Another Deception (20 page)

“He has come, Mother! Jacks
has
come!”

“That is nice dear. Have I had my dinner yet?”

     Jessie fought back tears of anger.

“They will be bringing it up directly Mother.”

     She got up and a heavy sigh escaped her lips causing her mother to look up at her with troubled eyes. Not intending to worry her, Jessie said,

“Everything is fine Mother. Everything is just fine.

     However, she knew things were far from being fine.

23

 
H
oney’s voice came back as good as new and now she was concentrating on getting out of the hospital bed and wheel chair. There was nothing wrong with her
legs,
it was just hard to stand on her own yet with her body just needing time to heal. Any straining would cause her internal stitches to burst and that would put her right back into the hospital. It was with this in mind that she would only walk without help to the bathroom only. As she laid in the bed, restless with anticipation over where Jacks might be, she continually exercised with weights Hidey brought to her. Her arms strengthened with this and she soon started using crutches to get around. It was encouraging to those around her and now that she could talk enough to hold a conversation, Sheila called everyday and sometimes two times. With each call, they both were disappointed that the other had not heard from Jacks. Sheila assured Honey that there was prayer going up constantly for them all and she would be so happy to have life back to a resemblance of normal.

   Now that Honey had her voice back, Jean seemed shy of having told her about her feelings for Hidey. There was only one thing for Honey to do and that was to confront her friend and get it out of the way.

The next time they were alone together she asked Jean how she was feeling about Hidey now that they had spent several days in the same house.

Jean, of course first turned three shades of red before answering, misery dominating her voice.

“I rarely see him. I think he avoids me on purpose.”

     They were sitting outside in a swing on
Romona’s
big front porch. It had come to be Honeys favorite place to sit quietly to contemplate on things. There was just something about sitting there all alone, but with such an awesome presence of God, you did not feel lonely.

“Hmmm.”

     It was Honey’s only reply, so that Jean gave her a funny look and protested.

“Seriously!
I think being around me more has caused him to loath me, otherwise why act this way. I have invited him to go hiking, which we both love doing, and he has refused every time! I told him I wanted to be friends!”

“Do you really think that is fair?”

“Why ever would it not be fair to be friends? I would think that if he liked me so much, he would take the friendship!”

“Ah, but that is the way you see it. Imagine if someone put a piece of candy where a little child could easily have it but then told him,
no you cannot have it,
but you can look at it.”

“You think he looks at me like a baby looks at candy?”

  Her perplexed look made Honey laugh. She thought, it feels so good to laugh again but somberly she explained as best she could to Jean how some could be just friends and some could not. She thought about Jacks as just a friend.

Never!

“Maybe not exactly, but…somewhere along those lines.
I think what I should say to you, as your friend is that you should leave him alone if you do not care for him in the same way he cares for you.  It would not be fair to him. I know you do not intend to have a relationship with him or anyone else, because of what happened to AJ. Am I right or not?”

     Jean looked the other way without answering. When she turned back, it was with tear-filled eyes. In a small voice she stated,

“I promised before God to never love anyone else for the rest of my life.”

“And you think God holds a fourteen year old to a vow like that when the other person involved in that vow is already with Him?
Jean…dear, sweet, innocent, Jean.
Do you not understand that you have mourned AJ long enough? Let him go, he is gone already to be with the Father. You, on the other hand, have an entire life in front of you and a man who loves you, just waiting for you to return that love. You do love him…I know you do! Let go of the past and grab hold of the future!”

“I don’t know…”

“Know what?”

“Honey, I really don’t know how to do that. I mean just to let myself have these feelings. I am not sure I can and what will I do and then it does not work. Oh, I cannot bear open myself to this and then find out it is not even real.”

    Honey shook her head. She would not push Jean but let her make up her own mind.

“If you want me to convince you it is real, I will not. I have told you my opinion and with that said, you will have to decide if it is worth the risk or not. I will say this though…no guts, no glory!  I think I am a bit tired and will go in and lie down a bit so I will feel like sitting with the rest of you at the table tonight.”

“Do you need help?”

“No, I got this!”

     For some reason the dismal conversation cheered Honey and she made her way to her room, she was humming a tune. It was Jacks favorite tune. She had no doubt that if what Jean and Hidey had was true love, it
would not be denied
.

24

    
A
t times Garrett acted in the way Jacks remembered him, but then there were the times he caught him looking at him in a strange, thoughtful way, which made him uneasy. Such as the time they were in the large library, which had a fine billiards table in the center. Garrett had challenged Jacks two hours prior and they were still going.

“Garrett, you got better at billiards since we last played. 
Lessons?
I do not believe they have a cosmetic surgery for that, do they?”

                    They both laughed at Jacks humor, while Garret eyed his opponent warily.

    “That, my boy, comes with practice!”

          Jacks felt smug in the fact that Garrett used the phrase, ‘my boy,’ without
being reminded
that it was a term Asa used with him and Garrett did not. He knew he should not feel overly confident though and needed to continue the game as long as it suited his purposes. So far, in the last couple of days, Garrett had kept him busy. Too busy to think about returning to the states yet but his mind was continually on Honey. He longed just to know how she was. He dared not try to contact her, lest it reveal to Garrett that in truth, he
was fully recovered
from the attempt to destroy his memory.

   
“Yeah, right!
Practice my foot, I can hardly get you
to ever play
, so how you figure you got practice? Anyway, you may be better than I remember, but you still have yet to win a game.”

         Garrett moved around the table. 

    “Maybe I just want to let you think you can beat me.”
    Jacks hit the ball before he answered.

    “I am sure you would want me to think that, but we both know it’s not true. You have never lost a game on purpose as long as I have known you and that is a pretty long time!”

   “There is always a first Jacks, always a first time for everything.”

         Jacks watched as he expertly took his next shot and those, which followed, to the end of the game, which he won, easily. He wondered if it was Garrett’s way of showing off
Asa’s
role in his shared body for Jacks knew Asa himself, was smarter than to show his hand like that. It gave Jacks an idea. If Asa only had a percentage of authority over Garrett, it meant that Garrett was still in there somewhere and he could play on what he knew to be Garrett’s shortcomings to force his bragging side to come forward.

         He racked his brain to think of something Asa had been opposed to but which Garrett loved. It was the water. Had not Asa declared his intense dislike for water and here he was overlooking the mighty Mediterranean Sea! Garrett had always loved water sports of all sorts, so if he could persuade Garrett to commit to sailing or skiing it would bring out more of Garrett and less of Asa.
Maybe.

         Then, perhaps he could push buttons he knew Garrett could not resist. Bragging being the desired effect, so that he could get information without even trying. He was desperate to find out where the woman… his mother was and time was running out.

          Garrett interrupted his train of thought by asking,

    “Another?”

    “I think I should leave well enough alone.”

          He laughed, adding,

    “I remember how you love water sports so how about a little sailing tomorrow. You know I should be leaving soon and I would hate to go before I got a closer look at that beautiful body of water out there.”

         Garrett frowned and Jacks pushed.

    “Come on now, you promised me a good time, didn’t you?”

    “We can take an afternoon sail, if you wish. My morning is tied up or…if you
like,
you could go on your own first thing in the morning. I will charter you a boat.”

    “
Naw
,
would not be as much fun without my buddy! I can wait.”

          Jacks thought he saw irritation flash in Garrett’s eyes and hoped he had not given himself away.

          At dinner that night, he was quieter than usual and when Jacks questioned it, he said there was a lot on his mind.

          He disappeared afterwards, leaving Jacks to entertain himself and Jacks went in search of the woman who seemed to pop up even before Garrett commanded her to. He was hoping to learn something from her through innocent conversation but he was disappointed, for she was nowhere to
be found
. However, when he decided to go to his room, he stumbled upon a much younger woman, who was turning down his covers in preparation for the night.

     “Hello.”

        The woman whirled around and before she could hide it, he saw a flicker of fear in her eyes. Ducking her head down, she returned his greeting and proceeded to finish her job. Jacks pretended not to notice and cheerfully asked,

    “Are you from here?”

         She shook her head no.

    “Did you come here from New York?”

         She nodded her head for yes. Jacks was thinking he needed more open ended questions if he were going to draw her into a conversation so he asked,

    “How long have you worked for Garrett?”

           The girl actually looked up for a brief second and replied,

    “All of my life, sir.”

          She then slid past him and was out the door before he could stop her. If there had been any doubts at all as to who he was dealing with, now there was none. No way had she worked for Garrett very long or he was sure to remember her. He was certain Asa was her employer.

   
“Strange woman!”

    “What woman?”

         Jacks turned, not surprised to find Garrett standing just outside his door.

    “I thought you had business to deal with.”

   
“Finished up early.
Care for a nightcap?”

   
“No, but thank you.”

    “What is all this turning down drinks about? You used to drink me under the table and now, first no wine with your meals, now no nightcap. What’s up with that?”

    “I thought I may have told you, I quit drinking.”

   
“When?”

          Jacks thought wildly for a second and came up with,

    “Right before I saw you that day in my office.”