Chapter 22
REED
As I try to open the door to our room I find the inside lock is latched.
“Reed?” Jenna calls out.
“Yes, it’s me.”
She comes and opens it and nearly falls into my arms. “Thank God!”
“Are you that hungry, Jenna?” I laugh a little as she wraps her arms around me.
But then I feel her body shaking as she hugs me.
I move with her and set the drinks and bag of food down and pick her up. “What’s wrong?”
“Rod,” then the tears start again.
“Jenna, you have to get a hold of yourself. You can’t let him get to you like this.” I run my hand through her hair.
She takes her face off my chest and looks up at me. “He was here, Reed. The girl at the front desk gave him a key, and he got in here.”
My body goes instantly hot. “No fucking way! That bitch is getting fired!”
“I already took care of that and we don’t have to pay for our stay here. And the reason she did it is that he intimidated her into it. But they’re going to figure out some way to train their employees not to let that happen again,” she says then buries her face back in my chest and wraps her arms tightly around me.
“What did he do to you?” I hold her tight and fight the urge to leave to go find him.
“Nothing. He didn’t do anything to me. Just told me he wants me back. That kind of thing.” A shiver runs through her.
“Bet there’s a lot more to it than that,” I say as I hold her back and make her look at me. “I need to know it all. What happened with you two in the past? Don’t leave anything out.”
The way she looks up at me makes my heart hurt. I know it’s bad and I know she doesn’t want to relive this but I have to know.
She moves off my lap and climbs under the blanket and leans against the headboard. “Reed, I’m afraid you won’t be able to respect me if I tell you what I allowed.”
“You were young and inexperienced. I promise you there’s not a thing you can say to me that will make me lose respect for you. I respect who you are today. That young woman is not you anymore. And I wouldn’t even ask you to do this but I don’t want Rod to think he can make you stay quiet about what he’s done to you.” I move around on the bed and give her my full attention.
She bites her bottom lip then she looks down. “Not long after we moved in together Rod asked me to enter into a contract with him. A submissive/slave contract where he was the dominate. It said in the contract that he owned me.”
The way my stomach tightens and rolls makes me want to throw up. “I see.”
She keeps looking down. “I wasn’t going to sign it. I really wasn’t. But he had another woman come to the house, and she was ready to take that offer. She was ready and willing to do whatever he wanted right then and there. So I told him I’d do it. I signed it and became his property.”
“That’s not even legal. But I get what you’re saying. So this contract was for life then?” I ask and have to fight nausea.
She nods. “And it came with rules and punishments for breaking them. And conditioning my body to accept pain.”
I run my hand over the blanket where her legs are. She can’t look at me it seems. “Jenna, what did he do to you?”
“That first night right after I signed the contract he bound my hands and hung me up on a hook he’d put up on the wall in our bedroom. A hook like you’d hang a robe on. Only robes never hung there. Only me.” She has to close her eyes, and a tear runs down her cheek.
“I know this is hard.” I run my hand up her arm and over her cheek to wipe the tear away.
She opens her eyes but doesn’t look at me. “He got out his leather belt and told me to say the safe word only after the pain was enough to make me cry. I was able to take five lashes before that happened. And he was pleased with that.”
My heart is pounding and I wish that was all the fucker had done to her, but I know it couldn’t have been. “And after that?”
“He had sex with me while I was still strung up. And while I was still crying.” She closes her eyes again. “That was not the worst thing he ever did to me. It was just the first thing. It sticks out because of that, I guess.”
“So he hit you often?”
She nods. “For the first few months of the contract, it was every day. To get my body in condition he said. And when I made little infractions of his rules it got more intense. Nipple clamps, collars that were tight and large. They made me very uncomfortable, you know.”
“I can imagine. And you were incapacitated when he did those things?”
“Yes, strung up so I couldn’t get away from him. Do you remember that New Year’s Even when we all went to that bar and you left early?” she asks me as she looks into my eyes.
“I do.” I take her hand in mine and lace our fingers together.
“After you left, he made me go into the bathroom when that woman he was playing pool with went in. I had to beat her up. I busted her head against the sink and never felt worse about anything in my life. Not anything made me feel as bad as that did. But he was so proud of me for doing it. He told me he was making me strong and fearless. The kind of woman he needed.” She looks away.
“What else has he made you do?”
“Sex in places that were semi-public. Your family’s bathroom, the men’s room where he worked. The café where everyone in town eats. Behind the grocery store in the alley. I couldn’t work so he could call me to come to him when he wanted or come home to have sex or get a blowjob whenever he felt the need. If I wasn’t available for him then he said he’d get it from another woman and I didn’t want that. That’s why I made myself available for him.”
“He’s a very fucked up individual.”
She nods. “After that fight in the front yard when the cops came, and I told the cop not to take him to jail he changed a lot. He threw away the belts, the bonds and the other things he used to hurt me. He stopped making me cater to him. And let me do my online classes. Then he asked me to marry him and everything was great.” Her eyes cut up to mine. “Nowhere near as great as one single moment you and I have shared. But great for me and Rod. But then he disappeared and left a hole in my soul. I was a slave with no master. The contract was still there. Always lingering in the background of our relationship.”
“You belonged to him in your mind, didn’t you?” I run my hands up and down her arms.
“In my mind, I did. And with each day that passed after he left, that idea of belonging to him faded away. The reality of what life really is about started seeping in. Going off to college was the best thing I ever did for myself. I met this guy there, Cam. He helped me come to see that I had secluded myself. I pushed people away. I had no trust in anyone. With his help I came out of the shell I had allowed Rod to put me in.”
“Was he your boyfriend, Jenna?” I feel pangs of jealousy.
She shakes her head. “No. He was a great friend. I think it was very important for me to make him my friend and learn all men are not like Rod. All men don’t want to control women. All men don’t feel the need to punish. All men aren’t out to hurt me physically or emotionally.”
“I’m glad you had a friend like that. You became a very different person with that guy’s help. I should send him a thank-you card,” I say with a smile.
She looks at me. “Can I be completely honest with you?”
My heart lurches as I have this deep fear she still has feelings for Rod but I have to hear it if she does. So I nod and hold my breath.
“If this all comes out Rod is going to say some things that are very personal about what we did. You see, I have no idea why this happened, but when he was giving me lashes I would get wet inside. And after he stopped I would have this frantic sex with him. I can’t explain why. It just worked like that. And I feel shame about that. I feel like a horrible person for that.”
“And I am going to get someone you can talk to about what happened to you, Jenna. Someone who can help you forgive yourself for things that were beyond your control. You were young, and he took advantage of the fact you had never been allowed to date. You had no idea what was normal and what was not.”
Her hands shake as she moves them, through her hair. “You’re right about that. And I think it would help if someone who’s been through that could help me understand why I’d react that way. If I could understand why I didn’t leave. I had my parents to go to. But I never did. You told me to call you if I needed anything and I never did. I had people who would’ve helped me. Thing is, I didn’t want help. I didn’t want out. And even when he first disappeared, I didn’t want it to end.”
I pull her into my arms. “I’m so sorry that he did that to you. So very sorry.”
Her hands move over my back and up to move through my hair. “Make love to me, Reed. Take my mind back to me and you and away from thinking about those days.”
Her hands move to the bottom of my T-shirt and I hold my arms up so she can pull it off me. Then I take off the nightgown she has on and toss it on the floor as I kick off my shoes.
I stand up and get rid of my jeans and pull the blanket back. Her body rises and falls with her breathing and I find her beautiful. How my brother could do those things to her I can’t understand.
She is an angel and should never be hurt. I run my hands over her stomach and watch it quiver with my touch.
She breathes out my name, “Reed.”
I look at her to find her gazing at me. “I love you, Jenna.”
Her hand runs over my cheek. “I love you. You really have made me happier than I ever imagined I could be.”
The sick feeling her story gave me starts to fade away as her touch heals me. I hope my touch does something similar to her.
“You have made me happier than I knew possible too.” I move my body over hers and she raises her legs, running her feet up my calves then wraps her legs around me as I slide into her, gently.
I move with slow strokes and kiss her softly. Then trail kisses down her cheek and over her neck. “You’re perfect.”
She moans as I move deep inside her. “Reed.”
Her breasts rub against my chest as I let the upper part of my body move to feel them between us. I move in and out of her with nice slow strokes.
As I make love to her slow and steady I want to show her how much I adore her and cherish her. I want to let her know that part of her life is over and she will never have to live like that again.
Her hands leave little currents of electricity as she trails them over my back and arches up to me. I roll with her so she’s on top of me and I can look at her.
She sits up and takes my hands to her breasts. I take them and rub them as she moves rhythmically over me. Back and forth she rocks on me as I give her breasts gentle squeezes.
I move my hands down to her waist and pick her up to allow her body to stroke my cock. She puts her hands on my stomach and runs her fingers through the lines that divide my abs.
Her body is perfect and voluptuous. Her skin is a creamy peach color and her cheeks are flushed with desire.
This woman is like no other and no man will ever harm a hair on her gorgeous head again.
The sun shines in, making her golden blonde hair shine and a halo glows around her head as she moves up and down giving me more pleasure than any man should be allowed to have.
But I am allowed this for some reason. I am allowed to have her. I am allowed to be the man for her.
Together, we will make a life for ourselves far away from the road my brother planned on taking her down.
She will live with me in a mansion instead of with him in a dump. She will be on my arm, a respectable woman instead of on the back of his motorcycle and hanging out with him and his motorcycle gang in biker bars across the country.
She will be treated like the goddess she is instead of the slave he wanted her to be.
I watch her lip begin to quiver as her body starts to pulse around me. “Reed,” she moans as she climaxes.
She stretches out as she rides me and her walls squeeze my cock until I can’t take anymore and let my body do what it wants. Cum inside her and fill her up with my love for her.
Her eyes open as my cum shoots into her and she looks at me then smiles as I hiss out, “Yes! Jenna, you’re amazing!”
“You are,” she says then leans over and kisses me soft and sweet.
I thank God she gave me a chance!
Chapter 23
REED
As Jenna sleeps in my arms, the calm of our love-making starts to leave and the fury at my brother creeps in.
I leave her sleeping and put my clothes back on and leave to pay my brother a visit.
If he thinks he’s getting away without me kicking his ass completely for what he did to her he’s very mistaken.
As I pull up to my parents’ house I see both of their cars are gone and his Harley is in the driveway along with a small red car.
As I go inside I don’t see anyone. So I go to his bedroom and open the door. Sprawled across the bed naked as the day they were born are my brother and some woman with a red dye job.
With a quick visit to the kitchen to retrieve a glass of ice water I go back and toss it in his sleeping face.
His eyes open and so does the woman’s who’s next to him. “What the fuck?” she shouts as she sits up and grabs the sheet to cover herself.
My brother doesn’t say a word as he attempts to jump out of bed, but my hands meet his chest and shove him back down. “Nope, you just lie back there so I can set your ass straight. Jenna told me everything. The slave contract, the way you beat her ass, the way you fucked her in ways that were inexcusable. And now I’m here to let you know she’s mine now. You will never touch her again. You got me, bro?”
“She is mine and I have a contract that says that. I will get her. I will take her with me and you will never see her again. Once I take her, I will never be coming back here. So take that and shove it up your ass, little, bro.” He smiles and puts his hands behind his head and leans back. Not even attempting to cover himself up.
“If you want her so bad why do you have this skank in your bed?”
The woman glares at me and I look right back at her until she looks away. Rod shakes his head. “I have needs and Jenna’s being difficult right now. None of your business really. But you need to get it through your head that Jenna is mine. She always was. I took her virginity and in the biblical sense, she is my wife.”
I laugh. “You know nothing about the Bible, Rod! Please don’t even attempt to bring God into anything concerning you. After what you did to that poor girl, the only entity on your side is Satan.”
He smirks at me. “How much would you like to bet that if you gave me an hour with Jenna alone I would have her back? Bet you aren’t secure enough about what you think you have with her to do that.”
“If you think I will ever allow that, you are truly insane. And the stunt you pulled at the lodge is a criminal act you know.”
His eyes narrow at me. “I didn’t hurt her.”
“You came into a private room without being asked to,” I say and find him smiling.
“How do you know she didn’t let me in, Reed?”
“I know she didn’t. She’s afraid of you.”
He eyes me to see if I’ll budge. “What if she did let me in? What if she does want to talk to me? Will you be man enough to let her?”
I look right back at him. “She didn’t let you in. She doesn’t want to talk to you. And I am man enough to protect the woman I love. I will never let her talk to you alone. No matter if she begs me to. You messed her head up and I’m going to get her help to understand why she allowed you to do the things to her you did.”
“Now who’s controlling her?” Rod glances sideways at the woman in his bed.
She answers, “Sounds like he is.”
“Really? Bringing this bitch into this, Rod!” I roll my eyes. “Jenna doesn’t want to talk to you. I’m not going to allow you another moment around her to intimidate her into thinking she wants to talk to you.”
“I will get her back. And you can be sure her ass will stay red for a month for doing this to me. This is very humiliating. And I don’t deal well with being humiliated, Little bro.” He sits up and puts his hand on his dick. Which makes me kind of sick. His hand runs up and down it. “See this. This has been all in that woman. This was in her first and it will be in her last. And there’s not a fucking thing you can do about it.”
“Stop that!” I shout as he keeps running his hand up and down his cock, making it erect.
Then he looks over at the woman. “Suck it.”
She doesn’t even hesitate to do what he’s said and sits up and leans her head down and takes it into her mouth.
“Rod! Fuck!” I shout.
“You can stay and watch me get sucked off or leave. Either way this conversation is over, Little bro.”
I turn to leave but say, “We’re leaving today. Just so you know if you ever come to our home in California you will be arrested as I’ll be taking out a protective order with the Bel-Air police department against you. Don’t fuck with either of us.”
With a slam of his door, I leave his bedroom and have the strong need to take a bath with how filthy the man is.
I hear my parents coming in and go to them. “We need to talk. Your son has done horrible things and you two need to know about them.”
Mom shakes her head. “Reed, please, I don’t want to know. I’ve had my suspicions but I don’t want to know the details.”
Dad looks at her then walks toward the back. “Come on, let’s go outside. Sue, you have to deal with the truth.”
The three of us go out to the patio and they sit down. I stand because I’m too pissed to sit down.
“Rod made a BDSM contract with Jenna just a little while after they moved in together. He’s beat her,” I say then my mother raises her hand like a kid in class.
I give her a nod and she says, “If they made a contract then she was agreeing to let him do that, right? Isn’t that how things like that work?”
My father looks at her with disapproval etched into his face. “Sue! Are you defending him?”
She shakes her head. “Heaven’s no! But I am trying to say that Jenna was allowing it. I was over there one time and he made her take off his boots and get him a beer and I was right there telling her not to do that for him and she did it, anyway. Some people want that in their lives. She stayed with him after that incident with the police coming when Rod threw her all over the yard.”
“Mom, she was an innocent girl when he got a hold of her. She had no idea about what she was getting into with him and that contract.” I start pacing as I really didn’t expect this out of my mother.
“That girl had plenty of people she could’ve gone to if she wasn’t accepting of what he was doing,” she says as she taps the tabletop. “She could’ve left at any time. You have to admit that, Reed. You can’t blame Rod entirely. She let him do it.”
“Well, then, can I blame Rod for pushing things so far as to go into our room at the lodge while I was gone and try to get her back?” I ask as I find my hands going through the air over my head as I yell.
My father gives me a look telling me to quiet down then he says, “Son, you did take his fiancé. Did you expect he would take that well? Did you think he wouldn’t want to talk to her? Did you think he wouldn’t make an attempt to get her back from you?”
Great!
“Dad, he hurt her.”
Mom quickly interrupts, “She accepted it!”
“You know, you two are why he’s the fuck up he is! No matter what he has ever done you two never really tried to correct his actions. You just said that was how he was. His temper was bad, so I needed to watch out, you guys told me that when I was young and he’d beat the shit out of me. Just stay out of his way, you told me. And now that I’m telling you your oldest son beats women, all you have to say is she allowed it.” I turn around and run my hand over my face in complete exasperation.
“Look, Reed, I’ll talk to him,” my father says. “I can make sure he knows that kind of thing is the wrong thing to do.”
I turn back. “And you think that will work? The man is all grown up now, Dad. There’s no changing him. What I’d like from you both is a bit of back-up. Tell Rod to leave me and Jenna alone.”
Mom shakes her head. “As if he would listen to us.”
“Just say it. He has no place to live. Tell him he can’t stay with you if he bothers her anymore.” I look back and forth at them and find my mother shaking her head.
“No, Reed. He’s our son, and he’s been gone for years. I’m not about to tell him anything like that. I love Jenna. You know I do. But I won’t put out my son because of something she allowed him to do to her. I won’t do it!”
“She’s right, Reed. We can’t toss him out. And you have to accept the consequences of your actions You took your brother’s girl. That was always going to cost you. And Jenna, for that matter.” Dad looks right into my eyes. “What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that I love her. I was going to come home the summer she graduated from high school and try to get a shot with her. I had eyes for her since she was fourteen and I first saw her when we were in high school.”
Mom’s nose wrinkles as she says, “Why did you take so long to let her or anyone else know that? I mean you had the same shot at her as your brother did. Only he actually moved on what he wanted. You sat back and missed your shot back then. And now I can see why he said those things about you being jealous when he asked Jenna to marry him. You were.”
“I was angry, not jealous. I could see he wasn’t right for her. She was a good girl. I had my ideas about what he was doing to her. But when she told me what he did it made me sick,” I say as I hold my stomach because my whole family is making me sick right now.
Mom tops it off as she says, “Yet she allowed him to do it, Reed. She may not be the woman you think she is. You might really think about that before you marry her. She has a dark side just like your brother. She was a mess when he disappeared. You should’ve seen her. She waited for him to come back. When most women would’ve never taken him back she was more than ready to. They have a history and a connection and there’s not a thing you can do about that.”
My father looks at me. “If they do get back together I expect you to accept that.”
“Fuck that shit! I will never accept that. I will fight to the end for her. I will never allow him or anyone else to hurt her again. And if that’s how you two feel, I don’t know if this is the kind of family I want to be a part of. Our kids don’t need grandparents with such hard hearts. So I guess this is goodbye.”
I slam back into the house and out the front door barely able to think with all the betrayal by my parents.
As I get into my car I pound the steering wheel with my fists. Then I look up with a thought about destroying Rod’s bike.
Only it’s not here, and neither is that little red car that bitch must have come in.
And in that instant fear runs through me and I hurry to get to Jenna.
Please don’t let anything bad be happening to her!
I press the gas pedal to the floor as I speed to the other side of our small town to get to the lodge. My heart is pounding after all my parents have said.
What if Jenna really does want to talk to Rod, and she’s afraid to tell me that? Would I let her? Could I let her talk to him without me around at the very least?
And what if she does want to give him another chance? She did wait for him when he left. She did stay with him when he did those things to her.
Maybe she does have a hidden dark side?
Maybe she’s only telling me what she thinks I want to hear.
But if that’s true then why does it feel like magic when we touch? Or is that just me and she’s telling me she feels it too but she’s lying about that?
I’ve wanted her for so damn many years it could be just me. Am I some kind of a fool? Am I about to lose the woman I love because she doesn’t really love me?
Maybe she wanted me because I’m the next thing to Rod. Though complete opposites, she could see me as the closest thing to Rod she could get.
But she seemed so afraid of him. She talked so strongly about not wanting him or that life back.
I round the corner and see the lodge and neither the little red car or his bike are there so I feel relieved.
I can’t wait to get Jenna and get the fuck out of this town!
I leave the car and run inside to get her. She was sleeping when I left and probably still is. This is taking a toll on her and I don’t plan on letting her in on the fact my parents are being so fucking casual about this.
The door opens before I unlock it and I push it back to find the sheets and blanket are pulled off the bed. I look around and see the only thing gone is Mom’s nightgown that Jenna had been wearing before we made love and I tossed it on the floor.
“Jenna!” I shout.
With no answer, I run to the bathroom and she’s not there either. She would not leave this room only wearing that. And even her purse is here.
I look around and remember her cell phone being on the nightstand and it’s gone.
I call it and find it goes straight to voicemail. So I leave a text telling her to call me as soon as possible.
Then it hits me that Rod may have come and taken her. So I run to the office and find an older woman sitting at the desk. “Hi!” I nearly shout as I come through the door. “Did you see a motorcycle come into this parking lot at all in the last hour?”
She shakes her head. “No, sir.”
“Did you see a little red car?”
Her brow furrows as she thinks. Then she nods. “Yes. It was here for a few minutes then it was gone.”
“Did you see who was in it?”
My heart is racing so hard I feel like I might have a fucking heart attack.
She shakes her head. “Sorry. Are you checking out today? I have a note here saying not to charge you and that you two are leaving today.”
“I’m not sure yet. You see my fiancé is missing from our room.”
“Oh my goodness! What are you going to do?”
I look at her and feel like crying.
“I don’t know. Can you call the police for me and tell them to meet me at my room?” She nods and I walk slowly out of the office and back to our room, praying Jenna is in there when I walk back in.
But she isn’t and I fall to the floor as I know he has her.
I have to find her!
Chapter 24
JENNA
The smell of the spare tire which I’m resting my head on in the trunk of some little red car I was crammed into is making me sick. After being abducted from our room by some woman with a horrible red dye job. Along with Rod, and three other big-ass men in motorcycle jackets, who put a gag in my mouth and tied me up, I’m trying to figure out how I’ll get out of this situation.
The sound of a phone ringing fills my ears then I hear the woman talking, “Hey.”
Then I hear Rod’s voice coming over the car’s speaker system, “You there yet?”
“No, ‘bout three minutes away,” she answers.
“I want her strung up in my room. Then leave her alone there until I come.”
“Yes, Master,” she says.
Chills run all through me as I hear her say the words he used to make me say. She is his new sub.
So why does he want me too?
The car lurches to a stop as it slips on gravel. I hear the engine go off and one car door open then close. So, I’m pretty sure the other three men went off with Rod.
The crunching of gravel crushing beneath big boots comes toward the car and the trunk is opened. The daylight streams in and I have to close my eyes.
I only have on the nightgown I got from Reed’s mother last night as that’s what Rod grabbed up and put on my naked body when they all came into the room and found me asleep and naked.
Two huge bearded and tattooed men pull me out of the trunk and one of them tosses me over his shoulder and takes me inside of a big metal building. I look around and see maybe twenty bikers sitting around the building that has a bunch of tables and chairs in it.
It resembles a bar and there’s dim lighting coming from beer signs that are hung on the walls. It smells like oil and gasoline with a heavy cigarette background.
All heads turn to look at me. Yet not one person asks a thing about why there’s a woman all bound up and gagged and being taken toward the back of the building. So I have no doubt I will not find a compassionate person in this bunch of misfits.
I’m taken through some door and tossed on a small bed that reeks of booze and cigarettes. It makes me sick to think this is how Rod is living now.
The redhead comes in as the two Neanderthals leave. She comes to me and I am helpless to get away from her as not only are my hands bound with bungee cords but my feet are too.
She closes the door and looks me over. “I don’t know why he’s so hung up on you. You’re way too vanilla for him.”
I nod and she smiles, revealing a missing tooth just to the left of her front one. I mumble to try to get her to see I want to talk to her. But she looks away from me.
“I guess you and me are going to be like some kind of sister-wives or some shit. Rod just sprang this on me last night. I had no idea we were coming to this tiny town for anything more than a road trip. Guess we were coming for you, Jenna Foster. The Jenna Foster that I am constantly compared to. You must’ve done things so great for the man who I belong to.”
I shake my head and mumble again in an attempt to get her to at least set my mouth free. She looks at me with a lot of unanswered questions clouding her expression. Then she comes to me.
Taking a knife out of her tight leather jeans pocket, she runs it up behind my head. The gag goes loose and I spit it out. “Thank you.”
“Don’t. I just want to hear you tell me I’ll be his number one woman. You can sit back and be quiet and stay the fuck out of my way and maybe we can co-exist with Rod.” She folds her arms in front of her and leans against the wall.
“I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be with him. I don’t know what he told you, but he left me. I wasn’t good enough for him, obviously or he’d have taken me with him.”
She looks me all over and makes a face that has it all squished up. “You look like a damn teacher or something with that drab little hairstyle you got going on and why in the hell does a woman your age wear old lady nightgowns?”
“This isn’t mine. I put it on last night when Rod caught me and his brother in the swimming pool naked. His mother gave it to me to cover myself. And I am going to be a school teacher. A kindergarten teacher to be precise.”
Her eyes go narrow. “Fucking fantastic! So my sister-wife is a normal, boring woman. That’s just going to work out so great! Not!”
I try hard to think about what to say to get her to see it’s best to let me go. “Look, I need your help. What’s your name?”
“Rod nicknamed me Sweet-thing.” Her smile tells me she’s very proud of the fact he gave her that name.
“K. Sweet-thing, I need your help. If you could find it in your heart to just let me go then I’ll disappear and you can have your life with Rod,” I make sure to sound like I’m pleading with her.
But it does no good as her face is hard as a rock and she shakes her head. “He’d string me up and beat me non-stop for three or more hours if I did that. If you know the man like he claims you do then you know I can’t do that. And I’m not a girl who goes around doing good deeds, anyway.”
“Yeah, you don’t look real helpful,” I find myself saying out loud though I had no intention of doing that.
“Look, Bitch!” She comes closer to me, shaking the knife near my face. “If it wasn’t for Rod and how he is about you then I would cut your ass up right now. But he will kill me if I harm a hair on your head. He told me that himself. But I won’t let you get away with talking about me at all.”
“Sorry. That was way out of line, Sweet-thing. It’s just that I really need to get out of here before he gets here. Once he does, I know he’ll make damn sure I don’t.”
“You got that right,” she says then grabs an open half-drunk beer off the small table in the little room.
I throw up a little in my mouth as she takes the rest of it in one long drink. She burps and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand then sets the empty brown bottle back down.
“I know you’re not liking this, Sweet-thing. And you have to realize that you will really hate it when you have to share Rod. If you get a chance at all. He and I had a really hot connection. He’s going to want to have sex with me a lot. We used to have sex three and four times a day. It’s been over two years since he’s touched me. I’m sure he’s not going to come out of this room for days once he gets here,” I say and watch her face fall.
“Fuck!” she says then looks around the room. “The bed’s too small for the three of us. He’ll probably make me sleep out in the bar. Fuck! Why did he have to find your ass?”
“Let me go and you won’t have any problems. If you don’t, you will lose him to me. I can promise you that. He’ll make you a slave to both of us. I know he will. I don’t want to see that happen to you.” I watch her as she slides her back down the wall and lands on her ass.
She puts her face in her hands and shakes her head. “I know that too. But if I let you go…”
I interrupt her. “If you let my legs free and reposition the bungee cord holding my hands together and hang me on that hook that I can see is low enough that I can use my feet to climb up the wall and get off the hook all on my own then I can escape. It won’t be your fault at all.”
“That’ll never work,” she says as she keeps her head in her hands.
“It will. I heard him tell you to string me up. He told you to leave me in here alone after that. If you give me the heads up about a back door or window, then that would make it easier for me too. You know how things are going to work out if he gets me. I’m like his favorite toy and if I have to live with him then I will become all he wants. I did before. It helped me to be punished less and treated better. I know how to work the man now. It won’t take me anytime at all to have him eating out of the palm of my hand.”
She moves back up the wall until she’s standing. “There’s a back door. When you walk out of this room turn to the right and stay close to the wall and no one will see you. The door is behind a wall. You’ll have to only open it as far as you have to, to get out. It will let in some light and somebody might notice that.”
“Is there any way, you feel like telling me what direction will get me back to town?” I ask and hope like crazy she wants to be a little more helpful.
“If you can get to the front of the bar without being seen that’s the quickest way. But chances are if you’re walking up that road, Rod will be coming down it. If any of the gang sees a woman walking down the road in a nightgown, chances are they will grab you and bring you right back here,” she says then nods her head. “Yeah, you better just run out the back and keep going that direction. You’ll come up on some house, I’m sure. Eventually, anyway.”
The woman pulls my cell phone out of her pocket and sets it on the table. Then comes and takes the cord off my ankles then releases the cord around my wrists. “Thank you,” I say as I shake my hands and wiggle my feet to get the blood flowing back into them.
“Take these with you. I don’t want him finding them and putting two and two together. I’m going to tell him I had you bound up and strung up and have no idea how you got free. He didn’t see me take your phone. So he won’t know about that.” She looks into my face and seems to be searching it. “How’d you take it when he left you like that?”
“Very badly. But I thank the lord every single day that he did. I got myself back. And I don’t want to give myself back to him ever again. Not ever!” I look into her eyes and see the lost look she has. Very much the way I looked when I was with him.
“Good luck,” she says then turns away from me. “You’re going to need it.” Then she walks out of the small room and I get up and grab my cell phone and peek out the door.
I find it dark and no one is looking my way so I slip out the door and stay close to the wall. Slinking against the wall I spot the door she told me about and once I get to it, I slip out it and start hauling ass like I have never run before.
It’s just desert out here. Cactus and hot sand are all I see and my bare feet are already burning. I keep running and look at my cell phone and see there’s no service.
Of course, there isn’t that would be too fucking easy!
Far away I can hear the sound of motorcycles coming down the road and somehow increase my speed as I have a feeling it’s Rod. When he finds me not in his room waiting for him to pour on the punishment for daring to leave his ass, he’s sure to come out that back door and come looking for me.
So I keep running and it occurs to me that my footprints are left in the sandy soil but there’s not a damn thing I can do about that. I just pray all those years of his cigarette smoking will have him not being able to run for as long as I can.
Chapter 25
JENNA
My body is past hot. I’m getting tired and can’t run anymore. If Rod is following me, he’s so far back I can’t see or hear him. It’s been a whole hour since I got out of there and still I’ve yet to see any signs of a house or civilization at all.
But in the distance, I can hear what sounds like chickens. So I veer to the left a bit and go toward the sound that should mean someone lives near the chickens I’m hearing.
The sound of a small dog barking as I get closer to the chickens has me picking up speed as hope fills me. The little yapping dog comes out of nowhere, yipping at me.
It’s small and ugly as sin but damn I’m glad to see it!
I crouch down. “Here, puppy. Take me to your home, puppy.”
It slows down and comes timidly up to me with its tiny tail wagging away. I pick it up and pet him. “Oh, you’re so ferocious, aren’t you? Want to take me to your home, puppy?”
I put him down and follow him as he goes back toward where he came from. Suddenly I feel a lot better and it occurs to me I might just make it out of here intact.
The chickens come into view and so does a rickety shack. But the old shack has a new satellite dish on the wavy roof and that’s good luck for me.
A screen door is about half-way off but I knock on it, anyway. “Hello,” I call out to whoever may be inside.
“What?” I hear the voice of an old woman.
I take six fast steps backward as a short, round, white-haired women with one eye shows up on the other side of the door. “Oh! Um, hello there. I need some help.”
“Why?” she says with a snarling sound in her old crotchety voice.
“I was kidnapped and need to make a call. Do you have any satellite reception in there?” I ask as I peek around her to see if I see anything that tells me the dish on the roof is working.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She turns around abruptly. “Stop pushing me, Roland!”
I don’t see anyone behind her. “Who?”
She spins back and throws the squeaking door open. “Come in! For goodness sakes, it’s a hundred and eleven degrees out there!” She waddles off mumbling, “Not a brain in her head it seems, Roland.”
Incredibly I see a small wifi router and hurry to see if my cell phone can pick it up. I find there’s a code I need for it. “Mam, what’s the code for your wifi?”
“My what?” she spins back and stops and I nearly run into her. “I don’t know what she’s talking about, Roland. So shut up!”
I look around to find who the hell she’s talking to and shake my head when I find no one. I point to the little router with the green blinking lights. “That machine has a code. Do you remember what it is?”
“Hells bells, where are my manners. You want some eggs, little girl?” She hops on one foot to a tiny kitchen.
“Are you hurt?” I ask as she wasn’t hopping before.
“Land sakes! Hurt! Do you need a bandage? I don’t have any but if you need one I can ask Roland to get you one from the store.” She opens a little brown box and pulls out two eggs and cracks them into a cloudy glass and hands it to me.
I take it and smile nervously. “Thank you.”
What is wrong with this woman?
Instead of asking her anything else, I go to the router and look at the bottom if it and sure enough someone has written a code there.
Thank God!
I put it into my phone and I have service. Quickly I swipe Reed’s name and his voice makes me fall to my knees, “Jenna?”
“Reed,” I say and have to hold back the cries I want to set free. “Thank God.”
“Jenna, where are you?” he asks.
“I don’t know for sure. Right now I’m at a woman’s house. But he will find me soon, I know it. My footprints are in the sand and all he has to do is follow them to me.”
“Ping your location and I’ll find you.”
My heart pounds as I have real hope he’ll come and save me. “Okay. Reed, hurry.”
“I will. You do whatever you have to if he shows up. See if that person has a gun. Shoot the mother fucker if you have to, Jenna. I’ll be there soon,” he says then I end the call so I can send him my location.
“Mam, do you have a gun by any chance?”
She closes her one good eye and presses her thumb to her chin then she walks away and opens a door on the side of the one-room shack. “What kind do you need?”
I walk over and look in the room that’s full of things. And three of those things are guns.
Big shotguns!
Watching where I step as there’s a lot of crap in the tiny room, I grab the guns and see one box of bullets. I pick them up too and go back to her.
She swats at the air and shouts, “Tarnation, Roland! Stop pulling my hair!”
With a shake of my head, I ask, “Is Roland your husband?”
“No! Are you blind?” She spins in a circle three times then stops. “He’s my cat, goofy woman!”
She thinks I’m goofy?
“So, it’s just you and your cat who live here?” I ask as I take a seat on a rickety old chair with a half broken seat.
I’ve never shot a gun or loaded one but I’m about to learn how really quickly. I’d ask the old woman but I doubt she’d tell me the right way. She must be clinically insane.
“Me and what cat?” she asks as she sits Indian style on the old wood floor that has more than a few holes in it.
“Roland,” I say and roll my eyes.
Reed, hurry up before this woman takes me to crazy town with her!
“Scat!” she screams and throws her hands up in the air and they flail around her head.
“You okay?” I ask as I sit here and just watch her.
She stops and looks at me with her one eye squinted. She doesn’t say a word as she looks at me for a long time then whispers, “I see dead people all the time. You don’t scare me.”
“I’m not trying to scare you,” I say and finally figure out how to open the shotgun and find a shell already in the chamber. “I see you keep this one loaded.”
“Why does a ghost need a gun, anyway?” she whispers.
“I’m not a ghost. I’m a woman who is being sought after by a crazy motorcycle riding lunatic. That’s why I need a gun.” I put that one down very carefully on the floor and pick up the next one to find it’s loaded as well. And so is the third one.
She shivers and runs her hands over her chubby arms. “I had a dog one time.”
“You have a dog right now,” I remind her. “When was the last time you remembered to feed him?”
“Feed what?” She looks really confused, and that takes some doing with only one eye.
I sigh. “Your dog.”
“Dog? I have a cat. His name is Roland.”
“I know that. You also have a dog. One who needs to eat.” I hear the chickens going crazy outside and take the gun in my hand and hurry to look out the back door.
My heart is pounding as I think I might have to shoot Rod or some other member of his gang. It slows a bit as I see it’s just the little dog killing one of the smaller chickens.
So that’s how he’s managing to stay alive!
Scanning the area, I came from and seeing nothing, I think the dog will bark if it hears anyone coming. So I relax a little.
I turn when I feel tugging at the back of my nightgown. The woman is there pulling on it. “I like this snazzy dress. I sure do. Want to trade for something I got?”
“You’re a bit shorter than I am. I kind of need this.” I walk away and take a seat on the floor so she can have her one chair.
She perches on the broken chair and pulls her white hair up with her fists. It makes it stand straight up off her old wrinkled head. “I think you and me look a lot alike.”
My eyebrows go up as I look at her. “You do?”
“I do,” she says then licks her fingertip and runs it over one of her very bushy white eyebrows. “Once I was a showgirl.”
“You were?” I ask and find myself smiling at the thought.
“Well, showgirl might be a little fancy for what I was.” She looks all around then leans toward me as she whispers, “I used to take my clothes off for money and I had sex and gave blow jobs for money too. I used to be rich.”
I’m kind of shocked and kind of not. “So what happened?”
“I bit this guy’s cock, and he hit me in the eye so hard he busted it. I was ugly then, and no one wanted me. I got thrown out of the whore house and all I could afford was this place. So I bought it and some chickens and took my cat, Roland and found myself living in the Arizona desert. Alone.”
“That’s heartbreaking,” I say. “When my fiancé comes, we can take you to a woman’s shelter where you can get some help. And some nice people will come and get your chickens and your dog and make sure they all go to good homes. Won’t that be nice? You’ll sleep in a nice comfy bed and get to take a bath.”
“You’re a friendly ghost,” she says. “I like friendly ghosts. Scat!”
I jump as she screams the last word. “And you can get some help with your problems too. Maybe some nice drugs to help you not live in an alternate universe.” I give her a smile and don’t know if they make anything that would really help her not be crazy.
The dog starts barking and I jump up and run to the door and see he’s running around the house to the front and I run to that door. As I throw open the door, I see Reed’s rented Mercedes pulling up and run out to him.
He skids to a stop in the sand and jumps out. His arms hold me tight and I let the tears loose. “Reed!”
“Jenna, I have you now. I have you, my angel!” His lips touch the side of my head as I cling tightly to him.
The sound of the shotgun going off has me letting him go. I turn and see the crazy woman pointing the gun up in the air. “Scat!” she screams. “You kids get in here before the vultures come back!”
“She’s not all there,” I say.
“You think?” he asks as he takes my hand and walks around the car to put me in the passenger side.
“Reed, we need to take her to get her some help.”
He rolls his eyes. “I’ll get her. What’s her name?”
With a shrug, I say, “I don’t know.”
“Great.” He turns back to look at her. “Hey, come here a minute, Mam.”
She tosses the shotgun to the side and pulls at her hair. I do believe she thinks she’s fixing it. One hand goes to her hip as she tries her best to saunter it seems. “So, you’d like my services, would ya?”
I get back out of the car. “No, he does not want your services. Remember, we’re taking you somewhere nice? I told you that just a few minutes ago.”
She walks right up to Reed and I flinch as she grabs at his crotch. He moves back just in time to avoid the grasp. “Hey!”
I go take the old woman by the arm. “This is my man. Okay? Now let’s get you in the car and to a place that will be much safer for you.”
I take her to the back seat and once I get her inside I get back into the passenger side and take in a deep breath then cough and gag as I realize the woman smells awful.
Reed looks over at me. “The rental company is going to charge me to clean this thing. You know that, right?”
I nod and smile. “But at least we’ll both know we did a good deed.”
He pulls back out of the dirt driveway and we head for town. “I can’t wait to get out of this damn state.”
“I’m going straight to the police station,” he says as I hear the old lady singing some song in the back seat. “I was told to take you in so they could get you to press charges on Rod and his gang for kidnapping.”
“Reed, do I have to? That will mean a trial and seeing them all and I don’t want that. I just want to go to California. Please, Reed. I’m tired and if I start something here it’ll mean coming back here over and over.”
He gives me a look like it’s not a thing he wants but he nods. “Then tell them you don’t want to press charges. But if Reed makes it to our home somehow, we will press charges. Okay?”
“Okay,” I say and lay my head back on the soft leather. “Tell your mom I’m burning this nightgown and I’ll buy her a new one. This one’s had it.”
“Yeah, I’m not talking to my parents. I don’t know if I ever will again,” he says and I pick my head up and look at him with my jaw dropped.
What the hell happened with them?
Chapter 26
REED
With Arizona far behind us, Jenna and I relax as we sit in a bathtub full of hot water. The trip home went pretty fast and now I’m feeling much better as I have her back in the mansion.
I told her about my parents and their take on the whole Rod thing. She thought we should stop by after we left the police station and talk to them to see if they had changed their opinion at all since he showed his true colors and kidnapped her.
But I just wanted to get her home. I think if their opinions had changed they’d have given me a call.
Her hand runs over my leg as she lies back on me in between my legs. “I’m glad that old lady was taken to the hospital and then to a nursing home. That was very nice of you to pay for all that.”
“Well, she was kind of like your crazy angel in the middle of the desert. It’s the right thing to do. She’ll like the nursing home much better than that shack I bet.” I run my hand through her wet hair and kiss her neck. “I’m so glad you’re back in my arms. I was a fucking wreck when I found you gone.”
“You a wreck,” she says with a light laugh. “Never.”
I run my hands down her arms. “Yes, me. A wreck. Jenna, I still think it would’ve been best to press charges on him.”
“Reed, please. The whole thing is so upsetting. I just want to forget about him and all of it. The things that were going through my mind and what I would have to do if he made it to that room before I could get away are haunting me. I just have to push it all away. I can’t deal with it. I just can’t.” Her body shakes as she shivers.
“Okay. Don’t think any more about it.” I kiss her neck and lie my head back on the cool porcelain.
What she must’ve been getting ready for as she was thinking about what he was going to do to her once he got to her had to be horrible. I can’t imagine. Or I don’t want to, anyway.
I lean up and take some shampoo and wash her hair. I’m going to pamper the hell out of her. She must have been getting ready to get her ass beat for hours and thankfully she got away and I got to her in time that she’s enjoying a nice hot bath instead.
I think Rod needs his ass beat for what he did to her. And for what he was going to do to her again if she hadn’t managed to talk that other girl into helping her escape.
Her hand is shaking as she reaches out to take the glass of wine I poured her. I put my hand in the water to get the suds off. “Let me.” I get the glass instead and put it to her lips.
She takes a drink then says, “Thank you, Reed. Thank you for everything. I don’t think I can ever repay you for all you’ve done for me.”
“Your love is more than enough. And I should be the one thanking you. Thank you for making me the happiest man in the world.”
And then she starts really shaking as I rinse her hair out. “Reed, I was so afraid I would have to have sex with him to get him to trust me. I was so damn afraid. But I was ready to do whatever I had to, to get him to trust me and think I was going to go back to him willingly. That way he’d let me have a bit of freedom and then I could run. Run back to you.”
My heart aches and I hold her tight to me. “Jenna, just put it all out of your mind for now. I’m going to hire a therapist who deals with things just like this to help you. You will never be alone to handle this on your own. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
She turns in my arms and I see the unshed tears in her pretty eyes. “Reed, what happened to him to make him the way he is?”
“I wish I knew. Rod has always been wired differently. I’m pretty sure he has some kind of disorder. And my parents didn’t help anything with the way they treated him. He should have had some kind of evaluation done when he first started exhibiting that type of behavior.” I kiss her forehead. “Ready to get out of the tub and into bed? I’ll bring dinner up and feed you then we can do whatever you want to. Sleep, watch television, talk, whatever you want to do, Angel.”
She looks up at me and sighs. “Do you know what I really want to do?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“I want you to take me to the bed we will share forever and make love to me.” She moves her hands up my arms and then she takes my face in them and kisses me.
It’s an easy kiss and I can tell she’s gathering strength from our connection. It’s deep and magical and healing.
I run my hands over her back and pull her to me even more. Her mouth leaves mine, and she smiles. “I knew that would make me feel better. So what do you say? Want to take your fiancé to our bed?”
Without uttering a word, I get up and pull her up with me then take her in my arms and get out of the deep jetted tub and wrap her in a fluffy white towel.
She is mine to protect now. And now that I know the extent my brother will go to hurt her, I’ll have to amp up just what all I need to do to protect this woman from him.
Laying her back on our bed, I look down at her and smile. “Ready to let the magic happen?”
“More than ready,” she says with a moan.
Normally, I would think sex was not the right thing to do after an ordeal like she’s had. But we never have just sex. We have amazing chemistry that defies explanation. So I think making love to her will help her.
Her arms open and I go into them. Her lips brush my shoulder as she says, “Make it all go away, Reed, like only you can.”
Her body fades into mine as we connect at our junctures. She and I become one and I send my energy to her to help her get through this. Her breathing is soft as I enter her. Her words come out quiet, “Yes, there it is.”
I move slowly as I stroke her and hold my weight off her body. Her hands move over my pecs then her eyes meet mine. “Press your body to mine, Reed. I need to feel you entirely.”
Skin to skin, I move my body to cover hers. Leaning only a little on one arm to keep some of my weight off her, I move with slow strokes into her soft core.
Her hands run over my back and her lips press against my chest. “Yes, Reed. I love you, Reed.”
“I love you, Jenna. Nothing bad will ever happen to you again. I swear that to you.”
Her hands move up my arms. “I believe you. I do. I’m safe with you. Always safe.”
“You are safe, Jenna.” I move so slowly that I can feel every last inch of her canal as my cock slides through it.
The vibration of our energy fills me. I have to heal as well. This took something out of me too.
We both have to get through this. We both were afraid of what might happen. And thank God she was left unhurt.
Her legs wrap around me as she moves up to me with a low moan. Softly she makes a purring sound then her lips touch my neck, and she kisses me.
I move to catch her lips with mine and kiss her. Our tongues move around together in lazy circular patterns. Our bodies glide over each other and it’s all very peaceful.
Her chest rises and falls as she takes in a deep breath then I let her mouth go and look down at her. Her blonde hair is fanned out on the pillow, beginning to dry.
“Reed?”
“Um hm.”
“What’s wrong with me?” Her green eyes move back and forth rapidly.
I run my hand over her forehead. “Not a thing.”
“I love this. I love how you and I have this tender way of handling each other. So why did I ever think I liked what Rod did to me? I must have something wrong with me.” A tear falls down her cheek.
I kiss it away. “You were young, Jenna. And I promise that I’ll get you the help you need to understand it all.”
Her red bottom lip goes between her teeth as she bites it. “I hope whoever you get can help me understand myself.”
I kiss her lips then say, “Don’t worry. Just relax.”
She closes her eyes and arches up to me. “Faster.”
As she’s asked I move faster, thrusting into her harder. Making her feel more. Her knees bend to take me in deeper and I groan as I feel her beginning to tremble inside.
“Yes, Reed.”
The way she moans out my name makes my dick jerk. She arches up and wraps her legs around me as her body starts to climb with the orgasm that’s coming. “Reed! Yes!”
I thrust into her as her body shakes with the orgasm. Then I follow along with mine and find myself screaming her name as I do. My cock jerks and spurts inside her squeezing walls.
Our ragged breathing is all I can hear until she whispers, “I love you, Reed. I love you so much.”
I kiss her forehead. “I love you more than you’ll ever know, Jenna.”
Then I roll off her and pull her to lie on my chest. Her heart is still pounding hard in her chest and I can feel it against mine. Her lips touch my chest as her hand runs over my chiseled abs.
“I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”
I rub her shoulder. “And I am the luckiest man in the world.”
“And our life together will be like a fairy tale,” she says then sighs.
“It will. You’re my angel and I’ll always treasure you.” I run my fingers along her backbone.
She shivers with the chill it gave her. “Hold me all night, Reed. Don’t let me go. Okay?”
“I will hold you. Don’t worry. Just sleep. I won’t leave you for a second. I swear it to you.” I kiss the top of her head.
Her heart slows down to a normal rate and her breathing gets deeper and slows too. My heart aches for her.
What she must’ve thought when they busted into that room, waking her up and finding four people there to take her. No clothes on. And I was nowhere in sight.
I should’ve never left her there alone without telling her a thing. And now the burden of that is on my shoulders.
I don’t know how I would’ve ever lived with myself if he’d have gotten to her. It would’ve destroyed me for sure.
Thinking about what might have happened isn’t a thing I usually do. But to know she would’ve been beaten and although she was preparing herself to give her body to Rod, she didn’t want to do it.
And it would’ve been all my fault for leaving her alone in the first place.
From now on I’m keeping her right by my side. Until I figure out how to get Rod permanently out of the picture.
And hopefully without taking his life. I’m not a murderer. But if he had managed to get to her and hurt her I think I could have easily killed him. Brother or not. I don’t think I’d have been able to stop myself.
Thankfully, it didn’t happen like that and I can fall asleep in this near fortress of a mansion and know I have her safe in my arms. Safe and sound and sleeping like a baby.
And now I can fall asleep too and tomorrow I’ll start to look for someone to help us, both mentally and physically to rid us of Rod and his threat to us.
Chapter 27
JENNA
Two months have passed since the ordeal Rod put me through and thankfully we’ve heard nothing about him. I talked Reed into calling his mother, a thing he fought me on. She told him that Rod had left with his gang a week ago and she had no idea where he was again.
With his whereabouts unknown, Reed hired a bodyguard for me so I can lead a somewhat normal life and don’t have to cling to him all the time. Also, our therapist said it was very unhealthy for me to become so dependent on Reed. And it was she who came up with the bodyguard idea.
I like Sam, my bodyguard. He’s quiet and unobtrusive. And very huge!
I believe those are good qualities in someone you want to keep you safe.
He’s sitting in the hallway like he does every day I do student teaching at a small private school in Bel-Air. I’m working under a teacher who’s been doing this for fifteen years, Lila Peterson.
The kindergarteners are out to lunch, leaving us alone for a bit. We clean up the messes while we wait for them to come back and mess it all up again.
“So I saw your wedding announcement in the paper, Jenna. You sure do stay tight-lipped, young lady,” she says as she picks up all the Barbie dolls which are strewn all over the classroom.
I roll the large, toy, dump truck back to its place with the other trucks and say, “I have my reasons for being so quiet about my personal life, Lila. I assure you. I wasn’t happy that it made it to the paper. That was Reed’s mother’s doing.”
“Reed Manning is a well-known real estate billionaire. So why are you still planning on being a teacher? I mean you don’t have to.” She kicks a small soccer ball back to the ball bin.
“I want to, though. I want my own thing. Have my own interests. I’m not looking to become a spoiled housewife.” A wad of pink chewed up gum I spot underneath a desk and shake my head. “How do the little imps manage to get gum past us?”
Lila hands me the butter knife she keeps in the desk drawer for just such an occasion. “Here, use this to get it off. And what I would give to be a spoiled housewife. My husband works at one of the oil refineries and has since we married seventeen years ago. Our three kids are all in their teens now and wreaking havoc most likely as we speak. They all remind me of my rowdy brother, Spike.”
The thought of our kids having any of Rod’s ways makes me shake. “That can happen? Kids can come out like your sibling?”
“God knows my husband, and I never acted the way they do. My brother was always doing what the hell he wanted to no matter the consequences. And all three of mine do the same damn thing. I just hope none of them go as far as he has and joins a motorcycle gang.”
My heart stops. “What?”
“My brother, Spike. He joined this motorcycle gang based out of Ohio. He found them at some biker rally in Sturgis, Wyoming about three years ago.” She takes the knife I hand back to her and places it back in the drawer.
“Really?” I try not to look like I’m freaking out and truth be told I don’t know why my insides are quivering. “What’s the name of the gang?”
“The Brothers of the Scarlet Dragon,” she says and I stumble backward.
“You sure?” I ask as I hold my hand over my heart.
She looks at me with an odd expression. “Yes. Why do you look like that? You just went about five shades of pale, Jenna.”
I shake my head. “Nothing. No reason.” I sit down on one of the tiny chairs and my knees go up to my chin. “You don’t happen to know where that gang is right now, do you?”
Her eyes move over me as she says, “I talked to him last week. They were about to go on a road trip.”
“Did he say which direction they were heading?” I ask and look at her to find her looking quite confused.
She shakes her head. “I didn’t ask. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Maybe I’m coming down with something. I should probably call it a day. Do you mind?” I get up and realize I’m shaking and run my hands up and down my arms.
“No, you should go. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she says as I grab my purse out of the closet and leave without saying another word.
Because if I open my mouth again I think I might cry. I look at Sam as I walk out and he gets up and follows me. He drives me everywhere I go to alone now.
He opens the car door so I can get in. “Where to, Miss Foster?”
“Home, please,” I manage to get out without falling apart.
My hand shakes as I pull my cell phone out of my purse and call Reed.
“What’s up my angel?” he asks as he answers.
“Can you come home?”
“Of course, I can. Are you on the way there already? Schools not out yet.”
“I left just a minute ago. I don’t feel well. I’ll talk to you about it at home.”
“I’m on my way now. Have Sam stay there until I get there.”
“I will.” I end the call and try to stop shaking but can’t.
I don’t know how long I can live this way. Part of me wants to confront Rod and tell him to leave me alone and let me live my life. But another part knows that won’t work, anyway.
The fact that I’m with his brother is the thing that’s pushing him so far over the edge and I know that. If I had moved on with anyone else, I doubt he’d go as far as he has.
Traffic isn’t bad at all in the middle of the day so I find we’ve made it back to the mansion and Reed is pulling in right behind us. Sam comes around and opens the door for me. “I’ll make a quick check around the grounds since Mr. Manning is here.”
I give him a nod and he goes to talk to Reed for a minute then takes off on his walk around like he always does to make sure there have been no breaches.
I lean into Reed as he comes to me and wraps his arm around me. “Okay, what has you all upset? I can see it written all over your gorgeous face, Jenna.”
“The teacher I’m working under has a brother in the same gang Rod’s in.” I watch his face go red.
“Damn it! You’ll have to find another place to work.”
He takes me inside and we sit on the sofa just inside the door. He pulls me onto his lap and I bury my face in his wide chest. “I hate this, Reed. I hate that he has this much control over my life. It’s not fair.”
“I do too, Jenna. But we have to play it safe all the time where he’s concerned. If he ever got to you…” He stops talking and sighs.
His lips press against the top of my head. “I know.”
My heart pounds as his hands run over my arms. “I know the therapist told me to stop blaming myself but how can I when I know if I would’ve just moved sooner then you wouldn’t be in this state.”
“No reason to do that to yourself. We can’t go back in time. Remember that little thing she told us to say to ourselves every time we go to that place in our head where we think about the past and what would’ve happened if we’d done things differently.” I pull my head off his chest and look at him.
His blue eyes are stormy looking as he runs his hand through my hair. “I know. I’ll stop.”
“The fact is that I should’ve left when he asked me to sign that damn paper. I knew that’s what I should’ve done. But when that little slut showed up, I went and made the wrong decision. I brought this all on myself. And someday I will have to figure out how to end it. Once and for all, end this shit with Rod.” I get off his lap and take his hand. “I haven’t eaten a thing today. Want to take me to lunch?”
He nods and takes me out to his car. Sam comes walking out of the shrubs next to the front entrance. “It’s all clear, Sir.”
“Sam, you can take the rest of the day off. I’ll have Jenna with me.” Reed opens the passenger door and I get in then he closes it behind me.
The two talk for a minute then Reed gets in the driver’s side. “He’s going to talk to that teacher you work under and tell her you won’t be going back. He’s also going to get her brother’s phone number and try to track his phone with some software he has. That way we’ll have an idea where the gang is most of the time.”
The thought of having to track people just to feel safe bothers me. “That’s kind of invasive to do to someone who knows nothing about that. Don’t you think?”
“Jenna, I don’t care about how invasive it is. I need to keep you safe and I will do whatever it takes to do that. If Rod gets you it will kill me.” He reaches out and takes my hand as he pulls out of the iron gates that have slid open for him.
“This is really no way to live,” I say. “For either of us. You shouldn’t have to live this way, Reed. If we weren’t together you’d be able to live normally. None of this crap would be happening in your life. You could live it without a bodyguard on your payroll. No invasion of anyone’s privacy would be necessary.”
“Don’t even talk like that. I lived a life without you in it. It wasn’t as good as life is with you by my side, Jenna. I don’t regret making you part of my life. Not for one second have I regretted it.” He squeezes my hand. “Do you?”
How do I tell him that I do have regrets but only because of how I’m affecting his life?
Instead I shake my head. “Of course, I don’t have any regrets about you, Reed. I love you and my life has been so much better with you in it. A thousand times better. But you have to admit this is difficult.”
“Nothing worth it is ever easy. I can take all that comes with having you in my life, Jenna. Whatever it takes, I will do it. I will deal with the fallout. I would walk through fire for you.” He looks at me with a very serious expression.
“But you shouldn’t have to,” I say and it makes him frown.
“But I would,” he says as he pulls my hand up to kiss it.
And only one thought goes through my head when he does.
How did I get so damn lucky?
“Do you think if I found a way to call Rod and get him to meet with me that I could set him straight?” I ask and immediately know the answer I’m going to get.
Reed’s head shakes fast. “No! There is not a way in the world that’s safe for you. Please never go behind my back and do that. Please! I know if you were talking about a sane person it would be the smart thing to do. But Rod is a little off the beaten path where sanity is concerned.”
“But this is no way to exist, Reed. I’m always looking over my shoulder even with you or Sam around to protect me. I need to figure out how to deal with this threat myself.”
A red light has him stopping, and he looks at me. “Jenna, you are not alone. You and I are together in everything. You don’t have to deal with things alone or on your own. I’m here for you. Let me be. Let me help you.”
The light changes and I gesture to it with a nod of my head. “The light changed.”
He looks back at the road. “Promise me you will never try to contact him.”
“I promise you that if I feel it’s very important to then I will talk to you about if first.”
He nods. “Good. That’s settled then. No contacting him at this point, anyway.”
I nod in agreement but inside I still think I have to do this on my own. The same way I made the decision to sign the damn paper on my own, I can make Rod understand what we had is over.
But Reed will never allow that!
Chapter 28
REED
My eyes open and all I see is the darkness of our bedroom. Then a light shines from my cell phone on the nightstand beside me. The vibration of the phone must’ve woken me up.
I pick up the phone and see my father is calling me and I also see that it’s three in the morning.
This cannot be good.
Phone calls at this hour and from one’s family are always of the utmost importance. No one calls just to say hi at three in the morning.
Jenna stirs beside me. “Who’s that, Reed?”
“My father,” I say then answer his call. “Hey, Dad, what’s up?” I try to sound casual like I’m not internally about to freak out.
I prepare myself to hear bad news about my brother as he’s the only wildcard in our family.
“Reed, I’m with your mother in the hospital. She fell earlier this evening, and she seemed confused. So I took her into Prescott to the emergency room.” He stops talking and then he clears his throat. “She’s got a brain tumor, Son.”
My world stops and spins backward. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. They did a Cat Scan a little while ago and found one about the size of a golf ball. They’re going to do surgery tomorrow morning. Rod’s here. I called him when I brought her in around five earlier this evening. Your mother wants to see you before she goes into surgery just in case she doesn’t make it.” Then he just busts out crying and I nearly do the same thing myself.
“Dad, everything will be fine. I’ll get on a plane within the hour and be there as soon as I can. You have to have faith. And we will do everything she needs to make it through this. Don’t worry.” I take Jenna’s hand to steady myself.
“See you then, Son.”
I hang up and look at Jenna. “My mother has a tumor and they’re going to take it out in the morning. I need to go to her.”
She nods at me. “You want me to come?”
“Rod’s already there. I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
She looks down. “I understand.”
My mind is numb with the news and the fact I need Jenna with me is weighing on me. But my family doesn’t need any more drama.
“I’m going to take a shower. Do you think you could pack me enough clothes for a few days?” I get out of bed and my legs are shaking so I fall back on it.
“Reed! Are you okay?” Jenna sits up and looks at me.
I shake my head. “No, I’m not. My mother might die, Jenna. I’m not okay at all.”
She gets off the bed and walks in front of me and runs her arms around me. “She’ll be fine. You’ll see.” She hugs me tight.
She holds me as I grip her body. I need her. I need her to be with me.
But I can’t do that to her. Force her to see Rod again, after all he’s done to her.
She lets me out of her hug. “I’ll start the shower for you. Then I’ll pack while you take one.”
I watch her walk away from me and the ache begins. I won’t be able to go through this without her.
But somehow I have to find the strength to, anyway.
She comes back and takes me by the hand and leads me to the shower. “Here you go. It’s all warmed up. I’ll go pack now.”
I step into the shower and barely feel the water on my skin as my body is numb as well as my mind. There’s just no way this is happening. My mother is healthy.
She can’t have a brain tumor!
I close my eyes and lean my forehead against the tiled wall. Scenes from my childhood flash through my brain. There’s one of my brother and me on a small boat with our parents. We’re all smiling as he holds up a tiny fish he caught.
Another of us with them on the first Christmas I can remember. Another as we all laughed and watched Dad lighting up fireworks. So many happy times.
They kind of drown out the bad. Funny that when faced with a death you can recall so much happiness that the bad fades so far back you can barely recall it at all.
The bathroom door opens and Jenna comes back in. “Oh, Reed, you haven’t moved since I left you.” She steps into the shower with me and pours shampoo into her palm.
Her hands move through my hair, massaging in the soap and she hums a little as she washes my hair. Then she leans my head back and rinses it out.
She pours some body wash on the poufy pink thing she uses for herself and moves it all over my body. Still she hums and it makes me feel a little peaceful.
I catch her wrists up as she moves her hands up my arms. She looks at me and stops humming. “I need you, Jenna. I know it’s selfish of me to ask this of you. But I need you. I need you with me through this.”
“Then I will be there for you, Reed.” Her words come out soft and without hesitation.
Her selflessness is amazing to me. And I know I shouldn’t take her into such a dangerous and terrible situation. But I feel like I can’t do it without her.
“I love you, Jenna.” I move my arms around her wet body and pull her to me.
My lips touch hers and for a moment everything else goes away. She’s my personal safe zone where nothing can hurt me.
Her hands slip over my back and my cock stirs. I’m aware of how inappropriate it is to think about sex when your mother is facing death but I need Jenna so bad right now it makes no real sense.
Pulling her body up, I slide my cock into her wet depths and her moan vibrates my mouth. I press her back against the tiled wall and thrust into her as she wraps her legs around me.
Hard and quick I make deep strokes into her. My movements are kind of savage as I ram my cock into her as deep as I can.
I need her body to take me away from this horrible nightmare I’m having. This has to be a nightmare. My mother can’t really be facing death.
She just can’t be!
If that was true, I’d never be making love to Jenna in this shower. I’d be crying and pleading with God to save my mother. Not stroking my cock into my girlfriend.
Not slamming into Jenna so hard I can feel her body smashing between mine and the hard wall. Not pounding her until I feel her legs shaking and her body going into convulsive spasms as she has an orgasm but doesn’t take her mouth from mine to groan with the pleasure or shout my name like she does most of the time.
My cock stiffens and I cum in a long burst. I pull my mouth away and say a string of curse words as my semen flows into her, “Fuck! Shit! Fucking Shit!”
Then it hits me like a brick upside my head. I hold Jenna to me tight and let it happen. A wave washes over me and I cry as I hide my eyes in her shoulder.
Her hands run softly over my back as she says, “It’s okay. Let it all out.”
My body is shaking. “Jenna, what if I lose her?”
“Don’t think like that. It’ll be okay,” she whispers.
I’m crying so hard my words come out in hiccupped bursts, “I haven’t talked to her since that day. Not really talked to her like we used to talk. What if she dies, and this is how it ends?”
“You can fix it, Reed. Don’t worry. Everything can be fixed. You’ll see,” she says as she runs her hand over my head and I do feel somewhat better. “You can hire the best doctors for her and get her the best treatment possible. You can help her. Have faith, Reed.”
My crying slows and I pull back and look at her. Running my hands over her wet hair, I push it back. “What did I do to deserve you, Jenna?”
She smiles. “No telling. So let’s get you out of this shower and into some clothes. I’ll call the charter service and let them know it’s an emergency.”
As she turns off the water, I grab her from behind and hug her. “You are amazing!”
“No, I’m just good in a crisis.” She turns in my arms and looks at me with shiny green eyes. “And I love you very much and hate to see you in pain.”
“Seems we have that in common. Jenna, are you sure you can handle seeing Rod?” I look deep into her eyes to find the real truth in them.
She blinks and smiles. “For you, I can handle anything that’s thrown at me. Even a big asshole like Rod. Put that out of your mind. This thing with your mother is bigger than the shit with me and him. I can put the asshole in his place now with ease. I love your mother too.”
“And she does love you too. I know she has her opinion that you were a willing participant in the things you did with Rod and all and I don’t like that. I don’t like it one bit. But she does love you. And she doesn’t judge you about what you did.” I run my hands up and down her back.
“Reed, the fact is that I was a willing participant. He never chained me up where I couldn’t leave. I could’ve walked away if I had wanted to. At that time, he was all I knew. And I know it’s hard to believe or understand but I loved him and thought I was helping him in some way by showing him that I could be what he needed. He could hurt me and I would still be there. It was stupid and naïve of me to think I wouldn’t suffer any harm from the abuse. But thanks to you and our therapist, I can see the past for what it is and learn from it instead of letting it hurt me any longer.”
I watch her talk and know she thinks what she’s saying is true. And in her mind I suppose it is. But I know that when she has to look at Rod things will hit her hard.
And I should leave her here and not make her deal with this yet. She hasn’t had enough therapy to be able to handle him yet.
Sometimes life makes things happen before we’re ready for them, though. And this seems like one of those times.
“I’ll be there for you, Jenna. You won’t have to do anything alone. I’ll stay with you every second so he can’t do anything to hurt you.” I reach out and grab a towel and wrap her up in it then take one to dry myself off.
Jenna smiles at me as she dries off. “Hopefully, I won’t have to use it, but I have a bottle of pepper spray in my purse and if he touches me, I’ll use it on him.”
“Smart thinking.” I pull her into my arms again. “We have to face this sometime anyway, don’t we?”
With a tweak to my nose, she says, “We do. We’re going to be married in May, only six months from now. Rod’s going to be my brother-in-law. You and I have to learn how to handle the dastardly man.”
With a hug, I kiss the top of her head. “We really have no choice. We have to face him head on and just be more stubborn than he is.”
I let her go, and she takes my hand and leads me to the bed where she has my clothes laid out for me. “I was reading the other day about facing what you’re afraid of. When you hide from it, it and show it you’re afraid, it gets stronger. That’s why I was talking to you about talking to Rod and letting him know I’m not afraid of him anymore.”
I watch her pull on a pair of little blue silk panties and a matching bra and listen to her talk, but I know Rod is a danger to her. He kidnapped her and God only knows what he planned to do to her.
But I have to wrap my head around the fact we do have to confront him at some time about this. I just hope he cares more about our mother than he does with his obsession with Jenna. So we can begin to put things in the past and move forward.
If not, then this whole thing will get very messy and I don’t want that. For my family’s sake, I don’t want that.
But people don’t always get what they want!
Chapter 29
JENNA
The sun has still not lit up the sky as Reed and I walk into the hospital his mother is in. It’s six in the morning and her surgery is only hours away. The Intensive Care Unit nurse leads us to her room and tells us each visit can only be ten minutes long.
Sue’s eyes are closed as we walk into the glass room full of monitors which are hooked up to her.
“Mom,” Reed whispers.
Her eyes open and she smiles. “You made it.”
“Of course, I did.” He lets my hand go and hugs her best he can with all her attachments. “How do you feel?”
“Awful. Can you believe I have a golf ball sized tumor in my head?” She looks at me and a frown covers her face. “You know Rod’s here, right?”
I nod. “Yes, mam. Don’t worry, there will be no trouble. I promise.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Promise me that, Jenna.”
“I promise, Sue. I’ll leave if there is any.”
She nods. Reed looks back at me with his lips held tightly together. Then he looks back at his mother. “Don’t worry about a thing except getting better.”
“I wish I could just stop worrying. Maybe it’s the tumor that has me so riled up all the time. I just worry over everything lately. And Rod and Reed and their relationship is at the very top.” Sue looks at me again. “If I die…”
Reed stops her. “Mom, don’t even talk like that.”
She pats his hand he’s holding hers with. “I might die, Son. It’s a fact and I have little time to get this out there. I want my family back. I want you two boys to kiss and make up. I want it back. I can’t stand how things are. If you two can’t come to some middle ground where Jenna’s concerned than I expect your blood to come before anything else.”
My heart stops as I know what she’s saying. If they can’t figure out how to get along with this, then I need to step out of the picture.
Reed looks at her. “Mom, I won’t ever let her go.”
“I know that. Neither of you will. That’s why I’m talking to Jenna. Woman to woman. You understand me, don’t you, Jenna? I love you and I don’t want you to think I don’t. My family is the most important thing to me. My sons are all that will be left of me and I want them to be able to have a relationship. If they can figure things out, great. If they can’t stop playing tug-of-war over you then I expect you to take care of that. There are plenty of other fish in the sea. The Manning boys are not the only men in the world, you know.”
“Mom, don’t,” Reed says.
She pats his hands again. “I have to.”
I nod. “I understand and respect you, Sue. I will get out of the way if that’s what I have to do to honor your wishes. I promise you.”
Reed turns back to me with a terrified look on his handsome face but says nothing. The nurse comes back in. “Time is up. She can have another visit in twenty minutes.”
Reed kisses his mother and I give her a wave then we leave. Reed’s hand is shaking in mine and I know that was the hardest thing he’s ever had to do.
A waiting room on the left is open and empty and he pulls me into it then shuts and locks the door. I’m pulled into his arms as his whole body shakes and he cries even harder than he did when he first found this out.
“Jenna, you can’t walk away if Rod and I can’t come to terms over you! You can’t!”
“I’ll do all I can to make sure you two can come to terms for her sake. She just wants to keep her family intact. I completely understand her.”
It’s so hard not to cry when he’s so hurt and afraid but I feel I have to shove my fear aside and only show him strength at this time. I can go off when I’m alone and cry my eyes out but for now, I have to be strong for him.
“Mom doesn’t understand how deeply I love you. If I lose you because of him, I won’t want a relationship with him, anyway.” He pulls back and looks at me with tears running down his face. It makes my heart hurt. “I can’t handle this thing with her and this thing with you too.”
“What do you want me to say? If I’m a source of friction, then I’ll be making things worse for your family. You are part of something, Reed. You are a part of a family. And I may be a thing that breaks you all apart. I can’t do that.”
He holds me tighter and squeezes me. “Jenna, please just stay the hell away from Rod and things will be okay. I’ll make sure they are. Please.”
“Of course, I’ll stay the hell away from him.”
And just as the words leave my mouth I see Rod walking by the room we’re in. The lights are off and the window is tinted and I can see him but he can’t see us.
My heart begins to pound as I recall the last time I saw him he was pulling the nightgown over my head and then binding my hands together while another guy bound my feet. Then he placed a gag in my mouth and threw me over his shoulder then tossed me into a tiny trunk.
Suddenly, I feel bile welling up in my throat. “Fuck! I have to go to the bathroom, Reed. Sorry!”
I run out of the room and don’t look back as I take off toward the place I saw the ladies room sign. I barely make it in then throw up in the trashcan.
The nerves have finally taken me over and I keep throwing up until all that’s left are dry heaves. A knock comes on the door and Reed pushes it open.
“Is anyone else in here?” he asks as he holds his hand over his eyes.
“No, only me. You can come in.”
He pulls his hand away. “Are you okay?”
“I will be. I just had to toss my cookies with all the nerves, you know.” I try to smile but it’s hard.
“I’m running to the car to get you a mint to help you. I’ll be right back. Meet me at the ICU and we can go back in and see Mom. It’s about time again.”
I nod. “I have to wash my face, anyway. I’ll meet you there.”
He leaves me alone and I lean against the wall and try to regain my composure. I have to figure out how to fix this and I have no real clue how to do that.
After washing my mouth out with water and rinsing my face to ease the flush on it from the puking, I walk out and head toward the ICU.
“Jenna!”
I look up and Rod is right there and I’m grabbed up before I realize how close he is.
“Rod!”
He moves us into a small closet and closes the door. He’s crying and shaking and I don’t feel like he wants to hurt me.
“Jenna, what am I going to do? If Mom doesn’t make it, this is going to kill me. I can’t help but blame this on myself. She’s been so worried about me and she has every reason to. I’m living hard. Harder than I ever have. When I lost you, I lost my way. I need to find my way back, Jenna. I need you back.”
He pulls back and looks at me but doesn’t let me go. “Rod, I don’t know what you want me to say. I can be there for you as a friend but that’s all. I want us all to get along.”
He shakes his head. “No. No, Jenna. I need you. I need you more than I ever have needed anyone. Please. Please, Jenna, I’m begging you.”
“Rod, I love Reed. I can’t be any more than your friend,” I tell him as I look into his steel-blue eyes that are filled with more tears than I’ve ever seen in them before.
“Jenna, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything I did to you. Every last bit of it. I’ll never hurt you again. I swear to you I won’t. You loved me once. I know I didn’t let you say the words but I know you did. You can find that love for me again. Especially when I treat you the way I should’ve always treated you. Give me a chance, Jenna. I’ll be dead in a year if you don’t take me back. I know I will.”
I’m in a trance. I don’t know what to tell him. “I love Reed. I’m marrying Reed. I need you to come to terms with that.”
“I need you to come to terms with this. I love you, Jenna. I always have.” His tears stop falling as he looks into my eyes. “I need you. I love you. I want to make it all up to you. Make up for all the wrong things I’ve done to you. All of it.”
My head is spinning. “Rod, I need to go.”
“I’ll prove it all to you. You’ll see.” He lets me go. “I will let you go because I know you will come back to me. You may think you love my brother and you might love him. But you and I loved each other first. You and I have history. You and I began a life together and we can finish our lives together. You’ll see. I tore up the contracts I had with you and that other girl. I set her free too. You’re both free. I don’t want her back. I want you back. I want us to pick up where we left off. Things were good before I had to leave. You know they were. We were in love, Girl. You know we were. If I hadn’t gotten myself into trouble than we’d have gotten married. You know that.”
“Rod, I have to go.” I turn the knob and leave the closet feeling like I might faint. When I look up I see Reed walking down the hallway toward me. “There you are. Are you okay?” he asks.
Then Rod walks out behind me and Reed stops dead in his tracks. Then he starts coming at Rod fast and furious. I hold out my hand. “No! He didn’t hurt me. He didn’t do anything to me. He just cried and hugged me. No reason to fight. No reason to fight at all.” I take a step to the side and turn to walk away.
Reed calls out, “Where are you going?”
“To the car.” I walk faster as I feel like I might pass out. “I have to get away from here.”
“I’ll be out there in a minute, Angel,” Reed says.
Then I hear Rod say, “Reed, you and I need to talk.”
I run the rest of the way until I get outside then I sit on a bench and try desperately to catch my breath. My world is turning upside down and I can’t find the right direction I need to be going in.
The fact is, I’m ripping this family apart. Rod wants me, Reed wants me and neither will give up.
I waited a long time to hear Rod admit he loves me and I thought with my love for Reed it wouldn’t affect me. But it did.
Not in the way I expected. It made something inside me happy he finally admitted it. And I found I do still have love for him buried deep in my heart.
His pain hurts me too. And I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about that. Our history has affected me. I guess that love I found for him all those years ago was strong. So strong the small flame sparked up when he finally told me he loved me.
But the fire I have for Reed is huge, and it runs deep. And in a perfect world, Reed and I could get married and have babies and all would be right. But this world is far from perfect and with Rod’s stubborn refusal to let me go and do what’s best for me, I will never have what I crave with Reed.
No family functions will go smoothly. His mother will most likely die from the stress their feuding will cause her. And there I’ll be, the big catalyst who single-handedly destroyed a family. A once very happy family.
A car pulls up and their father, Jason, gets out of it. His face is pale with worry and he looks down. He doesn’t even see me.
As he passes me, I say, “Hello, Jason.”
He stops and turns back. “Jenna? Why on Earth would you come here? This is all your fault. You know that, right?”
His accusation has me cringing. “No, I don’t think this is from me. Rod said himself it was he who caused her stress.”
“Only because of you. I never knew you to be selfish. But you are one selfish woman, Jenna. My family has fallen apart, and you did that.” He turns back and takes two steps then stops. He doesn’t look back. “When are you going to stop being selfish?”
I look down as his footsteps fade away.
When will I stop?
Chapter 30
REED
Rod takes me by the shoulder and steers me to a waiting room. “Reed, you and I need to talk. I can’t take life like this anymore and Mom obviously can’t either.”
I go along with him in a very odd state of mind. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here. This situation is beyond odd and confusing. “I agree. We have to work things out. Jenna was nearly hurt because of this.”
He nods and looks sad. I’ve never seen my brother look sad in my entire life. “I know. I was crazy with jealousy. I’ll never hurt her again. I tore up the contract she and I had. I know it was just a piece of paper but to me it was more than that. And I thought it was to her too. Guess I was wrong about that. I’ve been wrong about so damn many things.”
“I’m glad to see you’re coming to grips with things. This will make Mom happy. I know we can put this all behind us.”
He looks at me with a certain grimness in his expression. “Reed, I want you to know that I love you. I know I was a mean little shit and I hurt you plenty. I’m sorry.”
I about fall out of the chair I’m sitting in. Then feel like I should do a little apologizing too. “Sorry about breaking your arm.”
He nods. “Thanks. Anything else you feel sorry for, Reed?” His steel-blue eyes twinkle a little.
“I know you want me to tell you I’m sorry for stealing your girl, Rod. But I don’t see it like that and you know it. I liked her a good two years before you even knew she existed. And I never made a move on her until you left her and had been gone a couple of years. And now I love her more than you can even imagine,” I tell him and look right into his eyes so he knows I’m telling him the God’s honest truth.
He can’t hold my eyes though and looks away. “I know you do. But I do too. And I need her more than I’ve ever needed anyone or thing in my life. I need her to get me off this bad road I’ve gotten myself on. Only she can do it.”
I hold my breath to steady myself. The guy’s talking about the love of my life, the woman I’m about to marry.
I try very hard to say the right words without doing damage to how far we’ve come. And I know Mom’s words to Jenna went deep into her brain. So I have to try hard to make something work between me and my brother.
“Rod, I can’t walk away from her. And even if I could I don’t think she would go back to you. She’s changed.”
“I know she has. She’s blossomed. And I know you have everything to do with that. I know you paid for her college and kept her going when I left her. I know your pure love for her opened up her soul. She glows with all you’ve brought out in her. I know this and I’d just walk away if I didn’t have this all-encompassing love and need for her myself.” He looks away as tears start to fall.
Next to me is a box of tissues and I say, “Here you go.” Then toss the box to him when he looks back at me. “Never have seen you cry before.”
He shakes his head. “Yeah, I don’t cry. But now I do. Man, I cry all the fucking time. I tried to get my head going in another direction. I got a new chic and treated her like shit all the while trying to change her into Jenna. I was a real asshole. And I know I was one to Jenna too. But not that last year, I wasn’t.”
“After the incident, you mean?” I ask as I feel kind of like crying myself.
He nods and blows his nose, making a loud elephant-like sound and I laugh a little. He grins then says, “Yeah, after I threw her around the front yard and the cop came and she had the chance to be rid of me. But she asked him not to take me to jail. She didn’t do that because she was afraid of me like I thought I needed her to be. She did it because she loved me. It made something snap inside me. I changed that day. If I wouldn’t have been an idiot and sold drugs in the first place, then I’d have married her and we’d probably have a bunch of rugrats running around by now.”
I tap my fingertips on the arm of the chair I’m sitting in. My mind is spinning and I don’t know what to do. “But you did do those things, and it all stopped for you two. No one but you caused that. I don’t see how you think she will be able to trust you again. I mean, even if she wasn’t with me, I still don’t know if she would take you back.”
I watch my older brother get off the chair he’s sitting in and get on his knees on the floor. A knot forms in my throat as he scoots on them across the floor. Stopping at my feet, he looks up at me with tears in his eyes.
“Reed, I have no idea if she will either but I need to find that out. All I’m asking is for you to set her free. Who knows if she’ll come back to either of us. But I’m asking for one last chance with her. She is the love of my life, Reed. I know she’s yours too.” He stifles a sob and my throat clenches as I try hard to held back my own tears. “Mom told me you guys have scheduled a wedding in May. That’s about six months away. Set her free. Don’t talk to her and I’ll leave her alone too. But if she attempts to contact either of us and wants either of us back then we agree to accept who it is she picks. And if she moves on to another man we agree to accept that too.”
“Rod, if I break up with her it will hurt her. I never want to hurt her.” I shake my head as I don’t think I’m capable of doing what he’s asking.
“Did Mom talk to her? Because she said she did. She said that Jenna agreed to take herself out of the picture if you and I couldn’t come to terms about her.” He looks up at me from his place on the floor with pleading eyes.
“She did. And if I know Jenna, she’s taking Mom’s words very much to heart.” I glance to the side as I see our father walk past the waiting room. Then he opens the door.
“Thank, God. Come with me. They’re about to take your mother into surgery and she’s making them wait until she sees you two.”
Dad doesn’t ask why Rod’s on his knees in front of me. He just holds out his hand to Rod and Rod takes it and gets up. Then we three walk down the hall with clicks and clacks of our shoes to see the woman who has held this family together all this time.
She breathes a sigh of relief as we all walk into her room and we find her on a gurney and prepared to leave the ICU to go to surgery. “My men!”
We take turns hugging her and each of us tells her we love her and will be praying for her. Then she gives Rod and I a stern look. “Can I see you two hug before I go?”
I turn to my brother and open my arms and he does the same and we hug. A real hug, not one for show. One that says we can put this bad shit behind us but it will take some doing. It will take some sacrifices.
And I’m not sure I want to make them.
And I won’t if Jenna doesn’t want to. I will never hurt her. I can’t do that.
We stand back and watch them move the gurney out of the room and wave to our mother and hold it all back until she gets good and gone then collectively we sniffle as we let a few of the tears free that we all were holding back.
With a clap on Rod’s back, I say, “I’ll go talk to her.”
We walk down the hallway and Rod looks at me. “Can I talk to her after you have?”
My father has been eerily silent, and he turns to us in the hallway. “What have you two decided about that girl?”
“We have a bit of an idea but I haven’t talked to Jenna about it yet,” I say.
Dad opens the door to the waiting room they told him we needed to wait in so we could be updated about the operation as it goes. “Whatever your plan is, I just want you both to know that if Jenna doesn’t stop being selfish then she has no place in our family.”
Rod gets an angry look on his face. “Look, Dad, Reed and I can work this out. This is our problem. It’s not Jenna’s fault. And I don’t want you talking about her like that. She’s anything but selfish. She’s selfless!”
Dad looks kind of shocked. “Well, I talked to her outside and told her to stop being selfish.”
Rod wags his finger at our father. “Then when Reed brings her back in here you had better apologize to her. She’s not selfish. Reed and I are but not her.”
I nod in agreement and Dad looks kind of sheepish as I say, “I’ll go get her. For now, we’ll not talk about anything. Let’s get through Mom’s surgery then we can talk to Jenna. Okay, Rod?”
He nods. “Yeah. Right now all that matters is Mom. Tell her there’s nothing to worry about. I’ll be cool, and so will Dad.”
I leave the room and go outside. She’s sitting on a bench with her head hanging low as she looks at her phone.
“Hey gorgeous,” I say and she looks up at me.
“Oh, it’s you. How’s your mother?” she asks with a lot of sadness in her eyes.
“They just took her in. I’m here to get you to take you into the waiting room. Dad told us what he said to you and he has an apology waiting for you. Rod jumped his ass about telling you that you’re the selfish one. Rod and I both know it’s us not you.” I reach out to take her hand and she just looks at it.
“No, he’s right. I am selfish. I want it all, I guess. And that’s not fair, and it is selfish. I was waiting for you to come out so I could tell you that I’m going to go to my parents I think. Your family needs this time alone. This time should be about your mom, not anything other than that.” She looks back at her phone and I kneel down in front of her.
With a gentle tug at her chin to make her look at me I catch her eyes with mine. “Jenna, come inside, please. I need you, and Rod has promised he’ll be cool. Dad’s sorry. My parents don’t understand things but Rod and I are coming to terms with things. And we can talk about it later. For now, I need you to come hold my hand and Rod may need you to do that for him to and I want you to know if you feel like comforting him you can. Don’t do it if you don’t want to, though. It’s all up to you.”
She looks a little stunned. “Are you kidding?”
I shake my head. “No. The fact is you loved him once and I could tell by how you looked, the things he told you in that closet had you feeling conflicted. He and I have had our ropes on you for too long now. We’ve pulled and pushed you and that’s going to stop.”
“I don’t know what to do, Reed. I love you and I’d like a friendship with Rod,” she says as she looks confused. “But right now I feel in the way of your family and your obligations to them.”
“I can see you feel that way. So let me tell you that if I go back in there without you it will make all three of us Manning men feel terrible. And you can decide what you want to do with that information.”
I wait for her to digest what I’ve said then she takes my hand. “I’ll go. We can deal with the other stuff later.”
I wrap my arm around her shoulders and take her inside. Jenna Foster has had a place in our family in one capacity or another for a very long time. Now is not the time to toss her aside as if she’s no part of it.
And I hope I have the strength to handle it if she decides not to be a part of it after this.
Chapter 31
JENNA
The Manning men’s faces as I come into the little waiting room are an odd combination of grim and happy. Rod gets up and walks up to me as Reed still has his arm around my shoulders.
He reaches out and takes both my hands in his. “Hey, Jenna. I just want you to know I’m going to be cool about shit. And Dad has something he wants to say to you.” He keeps one of my hands in his but lets the other go.
The feeling as both of them touch me is odd and I feel uneasy. Then Jason stands up and I feel very uneasy as he says, “I’d like to apologize for what I said earlier, Jenna. The boys have explained things to me and I am sorry. This stuff with Sue has me on edge. I hope you can accept my apology.”
“Of course. I understand, Jason.”
Rod pulls me along and sits down. I sit in the chair in between him and Reed and Reed’s arm moves from my shoulders and he takes my other hand. Rod still has the one he’s been holding.
So here I sit in the most awkward position I have ever been in. Both know I’m holding the other’s hand, and no one is mad or jealous or anything. Only worried about their mother.
I sit back and do my best to relax as Reed’s thumb runs nervously back and forth over my knuckles and Rod’s hand makes little squeezes every once in a while.
After a while, the phone in the room rings and Jason picks it up. “Yes. Okay. Thank you.” He hangs up and smiles. “They have the tumor out. She’s doing fine. Now they have to close her head back up and they’ll call when that’s done.”
My heart jumps with the good news. Then Reed stands up and pulls me along with him and Rod follows too as he still has my hand.
He lets it go as I turn to hug Reed and I wrap my arms around him. “I told you it would be okay,” I say as I hug him.
Reed lets me go and gestures with his head for me to turn around. I do and find Rod there with tears in his eyes. “I was so worried about her.”
I hold open my arms and he hugs me. “She’s going to make it through this, Rod. She’s a tough lady.”
“Thanks, Jenna.” I freeze as his lips touch my ear for a second then he lets me go.
I look at Jason and say with a laugh, “How about you. Do you need a hug too, Jason?”
He steps forward. “I really do.” He takes me up in his arms in a hug too and I smile.
I really do have a place in this family!
We all sit back down and Jason laughs then says, “Do you kids remember when we had that last big New Year’s party and Sue did shots with Rod and the cousins? Man, she got wasted. I had to carry her to bed that night.”
Rod laughs. “She downed those shots like a sailor on leave in Singapore!”
Reed starts chuckling too. “The next morning she looked like something that cat had dragged in.”
I add in my memory of that day, “I had to take her to the bathroom and brush her hair, she seemed to have forgotten to brush it with that monster hangover she had and she whined with every brush stroke I made.”
Reed laughs harder. “Oh yeah! One side flat and one side frizzed all out. Poor, Mom!”
We all laugh with the memory then Jason’s eyes tear up. “Man, I hope we get a hell of a lot more days with her.”
A few tears leak out and then my hands are quickly taken again by Sue’s sons. And now I see how I can be of help. “Hey, remember when the pool was first put in and she slid down that slide hollering, wee, all the way down like a little kid?”
Jason starts laughing. “And she made the biggest splash and her face went all red when she came out from under the water to see us all laughing at her!”
I nudge Rod’s shoulder with mine. “And you had to go and take a video of her with your phone. Remember how mad she was at you when you posted it on Facebook?”
He laughs and shrugs. “It got like a zillion likes!”
“I never told her because she would’ve killed you, Rod, but I saw that video on youtube a whole year later and the remarks were hilarious,” Reed says.
Rod jerks my hand. “And when you and Mom tried to light the bar-b-que pit on your own, Jenna!” He laughs so hard he doubles over and Reed joins in.
Reed says in laugh-choked words, “Mom’s eyebrows were gone and Jenna’s bangs were singed almost completely off.”
Jason struggles to stop laughing as he says, “Then Rod came outside and saw the two of them and laughed so hard he fell off the porch and Reed had to go help him up.”
Reed and Rod both crack up even harder as Reed says, “Yeah I did, because he and I had just smoked a little happy weed and I knew he couldn’t get up on his own.”
My eyes roll to Reed in surprise and his eyebrows raise up high as he says, “Oops, you didn’t know that, did you?”
I shake my head and narrow my eyes at him then look back at Rod and give him a little look too. “You bad, bad boys. That’s why Sue and I were even attempting to light the damn thing because we couldn’t find you two.”
Rod gives a little impish shrug he’s so good at getting out of trouble with. “We heard you both calling us as you two were wandering all over the place looking for us. We were in the garage.”
“Uh, uh,” I say with a shake if my head. “We looked there.”
Reed nudges me with his shoulder. “Not behind the blue bedspread that was strategically hung up in there.”
“You guys are a couple of real scamps!” I say and we all laugh again.
Everything is feeling great then the phone rings. Jason looks at it. “That seems kind of soon, doesn’t it?”
“Want me to get it?” I ask.
He nods and I get up and pick up the phone. “Hello.”
“Hi, this is Doctor Lexor. There’s been a complication and Sue’s heartbeat stopped.”
Mine stops at that moment too and I close my eyes so they don’t reveal anything to the three men staring at me. “Is she okay now?”
“She is. She was gone for five minutes though and we’ll have to test her for any damage so bringing her around will take a little longer than expected. I’ll call when we’re done unless further complications occur.”
“Thank you, Doctor Lexor.” I hang up the phone. “She’s okay.”
Collective sighs ring out. “What happened?” Jason asks.
I take his hand and look him in the eyes. “Jason, the important thing is she’s okay now. Okay?”
He nods. “Tell me what happened.”
“Her heart stopped for five minutes. But they got it going again. The process of bringing her around will take a little longer because of the time loss of resuscitating her. And they’ll be checking to see if it did any damage to her.” His hand is crushing mine but I don’t say a word.
Rod sees it though and gets up. “Hey, Dad, want to take a walk with me since we have some time?”
“Yeah,” he says as he looks up at Rod. “Yeah, I need to walk. Shit! I almost lost her there for five minutes, didn’t I?”
Rod pries his father’s hand off mine and helps him up. “Nah, Mom was just fucking with us. You’ll have her around for a long time. Don’t worry.”
I shake my hand to get the blood flow back and look at Reed as they walk out. His face is really pale and I go to him. “You want to take a walk too?”
He shakes his head. “We need to stay here to answer the phone.”
“I can wait here. You can join them if you want.”
He takes my hand and pulls me down to sit in the chair next to his. “Jenna, thank you for being here for us all. It really has opened my eyes like I never have before. You’re a real part of this family. You know it?”
“I feel like I am, yeah. I’m glad to be here for you all. I’m glad I can help you all and I think Sue would be happy I’m here for you guys.”
“She will be happy to hear you were here for us all. And I want you to know that we all appreciate the hell out of you, Girl,” he says then his lips touch mine for only a second.
The rush he always sends through me with his kiss goes all through me. And I can feel something extra. His eyes are hiding a secret. “Reed, would you like to tell me anything? Like maybe what you and Rod talked about?”
“He’d like another shot with you.” His eyes go dark. “And I feel like you should have the opportunity to make a choice. I kind of took you along with me very quickly when I got my greedy mitts on you. So we talked about letting you free for a little while. Letting you think about things and leaving you to pick one of us or move on from us both and finding another. We wanted to give you a shot at finding a man that’s not a Manning if you want that.”
His words should surprise me, but as I was holding both their hands I got the sense they had come to some kind of an agreement about me. And it seems I’m going to be set free of everything and everyone.
“You both want me, huh?” I ask.
He nods. “The deadline Rod and I agreed on is our wedding day. But that’s a little too late if you decide not to be with me. So how about three days before that date? I’ll give you a nice sum of money and get you set up anywhere you want to. Rod nor I will contact you but you’re free to contact us on your own or whoever you want. You’re really going to be free. No hard feelings on anything you decide. We both swear to take whatever it is you decide.”
“If I pick one or the other of you, the other will be hurt,” I say as I take his hand and run my fingers over the top of it.
“Yep,” is his very simple answer. “But we can deal with it. Your happiness is what’s important to us both.”
I can’t help but feel weird. “So, I have this pass in a way. I have your offer of marriage still on the table. Rod still wants me back. But what if I want to date a man, not a Manning man, to see what it’s like not to date a Manning? What if I have sex with this non-Manning man? You still want me to marry you if I decide he’s not the one for me and you are?”
Reed nods. “It’s more than complicated and I know that. If you want to talk to Rod and try things out with him then you can do that too and if it’s not what you want and you find you still love me, then I will take you back.”
I smile as these men are fooling themselves. “That isn’t how things will work. I know that. Both of you are possessive creatures. If I’m with either of you, the other will write me off. But with a few dates with another man I might be able to do to see if anyone can hold my attention the way both of you have.”
I watch Reed’s face go very solemn. “I don’t want to do this, Jenna. If it will hurt you I won’t allow it. I just don’t want to go into a marriage with you and build a family and one day you tell me you love Rod and our marriage is over. Take the time to think about what it is you want.”
What do I want?
I want Reed. I know I want Reed. But I want a life with Reed that doesn’t mean he and I both lose his family. So I say, “K. I’ll stay with you guys through this but go back to my parents for the nights. Then I think I can get a student teacher job in Tempe until the middle of May. And then I can make the decision. My final one.”
His mouth forms a half-smile. “I hope you pick me.”
I run my hand over his smooth cheek. “I love you, Reed.”
“I love you, Jenna Foster.” He takes my hand in his and holds it to his cheek. “And now, you are a free woman. Fly away and only come back to me when you know it’s me who you want.”
My heart feels so odd as I look into his love-filled eyes.
What the hell will I do as a free woman? And who will I end up with?
Chapter 32
REED
Two weeks since Mom’s surgery and I’m back in Bel-Air, alone.
Jenna went to Tempe and has already started a student teaching job. I set her up in a small apartment and gave her a new car. But told her not to think she has to pick me in order to keep them. The car is hers and so is the bank card I gave her to pay her bills.
I don’t want her to come back to me based on my money. But I do want her to come back to me.
I’ve slept very little without her in my bed. The nights pass by like molasses in the winter. And I miss her with every fiber of my being.
But on the bright side, my mother is doing very well in the rehab facility we have her in. Rod has found a job as a mechanic at a garage in Prescott and already has a small house rented.
Just before I left, we all had a nice day with Mom at the rehab center and she looked like she was happy having me and my brother back on good terms.
I have to admit Rod seems to be getting on the right path. I didn’t see any signs of him drinking or doing any drugs. And he maintained very good behavior where Jenna was concerned.
The two had their talk about what he wanted and she told me all about it and how she does have love for him in her heart. She’s taking this all very seriously and taking the time to be by herself and think things through.
If she picks either one of us, then that’s a forever commitment. A thing the three of us are well aware of.
With a bottle of wine in my hand, I walk up the staircase to the room I used to share with her and prey will share again. But I’m not fooling myself into thinking she will come back to me for sure.
As a matter of fact, I see Jenna moving on away from both Rod and me. I could see things in her eyes as she looked at us all, Mom and Dad included. A happiness was there but so was an underlying emotion of guilt.
I don’t know if she can get past the guilt of loving us both. Of being a rip in the middle of our family. She’s a good person and I don’t know if she’ll be able to hurt either of us by picking one of us.
She hasn’t contacted me or my brother at all since we both kissed her goodbye the same day of Mom’s surgery. Late that night after Mom was stabilized, and we were all able to visit her, Jenna got in a cab and left us behind her.
Jenna saw how happy Mom was and wanted it to end on that happy note. She felt her presence was a distraction. She also felt that Rod, and I needed to bond over the situation with our mother. If she was around she’d get in the way of that.
So we let her go that very night. We’ve had no contact with her other than making sure she had what she needed, which I did through her parents.
But my heart hurts and my body aches to hold her.
The time can’t pass by quick enough for me!
JENNA
Grading papers in the dim light of the small dining table in the apartment Reed rented me in Tempe, I sip on a glass of red wine to relax at the end of a long day. The kindergarteners were in full swing today and wore me out.
With a sip, I think about the proposition I had this afternoon in the school’s cafeteria. The principal, a man named, Steven Johnson, asked me out for Friday night.
I told him I’d think about it and get back to him by Wednesday. It’s Monday and I only have a couple of days to decide if that’s a thing I want to do.
In my jewelry box are both the engagement rings Rod and Reed each gave me and I look at them each and every day. Placing them one at a time on my finger to look at them and think about which man I want to spend the rest of my life with. Raise a family with.
And the truth is I know if I pick one of them the other will be hurt and I don’t want either of them hurt, but I also don’t want their family hurt.
So the idea of moving on from the Manning clan is forefront in my mind. And Steven Johnson may be the first step out of that world and into a new one.
But I’m not sure yet. I’ve been a Manning’s girlfriend since I was eighteen. Except for that two years when I was no one’s girlfriend.
There’s no easy choice. But if I had to make it right now, I’d have to say that Reed still has the largest piece of my heart and I ache to hear his voice.
It’s him I miss the most!
The nights have been lonely. Much more so than ever before.
Ironically, it’s my complete love for Reed that has me contemplating picking a whole different man so Reed doesn’t lose his family because of me.
I love him so much I would let him go for him to have a happy life free of the family drama I’ve caused him so far.
But my God, I miss him!
ROD
Drinking a beer as I look up at the star-filled night sky after a hard day at work, I tip the bottle back and think of having Jenna back in my arms.
It was nice having her back in my life again. Seeing her and having her around even though it was only for one day before she left was the best I’ve felt since the night I left her a little over two years ago.
And when I kissed her goodbye I felt the old feelings flow back into me from the second our mouths met.
Her body melted into mine just like old times. Her tongue moved with mine like it always had. Her breathing went faster and her heart did too.
I know she felt something for me again. Now to find out if it can override what she feels for my brother.
Being the ass I can be at times, I peeked at Reed and her when he gave her his goodbye kiss. He gave us privacy for ours and I feel kind of crappy for doing it but it did give me some insight into what my chances are for Jenna picking me instead of him.
There was a significant amount of intimacy in their kiss. A lot of facial stroking by them both. A lot of deep sighs and many, many loving words were whispered by them both.
The reality is it made my chest hurt to know I’m coming between them when it seems they have a very deep connection. The thing is though she and I also have the deepest connection I’m capable of.
My brother has always been more in touch with his feelings so it doesn’t surprise me the two connect on a deeper level than she and I do. But it doesn’t make him the right choice for her.
I was her first love after all. I think Reed is her rebound love and while that can seem like a true love for a while, those are usually very intense and burn up quickly.
Not to mention Jenna and I have years of history and Reed and she have only months of it. He rushed to ask her to marry him only a week after they started seeing each other, from what Mom told me.
I think he found the need to rush things so when I came back I’d have no chance of rekindling what Jenna and I had. And that gives me hope he saw something in her which told him I could get her back if I tried hard enough.
Which I plan on doing. But since we did agree not to contact her, I have to wait and see if she’s even going to give me a chance to do that.
I gave her my number, and she knows Reed’s. She changed her phone number so neither of us has it. And I wonder how my brother is doing with all this.
So I pick up my phone to ask him. It rings a couple of times before he answers, “Is Mom okay?”
“Yes, she’s doing great. I saw her this evening after I got off work. I went to the rehab, and she was up doing some aerobics with a bunch of old ladies. She was wiggling her caboose when I left her.”
“Good. I didn’t call her today like I normally do. My mind was elsewhere,” he says.
“Jenna?” I ask.
“Yeah. I did something really dumb and took out the binder we made of the wedding plans. And it made me all lonesome for her. It also made me wonder about what I’ll do with all the things that are already paid for concerning the wedding if she doesn’t pick me. I came up with an idea, though.”
I take a drink of my beer then ask, “What did you come up with?”
“If she picks you then I’d like to let you two have the wedding we planned. Jenna really planned the whole thing. I just showed her the different things that are available. It’s her dream wedding. As such, I’d still give it to her even if it’s not with me. So I’m asking if you plan on marrying her if she picks you, Rod?”
“I do,” I say quickly. “I’ve planned on marrying that girl for three years now. I just got very sidetracked.”
“Then it’s settled. The wedding will go as scheduled if she picks either one of us. And if she picks some other man then you and I can have us a bad ass party with our family up here. It’s a win, win, win. Don’t you think?”
I think about it for a minute then laugh. “Reed, you’re something else, little bro. I don’t think I could do what you’ve done. You’d still give that girl her dream wedding even if it’s not with you. That’s very interesting.”
“Well, she deserves it. And I’ll accept whatever she decides to do. I’ll love her forever, of course. You can’t stop that when it’s gone on for so long,” he says.
“How long have you loved her, Reed?”
“Since she was a mere fourteen years old I have mooned over that girl.”
I take another drink. The fact is I didn’t know I loved her until I looked into her eyes after she told that cop not to take me in. I knew I wanted her. I knew I wanted something with her but love didn’t come into play until that day.
“Seems you do have a bit more of a longer love for her than I have. How did you stand it then when you saw her and I?” I ask him then take another long drink.
“What choice did I have? And honestly, the way you treated her, and she took it told me there was no reason to try to take her away from you. If she didn’t leave your ass after what all you pulled then me telling her my feelings for her wasn’t going to change her mind, anyway. She was loyal to your mean ass.”
I look up at the stars and blink back tears. “Yes, she was. And I repaid that loyalty by leaving her with no clue as to why. I left her not knowing if I was dead or alive. For two long years, I left her alone. And all the while you still didn’t have her and you paid for her college and gave her encouraging phone calls to keep her moving forward with her life.”
Reed laughs. “The way you put it, I sound kind of saintly. I’m not a saint, though. My reasons for not making an effort to get her where selfish. I knew in my heart if you showed back up, she’d leave me. But when I saw her hot ass in the grocery store that afternoon, well, I couldn’t help myself. I had to have her.”
I suck down the rest of the beer. “And you and she made quick plans to cement the deal and then I showed up and threw a kink in your plans. Dick move, I know.”
Reed sighs then says, “Talk about your dick moves, I fucking told Jenna I was marrying her after sleeping with her for the first time. I didn’t ask her to marry me. I told her we were getting married. I judged you for controlling her but I did the same damn thing. Only I left out the whips and chains.”
“She’s probably better off without us, little bro,” I say and pull another bottle out of the six pack on the ground by my feet.
“She probably is,” he agrees.
Maybe we should let her know that…
Chapter 33
JENNA
Putting on a pair of strappy sandals, I end my preparation for the first date I’ve ever had that wasn’t with a Manning.
I accepted Steven Johnson’s offer to take me to dinner and my heart is pounding in my chest with anxiety. The man is about to turn thirty. He’s five years older than me and very sure about what he wants for the future.
He’s been a grade school principal for two years and he’s looking to move into a higher job with the school system here in Tempe as the superintendent. So he’s got a plan, and that’s admirable.
Steven is easy on the eyes with dark hair he keeps cut short and he wears dark suits which I think is a bit overdressed for a grade school principal but I think he must be dressing for the success he’s aiming for.
A knock on my door has me nearly hyperventilating so I stop and take in a deep breath and say to myself, “Calm down! It’s just a date!”
But it’s a date I don’t really want to be going on. I want to be lying on our bed, wrapped in Reed’s strong arms. That’s what I really want to be doing.
As I open the door, I see Steven Johnson wearing a nice black suit and tie and looking like he just left a high-powered business meeting. I stifle a laugh as Reed is a billionaire and only wears suits when he has too and he pulls them off way better than this man does.
“You look gorgeous,” he says as he steps inside. He holds up a bottle of wine. “I thought a drink before we head out would be nice. Where are your wine glasses?”
I step back as he’s too close to me. “Over there on the counter.”
He walks over and opens the wine and pours it into a couple of the glasses. “That color green of the dress you have on makes your pretty green eyes stand out. You have a real knack for fashion, Jenna. It’s what drew me to you. Well that and the fact you have a killer body and are sweet as they come.”
“Thank you,” I say and take the wine he hands me.
He takes my hand and pulls me with him to sit on the sofa. “So tell me your story, Jenna. I’m dying to know how you ended up working in my school.”
My brain nearly implodes. There’s no way I can tell him the truth so I say, “My family thought Tempe would be a good place to try student teaching. I’m not too far away from my hometown of Jerome.”
His arm moves over the back of the sofa and way to close to me. “And no man?”
Sure there’s a man or men should I say?
I shake my head. “No man.”
He takes a drink and looks at me with a knowing gaze. “I think there was one. Am I right?”
“Of course, I’ve had men in my life before.” I look away and take a drink and am really rethinking this dating thing. When you date someone you don’t know there’s so just much back-story to catch up on.
And my back-story comes out a little dirty and sinister. Not a thing I like to talk about.
I laugh inside my head as I think about telling this man that I started out with a man who liked to whip my ass and ended up with a man who liked to shower me with love and affection and it’s his car I’m driving and we’re sitting in the apartment he rented me. I’m wearing clothes his money bought me as well.
I shake my head as I just realized I’ve been a kept woman by both the Manning men. And that’s so not what I wanted for my life.
So I decide to give this guy a real chance and shove Reed and Rod out of my head.
For tonight, anyway!
He drains the last of the wine from his glass. “Ready to go? I made reservations. You do like French cuisine, don’t you?”
I shrug. “I’ve never had it.”
“Oh my goodness. Where have you been living, under a rock? Never had French food!” he asks as he ushers me out the door.
No! Bel-Air, Mr. Rude!
My car is nicer than his, I see as we get out to the parking lot. Reed has me in a Mercedes and Steven is driving a Ford Fusion.
Then I realize he has no idea what I drive as I mostly walk the two blocks to the school.
He looks over at my car which he’s parked right beside. He lets out a long whistle. “Now what kind of pretentious piece of work drives this environmental killer?”
I have no idea if I should claim it or not. Then think maybe I should be truthful with this guy. “It’s mine.”
His eyebrows go way up. “Yours? How the hell can you afford this?”
I can’t!
“It was a graduation gift from my family,” I lie. And I think I’ll find myself lying about more things if I’m not very careful.
He walks around to the driver’s side not even attempting to open the car door for me. Which Reed always has and even Rod would let me in on his side of the truck and I’d slide over, staying in the middle to be next to him.
I get in, a bit disappointed in the man but still not giving up on him yet. “So where are you from originally, Steven?”
“Florida.” He stops and looks at me. “Well, New Jersey, then Florida. And sometime before that, I lived in Connecticut. My family moved a lot. My mother married three times before I turned eighteen and went off to college.”
“Are you close to your family?” I ask as he pulls away from my apartment and I realize I’m stuck with him until he decides to bring me back and it scares the shit out of me for some reason.
“God no!” he says as his hand goes through the air. “I don’t even talk to them. I have four half-sisters, one-half brother and that’s all on my mother’s side. On my father’s side, I have no real number to tell you. He was a real player. As a matter of fact, that’s what my mother loves. Men who cheat on her. I like to call her a professional victim. She acts like it’s never her fault the men cheat on her. But she picks the same type over and over again.”
“I see. So no big family Christmas parties or anything like that?” I ask as I look out the window at the lights passing by very slowly as this man drives like an old man.
“No. I haven’t even seen any of them in the last three years. And what about your family?” he asks then he takes my hand and holds it in the middle console.
I look at our clasped hands and feel nothing. His touch does nothing to me.
Does the hand have to belong to a Manning to ignite anything in me?
“I have a mom and dad and I’m their only child. They were older when they had me. I was a surprise. They thought my mother couldn’t have children,” I say and look back at our hands and wonder why there’s no spark at all.
“Well, maybe she wasn’t meant to have children. I know there are plenty of women out there who should never be mothers. Mine included.” He gives my hand a squeeze. “I should think since you want to be around little kids all day with your kindergarten teaching, you have no want for kids anytime soon.”
My mind is kind of blown that he said my mother must not have been meant to have kids.
Does that mean I was a mistake in his eyes?
“I love kids. I want quite a few of them.”
A frown covers his face that I would call handsome. He’s definitely not ugly, but the way he talks is making him look less attractive than I thought he was before this.
“Yeah, but you’re just starting your career. I know you don’t want kids for at least ten years or so, right? I mean, you have to get your life in order first and then see if kids have a place in it.” He pulls into a parking lot with not a lot of cars in it and that usually means the food sucks.
“Ten years is a long time. I’ll be in my thirties by then. No, I want kids before that.” I open the door and get out on my own once he parks as it’s obvious if he didn’t open the door for me to get in, he won’t be opening it for me to get out.
He walks up next to me and puts his hand at the small of my back. “That’s interesting that you’d say that. In my ten-year plan, I have no part of it that contains kids.”
“I don’t have a ten-year plan,” I say as I wait for him to pull the restaurant door open but he’s behind me so he doesn’t.
I sigh and pull the door open and step inside as he looks confused. “No ten-year plan, huh?”
I turn back to him. “Does that disappoint you?”
He shakes his head. “No. No, not really. I can teach you about those kinds of things.” He looks at the hostess. “Reservation for two for Johnson.”
She looks around the half empty restaurant with a smile on her face. “Oh, you’re the guy who called. Yeah, we don’t usually need anyone to make reservations. But come this way, please.”
Steven looks around then whispers, “It’s eight o’clock. We must’ve missed the dinner rush.”
I nod but think there never is a dinner rush in this place and plan on filling up on crackers or bread or whatever they don’t cook in this place.
The woman shows us to a table for two under a dim light that hangs from the short ceiling. “Can I start you off with any appetizers and drinks?”
Steven sits without pulling out my chair so I do it myself and think that even the motorcycle gang member, Rod, pulled out my damn chair for me.
“Escargot and Merlots,” he says.
The look on the young woman’s face makes me think she has something she’d like to say so I ask, “Is the escargot good here?”
“Um, uh,” she stammers.
Steven looks at me. “I’m sure it is. Go ahead and get what I asked for. You said you’ve never eaten French cuisine before. What do you know about escargot, Jenna?”
“I know it’s snails and I can’t think of a way to prepare snails in a pleasant tasting way at all.” I pick up the menu and look at it as he stares blankly at me.
“Well, they are a refined taste for a palate which is experienced. You will learn to like the finer things in life if you decide to keep dating me, Jenna. I can show you a world you never dreamed of.”
I pull the menu down to look at him. “Is that so?”
He nods. “I am very well read and have studied a lot about all kinds of things.”
This man is so full of himself!
The date went on and eventually, when Steven stopped talking, things got better. And now we’re standing in front of my apartment door and he’s looking at me like he wants to kiss me.
I’ve never kissed anyone else other than a Manning so I lean in and let him kiss me. It’s kind of a smooshing feeling as his lips are squishy and I pull back before any tongue action starts.
“How about tomorrow we go see an afternoon movie?” he asks.
I see hope in his brown eyes and nod. “K.”
“Good. I’ll call you in the morning to let you know what time I’ll pick you up,” he says then turns and walks away.
I turn and open the door and go inside feeling very odd. It’s only ten and I find myself wanting to know what Reed’s doing. But I know I shouldn’t call him so I tap in a text to Sue to see how she’s doing instead.
I text or call her every day and I seem to have forgotten to do that today.
-Evening, Sue. I know it’s late. I just wanted to see if things were good for you today-
She texts right back, -I’m up. Just got off the phone with Rod. Things are good today. Feeling better every day. Reed’s coming in tomorrow and the boys are going on a fishing trip together-
I text back -Glad to hear that. Seems they’ve been getting along great-
My heart hurts that since I’ve left them alone they seem to be doing so well with each other.
Her text comes back – They have. Love you. Going to sleep now-
-Love you, Sue. Goodnight-
I pull off my clothes and go to bed and know it’s best to leave them alone.
But how long can I do this?
Chapter 34
REED
A woman with long brown hair which hangs in curls down to her tiny waist sits across from me at the restaurant I took her to after days of conflicting thoughts about asking her out.
I met Lana Littlejohn at a meeting in Sacramento last week. She’s a wealthy woman in her own right and knows how to make savvy real estate deals.
Lana suggested we get together sometime as she thinks we’d make good business partners and maybe compatible love interests. I laughed her off at first but she’s kind of been pressing me into asking her out.
A lot of texting and emails have been going back and forth between us so I finally said what the hell and asked her out.
But now that we’re out together and I can see the real her, I’m not so sure. She’s nowhere near as down home and nice as Jenna.
The waitress brought her a bottled water like she asked for and I thought for a minute there she was going to toss it into the poor girl’s face when it was the wrong kind.
But she quickly calmed down and even apologized for her behavior. Though I do wonder if that was for my benefit and something that wouldn’t happen in the future once she got really comfortable with me.
It’s been three months since I’ve talked to Jenna. And she has another three months until she tells us what she’s decided.
She’s not spoken to Rod nor me. Yet she talks to or texts our mother every day. Mom has been tight-lipped about what Jenna is doing. She did make mention of her having a date with the principal of the school she’s student teaching at.
No more was ever said about that, though. I guess it was a one-time thing much the way it looks like this might be.
Long red nails inch over the table top toward my hand which is resting on the stem of my wine glass. They gently scratch at my hand as she purrs, “Reed, what are you thinking about?”
How badly I wish it was Jenna sitting in that chair instead of you!
“Nothing.”
“You were a million miles away just then,” she says and her nails continue to move over my hand.
I take notice that no sparks run through me with her touch. Jenna can look at my hand and it’ll tingle. When she touches it, electricity fills me.
“I’ve been working a lot lately. Just tired, I guess,” I offer for my attention problem.
I have immersed myself in work. It makes the time pass a lot faster. Late to bed, early to get up, has my days long and filled up.
“So, how is it a man of your good looks and money is alone, Reed?”
Because I fell in love with the same woman my brother did before me and I’m giving her a chance to see which one of us she really wants, if either of us.
“The timing isn’t right for a woman in my life right now,” I say instead of all that other stuff.
“Reed Manning has enough money to calm down a bit and make time for a woman in his life. As do I,” she says then runs her hand up my arm as she scoots her chair closer. “And my bed has been cold and lonely for a little too long and needs heating up. If you know what I mean?”
Of course, I know what she means!
“You just say what you want, huh?” I ask as I move back out of her reach as her touch just isn’t doing a thing for me.
“I didn’t get to where I am not going for what I want. And Reed Manning, I want you.” She sits back and puts one red nail on her lower lip which is also red.
Her white teeth peek out between her plump lips as she smiles just a bit. I suppose she’s waiting for my response.
“Okay,” I say and look away as I don’t know what the hell else to say to that.
“Okay? That means you accept my proposition? Me and you, a thing?” She leans in and the top of her white shirt gapes open on purpose.
Her breasts are perfectly formed as they pour over the top of her white bra. And I think they’re too perfect and look harder and know then they aren’t real.
My cock doesn’t move with the sight and that’s a real eye opener for me. But Jenna has yet to get in touch with me and if she has news she is moving on to another man then I need a shoulder I can lean on when I get that news.
And Lana has nice shoulders!
“Do you like Chinese food, Reed?” she asks as her hand runs over the top of my thigh.
Nothing! Not a single spark and her hand is inches away from my dick!
“I do like it,” I tell her.
I don’t add the fact that my favorite Chinese restaurant is going to be catering a wedding for me in three months if Jenna picks me or Rod to marry and if not, it will be a monster party for me and my brother to get the hell over her at.
I don’t think one giant party is going to do that for me, though!
Lana is a beautiful woman. She’s a little older than I am at thirty but she’s nice to look at. Her brown hair has some gold streaks in it. But they’re not natural like Jenna’s blonde hair with its golden strands that occur naturally.
Her face is heavily made up so I have no idea what she looks like under the thick layer. Jenna wears little to no make-up. Her creamy skin is perfectly tanned and her cheeks are naturally pink tinged.
Jenna’s breasts are perfect. The left is slightly larger than the right and the nipples can get erect really quickly. Sometimes with just a look from me.
My finger moves in a swirling motion on the table top as I think about running my hands over Jenna’s firm but squishy in the right places, breasts.
“Reed?”
I look back at Lana. “Sorry, did you say something, Lana?”
“I did. I asked you about going to get Chinese food tomorrow in San Francisco. We can take my private helicopter. I love flying it.” She taps the top of her wine glass as she waits for me to answer.
“You know how to fly a helicopter?” I ask with a grin.
She nods. “And a trip in it along the California coastline tomorrow sounds like a great idea and adding you into that plan sounds like an amazing day to me. How about you?”
“It does sound cool,” I admit.
“So?” she asks as she stares at me.
I know this woman is not used to being turned down. But I’m feeling like this isn’t going anywhere anyway and all I can think about is Jenna.
“I’ll let you know by tomorrow.”
She rolls her eyes. “I see. You know, Reed Manning, I never take no for an answer.”
My lips quirk up into a half smile. “Bet you don’t. But I don’t ever say yes to something until I think about it.”
Her lips form a tight line. I think she’s met her match and doesn’t like it too much. Then she smiles. “Reed Manning is a man of decisive actions from what I’ve been told about you.”
Okay, this Reed Manning shit is getting old so damn fast!
“Lana, look, I don’t want you to feel like I’m wasting your time. I’m going to get right to the point here. If you’re looking for anything more than an occasional date, I’m not your guy,” I say and watch her frown.
“Then why did you ask me out?” she asks with a snarl to her voice.
“Because you have texted me, instant messaged me, and called my phone a lot since we met at that meeting.” I watch her dark brown eyes grow large.
“Are you saying I was annoying you?” Her hand goes to her chest and I can tell I’ve offended her.
“No. I’m saying, I wasn’t up to dating and your insistence on it may be bad timing. I think we have a lot of common interests. I like your idea of fun. I do. The timing is off, I think. That’s all.” I pick up my wine glass and suddenly feel like I need something much stronger.
I wave our waitress down and order a gin and tonic to which Lana adds a Cosmopolitan.
Seems we both need something stronger than the wine!
“You have someone you’re pining after. I can see it in your eyes, Reed. But if this woman is daft enough to leave you hanging, I assure you she’s not worth your time.”
The drinks arrive and I take a nice long drink of mine. I hold up a finger telling the waitress to bring me one more and she leaves us to do that.
When I pull the glass from my lips, I say, “Lana, you don’t understand. I don’t care to discuss this with anyone. And I won’t. Because it involves too much information on a party who is not present and it might hurt her if she ever found out I spilled her secrets. But the fact is I am holding out for a certain woman.”
“Where is this dumb woman?” Lana takes a drink and places it back on the table and I can see she’s getting ready to make a case for me to move on.
“Working and taking the time I told her to take to figure out who it is she loves.” I find my leg shaking as I hate having to discuss this with anyone.
“She loves more than just you then?” she asks with a smirk. “Who would the other man be? My God, you’re the catch of the century! Who else could she be in love with?”
I shake my head as there is no way I’m going to tell her that she loves my grease monkey, ass whipping brother too.
Who the fuck would understand that?
“Lana, this has been great, but I got to go. Maybe we can do this sometime later. I’m sorry about this. I just wasn’t ready. You’re a great girl.” I get up and walk away, leaving her at the table, glaring after me.
I don’t look back. I keep walking until I’m out the door and catch the first cab I see.
The lights flash through the window as he drives me home and I call my mother to see how her day went. “Reed!” she answers.
“Hi, Mom. How are you this evening?”
“I got back home yesterday and I am loving it! I just got off the phone with Jenna to talk to you and was telling her how great it is to be in my own home after what seems like an eternity in the rehab facility.”
“How is she?” I ask as I run my fingertips over the window and pretend it’s her face.
“She’s doing great over there in Tempe. They’ve offered her a teaching job there, and she’s still dating that principal,” she says.
I stop her. “Still?”
“Yes. She says he’s nice and has this ten-year plan to become the superintendent there. He sounds like he has a good head on his shoulders. I think he’s very good for her,” Mom says and my heart is thumping hard in my chest.
“Oh.” That’s all I can say.
My head hurts, my heart hurts, my whole body hurts.
Mom’s voice goes soft. “You know, Reed, I think you and your brother are better off without her. Rod’s doing great. He’s just working and going home. Staying out of the bars and away from skanky women.”
“Glad to hear that.” I look out the window at the dark night and feel so alone. “I’m glad he’s doing well. I am, Mom.”
Wish I was…
“He’s calling me, Reed. Do you mind if I get off here?” she asks.
“No, bye, Mom.”
I end the call and look at my phone and wish like hell Jenna would fucking call me.
After five minutes of thinking that, I press the buttons that take me to Lana. “Hi,” she says.
“Lana, I think I’d like to tell you I’m sorry for my previous behavior.”
“Not a problem, Reed. I accept your apology. Why don’t you come to my place and we can talk some or do whatever you want to?”
“What’s your address, Lana. I think I need to crawl into someone else’s bed for a while,” I say and feel very numb inside.
But knowing Jenna is dating someone Mom says is good for her has me very full of nothing. No hope, no feelings, and no more wanting to wait.
“Hand the phone to the cab driver, Reed,” she says.
I hand him the phone and sit back and close my eyes.
Will I be able to take it if Jenna has moved on?
Chapter 35
JENNA
Though I’ve told no one about the deadline Reed and Rod gave me, I am asking my mother about how Rod really seems to be doing as Sue is always talking so positive about Reed and Rod that it’s hard it’s believe.
I have a month and a half to make my decision. My heart has hung on to Reed but if his family is better off without me around then I’ll leave him alone. But I know Steven is not the guy for me.
I’m still dating him but not even once a week do I go out with him. It’s mostly a thing at school. We eat lunch together and all the other teachers leave him alone. I kind of think he’s hanging on to me just to keep the other single women away from him.
They seem to bother him for some reason.
“I see Rod about once a week when we go into Prescott to get groceries,” Mom tells me.
“Do you talk to him?”
“Your father and I have on a couple of occasions. I know what Sue says, but she’s here in Jerome and he’s off in that city and the fact is he still rides that motorcycle and his beard is still long and the man still looks like trouble.”
“How about Reed? Have you seen him around?” I ask.
“I saw the two of them with a boat one day a while back. Guess they were going on a fishing trip together. They seemed like they were getting along well.”
“That’s what Sue says too,” I say as I drum my fingers on the countertop I’m leaning on in my little kitchen.
“Have you talked to Reed?” she asks.
“No. I haven’t talked to either of them. But I still have it bad for Reed, Mom. But if I’m that much of a problem for their family that I can break it all up then I’ll leave him alone.” I turn and look out the dark window at the night sky.
“What about that new fella you’ve been seeing?” she asks and I hear my father clearing his throat which means he wants to talk to her about something.
“He’s not the one for me. But I hear Dad so I’ll talk to you later.” I hang up and look at the phone long and hard then call Rod.
“Hello,” he says as he answers.
“It’s Jenna,” I say.
“Hi!” I hear something clank and clang and some more racket then a door shuts. “How are you?”
“Not real bad, not real good. How are you?” I ask as I put my head in my hand and don’t know why I’m calling him when it’s Reed I want to talk to.
“I’m good, Jenna. Are you calling me to tell me you’re ready to give us a try before your deadline?”
I hesitate then say, “No, Rod. That’s not why I’m calling you. I’m actually calling to find out how you’d really deal with things if I married Reed? I have to know if you would really do what you said and accept it or not.”
“Oh.” He’s dead silent then I hear him open a beer. “I thought you were seeing some principal.”
“I’ve dated him some. So how would you take it if I went back to Reed?” I hold my breath for his answer.
“Didn’t Mom tell you, Jenna? Reed has another woman. She’s rich like he is. She sells real estate like he does. She drives a helicopter, and they came to Jerome in it a couple of weeks ago. They took Mom and Dad on a ride. I thought Mom would tell you about that. I’m sorry to be the one to break that news to you, Jenna. I really am.”
My legs go weak and I go in slow motion down to the floor where I lay out like I’ve just been shot. “He’s moved on?”
“Yeah, Baby. I’m sorry.” I hear him take a drink of the beer. “But I’m still here, waiting for you, Baby.”
I can’t think. I can’t breathe.
He moved on…
“Baby?” I hear Rod say again.
“I’m here. Um, about you, Rod. I will always have love for you in my heart. I will. We were young and dumb and I forgive you for all we went through together. I do. Honestly. But Rod, I don’t love you like I did back then. It would be a short-lived thing if I came back to you. I don’t want to do that to you or your family. Not that Reed would care, obviously. But I don’t want to do that to you.” I roll over and hold my hand over my eyes to try to hold the tears in which are burning the backs of my eyelids.
His voice cracks as he says, “Let me come visit, Jenna. Give me a shot.”
I lie on the floor and open my eyes and look up at the bright kitchen light with its naked bulb in the center and then close them again. “No.”
“Jenna, I really am sorry and if you could give me a chance I could make it up to you. I know I could,” he says and I can hear the tears in his deep voice.
“I’m not that girl, Rod. I’m so different now. I’m a kindergarten teacher and I love that about myself. You drive old trucks and loud motorcycles and that’s cool. But that’s not me. You can find a woman who likes the things you do. You should do that. I’m not going to have fun riding on your bike or going to bars with you. That’s not me.” I try to get up but can’t so I lay on the floor and let my body just give up.
“I can change,” he croaks out and I know he’s crying pretty badly.
“Why would I even want that, Rod? You’re this dangerous cool guy and a real badass and women love you. Why would I want to make you into something you aren’t, just to please me? And if you did change then how long would that last?”
A long sigh is all I hear before he says, “You’re right. I know you are. You were a Sunday school teacher when I met you. I wanted to change you then, and I tried so hard to. And for a little while, you and I met in the middle. But in the end, it wasn’t enough for either of us. When given the chance, you went back to the good woman you always were, and I went back to the life I yearn for.”
I let the tears flow then as this is the first time he and I have ever been this real with one another. “Rod, you’re not a bad man. You like to live life on the edge and you’re good at it. The things you like, even the sexual things, there are women who like that rough stuff too. Find you one of them. And I swear to you I will only wish happiness for you.”
“You don’t hate me, Jenna?” he asks and I really break down.
“Rod, did I hate you at any time? After anything you did to me, did I ever hate you?”
He waits for a long time. “No. No, you never did. But I have to know this. If you had still been single when I came back would you have given me another shot? If there had never been Reed, would you have tried it again with me?”
I know that answer as it was in my head long before I saw Reed that day at the grocery store in our hometown. “No, Rod. I wouldn’t have. I got myself back, and I was never going down that road again. No one will ever change me again. Not ever. That’s why I have no wish to change you, Rod. Be who you are. You’re a free spirit who loves to fuck hard, play hard, and ride hard. Fucking be that badass mother fucker, Rod!”
He laughs and so do I. “Jenna, you are phenomenal! Can I still call you my friend?”
“You sure as hell better! And I will always call you mine. I love you’re mean ass, Rod Manning! I always will.” The tears dry up and I feel like Rod and I have put the past right where it belongs.
“I love you too, Girl. You know what, I feel better than I ever have, Jenna. I really do. I’ve been beating myself up over what I did to you and now since you’ve forgiven me, I can stop that shit and move on with my life. I do like to fuck hard!” He laughs like a wild man.
“That you do!” I laugh along with him. “And some woman is going to love that shit and beg you to spank her ass and you and she will fall madly in love and have those rugrats you wanted and you better introduce me to that bad bitch when you find her contrary ass!”
His laugh goes up a few notches and mine goes right along with his. I feel free. Really free for the first time since I can recall.
I take in a deep breath to regain my composure and feel very happy it’s from laughing and not crying. “So, are we good, Rod?”
“We’re good, Jenna. Love you, Girl. I’m going out and shooting some pool and being okay with who the fuck I am. Thanks to you, I finally feel okay about that guy,” he says.
“Go! Have fun. Love you too, Rod. Bye.”
“Bye, Jenna.”
I hang up and laugh a little as I pull my ass off the kitchen floor and go to my bedroom.
As I fall on top of my bed I think about the Manning boys moving on and I think it’s a good thing. Reed has found him a woman much like himself it sounds like. A good thing, I think.
Rod will definitely find a woman who loves him for the bad boy he is. And then there’s me.
Well, I could have this principal. He is interested in the things I am. I suppose he would make a great husband. He has his plans and one day will be a bigwig in the education industry here in Tempe.
I get up and pull my clothes off and get under the blankets naked. I haven’t done that since I moved here. But I like sleeping naked and I am. From now on.
So what if Steve thinks its unsanitary!
Who am I kidding? Steven Johnson is not the man for me.
I love Reed. I do. No matter if he’s moved on or not, it’s going to take me a while.
Taking my phone off the nightstand I open the photo album and scroll through the pictures of he and I. There’s the one where we were coming back from visiting Catalina Island.
We’d made all the plans, and he paid the manager for the whole island for our wedding. We chartered twenty yachts to bring the guests out to the island for the occasion.
In the picture we have on the sunglasses he got us that match and we’re wearing matching white shorts and blue shirts like a couple of sailors.
Man, we look so fucking cute!
Now tell me how it’s not us who are meant to be together! How is it that he found someone more compatible than we are?
We have magic between us. How did he find that with another woman as well?
It makes no sense. Or is the fact I didn’t stand up for our love the problem?
I walked away so easily. Too easily. It made him lose faith in me.
He must’ve lost faith that I would pick him in the end.
And now he’s moved on. And I’m alone.
How can I keep on going?
The time was right at hand that I was about to end this all and call Reed and tell him he’s the one I want. It really has always been him. From the first time he ever touched me, I knew he was the one.
And now I’ve blown it all. Waited too long.
My Reed is in another woman’s arms. A woman every bit his equal.
I’m just a kindergarten teacher with a limited income base. I’ll never be his equal in the earning's department.
I suppose he’s better off. They’ll be super rich and powerful, I guess.
And the Manning family will go back to their happy lives and I’ll…
Well, I figure something out. But right now, it seems I have to cry because the tears are pouring out and I’m helpless to stop them.
Why did I wait so fucking long?
Chapter 36
REED
Jenna’s deadline is one month to the date away and I’m back visiting my parents for the Easter weekend. Dad’s outside putting the meat on the pit as they invited the usual crowd for the party this afternoon.
I keep hoping Jenna will walk through the door unexpectedly and make my world come alive again. This waiting is killing me.
I’ve ended up in Lana’s bed three times and not one of them have been memorable. She’s just a semi-warm body to try to help me find some comfort at times when I get to feeling very low and lose hope that Jenna will return to me at the end of May.
Lying on the sofa in the living room has me sitting up as the front door flies open and in walks Rod with a woman on his arm. I stare at him as I have no idea what the hell this means.
Is he out of the running for Jenna?
“Hey, little bro,” Rod says as he brings this new woman with long blonde hair toward me. “Meet, Ashley. She’s my new old lady.”
I get up and extend my hand. “I’m Reed, Ashley, nice to meet you.” My eyes move back to my brother and he looks very happy as he takes a drink from the tall brown bottle of beer in his hand.
Her eyes are blue and her hair is blonde, and she’s roughly the same height as Jenna. But this young woman has an edge to her, Jenna doesn’t.
She looks straight into my eyes and seems to have little fear of new situations. Her tight leather clothes show she’s not very shy at all. “Nice to meet you too, Reed,” she says then looks back at Rod. “So on to your parents then, Baby?”
He nods and spins her around and pops her ass as she walks in front of him and she makes a little growling sound. Rod looks back at me and winks.
I follow along behind them as I have to see what the hell is going on with this man. Waiting patiently for him to introduce her to our parents, I pull him to the side as Mom takes Ashley off to show her around.
“Okay, what’s up?” I ask him.
He smiles. “Jenna and I talked a couple of weeks ago.”
I find myself very hurt that she’s talked to him and not me and it hits me like a baseball bat to the stomach.
“And what did she say that has you with another woman?” I ask as I take a couple of steps back and sit in a chair by the pool so I don’t fall down.
“She said she didn’t want me to wait for her. She wasn’t coming back to me. But it’s all good. We ended on very good terms. She hasn’t called you then?” He takes a drink of his beer.
I shake my head. “No.”
His lips go up on one side. “Maybe she’s serious about the principal. She told me she was dating him. Maybe she’s done with the Manning men for good.”
“Why wouldn’t she call me?” I ask myself.
Rod shrugs. “Maybe you two weren’t as close as you thought. You did only see each other for a few months you know.”
“And we were engaged and inseparable for all but the first week of them.” I hold out my hand. “Beer me, please, Bro. And does this mean you’ll accept things if she comes back to me?”
He frowns and pulls a beer out of the cooler and hands it to me. “I will, but Reed, I don’t see that happening. She would’ve called you, man. Don’t let it upset you. I mean you got that new chic. That rich one. Why didn’t you bring her home for this, by the way?”
I take a long drink of the cold beer then say, “I was hoping Jenna might show up. And I can’t really take too much time with Lana. She’s kind of overbearing and bossy and she can be a real bitch. You know how our family is. I could see her telling me we had to leave and go get somewhere nice to stay.”
“But you brought her home before. Mom told me you took them on a helicopter ride.” He kneels down to pet the puppy Dad bought Mom last week. “Hey there, Puddles.” The little wiener dog pees a bit as he pets him, hence the name.
“We didn’t stay. It was a quick trip in her helicopter then we went right back to California. We were looking at a property in Arizona where me might want to join some other investors in a project. That’s the only reason I was with her. And when I told Mom I’d be in the area, she made us stop by.” I down the last of the beer. “So, you think Jenna is serious about this other man?”
“Well, she let me go and didn’t call you so I’d say she must be,” he says then stands back up. “Don’t let it get you down. There are more fish in the sea if that rich chic’s not the one for you either.”
I nod my head at the approaching new girl as she’s making her way to Rod. “Where’d you find her?”
“On the internet. At Jenna’s prompting, I went searching for females who like the things I like. Rather than trying to change anyone. I found that little beauty there and we are compatible in all ways.” She walks up to him and runs her arm around his waist and leans into him then takes the beer out of his hand and takes a drink.
He just smiles at her. She bites her lip after she pulls the bottle down and says, “Oops, I forgot to ask, didn’t I?”
With a nod, he says, “You did. That’s three.”
She gives him a wicked smile. “Only three? I think that deserves five.”
He moans and pulls her to him. “Time to show you my old bedroom.”
She growls and they leave me, thankfully!
Mom kind of hops up to me as they leave. “What do you think of her?”
“They seem to get along well,” I answer.
“He’s told me some about her. I told him he’d better bring her today. It’s so good to see him moving on. And now if you could, I’d be really happy. What about the Lana woman? Boy, she’s got the hots for you. You’re kind of cold to her but you should let her heat you up,” she says and I think I might be blushing.
“Mom!”
“What? You should. She’s a lot like you, Son. I think if you could forget about Jenna, you and Lana would make a great couple. What do they call it? A power couple! Yeah!” She claps her hands. “Oh, to see both of my sons with women who they love and love them is all I want.”
“Well, I can barely stand Lana so she’s not going to be your daughter-in-law. When’s the last time you talked to Jenna?” I ask and get up and grab another beer out of the ice chest.
“It’s been about a week. Her calls have slowed down. I think because she’s moving on. And, Reed, I think it’s best she has. Your brother and you have gotten along so well with her out of the picture. I hope you don’t think about going and getting her,” she says and the thought springs into my head that I do know where she lives and I could do just that.
Tempe is only a two-hour drive from here!
“Mom, if she and I do get back together you will treat her right, won’t you?” I ask then take a drink and watch her kind of squirm.
“Reed, you and your brother would start this fighting stuff up again and I would just hate it,” she says then knots her hands together. “Just leave her alone, Son. Please!”
“Rod and I won’t fight over her anymore. We made a deal. So if there’s no fighting in the family, would you accept it if she came back to me?” I look at her as she seems very conflicted.
“But there would be fighting.”
I shake my head. “I think Rod’s found a woman much more fitting for him. And he and Jenna have talked from what he told me and it sounds like they have found their closure. We both know Jenna was never the woman for him. She’s an angel and Rod’s a devil.”
Mom takes the chair next to mine and takes my beer away and downs the rest of it. She sits there for a moment before she says, “Look, I love that girl. I do. But life has been so peaceful since she left.” She looks at me really hard. “But there is something missing in you. I can see it. Just wait and see if she comes back to you on her own. You and your brother both took that girl over. She’s never had a shot at finding out if she likes something else other than being taken over. You know.”
I nod and know she’s right. “But if she does come back to me you will accept that?”
“Reed, as long as it doesn’t disrupt what you and your brother have managed to regain, I will accept it.” She gets up and walks away then looks back over her shoulder at me. “But please let her come to you. Let her make a decision for once, instead of a Manning going caveman on her and dragging her off with him.”
I give her a nod and a smile. “Okay, Mom.”
Caveman is not the way I want to go, anyway. But this waiting shit has to end.
If Rod’s out, then the family thing is no longer an issue. And I want Jenna to know that. I want her to know I still want her and I’m not about to let her pick another man if she’s not head over heels in love with the guy.
What we have is real and I’m not about to let her throw that away.
But how to get her to call me is a thing I need to work on. Showing up unannounced is kind of caveman.
The party progressed, and all have gone home. It’s late. Very late and I’ve yet to figure out how to approach Jenna.
The light out by the pool is nice and I unbutton my shirt and lie back on the lounge chair I’m sitting in and take a nearly naughty selfie and send it to her using Mom’s phone.
I lifted it from her just before she went to bed. She didn’t even notice I took it.
So now I wait to see if she texts back.
An hour later there is still nothing. So I go inside, stopping to pick up a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels and go to my bedroom. Leaving Mom’s phone on the counter after deleting the picture of myself from it.
Pulling my clothes off, I climb into the bed and prop my head up on the pillows. Then take a nice long tug from the bottle.
It burns as it goes down my throat. I find the pain good in a way. It means I can still feel things.
She must be done with me too.
But why in the hell can she tell Rod she’s not interested in him any longer but not me?
Chapter 37
JENNA
“Crap!” I say out loud as I see my phone ran out of charge sometime in the night.
I plug it in and go to get dressed. There’s a staff party this evening and Steven wants me to go with him.
I’m not really feeling it but it’s one of those things I do to keep the peace between he and I.
The phone rings and I look at it to find it’s Steven. I ignore the call.
I can’t deal with him yet!
One shower and a cup of coffee later, I go back to get my phone off the table by my bed and see a text message I missed from Sue. At three in the morning.
God! I hope everything’s alright!
With a swipe of my finger, I see there’s no emergency. There is Reed by the pool. His shirt unbuttoned and looking very sexy.
I fall back on the bed and gaze at him. His tight abs look even tighter than the last time I saw them.
His hair has grown just a bit and his blue eyes sparkle in the pool’s lights. He’s devastating!
He must’ve taken this with his mother’s phone after she fell asleep. So I don’t bother replying to this text. Instead, I pull up his cell number and text - Looking good-
I wait and he doesn’t text back so I call Steven back. “You called?”
“I did. I need you there by seven tonight. I’d pick you up but I’ll be running late. I have some things I have to pick up for the party. Wear that green dress I like and put your hair in the side part thing I like so much. Your gold necklace with that cross will be good too. It’s Easter and all and the cross works with that whole thing.” He stops talking just long enough for me to talk.
“And how was your night, Steven?”
“Oh, fine. I watched some television then read until I fell asleep,” he says. “And wear those nude heels. I like the way your legs look in them.”
“Okay. I guess I’ll let you go and see you then.”
“Yes. Oh! One more thing. You told a joke at the last party and I didn’t like that. No jokes at this one. See you at seven sharp.” He hangs up and I find myself fuming.
“No jokes! He’s a fucking joke!” I toss the phone on the bed and start to get off the bed but it lights up and makes the buzzing sound it does when I have a text.
“It better not be another thing he needs to tell me how to do!”
But I see it’s Reed -Heard you were happy with a new man-
“Wonder who told him that?”
I text back -Heard you were happy with a new woman-
He texts back- Who told you that-
I text – Your brother and your mother-
He texts back – Funny those are the same two who told me that about you-
I send – I’m glad you’re happy. Your whole family is a lot happier now that I’m not in the picture-
He sends – Not all of them-
So I send back -What does that mean???-
He texts – Don’t worry about it. Are you really happy???-
Sue’s been doing so well. She’s made a full recovery from the tumor and there’s been no reoccurrence. She’s been so happy with how things are going. And she has not so gently told me about how compatible this new woman in Reed’s life is with him. How well they get along and how happy Reed is with her.
The phone buzzes again and I see he’s written – Are you afraid to tell me you’re happy, Jenna-
I think about it for a while and I know they’re all better off without me. So I send– Yes-
A little while goes by then he texts back – Okay then. Have a nice life-
I quickly type in – You too- then the tears start to fall.
I can’t breathe. My body aches. I think I might be dying.
I pick the phone back up to call him and think twice about it and put it down. He deserves better than me.
That woman is his equal. I’m sure she’s mentally strong too and I’m weak.
My phone rings and I can’t see who it is through all the tears. But I answer it, anyway.
“One more thing,” Steven says. “No drinking tonight. I don’t want us to do any more drinking. I want to have the appearance of an up and coming couple who are about business and education. All work, no play. That kind of couple. A real educational power couple. And I want you to keep going to college until you get your Doctorate. So get working on that. See you tonight.”
He ends the call without me saying a word.
Not one damn word!
The phone leaves my hand as I toss it away from me. I want no more of this thing with him.
He hasn’t asked me to marry him but I saw pictures of engagement rings on his phone the other day. And now all this talk about the future and what I need to do to fit into his ten-year, mother-fucking plan.
Well, fuck that!
I’m done! Done with being led around like I don’t know what I want. Or am too stupid to know I can do more. I’m sick of it!
Reed never put me in a box. He never said, ‘Jenna, I want to have sex like this so you need to learn to do it my way.’ He never said, ‘Jenna, I want you to do this with the rest of your life, so go to school even longer so you can do what I want you to do.’
No, Reed told me I could do whatever I wanted. Anything or nothing. Whatever I wanted.
He let me love him the way I wanted to. He let me do the things that made me happy. He let me plan the wedding around what I liked.
And now he’s moved on to another woman. And I know in my heart it’s because I didn’t stand up and fight for what I wanted.
I rolled over and did what would make everyone else happy. Everyone else but me and Reed. I let him go, to keep the peace. I let him go because it was the easier road to take.
And now he found a woman who’s most likely willing to fight for him. The way I should’ve done.
I could’ve told Rod the same things I told him a couple of weeks ago to get him to understand that I’ve grown and am not that person he loved. I could have told Rod those things that night instead of kissing him to see if there was anything there.
Why did I do that?
Why did I allow other people to get between what Reed and I had?
What we had was real, honest, and pure. And I threw my hands up in the air and told myself it was for the good of his family.
So now what do I do?
I’m done with Steven. I won’t be his date tonight and even though it will be uncomfortable working in the same school as he does, I will not quit my job and hide away as if I’ve done something wrong.
I will face the uncomfortable situation with my head held high and go on. Because shit happens, and it’s not always roses and wine. Sometimes it’s a pile of shit and you have to step over it and go the fuck on!
The fact is I may have lost Reed. And he may have been the one for me. He may have been the only man who will ever make me feel electricity with his touch.
Reed Manning may have been the only slice of Heaven I will ever have had on this planet. But I will no longer let some man control my every move.
No joking around, Jenna! No, drinking, Jenna!
Who does Steven Johnson think he is?
There’s going to be a new Jenna. One who knows what she wants and when she finds it.
If I ever find it again.
She will hold on to it like her life depends on it.
And now I am done talking about myself in the third person because that seems a little crazy to me and I don’t want the new Jenna to be insane!
In an effort to face things head on, I throw on a dress and slip on a pair of flip flops and pull my hair into a ponytail and get into my car.
I’m going to face Steven when I tell him we’re done.
Tucking tail and running isn’t a thing I’ll be doing anymore.
Steven is getting into his car as I pull into the driveway of his three bedroom brick home he has no immediate plans to fill with children because they aren’t in his life plan.
I pull in behind him and get out of the car. He doesn’t even bother to get out. He just rolls his window down. “Jenna, I need to go. Move your car.”
“This will only take a second, Steven,” I say as I lean in his window.
“Jenna, just do as I say. Whatever you have to say can wait until I get back. You can wait on the patio for me to get back if you want. It should take me an hour to get what I need to done.”
He looks agitated that I’m still standing here instead of hauling ass to get out of his fucking way.
“I’m not waiting. We’re over, Steven. Done. K. I’ll let you go now.” I turn and walk back to my car.
I hear his car door open. “Jenna, wait!”
I shake my head and wag my finger behind me and keep walking until I get to my car and slide into the driver’s seat. He stands there just looking at me. “Bye,” I say and drive away.
My phone rings and it’s him. I ignore the call.
I’ve said all I have to say to him!
No amount of pleading is going to get me to change my mind and go back to being his Barbie doll, he dresses and tells how to act.
The fact that we’ve slept together a whopping three times and never did I come close to climaxing and never did he care, sits forefront in my brain.
What an ass!
I feel weightless with this off my back. I can just be free. I don’t have to have a man just to fill some space in my life. I can just be me.
The fact is the love I have for Reed has made me see that I should never settle for anything less than a love like that.
He may have moved on but I think I’ll just kick back and relax and let myself live with the fact I have a heart that’s full of love for a man who totally deserves it.
He didn’t do a thing to make me stop and I couldn’t if I tried. So why fight it?
I love a man who doesn’t love me anymore. Okay. I can handle that.
Pulling back into my parking spot at my apartment complex. I sit for a moment and let myself feel what it feels like to be a woman who is free but who also holds a ton of love in her heart.
It feels damn good. Whether it’s reciprocated or not, it’s there and it feels great.
The first thing I do as I walk into my little apartment is go straight to my jewelry box and take out the ring Reed gave me. I slide it on my finger and look at it and feel happy.
Not sad, at all. Reed made me happy once. He taught me how that feels. I can’t hate him for moving on. It was my fault.
But I can feel the way he showed me is possible. I can live my life the way I want.
From the day he talked to me about going to college and doing what I wanted until the day he told me I could walk away from him if I wanted to see what I felt about Rod or anyone else for that matter has taught me a lot.
It’s not the job, it’s not the way you do things that matter. It’s how you feel about it. If you like it, do it. If you don’t. Don’t!
I like wearing this ring. I like feeling the way I felt when I was with him. And I can if I want to.
Now to see how long this euphoria lasts!
Chapter 38
REED
I can’t stop staring at my phone. The last text from Jenna isn’t making sense to me.
I know that girl has not found another man who makes her feel the way I do. So I make a quick decision and look online and have flowers and candy sent to her address today.
Then I make damn sure Lana knows we have nothing going on as she texted me a few times yesterday and I can’t have her thinking she and I are a thing.
So with a swipe of my finger I call her. “Reed! Miss me?”
“Lana, sorry. This isn’t one of those calls where I tell you I miss you and want you to join my family for Easter, sorry.”
“Oh, I see. What is this kind of call then?”
“This is the call where I tell you that you and I are not working out.”
She sighs. “Reed, that dumb girl isn’t coming back.”
“She might not. But Lana, that girl taught me what true love felt like and I’m done settling for Mrs. Right Now and not Mrs. Right. She may not take me back but I’m sure as fuck going to try.”
“And what if she shoots you down?” she asks. “Do you think I’m the kind of woman who will take this from you, then when you come crawling back after she tells you it’s over, welcome you with open arms?”
“I’m not going to be doing that. If she shoots me down, then I’m going to be thankful for what she’s shown me. How to love and be loved unequivocally. Sorry for wasting your time, Lana. I’m sure we’ll see each other around and I don’t want things to be weird,” I tell her then hear something breaking in the background.
“Damn it, Reed. Look, I get what I want!” she shrieks.
“So do I,” I say with a very calm voice. “And I want Jenna Foster or no one right now. I’ll never be settling again. Not now that I know what real love feels like. Bye, Lana.”
There’s some cursing on her end but I hang up without listening to anymore.
There was no love there. I was a thing Lana set her sights on. A nice bank account, a handsome face. But she had no real feelings for me. And I sure didn’t for her.
So that’s done and now on to Operation Get Jenna Back.
A text comes in and I cross my fingers it’s Jenna. But I see it’s from Lana – Reed Manning, we are through!!!-
I laugh out loud. “Duh!”
Jenna or no Jenna, I’m through with faking it just to have a warm body around once in a while.
And I’m through with waiting around for Jenna to realize she’s hurting us both by taking this high road where she doesn’t cause any waves in the Manning family.
Pulling on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and my running shoes, I leave my bedroom and find my mother in the kitchen. “Hey, Mom. You feel like making some lasagna for dinner tonight?”
“It’s ten in the morning, Reed. I haven’t thought about dinner, Son,” she says then drinks her coffee.
I can see she’s slowly realizing what I’m about to do. Her eyebrows go up. “Reed!”
I kiss her forehead as she sits at the kitchen table. “Bye, Mom.”
“But Rod and his girlfriend are here. It’ll be Armageddon!” I hear her shout out.
But I keep on going. I know Rod won’t do a thing. Now Mom needs to see that too and things will be fine and dandy.
As I slip behind the wheel of the rental car, I put my shades on and turn up the radio. I’m going to jam all the way to Tempe and pick up my girl!
JENNA
The doorbell rings and I get up off the sofa and peek through the peephole. I have no wish to see Steven.
It’s been about two hours since I ended things with him and he’s called several times and texted several but I deleted them all without reading any of them.
All I see are flowers and then the face of a delivery man. “Miss Jenna Foster?”
I open the door. “Those are for me, huh?”
He nods and hands a huge bouquet of red roses to me and a big box of chocolates. Then he seems to be searching for something. He hisses, “Shit!”
“What?” I ask as I put the flowers and candy down on the table by the door.
“The card! Man, I lost it on the way up. I didn’t read who they were from. Sorry, Mam.”
I laugh and shake my head. “I have a strong idea I know who sent them. I just broke up with this guy. They have to be from him. Although, he’s never done a romantic thing before. Thanks.” I hand him a five-dollar bill for his trouble and shut the door.
And it hits me as I look at the flowers and the candy on the table.
Reed is in Jerome!
The text he sent last night was from his mother’s phone and he was at their pool. He’s there. A mere two hours away.
But that woman might be there too!
Oh, that would really start some shit if I showed up. And Sue is doing so well now.
Fuck it!
I spin around and go get my purse and car keys and take off. I need to go to Reed and tell him how I feel and that I want to get married like we planned on.
If I have to beat the hell out of some rich woman to get him back, then that’s what I have to do.
I’ll prove to him I do think he’s worth fighting for. It might have taken me a little while to realize it. But now that I do, anyone who is standing between us is in my way.
And Heaven help anyone who does. Because I’m through being the quiet girl who gets out of everyone’s way and does only what makes everyone else happy.
Because the way Reed seemed on those texts told me he isn’t happy and I’m not happy so I need to fix things with him.
That man is mine. He knows it and I know. And I belong to him. Heart, body, and soul.
As I slide into the driver’s seat, I put on the shades Reed bought me that match his and I crank up the radio. I’m going to rock all the way back to Jerome and get my man back!
And I hope Sue can forgive me!
Chapter 39
REED
I take the stairs two at a time to get up to her apartment on the second floor. It’s number two-twelve and as I get to the top step, I see some man pounding on the door.
“Jenna, open up. I’m not going to let you do this to me!” he shouts.
“Hey, Buddy!” I say as I come up behind him.
He turns around and looks at me. “Can I help you?”
I shake my head. “Nope. You seem to be looking for my fiancé, Jenna. What can I do for you?”
This guy is about three inches shorter than I am and he’s wearing a black J.C. Penny’s suit for some reason and smells like cheap cologne. He stammers as he looks at me, “Fiancé? I’m talking about Jenna Foster. She’s no one’s fiancé. She’s my girlfriend! Now who might you be?”
“I might be Santa Clause. Jenna Foster is my fiancé. So, why are you here?” I fold my arms across my chest, which is broader than his and wait for his answer. But I’m pretty damn sure this is the grade school principal she was dating.
No way she’s in love with this douche!
“She and I had a misunderstanding earlier and I’m trying to get it straightened out before we go to a party this evening.” He turns and bangs on the door again. “And I have no idea who you are. Jenna has been here about five months or so and I’ve never even heard her talk about any man. Much less a fiancé.”
“Well, I am her fiancé and I’m about to take her back to our Bel-Air mansion so you may want to go ahead and cut on out of here, Buddy,” I tell him as I take hold of his shoulder to stop his incessant pounding.
“Bel-Air mansion?” He shakes his head. “There’s no way we’re talking about the same woman. My Jenna is not that refined. There’s no way she ever lived in Bel-Air in a mansion. Not my Jenna.”
I shift my weight to the other foot. “Okay, let’s get this straight. I have a Jenna. This Jenna is mine. You, well, I don’t know what you think you had, but you never had her. Her heart has belonged to me for some time now. So, like I said, you should go. She’s most likely hiding in there until you leave, anyway.”
His brown eyes go big and he walks to the top of the steps and looks down them to the parking lot. “Hey, did you see a white Mercedes when you parked?”
I shake my head then recall that I had one just like that sent to her.
She’s not here!
My cell phone rings and I pull it from my pocket and see Rod’s name on it. “Hey, what’s up?”
“I got your girl, Reed. Guess who came looking for you. It’s just like you wished for. She showed up at our front door,” he tells me.
“Fuck! Tell her to wait for me there. Don’t let her go anywhere. I’m at her apartment in Tempe. It’s going to take me a couple of hours to get back. Don’t let her leave, Rod! Promise me, please!” I haul ass past the guy who thinks he knows my girl and get into my car.
The guy comes at me, waving his arms and shouting, “Hey, did you find her?”
I nod and shout as I drive away. “She’s at my house. It’s over, Dude. Whatever you had is done. Bye!” I spin out as I leave the parking lot and floor it to get back to Jerome.
She came for me!
JENNA
I tap my foot as Sue stands in the doorway. “Well, he’s not here, Sweetheart. I’m sorry,” she tells me.
This is so not like Sue to leave me on the porch. “Look, I know Rod’s here. I see his bike right there. Ask him if he knows where Reed went. I came all the way from Tempe to see him and Sue I am going to see him. If that woman is here with him, I don’t care. I have to talk to him.”
“Well, it’s just that I don’t want any trouble, Jenna. Rod is here,” she looks back over her shoulder then looks back at me then whispers, “Reed’s happy with that woman, Jenna. Just go on back to Tempe and have a great life, Sweetheart.”
I tap my foot and watch Rod coming up behind his mother. “Hey, Mom. This isn’t like you. Keeping Jenna on the porch instead of inviting her in.” He gently takes her by the shoulders and pulls her back inside. “Come in, Jenna. Please.”
I give him a nod. “Thank you, Rod. Do you have any idea where Reed might be? I’d like to find him before he goes back to California.”
“At this moment in time, I am not positive of my brother’s whereabouts. But what brings you by, Miss Foster?” He reaches out and takes my hand and pulls me inside and takes me to the sofa. “Have a seat. Would you like a beer? You look a little tense.”
I nod. “One wouldn’t hurt. I am keyed up. But I can get it.”
He presses my shoulder so I have to sit down. “Nonsense. After all the beers you brought to me, I can bring you a few. We can relax and talk until Reed makes it back here. He will be coming back. It may be a little while but we can entertain you until then.”
He walks out of the living room and Sue just stares at me. “Jenna, what does bring you here? What do you want with Reed?”
“Sue, I love you. I really do. And your health means so much to me. But what I want to say to Reed is just between him and me. Okay?” I watch her eyes go big.
I’ve never talked to her this way before. I think she’s kind of freaking out. Then someone comes out of the hallway just as Rod comes back with four beers in his hands.
A woman with long blonde hair and wearing black leather pants and a white halter top wipes her mouth with the back of her hand as Rod stops next to her. He smiles at her. “You okay, Baby?”
She nods and runs her hand over his cheek. “Are you?”
He nods and my head goes a little wiggly inside. Then he looks at me. “Jenna this is the woman you told me to look for. I found her on a website. And you were right. Finding someone who thinks like I do is working very nicely.”
The pretty blonde who has the classic good girl looks with a very deep hint of badass smiles at me and comes toward me with her hand extended. “I’m very happy to meet you, Jenna. Rod has told me all about you.”
I stand up and shake her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I can see you two get along pretty well so far. Your name is?”
“Oh! I’m Ashley. And thank you for what you told him about being himself and not trying to be anything less than the badass he is. I love this bad ass mother fucker.”
I laugh and look at him. “You did tell her everything, didn’t you, Rod?”
He nods and hands us each a beer then I sit down and Ashley sits next to me as Sue’s mouth hangs open.
Rod hands her a beer too and helps her sit in a chair. “Mom, you okay there?” he asks.
“Well, I didn’t think this is how things would go.” She takes a long drink as she looks at Rod come back and sit next to his new girl.
Ashley looks at me and smiles. “So you pulled a switcheroo with brothers. I’d say you’re somewhat of a bad ass yourself!”
I blush and look away as Rod says, “She is. She’s just starting to figure it out is all.”
Sue takes another drink then says, “Well, I may as well go ahead and say it. I’m sorry, Jenna. I thought this would be a fiasco. A total brawl. But it seems like it was you who told Rod to look for someone more fitting for him and you were right. These two balance each other out very nicely.”
Rod runs his arm around Ashely and she lays her head on his shoulder. “We do, don’t we?” he asks her.
Ashley nods. “We do, Baby. We really do.”
She kisses him with a little peck on his lips and I see it in his eyes when she moves back.
He loves her!
And she looks like she loves him and my heart is pumping hard with how damn happy I am.
A tear falls down my cheek and Sue sees it. “Oh no! This is upsetting you. See! I knew it wouldn’t go as easy…”
I stop her. “Sue, no. That’s not it at all.” I wipe the tear away and look at Ashley. “I love this man. Not in the way that I want him. I want him to be happy. I always have. You make him happy. I love that.”
Ashley takes my hand and taps the top. “I know you love him. Thanks for your honesty, Jenna. I love him so much more than I knew was possible. And he loves you. We can all be one big happy family. Well, as soon as Reed gets here and fixes up you guys.”
“Thanks for understanding this craziness, Ashley. If Reed will have me back, then we will be one big happy family,” I say and then the front door opens and there he stands.
“Jenna.”
I get up and walk to him as I hold up my hand with his ring on it. “Can I still be Mrs. Reed Manning?”
He nods and then I’m wrapped in his arms. His lips touch my ear. “Angel, I’ve missed you!”
“I’ve missed you too. I don’t want to ever miss you again,” I whisper because I’m crying like crazy.
His tall, muscular body feels so right as he holds me tight. Then he picks me up and carries me down the hallway to his bedroom.
Rod calls out, “Don’t so anything I wouldn’t do!”
I hear Ashely add, “Which means go hog wild, cause this man will do anything!”
They laugh and I hear Sue join in. “You crazy kids!”
I bury my face in Reed’s chest and take in a deep breath, taking him all in. He kicks his childhood bedroom door open and takes me inside.
My heart is pounding as he sits me down on the bed and says, “Strip!”
Has Rod taught Reed about punishments?
Chapter 40
REED
Soft circles I trail with my finger over her naked stomach as Jenna lays back on my small childhood bed and gazes up at me as I lie next to her.
“You had me afraid you were about to teach me a lesson, Reed,” she says with a smile on her beautiful face. A face I have longed to see for months, too many months.
“I am about to,” I whisper in her ear.
A shiver runs through her. “Really?”
I nod and nuzzle her neck then leave one kiss on it. I had her get undressed, and I did the same then climbed into bed with her, our skin touching the others.
I craved this for what seems like so long. This simple thing of our skins touching. It makes me feel different. Whole.
Her scent has my mind filled with only thoughts of pleasing her in ways that will assure her this is where she belongs. In my arms forever.
“I’m going to teach you that you and I belong together.” I move my hand down until I get to her sweet spot and she moans as I run my fingertip lightly over her clit.
“Reed,” she moans out my name and her body shivers again. “I missed your touch so damn much. I’m so sorry I ever let you go. It was the stupidest thing I have ever done and as long as you want me, I will never make that mistake again.”
“Good.” I kiss her neck then give it a little nip as her hand travels up my arm and halts on my bicep where she gives it a squeeze. “Did you miss the guns?” I chuckle.
“I did.” She turns and looks at me as I lay by her side.
She puts one leg over me and I roll onto my back and pull her on top of me. She sits up, straddling me. Her moist heat is on my stomach and her breasts rise and fall with every breath.
I take her left hand and kiss the ring I gave her. “So you really want to marry me, huh?”
She nods and runs her hands over my pecs. I run my hands up to take her pert breasts into them. She sighs as I do and licks her lips.
“I don’t know what came over me this morning. Something in my brain clicked into place and I knew I had to get to you. I was ready to fight everyone to do it too.”
“How un-Jenna-like,” I say as I move my hands around and cup her ass in them as I push her to me.
Her lips fall on mine for only a second then she sits back up. “I hope you like this new Jenna. I’m done being the silent little thing who lets everyone else’s happiness get in the way of hers.”
“And mine,” I add then push her back to me.
Her mouth lands on mine and this time, I move my hands to hold her face and kiss her long and hard. Our mouths mingle like they never were apart.
As if a day hasn’t passed without us touching one another. But days have passed. Too many of them and now that my body knows she’s here, it wants her very badly.
My cock grows with an ache to be inside her and I roll her over without letting our mouths part. She pulls her legs up, bending her knees and I push my aching cock deep inside her.
Our moans fill the room and I have no doubt anyone who might be walking by the bedroom door can hear us. But I just don’t care.
Immediately our breathing increases and so do our heart beats. I pull my mouth away to let us both get some much-needed air. Her green eyes glisten with tears as she looks up at me and cups my face in her soft hands.
“I have dreamt of this. I never stopped loving you, Reed. Not for one second. Nothing feels the way you make me feel. I know without a doubt you and I are meant to be.”
I make a hard thrust and give her a smile. “We are, Jenna. We belong to each other. And very soon in name as well.”
The heel of her right foot grazes my calf as she runs her foot up my leg, sending a heat through me. “Faster,” she whispers.
I give her a hard thrust and do it over and over until she’s about to burst. But then I pull out of her and she frowns at me.
With a kiss the tip of her nose I flip her over then pull her back until she’s on her hands and knees. Standing beside the bed, I’m at the perfect level to ram deep into her and she makes a terrific groan as I go back inside her.
“Reed!” She puts her head down on the bed and her ass goes up higher as I yank her back by her waist to meet every hard thrust I give her.
I slam into her over and over until I feel the slightest tremor inside her that tells me she’s about to climax. Then I pull out of her and she moans and falls to the bed.
“Reed, this is torture.”
“But the sweetest kind of torture, my angel.” I pick her up in my arms and take her to the wall and hold her hands up over her head. “Wrap your legs around me.”
She smiles as she pulls her legs up and wraps them around my waist. My cock slides into her again and the way her face glows lets me know it makes her extremely happy.
I slam into her over and over then I move her hands to wrap around my neck and kiss her as I press her body against the wall. Her tits smash under my hard pecs. Her stomach is soft against my tight abs.
Her legs start to shake and I know she’s near again. This time, I let her.
She makes a high shriek which my mouth stifles what would be a very loud sound if we weren’t kissing. Her body convulses around mine and I have no choice but to climax right along with her.
I move back to the bed with her and nearly fall on it as our bodies fall apart together. Hers milking every last drop it can from my cock which fills her up.
Our mouths part only a little as her hands run over my cheeks. “Reed, I love you. I love you so much. I’ll never stay a night away from you ever again. Not ever. I love you, I love you…”
Pulling back to look at her, I see tears streaming down her reddened cheeks. “Jenna, I love you. It might’ve been a tough bunch of months, but it served its purpose. I know you truly love me. I know you won’t be leaving me one day for something you thought you might have lost with my brother. I know you won’t be wondering if another man can make you feel like I do.”
She sniffles. “No one can make me feel like you do, Reed. I know that now.”
I kiss her cheek and find the salty tears on my lips which I lick. “I love you, Jenna. I won’t ever let you get away from me again. Not ever. You’re stuck with me, Girl.”
“I’m very glad to hear that.” She pulls my face back down to hers and kisses me sweetly.
And finally, our lives can really begin!
Epilogue
JENNA MANNING
“Maddie, have you seen Glen’s left shoe?” I shout toward the kitchen.
Reed smacks my ass as he comes up behind me. “Here you go, Mama. The always evasive shoe our son keeps hiding in a different place every time we go to leave anywhere.”
“After three boys, how did we get one who hates to leave the house?” I ask as I hold our one-year-old down and try to get him to let me get the shoe on.
Reed takes the shoe from me. “Here, you hold ol’ wiggle britches here and let me stuff his chubby foot into his shoe.”
Out of the kitchen and into the little den area off of it where we are, come our other kids. Tanner, who’s eight, Roland who’s five, and Panther who’s three.
Yes, Reed got to name one of our four sons!
But that’s the last one he’s getting to name. And Panther is the only one who got his father’s dimpled chin.
Tanner shouts, because he apparently knows no other way to communicate, “Come on! Gee wiz! You have one kid to get dressed, Mom!”
I wipe the sweat off my brow from the struggle with our youngest and shoot a wicked look at our oldest child. “One kid? Tanner, this one kid is like three of them.”
With his shoe on and his brothers running through the room on their way to the front door, Glen busts out of my hold and follows as fast as he can after them.
Reed opens his arms and I fall into them. “Whew! And only three minutes behind schedule.”
He laughs. “You’re nearly on time, Jenna. Come on, I’ll give you guys a ride then go to the office for a bit then go back to the school and pick you up for a nice lunch. How does that sound?”
His arm wraps around my shoulders as he leads me out to our Suburban. I lean into his firm body. “That sounds fantastic. Since I moved up to being a third-grade teacher, things have been rough.”
He nods as we get outside and I see the others have left Glen to try to climb into his car seat on his own. “Dang it, Tanner!” I shout. “Can’t you see your baby brother needs some help?”
“I tried to help him and he bit me!” he shouts back at me.
Panther lets out a loud growl. “And I’m the one named after a wild animal. You should switch our names!”
And just like that, Reed and I stop and look at each other. “Oh no!” we say, simultaneously. “Just like Rod!”
Reed opens the passenger car door for me. “Climb in, I’ll strap the little devil down.”
I get in and look back as Glen hits at his father and then lunges at him with a screeching sound. Roland is in the seat next to him and watches the scene with a little bit of horror in his expression.
Reed manages to get the baby strapped in and wipes the sweat off his forehead. “Shit, Son!”
I remind him of the young ears in the car, “Reed, the kids.”
With a wink to me he says, “Sorry, boys.”
He closes the door and walks around to get in as Tanner says, “That’s okay, Mom. We’ve heard worse words.”
I shake my head and turn around as Reed gets into the driver’s seat. “Now how many more of these things did you say you wanted?” he asks with a grin.
With a smile, I answer, “I want a girl, Reed.”
He shakes his head and pulls away from our home which many see as a mansion but it really is a home to us and our kids. No matter how fancy it may seem, it’s full of love and hopes, dreams, and lives that go on just like anyone else’s.
And I love this life we have!
REED
Of course, it has to be storming like crazy when Jenna goes into labor with our daughter!
With one more son after the notorious, Glen. Who is nearly the spitting image of my brother. And if Rod been anywhere near my wife in the time frame, she got pregnant I’d have given that boy a DNA test.
As Rod had been in another state for the whole year, I had no choice but to accept the fact the little devil came from my own loins.
Two years after Glen, came another son we named, Patrick after Jenna’s dad who passed away that year. Her mother was invited to come live with us but said she’d rather stay in the house she and her husband had lived in their entire marriage.
I bet it’s really because our house is kind of chaotic with all the boys running wild, though!
I make my way to our bedroom where Jenna is walking around, trying to get through another contraction it looks like as she holds her back and stops to lean against a wall.
“She’s on her way, my angel. The midwife will be here as soon as she can. The weather is pretty awful.” I run my hands all over her back as she makes little panting sounds with her breathing.
The pain subsides, and she turns to me. “Reed, I don’t want to do this anymore. Can we stop after her?”
I laugh. “As if it was me who told you to keep having babies, Jenna. But if you want to hear it come out of my mouth, then here you go. Jenna, honey, can this be our last little bundle of joy?”
She nods. “Yes, it can. If that’s how you want it, Darling.” She smiles and I take her hand and lead her to the bed.
“You should get all comfy until your midwife gets here.”
The door flies open and in runs the five boys who all jump on the bed. Glen shrieks, “Baby?”
I shake my head. “Not yet. I’ll bring her out to meet you guys as soon as she gets here. Now kiss your momma and let me get you back to your bedrooms. You all have school tomorrow and it’s late.”
After exchanging a lot of I love you’s and kisses and hugs, I manage to wrangle the boys back to bed at eleven p.m. and when I get back to my wife, I see the midwife is drenched but she has made it.
“Thank God! I was afraid I would have to deliver this one. Who’s going to be our last, I’ve been told,” I say as I climb on the bed next to Jenna and hold her hand as she starts taking in deep breaths with another contraction.
The midwife checks Jenna and looks as us with a smile. “She’s at ten, she can push with the next one. I did cut it very close making here in time.”
Jenna looks at me with a red face and tears fall. “Reed, we’re about to meet our daughter. Our baby girl.”
I kiss the tears away and give her hand a little squeeze. “I know. Are you happy, Jenna?”
She nods. “More than I ever thought possible. Thank you, Reed. Thank you so much.”
I tweak her nose. “Thank you, Jenna. You’re the one who made this life we share possible. I love you more than you will ever know.”
“And I love you.” Jenna’s lips touch mine then they harden as she pulls back from me with a deep groan. “It’s time!”
We look back at the midwife who’s wiping tears out of her eyes so she can see. “You two are so perfect for each other. It pulls at my heart. Okay.” She sniffles. “Let’s see what we have here. A head full of blonde hair it seems.”
Jenna pushes and her face goes really red then she stops and looks at me. “Wow! That was hard, and she’s not even out yet.”
I gently stroke her arm. “You’re doing so good, Mama.”
With another wave, Jenna goes red again and makes a loud grunting sound then I hear our daughter crying.
It’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. “You did it, Angel.” I kiss her cheek and she closes her eyes.
“We did it, Reed. You and me. Together, we made ourselves a family.” Her head leans against my shoulder as the midwife holds up our daughter and we gaze at her like she’s a precious work of art.
We did it!
ROD
My brother moved his family out to a place in Wyoming to get his kids out of the city and into the country. Seems his twelve-year-old son, Glen, was getting into trouble already and they wanted to see if a change in environment might help him to straighten up.
When Jenna called and asked if I could bring my family and come see their new place and maybe see if there was anything I could say to Glen to get him on a better path, I had to come.
“Wow,” Ashley says as we turn into a driveway lined with giant trees. “This is gorgeous. I like it better than the mansion they had in Bel-Air.”
I roll down the windows and take in the fresh air. “You and I are going to take the bike out for a ride while we’re here. The kids can visit their cousins for a little while so you and I can spend a little Mommy-Daddy time.”
Our two daughters in the back seat of the truck both groan. Miranda, our fifteen-year-old whines, “The cousins!”
Her twelve-year-old sister, Hope, joins her. “Dad, do we have to? Can’t you take us with you?”
“No room. Sorry,” I say and give Ashley’s hand a squeeze. “Your aunt Jenna will probably take you girls shopping. That will be nice, won’t it?”
“I guess,” Miranda says. “But this isn’t Beverly Hills, Dad. It’s the middle of nowhere.”
I pull up in front of a monster sized place that looks like a hotel instead of a home. The front door opens and there stand my brother and his wife.
My heart always does this little dance when I see my old flame. I love that girl still. But in a sister-in-law way now.
My legs are stiff as I climb out of the truck followed by my family and Jenna has me in a hug before I know it. “Rod! I’m so happy you came all this way.”
After exchanging hugs and hellos we go inside and I see young Glen looking at me with eyes just like mine. The steel-blue in them glistens as he sees me.
That kid and I are cut from the same cloth and he saunters his little twelve-year-old body up to me. “Hey, Uncle Rod! How’s it hanging?” He holds out his hand and we do this little hand clasp thing I showed him.
Out of the corner of my eye I see Reed rolling his eyes. I chuckle. “It’s hanging, little man. I hear you like to take cars out on your own already.”
He shrugs and leans back against the wall, putting his foot up behind him. Jenna calls out to him, “Glen, what have I told you about putting your feet on the wall?”
With a smirk and a nod, he takes his foot down and puts his hands in his pockets. “The car was this guy’s mother’s. This guy hit my little brother, Pat. I told him if he ever did that again, he’d be sorry he did.”
“I see,” I say as I lean up against the wall with him. “And how did his mother’s car help you make him sorry?”
“After I told him that, he ran to his mommy like a little snitch and told on me. She came up to me at the playground and griped me out. So then I needed to teach her not to ever talk to me like that. Two days later that guy hit Pat again at the same playground so I went to her car and got in. She’d left the keys in it, another thing my taking her car was going to teach her not to do again.”
“Of course,” I say as I listen to his logic.
“And I started the car and proceeded to chase the guy down with it. My parents didn’t see what I did as a good thing. Especially since it ended with me, hitting the monkey bars because the little chicken climbed up on them to get away from me. His fault, I thought.” He nods and looks at me for confirmation that he did all the right things and everyone else was wrong.
“You know, Glen, I was a lot like you when I was a kid.”
Jenna adds, “And a grown up.”
I glance sideways at her. “Okay, fair enough. Anyway, like I was saying, Glen. I was a lot like you when I was younger. I thought I needed to teach lessons. But what I found out is that’s not up to me. I just needed to live my life and let the lessons in other’s lives get taught to them in their own ways. Leave the punishing by the wayside. People get what they have coming to them in other ways. And it wasn’t up to me. You’ll do better the quicker you figure that out.”
He nods then looks hard into my eyes. “So, you’re saying, if another guy hits my brother, let my brother deal with that?”
I nod. “Or your parents. It takes a load off your shoulders if you let someone else figure out what to do about something you think isn’t right. And just live your life. Saves you a ton of trouble, I assure you. Don’t try to change a person, pick people to be in your life who are already like you or like the people you want to be around. And leave the punishing and teaching up to someone else. You get me?”
A smile moves over his face. “I got you, Uncle Rod.” He slams his fist against mine as I hold it up.
I run my hand over his little dirty blonde head, the only kid they have with the same color hair I have. “Wanna go with me on a ride? I brought my Harley.”
“Will you teach me how to drive it?” he asks with a gleam in his eyes.
I see Jenna shaking her head and Reed nodding his. “Yeah, I’ll teach you how. Come on.”
And maybe I can help this kid not to be a screw up like I was!
JENNA
The stars in the Wyoming sky are a bit brighter than anywhere else I’ve ever lived in. Reed and I sit under a tree in our backyard and look up at them as everyone else has gone to bed.
His lips touch the side of my head. “Maybe Rod’s being around Glen will change things.”
“I hope so.” I turn and take Reed’s mouth in a hungry kiss. “Want to make love to me under the stars?”
“Do you even have to ask that?” He pushes me back and I run my arms around his neck.
Next week is our twentieth wedding anniversary and still Reed’s touch sends me to another place in my head. A place where only he and I exist.
His mouth leaves mine as he looks down at me. “I love you, my angel.”
With a smile, I say, “I love you, my prince. And I always will.”
As he takes my mouth with his, I think to myself how lucky I am to have found the man who can make me feel so amazing and I will never let him go for the rest of my life.
And we all lived happily ever after…
The End
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