The Long Road Home

By Jamie Nicole White

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Chapter Thirteen

            Hayden knocked on the bedroom door and waited for his weak reply before entering. As she walked inside, she instantly noticed Walter laying with his hands folded against his chest. A smile spread across his pale face as he patted the bed and invited her to take a seat. Hayden closed the distance between them in a matter of seconds and felt the mattress slump as she sat down.

            Walter placed a mischievous grin on his face and put one finger over his mouth to signal for her to be silent. Then, he reached under his pillow and pulled out a box of chocolate covered cherries and offered her one. Hayden giggled as she reached inside and pulled out a piece of chocolate and stuffed it in her mouth.

            “I don’t know which Lizzie would be madder about. The box of chocolates I’m not supposed to be eating or the pretty girl in my bed,” he teased.

            Hayden shook her head as she laughed. “You’re too much.”

            “So I’ve heard.”

            “How are you doing, Walter?”

            “I’m as grumpy as a bear woken up from hibernation. Lizzie thinks that I need to stay in bed and conserve my energy.”

            “And you think?”

            “I think I should be doing everything I can while I still can.”

            “You’ll get your chance.”

            “Are you thinking about breaking me out of here?”

            “I don’t know. Your wife would have me hung.”

            “Probably.”

            Hayden laughed. “If she only knew the truth.”

            Her smile melted away as she stared out the window at the trees gently bending in the light breeze.

            As if noticing her sudden mood change, Walter asked, “What’s ailing you, girl?”

            “Nothing.”

            He met her gaze straight on and frowned. “Don’t lie to me. What’s wrong?”

            “A lot of things. The truth is, I never thought I would be back here. I never thought I would have to face Jake again. And when Elizabeth called, I immediately packed my bags and booked the first flight down here. I don’t regret coming for one second.”

            “Then what’s wrong?”

            “I wasn’t prepared to face Jake.”

            “But I thought the two of you were getting along fine.”

            “Yeah… me, too. Until a couple of days ago.”

            She and Jake hadn’t said two words to one another in over four days. He avoided her at all costs and she couldn’t have been more thankful for that. Let him go his way and she would gladly go hers. There was nothing left to say to one another that hadn’t already been said.

            “What happened?” Walter groaned, afraid to ask a question that he already knew the answer to.

            “We had the talk.”

            “Oh. Don’t you mind my son. He’s as stubborn as an ox. He’ll come around.”

            “I don’t think so. He’s made it perfectly clear that he doesn’t want me here.”

            “It’s not up to him. I invited you here.”

            “Why did you?”

            “Invite you here?”

            She nodded.

            “Because I wanted to see you. And I knew your beautiful face would brighten up the place,” he teased.

            “I appreciate the sentiment.”

            “And…” he added, “I thought it was time for you to travel the long road home, the journey we all have to take at one time or another.”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Sometimes we have to make peace with our pasts in order to forge ahead. You’re getting married and I’m happy for you. But can you honestly say that you’re ready for that step?”

            She chuckled. “It’s like you can read my mind because I have been struggling with it ever since he gave me the ring.”

            “Why do you think it is that you are so indecisive?”

            “I’m not sure.”

            “Wrong answer.”

            “You know me. I’ve been indecisive my entire life.”

            “Try again.”

            “Because I’ve been hurt before and right now I’ve been presented with a proposal that is safe. And I don’t know if I want to live the rest of my life safe or take a chance on falling in love again for fear that I will get hurt again.”

            “It happens to all of us, Hayden. You love, you lose, you hurt. It’s human nature. But what kind of life will you live if you don’t take a chance?”

            “A very boring one,” she conceded. “It’s just that I don’t know if I can love again.”

            “You don’t know if you can love again, or love again like you loved Jake?”

            “Both. I just want to be happy. Is that too much to ask for?”

            “Never! But happiness is something that we make, not something that falls into our laps.”

            She looked away and Walter immediately grabbed her hand, causing her to meet his eyes.

            “You took the long road home, now make the best of it. You’re not here to watch me die. You’re here to celebrate my life now and once I am gone. You’re here to resolve old scars and move forward with a clean slate. You and Jake need to throw out those skeletons you’re both so eager to hang onto. Because, honey, you’re obviously not able to move on. And I know for a fact Jake isn’t. So either make amends and say good-bye, or make amends and give each other a chance. Either way, you need to walk away from here with closure. You hear me, girl?”

            “I hear you loud and clear.”   

            Walter grinned as if he had won some amazing battle. Then, he reached under his pillow and pulled out a deck of cards. “Care for a game of poker.”

            Hayden laughed as she gave him an accusatory look. “What else do you have under that pillow?”

            “Wouldn’t you like to know,” he teased as he began dealing the cards.

¨¨¨¨

            Jake sat on the front porch, sipping his beer and watching the clouds roll in against the brightly lit sky. It had been one week since she had came back into his life and Jake was more on edge than he could ever remember being. She had remained out of his way since their argument. They had barely spoken two words to each other, besides the friendly banter and congenial façade they managed to put up in front of his folks. It was better that way, he consistently reminded himself. So, why was he not happy?

            Somewhere deep down inside, Jake felt a part of himself missing out on the simple camaraderie that they had shared. He found himself missing her wacky sense of humor and her fun-loving personality. In a way, he missed their friendship which was odd since they hadn’t shared anything remotely close in seven years. But there it was, staring him in the face like an evil demon. Jake actually missed her.

            Her showing up at his doorstep had been a blow to his emotions. He had been determined to make do with the situation. But then, they started talking and he had instantly been transported back in time to the way it used to be. And without his better judgment, he had allowed himself to fall victim to her charm all over again.    

            He had caused the rift between them on purpose, had said all of those harsh words to her for a reason. He had become so frightened of the emotions that she had stirred inside of him since her return that he didn’t trust himself when he was around her.

            Jake had been vindictive and mean, and in turn, had pushed her so far away that she didn’t want to have anything to do with him. In his own defense, it had felt good to get it off of his chest. Only he had thought that he could handle her aversion to him better. Now, he only wished he could take it all back. It was his bed he had made, now he could only lie in it.

            Just then, he saw an unfamiliar blue Mustang pull into his drive. Jake stood up and stepped down from the porch to meet the stranger as the car came to a stop. He saw copper hair and instantly knew who it was. Groaning inwardly, he walked closer to the car and waited patiently for the always annoying Dana Anderson to step out.

            Dana jumped out of the car and greeted him with an exuberant wave. Jake didn’t greet her with the same enthusiasm which caused her to frown. But she figured she could catch more bees with honey than vinegar and tried to regain her optimistic disposition.

            “Hi,” she said cheerfully, placing her bright smile back on her face.

            “What are you doing here?” Jake asked as he glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Hayden was nowhere around. It was true that he had killed any chance he had of getting to know her again. If anything, he had put a deep seed of hate inside of her. But Hayden had never particularly cared for Dana. The last thing he wanted was for the two to confront each other. He could only imagine how Hayden would react after he had purposefully told her the truth about the two of them.

            “I heard about your dad and thought I’d stop in to see if you need anything.”

            “No, I’m fine,” Jake said hurriedly as he tried to shuffle her back inside of the car.

            “Jake,” she scowled as she wiggled in his grasp. “What are you doing?”

            “It’s not a good time for you to be here.” Jake opened the car door and stared at her expectantly.

            “Oh,” Dana snapped. “But it’s a good time for ‘her’ to be here.”

            “Who?”

            She slapped at his arm. “Don’t play games with me. I know that Hayden is here. My brother told me.”

            “How the hell did Toby know?”

            “He’s an officer of the law. He knows everything,” she replied haughtily.

            “My dad wanted her here,” Jake tried to explain, his only purpose to placate her and get her to leave.

            “Well isn’t that sweet,” her tone condescending. Dana wrapped her arm around his neck and glanced back towards the house. She hoped that Hayden was seeing the two of them. She wanted that little bitch to know that Jake was no longer drooling over her. There was a new woman in his life and Dana would stop at nothing to make him hers. “If you’re not going to invite me in, at least let me take you out for a while. I’ll buy you a beer.”

            Jake quickly snatched her arm from around his neck as he took another quick look over his shoulder to make sure Hayden wasn’t there. “Fine,” he finally agreed when he realized that she wasn’t going to go quietly. At that point, he didn’t care how he got rid of her. All he knew was that he needed her away before Hayden saw her and all hell broke loose. Jake quickly pushed her back into the driver’s seat and hurried around to the passenger side. Like a flash of lightning, Dana put the car in gear and sped away.

Continued