Learning to Love Again (5 page)

“She won’t talk to me.  She wants her own life and a career,” he muttered, reaching for the bottle again, which Jack took from him and stashed in the cabinet.  “That’s what she told me.  What am I going to do, Jack?”

“Christ.  You’re going to get your ass into bed and sleep this off.  And I swear to God, Jason, if you puke in that bed, I’ll shoot you.”  Jack reached down and hauled his friend to his feet, helping him down the hall to the spare room.

“That’s not nice,” Jason frowned at his friend, even as he threw his arm around Jack’s shoulder.  “You’re supposed to be nice to me.”

“Why, because you’re drunk?  Get real.  You owe me a bottle of whiskey.”  Jack helped him to the bedroom.  “Now go to sleep.”  He pushed his friend down onto the bed and shook his head.  He debated for almost three seconds about calling Nicole and giving her a heads-up but decided against it.  He came to the same conclusion that Mitch had earlier in the day: the last time Nicole and Jason had gotten together and things had gotten intense between them, she’d run.  If she had time to overthink things, she might pull stakes and run now.  And while Jack didn’t want Nicole to be hurt in any way, he didn’t mind watching this dumbass work a little to get her back, either.

NICOLE EASED HERSELF DOWN ON THE PORCH SWING and let out a heavy sigh.  Mitch and Carly had left early that morning to attend to some business in San Antonio and weren’t planning on returning until sometime the next afternoon.  After having to use the walker for the last two months, she had graduated to being allowed to using a cane for support as needed.  There were still some issues with muscle spasms in her lower back, but even those were not happening as often as they had been.  Now if the damn nightmares would stop so she could get a decent night’s sleep.

She looked out over the range, watching with an idle gaze at the cattle and the horses as they grazed.  She’d missed this, she realized, looking around; the tranquility of sitting out on a porch, listening to the sounds of the ranch around her.  And she missed being a part of it, being a part of the workings of it.

The night before at dinner, Mitch and Jack had asked her to review a couple of contracts for them; she knew Jack was just throwing her a bone.  He knew she was ready to go crazy from being inactive for so long.  But if he and Mitch were willing to let her review the sale contracts prior to posting and signing them, she was willing to brush up on small town law etiquette.  Because she also knew Jack trusted her and wouldn’t go back over the contracts.  If she said they were good to go, he’d file them for Mitch.  So she’d spent most of the morning at Mitch’s desk, reading and rereading the simple contracts.

She sighed again and glanced at the watch on her wrist.  It was a little after seven o’clock, and she would bet a week’s salary—or what used to be her salary—that Jack was sitting at home alone, too, she thought, as she pushed herself up off the swing and walked into the house to find a spare set of keys to the pickup truck Mitch had left parked outside.

Forty minutes later, she pulled the borrowed pickup truck up to the front steps of Jack’s farm house.  Jack appeared in the doorway as she stepped down from the cab and pushed open his screen door to step out on the porch to meet her.

“Are you allowed to be driving?” he called out to her.

“Nobody was around to stop me.”  She grinned at him, causing Jack to chuckle.

“You rebel.” he watched her as she made her way up the steps.  He opened his door for her, tossing his arm around her shoulders as they walked back to his kitchen.  “So what brings you all the way out here?”

“Pure boredom.  What else?”  She headed for the refrigerator and grabbed a beer for herself.  “Do you need one while I’m over here?” she asked before she let the door close.

“I’ve already got one.”  He indicated the open bottle on the counter top next to him.  He picked it up, and studied her across the room.  “Boredom, huh?  Were you thinking of trying to seduce me, because I have to be honest and tell you as flattering as that is, I’m just not interested.”

“No, jackass, I am not here to seduce you,” she laughed, shaking her head.  Half of this town had had the two of them married off to each other before she’d graduated high school and had been shocked that it had never happened.

“Good.  That would just be too weird.”  Jack took a long pull on his beer, still studying her.  “Besides, Jason’s my friend, too, and I don’t poach.”

The statement had her choking on her own beer, and she hurried to set it down on the counter as she wiped the back of her hand across her mouth.  “What do you mean by that?”

“Don’t try to pull that sweet and innocent act with me.  I’ve helped you get in and out of too many jams to fall for that one.”  Jack leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms across his chest, waiting.  “Don’t forget, Nicole, I used to visit you guys in Austin all the time, too.  You may have had Mitch fooled about how tight you and Jason were back in the day, but I know better.”

“'Back in the day' is right.  Jason and I are old news.” She told him, wiping off her beer bottle with the kitchen towel she found hanging on the oven handle before taking another drink.  “Besides, there’s nothing there for you to be ‘poaching’ on; He pretty much hates me.”

“If you say so, but you might want to consider that it takes a lot of emotion to sustain a hate for that long.  If it’s even hate, which I don’t believe it is.”  Jack shook his head at her.  “How are the appointments with Jason going, by the way?”

“Fine.  He is the epitome of professionalism.  He treats me like he would any other patient,” she told him, frowning.

“Any other patient, huh?”  Jack studied her across the room.  “And that bothers you?”

“No, it doesn’t bother me.  Why would it bother me?  I have moved on.  I am one-hundred percent over that infuriating man!”

“Right.  That’s why you’re getting so upset.”

“I am not upset!” she told him, her teeth clenched so tight she was afraid they were going to crack.

“Fine, Nicole, you are not upset.  But even so, sleeping with you would just be too weird.  I mean, you’re like family to me.  I would wind up needing therapy for life.”

“Oh, like you don’t already need lifelong therapy, and it has nothing to do with me!” she fired back at him.  “I tried to help you out, way back in high school, remember?  But, no, you had to date the entire cheerleading squad…in a month!  Do you know how many friends you cost me with that stunt?”

“Hey, I was young, and they were willing and we’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you and Jason,” Jack grinned at her.

“There is no 'me and Jason,' either.  I told you, he hates me.”  She drained her beer and slammed the bottle down on the counter.  “Got anything besides beer?”  She asked, grabbing a whiskey glass out of the cabinet.

“Depends…are you looking to get drunk?”

“No.  I just want something other than beer if you’re going to hassle me about Jason Morrow.”  She placed a few ice cubes in the glass before looking expectantly at Jack.

He reached up into one of the cabinets and grabbed his bottle of whiskey, handing it over to her.

“Just so we’re clear, you drink more than one of those, I get the keys,” he told her.  She grimaced but dug the keys out of her pocket and set them on the kitchen counter.  Jack shook his head, watching her as she poured herself a drink, before turning and leading the way to his living room.  “And I am not 'hassling' you.  I am just trying to find out why you are so upset over how the good Doctor Morrow is treating you as he would any other patient.”

“God, Jack!”  Nicole pushed past him into the living room and settled onto the sofa.  “I told you, I am not upset!  Jason and I ended things a long time ago.  We’ve both moved on.  Fate is just being a cruel bitch and threw us back together for a short period of time while I recover.  End. Of. Story.”  She enunciated the last three words with determined precision, narrowing her gaze at Jack before taking a sip of her drink.

“Want to watch a movie?”  Jack recognized that look.  If he wasn’t careful, she would throw something at him or worse, she’d punch him.  And when Nicole was mad, she didn’t care where or what she hit.  He could wind up a soprano.  He picked out a comedy from his DVD collection and started the player, settling himself into his recliner.

Jack studied his friend throughout the movie.  Something was bothering her, whether it was Jason or being back in this town and having to deal with her old ghosts, he wasn't sure which.  He'd picked this movie because it was the kind of comedy she loved.  Dry, sarcastic humor and lots of innuendoes to keep you second guessing everything.  She hadn't so much as giggled since the opening credits.  Opening his mouth to ask her about it, he closed it again.  Pressing her about her feelings for Jason was one thing, but he didn't need to rub salt in the wound by forcing her to talk about her parents.  He just hoped she'd face these ghosts soon.

By the time the movie ended, Nicole was yawning and Jack refused to let her drive home.   Making sure the bed in the guest room was made up for her, they said their good nights.  Nicole stretched out on the big bed and tried to get some sleep, but once again the nightmares kept her from sleeping well, and at least once, she woke Jack up with her screams.  Sneaking out of the house just as dawn was breaking, she left a note propped up on the kitchen table so he wouldn’t worry about her, and headed back to the ranch.  At least there she could review those contracts again for Mitch.

That afternoon, Nicole was sitting on the front porch when Mitch and Carly arrived home.

“How was your trip?” she called out to them as they climbed out of their car.

“Good,” Mitch told her, keeping his arm around his wife’s waist as they climbed the steps.  “How was your time alone?”

“Fine.  I went over to Jack’s last night to watch a movie,” she raised her eyebrows when they both looked over at the pickup truck and then back to her.  “Jason and Amy both gave me the clearance to drive,” she reminded them.

“Sorry.”  Carly at least had the grace to look a little embarrassed.  “We just worry about you.  We came so close to losing you.”

“I know and I appreciate it, but I am fine.  I swear.”  Nicole assured her, standing up to give her a warm hug.

“By the way, Mom called last night; she wanted to remind us that they’ll be home on Sunday,” Mitch told her, a huge smile on his face as he thought of his parents.  “She said Dad’s a little nervous about what we’ve done with the place.  I’m thinking of having the boys take down a few fence rails, maybe a hinge off the barn door, just so he feels like he’s still needed around the place.”

Nicole shook her head as she followed them into the house.  “I’m still surprised Aunt Helen was able to convince Uncle Steve to go on this trip, considering your vacation and this humanitarian thing overlapped those first two weeks.”

“He knew Jack wouldn’t be going anywhere and he trusts him as much as he trusts me.  And as hard as he worked convincing Jack that he considered him a second son and all that, he couldn’t very well tell Mom that no one was around to keep an eye on things.  Not to mention we have an excellent foreman,” Mitch pointed out.

“I’m going to go start dinner.”  Carly gave Mitch a quick kiss and turned towards the kitchen.  “What time did you tell Jason to be here?” she asked over her shoulder.

“Around five o’clock.  He said not to worry about being fancy!”  Mitch called after her, watching Nicole’s face drain of color.  “What’s with you?” he asked, reaching over and touching her arm.

“You invited Jason Morrow to dinner?  How could you do that to me?”  She turned her wide-eyed gaze on him.

Mitch studied her tightened features for a few seconds before he grabbed her arm and led her into his study shutting the doors.  “Sit,” he pointed at the chair across from his desk.  “Now, spill it,” he demanded as soon as she had settled into the seat.

“What?” she asked, picking at a spot on her jeans.

“Don’t give me that innocent act.  It didn’t work when you were fifteen; it ain’t going to work now.  Explain to me why one of my favorite cousins and my best friend have been acting like idiots all summer.  Jason has been my best friend for almost fifteen years.  I didn’t know I needed your permission to invite him to
my
house for dinner!  Besides that, you said everything was fine and there wouldn’t be any problems between the two of you.  All Carly and I know is that you two went from dating to not speaking to each other in the blink of an eye!  Maybe if you were a little more open and honest with us, we would have known not to invite him over while you were in residence!”

“
He
could have said ‘no’.”  She muttered.  Mitch leaned back in his chair, raised his eyebrows and stared at her.  “Oh, for God’s sake, it’s been over between us for triple the amount of time that we were even together, but you’d think it all just happened the way he acts.  The man hates me, Mitch.  Why would he want to come to dinner, knowing I’m here?  I don’t even know why he agreed to be my doctor, except as a favor to you, Carly, and Jack.”