Forgiving Patience (33 page)

“I wouldn’t say you could if I
wasn’t.”

“Why have you been so nice to me? You
don’t even know me.”

“I like you, and you’re refreshing to
be around. I might not know much about you, but I would love to know more.
Everyone needs a
Georgia
in their lives. Maybe before I go
back to Linden, we could go have a drink at Ollie’s.”

Anna could see Georgia’s eyes go a
little glossy. But the woman held back a tear and smiled sweetly. “You go
there?”

“Yep. I’ve gotten to know the owner
pretty well. Why don’t we make that our second date? We’ll have the whole town
in an uproar before I leave.”

After receiving a hug, Anna left
Georgia to her work and headed back to the apartment. The rehearsal dinner
would be in a few hours, and she wanted to have plenty of time to get ready.
And that had nothing to do with the fact that she was going with Jake.

Noticing Garret next door to her
apartment at an empty house, she walked over. She hadn’t noticed anyone coming
or going from the place, which probably explained why Garrett was putting up a
for
sale
sign.

“Hey, stranger,” she hollered.

He turned from his task of pushing
the sign into the soft ground to pivot in her direction. He had on black dress
slacks and a white polo shirt. How could he work with a woman like Georgia, and
still not have any color in his wardrobe? There was no way the two of them were
dating. But she still couldn’t figure out why Georgia would bid on him at the
auction. That would hopefully be a topic discussed at Ollie’s.

“Hi, Anna,” he replied.

“I’ve been meaning to stop in and
talk to you.”

“You’ve been busy.” It wasn’t a
question, and she guessed Garrett had noticed how often Jake was at her place.

“I guess you could say that. So
what’s up with this place?”

“The owners left town a couple months
back. It used to be a children’s consignment shop, but the couple decided to
move back to their hometown before their young son started school.”

“Well, that’s more business for you.
But what a shame for the house. It’s lovely.”

And it was. The two-story house was a
deep blue with white trim and white shutters. There were two porches, one on
the upper story and the other on the bottom that ran the length of the house.
The paved driveway was lined with colorful flowers, and the grass had just
recently been mown.

“So, what about your house? Has Jake
given it back yet?” When he asked, he let his gaze drop to the ground. Anna
could tell he’d been beating himself up over the whole deal and the part he’d
played in it.

“I’m working on it. I think I have
one date left.”

“Look, Anna, I’m really sorry about
that. I shouldn’t have listened to Jake. I should’ve asked you first.”

“It’s fine, Garrett…really. I won’t
lie, I was pretty ticked at first, but now I realize that you were just trying
to help in your own way. Besides, it wasn’t only on you. Jake played a big part
in it too.”

“You’ve been really great about it.
You are a kind person.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. But I guess
I can be forgiving when I want to be. So, don’t worry about it anymore. You’ve
given me a nice place to stay to make up for it. Now, if we can just sell my
house, all will be forgiven.”

“I’m working on it. I went out the
other day and replaced the sign Jake took down. With all the repairs he’s done,
I think we shouldn’t have that hard of a time finding a buyer.”

Funny how she didn’t mind that she
hadn’t even spent more than one night there. It didn’t bother her that one of
her reasons for coming back to Patience hadn’t even happened. She didn’t know
what to feel about that. Or what exactly it meant.

“Thank you for everything you’ve
done, as far as trying to sell it,” she praised.

“That’s my job.”

“Well, that might be the case, but I
just wanted to thank you for doing everything possible to sell it. I really do
appreciate it.”

Chapter Sixteen

A few hours later Anna stood in front
of the hotel-size mirror admiring her look for the night. She wore high-
waisted
, wide-legged black pants. They showed off her
assets. She was beginning to like her hips and butt. They gave her shape, and
with the recent looseness of her pants, she thought maybe she had lost a few
pounds. All that walking and occasional running might have been paying off. She
paired the pants with a white blouse tucked into them, its sleeves rolled a
quarter up her arm. Instead of putting her hair in a ponytail, she curled it
and left it hanging past her shoulders. Her skin was starting to show some color
so her makeup looked amazing on her semi-bronze skin. Overall, she was happy
with her appearance for the evening. If she said so herself, she looked
hot
.

While giving her hair a final fluff,
a knock sounded at the door. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. She forced
herself to take a calming breath, letting it in and slowly out. She wiped the
palms of her hands on her pants and opened the door.

“Wow, sweetness, you look stunning.
What did you do to your hair?” Jake’s gaze, emphasized by his sparkling sapphire
eyes, started at her feet and ended at her hair.

“Do you like it?” she nervously
asked.

“Yes, I do. I want to run my fingers
through those big, bouncing curls.”

“Don’t you dare, mister.” She pointed
a stern finger at him and added, “It took me an hour to get it like this. I
will not have you messing it up already.”

“The night is still young.”

Her thighs ached at the invitation.
She had awakened in his arms for the past two mornings, and she couldn’t think
of a better way to welcome the day. Never had she felt so rested and ready to
fight what was ahead of her. Except, it didn’t feel like a struggle. Things
seemed easy with Jake around. They talked about the easy stuff, leaving the
complicated things for later. They had made love several times last night…and
early this morning, and he held her afterwards—keeping the dreams that plagued
her mind lately at bay for the most part. She felt safe with him.

Last night he’d saved her. When she’d
needed him, he was there, taking care of her. He did it in a way that made her
feel in control of her life, but offered himself. He’d given everything he had
to her when he came to her rescue out-of-the-blue.

Last night with him had been a
pivotal point in her life. It was important that Jake had let her have the
control in their lovemaking. And for the first time in her life, she was taking
charge when it came to her body and the way she felt sexually. Jake had done
more for her than he could’ve imagined. Not once did she flinch at his touch.
Nor did she shy away from taking what she wanted from him. This was a major
step for her.

“We’d better go.” She grabbed her
small red handbag and indicated that he should walk out of the door he had just
barely entered.

“You not going to lock up?”

“No, I never lock the door.”

“I can see that. Last night I just
walked in, which I was thankful for at the time, but it’s not safe.”

“In all the time I lived in Patience,
my mother never feared someone coming in while we slept.”

“Well, y’all had Larry there to
protect you for some of those years, and after that your mom should have locked
the door,” he commented, not knowing his words were far from the truth.

And there it was. She was wondering
when Larry would be brought up. Thus far she hadn’t been confronted by that
bastard’s name. But she’d known that someone would bring him up sooner or
later. Little did Jake know that Larry wasn’t the protecting type…he was just
the opposite.

All of her previous emotions of
feeling in control of her body seemed to be taken away the minute Larry’s name
was mentioned. She gripped the doorknob to steady her uneasy legs. Why did Jake
have to bring up that name right now? Jake and she weren’t even together when
her mom’s boyfriend had lived with them.

Concerned, Jake asked, “You okay,
babe?”

“Yeah. Just haven’t heard anyone talk
about Larry in years.”

“I didn’t know him personally. Did I
miss something? Was I not supposed to bring him up?”

“You ready? If we’re late, Em will
kill us both.

“Then let’s not get killed. After
you.” He extended his arm out in front of him to let her walk ahead. But there
was no hiding the fact from her that before he closed the door, he reached
around the knob to lock it.

You couldn’t say there was a chill in
the air, but it was definitely cooler than it had been. The temperature during the
day had to have been close to ninety-five with high humidity. Now, a slight
breeze blew in from the west, hopefully bringing a day with lower temperatures
tomorrow.

“You care if we drive my truck
tonight?”

“You expect me to ride in Fenway
again?” She hadn’t given the first time that much thought because the only
thing she was concerned about then was getting to her place so she could
finally be with Jake.

“Fenway?” he asked, clearly confused
by the name she’d given his truck.

“I named it Fenway the day you tried
to run me off the road. It reminded me of the Green Monster in Fenway Park.”

“I thought we’d already covered this.
I didn’t try to run you off the road. And you just drive too damn slow. I don’t
know what I think about you giving my truck a name that represents everything
you hate. Since your precious Yankees hate the Green Monster.”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have a
green truck jacked up off the ground. Not to mention you drive recklessly.”

“I can’t help that the color of my
truck is not blue like your little sports car. And I’m not reckless. I wish
everyone would quit saying that. I love to drive fast on long country roads.
Running up on you was pure coincidence. A good surprise, if I say so myself.”

His wink at her left her in a puddle
at his feet. He should come with a warning label: Attention, ladies. He might
have bad taste in baseball teams, but God, he sure can charm his way into your
bed.

* * * *

After putting up a half-assed fight,
Anna agreed to ride in his truck. Of course, Jake demanded that she not call
his truck Fenway when he was around, and her reply was “Fenway.” He let out an
aggravated sigh, but dropped the subject. His brooding response made her smile.

Her own mood was a combination of
jitters and concern about what the others would think about her and Jake
showing up together. She knew that the town was already buzzing at the
knowledge of him having spent a couple nights at her place. They could put two
and two together and figure out what was going on behind closed doors.

She still didn’t know what she and
Jake were doing, but did know it was destined to be short-lived. After the
wedding was over and after making sure her house was ready to be sold, she
would be heading back to Linden—not accomplishing everything she needed to. Her
bad dreams were more frequent, but that was to be expected with her being back
where the nightmare began. Patience was a trigger point for her. But she was
making it through them. With the exception of last night, she was handling them
pretty well.

She’d expected more anxiety, but it
wasn’t there. Of course, she hadn’t been at her house very much. But the few
times she had, she didn’t panic and run out of the door screaming. The memories
were still fresh, but her emotions about her past were different than she had
expected. It was like she didn’t care anymore. She felt sorry for that
six-year-old girl who had to live through the traumatic experiences, but the
twenty-nine-year-old woman was starting to move on the best she could. Anna
wasn’t naive about her situation, though. It was still going to be a tough road
ahead of her, and she was sure it always would be, but she was doing it.

They pulled up at the church where
the wedding would be taking place. Jake jumped out of the truck and rushed to
open her door before she could do it herself. She had to admit, he sure was
charming.

“You ready for this?” Jake asked.

“I guess. You know people are going
to stare and whisper.”

“Probably. But there’s no reason to.
It’s not like we’re on a date.”

“What? This is our third—and final
date. We agreed. I had dinner with you, went to watch a baseball game, and now
I came here with you.”

“We just happened to show up here
together. You had to be here. I had to be here. Therefore, it isn’t considered
a date. When we go on a date, I’d like to have you all to myself, not share you
with half the town.”

“You’re impossible, you know that?”

“I’m just playing by the rules,
sweetness…just playing by the rules.” He kissed her on the nose for good
measure, and she couldn’t help but smile. Reaching over her, he opened the
glove box and pulled out a small box. “I got you this.”