AJ's Salvation (2 page)

Ten Years Later and Halfway Across the Country

Alessia Rhyme pulled her dark hair back in a ponytail while standing on the porch of their little house. She had worked hard to get her own safe haven, and finally, after nearly a decade of nightly hours and having to put Alessandro in the care of a neighbor, she had reached her dream. Or what had turned into her dream after she had run away with a tiny baby boy. Now, he was hers, and she would never ever give him away.

Running had been surprisingly easy, and five years after she had taken him, no one had come looking for the boy. In fact, no one had ever even bothered to contact her about the kidnapping, either. She had hidden the baby away and then had vanished. In the end, she simply pretended she had birthed him in some tiny country hospital. The people in her new town didn’t know any different.

Sunrow was a small town like any other coastal town in the continental US. Tourists were equally loved and hated, but Aly didn’t mind them. She had a small café because it gave her the chance to spend a lot of time with Lesso. He usually came right over after school, giving her the most beautiful smile ever.

“Mom, can I please, please, please go for a swim?” It was early summer with June just presenting its most impressive sunshine. Still, the weather wasn’t nearly warm enough for her to be comfortable with letting him out in the water.

“Nope, Lesso. Stay away from the water’s edge or your afternoon outside will rapidly end,” she threatened, laughing as she saw him grin at her. Whenever he looked over his shoulder at his mother, he reminded Aly so much of his father that her heart was aching. 

She had tried the dating game, but in her first year here, she had been too busy. Then afterward, she had been a mother. No matter how young she appeared on the outside, she knew she had left behind a girl and arrived a woman.

No guy was able to capture her heart. People who told you that you couldn’t lose your heart while you were young had never met Jamison. Or grown up watching a guy who was probably as unique as a snowflake.

“Sweet girl, you have that pensive look again.” Aly shook her head, clearing Jamison from her thoughts to focus on the new arrival. She hadn’t even noticed her elderly neighbor walking up to her porch.

“Dorly.” She smiled, kissing the old woman on her papery cheek. She had been like family ever since Alessia and Alessandro had arrived.

“Will you tell an old woman what kept your thoughts busy this time around?” the lady inquired, and Aly started to collect Alessandro’s towels and clothes. She had made him change earlier since, like all boys, he hadn’t been able to resist getting his feet wet. 

“I was just enjoying the view,” Aly explained, lowering her eyes since she had a feeling the old woman could read her better than all the cheesy novellas she usually carried.

“Okay, let me tell you what you’ve been thinking about,” Dorly said, drawing a beach chair near. Aly sat down on the porch steps as she usually did, turning to look at her neighbor. 

She had to hide a grin as she arched a brow. “Sure, share your wisdom,” she teased, and Dorly shook her head. 

“Don’t make fun of me, young lady,” she scolded gently, and Aly laughed. It was weird, but she only felt as if she could be her true self around that woman. The smile vanished from the older neighbor’s face, though, as she looked out at the ocean. “You were thinking about the kid’s dad.” 

Okay, she wasn’t watching the ocean. Dorly was watching Alessandro.

Aly decided not to say anything, so she stayed quiet. She didn’t even try to deny it because she knew Dorly would see right through it.

“He looks so much like his dad. It’s incredible.” 

“Yeah, he has nothing from me,” Aly agreed, swallowing as Jamison’s face came back to her. She didn’t even think about the comment closer since she had heard it a lot over the years. Alessandro’s teachers always asked about his father since they obviously guessed he must be a handsome guy. Aly no longer had any idea if that was true, but he sure had been a looker back when she had still seen him daily.

“How long have you lived next door?” Dorly asked, confusing Aly with the sudden change of topic. She had started renting the house next door before Dorly had actually sold it to her for a bargain. Alessia knew it was because she was helping her out and Dorly had no children of her own, but that didn’t matter. Aly would forever be indebted to her.

“Nine years? Give or take,” she finally replied, and Dorly nodded.

“Not once have you been back home. Not once has anyone visited you. I never asked about where you’re from, but let’s be honest, an old woman has to be curious. A young lady like you and a handsome boy like he without any family? I can’t believe that.” 

Aly had always avoided answering those questions, but she figured she owed Dorly some explanation. “I have a brother. My parents died when I was still young. My aunt raised us until she ran away when I was sixteen. My brother took care of me after that. Not that he needed to. I was pretty independent by then.” She paused for a moment, wondering how to go on.

“Independent enough to be a mother? You were just a child when you came. You were what? Barely eighteen?”

Aly pulled the rubber band from her hair, making the dark brown waves cascade over her shoulders. She combed her fingers through the strands a few times before nodding. “I planned to visit a nearby college. I got a full ride. Before I left, I realized I was expecting. I didn’t want to burden my brother and having the father be part of his life was out of the question, so I still went and pretended everything was all right. I couldn’t go back. After all, how would I explain a child? I didn’t want to do that to my brother. In the end, he had just gotten free of me to enjoy his own life. No one deserves to be burdened with a child they didn’t ask for,” she explained, being careful to pick her words.

She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a few deep breaths to enforce the lie. She had practiced it for so long; it felt like her true-life story. Now, after so much time, it was easy to imagine, too. She barely felt like she was deceiving anyone.

As it was, Greg had supported her from day one. Each week, she’d get money from him, two hundred dollars every time, and even though she had no idea where he got it from, she put it aside to get him out of trouble should the need arise. Had she wanted to ask him where he got the money? More times than she could count. But she knew Greg would not have told her anyway.

“Lesso’s father - ” 

“He was my brother’s best friend. I think I was his last choice, but he always had been the one for me.” God, how much she wished those words weren’t true any longer, yet she could feel them resonate deep within her. 

The elderly woman stayed silent for so long, it made Aly wonder if she had checked out on her. “I’m guessing your brother was what? Twenty-one when you left? So Alessandro’s father is about the same age.” 

“He was just about to turn twenty-one, yes,” Aly agreed. They all had been so young and too many things had been left unsaid. 

“Alessandro’s father was just a boy really. They don’t turn into men until later, do they?” Dorly wondered, and Aly wasn’t sure if she needed to answer. 

“I think certain things will make us grow up much quicker than others,” was the comment she opted for, and Dorly reached out to brush her thumb over Aly’s cheek.

“Mom, why are you crying?” Lesso asked, coming over. Only then did Alessia realize tears were rolling down her cheeks. 

“Mommy’s just so happy she has you,” Aly explained, trying without luck to stop her tears from falling. Her son watched her for a long moment, appearing much older than his ten years.

“Tom is coming over tonight. Do you remember?” he asked, and she nodded, checking her watch. She had no more than thirty minutes left, but luckily, she didn’t need to prepare anything. She always had frozen pizza and popcorn in the house. It was obviously the only thing feeding two ten-year-olds.

“How about you go inside and get ready, and as soon as Tommy gets here, I’ll send him up to your room?” she asked, and Alessandro planted a wet kiss on her cheek after grinning in agreement. He left the two women alone, and Aly tried to remember where her boy had interrupted their talk.

“Aly, did you ever wonder if the boy you knew turned into the man you imagined him to be?” Caught off-guard by the question, Alessia pushed herself off the stairs and wrapped her arms around herself.

“After I left, I never allowed myself to think about him. It just hurt too much,” she eventually answered, watching how Dorly’s glance settled on something behind her. 

“Ten years can turn a boy into a breathtaking young man, Aly. Ten years can make all the difference in the world,” the old lady remarked, and Aly took a deep breath.

“You don’t know anything about the world I left behind,” she insisted, and her neighbor actually smiled. 

“I know enough about you to know the guy you left behind wasn’t a bad guy. In fact, I’d guess he was anything but. Besides, the way I see it, the last choice might actually be the only one. Did you ever think about that? Maybe he wanted to give you time to be whatever you wanted to be in the world before getting serious with you?”

Aly swallowed as the air around her seemed to vanish. She felt like lashing out because this was getting way too personal. What-ifs didn’t belong in her world any longer.

“Maybe he actually was a crazy stalker and I ran. Did you ever consider that?” she snapped, and the older woman got up, still focused on the ocean behind her shoulder.

“You don’t look scared, child. You were never one constantly looking over your shoulder. You have friends around here. I don’t think you’d have stayed this long in one place if you were afraid of someone. You’re lonely, though, and I’ve seen guys walk up to your door, but you don’t want to keep them. In fact, I’m not even sure you give them a chance.” Dorly walked closer, reaching a trembling hand out to touch Aly’s ice-cold hands.

“You know, sometimes opportunity is too scared to walk up to the door and knock, so maybe you should give it a chance by walking toward it.”

Aly took a deep breath and forced a smile. “Thank you. I guess.” She had no idea what to make out of that statement, but Dorly nodded, and Alessia started walking up her porch to the back door. 

Behind her, she could hear Dorly talking to someone, but it took until the person answered to pull the ground from underneath Aly’s feet.

“You look better, boy,” the old woman mumbled, walking toward him with shaky steps. Jamison Loane took a deep breath and gave her a smile without really looking at her.

“First good sleep I’ve had in months,” he answered and then saw how Aly stiffened with a gasp.  She still recognized his voice even after all these years. He couldn’t look his fill, no matter how long he stared at her back. Waiting with bated breath for her reaction, he couldn’t help his aching heart when she just continued, following the path she had started, and vanished inside the house.

Jamison had spent months on the road, and no matter how often he turned this over, there just was no right way to step in front of Aly without scaring her. Ten years he had lived a shallow life—getting up, working hard, and making sure Greg paid all the money to Aly and the kid. He never tried to contact her because he feared someone would connect the dots, and that was the last thing he wanted. He had been young and stupid back when he had asked Aly to take his son. Now, he’d do it all different. 

Not that Aly hadn’t been the perfect choice, but she would be locked up for a very long time if this ever came out. She shouldn’t be suffering for something he had forced on her. 

“Jamison?” He shook his head, realizing that he had totally checked out on the little woman in front of him. 

“Miss Rome, I’m so sorry.” He apologized, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment. “I wondered so much how this moment would go, the first time seeing her again, but I didn’t think it would be like that.”

“Why don’t you come with me? You look like a capable young man, and I need someone to fix a drawer in my kitchen. I’d offer dinner in return,” she said, and Jamison was more than glad for the suggestion. He had nowhere to go since each and any guesthouse was too far away from Aly and his son. 

“You know, seeing you now and her earlier, I wonder how the two of you looked when you both were carefree. Both of you seem much older than your years, and it just hurts my heart. People like you and her should be dancing and singing, laughing and enjoying life, not look at the world as if nothing good ever came from it,” she mused. Jamison took a deep breath. 

There was no doubt Aly had to grow up way faster than the average girl, but then, a lot of teenagers had a hard time. Only none was ever burdened with the child of the guy they loved – and hadn’t brought into the world themselves. 

“I could use a good dinner,” he eventually answered, his eyes going back to the house into which Alessia had vanished. To his utter surprise, she was back on the porch, watching him.

Dorly turned, following his glance and then patted his chest. “You know, the drawer doesn’t need fixing that bad. I’ll start on dinner and you go and say hi, okay? I think it’s something you both need,” she announced gently, and he barely registered her touch, nodding only the slightest bit.