Sweet Serendipity (20 page)

Rebecca pulled herself up on the deck and grabbed a towel. She wrapped it around her and sat down on one of the chairs. Adam and Jack remained in the water splashing and chasing each other around. Riley sat across the deck and texted on her phone. Rebecca could see the intensity on Riley’s face.

“Is that a boy you are texting?”

Riley blushed.

“Sort of. He’s a friend that I am hoping will be more than friends.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked her daughter.

“No, not until there is something to talk about.”

“Does he go to your school?”

“He’s going to be a senior this year. He plays on the football team. He’s really cute.”

“Oh, well be careful of those football players. They can break a girl’s heart.”

“Oh, Mom, I know. That’s why we haven’t dated yet. I don’t want to be just some girl. I want him to date me for me, not because I’m pretty or popular. I’m making him work for it.”

Rebecca couldn’t help but smile at her daughter. Sometimes she was well beyond her years. She was proud of the young lady she had turned into.

The day wore on and both kids had fallen asleep in the downstairs cabin. The sun had set and the August skyline began twinkling with the first stars of the night. They were still docked out in the ocean by Duxbury Beach. Jack had packed enough food to last a couple of days. He opened a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. He sat beside Rebecca and handed her one.

“Thank you for today, Becky. It means a lot that you came with us.”

“I didn’t have much choice, Jack. Adam damn near had a nervous breakdown. I’d appreciate it if you’d have a talk with him and tell him that even if we’re not together, we still love him.”

“Becky, you’ve got to know that it’s his enthusiasm that keeps me going. If he still believes that we can work it out, then I believe that we can work it out. Do you understand? As long as he has hope, then so don’t I,” Jack told her.

She turned sideways and looked into his grey eyes.

“Jack, we had our chance and it didn’t work. You chose comfort in someone else’s arms. I know that after all this time, it’s hard to imagine a life without us together, but I think you need to realize that is exactly where we are headed. I loved you, Jack. Somewhere along the way the love stopped. Somewhere I stopped being the person you came to for talking, and sharing, and laughing. We were broken before Brian died. His senseless death was just the final straw. I lost myself somewhere along the way. I stopped caring enough about myself to realize how damaged we really were. I surrounded myself with the kids and you with your job. It hasn’t been a marriage in a very long time. The kids will be grown soon, and what will we have left?”

Jack reached for her hand.

“We’d have a new beginning. We’d have a chance to rediscover why we fell in love in the first place. We could travel; I could build that koi pond I always promised. We could have another baby.”

Rebecca laughed.

“I seriously hope you are joking. How is it that you go from where we are now to having a baby?”

“I have made many mistakes, but those kids are the only thing that I have done right. I’d be a better father, a better husband. You can’t tell me that you don’t look at Layla Grace and wish you had another one?”

“Everyone loves babies. It doesn’t mean that you and I having another one will fix us. I don’t know if I could ever trust you again.”

“How do you think I feel? Knowing your best friend works a few doors down from the man you’ve been having a fling with.”

“It’s more than a fling, Jack. He’s talking future plans.”

Jack downed his glass of wine and stood up.

“Then where is he?”

“He left town.”

“Ha. Why? He couldn’t handle the heat of competition?”

Rebecca stood up.

“That’s just the thing, Jack. To you, it’s a competition. I think the only reason you are even trying to do this is because you know someone else has feelings for me. If I wasn’t seeing someone, you’d still be running around with someone like Amber.”

He stood only inches from her, pulled up his sleeve, and pointed to his shoulder. What does each and every tattoo on my body represent? I have how we met and our first date. I have our wedding and the birth of the kids. Each tattoo flows into the next. It wouldn’t make much sense to someone else, but with you, you know each and every picture. You know what each one represents. It is our story; the story of us. I still have plenty of room to keep going. I don’t want our story to stop. I want to tell our grandkids our stories someday.”

Rebecca started to cry. His words were cutting deep. He was telling her all the things that she wished he would have told her when it mattered the most.

Jack got down on one knee. He held her hand in his and looked deep into her chocolate eyes.

“I have loved you for almost two decades, Becky. We were bound to hit a few snags along the way, but we can only learn to grow from our mistakes. I realize that you are the only one for me. I will never love anyone the way I love you. You are my past, present, and future. You are my heart and my soul. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Marry me, again.” A tear fell from the corner of his eye. She felt as though she were going to pass out. She never imagined that he’d be sitting here now, doing this.

Her tears were not tears of happiness, but tears of the past, tears of the years she had felt neglected and alone. They were tears for the years she had woken with the crying babies while he couldn’t be bothered. She cried for the years she felt like a single parent because his work always took top priority to him. She cried for all the empty holidays when it felt as though he never wanted to be there. She fell to her seat and held her head in her hands.

Jack scooted over to her. He lifted her head gently.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry. I am just a man trying to tell the woman of his dreams that he loves her.”

“I can’t, Jack.” She closed her eyes again.

“Don’t answer me yet. Give it some thought. I will do whatever you need me to do to let you know that I am serious.”

“I think it is time to head back. I need to feel solid ground beneath my feet.”

Jack stood without another word. He knew he had just complicated their situation even more. He didn’t want to, but he reluctantly turned on the engine. They didn’t speak again until they docked in the Plymouth Marina.

Rebecca packed up their things. She walked into the downstairs cabin and gently shook the kids awake.

“Hey guys, we’re back. Let’s go home and sleep in our beds.”

The kids opened their eyes groggily. Like zombies, they followed their mother off the boat and out on the marina. Jack unlocked his truck and loaded everything in. They drove in silence to the house. He carried Adam up to his room while Rebecca led Riley to her room. They met back up in the kitchen and Jack wasted no time. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. The kiss reminded her of how they used to kiss when they first met. He was hungry for her. For just an instant, she allowed him to hold her.

A part of her felt good knowing that after all this time he wanted her so desperately. The problem now, all she could think about was Ethan. She wanted his lips on hers. She gently pushed Jack away from her.

“I think you should go, Jack.”

He slowly backed away, but held onto her hands.

“Let me spend the night, Becky. Let me show you how much I still want you.”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea. It’s been a long day and I just want to go to sleep.”

“Then let me sleep beside you. I haven’t had a decent night sleep in months now,” Jack pleaded with her.

“No, Jack. I think you should go now. I’m sorry.”

He angrily dropped her hand and stormed to the door. Without looking back at her, he mumbled, “I won’t let you be with someone else.”

“Goodbye, Jack.”

He slammed the door and peeled out of the driveway in his truck. She knew things were not going to be easy. He put his heart out there and she turned him down. He was angry now. She locked the door and slowly made her way up to her room. She fell on her bed and didn’t move until the next morning.

The next two weeks flew by; Tasha recovered from her MRSA infection and was released from the hospital. She was back in Rebecca’s house, which was a needed relief. She was up and about and seemed to be back to her old antics. Emily came to the house on a daily basis on her way home from the shop. On one of her visits, Emily told Tasha about the healing center that Ethan had mentioned to her.

“I hear some great things about it. They teach tong ren. People have sworn that aligning energy heals all ailments. I think you should check it out.”

Tasha nearly burst out laughing.

“Do you seriously think that tapping on some doll can send my cancer into remission? Come on; let me die with some dignity. I don’t want to waste my time hoping some miracle is going to happen. I can deal with the fact that I’m going to die. I don’t want to put false hope into some new-age healing.” Tasha was irritable.

“I don’t think it’s crap, Tasha. Ethan knows people who have studied this healing method and have been healed. I stopped by and got the schedule. They do tong ren on Tuesdays and Thursday nights. Reiki is performed daily and they teach chi gung. No offense, but what have you got to lose?” Emily debated.

Tasha knew that no matter how she felt, her friends wouldn’t let up on her until she at least checked it out.

“Fine, I’ll look into it for Thursday. Happy now?” she said snippily.

Rebecca and Emily looked at one another and smiled. In unison they said, “Yes!”

By the time Tasha left the healing center, she had decided she would become a regular. For the first time in her life, she found her niche. She found something she thought she had lost and that was her inner peace. She began attending on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She purchased one of the dolls so she could work on herself while at Rebecca’s.

Rebecca and Emily slowly began to see a new hope grow within Tasha. There was a light in her they hadn’t seen in a long time. She remained on leave from her practice and thought about giving it up completely. She didn’t know what the next year was going to bring for her and she wasn’t going to waste time sitting in a stuffy office or in a court room fighting someone else’s battles. She had her own now.

Rebecca went back to helping Emily at the store. The summer was winding down. It was the beginning of September and the kids were getting ready to go back to school. The days were still hot, but the nights began dropping down to cool temperatures. Jack had been keeping his distance from Rebecca. He’d honk the horn from the driveway for the kids, or drop them off at the store. She knew that he was hurting, but she also knew that with enough space, he’d begin to settle into his new life.

The store was unusually busy for a weekday. Rebecca felt like she hadn’t stopped all day. Every chance she had, she found herself staring at Ethan’s storefront. Nothing had changed. There were no signs of him. He hadn’t tried to call her. She figured it was for the best. She was trying to convince herself that he had probably moved on. She really couldn’t blame him; she had put him on an emotional roller coaster. She probably would have run away, too, if she were in his shoes.

Jack surprised her by stopping by the store. He carried a bouquet of white peonies and handed them to Rebecca.

“What is this for, Jack?”

“Well, I guess it’s an apology. I put a lot of pressure on you a few weeks ago. I didn’t mean to. I figured that this can be a peace offering.”

Rebecca accepted the flowers and sniffed them. Emily walked out of the office and saw Jack. She instantly went into over-protective mode.

“Hello, Jack,” she said.

“Hello, Emily,” he replied.

He turned back to Rebecca. Riley is going to a sleep over at Maggie’s house this evening, so I thought I’d take Adam to a movie and then crash at my place. Is that alright with you?”

“Sure, Jack. He’s your son. I’m sure he’ll love it.”

“Your birthday is coming up soon. I was hoping you’d allow the kids and me to take you to dinner.”

“Can I get back to you on that? It’s still a week away.”

“Sure,” he responded. “I’m just going to head out now. You ladies have a good one.”

He walked out the door. Emily felt strange about the whole exchange.

“I want to get drunk tonight, you in?” Emily said.

“Where is this all coming from, Em?”

“I need a break. I’ve been working myself to the bone. I’ve been taking care of kids. I have appointments up the yin-yang for Andrew. I just need to get drunk for a night. James is giving me a free pass and I think it would do us good. Besides, your schedule has opened up, too. Tasha can be our designated driver tonight since I’ve done it many times.”

“Speak of the devil.” Rebecca pointed down the sidewalk and noticed Tasha walking cozily with a guy they didn’t know.

Emily and Rebecca ran to the window and watched as Tasha passed by. They took in the handsome man. He was well over six feet with skin as dark as ebony. His hair was cut short and he chatted animatedly with Tasha. Emily smacked Rebecca’s arm.