Blown Away (23 page)

“I saw the two
of you together, and I just…” His voice drifted off as he squeezed
his eyes shut. “I got scared, Ava. I thought he was trying to take
you away from me.”

“He’s a
friend,” she said, unwilling to share the fact that he may also be
a client. “A friend and teammate of my uncle Aiden’s. I thought he
and Tara may be perfect for each other, so I was dancing with him
to try to get to know him better.”

Brent gripped
the end of the bed. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what else to say.” He
ran a hand over his head. “What does this mean for us?”

“How can you
even ask me that? Do you honestly think I could be with you after
what you did tonight?”

“Ava, please,
don’t let this ruin us.” His eyes were glossy when he said, “I’ll
talk to Eli when he wakes up. I’ll apologize, anything, just
don’t--”

“You need to
leave,” Ava said quietly. “I can’t talk about this right now.”

***

Brent returned
to his father’s hospital room feeling gutted. Ava didn’t want
anything more to do with him, and he couldn’t blame her. Instead of
confronting what happened with Eli years ago, he’d let his rage
fester until things exploded.

He wouldn’t
have reacted that way had Ava been dancing with any other man. He
may have asked to cut in, so he could take his rightful place in
her arms, but he wouldn’t have raged on anyone else. But Eli wasn’t
just any man. He was the man who’d once taken the woman Brent
thought he loved, and through the lens of jealousy, rage, and
confusion, he’d believed history was repeating itself.

When Brent
opened the door, he was shocked to see his mother sitting by his
father’s bed, holding his hand. “What the hell are you doing here?”
he asked.

She looked up
and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “Elsie called me.”

“Why would she
call you?” Brent stood at the foot of the bed, hands on his hips,
wondering if the night could possibly get any worse. His saving
grace was Derek. At least he had allowed Brent to go to the
hospital to see his father instead of hauling his butt down to the
station.

“She knew I
would want to be here.”

“Why?” Brent
asked, raising his voice. “You didn’t give a goddamn about him when
you were together. Why would you care about what happens to him
now?”

She shook her
head. “You don’t have all the answers, son. There’s so much you
don’t know.”

Crossing his
arms, Brent said, “This should be good. Why don’t you fill me
in?”

“Your father
and I have remained friends over the years.”

“That’s a lie.”
Why would his father remain close with the woman who broke his
heart? It didn’t make any sense.

“No, it’s not.”
She stroked a rose tattoo on Jerry’s lower arm that bore her name .
“You can ask Elsie if you don’t believe me. I’ve stopped by or
called your father at least once or twice a month.”

Brent had to
sit down. She couldn’t be telling the truth. “Why didn’t he tell
me?”

“He didn’t
think you’d understand.” She smiled at the man she’d once called
her husband. “You’d already decided I was to blame for breaking up
our family. He said that no matter what he said to try to convince
you otherwise, you wouldn’t listen.” She looked up at him as a tear
slid down her cheek. “At first, I stayed close to your father
because it was the only way I could stay close to you boys.”

Brent’s head
was spinning. Everything he thought he knew about his family was
being challenged, and he didn’t know how to process it.

“Eventually, we
became friends again. All of the resentment and anger that plagued
the last few years of our marriage faded away, and I remembered why
I loved him.”

“What are you
saying?”

She brought
Jerry’s hand to her lips and kissed it. He didn’t even stir. “If
you’re lucky, you have one great love in your life, Brent. Your
father was mine.”

“If that’s
true, why the hell did you leave him? Was money more important to
you than him, than us?”

“It was never
about money. I know you don’t believe that, but it’s the
truth.”

“Then what was
it about? Why did you leave?”

“Your father
was never home. He was gone for weeks at a time, and I was lonely.”
She reached for a tissue on the bedside table and dabbed at her
cheeks. “I was miserable all the time without him, and you boys
were a handful.”

“Are you saying
that’s why you left?” Brent could barely breathe when he asked,
“Because we drove you away?”

“No!” She got
up and came around the bed. Facing Brent, she said, “I loved you
boys so much. You were my whole world.” Her bottom lip trembled
when she said, “But I couldn’t do it all by myself.”

“Do what?”

“I felt like I
was suffocating.” She started crying in earnest, her shoulders
trembling. “There was never enough money to pay the bills. The debt
collectors called every day, and your father was never there. I
felt trapped. I knew if I didn’t get out, I’d go crazy.” She looked
up. “That’s when I met Martin. We were just friends at first. He
said he cared about me, that he could give me and you boys a better
life. I wanted you to come and live with us… I thought you would
enjoy having your own room and a big backyard.” She got to her feet
and paced the small room. “By the time I realized those things
didn’t matter, I was trapped again. Only this time I was living in
a mansion with access to credit cards and a bank account to ease my
suffering.”

Brent didn’t
know what to think or how to feel.

“You have to
understand, son, I barely graduated high school. I didn’t have any
skills. I didn’t think I had any options. I realized too late that
we always have options. I took the coward’s way out. If I wasn’t
happy with your father, I could have just moved out and gotten a
job waiting tables or something. I could have gone back to school
at night.” She threw her hands up. “I don’t know how I would have
made it work, but at least I would have had my children.” She
looked him in the eye and her pain was etched in the lines he’d
never noticed before. “My biggest regret is that I lost out on so
much of your life. I’m so sorry for that.”

Brent knew what
living with regrets was like, but he was a stranger to forgiveness.
He didn’t even know where to begin. He looked at his father. Jerry
had developed that skill early on and always tried to impart it to
his sons. Keith seemed to have gotten the message, but Brent always
had too much rage to forgive the woman he’d blamed for ruining his
life.

“I need time,”
he said quietly. “I don’t know what to make of this. I need to talk
to my father…” He prayed he would have that chance. The doctor had
given Jerry a stronger antibiotic and said they needed to give it
time to work. Brent only hoped his father had more time.

“I understand.”
Claudia rested her hand on her son’s shoulder. “Will you call me if
his condition changes?”

“Sure.” It was
a start. Twenty-four hours ago, he wouldn’t have been able to stand
the sight of his mother, much less agree to keep her apprised of
his father’s condition.

Ava was falling asleep
in the chair beside Eli’s bed. He’d had visitors all night, and
he’d been struggling to stay awake to assure his friends and
teammates he would be fine. Eli had told her to go home, but she
wanted to stay a little longer in case he needed anything.

She was
standing to stretch when the door opened and Jasmine appeared,
looking as though she’d just rolled out of bed and rushed out the
door. Her face was bare, she was wearing baggy sweats, and her hair
was pulled up in a messy ponytail.

“What are you
doing here, Jasmine?” Ava asked.

She didn’t
bother to respond as she rushed to Eli’s bedside. “I went to sleep
early last night. I just heard what happened. Is he going to be
okay?” She hovered over him, her eyes filled with concern. “Please
tell me he’s going to be okay.”

Eli’s eyes
opened and a half-smile played across his swollen mouth. “Jamie,”
he whispered. “You made it. Is this what I have to do to get your
attention?”

Jamie?
As in his ex-girlfriend?

A half-laugh,
half-sob escaped Jasmine’s lips as she lightly smacked his arm.
“You worried me half to death, you jerk. What the hell
happened?”

Eli’s eyes
drifted closed. “It’s a long story, babe. Can I tell you
later?”

“Sure,” she
said, pulling up a chair. “You rest. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll
be right here when you wake up, I promise.”

“You’re Eli’s
ex-girlfriend?” Ava asked. She felt a headache coming on. It was no
wonder. Sorting out the mess that was suddenly her life was proving
impossible. Just when she thought she had a grasp on it, she had to
scramble to catch another curveball. “And Brent’s ex-fiancée?” The
pieces were finally falling into place. “You cheated on Brent with
Eli, didn’t you?”

Jasmine
grimaced. “It was not one of my finer moments.”

“How could you
do that?” Ava tried not to be judgemental, but she couldn’t
understand what would possess a woman to cheat on a man she’d
committed to spending her life with. “If you loved Eli, why did you
agree to marry Brent?”

“It wasn’t like
that.” Jasmine pulled her ponytail loose and scraped her nails over
her scalp. “Eli and I have been friends since high school.”

“According to
him, you were more than friends.”

Jasmine
shrugged. “We dated, but I knew I wasn’t going to marry him. We
were just kids.”

Ava didn’t know
anything about their relationship, but she knew it wasn’t her place
to question it. Her only concern was Brent’s role. “So you remained
friends with Eli, even after you and Brent got engaged?”

“Sure.” She
looked at Eli, smiling. “I knew Brent wasn’t too happy about it,
but Eli was my anchor, you know? My go-to guy when things seemed
unbearable. I didn’t want to lose him.”

“Shouldn’t your
fiancée have been the man you turned to?”

“Yeah, I guess
he should have, but Brent was busy building his business. I didn’t
want to bother him with my silly little problems.”

“If he loved
you, I don’t think he would have seen it that way. He would have
wanted to help you.” She knew there was little Brent wouldn’t do
for the people he loved.

“Maybe that was
the problem,” Jasmine said quietly. “I never felt he loved me, not
really.” She looked at Ava. “I thought something might have
changed, that’s why I came back.”

Ava’s heart
began to race. “You came back to town hoping to reconcile with
Brent?”

“I guess I did.
I wasn’t willing to admit that to myself or anyone else, but when
Tucker called and told me he was working on Brent’s new house, I
jumped at the opportunity to get involved. I hoped spending so much
time together would pave the way for us to get back together.”

Ava had to
appreciate her honesty, even if she was beginning to despise her.
“Maybe it will.”

“No,” Jasmine
said, shaking her head, “that ship has sailed. He’s in love with
you.”

“It’s over
between us.”

“Is it really?”
Jasmine scrutinized her, as though trying to read the meaning
behind her words. “Why is it over?”

Ava gestured to
Eli. “Isn’t it obvious? He doesn’t trust me. He’s a jealous,
possessive, control freak, workaholic…” They shared a knowing
smile. “And a pain in the ass.”

Jasmine
laughed. “But you still love him.”

“I don’t
know.”

“Yes, you
do.”

“How can I just
forget about what happened tonight? How can I be sure it won’t
happen again?” Ava asked.

“I’ve never
seen Brent get violent with anyone, Ava. He doesn’t have a
reputation for being a violent man; quite the opposite, in fact.
He’s always in control.”

“You can’t deny
he’s jealous and possessive. We both know that’s not healthy.”

“I never saw
that side of him.” She lifted a shoulder. “Sure, he questioned my
relationship with Eli from time to time, but he never demanded I
stop seeing him. If he’s that jealous over you, it’s only because
he’s afraid of losing you. He has a lot of issues, I’m sure you
know that. Maybe he just needs someone like you to help him work it
out.”

“I don’t know
if I can.”

Jasmine reached
for Eli’s hand. “Only you can decide that. Brent wants what we all
want: someone to love us. He wants to know he has someone to go
home to at the end of the day and share his problems with. If you
can’t be that person, then you’re right to let him go.”

Ava didn’t know
if she was ready to let him go, but she didn’t know if she was
strong enough to help him deal with his issues either. “I need to
go home and take a shower, change my clothes. Will you be here a
while?”

“I’ll be here
as long as Eli needs me.”

Ava stepped
into the hall and was surprised to see Keith getting off the
elevator with two coffees.

“Hey, you look
like you could use one of these. My brother can do without.” He
grinned.

“Brent’s
here?”

“Yeah.” He
gestured toward a closed door just down the hall. “He’s here with
our dad. You didn’t know?”

Oh, no.
“No, I didn’t know. How is your dad?”

“The medication
seems to be helping. We’ll know for sure whether he’s able to
breathe on his own when they take him off the ventilator.”

“I’m so sorry,”
Ava said, touching his arm. “I know this must be difficult for
you.”

“Brent’s been a
rock, as always.” He passed one of the cups to Ava. “I heard about
what happened last night. I’m sorry you had to witness that.”

“Have you ever
seen Brent like that before? I know you weren’t there, but--”

“I saw it.”

“What?
How?”