Broken Road (22 page)

Angel watched her friend run out the door and across the street with a perplexed look on her face. She slowly turned around and hesitantly walked toward the last booth. A man sat with his back facing her. He appeared tense. He sat ramrod stiff, reminiscent of those bronze statues you sometimes see in front of office buildings, the ones so lifelike that people constantly confused them for real people.

When she reached the table, she looked at the man, but his head was now bent forward causing his hair to cover a portion of his face. He looked up at her, and she immediately stepped back. Her eyes widened in surprise and shock, and her mouth fell open, but words did not come out.

“Hi, Angel,” he said.

Ah, that voice. Although she’d listened to his undeleted voice messages over and over again, she would never tire of hearing it. It was so masculine and sensual, just like he was. Still she said nothing; she simply turned her head toward the front door, looking to see if she saw Ileana anywhere. When she didn’t, she looked at him, confused.

“Why don’t you sit down?” he said.

She shook her head no, but did not turn to leave.

He shimmied across the seat and slowly stood up. He motioned toward the other side of the booth with his outstretched arm and said, “Please?”

Angel stared at him and then agreed without saying a word. She simply sat on the other side and placed both her hands in her lap. At first she kept her head lowered, but then slowly raised it to face him.

“I don’t understand,” she said softly.

Ah, that voice. He’d missed hearing it. He had only heard it the day they had met and the few times he had called and listened to her voice message, but he’d remembered everything about it. He recalled its tenderness, but his memory failed to evoke the beauty of the soft and lilting timbre it held. He was captivated by everything about her. There were moments when he’d thought his imagination had over-exaggerated her appeal, but seeing and hearing her now, he knew it hadn’t. She truly was as magnificent as he’d recalled.

“I met Ileana the other night. We were introduced and she was able to put two and two together based on your description of me as well as information she got by asking me some direct questions.”

“Ile is direct, if nothing else.”

“Definitely. Anyway, we got to talking and she explained some things to me.”

Placing a bent elbow on the table, she leaned forward and covered her face with one hand while nervously asking, “What sort of things?”

“Things that made her fear you enough to run out of here like a bat out of hell.”

Looking up she said, “I’ll kill her,” and then quickly leaned to her side to see past Jarrod. She was looking for her intended victim, but she was nowhere to be found. Coward.

“That’s what she keeps saying, but I don’t think you will when you hear what I have to say. She set this meeting up because she cares for you and wants you to be happy. She took the time to hear me out, and I’m only hoping you will too.”

The same waitress as the other night stopped to ask them what they would like. Angel requested a coffee and Jarrod ordered a regular Coke. The waitress eyed Jarrod curiously and asked, “Weren’t you just here the other night?” As she awaited his response, she slipped a brief glance to Angel and immediately realized she was not the same dark-haired girl he had been with that night.

“Yeah, I was,” he said, never looking up at her. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Angel. Endless weeks had turned into endless months of him hoping, praying, and wanting to see her. Now that she was sitting before him, he wasn’t about to waste a second looking at someone else.

“Busy guy, aren’t you?” said the waitress, whose name tag identified her as SueEllen.

“Excuse me?” he said, still looking only at Angel.

“Never mind. Anything else besides the drinks?”

Jarrod gave Angel a questioning look.

“No thanks,” she said.

SueEllen mumbled something under her breath as she walked away, causing Jarrod to turn toward her for a brief second, curiously wondering what she had just said. When he turned to face Angel, she was chuckling. Whatever SueEllen had said, it was definitely not complimentary.

“Are you here to apologize?” she asked, becoming serious.

“Apologize for what?” he asked.

“Do I have to say it?”

“Yeah, actually, you do. You see, I know I didn’t do anything wrong. You were made to believe that I did by your cousin, but the only thing I’m guilty of is being attracted to you…strongly attracted.”

Angel didn’t know whether to believe him or not. Did he mean what he just said or was he still simply toying with her feelings?

“I’m listening.” Although she seemed willing to listen, it was acutely apparent she was feeling apprehensive and mistrustful of the situation. He could sense it in her demeanor as well as her posture. She held her head high, looking straight at him, and her back and shoulders were pressed firmly against the seat of the booth.
This was not going to be easy
, he thought.

“According to Ileana, Morgan told you she wanted to get back with me. That part is true. She tried contacting me a few times, but I never answered her calls or returned her messages. Except one time. I called her back because I had heard she was planning on following me to Florida and—”

Without thinking, she cut him off by lifting a hand to silence him and said, “Hold on. Are you saying Morgan’s here in Florida?”

“Yes.”

SueEllen returned with the coffee and soda and hastily retreated after serving them. She glanced back at Jarrod once and shook her head before heading toward the long counter to begin the tedious task of marrying the ketchup bottles.

“How do you know? Has she called you again?” She wondered if her parents knew Morgan was here. No, they wouldn’t know. If they had, they would have mentioned something to her over the phone last night.

“No, she hasn’t called in awhile. My brother bumped into her mother the other day and she told him.”

“Aunt Helen,” she said quietly.

Jarrod took a long sip of his soda and continued. “The night I called Morgan was to find out if it was true, if she was planning on coming to Florida. That was the only time I’ve spoken to her since the party where you and I met.”

“But she had been calling you and leaving messages during that time?”

“Yes.”

“And you never once called her back?”

“No. Just that one time.”

“Why didn’t you return her calls?” she asked curiously. She added a pack of Equal to her coffee, stirred it, and took a sip. It was hot, and the liquid burned her tongue and throat on the way down. “Ouch,” she exclaimed as she closed her eyes in pain and grabbed for her throat.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. It’s just really, really hot. Go on. I’m fine.” She began to gently blow on her coffee.

“I had no reason to call her back. I have no interest in getting back with her, which brings us to her first lie. According to Ileana, Morgan told you the only reason I showed any interest in you was because I wanted to make her jealous. Is that true?”

“Ile talks too much.”

“Nonetheless, did Morgan tell you that?”

She nodded and then took another sip of her coffee, this time with the utmost care. Jarrod looked at her without saying a word until she was forced to look back at him. They stared into one another’s eyes for a long moment and then he said, “Do you believe that? I walked away from you that night thinking and hoping you had felt the same connection I did.” He looked away and mumbled under his breath, “I guess I was wrong.”

Placing the cup back on the table, she took a deep sigh before saying, “Jarrod, I did feel something that night. Something so strong and so new to me, it made me feel too many different emotions at the same time. I was happy, yet sad because I was leaving soon. I felt nervous, anxious, scared…”

“How about we focus on the happy part,” he said with renewed hope.

She smiled for the first time since she got there. It wasn’t one of her big, brilliant smiles that he remembered, but it was close and he’d take it.

“I felt happy,” she said. “Very happy.” Her smile faded. “Until Morgan told me she was still in love with you and that she wanted the two of you to get back together. She told me you had only shown interest in me because you wanted to get back at her for hurting you…”

She looks so sad and hurt
, he thought. He wanted to see that smile of hers again badly, and the only way to achieve that would be by straightening things out with the truth.

“Lies,” he said.

She looked at him with hope, wanting to believe him, but terrified he may be the one lying now. In exasperation, she let out a frustrated huff and said, “I just don’t know what to believe anymore.”

“Angel, I know she’s your cousin and maybe there’s a side to her you see that we don’t…”

“Who’s we?” she asked curiously, tipping her head to the side.

“Every living and breathing soul on the planet earth, with the exception of you and her mom.”

“Jeez…”

“I swear what she told you is not true. I don’t even believe the part about her loving me. I don’t think she’s capable of that emotion.”

She thought about how badly Morgan treated Aunt Helen and had to somewhat agree with his assumption. Anyone that could treat her mother, a mother as wonderful as Aunt Helen no less, the way she did was definitely not capable of loving.

“If she doesn’t love you, then why would she want to get back together so badly? I mean, for her to follow you all the way here—”

“I overheard her talking to my brother outside my window the day she broke up with me. She had given me some lame excuse about how we had grown apart and that it was time to move on. I didn’t argue with her, because to be honest, I just didn’t care one way or the other.” He took another sip of his soda and motioned for the waitress to get them another round. Then he continued by saying, “We had a good time while dating, but I knew it would never go further than that. My feelings weren’t growing for her.”

“So you used her for a good time,” Angel said not too happily.

“It was mutual. She got just as much out of the relationship as I did, and I’m not just talking about sex. We went to parties, school events…hung out with friends…movies…just a bunch of stuff. She enjoyed the attention we received as a couple.”

“So you…” She couldn’t bring herself to ask. She wanted to know, but at the same time, she didn’t. She couldn’t stand the idea of them being together in
that
way.

“Are you asking me if we had sex? Is that what you want to know?”

She blushed profusely. She could feel the heat rising from the bottom of her toes to the tip of her head.

“Never mind. It’s none of my business. I don’t want to know.”

“Yes, you do. But I think that’s a discussion we should leave for another time. Right now I just want to concentrate on clearing things up. As I was saying, I overheard her and Alec speaking. She was more honest with him than she was with me and confessed to him her real motive for ending things.”

“What was the real reason, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I don’t mind telling you at all. I want us to be open and honest, so whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you. She believed that any potential I might have had for a career as a professional athlete was lost, therefore any potential she might have had of being a professional athlete’s wife had also fallen through the cracks. I was hurt so badly in the accident that it didn’t seem possible I would ever pick up a ball again, much less play professionally.”

“But you seem to be doing great.”

“Yeah, for everyday stuff. But to play pro ball, well…that’s a whole different story.”

“How badly were you hurt?” she asked.

He turned his head to his right and stared out the window for a moment before speaking. It was still difficult for him to think about the accident, much less discuss it. He slowly turned to face her.

“Pretty bad…I was in a coma and surgery had to be performed to relieve some of the pressure that was building up in my brain. Otherwise I would have…well, let’s just say I wouldn’t be here sitting with you today.”

Angel’s eyes opened wide and she quickly brought her hand to her mouth to cover the gasp of shock she felt escape. She had to blink away tears that were forming.

“I also had a collapsed lung, broken arm, dislocated shoulder, broken leg…,” he continued.

Angel raised her hand to stop him and said, “Enough.” She swallowed past a lump that had formed in her throat. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I didn’t realize how badly hurt you were. You’ve come such a long way.”

“I still have a much longer way to go. If I want to get back to playing ball and make something out of myself, I have a lot of work ahead of myself.”

She smiled and simply said, “You can do it. It won’t be easy, but you will.” She cleared her throat and said, “I’m happy to see you’re not giving up on your dream.”

“Sometimes I think it would be easier if I just did. I still worry and wonder if it’s ever going to happen for me.”

“It will. You just have to work hard and not give up, no matter how difficult it gets. You have to believe in yourself as well as in your dream.” Sensing the conversation was going in a different direction and still wanting to clear things up about Morgan, she asked, “What about Morgan? What will you do if she tries to contact you?”

“She hasn’t called yet, so I don’t think she will at this point.”

“She will. When Morgan sets her mind to something, she usually gets what she wants.”

“Not this time. She’s travelling down a one-way street when it’s a two-way street she wants and needs to be on.”

She gave him a shy smirk and said, “But what will you do if she does call you?”

“I’ll just continue to ignore her calls or messages like I did back in Jersey.”

“You’ll just make her angry. Have you ever seen her mad? It’s not a pretty sight.” Angel slowly pushed her coffee cup aside, having had her fill. Her stomach was beginning to act up and she wasn’t sure if the cause of it was the coffee, her nerves, talking about Morgan, or a combination of all three.