Return to You (9 page)

A final glance in the mirror had her pleased with what she saw, and for a brief moment, she tried to imagine how James was going to see her. Would he think that she had dressed for him? Did she look like she was trying too hard to impress? Shaking her head, she realized that paranoia was beginning to overwhelm her. “I look completely normal, exactly the way I would dress when meeting a friend for lunch. Which I am.”

Personal pep talk completed, she walked around the suite and collected all the reunion paperwork she was going to need along with her briefcase and her phone. Glancing around the room and certain that she hadn't forgotten anything, she stepped out, pulling the door closed behind her.

She rode the elevator down to the lobby and felt confident in what the day held for her. If only the cops could find this Todd guy and ease Jen's mind, it would be a perfect day.

He was late.

It was now after four and Selena was beyond furious. She had called the police station and could not get an answer as to where he was. It was more than possible that he had been called away on some sort of police business, but he could have at least let her know. Calling Jen to get his number was a possibility, but Selena thought she'd be damned if she'd chase him down. She had extended the olive branch, and now he was being spiteful. She wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Well, fine. Let him be spiteful. Another glance at her watch showed it going on four twenty. She'd give him until four thirty and then she'd leave, to hell with closure. Ten years ago she was thrust into a situation beyond her control, and when she had needed James the most, he had bailed. She didn't need him now. She had lived just fine without him—barely—but now, seeing him for who he really was had opened her eyes. If there had been any lingering—overly romanticized hopes and memories on her part—this little stunt of his had certainly killed them.

Finishing off the hot chocolate she had ordered, Selena meticulously cleared off the table and threw away her trash. She made her way to the door slowly, and once outside, she even stopped to look around just in case he was walking her way. This part of town wasn't familiar to her, and she wasn't even sure which direction James's police precinct was or where he would be coming from. But as she looked around, she felt empty and defeated. Everything she thought she needed had been right within her reach, and James Montgomery had taken it away again—leaving her alone, with nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Again.

With a sense of determination, she walked back to her car with her head held high—just in case he was lurking around and watching her. That's when her phone rang. Certain that it was James calling with an apology, she was disappointed to see Jen's face appear on the screen. “Hey!” Selena answered, forcing herself to sound cheery when she felt like screaming. “How was your day? Where are you?”

“Exhausting as usual,” Jen replied. “I talked to Mike, and there's still no sign of Todd, but…I think I'm going to sleep at home tonight. I know you paid for the hotel, and it's not that I don't appreciate it, and if you want to stay with me tonight, that's fine…”

“But…” Selena prompted.

“But…I guess I'm just a little overwhelmed with everything, and I kind of wanted some time alone. I know I hounded you about coming home and spending time with me, and here I am all but throwing you out…”

“Jen, Jen,” Selena interrupted. “It's okay. I completely understand. To be honest, today was a little exhausting for me too.” She knew it wasn't fair to dump any more drama on Jen, but that's what friends were for, right?

“How did the lunch go?” Jen asked.

Selena told her about the fun she'd had with the girls and all of the plans they had confirmed, and then told her about James standing her up. “I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm kind of pissed.”

“I don't believe he did it on purpose,” Jen said, coming to James's defense. “I'm sure he just got busy and didn't have your number.”

“Maybe,” Selena said begrudgingly. “It still pisses me off.” That was an understatement if she had ever uttered one.

“Rightfully so. So what are you going to do? Are you going to call him again?”

“I'm not going to do a damn thing. If he wants to talk to me, he can call me, and
maybe
I'll try to fit him into my schedule.”

“Selena…” Jen warned. “Enough is enough. It's not going to do
you
any good to play at being spiteful. If he calls, promise me you'll hear him out.”

“I was ready to hear him out this afternoon, if you recall.” Selena sighed loudly. “I'm a grown woman, and he still has the ability to make me feel like I'm still in high school. It's pretty damn annoying.” And humiliating.

“Look, I'm not going to pretend to understand all that's going on in your head right now. I just think you need to keep in mind that there are two sides to every story,” Jen said.

It was hard to argue with that kind of logic. “Fine. If he calls, and I'm doubting that he will, I will hear him out.” Maybe. “But I'm still pissed that he didn't show and I'm not going to pretend I'm not.”

“Okay, okay… I guess I can understand that. So are you just going to go back to the hotel and hang out, or do you still want to meet for dinner or something?”

“No, you go on home and enjoy being there,” Selena said. “I think I'm going to head back to the hotel now, order some room service, take a nice long soak in the tub, and just relax.”

“What about tomorrow?”

“I was thinking of visiting my grandmother. I know you're not on board with me surprising her, but this week is going to fly by, and if I don't make time now, I may not get a chance to see her. By Thursday, I'm going to be super busy overseeing all the final preps for the reunion.”

“When am I going to see you, then?”

“Whenever you want,” Selena said with a laugh. “Go have a quiet night at home and call me when you get done with work tomorrow, and we'll take it from there. I seriously don't mind staying at the hotel so you can have some quiet time to yourself. It's been a wild couple of days.”

“That's putting it mildly. Are you sure you're not mad?”

“I'm positive, Jen. This is like a mini-vacation for me, and I never allow myself to take a vacation. It's kind of nice. I may book another massage.”

“You're just saying that to make me jealous.”

“And room service for two. They don't need to know you went home.”

“Well, don't forget that we have little black dresses to get into this weekend, so no more cheeseburgers and milk shakes for dinner.”

“Oh, you're no fun!” They hung up, and for the first time in several hours, Selena actually felt better. “The hell with James Montgomery,” she said as she climbed into her car. “Clearly there's a reason we didn't work out then and why we wouldn't work out today.”

Once back at the hotel, she did exactly what she had described to Jen—soaked in the tub, ordered room service (grilled chicken and a Greek salad), and turned off her phone before settling down to watch a little TV. It didn't take long for her to realize she was more tired than she had thought, and by eight o'clock, Selena could barely keep her eyes open. She stood and stretched and headed toward her bedroom. “I can go to bed anytime I want,” she said around a big yawn. “And no set time to get up. I am living the dream.” She crawled into bed, turned off the bedside lamp, and fell immediately to sleep.

* * *

Selena
had
never
been
so
happy
in
her
entire
life. It was a month after graduation, and she and James were celebrating their eight-month anniversary at the beach. They had been talking about their future, and while Selena knew her family was not going to be on board with her plans, she couldn't be happier about them.

“I can't believe there are no crowds here today,” she said as she cleaned up their picnic. “I would have thought we'd be hard-pressed to find a spot.”

“It's late in the day. The crowds are all sunburned and on their way home.” He kissed her arm. “We'll have to take care and not let you get burned with all this fair skin.” He was kissing his way upward. “How about I just lie on top of you and keep you covered?” he suggested with an impish grin while waggling his eyebrows.

“You're crazy!” she giggled. He was lightly kissing her neck now, and she was loving it. “James?”

“Hmm?”

“I can't believe that this time next month I'm supposed to be leaving for college.” That stopped him. They put their heads together and looked into each other's eyes. “How am I supposed to live that far away from you?”

“You're not,” he said and placed a quick kiss on her lips before sitting up. “You're going to stay here, marry me, and we'll live happily ever after. There. All settled.” He tried to go back to kissing her neck from their new position, but she pulled back.

“So I have something to tell you,” she began nervously as she reclined against James's chest and watched the waves rolling in.

He
gently
turned
her
toward
him. He knew that tone of voice, and yet he was afraid of what she was going to say. “What is it?” Dread and fear filled him.

“I'm late.”

“For what?”

She
could
have
killed
him
for
being
so
obtuse. “My period is late!”

James
let
out
a
whoop
of
delight
and
pulled
Selena
in
close
and
kissed
her
soundly
on
the
lips. “Don't you see, Selena? It's perfect! Now you don't have to leave and go to school. You can stay here, take some classes at the community college if you want, and we can get married! Say yes; marry me, Selena!”

Her
eyes
filled
with
tears
as
she
nodded
her
head. “I will! I will marry you, James!” They kissed again and when they broke apart, the look of sheer joy on his face was her undoing. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too. It's going to be perfect, like everything we planned. Only better.”

He
drove
her
home
a
little
later
with
promises
of
seeing
each
other
the
next
day. It was a girls' night out, and while James wanted to keep Selena with him, especially now that he knew she was carrying his child, he also knew how much her friends meant to her.

Selena
left
her
house
a
little
after
eight
and
wished
her
parents
a
good
night. The drive to Jen's was done on autopilot; her car knew the way on its own after so many trips back and forth. She was stopped at a traffic light, waiting for it to turn green. “What will our baby look like?” she said out loud to no one. The light turned green. With her foot on the gas, she started moving, completely unaware that the driver heading toward her driver's side wasn't paying attention to his red light.

There
was
a
moment
when
time
seemed
to
stop; she could see the oncoming car's headlights, heard the beep of his horn, but no one seemed to be moving. Then there was the enormous impact of the crash, and Selena cried out. Glass seemed to be everywhere, and she felt the car spinning out of control before it slammed into a telephone pole. Her head was resting on the steering wheel, and she did her best to look up, but everything started to go black. “Oh God,” she whispered. “James? Somebody, please.”

Her
world
blurred
and
faded
to
black.

* * *

Tapping? Knocking? Somewhere in the fogginess of her mind, Selena was hearing noises. Banging? Voices? She didn't want to open her eyes; she didn't want to acknowledge anything. Sleep. She wanted to sleep, but the noise persisted.

“Oh, for heaven's sake,” she sighed and tossed the sheets off. “What time is it?” A quick glance at the clock on the nightstand told her it was just barely after three a.m. “Who would be at my door at this hour?” she mumbled.

Crazy thoughts went through her head as she reached for her robe and headed for the door. What if something had happened to Jen? Still the banging on the door continued. “Just a minute!” she yelled, just barely. “You better have the right room,” she mumbled under her breath as she peered through the peephole.

James.

“Oh my God,” she said as she yanked open the door. “James! Is it Jen? Is she all right?” Grabbing the front of his shirt, Selena pulled him inside and slammed the door.

“Jen?
What
…? I… Why is your phone off?” he demanded, his breathing ragged. His eyes scanned over her as if to verify she was okay.

“What? You came here at three in the morning because my phone is off?”

“Yes!”

“Why? Is everything okay? Seriously, did something happen to Jen?” she asked.

“Jen's fine. We checked on her earlier, and she said she was staying at her own place tonight.” Suddenly they both realized they were still standing very close together and that her hands were still gripping his shirt. Selena's eyes met his, and she instantly released her grip on him and turned to walk into the living room.

“So then what's the problem, James? Why are you here?”

“I don't know,” he whispered. Minutes ticked by as they stood and stared at one another. “I felt bad about this afternoon. I was called in on a case, and there just wasn't time to contact you before. I've been calling since about eight, but the phone was off, and then I tried reaching you at Jen's and…I thought…I thought that something…” He began walking toward her slowly. “I guess it's just my cop instincts, but I thought something had happened to you.” Now he was next to her, breathing in her sweet scent and taking in the beautiful picture she made standing there in her robe and T-shirt, still half-asleep.