Distant Hope 4

Vera laughed and she pinched his cheek. “Jedidiah, I’m not getting any younger. I’d like to know that if something were to happen to me, you’d be taken care of and so will Lizzie.”

            “I know that and I understand. But after what happened, I’m not going to risk anything.”

 

            The house was silent as Jedidiah sat in the darkened living room going through the old photos of him and Anna. He didn’t need to look through them, honestly, her face had imprinted deep into his soul. It was the day he realized he loved her not as a friend, but as a woman. It was the day he realized he was jealous of her. Feeling the pain of the memories hit him, he shoved all the pictures back into the box and closed the lid. It was too long ago and they weren’t the same anymore. Back then, she wasn’t divorced and he wasn’t a father. Today, they were two very different people.

            Lizzie. When he thought of her name, he felt his heart lurch into full protection mode. His daughter was everything to him and the thought of someone hurting her made him queasy. He never knew he could feel that way about someone. Lizzie was everything to him at the moment and she didn’t even know how she held his heart in her hands. He rubbed his forehead and thought about how his life had ended up the way it did when he never planned for it to begin this way.

            The truth was that Lizzie wasn’t his biological daughter. Her mother, Janelle Tran, the head cheerleader, the most wanted girl in all of high school, decided to party a bit late and drank too much. He happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He’d picked her up and was heading toward her house to drop her off when her father, the chief of police, pulled him over and caught him with his daughter. She was knocked out cold and he had spent a night in jail because her father decided he didn’t like his story. A month later, Janelle showed up at his doorstep and announced she was pregnant. Shocked, Jedidiah asked why she’d showed up at his house. Before she could answer, her father drove up in a police car and threatened to arrest him if he didn’t take responsibility for his actions. It was then that he realized she’d told her father a lie about the two of them. No one but his mother believed him. He spent hours trying to get her to confess the truth to her father. But Janelle refused to tell him who the real father was. He knew that if he refused her, her father would take everything away from him. So he did what he thought was right and agreed.

 Her father wanted a big wedding in France where her extended family lived and Janelle wanted to wait until after she delivered to have the wedding, even though her father disagreed.

            When Lizzie was born nine months later, he took one look at her and fell in love. It wasn’t until Lizzie turned two months old that Janelle decided she wasn’t meant to be a mother. She left a note explaining everything to her father; the lies and the truth were all exposed, and left without a single word to him. She left Lizzie in his care and wasn’t heard from again. Embarrassed, her father resigned and left town. He was left with a baby girl who was and would always remain his.

            Sighing, he leaned back in his chair and wondered when life would give him a break. Now a woman he had never forgotten had returned back to his life. Could he live his life like he did before she came back? And could he resist her if the moment came up? He was afraid of the answer as he thought about it. As far as Anna was concerned, Jedidiah always knew she was the only one who could make his heart pound like it did. But how could you reveal to someone like Anna that you never saw her as a best friend, but as a woman of lust?

            “I’m screwed,” he whispered into the dark.

 

            Anna threw the bed sheet over the line and secured it. The afternoon sun was more humid than necessary and she could feel sweat rolling down her neck and into the v of her breasts. It was hot. She was dying and Aunt Bea’s air conditioner broke. Inside or outside, she was literally being fried. She hung the last sheet and picked up the basket when she heard Aunt Bea coming out to the porch. Bea was dressed in a light violet skirt and a sleeveless white button down blouse. Anna had on shorts and a tang top which she wanted to shred off of her body. She set the basket down on the front steps and sat down, breathing loudly.

            “Can it get any hotter?” Anna said fanning herself.

            Bea laughed. “I suppose when you’re used to cooler climate it’s hard to adjust. I already called Phil. He’ll be by later this evening to fix the air conditioner.”

            “Thank goodness,” she said. “I’m dying here.”

            “I made a pitcher of lemonade. Why don’t you go get yourself a glass?”

            Before Anna could get up, Vera came up to their house. Anna stood, surprised to see her, and felt embarrassed for looking the way she did. She ran a hand through her hair and swallowed. Vera looked incredibly great after so many years and still carried kindness in her eyes.

            “Anna, how nice to see you back in town,” she said.

            Anna smiled. “Thank you, Vera. I didn’t know you bought the house next door to my Aunt.”

            Nodding, she replied, “I did. It was vacant after the Shentons left and since it would give me a chance to keep an eye on your aunt, I bought it. How are you? You look great.”

            “I’m fine, thank you. You look incredible yourself.”

            “Why thank you!”

            “Come on up,” Bea said.

            Vera turned toward her. “Oh, I was on my way to Lizzie’s birthday party at Jedidiah’s. I wanted to come ask you two to come along.”

            Anna sighed and turned to glance at her aunt. “Oh, Jedidiah mentioned that yesterday. I don’t know.”           

            Vera smiled and touched her arm lightly. “Look, I realize it’s a lot to take in being back after so long. But truly, it would be fun. Plus you and Jedidiah can talk about your memories of being best friends. Your aunt sure could use some fresh air and some good food, you too, actually.”

            “Let’s go,” Bea said before Anna had a chance to object.

            “Alright. We’ll meet you there.”

 

            Jedidiah’s house was a white ranch style home with an attached two garage and it sat on a corner lot. It was two blocks from Aunt Bea’s home and so the two of them walked. When they neared, they could see Jedidiah outside cooking on the grill. Lizzie’s laughter was heard in the backyard with the sound of a dog barking. Anna felt her hands tighten around the wheelchair and sweat began to form, and it wasn’t from the heat of the weather. He looked too good standing there dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt that showed off the muscles of his arms. He looked up and she felt his gaze melt into hers.

            “He looks good, doesn’t he?” Bea asked.

            Anna didn’t answer as she wheeled her to where Jedidiah stood and stopped. He smiled, set the pair of tongs down, and walked to them.

            “I’m glad you guys could make it. I’m just finishing up the meat here. Bea, did you want to go inside?”

            “Is your mother inside?”

            He nodded. “She’s working on the fruits.”

            “Yes, I will. If you’ll just get me up the stairs—“

            Before Bea could finish, Jedidah picked her up in his arms and carried her inside. Anna watched with a jump in her heart and pushed the wheelchair aside. Then she picked up the pair of tongs and started flipping the meat on the grill. She could hear Lizzie laugh in the backyard and she smiled.

            “Thanks,” Jedidiah said as he came to stand beside her.

            She looked up at him as he handed her a glass of lemonade. She took it and took a long sip from it. He watched her and when she set her glass down, he took the tongs from her hand.

            “We need to catch up, Anna. How have you been? What have you been doing?” he asked.

            She shrugged as she set her glass down. “Before my father died, I had a little flower shop. But things got tough and I had to close it.”

            “So open one up here. We need a good florist.”

            “I could, but I don’t have the money. I’m not exactly in a position at the moment anyway.”

            Jedidiah looked up, a grin on his face as he looked at her. “The Anna I used to know would jump at the first opportunity to create something no one else has.”

            “Well, the Anna you used to know isn’t here anymore, is she? Heartache and lies destroyed her and she’s gone.”

            He swallowed and set the tongs down. “I know how hard life can get. There’s a lot about me that you don’t know either. But I promised I wasn’t going to let that stop me.”

            She crossed her arms and looked away. “Things haven’t been easy on me.”

            “Things haven’t been easy on me either. But I’m still standing.”

            Anna let her arms go and walked away from him. Standing too close to him was making her uncomfortable. For one thing, they weren’t in high school anymore. The innocent youth and laughter wasn’t there and what was there was now something she couldn’t quite face. She didn’t have the courage to face him after the failure of her marriage. She’d been the one who wanted to leave, who didn’t think this life was for her. When she turned around, Jedidiah was gone and she felt a little better as she sat down on the ground beneath the tree. The shade helped cool her down a bit and as she leaned back against the tree, memories of them together spiraled through her mind. It was odd that she’d had more memories with Jedidiah than she’d had with Jake.

            “Are you coming in?” Lizzie asked as she skipped toward her.

            Anna looked up and smiled as she drew her knees up toward her chest. “I’ll be right in.”

            The little girl smiled sweetly and sat down next to her. “My daddy has pictures of you in his wallet.”

            Anna’s smile faded and she cocked her head. “He does?”

            Nodding, she replied, “You’re really pretty.”

            “You’re prettier than I am.”

            “That’s what daddy says too.”

            Anna reached across and touched her cheek. “You’re so adorable.”

            “Daddy says that too!”

            “Your daddy is right.”

            She giggled and skipped off as Jedidiah walked out of the house. He patted her head as she ran past him into the house. He caught her gaze and began walking toward her. She stood up and walked toward him. As they neared each other she misjudged the level of the driveway and the grass and fell forward where he caught her in his arms. The feeling of being in his arms felt like home. It felt safe and it was a place that she’d yearned for. She never knew how powerful it felt to be inside a place where hurt was far away. Their eyes met and she felt the attraction for him grow. Sure, back then, she always thought he was cute. But today, right this moment, cute was nowhere near what she’d use to describe him. She felt his hands glide up her back and she suddenly realized she hadn’t made any attempt to be released. She cleared her throat and shrugged out of his arms.

            “You alright?” he asked.

            She suddenly felt cold. “Yes, I am. I have to go.”

            “You haven’t eaten yet. Bea is inside talking to my mother.”

            “I’ll come back for her later. I have to go.”