Page 34 of Letters From Avery
“You have nothing to be sorry about,” I answered almost immediately.
I heard him sigh through the fabric of the mask. “I don’t remember everything we talked about over the past four years, but I’ve obviously written something to make you feel that way. So let me be perfectly clear. I want you, Avery. More than I can even express. You saved my life, literally. There are so many choices I made, good choices, because I was laser-focused on getting out and getting to you. I didn’t realize it at the time, but every letter you sent to me made me a better man. Paragraph by paragraph, you filled me with hope. You gave me purpose when the rest of the world had thrown me away. I’ll love you for the rest of my life for that. Whatever I wrote to make you doubt that, was a mistake.”
I couldn’t find the words to explain that he’d never said anything to make me feel that way. It was nothing more than my own lack of self-confidence.
“I love you too, James.”
Being pressed up against him, I startled a bit as his phone began to vibrate in his pocket, but he ignored it. “You don’t know how many times I’ve dreamt of this exact moment. Although, it does look a little different than I had originally imagined,” he chuckled.
“I—”
I stopped as his phone began to ring again, the soft buzz echoing in the quiet. With a disgruntled “hmph,” James took a small step back, separating us enough to pull the phone out of his pants.
“Hey, Jenna, is everything okay?”
Chapter Eleven
James
Following the robotic instructions from my phone’s navigation, I pulled into the nearly-deserted parking lot. Under the glow of the Walgreens Pharmacy sign, I spotted Jenna’s SUV and pulled up next to it.
Jenna stepped out of the driver’s seat as I killed the engine. She looked worn-out, almost haggard. Her pretty face was red and reflected the glow from the store windows where tears had fallen down her face. Her blonde hair was tied back in a messy bun, but half of it seemed to be escaping the claw clip as loose strands floated around her face in the cool breeze.
“It won’t start,” she said, making eye contact over the car as I stepped out.
“I have cables in…”
“Please,” she interrupted. “I just want to go home. Jack can deal with the car in the morning.”
I gave a quick nod, and Jenna opened the back door. “Come on, sweetie, Uncle JR is here to take us home.” Jenna lifted a half-asleep Lindsey out of her booster seat. I hurried around to unhook the booster. Fortunately, it was pretty straightforward and only took me a minute or two to secure in the back of the car.
Once Lindsey was secure, Jenna grabbed her purse and a plastic shopping bag out of the SUV. By the time I pulled out of the parking lot, Lindsey was asleep.
Within a few blocks, Jenna broke the silence. “Thank you, JR. I couldn’t get ahold of Jack. He’s working late at the garage trying to finish up some cars for the mayor. Lindsey started running a low fever and I just thought I’d…”
Her voice broke as a fresh wave of tears began streaming down her face. She sniffled. “I’m sorry. I thought things were gonna get easier with you working at the shop, but now Jack is working more than ever, and I’m not handling it.”
“Raising a kid is hard, Jenna. You’re doing an incredible job with Lindsey.”
She scoffed and then sniffled again as she turned her face away. “No, I’m not. I’m barely holding on as it is. What happens when…” She stopped herself, and I caught a glimpse of her worrying her bottom lip between her teeth in the reflection of the window. “I’m pregnant.”
“Oh, I um… I didn’t know.”
She finally turned to face me as I stopped at a red light. Once I glanced over and our eyes met, the rest of her resolve melted, and a fresh stream of tears began to roll down her cheeks. With a trembling bottom lip, she whispered, “No one does. You’re the first person I’ve told. I just… I didn’t think it was gonna be this hard, you know? He told me that, with you moving in and helping at the shop, that he’d be around more. I guess that was a crock of shit because he’s at the shop, and here you are.”
She went back to staring out the window before quickly turning back. “No offense. I’m not like a slave driver, or anything. Simply pointing out the fact. I can’t do this shit alone, JR. I feel like I’m drowning as it is. What am I gonna do with Lindsey and a newborn?”
I just nodded, trying to buy enough time to come up with something. Especially since we finished up all the county vehiclesandthe Mayor’s fleet yesterday. I’d finished the last work truck and signed the service slips myself.
“It’s my fault, Jenna,” I lied. “I’m kind of dealing witha situation myself. I needed to take care of something, and Jack is covering for me.”
“Oh, God. It’s not the cops, is it?”
“Funny you should ask. The guy I’m in love with is engaged to another man. A dangerous man who he wants desperately to get away from. That’s what we’re trying to get done, but it’s complicated because his boss is Avery’s father. The father and this clown are apparently very close, which is one of the reasons Avery is in the situation that he is.”
“Oh, wow,” Jenna replied, sitting up in her seat a little straighter and wiping at her eyes. “What is…” she paused. “Avery, is it?”
I nodded.
