Learning to Breathe Again (35 page)

“
You knew he was here?”
Dusty glanced at her, surprise evident in his voice. “Jack’s here?
Should I go talk to him, try and set things straight?”

“
I saw a guy when I finished
singing that I thought reminded me of Jack, but I didn’t get a good
look at him. I was hoping it was just a coincidence. And no, I
don’t want you to go talk to him.” Bayleigh picked her head up and
looked across the table at her friend. “You’re trying to maintain a
low profile tonight, remember?”

“
Do you want one of us to
get rid of him?” Rick asked, indicating himself and Brian by
jerking his thumb between them.

Bayleigh shook her head. “No, I don’t want a
scene. Just get me out of here so I can go back to the
apartment.”

“
I’ll go talk to him. Take
her out through the kitchen,” Brian told his friend, stepping back
from the booth.

“
Brian, I mean it. No
scenes!” Bayleigh hissed at him before he walked away. He raised
his hand in acknowledgement as he walked towards Jack.

“
Bayleigh, you sure? I mean,
he came all this way to see you,” Jade reached across the table and
put her hand on Bayleigh’s arm.

“
Then he can wait another
day or two. Because right now, I don’t trust myself not to hurt
him,” Bayleigh told her friend as Dusty chuckled beside his
wife.

“
Leave it alone, Jade.
Bayleigh knows what she’s doing. No Regrets, right,
kiddo?”

“
Way to throw my own song
back at me, Dusty,” Bayleigh gave her friend a smile. “I’m not
saying I won’t talk to him, Jade. I’m just saying I can’t right
now,” Bayleigh told her friend before turning to look at Rick and
Maddie. “I’m ready to go while Brian has him
distracted.”

“
I’ll meet you in the
kitchen. Just let me tell Tommy I’m out of here,” Maddie slid out
of the booth and headed towards the bar and her assistant
manager.

“
Okay, let’s see if we can
get you out of here without him seeing you,” Rick slid out of the
booth, using his size to block any view Jack might have had of the
table. Using the crowd to his advantage, he led the way to the
kitchen where they met Maddie.

“
You sure you want to
leave?” Maddie asked her as she led the way out to her
car.

“
I’m sure,” Bayleigh nodded
her head. “If and when I talk to him, it will be in private, not in
a bar where a thousand strangers are around to hear it, and not
when Dusty is around to grab everyone’s attention and have some
trade rag run a story on it just because he happened to be here.
Last thing he and Jade need is someone to start a rumor that he’s
cheating on her with me.”

“
I’ll make sure Dusty stays
away from him, and Brian will keep Jack occupied for a few minutes
so you two can get out of here. Text me when you get back to the
apartment,” Rick told Maddie as he opened her driver’s door for
her.

Maddie rolled her eyes as she slid behind the
wheel. “I’m a big girl, Rick. I can take care of myself.”

“
I know. Doesn’t mean I
can’t care, though.” Rick told her, looking across the seat to
Bayleigh as she slammed her door. “Make her text me.”

“
One of us will text you,
Rick. Thanks for getting me out of there,” Bayleigh shook her head
at the interaction between the two.

“
Drive safe,” Rick
instructed, stepping back from the vehicle as Maddie started the
engine.

“
When are you two going to
stop dancing around each other and just get together?” Bayleigh
asked as Maddie pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards
her apartment complex.

“
When Satan orders a ski
lift,” Maddie told her, cutting across two lanes of traffic and
taking a sharp right turn.

“
You ever going to tell me
what happened between you two?”

“
Nothing ever happened,
nothing ever will. He’s still mad that I didn’t listen to him about
Nicholas,” Maddie shrugged as she pulled up to the security gate
for the apartment complex.

“
The way he is around you,
though…Maddie, I don’t think it’s anger,” Bayleigh shook her head
as her friend parked the SUV.

“
He’s just still overly
protective of me, like he is with you.”

Bayleigh pursed her lips. “No, he’s different
with you. Maybe you need to take some of your own advice. Quit
running from him all the time.”

“
Yeah, well, easy enough for
you to say. You’re not the one who made such a complete mess of
your life.”

“
Really, Maddie? You want to
start arguing over who screwed up more?” Bayleigh raised an
eyebrow.

“
I’m the one who got
pregnant by a two-timing jackass!”

“
I’m the one who left the
country with a two-timing jackass, almost got raped and didn’t tell
her own brother, not even when I was alone in a hospital bed with a
broken leg needing surgery to put pins in it!” Bayleigh reminded
her.

Maddie sighed and leaned her head against the
headrest. “So now what?”

“
Beats me. I just ran out of
a bar trying to avoid my problem,” Bayleigh reminded her, grabbing
her purse and opening the SUV’s door. “If either one of us were
drinkers, I’d say let’s go get ripped.”

Maddie laughed as she exited the vehicle. “If
we were going to do that, we should have stayed at the bar.
Selection of alcohol is much better!”

Bayleigh laughed as they headed for Maddie’s
apartment. “We could always call Rick, have him bring a couple of
bottles over.”

“
The idea has merit,” Maddie
let them into the apartment and tossed her keys on the small table
by the door. “It’s been a long day. I’ll stay up and chat if you
need to, but I’m exhausted and I’m not sure how much I’ll be able
to process, or for how much longer.”

“
You go on to bed. I’m ready
to crash, too,” Bayleigh admitted, smiling over at her friend.
“Who’s going to text Rick?”

“
I’ll do it,” Maddie double
checked the lock and her security system and said good
night.

Bayleigh went towards her own room, pulling
her phone out of her pocket as it buzzed with an incoming text
message.

I was wrong. I just want to talk. Please
call me ~ Jack

Bayleigh stared at the message, her fingers
hovering over the delete button. With a sigh, she typed out a
message and hit send before she could talk herself out of it. She
quickly changed into her pajamas and then slid into bed. This was
not a night sleep would come easy for her, she knew.

BAYLEIGH SLEPT IN THE NEXT morning, waiting
until almost nine before she left the safety of her room. She was
sitting at the kitchen table with her coffee mug, staring out the
window but not seeing anything. When Maddie entered the room and
said her name, she was so startled, she jumped, almost dumping her
hot coffee in her lap.

“’
Leigh, your phone has been
ringing for the last thirty minutes! Please, either answer it or
turn it off!” Maddie set the phone on the table beside her. She
stood beside her friend’s chair, studying her. “Did you get any
sleep?”

“
Not much. I kept thinking
about what I should do about Jack,” Bayleigh picked up her coffee
but set it down again without taking a sip.

“
And what did you decide?
Because I’m guessing that’s who is calling every five minutes this
morning,” Maddie poured herself a cup of coffee and joined her
friend at the table.

Bayleigh glanced at the call log and nodded.
“Yes, it’s him. And one from Jason.” She buried her face in her
hands. “I haven’t decided anything, yet.”

“
But you love him,
right?”

Bayleigh nodded without looking up. “Yeah,
more than I’ve ever loved anyone else before.”

“
So, what are you going to
do about that?”

“
I don’t know, Maddie,”
Bayleigh finally looked up. “He’s the one who was wrong, not
me.”

“
Well, if he’s trying to ask
for you to forgive him, he’s not going to get very far if you don’t
answer your phone,” Maddie pointed out as the phone began to ring
again. She raised an eyebrow as Bayleigh declined the
call.

Bayleigh shook her head as she caught her
friend’s look. “Jack texted me last night after we got back here.
He says he’s sorry and he wants to talk.” She sighed heavily as her
phone beeped with a voice message. “I’m not ready to talk to him,
Maddie.”

“
Do you believe him? That
he’s sorry, I mean.”

“
Me trusting and believing
him wasn’t the issue, remember?” There was a note of bitterness in
Bayleigh’s voice.

Maddie nodded and leaned back in her chair,
watching her friend from across the table. “Okay, here’s the deal.
I’m not going to give you any other details, and you’re not allowed
to ask questions. But let me put it to you this way,” Maddie waited
until she was sure she had Bayleigh’s attention.

“
Do you want to be like me
and Rick? Always knowing the chance was there and you blew it? And
then being too much of a coward to ask for another chance?” Maddie
pushed her chair back from the table and stood up.

“
So it’s not just that you
wouldn’t listen to him about Nicholas?” Bayleigh asked, narrowing
her gaze.

Maddie sighed heavily, remembering what she’d
told her friend the night before. “Not entirely, no. And that’s all
you’re getting!”

“
But what do I do, Maddie?
It’s not like I’m the one who needs to be forgiven. I can’t throw
myself at his feet and beg him to take me back and forgive me, now
can I?”

“
No, but you’re not giving
him the chance to do it, either.” Maddie pointed out as she walked
towards the doorway.

“
So you think I should talk
to him?”

Maddie paused and looked back at her friend.
“That, my friend, is a decision only you can make for yourself. I’m
just pointing out that you are at a crossroads and you have to
decide which way to go.” She glanced at her own phone in her hand
as it buzzed. “And now Brian is texting me that I need to call him.
You up for going to the bar with me again tonight?”

“
I’ll check my calendar,
make sure I don’t have anything more pressing,” Bayleigh told her
and laughed as Maddie gave her the finger. “What time do I need to
be ready to leave?”

“
Around four, I guess. It’s
a Saturday night, so I like to go in a bit earlier than I normally
do. Or I can see if Brian and Rick are going to be there. I’m sure
one of them will give you a ride, if you want.”

“
I can ride in with you. If
I decide to cut out, you can get them to give you a ride home,”
Bayleigh raised her eyebrows when her friend’s gaze narrowed.
“What?”

“
No matchmaking,” Maddie
warned, her eyes still narrowed.

“
Of course not,” Bayleigh
tried to look innocent and knew from her friend’s expression she
was failing. “Fine, I’ll stick around the bar until all hours of
the night.”

“
You could always take the
stage,” Maddie suggested as she headed down the hall to her
room.

“
Not bloody likely,”
Bayleigh muttered to her friend’s back as she finished off her
coffee. Glancing at the clock, she decided to try and take a nap
before she had to get ready to leave with Maddie. At least tonight
she could just claim her seat and the bar and stay
there.