Chapter 21
Jack called her the next day, while Nora was watering her father’s plants in the front yard. He had given her very specific instructions on how to take care of them while he was incapacitated and she was trying to follow them closely.
“Are you back in New York?” Jack said.
“My dad had a stroke,” Nora told him.
“Oh Shit! Is he all right?” Jack said, and she got the sense that he was running on a treadmill or something. He was huffing and panting as he spoke to her.
“He’s recovering, but I’m going to have to stay with him for a while,” she said and Jack didn’t sound too pleased to hear that.
“That’s no good to me. I was going to ask you to join me on a double date tonight. You’ve met Lucas right? He’s madly in love with some girl he wants me to meet, and I was thinking you could come so that it wouldn’t be too awkward,” Jack explained and Nora sighed.
“Lucas is madly in love?” she asked and she heard Jack laughing.
“Yeah, or so he says. I’m sure it’s just a phase and he’ll get over it in a few weeks,” he said and Nora couldn’t help but feel her heart ache a little.
“Why would you think it’s a phase? Is he incapable of falling in love?” she asked him and she heard Jack sigh.
“I really don’t want to have this discussion with you again, Nora. There is no such thing as love,” Jack said and Nora dropped the hose from her hand, to concentrate on this conversation.
“So what do people feel when they want to spend all their time with their partner? When they want to marry them and start a family?” she asked and Jack sighed irritably again.
“Friendship and affection and I don’t know…like they’ve found an ideal partner to raise a family with? I’m not sure, Nora,” Jack said and she bit down on her lip hard.
“You’re not sure because you don’t feel that way about anyone…about me,” she said and she heard the electronic beep of him shutting off the treadmill.
“Every time I call you these days, Nora, all you want to talk about is soppy stuff. What is going on with you? You should probably come back to New York,” he said and she could hear the laugh in his voice. This was all a joke to him.
“It’s not soppy stuff if it’s important to me, Jack!” she quipped.
“It wasn’t important to you a few weeks ago, before you went home,” he said, hardening his voice.
“I think I need some time away from you,” she said to him.
“You’ve already spent a lot of time away from me,” he replied with another hearty laugh.
“No, I mean that we need to go on a break,” she told him.
“Don’t be silly, Nora. We’re just having a discussion,” he said.
“I’m not being silly. I think we want different things from life and we should recognize that and just move on,” she said.
“Are you breaking up with me?” he asked, seriousness entering his voice now.
“Breaking up what? We didn’t have a thing to break in the first place, did we?” Nora asked, gripping the phone tightly to her ear.
“You’re over reacting to this whole thing. Just come back to New York and we can talk about it properly.”
“When I do come back to New York, I won’t be letting you know. Goodbye, Jack,” she said and cut the call.
When she looked up, she saw that Theo was standing at the gate of the house, with his hands in the pockets of his dark pants. Nora’s cheeks colored because he had caught her arguing with Jack again. She admired the way his chocolate brown hair was swept back neatly from his forehead, the lines around his mouth as he grinned at her softly. His green eyes were sparkling as he stared at her. He was strong and masculine and knew what he wanted. She had always been in love with him, and trying to hold a relationship with anybody else was just a futile exercise. He could make her come just by staring at her.
“I’m glad you did that, Nora. For your own good,” he said in his deep voice and she cradled her cell phone in her hands.
“It’s no big deal,” she said, squeaking the words in a soft voice. Theo took a step on to the pebbled path and Nora felt Goosebumps erupt on her skin. Every minute away from him was torture.
“You shouldn’t make the same mistakes I did. You deserve healthy loving relationships,” he said, piercing her with his glare and her cheeks flushed. She didn’t care what she deserved or didn’t, she wanted him.
“There is no mistake that can’t be rectified. It’s never too late,” she said, finding the courage in herself somewhere to say the words. Theo stared at her, like he was actually thinking about what she had said, and then he sighed.
“I’m here to see Andy,” he said, like he didn’t want her to think that he was there to see her.
“He’s upstairs,” Nora said, her heart sinking a little at the thought of them being separated again. She wanted to cling to him for dear life.
“He called me and asked me to come,” Theo said and Nora nodded her head and smiled.
“He relies on your company,” she said but he wasn’t smiling.
“He asked me to bring you upstairs with me when I arrived,” he said and Nora’s heart dropped to the pit of her belly. They were staring at each other, the color draining from her face as she did. This could only mean one thing and she wasn’t prepared to face it yet.