Three Days of Rain (21 page)

Together they sat, listening to the croaking of frogs and the chirping of crickets. Stars shined above them as the heat of the day faded to the cool of night. The weight of it all began to fall away when Andy finally spoke after the third, slow beer.

“I think,” he began, pausing to choose his words carefully, “you need to get past what happened. You haven’t spoken about it. Yesterday when you finally opened up to Lily it was a breakthrough but you still haven’t dealt with it. You’ve refused to notice the pain the people around you were feeling. You closed yourself off from all of us and refused to acknowledge what was going on around you.”

Jake nodded in agreement, grateful for his father’s honesty.

“When your mother died, I was destroyed. I felt like my whole world collapsed. I remember lying in bed, praying for God to take me, too. I was so sure I wouldn’t be able to live without her. Then I realized I had to. You and your brother needed me to be strong. I realized it wasn’t just me that was hurting, you two were as well. And your mom would have been pissed if I didn’t take care of you.

“So I wallowed in self-pity for a bit. I tried to keep most of the pain from you. I had to come to terms with her passing, as much as I hated it. Sure she was my world, but so were you and your brother. I couldn’t live in the past if I was going to help you move on. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Jake finished his beer and sat for a moment, taking in what his father had just said. “I guess I forgot I wasn’t the only one who lost someone when Joey died. Madison didn’t just hurt
me
.”

“You can’t forget something you didn’t know existed. You just couldn’t look past it all.”

“You’re right. It wasn’t intentional. I just didn’t know how to handle it. I still don’t know how.”

Andy nodded before walking back into the house to grab two more beers. When he returned, Jake continued. “If I don’t make peace with everything, then I can’t be there for the people that need me.”

“Like Lily.”

“Like Lily. And you and Danny and everyone else I pushed away.”

“You need to talk to Madison. Square it away. Put it away. Don’t forget, don’t ever forget. Just allow it to fade. The past doesn’t need to haunt you. You can embrace it, learn from it, and move on. And I’m telling you, it’s not fair to Lily if you don’t. If you love her, you won’t imprison
her
in
your
past. It’s not her burden to carry.”

Sitting quietly, Jake thought about what his father said. He was right, of course. Jake decided he’d think about how to approach Madison and call tomorrow to figure out when and where to talk. He wasn’t going to let her choose the place and time. He wouldn’t let her have control over this situation. For once, he needed to take charge and show her she couldn’t affect him like she once had.

“Let me ask you a question.”

Jake turned to his father. “Shoot.”

“What do you want?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you want to get out of all this?”

“With Madison?”

“With Madison, with Lily, with life in general. What do you want?”

The question wasn’t easy for Jake to answer. It wasn’t one he’d ever been asked before and certainly not one he’d thought about.

“I don’t know. I just want to finish this thing with Madison. I want to tell Lily I love her. I want her to stay here. I want to live a normal life with the happiness I think everyone should have. I think I deserve some peace.”

“I don’t think you understand that you can control all of that. Madison is here. You have the opportunity to finish it, on your terms. As for Lily, open your damn mouth and tell her. Don’t wait for her to leave. Tell her. If she leaves, at least she’ll make an informed decision. Normal life? Don’t we all wish for that? Happiness? Make your own. If it’s with Lily, the docks, the guitar—make your own happiness and stop waiting around for someone to hand it to you. The only thing you deserve is what you give.”

Jake cringed as he was smacked in the head with the brutal honesty in his father’s answer. “Tell me how you really feel.”

“Look. You’re my son and I love you. But for Christ’s sake, Jacob. Wake up. Life is passing you by. Where the hell have you been for the past two years? Not here, that’s for damn sure. Everyone has figured out a way to move on but you. And then suddenly, a beautiful, amazing woman walks into your life and you’re too afraid to hold on to her? That’s not the son I raised, and I can’t sit back and let you do this anymore.”

With nothing more to say, the two men sat in silence until Andy checked his watch. Realizing it was after midnight, he stood.

“You leaving?”

“Yeah. I think you know what you need to do.”

Jake hugged his father tightly, the first real hug they’d shared in a long time. “Thanks, Dad.”

“No problem. Let me know if you need anything.”

Jake walked his father around the house to his car. “I will. I think I’ll sleep on it and call tomorrow. I’ll have this hashed out in a day or two.”

“All right then. See you at work.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Jake banged on the hood as his father pulled out of the driveway then he walked back into the house.

Throwing away the empty beer bottles, he paused. The melody he’d been mulling over in his head, since Lily gave him the guitar, finalized. He walked over to the closet and pulled out the guitar. Settling back out on the deck, he began to play as words materialized from nowhere. Before sunrise, the song he’d wanted to write for Lily was complete and he’d figured out how to handle Madison.

He placed the guitar on the stand in his room instead of hiding it in the closet. It belonged there now. Lily had given him a second chance and he was done running away from it. He wanted Lily to be a part of his life and he’d do whatever it took to make sure that happened.

CHAPTER 34

When Lily woke up the next morning, Billy had already left for the bar. He’d told her last night she could take the day off. Sitting home alone was the last thing she wanted to do. She’d thought about grabbing her camera and heading for the beach but even that wouldn’t be enough to distract her. Jake didn’t call last night and she wasn’t sure when he would. Just another thing she didn’t feel like thinking about.

She straightened up the house for a bit before hopping in the shower to get ready to go to work. Billy would protest but she needed to face the day. A lot of the people from the picnic would probably end up at the bar today, and she needed them to know she wasn’t going to let what happened yesterday dictate her routine. And she needed to not think about tomorrow until she had to.

Despite the fact that her stomach protested, she choked down a piece of dry toast and a banana before heading out the door. At the last minute, she pulled her cell phone out of her purse, turned it off and left it on the table.

She walked in the back door of the bar, grabbed an apron, and headed towards the office. Billy was sitting at his desk, face buried in paperwork—his usual spot on a Monday morning.

“Hey.”

Leaning back, Billy tossed his glasses on the desktop and rubbed his face. “What are you doing here? Didn’t I give you the day off?”

“Yeah. I didn’t want to sit home and think all day. Besides, you can’t afford to give me the day off. Two of your waitresses are sick and another one’s on vacation. You need me.”

He seemed to think it over before replying, “Fine. You can stay. But the second you don’t feel like you can handle it, the moment you start to feel sick, you promise me you’ll go home.”

Lily smiled. “Of course.”

“Promise.”

Crossing her fingers over her heart she promised before heading out to the floor.

The lunch crowd started early today, she noticed so she got to work taking orders and making small talk with the customers. For the most part, the day was moving quickly giving her a much-needed break from her thoughts. It even got busy enough for Billy to help out in the kitchen. Before she knew it, she was running around like a mad woman. She didn’t even notice Madison walk in and sit in her section.

Without looking at her customer, Lily pulled out her pad and pencil. “What can I get you?”

Placing the menu on the table, Madison looked up at her waitress in surprise. A smirk curled across her mouth. “Well, well, well. Fancy meeting you here.”

Lily gripped her pencil so tightly in her hand that it threatened to snap. “Madison.”

“You remembered! Look, I’m sorry about yesterday. It wasn’t my intention to get into it with you.”

“I’m sure.”

“No really. I didn’t even know you existed until yesterday. Imagine my surprise.”

Anger balled in Lily’s stomach. “You’re surprised? Are you for real?”

Madison looked genuinely insulted. “How was I supposed to know Jake had a girlfriend? Really. None of this has anything to do with you.”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“I’m not. Truce?” Madison held out her hand.

At that moment Billy walked onto the floor. A number of other patrons had stopped to watch the exchange. When he saw Madison sitting at the table, he headed right for her. It wasn’t until he was halfway there that he realized Lily was standing next to the table.

“Aw shit,” he muttered to himself.

A hand reached out to stop him from moving any further. “Leave her be, Bill. She can handle it.”

Billy did as Mrs. Jones told him and continued to watch the exchange.

“You can stuff your truce and take it back with you to wherever you came from.”

“Look, Lily. My issue isn’t with you. I came here for Jake and when I talk to him, I’ll go. I won’t ruin the nice little thing you have here.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Oh, he does. He just doesn’t know it yet. You know what? I’m not hungry. Just tell Jake I’m looking for him.”

“Tell him yourself.”

“Maybe I will. Just take this advice. Be careful. Jake doesn’t know how to care about anyone but himself.”

“Screw you. You don’t even know him.”

“I know him better than he knows himself.”

With that, Madison, stood and left the bar, leaving Lily standing with nothing to do but watch her go. When she finally turned around, she saw her uncle and a number of customers watching her. Suddenly self-conscious, she ducked her head and headed to the back. Billy followed her.

“You okay?”

“Fine. She was just looking for a reaction. I don’t believe for one second that she didn’t know I was here.”

“You handled her well.”

Throwing her hands up, she yelled, “I shouldn’t have to fucking handle her!”

Billy smiled.

“What? What are you smiling at?”

“You. Don’t let her rile you up. That’s what she wants. You stood up to her. That’s not what she wants. Let her do her thing and leave. Jake can handle it.”

Taking a deep breath and blowing it out slowly, Lily calmed down. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me. You did great.”

Smiling despite herself, Lily nodded, gave Bill a quick kiss on the cheek, and walked back out with a small spring in her step.

“Hey Mrs. Jones. What can I get you?”

“A set of balls like yours.”

Lily almost dropped her pen. “Excuse me?”

“Someone needed to put that girl in her place. Glad it was you.”

She didn’t know how to respond. “Well, thanks, I guess.”

“You’re welcome. Now, I’ll have a burger, medium, hold the tomato. And an iced tea. Bill makes the best iced tea.”

“I’ll get right on that. Thanks again.”

Mrs. Jones was reading the paper and didn’t hear her. Lily smiled to herself and went back to work taking orders, feeling somewhat better about the whole situation than she had earlier. Maybe she was stronger than she thought.

CHAPTER 35

Madison waited until she left the bar to storm to her car. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of knowing she was pissed. She needed everyone to think she was in control, even when she was going off the rails.

She’d hoped to intimidate Lily a little bit, but all she did was embarrass herself. Everyone was looking at her with pity, and she didn’t need their sorrowful glances. She wanted them to look at her like they looked at Lily. She wanted them to stand up for her like they stood up for Lily. No one ever did anything but feel sorry for her. She’d come back hoping that had ended. Now she felt even more like an outsider than she had two years ago.

“Screw all of you,” she muttered and yanked the door open.

Getting in her car, she vowed to talk to Jake if it killed her. As the thought crossed her mind, her cell phone rang.

“What?”

“Madison? It’s Jake.”

She wasn’t happy that he sounded so abrupt but she turned on her sweetest voice.

“Oh, hey. Wondering when I was gonna hear from you.”

“You said you wanted to talk, right?”

“I did.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

She frowned, momentarily annoyed with the way he was talking to her, as if she didn’t matter. Like she was some random annoyance he needed to deal with.

“If I told you that, then we’d have nothing to talk about later.”

“No games, Madison.”

“I would never. How’s tonight sound?”

“Fine. I—”

She cut him off. “I’ll meet you at your house at seven.”

She hung up the phone before he could protest and quickly shut it off, tossing it in her purse. Pulling down her visor, she freshened her lipstick in the mirror. This was going to be on her terms whether he liked it or not. She held the cards, and she wasn’t about to give any of them away.

Backing out of the parking lot, she drove back to her parents’ house. She wanted to make sure everything was perfect when she met up with Jake tonight.

When she drove up to the house, her father was outside, mowing the lawn. Her mother was in the flowerbed, weeding. Not much had changed, she thought as she walked up to the porch and sat down.

Abby looked up. “Where have you been?”

“Oh, out. Here and there. Stopped at Billy’s for a bite to eat but realized I wasn’t hungry.”

“You stopped at Billy’s?”

“Yeah, why?”