Forgiving Patience (37 page)

“I didn’t. That whole next day I
stayed to myself. I remember her trying to call and probably invite me to that
party, but I just wasn’t ready to talk to her. I didn’t want to talk to
anyone.”

“Well, I had to get things out and
sorted. I was trying to figure out what I had done for you to just end things
the way you did. Cara and I were just talking, and then she came up with this
plan. She was mad more than hurt. She suggested that we tell everyone we slept
together.”

“Wait. What did you just say?” Anna
swore her own heart stopped beating. The shock of his words paralyzed her.

“Cara and I never were together.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me? Why
would y’all do that?”

“She wanted to make her ex-boyfriend
jealous, and I just didn’t care anymore. You’d ended things with me. Nothing
mattered to me after that. The next day when she told everyone…I just didn’t
deny it. It wasn’t like I cheated on you because you had already broken up with
me, so I didn’t see the harm.”

The pain of betrayal hit Anna hard.
She was seething with anger. “You didn’t see the harm in breaking my heart?”

“You broke me too, Anna. I don’t know
what else to say.”

“I didn’t lie to you. Everything I
said was the truth.”

“That’s the thing, you didn’t tell me
anything. You telling me you couldn’t do this anymore was a lame excuse for
leaving. If you would’ve just told me what was really going on, things might’ve
been different. What did you expect me to do?”

“Nothing. I guess I should’ve
expected nothing out of you. Get out.”

“No.”

“I said get out. I can’t do this with
you right now. Just, please go.”

“Anna, you wanted to know, and I was
just telling you how it all went down.”

“I said, go,” she shouted.

“Don’t shut down on me now. Whether
you like it or not, you feel things for me. And for us to work it out, you’re
going to have to start talking to me. If you want to yell, yell. If you want to
slap me, I can’t say that I would enjoy it, but I’ll take it. Just do something
besides shut me out.”

There was nothing she wanted to do.
She couldn’t yell, and while slapping him would’ve made her feel good for the
moment, it still wouldn’t have changed anything. She would still feel hurt and
lied to.

“Go.”

* * * *

Pulling down the long, curvy
driveway, Jake felt like he was coming home. And home was where he needed to be
at the moment. He’d screwed up. He stopped his truck just behind Bradley’s
Jeep, grabbed his tuxedo for the wedding, and walked around to the back.
Growing up, his house was always one where friends entered through the back door.
He always thought it odd, but over time realized it made the house seem more
inviting. When his mom had been alive, everyone was welcomed in the Lawrence
home. She was never one to turn a stranger away. God, he missed her.

Lucy, Bradley’s basset hound, met him
on the porch. He patted her head, gently moving the lazy dog out of the way of
the door so he could enter.

“Bradley, I’m here,” Jake hollered
through the house.

He laid his garment bag on the arm of
the chair and made his way to the kitchen to get a cold RC Cola out of the
fridge. He popped the can and took a long swig. It was ice-cold and took his
breath away. It gave him a kick, but not the kind he needed. He needed a kick
in the butt, and only one person could give that to him and live to tell about
it.

“Bradley, where you at?”

“Right here, bro. Why aren’t you
dressed?”

Bradley had all the Lawrence good
looks when he used his swagger and walked into the kitchen. He was already
dressed in his tux. He reminded Jake so much of their dad. It hurt to look at
Bradley and see his dad’s eyes staring back at him.

“I brought my tux with me. It was too
damn hot to ride over here in it.”

“You look like shit today.”

“Well, thanks, you look well
yourself.”

“No, really, what happened to you?”

“I just didn’t get much sleep last
night.” Jake’s eyes were swollen and bloodshot, and he knew his brother was
only speaking the truth.

“Sexual frustrations?”

“Fuck off. We’re not talking about
that again. Last time we kicked each other’s asses.”

“Chill…I’m just trying to lighten
your down mood.”

Jake slumped down in a kitchen chair
and raked a hand through his hair. “I screwed up. Big.”

“Screwed up how?” Bradley pulled out
a chair, turned it around, and straddled it.

“With Anna. I told her about Cara.”

“You what? Why would you do that? I
thought things were going good between the two of you. After what happened at
the bachelorette party, Cara is the last person I would’ve brought up.”

“They are…they were, but she wanted
to know, and I couldn’t lie to her anymore. I told her everything.”

“Which was?”

“That I never slept with Cara. That I
never denied it when Cara told everyone at school that we did.”

“You mean you never fucked her?”

Jake had been so out of his mind that
he’d never even told Bradley what had happened between him and Cara. “That’s
exactly what I’m saying.”

“You let Anna think all these years
that you cheated on her? Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know, maybe because I was
pissed that she broke up with me. She left me…what was I supposed to do?”

“Did she tell you why she broke up
with you?”

“Yes.”

“You want to tell me why?”

“No.” Jake couldn’t tell Bradley the
real reasons for Anna’s departure. That was between him and Anna. She’d thought
she was doing him a favor by leaving, and even though she was dead wrong, he
couldn’t deny her reasons. There were things she’d lived through that he’d
never had to think of while growing up. Not for a moment in his childhood did
he feel unsafe in his own home. His heart broke for her.

“I get that, but Anna seems like a
level-headed woman. I imagine she had a damn good reason for ending things.”

“In her mind she did.”

“Then you are just going to have to
forgive her for that. But, man, I have to say, you lying to her about Cara is
messed up. That’s something I would do…not you.”

“I know I screwed up, but I was in a
bad place.”

“I get that, but why are you just now
telling her?”

“I brought it up several times since
she got back, but she didn’t want to hear it. Last night…well, it was actually
early this morning, she wanted to know. You should’ve seen the way she looked
at me. I thought she would be relieved.”

“Come on, Jake, no woman is going to
be happy that you’ve lied to them for what…ten…eleven years. You have to see
that.”

And Jake was seeing that. On one
hand, he saw where she was coming from. She was hurt and had spent all these
years believing the worst and hating him for something he hadn’t actually done.
But he thought she would in some way be relieved by his lack of action. There
was nothing he could do to change it now. They both had made mistakes, and now
they were paying for them.

“I know, but I don’t know how to fix
it.”

“Talk to her. Don’t let things end
like this. You’ve been in a bad place since your accident and are just now
getting back to a happy frame of mind. And I think Anna has something to do
with that. Don’t let her go now. You just got her back.”

“I will handle it. Thanks, bro.”

“No prob. Now, are you going to get
ready?”

“Yeah, but I have one question.”

“What’s that?”

“Who’s going with us?”

“
Whatcha
mean? Nobody’s going with us.”

“You mean no hot chick will be
accompanying us to the wedding?”

“No. You know what they say about
weddings. They’re good places to find hot, available women.”

“Why didn’t I think of that? Give me
a minute and we can get to the church.”

* * * *

“Anna, I don’t think I can do this.”

Anna had never seen her best friend
so scared. “Emilee, you listen to me. Tommy loves you. It’s rare for any of us
to find a love like the both of you share. Do you love him?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then quit second guessing yourself,
put this dress on, and get ready to walk down the aisle.”

Anna loved her friend, but Em had
picked the worst time to start having wedding jitters. The wedding was expected
to start in fifteen minutes—which meant Anna had to get her friend ready and
calm enough to stand on her own two feet—and put the last minute details into
her own appearance. She could barely hide the gloom surrounding her. Though the
sun was beaming and it was a good evening for a wedding, Anna couldn’t shake
the revelations from the night before.

But she didn’t have time to think
about Jake and his betrayal. This was Em and Tommy’s day, and Anna’s emotions
would have to come later. And later they would come. After she’d turned her
back on Jake and insisted he leave, she hadn’t gotten much sleep. Zero sleep
was more accurate. She drank a pot of coffee, emailed Liza, and tried reading,
but nothing would help her forget Jake. Whether she liked it or not, she was
going to have to feel the pain he’d caused all over again. And she didn’t know
if she could survive it for a second time.

“Do you need me to do anything?”
Georgia asked, thankfully interrupting Anna’s thoughts.

“No, I think we’re going to be good
now.” Anna turned to Em. “Aren’t we, Em?”

“Sorry, girls, I’m getting married. I
do get the right to want to run, don’t I? It’s written in the wedding handbook
or something.”

Georgia, being bubbly and full of
romantic notions, said, “Em, thank you for letting me come to your wedding. You
are a beautiful bride, and even though I don’t know you, I can tell that you
and Tommy have something others search their whole lives for. I, along with
most, am envious of that kind of love. I wish nothing but happiness for the two
of you.”

Anna saw a tear slide down
Em’s
cheek. “No, there will be no crying. It took you
almost an hour to get your face the way you wanted it. We don’t have time to
reapply.” Anna shoved a tissue into
Em’s
hand,
forcing her to gently dab at the falling tears. They were on a strict timeline,
and crying wasn’t an option. The tears needed to be saved for the actual
ceremony.

Or in Anna’s case, after the
ceremony.

“Georgia, that is so beautiful of you
to say. How long have you lived here?” Em still looked misty-eyed.

“I’ve only been here a couple of
months. I haven’t gotten to know a lot of the people around, but the ones I’ve
met seem real nice.”

“You are a good person. Why don’t
you, Anna and I, go down to Ollie’s one night after I get back from my
honeymoon? It can be just a girls’ night out.”

“That sounds like fun. I would love
that,” Georgia cheerfully agreed.

Interrupting the girl talk, Anna
chimed in, “Hate to be a downer on the girl night, but I won’t be here when you
get back from your honeymoon. I plan on going back home in a few days.” Or
tonight, she wanted to add, but decided to keep her mouth closed. Em would only
pry, and they didn’t have time for some drawn-out discussion. And they really
didn’t have time for Em to find Jake and beat the tar out of him.

“You trying to kill me or something?
I thought you were staying a little longer so you can do some finish work on
the house. What’s changed?” Em took Anna’s hands and brought them down, forcing
Anna to sit in the chair beside her. “Tell me, Anna.”

“We don’t have time for this right
now. You need to get your dress on. I will talk to you later.”

“Promise?” Em asked while Georgia
helped her get into her gown. “I promise.”

She should have known that Em, even
before her wedding, wouldn’t let the conversation go unchallenged. And when the
time came, what was she going to say? That she’d reluctantly come back to
Patience, knowing it wasn’t the best idea, but had decided her best friend came
first. Now, standing in the bridal suite,
Em’s
life
was moving forward, and Anna’s was standing still.

“Here we go. Georgia, if you could
unzip the dress, then that way I can just step into it.” Georgia did what Em
said, and before Anna realized, Em was zipped up tight in her wedding dress,
looking amazing. The strapless taffeta flare gown was a perfect match for
Em’s
body. The beautiful beading was stunning, to say the
least. The open back showed off
Em’s
tanned skin.
Anna walked over to stand behind Em in the mirror and whispered, “You really
look pretty, Em.” More tears filled both girls’ eyes. They laughed and reached
for a wad of tissues.