Broken Things (Faded Photograph Series) (3 page)

Allie fingered her cheek and the white scar that spanned the area from the corner of her right eye to her chin. It reminded her of a strand of cooked spaghetti, and she despised it. However, she’d learned to live with it ever since her fifth wedding anniversary and she certainly couldn’t deny the blessing it wrought. Besides, after two plastic surgeries, it wasn’t half as unsightly as it once had been. Even so, Allie planned to apply a good dose of cosmetics. To do anything less would be like advertising one of the biggest mistakes of her life, and she intended to make a good impression tonight.

After all, thirty years was a long, long time.

Chapter Two

Allie considered it a miracle that she had found her way through Oakland Park. It only vaguely resembled the city she’d left behind so many years ago. True enough, it was still ten miles from downtown Chicago, but Central Avenue, the main drag, didn’t look anything like she recalled. Thirty years ago individual buildings containing offices and miscellaneous stores bordered the cracked and buckled sidewalks, but they had since been transformed into part of an appealing shopping district―one that impressed even Allie.

At last she located Steve’s house, pulled alongside the curb, and parked. Did her stepfamily still live in this community, too? Was her stepfather still alive? She’d heard bits and pieces from friends, but they, like Allie, had lost contact with the Brackenses too.

“Allison Drake? Is that really you?”

Steve’s deep voice beckoned her from her musings as soon as she climbed out of the car.

“It’s really me.” She met him on the driveway. “And you haven’t changed a bit.” She chuckled, noting the same unruly dark waves framing chiseled features and Irish baby-blues. Yes, he looked older, but Allie thought she’d recognize Steve Callahan anywhere.

“I’m about twenty-five pounds heavier.” He frowned, patting the blue T-shirt that covered his stomach.

Allie grinned. “You were always such a stick that a little weight actually looks good on you!”

Steve hooted. “You and I are going to get along just fine.” He looped a brotherly arm around her shoulders. “Come into the backyard and meet my clan.”

Allie accompanied her host around the white, aluminum-sided, two-story house, where a large golden retriever greeted her.

“This is Buddy,” Steve informed her.

Allie patted the friendly dog’s head.

“And this is my better half...Nora.”

An attractively plump woman with sandy-brown, chin-length hair stepped off the wooden deck. “Nice to meet you.” Nora held out her right hand in greeting. “Steve has been telling me about you.”

Taking the proffered hand, Allie blushed. She couldn’t help speculating as to how Steve would describe the Allie Littenberg of thirty years ago. Make that Allie Drake. Adventurous? Rebellious? Bold as brass? Selfish?

“Nice to meet you too,” she finally managed to reply.

Turning, Nora pointed to the padded lawn furniture behind her. “Let’s go sit on the deck and get acquainted while my darling husband barbeques our dinner.”

“As you can see, Allie, I’m nothing but a slave in this household.”

She chuckled at Steve’s quip as Nora opened the patio door.

“Ricky,” she called into the house, “bring our guest one of those blended fruit drinks I made.”

“My son is a slave, too,” Steve grumbled in jest, donning a brightly striped chef’s apron.

Nora rolled her blue-green eyes at her husband and smiled at Allie. Then she looked back at Steve. “Did Jack ever return your call?”

“Nope.”

Watching the couple, Allie sensed undefined emotions passing between them when Jack’s name came up. Anger? Disappointment? Relief? She could only guess.

“Well, maybe it’s for the best.” Nora sat down in one of the patio chairs. She wore a comfortable-looking denim dress and as she crossed her tanned legs, she smoothed the skirt over her knees.

“I got a hold of Logan, though. He said he’d stop over.”

“Logan?” The wind left Allie’s lungs.

“Jack’s son.”

“Yes, I thought perhaps that’s who it might be...” She felt torn between indignation and amusement. Logan was
their
name―hers and Jack’s. Once when he had been talking about marriage, she mentioned how fond she was of the name Logan. Jack promised that their firstborn son would bear the name.

However, the entire discussion had scared Allie senseless. At that point in her life, commitments and children sounded like a prison sentence. Nevertheless, she’d always been partial to the name. In fact, she might have been tempted to call her own son Logan if Erich hadn’t insisted upon naming him after his father, Nicholas.

“Do you have any children?” Nora wanted to know.

“Yes. One son. Nick. He’s twenty-five and recently married.”

“Logan is twenty-eight. He’s a great kid.” Steve piped in from where he stood in front of the grill.

“Logan’s hardly a kid,” Nora countered. “He’s the youth pastor at our church in Schaumburg. He’s got a special girl, but no wedding date set yet.”

Allie arched an eyebrow. “Imagine that. My son is in the ministry too.” An amazing coincidence...but was it? As a Christian, she didn’t believe in coincidence.

An odd expression suddenly crossed Steve’s countenance―one Allie wouldn’t even try to discern. Then he excused himself and he disappeared into the house, saying he had to fetch the hamburgers in the fridge.

* * *

With his jaw clenched in a mix of irritation and worry, Jack Callahan marched up his younger brother’s driveway. Why had Steve called the station? He never called him at work unless it was an emergency. Was it Logan? Was he hurt? In trouble? He took a second to mull it over. Naw, Logan wouldn’t be in trouble. Rounding the corner of the house, a cloud of smoke from the grill assaulted him.

“Jack!”

Squinting through the gray haze, he spotted Steve and waved the smoke away with his hand. “Why’d you phone the cops? You should have called the fire department instead.”

Steve laughed at the barb, like he always did. “You know me, Jack. I like my burgers well done.”

Whatever
.
“So why did you call the station?” He placed his foot on the first step leading up to the deck and realized Steve and Nora had a guest. Jack almost retreated, except the sapphire-blue eyes staring back at him gave him pause.

Those eyes had haunted his dreams―and nightmares too―for over a quarter of a century.

“I wanted to tell you Allie’s in town. Allie Drake. You remember her, don’t you?”

Jack’s gaze shifted back to his brother’s grinning face and suddenly he wanted to pop Steve right in the nose. Did he remember Allie Drake? What a stupid question!

“Hello, Jack.” Her voice was like honey.

He turned as Allie stepped forward slowly, wearing an uncertain smile. She’d soon learn...or maybe Steve and Nora had told her already. He’d changed. And if Allie had returned to look for the guy she’d known thirty years ago, she was wasting her time.
That
Jack Callahan couldn’t be found in the deepest recesses of even his own memory.

Yet, despite his honed cynicism, he couldn’t deny the fact that Allie looked good. Obviously life had treated her a-whole-lot than it had treated him. Her once flaxen hair had turned a lovely silvery-blond that she wore swept up except for a few strands hanging fashionably along the right side of her face. But her eyes were as blue as ever. Seeing her standing there, wearing a white dress with a red sweater draped over her shoulders, caused the ache he thought he’d long ago suppressed to return, harder and more painful than ever.

“Hi, Allie,” he managed, unable to force inflection into his voice. “Nice to see you again. How’ve you been?”

“Great.” She sounded tentative. “Just…great.”

She looked great too, Jack decided in spite of himself.

“And you? How’ve you been doing?”

So they hadn’t told her yet, eh?
He glanced down at the tips of his black, leather shoes before looking over at his brother, then sister-in-law, and finally back at Allie. “I’ve been just peachy.”

He saw her flinch at his less-than-friendly quip, but he told himself he didn’t care.

“Allie’s in Chicago on business,” Steve said.

“That right? Well, I hope you have a pleasant stay.” He swung his gaze at Steve. “Sorry I can’t hang around and socialize. I’m on duty.”

“Right. I didn’t expect you’d drop in―”

“I was driving by and figured I’d stop.” Jack chanced one last look at Allie and gave her a parting nod.

She returned a perfunctory smile.

“Drop in anytime, Jack.” Nora’s typical upbeat manner always grated on his nerves.

He didn’t reply, but headed toward the squad car, parked in front of his brother’s house.

* * *

Steve had grilled the hamburgers to perfection and Nora created a seven-layer salad that even a trained chef on one of the TV food networks might envy, but Allie could barely choke down a bite. Seeing that stony look in Jack’s eyes―eyes that had once warmed her heart―saddened her and robbed her of an appetite.

She glanced around the picnic table. Steve and Nora’s three children, Veronica, Ricky, and Rachel, had joined them as well as Jack’s son, Logan. The fact that Logan resembled his father, or at least the way Allie had remembered his father, caused her to feel even more unsettled. Did Jack hate her? His body language seemed to say so.

But maybe he just had a bad day.

No, it was more than that. Something had happened in Jack’s life. Just now she’d sensed a seismic shift in his soul, if such a thing could be possible within those moments of their brief meeting an hour ago.

Rethinking it, Allie decided to park on the positive. Jack hadn’t aged badly. His gray hair contained only peppered reminders of its once dark-brown shade. He looked to be in good physical shape, probably because of his profession.

“What kind of business are you in, Mrs. Littenberg?” Logan leaned forward.

She pushed her tumultuous thoughts aside. “I’m a consultant.”

“Oh...” His dark eyes twinkled. “So you sort of walk into a place and tell everybody how they could be doing things better, huh?”

She smiled. “Something like that, yes.”

“I couldn’t stand the consultant my boss hired a few years ago,” Steve said. “The guy came in the first day, acting like he owned the company.”

Allie laughed. “Well, you computer techs are the hardest people to work with.”

Nora good-naturedly agreed. “That’s why they work with machines and not human beings.”

“Gimme a break, you two.” Steve’s mock annoyance made Nora laugh.

Allie’s mood lightened and she managed to take a bite of her burger. Suddenly she realized how hungry she was. Picking up her fork, she ate some of her salad.

“We’d love it if you’d join us for church with us on Sunday, Allie.” Nora sipped her fruity drink. “Steve told me you’re a Christian, so I thought I’d bring it up.”

“That’s very kind of you, but...” She hesitated, forming her words with care.

“Don’t worry, Jack won’t be there.” Steve seemed to divine her thoughts. “It’s a shame, too. He’s as far away from God as New York is from the Hawaiian Islands.”

“We keep praying for him, though,” Logan added, with a glance in Allie’s direction.

She set down her fork and spoke candidly. “I had hoped he’d be glad to see me again. I was looking forward to seeing him.”

Discomfort flittered around table, with the exception of Steve’s youngest daughter.“Uncle Jack is just like that.” She bore a striking resemblance to her mother. “Can I be excused to go ride my bike?”

“Yes. But be back when the street lights come on.”

“Okay.”

Rachel grabbed her plastic supper dishes and headed for the house.

“I need to be excused, too.” Veronica looked like a mix of her parents, Steve’s dark hair and lanky frame and Nora’s teal eyes. “School starts on Monday and I’m going to meet Beth and Carolyn at the mall. That is,” she added, regarding her father with a hopeful expression, “if I can have the car tonight.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Allie smiled at the exchange.

“And what are you two doing tonight?” Steve wanted to know, gazing first at his son and then at his nephew.

“We’re going to hang out and watch ESPN,” Ricky answered. He was a little bear of a guy whose stocky frame had the look and potential of growing another foot in the next four years. “Right, Logan?”

“Uh-huh.”

Steve leaned forward. “Hey, great...is there a football game on?”

“Wonderful,” Nora groused. “Allie and I just lost our male companionship for the evening.”

“You don’t like football, Nora?”

Slowly, she tipped her head. “Don’t tell me you do.” Her thick but shapely dark brows arched in surprise.

“Maybe it’s an acquired taste―acquired from raising a son who participated in every sport imaginable.” Allie laughed.

“In that case, I suppose we might as well join ‘em.”

“Thanks, although, I’d be delighted to help you with the dishes first.”

“It’s a deal.”

Supper ended almost abruptly, and Allie helped Nora carry dishes and leftover food into the house. Entering the kitchen, she noticed its walls were papered with tiny red apples on green vines. A border of the same design, only larger, detailed the circumference of the room, near the ceiling.

“You’ve got a lovely home.” Allie set down her armload on the marble counter.

“Thanks. I love working on each room of our house, trying to make it special. What does your place look like in California?”

“I recently moved into a condo in Long Beach, but I can’t give it as much attention as I’d like.”

“It sounds terrific, though. Wouldn’t I love to live by the ocean?!” She shrugged. “Oh, well, we’ve got Lake Michigan.”

“Not the same. I assure you.” Allie grinned.

“Guess I’ll have to take your word for it.”

They shared a chuckle as Nora opened the door to the dishwasher.

“Nora, about Jack…” Allie just had to know. “I don’t mean to pry, but I can’t get over the change in him. I’m concerned…can you tell me…what happened?”