Learning to Breathe Again (11 page)

He dropped his hands from her shoulders
offered her his arm with a slight bow. “Your chariot awaits, my
lady.” She giggled and shook her head, allowing him to lead her to
his truck.

“
So I didn’t get any frantic
phone calls begging me to come save you. I take it you found the
square without any problems?”

“
I did. You have a nice
town. Everyone was very outgoing and helpful. Oh!” She made a face,
shifting to face him. “By the way, I wasn’t sure if, well, uh, one
of the ladies started talking and I told her who my brother is. I
guess she knew Jason and Nicole are out of town and she asked if I
was staying with Nicole’s family. I sort of said yes, but didn’t
say it was you.”

Jack laughed. “Welcome to small town living,
where everybody knows your name and personal business.” He reached
over and patted her leg. “Don’t worry about it. I forgot to mention
that Pop, uh, that’s what I call my uncle, stopped by today. He
knows you’re here.”

“
You call your uncle
‘Pop’?”

“
Uncle Steve got to be too
formal, but he’s not my dad. When we came up with the name, I still
had hopes someday I’d find who my dad was.”

“
And your aunt?”

“
For some reason, I never
had an issue calling her ‘Ma’.” He shrugged, but his hands clenched
on the steering wheel.

Not even realizing she was doing it, she slid
her hand across the seat and placed it on his arm. “So, this
restaurant, is it a chain or something local?”

He glanced between the road, her hand on his
arm and her face and she loosened her hold, drawing back. Right
hand still on the wheel, he reached over with his left and trapped
hers. “I like it there,” he told her, his voice huskier than
normal.

“
It might cramp my arm,
having to hold it up like this.”

“
Can’t have that, can we?”
he switched to driving with his left hand, snagged her hand with
his right, and laid their joined hands down on his thigh. She
smiled over at him, a faint blush on her cheeks.

“
And here’s the restaurant.
I wouldn’t say it’s a chain, but there are a few locations around
the Hill Country.”

He squeezed her fingers before releasing her
hand as he parked the truck and opened his door. “Stay there!” He
ordered, laughing as she tossed a mock salute his way. But she
stayed in the truck this time until he came around and opened her
door.

She was still laughing as he helped her down.
He brushed back a strand of hair from her face, his fingers
caressing her cheek. “Your eyes could light up a room when you
laugh.” Her laughter faded at his murmured words, and her heart
started racing.

Her gaze danced away from his, taking in her
surroundings and she licked her lips. He cupped her cheek and she
stared at him. “It’s ok. It’s just me,” he kept his voice low,
even. “If I’m making you uncomfortable, in any way, tell me.”

“
No. It’s not you,” she
choked out a laugh. “God, how clichéd can I get? ‘It’s not you,
it’s me,’” she drew in a ragged breath. “I’m ok. I just need a
second,” a few more deep breaths with her eyes closed. The rough
pad of his thumb was stroking over her cheek in a gentle caress.
She turned her head into his palm, nuzzling it, and his other hand
tightened against her waist. She peeked up at him, biting her
lip.

“
There’s no pressure here.
This is a simple dinner between us.” He tucked her hair behind her
ear. “Let’s go inside before the wind gets any colder.” With his
arm wrapped around her shoulders, he turned towards the
restaurant’s entrance.

The hostess greeted them and showed them to a
table, and within minutes, had water, fresh bread and their wine on
the table. Bayleigh’s eyes scanned her menu before drifting to
Jack. She’d known what she’d wanted as soon as they walked through
the door. A juicy steak and baked potato, with everything they
offered topping it. With a sigh, she closed it and set it
aside.

“
Decide already?” He looked
over at her with a smile, closing his own and setting it on top of
hers. He motioned to the waitress and they placed their
orders.

“
How long do you think
you’ll stay in Waketon?” he asked after the waitress walked
away.

Small talk. She could do small talk, couldn’t
she? “I’m not sure, yet. I don’t want to wear out any welcomes,”
she reached for the bread. “You said you grew up here?” Maybe she
could get him to talk, then she wouldn’t have to.

“
I did. I was born in San
Antonio, my birth mother came home for a few months, but one
morning, Pop got up, found a note on the kitchen table and Ma found
me still in my crib.”

“
Did she ever…?”

“
Once a year or so she’d
show up,” he cut off her question. “She never stuck around long.
During one visit, Pop had her sign the legal documents giving up
her rights to me. The visits spaced out after that. Last I heard,
she was in Arizona.”

“
I’m sorry.” Not knowing
what else to say, that was all she could offer.

“
Trust me, I know I’m better
off without her. Ma and Pop treated me like their own son. It was
my own insecurities that caused any problems with it, but we’re
long past that.” He assured her.

The waitress brought their salads and
refilled the water glasses.

“
So what was it like growing
up here?” Bayleigh forked up a bite of the crisp lettuce.
F
ood. I can keep my mouth
full, not have to talk.

“
Pretty much same as it is
now, I guess. Everyone gets into your business. The whole town will
know I was out on a date with you by midnight.”

“
Date?”
The lettuce got stuck halfway down her throat and she
coughed.
She grabbed her water glass to
wash it down. O
h God, he wants this to be a
date. I can’t do this.
She forced herself
to take another bite, the dressing leaving a sour taste in her
mouth.

“
Isn’t that what you’d call
this? Two adults, having dinner and I’m paying by the way,” he
winked at her.

“
What? Oh,
never mind.”
He’s teasing me. I
need to get a grip.
“Did you play
sports?”

“
This is Texas. Playing
football is like part of the by-laws of the state or something. And
I also played basketball.” His gaze caught and held hers. “Do I get
to ask questions, too?”

“
I’m sorry, I’m not good at
this.”

“
What, eating
dinner?”

“
Small talk, being on a
date,” her fingers tightened around her fork at the word. “I
haven’t done this in a very long time.”

“
I see,”
he pushed his salad plate aside and stretched his arm
out.
His hand rested inches from
hers.
She glanced down. With one finger, he
stroked the back of her hand. Her stomach flipped over and her
pulse picked up a few extra beats.

“
We won’t call it a
date,”
h
e
whispered, for her ears alone.

The waitress was approaching
with their main entrees. She swallowed hard.
How does he get it when I’m not even sure I do?

Jack let the conversation
drop. She picked up her fork and knife, and took a deep breath.
Just the smell of the food had her appetite returning. She cut off
a small bite and chewed.
Amazing.
A prime cut of beef, cooked the way she liked
it:
medium well.

The flavors of the marinade
burst on her tongue.
The baked potato,
still wrapped in the aluminum foil was split right in the
middle.
Steam rising off of it, the butter
melting and mixing with all the other toppings and running down the
sides.
Absolute perfection.

“
So tell me a little about
you? How’d you go from being a computer science major to being a
backup singer in a band?”

“
I did the computer thing as
a concession for my mom. She didn’t want me to major in music. I
figured by majoring in computer science, I could learn how to use a
computer to help me write my music.”

“
So you never wanted to be
in a band?”

“
Every teenager wants to be
in a band. But my love of music is in writing it. I don’t need to
be the person in front of the mic.” She paused to take a few bites
of her food before continuing. “Becoming a backup singer, well, I
did it for Will. I mean, I know all of their songs, forwards,
backwards. And I thought, once upon a time, that he was it for me.
It made sense at the time.”

“
What are you going to do
now?”

“
I don’t know. I can always
sell my music. I have folders full of music that never fit Will’s
style.”

“
Why’d you become a lawyer?”
she asked after a brief lull in the conversation.

“
The law intrigues me. There
are so many levels to it. And everyone thinks they have the right
answer and knows which law will apply. But then someone else will
come along with a counter-argument and a different law.”

“
But you don’t practice
criminal law?” She seemed to remember her brother telling her that
at some point.

“
No, well, not really. I
mean, I take things the court assigns me, like DUIs and
shoplifting. But for the most part, I do things like estate
planning and law related to being a rancher. Even in today’s world,
people argue about property lines, water rights, and if you’ve
entered into a contract for breeding purposes, there’s always a
good fight to be had there. And this is Texas. We have to know all
about mineral rights and oil rights, fun stuff like
that.”

“
Then why’d you join the
military?”

“
A few reasons. There’s the
grandiose statement of ‘I wanted to serve my country,’ which did
apply. And of course, the whole September
11
^th
thing was going on. I was in my freshman year at A&M when
that happened. Granted, I was already in ROTC classes at that
point, but I was still at a point I could have quit had I wanted
to. But I can still remember being in class and the instructor
walking in, his face white as a ghost and his hands shaking. He
couldn’t even get the words out, just turned on a television and we
all sat there, dead silence in the room. I knew there and then, I’d
never quit. My family and I, we didn’t lose anyone in the terrorist
attacks that day. But I felt I owed it to those families that
did.”

“
How long were you in for
before your own injuries?”

“
Almost five years. My
initial commitment was up and I had stayed in. I knew I would be
going back for my law degree at some point, but I still had things
in the military I wanted to accomplish. I wish I could have stayed
in longer, done more, but a greater force decided it was time for
me to move on.” Jack grew silent as they both finished their meals.
The waitress came by to offer dessert but they both declined. Jack
studied Bayleigh from across the table, her head bent, avoiding
looking back at him. He frowned.

“
What’s bothering you
tonight?”

Her gaze flew to his. “What?”

“
You’re quiet, tense, and
your fingers are rolling the corner of the napkin between them,” he
leaned forward. “You can talk to me.”

She glanced down, and sure enough, she had
the edge of the linen napkin between her thumb and finger. She
grimaced, masking it as their waitress approached with their
check.

“
So, talk. What’s wrong?”
The waitress was walking away to run his card.

“
It’s nothing,” she huffed
out a breath and then straightened her spine and drew her shoulders
back. “Can I ask you something?”

“
Sure,” he had buttered
another roll that had been left on the table and was lifting it to
his mouth.

“
Why do you have so many
pictures of you and Nicole in your home?”

Startled, he choked. He took a long drink of
water, his eyes never leaving her face. “Because she’s my best
friend.”

“
I’ve never framed that many
pictures of my best friend before.”

“
Did you look around the
room any, or just the one bookshelf?” Jack pursed his lips, and
leaned back, his entire focus on her. “Because, yes, the one
bookshelf has a lot of pictures of just Nicole and myself. But the
shelf below it has pictures of myself, Mitch and Nicole. And
another shelf has pictures of my aunt and uncle.” Brow furrowed, he
cocked his head to the side. “What are you accusing me
of?”

“
I’m not, I just don’t want
to see my brother hurt!” she stopped talking, feeling her face
getting hot, and refused to look at Jack.

“
What the hell? Where is
this coming from, Bayleigh?”

She forced herself to meet his gaze. “I don’t
want to see my brother hurt,” she repeated, proud of herself for
keeping her voice low and calm. Reaching for her water glass again,
she was even prouder to note her hand wasn’t shaking.

“
You’ve told me yourself,
and your brother has told me, how little you two talk. So you come
into my home, look at a few pictures, and jump to the conclusion
that Nicole and I were once together, or maybe are still screwing
around behind your brother’s back?” His voice was just as low and
calm as hers had been, but there was a hardness in his eyes
now.