Broken Road (18 page)

Her phone rang, and she rushed to pick it up, first checking to see who it was. She smiled and released a small squeal of excitement. She cleared her throat twice and took a deep, calming breath before answering.

“Hello?” she said casually.

“It’s me,” said Jarrod into the phone.

“I know. Took you long enough to call back,” she said while attempting to sound cool and aloof.

“Is it true you’re planning to go to Florida?”

“What?”
Amazing how quickly news travels through Mayberry
, she thought.

He repeated the question and then added angrily, “Stop playing games and just answer the damn question!”

“I don’t know…,” she said, bewildered by his anger. She did not appreciate the attitude. Wasn’t it enough that she had called numerous times apologizing and asking—no, begging—for a second chance?

“Why would you even consider it? Are you suddenly planning to attend college there?”

“No.” She walked over to her bedroom door and quietly closed it and then returned to sit on her bed with her legs crossed. As their conversation continued, she began to examine her small, drab, colorless room with detailed attention and suddenly became charged with the notion of leaving it behind and moving forward toward change and possible excitement.

“Then why?” he asked.

“Why haven’t you called me back? I’ve left you tons of messages.”

“Don’t change the subject. Answer my question,” he said crossly.

“You answer first,” she retorted. How dare he yell at her like this. And how the hell did he even find out about her plans? She had only mentioned it to a few friends that she trusted implicitly.

“Fine. Because I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in getting back with you, so there was no need to call you back. Now you answer my question.”

Bastard. Where did this mean streak come from? It was so unlike him. She must have hurt him terribly, she thought. He can’t seem to get past the pain and move on. Rather than make his life easy and reconciling with her, he was dragging the ache on by just trying to get back at her.

“You didn’t return any of my calls. I’m willing to do whatever it takes for us to be together again.”

“You’re nuts.”

“Why don’t you want to get back together? I told you on my messages how sorry I am and that I miss you. Jarrod, I love you—”

“Stop. I don’t want to hear your lies. I’ve heard enough of them to last a lifetime.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I know about the conversation you had with Alec after you broke up with me.”

“I should have known that he would say something,” she said heatedly.

“He didn’t say a word. I overheard the two of you speaking through my open window.”

“Oh God…”

“Don’t bother following me to Florida. You’ll just be wasting your money on the flight.”

“Jarrod, I don’t understand why you’re being so mean.” She needed to change his mind and convince him they should get back together. Once she did that, everything would be fine. From what she had heard, Jarrod was doing great and had already started training again for baseball. He wasn’t quite at the level where he was before the accident, but was progressively getting better with each session. If everything worked out as she planned, within a year or two they would be living happily ever after as Yankee and wife. But how was she ever going to get him to believe she was truly sorry, even though she really was only sorry that he’d caught her?

Tears. Every man was a sucker for tears. She needed to cry, but for some reason, the tears just weren’t coming. She was too nervous and angry to cry. She looked around the room and found her tweezers lying on her nightstand. Oh, this was going to hurt, but sometimes sacrifices needed to be made to achieve one’s goals. She picked up the tweezers, rushed over to the mirror hanging above her dresser, and yanked at a hair nose. Ouch! Well, that worked. Her eyes immediately began to tear up. She yanked again and then the tears began to flow freely. “Jarrod…please don’t tell me you…(sniff)…don’t want to get back…(sniff)…together.”

Was she crying
, thought Jarrod? No way. This woman wasn’t capable of shedding real tears. In all the time they had spent together, he had never once seen her cry. Even when her mother had lost one of her jobs and was distraught with worry and uncertainty, Morgan hadn’t shown any concern or empathy toward her mother’s situation. Oh, there were plenty of times when she would scrunch up her face and grimace as though she was trying to look like she was crying, but actual teardrops never made an appearance. You have to have feelings for that to happen.

“Are you crying?” he asked incredulously.

“Of course I’m crying. You’re breaking my heart!”

Jarrod rolled his eyes and, without a trace of emotion, said, “Cut the crap. I know you’re faking.”

“You’re being such an ass. I’m not a monster, y’know. I have feelings too.”

She really was crying. He could tell the tears and sniffles were undeniably real. No matter. He wasn’t going to allow himself to be pulled into her labyrinth of underhanded deception and treachery.

“Listen, I don’t have time for this. Just accept the fact that we’re not getting back together. Ever. You were the one who wanted to break up, so now deal with the consequences. My feelings for you are completely dead, so don’t call me anymore and don’t follow me out to Florida.”

Anger stirred up in Morgan, and she shouted into the phone, “Have you been in contact with my cousin? Did Angelise call you? I swear I’ll kill her if she did.”

“It’s none of your business if she called me or not,” he responded angrily.

“The hell it isn’t. She promised me she wouldn’t, and if she broke—”

“You made her promise not to call? You had no right,” he screamed in fury.

“I have every right. You’re mine, not hers.”

“I’m not yours and I never will be. You need to stay the hell out of my life, do you understand? Stay out of it!”

“We’ll see about that, you bastard.” In full-blown rage, she repeatedly pressed the End Call button on her iPhone as hard as she could, but using the angry hang up strategy on someone just wasn’t the same as with a landline. She cursed modern technology.

The following day Morgan made all the arrangements necessary to leave for Florida. John had responded and said she was more than welcome to stay with them. He informed her that he had spoken to his two male roommates and they were both fine with her staying, as long as she contributed toward rent and food while living with them. She would be leaving in four days. Now it was time to break the news to her mother.

Helen was mopping the kitchen floor when Morgan strolled in, not caring that the floor was wet. Her mother just looked at her and said, “Morgan, do you mind? I’m mopping and your shoes are leaving tracks—”

“I’m leaving,” she said as she grabbed a banana and began to peel it.

“Alright. What time will you be home?”

“No. I mean, I’m leaving for good. I’m going to be staying with my friend John in Florida for awhile.” She watched her mother while taking a big bite of the banana.

Helen just stared at her in shock. She knew this day would come, but didn’t expect it so quickly after graduation. “When are you leaving?”

“Friday afternoon. I’ll need you to do laundry on Thursday so that everything will be clean by the time I’m ready to pack.”

Her mother nodded and then said, “Why Florida? You never mentioned wanting to go there. In fact, you always say Florida is for old people.”

“Things have changed. Maybe the state needs some young blood to stir some life into it.” She tossed the banana peel into the garbage can and started to walk away.

Helen had a bad feeling about this. Why this interest in going to Florida all of a sudden? And why the hurry? “Do you have a job lined up?” she called out to Morgan.

Morgan stopped but did not turn around to acknowledge her mother’s question. “No. I’ll find something once I get there.”

“How did you pay for the flight?” Helen asked suspiciously.

Morgan turned to face her mother and imperturbably said, “Credit card. Yours. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Morgan, I do mind. How could you do something like that without checking with me first? I’m trying so hard to keep the bills down, and I’m having a difficult time making the payments as it is…”

“Please spare me the sob story. You don’t have to worry about me spending your damn money anymore as of Friday, so consider it a going-away present to me.”

“I just don’t understand you. Has something happened to make you want to leave so suddenly?” Helen asked worriedly.

“I’m just sick and tired of this small town life. I need excitement…”

“So you pick Florida for excitement?”

“I’m sure there’s more to do there than there is here.”
Yeah, like nab myself a husband
, she thought.

“Well, then, let me ask you something. Why stay with your friend John when you could stay with your aunt and uncle in Bradenton? I’m sure if I call them, they’d love for you to stay with them. You could stay in Angel’s room now that she’s leaving for college…”

“No. I don’t want to go to Bradenton. Speaking of Angelise, I was wondering if you happen to have her new cell phone number? I’ve tried calling her, but she changed it and she’s never called to give me the new number.”

“No, I don’t have it.”

“Could you get it? Just call Aunt Laura. She’ll give it to you,” she said, surprisingly sweet. Better not let anyone in on her real feelings toward Angelise.

“Fine,” Helen said. She was tired. Tired of arguing with Morgan. Tired of always trying to please her and always coming up short. Tired of her hurtful jibes. Just plain tired of it all. It was easier to just give in and do as she asked.

“Could you do it now? I’d like to call Angel and see how she is doing,” Morgan said, knowing she never would call her cousin.

“Would it be alright if I finished mopping first?” Helen asked dryly.

Morgan smiled at her mother’s lame attempt at defiance.

“Fine. Gotta go. Just don’t forget about having the laundry done by Thursday, okay?” She turned and left while Helen just stood in the kitchen, wet mop still in hand, as she watched her only child walk away.

Morgan arrived home after midnight and found a piece of paper on the kitchen table with Angel’s new cell phone number written on it. She took the piece of paper and immediately put it into her handbag for safekeeping. She then climbed the steps to her bedroom, humming softly once again.

Chapter Eighteen

 J
ohn helped Morgan carry her bags into the house. She looked around and wondered if all the sacrificing she was making was worth it. It was obvious that only men resided there. The house was completely run down and unkempt. The paint on the walls was peeling, the rugs were stained, and the stale odor emanating from the room was strong enough to make her scrunch up her nose in disgust.

“Yeah, I know. Smells, huh?” said John.

“A bit. Do you guys ever open the windows and let the house air out?” she asked.

“Sometimes, but we forget a lot of the times.”

“Apparently. So, two other roommates, huh?”

“Yup. Nate and Benjamin. Nate’s cool. You’ll get along fine with him, but…um…I should forewarn you about Benjamin.”

“Why? What’s up? He’s not some serial killer or a deranged sex feign is he?” She popped her head into the kitchen and quickly turned away in disgust.

“No…I don’t think so,” he said thoughtfully.

Morgan abruptly turned her head toward him and cautiously asked, “You don’t
think
so?”

“It’s just that he’s a little on the strange side. He prefers to keep to himself. Doesn’t interact with people unless absolutely necessary. Rarely looks you in the eye and almost always has his head down like he’s studying the dirt on the ground or something.”

“Great.”

“By the way…don’t ever call him Ben or Benny or anything other than Benjamin. I called him Ben once and he totally freaked out. I thought he was going to jump me or something.”

“You know, it might have been nice if you had told me about this nutjob before I got here…oh, it doesn’t matter. I’m not planning on becoming chummy with anyone anyway. I’ve got more important things to focus on.”