The Second Time is Sweeter, page 20
“What did she want?” For the girl to show up and confess—no, it didn’t make sense. What else was going on here? Maybe this was why he’d been jumpy tonight. Instinct. Sophia might have been in danger.
“Just to talk.”
“I doubt it.” He didn’t like this. Didn’t like it at all.
Too many reminders of Nikki for him to be comfortable. A girl, appearing to be a friend. Sophia couldn’t see it, of course, because she was too kind and compassionate. One of the reasons he loved her, but also the reason she wore a sheepdog out.
“Riley, don’t. I can almost hear what you’re thinking, but I can take care of myself. I’ve done it for years, haven’t I?”
“I’m not arguing.”
“I had planned to meet ‘Bruce’ in a public place for the first time. My restaurant. I never gave anyone any personal information they could use to track me down.”
“Good.”
“You suspect the whole world of having an ulterior motive which, okay, this time you were right. But the motive was that she wanted someone to talk to because she must be lonely, and I’m ashamed to say I probably wouldn’t have spent time talking to her had I known ‘he’ was actually a ‘she.’”
“You thought she was a guy. A guy who looked like the Orioles’ shortstop.” He didn’t really want to spend too much time thinking about that potential disaster. Tonight wasn’t about other dudes, real or imaginary.
“It was nice to think someone was interested in me. Lyric and I had a lot in common, actually. We were both lonely.”
And he’d made her that way. Left her alone for far too long. In the desert, while training between deployments, one right after another until he had forced dwell time. That time alone made him angrier because he wanted to get back to the business of winning so he could hurry up and get on with the rest of his life. He couldn’t see he’d already lost more personally than winning one stupid war could ever make up.
He was lucky. Much more time away from her and he would have been forced to sign those divorce papers, because by then it would have been what she wanted.
“I’m here to fix that.”
“You already did.”
“That’s what you think. But I’m just getting started.” He gave her a hand to help her out of the bath.
She took his left hand, raised it to her lips and pressed a soft kiss. Tears shimmered in her dark eyes when she noticed he’d slipped his wedding ring back on, the one he’d kept in a box.
“Don’t cry, baby. I can’t take that.” He wrapped a towel around her.
“I’m sorry,” she sniffled. “But this is so…so romantic.”
“Yeah?” He felt a smile coming on. Never had been accused much in his life of being a romantic. War had taken it all out of him, he’d thought, except with Sophia. “That’s me. Romantic.”
“I want to get my ring.”
“Now?” Sentiment aside, he could wait.
“Of course.”
He followed her toward her bedroom. “You can find it later.”
“No,” Sophia said, squatting down to rummage through her closet. “It’s in here somewhere. I saw it not long ago.”
“Here it is!” Sophia stood and turned to him.
She came to him wearing only a towel and a smile, her long hair a damp and wild mane falling around her shoulders.
“So beautiful.”
“I know,” she said, holding up and admiring the ring.
Oh, yeah. The ring. All he could afford at the time. Pretty much every penny he’d saved.
“Would you put it on me?” she said softly, handing him the ring.
“Try and stop me.” He slid it on her finger, her gaze suspiciously wet again.
“Are we really doing this?” She whispered, her arms coming up to wrap around his neck.
Something about that simple question broke his heart a little bit. She still didn’t realize how much he loved her, how much he’d be willing to sacrifice to get her back. He pulled her close.
“Marriage, take two. I’ll get it right this time.”
She shook her head and gnawed at her lower lip. “I’m so sorry.”
“For what?”
“For leaving you. For being a coward. For not being a good military wife.”
“You were perfect for me. Only I didn’t know it at the time. Not like I came to understand later. I shouldn’t have volunteered for that deployment. At the time I believed my men and I would win that war. We just had to try harder. More men. More time. I wanted to fight but more than anything I wanted to win. That’s just who I am. For a long time, I couldn’t give up. But I’m not interested in fighting anymore. I’m interested in building bridges.”
“You want to be an engineer?” She grinned, ruffling his hair.
“Metaphorical bridges.”
Then he kissed her, a long and deep but tender kiss that he could only hope showed her more than told her about the future he wanted with her.
Full of kids and dogs and whatever else she wanted because all he really needed was her.
Sophia woke to the sound of a phone buzzing. She rolled over and noted the time: two in the morning.
Groaning, Riley disentangled from her and answered his phone. “Jacobs.”
A pause while the other person spoke.
“Hey, Luther.” He hopped out of bed, immediately alert. “What’s up?”
Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. After the phone call he started shoving clothes on in a methodical and lightning-fast fashion.
“What is it? A bad accident? Fire?” Sometimes in the case of a serious crime, all hands were on deck.
“I’ve got to go.”
“Tell me.”
“It’s Lucy. Don’t worry.” He slid a glance in her direction, avoiding her eyes. “I’ll be back.”
“Back from where?” Sophie dressed quickly. He wasn’t going to leave her behind, the poor little wife who had to be protected.
“It’s going to be all right.”
She’d made him the kind of man who hid things from his wife, things that were too ugly or unpleasant. Too raw. But she’d grown from the terrified young wife who thought she’d lose her husband every day. She now hovered in a healthy balance between the girl she used to be—the girl who didn’t think anything would ever go wrong—to a woman who understood that life didn’t always go according to plan. But she could handle it. She could deal and adjust. Survive.
“I’m going with you.”
“No need.”
“Because you’ll take care of it?”
“Right.”
She grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I want to go with you. I care about her too.”
He studied her a minute, his eyes edgy and hooded. So tired. She didn’t want to be more trouble to him, but she could help. There had to be something she could do.
He finally shoved a hand through his hair. “Let’s go. St. Vincent’s Hospital.”
Lucy. St. Vincent’s Hospital. Sophia had two pieces of information and put together they weren’t good. Poor Riley. His sister could be dying, and Sophia had slowed him down. No. Lucy wasn’t dying, but too bad there wasn’t time to light a candle at St. Mary’s. Sophia could still pray. And she did, as Riley broke speed limits getting across town.
At the hospital, they were met by Luther. “They’ve taken her up to intensive care.”
“What happened?” Riley grabbed Sophia’s hand and pulled her toward the elevators.
Luther managed to keep up with Riley’s long and quick strides, though Sophia barely could. “I responded to a 911 call. Ambulance was already there when I arrived. Overdose.”
Riley’s grip tightened. “How bad?”
“She coded on the way, but they got her back quick,” Luther said. “A good sign.”
The elevators opened.
“Thank God for that,” Sophia said, just before Riley tugged her inside.
“Chief, don’t worry about coming in today. I’ll let Jennifer know where you are. And I’m so sor—” The elevators doors closed before Luther could finish.
Sophia studied Riley’s face while she waited for something, anything, she could say. Something encouraging. Optimistic. She had nothing. He stared at the elevator numbers as they went up the floors. His entire body looked like one tight cord that would snap at any minute. She opened her mouth to say something encouraging. Closed it. There were no words. Lucy had hit bottom.
Sophia had never imagined the bottom meant dying. No wonder Riley had intervened so many times before Lucy ever got to this place. And Sophia had offered advice from articles she’d researched online. Both of them were way out of their league, and she could only hope that Riley understood now that Lucy needed the kind of help neither one of them could give her.
At the nurses’ station Riley identified himself.
“No one can see her now,” a nurse said. “She’s critical.”
They had no choice but to sit in the waiting room where they waited. And waited. For hours.
Finally, another nurse came and found them. “Only family, and one of you at a time.”
“I’ll wait here.” Sophia squeezed his hand.
Riley gave her a quick nod and strode off.
God only knew what he was going to see when he got there and Sophia’s heart ached for him. This was possibly the worst thing that could have happened to Riley, who felt so responsible for Lucy. He felt responsible for far too much.
Her cell phone rang. She’d expected this call. “Hi, Daddy-o.”
“Sophia! We’re back. And how are you?” her father asked.
“Good. It’s so early. I just got up a while ago.” She faked yawned into the phone.
“Time difference. I couldn’t wait to talk to you. Are you at home?”
“Um, no. I … I’m visiting a sick friend.”
“What? So early?”
“Yes, but I do want to see you soon.”
“I thought I’d stop by the restaurant tonight. Might be nice. I miss the place, you know?”
“Of course you do. I might not be there tonight.”
“Sorry, did you say you might not be there?” He sounded surprised, and why not? She hadn’t missed a day in years. She lived at the restaurant, her happy place. “How sick is this friend?”
“Pretty sick. I have an idea. Would you cover for me tonight? It would be just like old times.”
“Yes, yes, of course! You deserve a day off. Maybe even two.” Daddy-o laughed. “How is Angie doing? Still throwing a fit a week?”
“She’s going to love seeing you again.”
“I’m the only one who knows when she’s put too much garlic in the sauce.”
Just like Sophia was the only one who realized when she hadn’t put in enough. “She’s not too happy about my plan to close on Mondays.”
He didn’t sound surprised, but then she’d already discussed the idea with him. At one time, years ago, Mama had insisted on closing the restaurant on Sundays.
“It’s your decision.”
“Yes, my decision.” God, she hoped he remembered that when she told him about Riley. “Thank you.”
“We’ll see you soon, though, for dinner? Eileen wants to have the whole family together again. One big dinner. With all these grandkids, we’re going to need a new dining room.” He chuckled.
And maybe soon she’d have a little one to add to the mix with the man her father hated. She would save that little bit of information for another time. Dole it out piecemeal. Out of the corner of her eye, Sophia noticed Riley stalking back.
“I’ve got to go. Talk soon.” Sophia rushed to meet Riley. “How is she?”
Jaw tight, he nearly spit out the words. “Not good. I only saw her for a few minutes.”
“What can I do?” She wanted to help but she was so far managing a bit fat zero.
Riley’s phone rang and he held up his finger. “Jacobs. Yeah, Luther. What’d you find out?” He took a few steps away and paced the hallway, obviously embroiled in the conversation.
What to do, what to do. She waited for Riley in front of the elevator. She’d been able to comfort him many times before and keep his mind off the kind of things he couldn’t talk about with her. The stuff that woke him up at night.
And then she realized exactly what she could do.
She found the chapel on the first floor of the hospital. Sophia went straight to the candles and lit one for Lucy. She’d started the ritual during the time she’d frantically light candles for Riley in North Carolina. Enough to start a bonfire. That bargaining belief she’d had, the thought that if only she lit enough candles and offered up enough prayers God would take care of it, had been replaced by a peace in lighting a candle. Simply offering up a prayer. The ritual gave her an action to take in the face of hopelessness.
Because there was no place quite as empty as one without hope.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sitting at a pew when Riley came through the chapel doors. He took a seat beside her.
“How did I know where to find you?”
“You know me.” She reached for his hand.
He leaned back in the pew. “So quiet in here.”
“I lit a candle for Lucy.”
“Just one?”
“It turns out that’s all we need.”
He lifted their joined hands to his lips and kissed hers. “So, it’s not a numbers game?”
“No. I was wrong about that, and so many other things.”
He took a deep breath. “If she makes it this time, she’s going away. Not coming back to the same house in that area. I’ll sell it out from under her if that’s what it takes.”
If she makes it this time.
“It has to be done.”
“I’m also going to find out if her boyfriend had anything to do with this overdose.”
“As police chief, or as her brother?”
“It happened in our town.”
“Right. Sure. It’s your job.”
A little red flag went up, waving in the distance. Riley was a fighter, after all, and he’d do anything for his sister.
“I know it was her choice, but whoever gave her the drugs will be accountable. Especially if they wind up killing her.”
“Don’t say that,” Sophia shushed him. “She’s going to be all right.”
“We don’t know that.”
Riley was quiet for several minutes before he spoke again, his voice low and rough. “Thank you for staying in touch with Lucy all these years.”
“I always liked her. And she was also the only connection I had left to you.”
“Truth is, in my entire sorry life, you’re the only one who ever loved me. I thought Lucy should love me, you know? She’s my sister. But how can she love me when she doesn’t even love herself?” His voice broke.
“Oh, Riley.”
He tugged her close. “Baby, can I kiss you in here?”
“I don’t think God would mind.”
He kissed her, a light chaste kiss on the lips. “I’m sorry to put you through all this.”
“I’m doing fine.”
If it were Riley hurt, instead of Lucy…but no, she could handle anything now. She had a strength she hadn’t known. She’d grown into a woman just as strong as her mother had been. Maybe even stronger.
Riley’s lips nipped at her jawline. “Still love me?”
“Still.” And she meant it with her whole heart.
Hours later, Riley was informed that Lucy had been taken off the ventilator. Seeing her so helpless and sick had taken every last piece of hope out of him. It had taken everything in him to keep from cursing at the nurses and doctor to do something. It wasn’t their fault, but he wanted somebody to blame.
Somebody who wasn’t strapped to a ventilator.
So, Lucy would live. He couldn’t say the same about her boyfriend.
Luther had done some investigating while Riley had been waiting for word at the hospital. The house where the ambulance had found her was owned by someone named Richard Leonard, Sr. It hadn’t taken much more effort to find that the house had been mostly vacant for years after the man’s death. Tied up in probate or some such thing. But the man’s twenty-five-year-old son was apparently using it from time to time as a party house. According to Luther, he’d been by a few months ago on a disturbance of the peace call but at the time he hadn’t found probable cause to search the place. He’d done his duty and filed the reports, which might prove useful now.
The location of a near overdose from a cocktail of alcohol and Xanax required investigation by his police department. One of his officers was on the way right now to interrogate the man. He’d at least had the good sense to call 911 and not to show up here.
Chances were he wouldn’t be at the house for questioning.
But Riley would find him, one way or another. No matter how long it took. In between city council meetings, paper cuts, and traffic tickets. He’d find the man and put him under the jail.
“Mr. Jacobs?”
He turned to the nurse.
“She’s hoarse from the tube, which is normal, but she’s talking.”
“I’ll be right back,” he said to Sophia as he stood.
They’d been sitting in the waiting room again for what felt like decades but in reality had only been most of the day.
“I’ll wait here.”
Sophia had spent the day with him, going home once to check on Hershee, and then bringing back lunch. She’d practically force-fed him the turkey sandwich. He needed to eat, and he would have told her the same thing had roles been reversed. And it had been an interesting role reversal. He couldn’t help but be transported back to a time when he’d tried to patch her back together and failed miserably.
But she wasn’t failing him. Having her along was like a lifeline.
And he needed one right now, as he walked into Lucy’s room. She was a thin memory of his beautiful sister. Her twenty-six years looked more like forty-six today. Shocky, pale face, sunken cheeks. He should have taken one look at her a month ago and sent her packing to rehab. Sold the house while she was gone. Tough luck if she didn’t like it. He had to stop caring whether or not she’d ever talk to him again. The important thing was that she’d live. He had to remember that from now on.
