Unforgettable You Read online

  “Are you sure he can, Mom?”

  Doubt welled up. Was she wrong for saying what she did? She hated to think she’d misjudged the situation, but she’d seen what Atticus could do, how strong his upper body was and how he could maneuver when he really wanted to. “He’s not helpless,” she said and, after a quick goodbye, disconnected.

  Jada had no idea how long it would take her brother to speak to her again. Her mother would probably also be upset by what she’d said, especially if Atticus lapsed into depression. And now Maya was asking to go to New Horizons, where her father, who she thought was dead, worked.

  Jada shook her head as she dug her keys from her purse. How was she going to keep her life from spinning even more out of control?

  8

  Jada could feel Maya watching her while they worked together for the first three hours at the store. When they’d relieved her mother, Jada had said nothing of her encounter with Atticus. She couldn’t discuss it in front of Maya, for one. She didn’t want her mother to say something in anger that might give too much away. And she didn’t want to be too upset to greet customers the way she should during her shift. She figured she’d have all that waiting for her once she got home, but at least she’d be able to function somewhat normally until then.

  Apparently, she wasn’t acting totally normal, however, because it wasn’t long after Maya ran out to get a couple of sandwiches for their dinner that she said, “Mom, are you going to apologize to Uncle Atticus?”

  “I don’t know yet. Why?”

  “Because I can tell you’re still upset. You’ve been so quiet all day.”

  “It’s not only Uncle Atticus. I went out with Aunt Tiffany over the weekend and stayed up too late.” She covered a yawn. “I haven’t yet recovered.”

  A skeptical expression darkened Maya’s face, but Jada didn’t get the chance to reassure her again because Tiffany pushed her way into the store. “Hey!”

  Jada hadn’t been expecting her friend. She knew Tiffany had to work graveyard at the hospital tonight, for which she probably needed to go home and get some sleep. “What are you doing here?”

  “I—” Her eyes cut to Maya. “I was just in the area and thought I’d stop in and say hello.”

  “I’m glad you did,” Jada said, but she could tell it was more than a casual visit when, after they chatted about the weather and how much Tiffany wasn’t looking forward to working through another long night, she asked Maya to run to the drugstore two blocks away and get a pack of gum.

  “Sure!” Maya, always willing to please, took the money Tiffany proffered and hurried out of the store.

  “Grab yourself a pack, too,” Tiffany called after her.

  Maya waved to signify she’d heard and the door swung shut.

  “What’s going on?” Jada asked, turning to Tiffany. “You couldn’t have heard back from Tobias already.”

  “Of course not. I haven’t even written him.”

  “So...what, then?”

  When Tiffany twisted around to look through the window toward the sidewalk, Jada knew she was checking to make sure they weren’t about to be interrupted by a customer.

  “I just spoke to Maddox.”

  Jada gripped the counter. “You what?”

  “You heard me. I called New Horizons to get Tobias’s address. I knew Aiyana would have it. I also wanted to be sure she thought my writing him would be a good idea, but as soon as I told her who I was and what I was after, she said, ‘Maddox is right here. I’ll let you talk to him.’ And the next thing I knew, he came on the line. I heard a deep voice say hello and...and there was nothing I could do except ask him what I’d been planning to ask Aiyana.”

  Jada let her breath seep slowly between her lips. “How’d he treat you?”

  “He was...nice.”

  The image of him standing almost exactly where Tiffany stood now conjured in Jada’s brain. He’d looked so good her heart twisted at the memory. “Did he say when Tobias will be getting out?”

  “He did. That’s the thing... Tobias is being released on the twentieth.”

  “That’s in only two weeks!”

  “Yes. Can you believe it?”

  “Wow.” She gazed outside, also watching the door so that Maya wouldn’t return and surprise them. “And he’s not coming here, right? That hasn’t changed...”

  “No. Maddox said he’s taking him to LA. Tobias has a girlfriend there he’ll be staying with.”

  Jada swallowed against a dry throat. That was good news at least. “Where’s his mother these days?”

  “I didn’t ask. I didn’t want him to feel as though the town—or you, for that matter—had put me up to nosing around.”

  “Did he happen to mention what Tobias did to get his sentence lengthened?”

  “No. I didn’t ask about that, either. I was so nervous! I just said I wanted to let Tobias know that I understand he didn’t mean to do what he did and that I wish him well as he starts over.”

  “And how did Maddox respond?”

  “He said he was sure Tobias would appreciate hearing from me.”

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s it. He told me he’d text the address to me, so I gave him my number, and he sent it as I was driving over here.”

  “If Maddox texted you...you must have his phone number.”

  Tiffany’s eyes met hers. “I do.” She lowered her voice. “Do you want it?”

  Jada wished she had the willpower to say no. But she justified her weakness by telling herself she may need it one day. “Yeah.”

  While Tiffany read off the digits, Jada quickly entered the information into her contacts, but she didn’t dare put the number under Maddox’s full name. She wasn’t sure why. She couldn’t imagine Maya would ever look through her phone. Even if she did, she wouldn’t recognize the name Maddox Richardson.

  Still, Maya knew Jada’s password, and her mother and Atticus certainly knew who Maddox was, so it felt safer simply putting it under M. “Did he ask anything about me—or Maya?”

  “Nothing,” Tiffany replied. “He was too polite for that. He thanked me, said if I write Tobias right away he should get it before he’s released, and that was it. I had no choice except to thank him in return and hang up.”

  “So what do you think?”

  “About Maddox?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That brief conversation didn’t tell me much.”

  “Now that you know Tobias will be out so soon, are you still going to write him?”

  “I am. Not tonight, though. I need to get some sleep before work. I’ll do it tomorrow morning.”

  Jada couldn’t help wondering what Maddox thought of Tiffany’s call, but they couldn’t continue to discuss it, because Maya was back.

  “Here you go, Aunt Tiffany,” she said as she breezed through the front door.

  “Thanks, love.” Tiffany slid the gum she probably hadn’t needed or wanted in the first place into her purse.

  Maya blew a big bubble—to show Tiffany what she’d chosen with Tiffany’s money. “Thank you,” she said, grinning as it popped.

  Tiffany exchanged a glance with Jada. “I’d better go.”

  “Thanks for stopping by.”

  Tiffany started to leave, but Jada stopped her. “Maybe...maybe when you write your friend, I should say a little something myself.”

  “You mean...include a note inside my letter?”

  “I’m considering it.”

  “I’m sure that would mean a lot, much more than anything I could say.”

  Jada scratched her forehead as she tried to decide. Could she forgive Tobias for destroying so many lives? Reach out with a little kindness?

  She didn’t believe she could. Not when she was still dealing with the repercussions. Not when she still had so much on the li
ne. But...what was life without forgiveness? Wasn’t that what she craved, from her mother and brother? What she’d never been able to achieve from her father before he died?

  How could she withhold from someone else the very thing she needed herself?

  “Let me put some more thought into it.”

  “Okay,” Tiffany said. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  Jada nodded. “Thanks.”

  “Who are you going to write?” Maya asked as the door swung shut.

  “No one,” Jada replied and asked her to start a fresh batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to distract her.

  * * *

  Later that evening, Jada let Maya go swimming with Annie. Annie had a pool, and since she and her mother were back from New Horizons, Jada saw no danger in letting Maya hang out at their place for a couple of hours. Besides, Jada was so preoccupied with her own thoughts—and with dreading going home, where she’d have to face the fallout of telling Atticus to get a job—that she wasn’t good company. It was easier to work on her own. Then she only had to smile when she had a customer.

  She didn’t have to wait until she got home to find out whether she’d made her mother mad, however. Susan came marching into the store, her face utterly stony, at seven, only a few minutes after Annie’s mother picked up Maya. “You had to do it, didn’t you!” she said.

  Susan had to be talking about Atticus. Jada wished someone else would walk in. She didn’t want to have this conversation. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset him. But he needs to take some responsibility. He can’t get used to doing nothing, to feeling as though he can’t work, especially because it’s not true.”

  “He’s crippled! What don’t you get about that? Don’t you know how hard it is just to bathe? To drive? To get inside places that aren’t properly equipped?”

  “I do know! But if he gives up, if he settles for nothing, then that’s all he’ll ever get. He needs to fight for more!”

  “Easy for you to say!”

  Jada curled her nails into her palms. “No, it’s not! How do you think I feel, seeing my little brother unable to use his legs, knowing it’s my fault? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve remembered that night and—” she fought past the crack in her voice “—regretted taking him to that party. But if we’re ever going to recover, any of us, we have to look ahead and not behind.”

  “He will never recover. That’s the problem.”

  “I’m saying...in order for him to recover as much as possible, he has to be more productive. Besides, from a purely practical standpoint, you need his help.”

  “Don’t tell me what I need! I’ll decide that for myself,” she said and whipped around to leave.

  “Have you told him about Maddox?” Jada asked before she could clear the door.

  She stopped as though she might continue the conversation but, after a brief hesitation, walked out without even deigning to answer.

  Jada finished her shift, but when nine o’clock finally rolled around, she was reluctant to go home. She wished she could drive over to Tiffany’s, especially after Maya called to see if she could stay with Annie again. Other than on rare special occasions, Jada didn’t allow her daughter to stay over two nights in a row. Maya got to spend plenty of time with Annie. But tonight she didn’t have the fortitude to say no, not when she was reluctant to return to her mother’s house herself.

  She gave Maya permission, and then she closed up the shop and walked down to the Blue Suede Shoe. She wasn’t going to the club because she wanted to drink—she’d had enough of that on Friday night—but she did crave the escape music could give her, and it was one place she could while away a few hours until her mother went to bed. She doubted Susan would confront her again even if she did go home. But facing her mother’s angry silence wouldn’t be much easier. And Jada had no idea how Atticus might behave. They’d never had an exchange like the one at breakfast. She’d left home too early, when he was just eleven years old and recovering from the bullet he’d taken, for them to get into the type of squabbles that sprang up between siblings. It hadn’t been difficult to get along while she was gone. They’d rarely seen each other. And since she’d been home? She’d been very careful to be a positive presence for both of them—until this morning.

  Jada was glad to find the club crowded. There was a measure of anonymity in mixing with so many people. She’d been away long enough that she didn’t know very many of them. She said hello to a few women she recognized as patrons of her mother’s cookie shop and an old acquaintance from high school as she worked her way to one corner, but they were all with other friends and quickly went on with their night.

  After about twenty minutes, she managed to snag a seat from which she could watch what was going on around her while sipping a soda. Someone came up to ask her to dance, but she turned him down. She wasn’t interested in socializing. She kept staring at Maddox’s contact in her phone: M. She’d never been more obsessed with one letter. But when the same man approached her again, she didn’t have the heart to refuse him twice, which started her dancing almost nonstop with one guy or another.

  She was slow dancing with a cowboy about her own age when she felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck and looked over to see Maddox. He’d just walked in with Elijah and Gavin Turner, two of Aiyana’s adopted sons, both of whom worked at New Horizons—Eli as co-administrator and Gavin as the groundskeeper and all-around handyman.

  He stopped the second he saw her. She got the impression he was about to turn around and walk right back out again, but when Elijah and Gavin looked at him in surprise, he simply pretended he didn’t see her and headed back to the pool tables.

  * * *

  Maddox refused to let his gaze stray back to Jada, but it wasn’t easy. He kept wondering if she was there with the guy she’d been dancing with or someone else. He also wanted to know if she was upset that he’d shown up. It could be that she’d left as soon as she spotted him. He wouldn’t know, since he wouldn’t allow himself to check. If she had stayed, he wasn’t about to make her uncomfortable by showing her attention she didn’t want.

  “You okay, man?” Eli asked.

  Maddox blinked before looking up. Apparently, Eli had said something he’d missed. “Yeah. Of course. What was that?”

  “I asked if you wanted to get a drink before we played.”

  “Naw, after is good,” he said.

  Eli and Gavin had both left their wives and kids for a “guys’ night out.” Maddox suspected Aiyana was behind it, that she’d asked her sons to take him out for a little fun since he didn’t know anyone else and she wanted him to feel welcome, but he knew they’d deny it if he asked, and he wasn’t going to be rude enough to turn them down, just in case it had been their idea.

  “We can go somewhere else if you prefer,” Gavin said.

  Obviously they’d seen Jada, too, and understood why her being there might make him feel on edge. “No, I’m fine.” He figured he and Jada would have to get used to bumping into each other every now and then. Maybe if he showed her that he wasn’t going to bother her again, she’d relax and tell her family they could do the same.

  “Then you’re ready to get your butt kicked?” Eli joked.

  Maddox wasn’t worried. There wasn’t any way either of his companions was going to be able to beat him. He all but grew up in a pool hall. If not for his ability to hustle a game or two when he needed it most, he and his mother would’ve gone hungry on many a cold night, and there would’ve been no money to put on his brother’s “books,” which meant Tobias wouldn’t have been able to visit the commissary, the only bright spot in an inmate’s long days.

  “Let’s see what you can do,” he said with a challenging grin and racked the balls.

  * * *

  Jada could’ve left. She wasn’t there with anyone. But now she had something she was even more interested in watching, so
she stayed and pretended to go about her business while keeping an eye on the back corner where Maddox was playing pool with Eli and Gavin. The Turner brothers glanced over at her occasionally, but Maddox never did. He kept his back to her the whole time. That should’ve made her feel more comfortable but somehow made her feel worse. She’d thought of him so often over the years, but he was acting as though he’d gotten over her without too much of a problem.

  With a sigh, she got up to go to the bathroom.

  When she returned, Maddox, Eli and Gavin were no longer playing pool. They were at the bar, laughing and talking and having a drink. Unable to bear watching Maddox any longer, Jada was just gathering her purse to go when she saw a woman with long blond hair approach him. Jada couldn’t hear what the woman had to say, but she could easily guess what she wanted when he followed her out onto the dance floor.

  Jada put her purse back down. She told herself she had no business being jealous but couldn’t seem to pull her gaze away. He was the best-looking guy in the place; of course the women would be taking notice. But he was more than a handsome face to her. He was the first man she’d ever loved—and, in many ways, the last.

  The blonde plastered herself against him, even combed her fingers through the back of his hair as they swayed to the music.

  After nearly two hours of having Maddox completely ignore her, Jada quit worrying that he might notice her attention, which was why he caught her staring at him when he finally did look her way. Their eyes locked and, in that second or two, Jada couldn’t help replaying the first time he’d ever taken off her clothes. They’d been the only two people at the park in the middle of the night in mid-October, before the weather turned cold. She could still feel the cool grass beneath her bare backside and his hot mouth at her breast. That’d been her first intimate encounter, so she wasn’t likely to forget it. But even then she hadn’t realized that it would be one of the most exciting and fulfilling moments of her life.