A Family for Christmas (2 page)

Ann
always insisted
he was still part of her
family. He could have argued. Mike certainly didn’t consider him family. Still every single time he heard her refer to him
in such a way
, some of his
hurt
lifted.

“I’ll think about it, okay? You’ll let me know how she’s doing tomorrow.”

“Yes.”
Ann
released
the word on
another weighted sigh. She hadn’t liked his answer, but it was the best that he could give her. In his heart, he truly believed he knew what the outcome would be if he suddenly barged in on the
Peters
’ household and confronted
Rachel
. No doubt, that would be the final straw for his eighteen-year friendship with Mike
Peters
.

“
Ann
, I promise I’ll think about it.”

Her silence made her opinion clear. “I guess that’s all that I can ask of you, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Thank you,
Ann
. I love you.”

For a long time after he ended the call
Jack
continued to stare out
his
bedroom window at the lights of the city he’d grown up in. He was exhausted beyond belief. The six-hour flight from New York to
Austin
had been plagued with delays and bad weather. Even though physically
drained
, the thought of seeing
Rachel
again after so long made sleep impossible.

On an impulse he couldn’t begin to explain,
h
e grabbed his
keys
and headed downstairs.

The rented SUV sat in the circular drive where he’d left it. It was only two weeks away from Christmas and yet the Texas night felt mild in comparison to the cold he’d left behind.

He told himself he just needed to clear his head. Get some air.
Yet, h
e knew exactly where he was heading even before the Range Rover turned onto
Ann
Peters
’ quiet suburban street.

Jack
parked the SUV a few houses down.
Ann
’s lights were on. Of course, she’d be waiting up for her daughter to arrive, no doubt pacing the kitchen floor with coffee cup in hand. How many times had he watched her do that exact
s
am
e thing while he pleaded with her to tell him where
Rachel
had gone.

Against his will,
Jack
’s thoughts went back to that night long ago. It had been here, in front of
Ann
’s home that he’d tried again to make
Rachel
understand why he was ending their marriage. She hadn’t listened then any more than she had when he’d first told her over dinner. She’d simply run away
.
Into
Ann
’s house and out of his life.
When he learned she left town, h
e thought he
’d
lost her for good. Thanks to
Ann
, he had a second chance. It was up to him to make it work.  

Chapter
One

Rachel Peters drove through the familiar streets of downtown Austin
. T
he mid-afternoon traffic
congestion
made the commute seem twice as long.
Or maybe it was simply the fact that
everywhere she looked there were
ghosts
lingering from the past
, ready to suck her back to a time she’d desperately tried to put behind her
.

She
slid her brother’s
Toyota
into the last empty
parking
space available in front of Bryant International. 

She’d been back in Texas less than twenty-four hours yet coming home had proven to be the hardest thing she’d ever had to do. She’d done it for one reason. For her son. 

Sammy was sick. He needed his family close during this trying time.
She
needed to know what was wrong with her son. She’d come back to Texas for that reason
alone
.

             
She got out of the car and glanced up at the building. A shiver ran down her spine in spite of the unseasonably warmth of the day. More spooks? Or something more. She dismissed the feeling. Jack wasn’t here. When had she become so skittish?

Inside the building’s impressive foyer, Rachel was struck by the familiar reserved silence she’d always hated as a kid. It made her feel as if she had to whisper.
She didn’t belong here.

Her footsteps reverberated in a staccato beat against the muted gray and black marble floor. The receptionist’s booth was empty. There was no one in sight. Not that it mattered. She knew where Michael’s office was located as well as Jack’s.

She took the elevator to the fourth floor. She just wanted to drop off Michael’s keys and get out of here as soon as possible.

Her brother’s office was empty, but that wasn’t such a surprise. Michael had told her he
’d be
tied up in back-to-back meetings most of the afternoon. She found a promising spot on top of a stack of papers and left the keys, jotting Michael a brief note of thanks for the use of the car.

She
hurried out of the office and toward the
elevator once more,
her thoughts going back to her son. She’d left Sammy happily playing with her best friend’s son.
She’d just grab a cab and be on her way back to him.
Still, she could count on one hand the number of times he’d been away from her for any length of time and never in a strange place.

Sammy’s absence right now wasn’t the only reason she couldn’t wait to get away from Bryant International. Like Austin, everything about this place reminded Rachel of the man who’d broke
n
her heart.   

Jack Bryant was in New York. Had been for several years, yet still Rachel hesitated as she neared his office. Old memories of times past leapt out from the dark corners of her mind where she’d banished them.

Though it surprised her that the office door stood ajar, Rachel didn’t think much of it. It was probably the cleaning crew making their daily rounds. She meant only to hurry past, no need to linger there, but her heart wouldn’t let her. Unable to help herself, she glanced inside. What she saw sent all of her good intentions scattering along with her next breath. 

Jack. Jack was here. It couldn’t be.
She blinked then blinked again and yet it wasn’t
her imagination playing tricks
. S
eated behind his father’s old cherry wood desk was the man Rachel couldn’t put in the past no matter how hard she tried.

Jack. Her footsteps faltered for a second. She ducked her head hoping he hadn’t seen. 

Please God, don’t let him see me. 

“Rachel?” She wasn’t aware of making a sound, but she must have because Jack was now staring at her as if he, too, had seen a ghost.

It all was there in his eyes, the startled awareness of the past intruding here in the present.   

Jack dropped the phone back into its cradle with only a muddled word for the person on the other end. He got to his feet and came towards her.
She’d dreaded this moment. Had nightmares about its outcome.

The second
t
he
i
r eyes met, she knew she’d never be over him. She’d only been fooling herself by thinking she’d moved beyond
Jack
.

In the space of those first few breathless moments, Rachel struggled to capture her composure. Then he was standing in front of her along with their troubled past.

“Rachel, I-I can’t believe it’s really you.” He seemed at a loss for what to say. “It’s good to see you again.”

She could almost believe he meant that. “Hello, Jack. How’ve you been?” She did her best to not be drawn in by the familiar smile that lifted the edges of Jack’s full lips and crinkled the corners of his eyes. 

“Good. Fine, I guess. How ‘bout you?” There was humbleness in him now that she would never have associated with Jack.

Rachel focused on saying the
right
words clearly. “I’m good. Great, in fact.” With the pleasantries over, she couldn’t think of anything
else
to say to him. “
Well,
I’m sorry, I can’t stay. I have to meet someone. But it really is good to see you again, Jack” She turned to leave. The awkwardness between them would have been impossible to imagine a few years back when she and Jack had been inseparable. 

He surprised her by reaching for her arm. “Rachel, wait.” The sincerity in his tone forced her to do as he asked. She turned to face
him
and saw her that big brother had materialized from his meeting.

Michael stood in his doorway, waiting to come to her rescue as always. Her brother might tease her ruthlessly, but he was her brother and he wouldn’t let anyone, including his best friend
,
hurt her.

Somehow, Rachel managed a smile for his sake. After a moment, Michael went into his office. Maybe her brother had been right all along. Maybe running into Jack like this was for the best.

Rachel squared her shoulders and faced the man she’d once loved.

“Can you come inside for a minute? We have a lot to catch up on.”

A lot to catch up on?

She shook her head, drawing in an unsteady breath. She needed air. More importantly, she needed to stay focused. “I’m sorry, maybe some other time. I’m in a bit of a rush. I just stopped by to drop Michel’s keys off. As I said, I need to get back.”

He searched her expression and she wondered if he’d seen through the farce. Probably. Jack always was good at reading her.

Slowly he nodded. “Then why don’t you let me give you a ride to wherever you’re going. I’ve finished up here for the day. I was on my way out anyway. It would be nice to catch up.”

For the first time, she forced herself to really look at Jack. Something
was
different about
him.
Oh, not physically. Even after all these years, Jack’s appearance had changed very little. The smile lines around his eyes were slightly more pronounced, but he still looked the way she’d remembered him in all those times she couldn’t put him out of her mind.

He’d
been a star athlete in school. Tall and
deceptively
muscular, he still appeared
quite
fit. His dark brown hair streaked with gold was exactly like the way she remembered. Every hair in place, except for that lock that always fell across his forehead. Exactly like her son. Looking at Jack was like looking at the grown-up version of Sammy.

Rachel swept back a wisp of hair from her eyes and Jack’s attention followed the movement of her left hand. He’d seen the wedding ring she still wore.

“You remarried,” he said
in surprise.
She’d always thought seeing the
expression of disbelief on his face
wo
uld have been reward
enough
for all the pain he’d brought to her door, but that was the old Rachel. Since her husband’s death, she’d learned to accept that some things couldn’t be changed. She lived each moment as God intended, never looking to
o
far ahead.  

Still, forgiveness was something that was hard to come by. She still struggled with forgiving Jack.
Father, I’m sorry, I know this is wrong. I should be forgiving, but I just can’t. 

Rachel
cleared her throat. “Yes,”
she
managed at last.

“I guess I just thought...” He shook his head without finishing and Rachel couldn’t help but wonder what he’d left unsaid. “Look, my car’s parked right out front. Let me take you to wherever you’re going.” When still she hesitated,
he
tried again. “Rachel we’ve been friends for a long time. I still care about you. Let’s catch up.”

The
sincerity in his voice
made her
g
i
ve in. He was certainly right about the friendship part. The three of them had practically grown up together.

It was difficult to swallow back the hurt.
T
his was their first meeting since that fateful night five years earlier. Putting it in its place and remembering the friendship they’d once shared might take time.

“Okay. I’d like that.”

She walked silently beside him out of the building to the black Range Rover parked close by and waited while he hit the remote door lock.

Everything about Jack spoke of wealth and success. Seeing him again now, after the years of absence, made her realize she could never have fit into his world. God worked in mysterious ways. It had taken a broken heart to realize Jack wasn’t the one for her.