The Weakness in Me (8 page)

“Not if she were
the last woman on Earth,” Jason couldn’t hold back the disgust in his voice at his mother’s suggestion.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to explain something
he knew his mother would never understand, “Sammy just lost her husband; I’m helping out around her house and with her daughter while she heals. I’m not willing to discuss it. Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?” he asked, trying to shut her down.

“Fine,” she huffed
, before finally shifting focus. Her voice was less accusatory and more sullen as she changed the subject, luckily Jason was a few feet away from the parking lot to his condo complex. “Well, I’ve decided that enough is enough with the issues I’ve had with my femur lately and my life coach suggested I find an aromerologist to help me.”

“Sounds fascinating, and I can’t wait to hear about it, but I just got home.
I’m going to have to let you go,” he smiled to himself at the ridiculous ideas his mother comes up with and the money she throws away employing people to help her. Deep down inside, he knew it was because she had nothing else to do, because all of her kids were grown and she’d always been a stay at home mom. The whole thing might’ve triggered him to feel more sad than amused for the situation, if her second favorite hobby wasn’t meddling in the lives of her adult children. So he was more than happy to placate her manufactured health issues, if it meant she stayed away from trying to ‘fix’ him and his sisters.

“Okay, honey, but think about what I said about Missy.
She really is a wonderful girl!” she said, ending their conversation. She just couldn’t resist making one more plea for a woman he’d be happy to never see again.

“A wonderful viper is more like it,” he muttered as he walked toward his condo.
Noticing a figure in the shadows, he stopped short. “Who’s there?” he called out.

“It’s me,” Missy said, emerging from beside the stairwell in an even more revealing outfit than she was wearing at the supermarket earlier.
The black tank top she wore ended just below her breasts and the top was cut so that she might as well not even bothered wearing it and the matching shorts covered less than a string bikini. He gaped at the fact that the fates decided to throw his thoughts back in his face so quickly. “I understand why you had to be so horrible to me in front of Sammy. I just wanted to tell you I’m not mad at you.”

“How did you find out where I lived?” he growled, wondering if he could make a break for his truck.

“Your mom,” she flipped a blonde curl over her shoulder, “she said, “I should tell you that I know it was Sammy’s words tonight, not yours.”

“Of course,” he said,
sarcastically, rubbing his forehead in exasperation. “But, Missy,” he paused, looking at her so she couldn’t mistake his words, “I
did
say those things, and I meant them,” he finished, letting the words roll slowly off his tongue as if he were speaking to a second grader.

“Sammy’s not here, Jason, you don’t have to pretend anymore,” Missy laughed, as if she thought he were joking
and started to advance toward him again, a predatory gleam shining in her eyes.

“I’m not pretending, Missy.
You helped ruin my life five years ago and I will never forgive you for that. I have a chance to make things right now, and I won’t mess that up,” he took a deep breath, backing away from her.

“I did you a favor!” she screeched
, trying to come at him fast, but he held his hand out to stop her this time. “That frigid bitch could never make you happy, Jason. Sammy doesn’t have the faintest idea how to keep a man like you satisfied and interested enough for a lifetime,” she completed, stamping her foot in frustration.

“No, Missy, that would be you,” his voice was colder than he’d ever heard it before.
Pointing toward the parking lot, he dropped his voice to a menacing level before adding, “Get the fuck out of here, and never come back. If I see you or hear you call her
Sammy
again, I
will
make you pay. Count on it.”

When she cowered away from him, he knew his words had finally hit home with her.
He watched as her bright smile changed into a dangerous sneer. “I’ll leave, but we aren’t finished here. Not by a long shot,” she warned, sticking a pointed red nail in his face before stalking off in the direction he was indicating, bumping into him as she walked by and into the darkness.

Jason watched to make sure she got into her car and drove away before he attempted to continue to his condo.
She knew his street address, but hopefully, his mother neglected to share which unit was his. He sent up a silent plea that his mother was more respectful of his privacy in the future.

“Are you gonna be okay?” Jason whispered after they’d been lying on the carpet without saying a word for over twenty minutes. As soon as he saw her tear stained face, he’d pulled her into his bedroom to talk. They’d been lucky to avoid his mom on the way, knowing she’d never pass up an opportunity to take cheap shots at Sammy, even though she was barely a teenager. Jason had no idea why his mom hated her so much, but his need to protect Sammy today was fierce.

“Um, yeah,” Sammy’s voice cracked from non-use and she cleared her throat before continuing.
“Yeah, I think so. I’m just glad she finally…” she trailed off, still looking up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling as he grabbed her hand in his, their shoulders touching. He felt his heartbeat accelerate when she weaved her fingers with his.

“Yeah, I’m glad, too.
Maybe she can find someone who loves her enough to always choose her,” Jason said, looking to his ceiling, too, but not quite seeing the stars, as he fought to control his breathing and his desire to kiss her. Now was definitely not the time to confuse their friendship for something more.

“Do you remember when we put those up there?” she chuckled bitterly at the memory.
“Your mom was mad that it took a whole afternoon because we wanted the constellations to be in the exact right positions up there,” she finished, turning on her side to face him.

“Yeah, I remember the star maps that littered my room.
I still have one in the closet, I think,” he agreed.

“Your mom made me go home after we had a disagreement about how Orion’s belt should be tilted,” she said, moving her head to rest on his shoulder.
Jason started to wonder if there was more to this memory as she seemed to be drawing comfort from him to tell him something he could tell was going to be important.

“She didn’t understand that nine year olds fight all the time, but she wouldn’t let me talk to you for a week,” he frowned, finally letting go of her hand to put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him.

“He was home when I got there. He thought I was going to be at your house all day, cause I usually am, but I came home early and heard noises from my parents’ room. Sara and Jessica were out shopping with my mom and Grandma, so I knew it wasn’t them and dad was supposed to be working all day,” she looked up at him and took a deep breath before she closed her eyes, as if trying to find the words for the next part of the story. “He wasn’t working, though… neither was his secretary.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this, Sammy?
It’s been five years!” Jason asked, lifting his head back to get a better view of her face but not breaking the contact of their bodies.

“He doesn’t even know that I kn
ew, my mom either,” she said. “But she knew he was cheating…we all did to some extent. I don’t know how anyone can ever just let that go? That’s a huge violation of trust.”

“I don’t know how anyone could ever cheat like that on someone as awesome as your mom, Sammy.
She deserves better,” Jason said before having to shield his eyes as the light in his bedroom suddenly came on.

“What’s she doing here?” his mom asked, angrily, from the threshold to his room.
“And better yet, what do you two think you are doing on the floor like that in the dark? You aren’t fornicating, are you? Because you are way too young for that and you aren’t allowed to even date yet, Jason. Although, after what her daddy did, I wouldn’t put it past her to not follow in his footsteps.”

“We were just talking, mom,” Jason explained, removing his arm from Sammy’s shoulder as they both sat up on the carpet.
“She’s nothing like her father, either. That wasn’t nice, mom.”

“
Time will tell which of her parents she’s going to end up like, won’t it, son?” Jamie settled a challenging look on Jason before turning an angry eye toward Sammy, causing him to feel more protective of her than he did when she walked it. “Well, it’s late, Samantha, you need to go home now,” his mom demanded and stood in the doorway waiting for Sammy to as she asked.

“Okay, Mrs. Wright,” she agreed, standing up from the floor.
“Thanks, Jason,” she smiled, but he could see the tears welling up again. He bristled at the thought that his mother’s words might’ve caused her pain.

“Just be there for her, Sammy, she’ll always be there for you exactly how you need her to be,” he returned her smile.

“I know,” Sammy said before leaving his room.

**

Another month passed and Sammy was slowly becoming the woman he knew she was. He still found her crying in her room or screaming from nightmares, but her physical therapy and counseling appointments were helping her. Plus, he was there to make sure she didn’t spend too much time in her head, and learned how to get her life back. Well, the new version of her life, anyway. Yet, she never really lost total control over her emotions in front of him. Neither of them mentioned her night terrors or flashbacks, because he knew it would cause her to retreat further.

Jason was still helping on his days off, with Sara, Jessica, and Sammy’s mom,
Kelly, filling in the blanks. Caleb had been an only child, but his parents helped out when they could, even though they lived further away. Two more weeks remained before she would be given clearance to drive, but she was fighting for more independence now, even though the MRI hadn’t completely cleared her head nor her legs as back to full strength. It was no secret that she’d been informed that her hip would never recover as it had to be partially replaced because of the accident.

Jason was beginning to wonder how he’d still fit into their lives when she was through her recovery.
He knew they were friends again, with no reservations whatsoever that he would be welcome in her house. Plus, they’d made plans for the garden in the spring, but would she still let him help with Corigan?

Only one thing about their future worried him, and that was her upcoming wedding anniversary.
It would be a tough day for everyone, but she was becoming more and more withdrawn as the day got closer. She was trying to put on a brave face, but he could see it was going to destroy her progress. Jason knew he needed to get her outside of her shell somehow, because internalizing her pain was doing no one any good, something he knew her therapist was telling her. If only she would listen…

“And what about Anderso
n and Associates?” Sammy asked. Jason watched her as she sat at the kitchen table, back ram-rod straight, fingers poised over her laptop, black wire rim glasses sitting on her nose, deep in conversation with someone from her office. The early afternoon sunlight streamed in from the large picture window behind her, bringing out golden highlights in her dark hair that he’d never noticed before.

‘
God, she’s beautiful when she’s running her business, very no nonsense,
’ Jason thought, setting Corigan down in her high chair, beside the kitchen island. As he went about getting everything together for her lunch, his eyes drifted back to her several times. Sammy hadn’t even acknowledged that they’d entered the room.

“Why?” Sammy
asked, seeming worried, leafing through the stack of papers sitting beside her computer, before returning her eyes to the screen. “What did Jamison say?” She started typing furiously as she listened, getting more and more agitated with every keystroke, “Laura, I need you to get on this, we can’t lose this contract,” she continued, even more restricted than he’d thought she was capable of in her, obvious, anger. Jason watched her take a deep breath before starting again, “Look, I know I’m supposed to take it easy, but I’m not opposed to having Sara drive me into the office to bust heads. Let everyone know that just because I’m not there, it doesn’t give them the luxury to slack off. I’m counting on you to get this done, Laura,” she finished with an icy calm before slamming her phone onto the table with a loud crack.

She was definitely seething, he concluded, but the command she had over
her emotions now was almost scary.
His
Sammy had always been very wary of letting anyone in, emotionally. Since her father left, she had a hard time trusting anyone. He’d seen her lose that careful control several times since they were kids, always in a good way, always when they were together. Had she been this cautious with Caleb? Did she ever shown him all that she was capable of because of what she thought he’d done to her? He hated the thought that Caleb might have never seen the real Sammy.

Turning back to the
flat-top, stainless steel stove, he stirred the canned pasta he’d started for Corigan and hoped that he could get her out of her shell so he could give her daughter an accurate picture of her mother, and the way she could be so mischievous and fun-loving. Resolved to his mission, he glanced at her, still working, oblivious to their presence, at her laptop. Her brow furrowed slightly as if she was trying to solve a complex problem that he knew she paid other people to worry about.