Unforeseen Danger (38 page)

***

Jake wasn’t able to go to Selena, however, even though he thought of her night and day.
 
It came as a shock to realize thoughts of her replaced most of his thoughts of Nikki.
 
It was her smiles and her laughter that he heard in his head, and her touch that he dreamed of.
 
Guilt threatened to rip him apart.
 

Two months passed.
 
His mother begged him to go to Selena, even Elaine did, but Eliot was the one who finally got through to him.

They were at the
rec
center
, playing a little one-on-one basketball in the bitter cold, but Eliot might have well been playing alone.
 
Jake knew he was moving like a dead man, missing easy shots and playing nonexistent
defense
.
 
He was barely paying attention when Eliot shoved the ball hard at his chest.

“What did you do that for?” Jake asked, startled.

“I think it’s time you got over yourself, man,” Eliot said.
 
“She loves you.
 
Do you understand that?”

“I lost my wife,” Jake snapped.
 
“Am I not even supposed to acknowledge that Nikki’s dead?”

“I didn’t say that,” Eliot said.
 
“But if Nikki’s death taught you anything, it should be that not even one day is promised to us, and you should appreciate love when you find it.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hallmark.”

Jake shot at the basket and missed.

“Look, Jake.”
 
Eliot poked him in the chest with his finger.
 
“You’ve got to realize, this didn’t just happen to you.
 
This happened to her, too.
 
Selena didn’t ask for this, either.
 
We told her she was Nikki.
 
She had to put up with all that crap from you, and she fell in love with you anyway.
 
Now she’s sitting in
Alabama
,
brokenhearted
, while you stand here feeling sorry for yourself.
 
I keep telling her that surely you’re going to come to your senses—”

“You’ve talked to her?” Jake asked, surprised.
 

He knew Catherine did, but he didn’t let her tell him about it.

“Sure, I’ve talked to her,” Eliot said casually.
 
“I like her.
 
We became friends, and I’m not pretending she doesn’t exist, just because I found out she wasn’t Nikki.”
 

He shot Jake an accusing look, and Jake glared back.

“Tell me you weren’t happier with her than you ever were with Nikki,” Eliot challenged.

“Eliot, you’re overstepping here,” Jake warned, as he retrieved the ball.

“Tell me she didn’t give 110 percent, even when you’d given up on your marriage.
 
You think Nikki would’ve done that?
 
Selena fought for you, and she didn’t even know you.
 
Do you really think Nikki would’ve put up with all your crap, even if she had felt guilty?
 
Selena did, because she fell in love with you.
 
You loved her, too, and you’re lying to yourself if you think you didn’t.”

Jake tossed the ball over his shoulder and started to walk away.
 

Eliot grabbed his arm.
 
“Don’t get me wrong, I loved Nikki.
 
She was a good friend of mine, but I think you’re making her memory into something it wasn’t.
 
If she hadn’t died in that crash, you’d be divorced today.
 
You were both so spoiled and stubborn that you would’ve never gotten over this.
 
When you’re through feeling sorry for yourself, remember that Selena was the only truly innocent person in this mess, and she is the only person who would’ve worked so hard to win the love of a dumb jackass like you.”

“Finished?” Jake asked, arching an eyebrow at Eliot.

“For now.”
 
He grinned.
 

Jake pulled free from his grasp and started toward his car.
 

“Hey, where are you going?”
 
Eliot called out.
 

“To
Alabama
,” he replied.
 
“That is, if a dumb jackass like me can find the way.”

As Jake got behind the wheel, he watched a grinning Eliot sink a beautiful three pointer.

Even though he mocked Eliot for his sentimentality, his words hit him like a slap in the face.
 

He hadn’t been given a second chance to fix his relationship with Nikki, but maybe it wasn’t too late to make things right with Selena.
 
He saw how stupid it had been, to deny love just because of the circumstances.
 
And he
had
loved her.
 
He loved her still.

By his own admission, he’d led an easy life, at least until recently.
 
He’d been spoiled into thinking all things came with second chances, or maybe even thirds.
 
Fate had delivered the harsh lesson that some things only came with one and Jake prayed he hadn’t let his only chance with Selena disappear.
 
She had loved him unconditionally, and in spite of incredible odds.
 
He felt connected to her after everything they’d been through.
   

Eliot was right when he said their marriage would have never survived if Nikki had lived.
 
They had been too much alike, too spoiled and too stubborn, to have survived the fallout.
 
Nobody wins a war of pride.
 
Selena had taught him love wasn’t about right or wrong.
 
It was about trust, and hope, and forgiveness.
 
He only hoped she still believed that.
 
After a quick stop in town, Jake was on his way.

Jake made the nearly 370 mile trip to Selena’s town in five hours flat, trying to make up for lost time.
 
With every mile that clicked off the odometer, he felt more certain of his feelings for her.
 
He missed her terribly, and he hoped she wasn’t tired of waiting on him.
 

He nearly drove straight through
Dothan
before he caught the name on a flower shop sign.
 
Jake turned around at a little convenience market and went back.

A bell chimed as he entered the flower shop and he smiled at the women behind the counter.
 
“Hi.
 
Do you think one of you could tell me where this is?”
 

He handed one of them the scrap of paper with Selena’s address on it.

“I’ll do you one better,” the younger one said with a wink.
 
“I’m just heading out to make a delivery to her next door
neighbor
.
 
You can follow me if you like.”

“That’d be great.”
 
Jake glanced around and said, “Oh, hey, if you’ve got time to wait on me for a sec, I’ll take an arrangement.”

“No problem.
 
Do you know what you want?”

He thought about it for a moment and smiled.
 
“Yeah, I do.
 
Do you mind if I step back there and see what you’ve got?”

After he paid for his purchase, Jake climbed in his car and followed the van back the way he came.
 
He noted with amusement that none of the roads seemed to be marked.
 
They had to stop at one place to let a couple of escapee goats get out of the road.
 
He was beginning to think that
Dothan
was bigger than he first thought.
 
It was full of hidden little back roads that twisted through the countryside like snakes.

Finally, the flower woman blew her horn and stuck her arm out the window to point at a neat looking brick house as she turned into the driveway of the house across the road.
 
Jake tooted his thanks, and pulled in the drive.

Chase was out in the front yard, his head stuck under the hood of an old pickup truck.
 
He grinned when he saw Jake get out of the car with his bouquet of wildflowers.

“It’s about time,” he said.
 
“I’m getting sick of hearing about you.”

Jake laughed.
 
“Is she here?”

“I don’t think she went with Mom and Dad.
 
Check around back.”
 
He gestured vaguely to the backyard and resumed work on his truck.

Feeling a little unsure of
himself
now that he was here, Jake wandered around the side of the house.
 
Selena sat on a porch swing on the far end of the porch, looking lovely in a red sweater and long white skirt.
 
She was staring at the field behind the house and Jake coughed to get her attention.
 
Her gaze snapped to him.

Her mouth flew open in a stunned O.

“Jake!” she gasped.

When he saw the joy on her face, Jake wished he’d come sooner.

***

He appeared so suddenly she was almost afraid he wasn’t real.
 
Selena stood and walked on wobbly legs to meet him as he climbed the step.
 
She saw the flowers in his hand and tried not to get her hopes up.

They’re not roses
, she realized.
 
Does that mean something?
 

“I was afraid that you’d forgotten all about me.”
 
She forced a smile, but felt dangerously near tears.

Jake gave her a sad smile and she wished she could read the look in his eyes.
 
He held out his arms and she folded herself around him.

“How could I have possibly forgotten you?” he whispered, as he stroked her hair.
 
A tear slipped down her face as she remembered the night she asked him the same question.

“I’ve missed you,” she said, and felt his arm tighten around her.

What had he come to say?
 
Would he come all this way to tell her there was no chance for them?

She tried to tell herself he wouldn’t, but she knew he would try to do the right thing, even if it was inconvenient for him.

He pulled away from her and gestured toward the swing.
 
 As they sat, he asked, “So, how have you been doing, with your memory and everything?”
  

“It’s been amazing,” she said, “I can remember almost everything now, up until the day of the accident.
 
 I remember going to that motel and checking in, but I can’t remember meeting Nikki.
 
 My therapist thinks my subconscious was repressing my memories, because…well, you know.”

She shot him an 
embarrassed
 look.

Because she had fallen for him and didn’t want to remember that she wasn’t his wife.

“Everybody misses you,” Jake said quietly.

“Elaine came to see me last week.
 
 Did she tell you?”

Surprise registered on his face.
 
 “No.”

“She went to
 
Montgomery
 
with Rick 
Montebelle
 and said she wanted to check on me since she was this close.
 
 I thought it was sweet.”

Elaine had been seriously dating Rick since the
 
Marshall
’s party, and Selena was glad she finally found a nice guy who seemed crazy about her.
 

They made small talk about Catherine, and Eliot, and then lapsed into an awkward silence. 
 
Selena found 
herself
 almost childishly afraid to meet his gaze, as if that would keep him from saying the words she didn’t want to hear.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come here before now.
 
 I’ve been spending a lot of time alone, thinking about things, and I want to be completely honest with you.”
 
 He cleared his throat.
 
 “Selena, I loved Nikki—”

Uh oh, here it comes,
 
she thought, and hoped she could be strong enough not to cry in front of him.
 

“From the first day I met her, I said I’d never love anyone else—”

“Stop!”
 
 She jumped to her feet, and paced as her white skirt swirled around her ankles.
 
 Her eyes stung.
 
 “I thought I could do this, but I can’t.
 
 You don’t have to explain anything.
 
 I understand.
 
 You thought I was her and anything you felt for me was because of that.”
  

Standing, he caught her wrist.
 
 “That’s not true.”

Jake held out the bouquet and gave her a crooked smile.
 
 For the first time, she noticed how odd it looked.
 
 He sat back on the swing and tugged her down beside him.
 
 “Aren’t you going to ask me what your flowers mean?”