Broken Road (52 page)

“I’m good, Mrs. Malone. How ‘bout you? Please sit down,” he said, offering his seat. She shook her head no and replied, “I’m fine…fine. It’s so good to see you. You look well and I hear you’re doing great in baseball again.”

“I can tell you’ve been speaking to my mom,” he said laughingly. “I’m on the pitching rotation list and we’re doing really well.”

“Are you still enjoying the sport?” Janice asked, already knowing the answer.

“Can’t live without it.”

“We miss you around here, you know.”

“I miss you too. How are you and Mr. Malone doing?” he asked.

“As well as can be expected. It’s always going to be difficult,” she said as she looked away. “We miss him terribly.”

“Me too. He was always there for me.”

She nodded, took a deep sigh, and said, “You were always there for him as well.” Looking over at Angel, she added, “Your girl is beautiful. You might have had some competition if Dante were here.” Although she had said it in a joking manner, there was an aura of sadness behind it.

He chuckled and said, “No competition. I would have lost her to him in a blink of an eye.”

She smiled briefly and then became serious. “I’m sure you already realize it, but the anniversary of his passing was just a few weeks ago. We wanted to wait for your return to hold a memorial service.”

Jarrod nodded solemnly. He could never forget that fateful night. It was the beginning of the worst era of his existence. He involuntarily shuddered as he recalled the two most horrific days of his life—the day he lost his best friend and the day he almost lost Angel. The memories would forever be seared into his memory.

“Now that you’re here, we’d like to hold a service and were wondering, if you’re feeling up to it, if perhaps you could say something…”

Jarrod pulled her into his arms and said, “I’d be honored.”

She leaned up and patted his cheek gently and said, “You’re such a good kid. We’re proud of you.”

“Thanks,” he said shyly.

“Come visit me and Mr. Malone before you leave, won’t you? We would love the company.”

He felt her loneliness and heard it in her voice as well.

“How ‘bout this Sunday? Maybe you can make your world-famous spaghetti for me.”

“Oh, I’d love to. That would be wonderful. I’ll even make some bracciole,” she said excitedly. “Bring your sweetheart and Alec as well. I’ll make meatballs for Alec.” She kissed him again and ran off to tell Mr. Malone they would be coming over on Sunday. Jarrod smiled and made a mental note that he would have to make a point of visiting them a few times before he and Angel left.

As he stood there for a moment glancing at Angel and silently thanking God for the millionth time for bringing her into his life, he was approached from behind by Cameron, Alec’s best friend.

“Hi there,” said Cameron.

He turned and smiled at the person he had grown to love over the years as another sibling.

“Hey, gorgeous. How are you?” he said as he pulled her into a deep embrace.

“I’m good. I’m so glad you’re home. I’ve missed you,” she said brightly. Cameron was the epitome of goodness, sweetness, and kindness. She would get along well with Angel. Two peas in a pod.

“I’ve missed you too,” he said as they separated. “You look great. Wow, look how long your hair has grown. Looks good on you.” The last time he had seen Cameron was last year, when she wore her highlighted, blonde hair stylishly short. Now it cascaded just below her shoulders with a soft, undulating wave. Her bluish-gray eyes sparkled with spirit and energy. He had witnessed her bloom from an awkward, ungainly tomboy with wiry hair, courtesy of some really bad home perms, and braces into this alluring young lady, resplendent with beauty, grace, and femininity.

“Thanks,” she said as she unconsciously ran her hand through it. “You look great too. I see you’ve been working out. Check out those guns.” She gently squeezed one of his biceps. They both laughed.

“So, tell me what’s new? What plans do you have for college? Harvard, Princeton, or Yale? I’m sure you were accepted to all three,” he said. Alec had just informed them the other day that Cameron had been selected as the valedictorian of their graduating class. “By the way, congrats on being selected valedictorian. I’m really proud of you.”

“Thanks. Now I have to work on a speech. I’m not looking forward to that. You know how I hate being the center of attention.” Jarrod nodded, knowing full well how nervous she must be.

“You still haven’t answered my question about college,” he said.

“Not really sure yet,” she said nervously as she bit her lower lip.

Jarrod playfully scowled at her and said, “That’s not like you. You’ve always been so decisive.”

“I know, but things have changed a bit. I’ve…I’ve met someone.”

“Really? That’s great, but what does that have to do with your decision as to what college you’re going to attend?”

“He lives abroad. He’s from London and we met in the city a few months ago.”

Jarrod looked at her skeptically and wondered where this was going. She appeared agitated as if hoping not to disappoint Jarrod. She had always looked up to him and truly valued his opinion of her.

“He’s an actor and was in the city auditioning for a lead role in a movie. I bumped into him, literally, on the street, and he stopped to help me pick up some things I had dropped. One thing led to another and he’s been traveling back and forth over the last few months to audition for roles and to spend time with me. He’s so charming and smart and—”

“It’s the accent,” he interrupted.

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“The accent. It always makes the Brits seem charming and smart. He could be depriving some English village of its idiot, but will still seem smarter than Einstein because of the accent.”

“That’s really deep,” she said as she rolled her eyes in annoyance and exasperation.

“Anyway, go on. So you met him in the city and now what? You’re in love and planning on leaving everything behind to go follow him to London or something?”

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t made a decision. You sound like Alec,” she said sadly. “He’s so angry with me.”

“If he’s so angry, why is he always hanging out at your house?”

“I don’t know. Maybe to prevent me from spending time with Ian. Whenever Ian is in town, that’s when Alec is stuck to me like a remora fish.”

“Ian? Sounds hoity-toity,” he said, chuckling.

“He’s not. He’s really wonderful. And handsome. And talented.”

“Did he get the role he was auditioning for?”

“No,” she said morosely.

“Hmm…,” he said, silently thinking that if Ian was so talented, he would have gotten the part.

Cameron noted Alec was approaching them and quickly whispered to Jarrod, “Shhh. Alec gets upset when Ian’s name is mentioned, so don’t bring him up, okay?”

Jarrod nodded and when Alec approached them, he said, “Hey, Cam was just telling me about Ian.” Cameron quickly turned and glared at him.

“So she told you all about her Prince William wannabe?” said Alec as he placed a protective arm around Cameron’s shoulder. She gently shrugged it off and said to Jarrod, “I think I’ll go over there and introduce myself to Angel. Maybe I’ll share with her a few stories I have about you. I know exactly which one she’ll love hearing. I think I’ll tell her about the time you dug a hole into an apple with a spoon, and I caught you practicing how to French kiss on it.” She smiled wickedly at him and flitted away.

“Hey! Don’t you dare,” Jarrod yelled as Alec placed a hand on his arm to stop him from chasing after her.

“She won’t say anything. She’s just goading you. Don’t you know her by now?”

Jarrod realized he was right and said to Alec, “So, why don’t you like this Ian character?”

“He’s not good enough for her. She deserves better. Just wait ‘til you meet His Royal Pain in the Hine-ass. You’ll know what I’m talking about.”

“How well do you know him? Maybe he is on the up and up.”

“He’s not,” Alec said determinedly. “He’s too good looking, too charming, too suave. I don’t trust him. Do you know that the jerk calls her by her middle name, Snow? Not Cameron; not even Cam like the rest of us do. No, that’s not good enough. He says her name is too ‘androgynous,’ so he chooses to call her Snow. What an asshole. The dude thinks he’s a couple of notches better than the rest of us, but what Cam doesn’t realize yet is that she’s the one who’s too good for him. She’s beautiful, sweet, kind, loving, smart, sensitive…,”

He went on describing all of Cameron’s merits, but Jarrod stopped listening. All at once he realized what Alec’s problem was. He now understood why Alec had turned so sullen and morose over the past few months. His brother was in love with Cameron. After all these years of being constant, devoted companions, Alec had suddenly fallen head over heels in love with his best friend. And now she was planning on leaving everything, including him, to follow her new boyfriend to London. No wonder he was so upset.

Jarrod interrupted his brother by saying, “I know why you hate him so much,” as he placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder in a show of support and empathy.

“I know you do,” Alec responded after a deep sigh. “I’m dealing with it. You don’t have to worry about me.” He began to walk away, but added, “Jarrod, please don’t say anything to anyone about it. I mean it. Not a word. I kept your secret—now it’s time for you to return the favor.”

Jarrod nodded and sat back down. After a few minutes of being lost in thought over his brother’s troublesome predicament, his mother came toward him, dragging another lawn chair with her. She sat down next to him and smiled.

“Are you enjoying your party?” she asked.

“Yup, very much. Thanks again,” he said, returning her smile.

“No problem,” she said. She looked over at Angel, who was still speaking to her aunt, and said, “I’m glad Mrs. Billings came. It’s nice for Angel to have someone here that she knows.”

“Yeah. She feels bad for Mrs. Billings. This has been so hard for her.”

“I can just imagine.

“Things are looking up for her though. She was recently promoted to day manager at the diner, so she was able to quit her second job. Plus, now that she has her nights free, she told Angel that she plans on taking a computer course at Bergen Community College.”

“That’s wonderful. I’m so happy that things are turning around for her. How is she handling the whole Morgan situation though? That can’t be easy.”

“It’s been tough, but I think having Angel here has helped. She seems stronger and is holding up pretty well. Angel had the opportunity to speak at the sentencing, and she pleaded with the judge to be as lenient as possible when determining Morgan’s sentence.”

“I give Angel a lot of credit. I don’t think I could do that.”

“I’m not sure I could do it either. I have to admit, I was pretty angry with her when she told me she was planning on doing it, but I suppose she made me understand. She explained to me about Morgan’s past, things Angel’s father had only touched on. She feels Morgan’s past had a big influence on how she turned out and why she made certain unfortunate decisions. Plus, Angel loves her aunt so much and couldn’t stand to watch her suffer. She wanted to do whatever she could to help her.”

“Angel’s name truly suits her,” Janet said.

“She’s more like a saint, I think,” he replied. “Speaking of names, did you know that Cam’s middle name is Snow?”

Janet nodded and then said, “Yup. I think it’s because she was born during a big snowstorm or something like that. Anyway, so tell me what happens now to Morgan?”

“Let me put it this way. It’ll be a long time before she steps foot out of a prison courtyard.”

They remained silent for a moment before Janet said, “Long, hard year.”

Jarrod sighed and said, “That’s an understatement.” He said nothing while he contemplated the past year. “Mom, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Remember when Alec and I were little and you told us about the three paths that life offered?”

“Yes, I do. I’m glad you remember.”

“Well, I know about the ‘good,’ the ‘bad,’ and the ‘need to make a change’ paths, but…” He hesitated.

“But what?”

“What about the fourth path?”

Giving him a quizzical look, she asked, “Fourth path?”

“The path where you feel lost and uncertain. Terrified and alone. The road where you can’t help but think you’ll never find your way off, because no matter how hard you search, you can’t seem to find an escape. You feel like you’re climbing a colossal mountain, trying desperately to reach the summit, but then you realize you can’t because it doesn’t even have one. You’ve lost everything you’ve ever wanted or fought for and feel like no matter what you do, you’ll never be able to recover any of it.”

“Ahhh…you’re referring to the ‘broken road.’ The good thing about that road is that it’s entirely reparable. It just takes a lot of hard work, determination, strength, and most importantly, faith. You need a tremendous amount of faith to find your way off that road. And as far as that mountain goes, there absolutely, beyond any doubt, is a summit. It’s hard to reach, but when you do get there, you’ll find there is no place in the entire world with a lovelier view.”

She took a deep sigh and glanced sadly at her son, knowing how difficult this year had been for him. He gave her a meek smile in return and then turned his head to look at Angel. Suddenly it was as if his entire mien changed from pensive and dispirited to blessed and halcyon.

“It’s a difficult path to be on,” Janet said. “Terrifying and terribly lonely, as a matter of fact. But it is possible to find your way off of it. You did.” Just then Angel, as if sensing that Jarrod was thinking of her, looked over at him, and they smiled brightly at each other. Janet glanced at the two of them, smiled as well, and simply said, “And sometimes you just need someone to point you in the right direction.”

The End

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