A Ghost From The Past
“Jason Strathmore?”
Jason’s heart stopped in his chest. It literally refused to beat. His lungs shrunk in his chest, shriveling up to the point where it was impossible to force a breath past his closed up throat.
Beside him, Amanda, always so sensitive to his moods, also froze. Slowly, as one, they turned to face the voice behind them.
He recognized the guy right away. John Ward. A man from a past life.
“No, sorry,” Jason said slowly, even though it was the most irrational thing to say. Ward’s forehead wrinkled in confusion.
“Hi,” Amanda stepped up beside Jason and slowly offered her hand to the guy.
Jason’s eyed Ward warily, as though the hand he offered Amanda was laced with poison or a snake curled to strike. Jason just stood there blinking. He wished Amanda had got the hint and left well enough alone. He’d had visions of tugging her out of the store without a backwards glance and explaining later, but she’d beat him to it.
“I’m Amanda,” she offered, a little shy. Her smile was slow but it was genuine. “And yes, you have the right Jason.” Her head swiveled towards him and she rolled her eyes slowly.
She doesn’t know. She didn’t know one damn thing about his past and he wanted to keep it that way. This was part of the reason he never came to the city. He didn’t want to involve her in his past. He’d escaped and started a new life. Amanda was innocent, far more innocent than even she knew. She was carrying his child in her belly and he would do anything to protect both of them.
Jason offered a stiff nod, understanding that resisting and pulling Amanda out of the store was now a futile hope. “Ward,” he finally mumbled.
John Ward blinked once. His shrewd, dark eyes missed nothing. He offered a friendly smile to both of them. “Good to see you again,” he finally said in a low, gentle tone.
“And you.”
Jason moved his head again in a gesture of confirmation, hoping that Ward would take the hint and let them go, but at that moment a beautiful, tall blonde who was heavily pregnant sidled up to him and gripped his arm. Her smile was instant and genuine and reached all the way to her crystal blue eyes.
“Hi, I’m Sarah.” The blonde thrust her hand out towards Amanda and she shook it daintily. The blonde glanced at her husband, obviously expecting an introduction.
“This is uh- Jason Strathmore,” Ward mumbled. “And Amanda.”
“Are you expecting as well?” Sarah covered her mouth and her pale cheeks turned a bright red. “Oh, my goodness. Sorry, not that you look it! You might just be shopping for someone you know. It’s just that you’re in the crib section, so I thought…”
“We’re expecting,” Amanda laughed. “Don’t worry at all, I’m not showing yet. You can’t even tell.”
Sarah glanced down at her own belly. “It’s like that and then one day, pop, you look like this.”
“You didn’t even start getting a belly until you were seven months,” Ward gently chided his wife. He slid an arm around her waist affectionately. The love in Sarah’s eyes when she glanced up at her husband gave Jason a bit of a start.
How much does she know? She looks as innocent as Amanda. Probably nothing at all. He hoped so. At least he wasn’t the only one with secrets and a past he’d rather forget.
“When are you due?” Amanda charged right in; clearly not shy at all now that she and Sarah had pregnancies in common.
Jason stood beside her the same way Ward stood beside his wife. Both women were quickly lost in conversation, oblivious to their men. A slow, hard look passed between him and Ward. A look that said neither of them would tell. Ever.
His shoulders slumped as he relaxed slightly. He’d been so worried about this, running into someone who knew him. Someone who could tell Amanda who he truly was and worse, what he’d done. Now that it was clear Ward had his own set of demons, they were just two men who were about to be fathers, likely for the first time. He wondered, briefly, if Ward had any other children. Did any of them? He’d never even thought about it before. He couldn’t. If he had thought of any of those men, his adversaries, as human, he never would have made it out.
Jason finally dialed back into the conversation when Amanda started thanking Sarah for the tips on cribs and bottles. It sounded very much like they were getting ready to say goodbye. Sure enough, Amanda stuck out her hand again and shook both Sarah and Ward’s hands.
“It was so good to meet you both. I hope everything goes well with the birth.”
“For you as well.” Sarah offered another pretty, pink lipped smile and then Ward was steering her away, towards the swings and bouncers. He never turned and looked back.
“Who was that?” Amanda asked when they were a few aisles over.
His mind whirled, trying to think of something to say, an answer she would accept. He came up with a whole lot of nothing.
“Just a friend- a friend from- before,” he finally said. He nearly winced when he realized how lame that sounded.
Amanda eyed him, her green gaze hard and unwavering. After a minute of silence she eventually glanced away. Apparently she was going to let him off the hook. He breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t always going to be so lucky. A day would come when he’d have to tell Amanda something, if not everything.
His only hope in the entire world was that she didn’t choose to leave once she knew who, or what, he really was.