CHAPTER 59
The tiny brown and white rabbit cowered behind the bush. Rebecca strained with a whine as she stretched her arm out to reach him, flicking her fingers to try and coax him out. The rabbit hopped in place, terrified.
“I won’t hurt you,” she promised. She reached in again and the rabbit bolted over her forearm, leaving scratch marks on her skin.
“Ow! Wait!” She scampered after the rabbit around the back of the house when she heard a car pull up. She turned and saw Jack climb out, immediately noticing his nice suit. As he got closer, she saw his face looked different — he’d shaved.
“Hi,” Rebecca said.
“Hi. How are you?”
“Good.” Jack noticed her eyes weren’t as swollen as he remembered. She seemed spry and colorful, her skin not as pale. Like a child after a fever breaks, pink again. Even her “Hi” wasn’t weighed down with anxiety and angst like before. Something had happened.
“Your mom around?”
“She’s inside.”
“I got something for you.” Jack returned to his car and popped the trunk, disappearing underneath. Rebecca watched with anticipation, stretching on her tippy toes to try and get a look.
Jack closed the trunk and came back around the car holding a shiny new bike, pink with white trim and streamers on the handlebars. Rebecca’s face lit up.
“I was gonna fix your old one, but I figured it was ready to be put out of its misery. Hopefully this one will be a little safer, do you like it? They had other colors…” Rebecca climbed onto the retro, banana shaped seat and squeezed the brakes, elated. “Its got 21 speeds. And a chain guard. You like pink? Cause I wasn’t sure—”
“You look nice,” Rebecca said, catching him off guard.
“Thanks.”
Laura exited the house and approached them.
“Give it a spin,” Jack urged. Rebecca stood all of her weight on one pedal and put the wheels in motion. Soon she was speeding down the sidewalk.
Laura got a look at Jack in his suit.
“A little loose,” she said. Jack looked himself over.
“I’m half the man I used to be.” Laura gave a melancholy smile, not allowing the reality of the statement to dampen their spirits. She lifted her hand to block the sun, watching Rebecca go up and down the street, jumping curbs and dodging parked cars.
“They said it was supposed to rain today,” Laura said.
“I heard.”
They stared at one another. Jack couldn’t help but notice that a layer of anxiety and worry seemed to have been peeled away from Laura too, revealing a fresher, healthier person underneath.
“I was watching the news,” Laura said, “they won’t leave that poor father alone.” Jack nodded bitterly.
“Tragedy is entertainment when it’s someone else’s.”
“You did all you could, Jack.” Jack nodded, poking his tongue into his lower lip, making it protrude.
Laura saw Rebecca speeding in their direction, her face flush and excited. “You didn’t have to do that,” Laura said. Jack shrugged.
Rebecca sped by in a blur. “Hi, mom!” Laura looked at Jack and raised her eyebrows victoriously. Mom.
“How is she?”
“Better. We had a little…breakthrough. Slept all night. First time that’s happened in I don’t know when.”
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”
Laura looked him over, his tie didn’t match his suit at all. But she didn’t have the heart to tell him. “Where you off to?”
“I’ve decided to give peace a chance.”
“Good for you.” Laura smiled as Jack adjusted his collar and fiddled with a button on his shirt.
“Go with me,” Jack said finally.
“Why?”
“This way, if I decide to leave, it’ll give me an excuse, I can say you’re—”
“No, Jack. This is something you need to do on your own. Besides, those art professors you showed Rebecca’s work to at the university called, they wanna stop by and meet her.”
“Might be good for her self esteem.”
“Yeah. They said some people will pay a fortune for unique artwork like hers.” Laura laughed. “Maybe I’ll retire.”
Rebecca rode up on the bike, a little too fast. She slammed on the brakes at the last minute, making a screeching sound as the tires skidded to a halt just in front of them.
“Whoa! Take it easy,” Laura said, holding up both hands.
“I love it!”
Jack turned to Laura again. “Sure you won’t change your mind?”
“Just make sure you don’t.”
Jack winked at Rebecca, then turned to leave.
“Well, take care,” Jack said. He got a few feet away when Laura called out to him.
“Jack?” He turned around. “Don’t be a stranger.”
“No chance.” He continued slowly back to his car. Rebecca rode her bike up next to him.
“Jack?”
Laura watched as Jack leaned down at Rebecca’s behest. She whispered something into Jack’s ear. Jack listened, looking back at Laura. He smiled at Rebecca’s comment, ridiculous, then climbed into his car.
As Jack drove away, he watched them shrink in his rearview mirror. He saw Laura embrace Rebecca, placing a kiss on her forehead. Jack’s heart swelled at the sight, pleased he’d decided to stop along the way, even if she did turn him down.
CHAPTER 60
Harrington still stood where Jack left him. He took a bite of an apple, watching divers surface and descend over and over.
He checked his watch.
At that same moment, Jack was sitting in his car, parked down the block from his brother’s soon to be former home. Twice he reached for the door handle and stopped. A drop of rain splashed on his windshield, followed by another and another.
“Come on.”
He took a deep cleansing breath and climbed out of the car, taking three brave steps towards the house before realizing his arms were empty.
He popped the trunk, grabbed the nicely wrapped gift, and closed it.
He headed for the front door, skidding a bit when his foot slid on the mat before the steps. He made it safely to the top and hesitated, listening. Behind the door was nervous chatter, one person was shouting. It didn’t sound like the noise of laughter and partying. It sounded more like the aftermath of an event — something had happened.
He knocked. Patricia’s mother, Edith, answered the door.
“Oh my God,” Edith said, her mouth left open.
“Hello, Edith.”
“Jack. I can’t believe my eyes.”
“Am I too late?” Jack hunched his back as the rain started to get heavy.
Edith’s expression grew serious. “I’m afraid so.”
Jack frowned, aware he might not be welcome after all this time. “I see…”
Edith quickly put her hand on his arm. “No, Robert took Trish to the hospital.”
“Hospital?”
“Her water broke. Guess the baby got tired of waiting. Must be all this excitement.”
“Is that Jack?” a deep male voice said from inside. It might have been Patricia’s father, Jack couldn’t quite tell.
“He was hoping you’d come, he’ll be sorry he missed you.”
“Which hospital did they go to?” Jack asked, walking backwards.
“St. Charles.”
Jack turned and headed back to his car. He tossed the gift on the passenger seat and sped away.
He had a pretty good idea which was the shortest way to the hospital, but the rain had slowed traffic to a crawl. He shifted in his seat; anxious, frustrated.