Unforgettable (9 page)

“It’s 10:10 in the a.m. on this beautiful, warm and sunny Tuesday. As you may’ve heard, we’re doing something a little unusual today through Friday until midnight…” The DJ’s warm, feminine voice had a calming effect on him. Patrick laid his head back against the seat, sighed and closed his eyes. He’d been way too uptight since he’d gotten back to New York. What he needed was just a few minutes of soothing music to relax him.

“…You see,” the DJ continued. “…there’s a lady here looking for a man. Not just any man, mind you, but a special, particular man.”

“What a joke!” Patrick sneered. The woman was a delusional fool to still believe in love. She’d be dragging some poor sucker down with her if she found him. No doubt his wallet would be the first thing she went for. Stupid bastard would have no idea what hit him.

“…This lady has flown up here this week in the slightest hope of finding this man…”

“Oh, puh-leeze!” Patrick scoffed aloud. Hope was for children who still believed in Santa Claus.

“…Now, a few days ago in her home town, this lady came within inches of losing her life when, out of nowhere, a knight in shining armor came to her rescue.”

“Gimme a break!” Patrick snorted.
I suppose he was riding a white horse and waving his trusty sword in the air, too! Someone’s been watching way too many Julia Roberts movies
, Patrick thought.

“…Due to an unseasonable heat wave, she fainted and hit her head, rendering her unconscious. Her gallant stranger may well have saved her life by keeping her cool enough to prevent a heat stroke…”

Patrick’s head shot up and his eyes snapped open. He didn’t have a wisecrack this time.
It couldn’t be! It just couldn’t be Brittany
, he thought. The traffic began to move slowly and, paying only half attention, Patrick eased his car into motion.

“…The man saw her safely to the nearest hospital and waited until she was out of danger before leaving her safe in the hands of her best friend. The problem is he disappeared without leaving his name or address before she regained consciousness. Eventually, with only his initials and a possible location to go by, she managed to track him down to this city. This lady would like to find the man she knows only as SD and thank him for saving her life.”

It
was
Brittany! How in the hell had she managed to get this far on so little information? He thought he’d covered his tracks pretty well. What was he going to do now? Rescheduling his meetings in Indiana this afternoon was not an option. There was too much was riding on the outcome. Damn it! And damn his weakness where she was concerned! How was he going to set her straight if she wasn’t where he left her?

“…So every hour, on the hour, we’re going to play a personally recorded message from this lady to her mysterious stranger and dedicate these two songs to him. So, if you’re out there…if you’re listening SD, there’s a lady here waiting to hear from you. This means a lot to her and she would like to meet you in person and thank you for your kindness. Well, I’ll let her tell you in her own way…” the DJ said and played the recording of Breezy’s message.

Patrick listened intently, his concentration focused solely on the voice coming through the speakers. Unaware of his surroundings and driving on autopilot, it was a wonder he managed to stay on the road.

“Dear S.D.,

You told me in your dedication, when you first saw me, I looked like an angel…an Earth Angel. When I opened my eyes and saw you holding me so protectively for that brief moment in time, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. I thought you were my guardian angel.

You saved my life that day and I can never repay you. I can never say ‘Thank You’ enough. Those two little words are so inadequate. They cannot begin to convey the gratitude I feel. You gave me the gift of life. You gave me a second chance I didn’t deserve. I owe you a great deal. I owe you my life.

You gave me all these things and yet, you were thanking me for helping you! I cannot understand that. I cannot begin to fathom how I could have helped you as I lay unconscious in your arms. I hope someday you will explain that to me. I hope someday you will give me the chance to help you. I hope you will give me the chance to be your friend and thank you in person for all you have done for me.

I’ll be in New York until Friday morning before I have to return home. You know where to find me. If you should need a friend to lean on, I’ll be there. Again, I’d like to thank you even though those words are so inadequate. Thank you my friend, for keeping me safe in your arms, for being my guardian angel. If I don’t hear from you before I leave for home, please know you have a friend waiting to hear from you again. Take care of yourself.

Your Friend,

Earth Angel”

“…these next two songs go out to the mysterious guardian angel who walked into this Earth Angel’s life and, just as quickly, disappeared without a trace,” the DJ continued. The first song began.

Patrick was so overwhelmed he couldn’t begin to sort through his feelings. He hadn’t even realized how close he was to the airport until he saw the exit sign. Within the next fifteen or twenty minutes, he’d be on a flight to Indiana, leaving Brittany behind for a second time.

There was so much he wanted to know and say, yet he couldn’t form a single thought or sentence. Everything was all one big jumble in his head. An overwhelming pressure he couldn’t begin to identify settled in his chest. He had no idea what it was or what to call it. The thought of leaving Brittany alone in this perilous city was almost more than he could bear and that left him feeling strangely anxious.

That simple recording of her voice pulled at the center of his being. Her soft, gentle voice and beautiful face had haunted his dreams since the day he’d first laid eyes on her. Now they haunted his every waking hour, as well. What was it about this woman that tormented him and pulled at him like some unseen hand? Why did he have the sudden urge to turn the car around and find her as fast as humanly possible? What happened to the cold hard resolve he’d had only moments ago to set her straight?

Sarah McLachlan’s voice singing “In the arms of the angels” finally penetrated his swirling thoughts and he listened intently to the words of the first song Brittany had dedicated to him.

Patrick’s lips curved up into a crooked smile. The song had been one of his favorites in his younger days. Damn! It was like Brittany knew his entire life story even though the only word she’d ever spoken directly to him was “hi.” In one moment in time, she’d apparently seen into the depths of his soul. There were things he’d never been able to explain to anyone, yet she’d effortlessly revealed all of his deepest, darkest fears and feelings in one song and offered him comfort for them at the same time. Amazing!

Patrick took in a deep shuddering breath. Wow! There was a moment of silence as the song changed and Patrick used that moment to gather his emotions.

As the next song began to play, “Lean on me” his grin grew into an enormous smile as he parked the car in the airport parking lot. This one was also one of his all-time favorites. He stayed in the car and listened.

When the song ended, Patrick leaned forward to straighten his tie in the mirror and gasped in horror at what he saw. The smiling man staring back at him was not the Patrick he knew. Patrick would never smile over something as ridiculous or trivial as a stupid song. The man grinning back at him like an idiot was just begging to get his heart broken again.

Patrick glared stonily at his reflection. This stone cold glare was guaranteed to bring most people to their knees and he was satisfied to see it firmly back in place. However, the man in the mirror had the last laugh for, as soon as the glaring man grabbed his briefcase from the passenger’s seat and crossed the parking lot, Patrick was completely unaware he was smiling and humming a tune he’d heard only moments before.

***

The flight to Indiana was blessedly short and uneventful. Nevertheless, after a grinding day of endless business meetings, Patrick had returned once more to his familiar, cold, irritable self. After his last meeting, he had reluctantly agreed to have dinner with Tom and his wife at their home that evening, a decision Patrick was deeply regretting and they hadn’t even arrived yet.

Tom had insisted on driving and continually tried to bring a smile to Patrick’s face. But no matter how many tales he recalled from their youth, he just couldn’t seem to shake his old friend out of his foul mood.

As Patrick stared out the window watching the scenery go by without interest, he wondered how he’d gotten himself into this mess in the first place. How had he let Tom talk him into dinner at his home? He hadn’t even known he was married, for God’s sake!

Things sure had changed in the past ten years although, in many ways, Tom appeared to have remained much like the kid he’d known back in college. Patrick just couldn’t understand how Tom Graham could have remained so happy and positive, so untouched by the hard, cruel world, even after all these years. God knew Patrick wasn’t anything like that anymore. G
uess I’m the only one who’s changed
, he thought, shifting uncomfortably in his seat at the thought.

“Hey, Patrick. Do you remember that uptight English professor we had in college, the one who had a hard on for you?”

“You mean, Professor Watson?” Patrick asked, trying not to show his disinterest in the conversation.

“Yeah, that’s the guy. Remember he kept busting your balls because you refused to open a book or do anything else resembling study? Said he’d be more than happy to fail you the semester and every other semester until you were ninety,” Tom chuckled.

“Ah, yes. I do seem to remember making a bet with him in front of the whole class that I could hand over my book and still get one hundred percent on the next test,” Patrick replied.

“Old Watson fucked up by taking you up on that bet,” Tom added.

“He did. His bet was if I actually got one hundred percent on the next test, he would not only get off my dick for the rest of the year, but he’d also sit at his desk for the remainder of the week with a dunce cap on his head and let the entire class do whatever they pleased. That was on a Monday. On Tuesday, he gave me the test,” Patrick said, surprised at how easily Tom had sucked him into an actual conversation.

“Poor Professor Watson! The picture you took of him wearing the stupid dunce cap you made was a classic. I loved seeing it in the year book! You were the terror of the campus! After that little stunt, none of the other professors dared to take you on,” Tom said, laughing at the memory. He was pleased to have finally gotten Patrick to smile, even if it was just a little one.

“You were no saint yourself, Tom. You caused your fair share of grief among the professors, if I recall correctly.”

“Yeah, we gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, ‘Terrible Two.’ Those were the days, Patrick. The good old days,” Tom said as he pulled into the driveway.

“Yep, those were the days, Tom,” Patrick sighed softly.
And they are long gone, my friend
, he added silently.
Long gone
.

Still somewhat apprehensive of spending the evening with an old friend he hardly knew anymore, let alone a wife he had yet to meet; Patrick got out of the car and trudged alongside Tom to the front door of their comfortable looking home.

“Honey, we’re home!” Tom shouted merrily from the doorway.

“I’m in the kitchen, Tom,” Susan replied.

Patrick shrugged out of his coat and waited for Tom to hang it in the hall closet beside his. Grinning broadly, Tom gave his shoulder a friendly slap and propelled him gently towards the kitchen to meet his wife.

Susan was putting the finishing touches on a salad, her back toward them as they entered the kitchen. Tom walked up behind her and kissed her on the cheek.

“Honey, I’d like you to meet Patrick Day. Patrick, this is my wife, Susan.”

Susan dried her hands on a dishtowel and turned to greet her husband’s old college friend.

“You!” she shrieked, dropping the cloth.

“You!” Patrick echoed.

“Well, for the love of God, get over here and give me a hug!” Not waiting for him to move, Susan rushed straight to where he stood frozen in astonishment and hugged him. “How are you?” she asked. Patrick returned the hug with genuine sincerity. Never had he met anyone as kind to him as Susan had been that day at the hospital. Although Patrick didn’t realize he was smiling profusely, Tom certainly noticed. He’d spent the last hour trying to get the man to give up even half a smile and now he was hugging his wife and grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. What the hell was going on here?

“I’m fine. How have you been?” Patrick asked. He pulled away from Susan just far enough to look down into her tiny face, never relinquishing his hold on her.

“Oh, I’m fine, too. But why didn’t you call or write? There was so much Breezy and I wanted to talk to you about. So much was left unsaid and I didn’t know how to reach you! You didn’t even tell me your name and that was just all kinds of wrong, Mister!” Susan scolded, smacking him playfully in the chest.

“I take it you two know each other?” Tom interrupted before Patrick had a chance to respond to Susan’s questions. He was just as surprised as they were, but for different reasons. He wasn’t sure how they knew each other or what to make of his new wife still clinging to his old friend, especially when Tom hadn’t seen the man himself in ten years. Nor did he know what to make of the sudden change in Patrick. He looked so much like the young man of Tom’s memories right now that he seemed to have lost those years in the past few minutes.

“Well, yeah, sort of. In a way, I guess,” Patrick replied, wrinkling his brow but still smiling. He was confused, surprised, dumbfounded, strangely happy and, for the first time in his life, damn near speechless.

“Oh! Well, you’re a big help! Thanks for clearing that up for me, Patrick!” Tom teased his old friend.

“Tom!” Susan exclaimed, “This is the man who saved Breezy’s life, silly! He’s her mysterious stranger!”