Forgiving Patience (5 page)

Yeah, that would make me feel good
for the night, but it would be a bonehead move.

He’d promised himself, and some other
overbearing people, that he would no longer self-medicate himself with alcohol
and ass-
kickings
. That meant no more liquor that
soothed an aching heart and broken body and no angry bar fights with big-ass
motorcycle guys sporting grand reaper tattoos who were double his size. It was
time to face what had been taken away from him. It was time to quit taking the
easy way out.

He wanted to be that man who found it
satisfying to be able to rocket a ball over the fence in left field when
hitting it with the meat of the bat. He wanted to not doubt that he could still
ground a ball and make a smooth play to first base like the best of them. And
shit, he wished his legs moved as fast as they once had so he would be able to
beat out the ball being bulleted home and score the game-winning run in
walk-off fashion.

Tonight he had to go to a party and
support two of the best people he knew. Tommy and Em had helped take care of
him when the drapes stayed shut for days at a time and sleep overtook his
aching body after an all-nighter spent guzzling a bottle dry. Tommy had woken
at least one night a week to come pick his drunken ass up at the bar after last
call was announced. And Em—well, she was just Em. She hounded him and would’ve
kicked his ass before any of the guys, but deep down she just couldn’t kick him
when he was already down, with no intent to get up. She did, after all, have
her moments of sweetness.

Bradley had mentioned picking him up
and riding to the Banquet Hall together, but Jake knew the guy wouldn’t be
alone. He’d decided against that idea all together. He didn’t feel like playing
third wheel to his brother and whichever chick he’d chosen for the night.
Ideally, it was always a different woman every night. The guy’s motto was
no
need to wear out a good thing.
Jake was sure he would have run out of women after the past ten years.

Not yet.

He also didn’t want to hear Bradley
ragging on his ass all night about how he was a disappointment to the Lawrence
family name. For the most part he let his kid brother talk because he’d saved
his sorry ass more times than Jake could count over the past two years. Bradley
was the only family he had left, and even though Jake didn’t deserve him, the
guy always had his back.

No matter what Bradley thought
nowadays, Jake had no problem getting women—after all, he did have the Lawrence
charm to his advantage. He just hadn’t wanted to bang the typical bar chick in
a roach-infested room above Ollie’s lately. Yeah—attractive women dressed in
scanty miniskirts showing long, tanned legs and big breasts covered with only
thin tops just didn’t do it for him anymore.

What was he thinking? He was becoming
a sorry excuse for a man.

Maybe he wasn’t feeling the bar scene
because he was still recovering from a hard-on caused by the hysterical blonde
from earlier. No matter what everyone else thought of him, if one woman caused
his dick to rise, he didn’t go out and stick it in some other willing woman.
Unlike his brother, he had some standards.

The imaginary short brunette was
replaced by a long, honey blond woman. High cheekbones, sea-green eyes a man
could lose his soul in, full, kissable lips on milky skin made up most of her
gorgeous face. The hourglass flare of her hips made her jeans fill out in all
the right places—accompanied by her swelling breasts filling out her thin, snug
T-shirt—and made his shaft harden and push toward the zipper of his jeans. She
was natural, a woman who had come into her own.

Jake had almost been too rough
earlier. He could hear the shock in the ragged breath that escaped her wet,
waiting lips. But he couldn’t control himself. He had to feel those sexy curves
pressed up against him. Her skin was smooth—much like he expected—and her sweet
smell invaded his head, making him forget about everything that had sucked in
his life. Not wanting to hear about how he purposively meant to run her off the
road…which he hadn’t, he’d grabbed her. And he sure as hell didn’t want to
bring up his failure to take responsibility. He wanted to look, which resulted
in him wanting to touch. It was unfair to wave candy in front of a man and
expect him not to want it.

One touch—like many other appetites,
it couldn’t go unsatisfied for long. But she was out of the question. That
appetite was just going to have to go unsatisfied. He wasn’t into serious women.
His type was simple: no muss, no fuss. Anna Kelly definitely could never be
that woman. His best bet was to stay clear of her. She was better off without
him around.

She was here for her best friend, and
he had no right to interrupt her plans. Except he had. He was surprised when
she didn’t ask why he was there at her house. But he had surprised her, that
was noticeable. Nonetheless, she was so caught up in the shock she never
wondered why he was standing on her front porch. She probably ran off so quickly
because of the rattling effect he had on her. She would find out about the deal
he’d made with her pushover realtor soon enough.

Jake knew her wrath would come down
on him again when she heard about him living in her house, but he found her
kind of cute when she got all demanding and tested her take-charge attitude on
him.

 
It was wrong, but he couldn’t shake the
feeling that tomorrow wouldn’t be another dreary day—which normally left him
feeling hopeless and watching those around him live out their lives. He had to
see her, even if it was only for a couple weeks. For the first time in years, he
felt something he’d thought was lost forever and it was because of her.

Fuck.

Time to party.

He allowed himself to linger a couple
more minutes in heaven before stepping out of the shower and dressing in the
clothes Em had demanded he wear. Damn women. He was a grown-ass man. He’d been
dressing himself for a long time.

He grabbed his keys and let the new
screen door slam behind him.

Chapter Three

The bridegroom’s family went all out
for the bash honoring the upcoming nuptials. Expenses had not been spared,
allowing the chef to put his best creations on the buffet. Mrs. Lena’s Flowers
and Gifts had decorated the Banquet Room with bundles of wildflowers, expressing
Em’s
lively personality. A small band played tasteful
country music and was actually pretty good, considering Mrs. Bradshaw had found
them in the paper at late notice.

Anna caught the acoustic guitar
player’s eye and couldn’t help but smile as he and his
bandmates
played a George Strait song. He had to be in his late forties, but he reminded
her of her older man crush, Kevin Costner, so she found it flattering when he
winked at her. She turned her back to him, but couldn’t resist a glance over
her shoulder to see the guy still had his eye on her. It felt good to attract a
man, drawing his attention despite all the slender, sensual women in the room.
She offered him one last smile and turned away for good—allowing him to look to
his heart’s content.

“Anna Lynn Kelly.”

Anna knew the voice like she would’ve
known her own mother’s. She turned from the table. “Ms. Edna.” Her fiery
neighbor was dressed in a blue skirt and matching suit jacket paired with
black, sensible flats she imagined the simple woman only brought out for
special occasions. Her gray hair was swept back in a low bun with little
make-up covering her aging face. She looked exactly the same. In Anna’s eyes
she was pure loveliness, even though the old woman made it nearly impossible
for anyone to actually love her.

“Ms. Edna, you look exquisite
tonight.”

“So, the lost sheep finally decides
to come home.”

It was just like the stubborn woman
to ignore a good compliment when it was given and to not even offer one in
return. Anna hadn’t kept in touch with her neighbor and only knew through Em
that Ms. Edna still worked five days a week at the salon and was exactly the
same in spirits. To most, she came off as hard-headed and borderline rude, but
Anna loved that about her. She was true to herself and could care less what
anyone else thought. It must feel nice to be so cavalier about unimportant
things.

“Yes, I’m back for a little while.”

“Why?” the woman asked, while
plucking a Swedish meatball off the buffet table and popping it in her mouth,
not bothering with a serving plate.

“I wouldn’t miss
Em’s
wedding for anything. I’m the maid of honor.” She hated that
anyone—particularly a person she respected—would think she wouldn’t come home
for her best friend’s wedding. Had everyone been so surprised to see her back?
Of course, she hadn’t really been jumping at the idea of coming back and
dealing with the town and what it represented. She couldn’t really blame Ms.
Edna for doubting her friendship duties. She only hoped Em hadn’t doubted her
too.

“You missed a lot of other important
things around here, child. When Emilee said you were coming back, I just didn’t
believe her. You know how the girl talks. I don’t think she believes half the
things that come out of her own mouth.”

Anna could hear the motherly tone
leaking out. Ms. Edna was disappointed in her for taking too long to come back.
Her mother hadn’t lived in Patience for years, so other than Em, what other
reason did she have for returning? She wondered if the woman had missed her.
After all, they had known each other as long as Anna could remember. For the
first time she wondered if not coming back was a mistake.

Ms. Edna didn’t have any family, so
Anna’s mom had made it a secret tradition to set aside one day a week to spend
a couple hours with their cranky neighbor. Ms. Edna would’ve resented a pity
visit, so they were required to make up reasons for visiting—such as needing a
cup of sugar—which she saw right through and sent them packing back across the
field.

“Em was telling the truth. I’m here
for a couple weeks.”

“Where you stayin’ since that older
Lawrence boy is shacking up at your place?”

Anna was trying to forget Jake and
their little run-in for just this night. “Garrett offered me an apartment
behind his office.”

“Good. I would tell you to stand up
for what is yours, but it’s best you stay away from Lawrence. He and his
brother skirt around with every floozy in town. Just look at that Bradley. He’s
practically having sex right there on the dance floor with some girl he
probably picked up last night…”

“Ms. Edna!” Was this outspoken
sixty-year-old the woman she’d grown up living next to? She did not want to be
talking about sex with Edna. It was just… unnatural.

“What, child? You think I don’t know
about sex? I might be a single woman, but I was young once. Those rotten ‘
lil
devils are sure nice to look at, but they are
t-r-o-u-b-l-e if you ask me. You stay away.” The older woman pointed a stern
finger.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Ms. Edna,”
Anna agreed, trying to force herself not to blush.

“Well, I gotta go over here and see
when Louise wants to come in and get her hair fixed. Don’t be a stranger.” Edna
gave her one more hard look, as if to make sure Anna was really there and not a
ghost. Even though Anna wanted to give her a hug, she decided against it
because she knew Ms. Edna wouldn’t like the sign of endearment—especially in
public.

Nonetheless, Anna was glad to be done
with the odd conversation. She couldn’t erase the picture of Edna as a young
girl,
skirtin
’ around with all the single handsome men.
Why hadn’t her dear neighbor ever married or talked about an ex-lover? It was a
thought Anna became intrigued by. Did she have any family?

Anna turned her attention back to the
buffet Ms. Edna had just nonchalantly snacked from. She needed to keep her hands
busy and make herself feel like she was not on the outside. She hated to admit
it, but it was times like this she longed to have a man to cling too. Someone
she could be surrounded by, instead of standing alone holding a dinner plate in
place of a warm hand. It was hard to be in a crowded room full of couples and
yet feel so terribly alone.

Before she had time to grab a plate
and fill it with food she didn’t have the stomach to eat, the honoree of the
party rushed up. “Come on. I want to introduce you to the other bridesmaids.”

She could feel a knot forming in her
stomach at the word introduce. Usually, when around new people, or in this
case, old friends she hadn’t seen in over a decade, her nerves took over, and
her face and chest turned an awful shade of red. So far she’d gotten by with
just a few hellos from other passing guests and the short, nerve-rattling sex
talk with Ms. Edna. She was anxious about meeting
Em’s
friends. She hoped they accepted her as the maid of honor. While she took Ms.
Edna’s lead and told herself it didn’t matter what anyone else thought about
her, deep down she wanted Em to have a wonderful wedding. Em didn’t deserve to
have her Patience friends and her best friend, who lived what seemed a million
miles away, to be at odds and uncomfortable with one another.