” Adam folded his arms across his chest. “Well, at least it isn’t something stupid like Blaine.”

  Jenny tilted her head to the side. “Are you kidding me right now?”

  “What? You ask me to move out and suddenly I’m not supposed to wonder if the stranger you’re having lunch with is the reason?”

  “You have got to be kidding!” Jenny mumbled the words under her breath, but she was only a few feet away from him, and Adam had no trouble understanding her. She brushed her hands together, knocking off most of the dirt from the flower beds. “You think I asked you to move out so I could move on with some random guy? A guy who takes me to our local pizza place, for lunch of all things, where we could be found out by everyone from the minister at the Methodist church to the ladies in my mother’s bridge club?”

  When she put it like that, no, it didn’t seem plausible. Jenny didn’t have a devious bone in her body. And she wasn’t stupid.

  “Didn’t you recognize him?”

  Adam blinked. Jenny kept talking.

  “Mike Harrison is the distributor. From Springfield. The one who likes your outdoor designs so much he’s willing to partner with our little company.”