Page 98 of Second Time Around

Twenty-Eight

An hour later, Beck pulled onto his street, exhausted and defeated. His frustration had morphed into a heavy disappointment that he couldn’t shake. He’d replayed the scene in the parking lot a dozen times and had reached the same conclusion. She still didn’t trust him.

The accusations she’d hurled at him had struck like arrows in his heart. It was just like prom night, except the stakes felt much higher this time. He wasn’t sure how or if they’d recover from this.

When he turned the corner into the cul-de-sac, he was shocked to see her car in his driveway, and he slammed on the brakes. His headlights illuminated the inside of her car, but he didn’t see her sitting there.

Recently they’d discussed exchanging house keys, but they hadn’t done so yet. If she wasn’t in the car, where was she? He slowly pulled forward, wondering which Jenna he’d encounter. Would she be sweet and repenting or hurt and angry? Maybe she’d come to break up with him, her trust shattered for good.

Realizing he couldn’t avoid her forever, he pulled into the driveway and shut off the car. He’d forgotten to leave any lights on, so the entire house was shrouded in darkness. As he walked past her car, he peered inside to see if she was lying down, but other than the tote bag she always carted around, it was empty.

He went up the sidewalk to the porch, and there she was, lying on the porch swing with a beach towel tucked around her. She was curled into a tight ball, her eyes closed, breathing evenly.

He’d expected her to have gone home or to a friend’s house to avoid him, but he’d been wrong. She’d been waiting for him, and he felt a flicker of hope.

Suddenly her eyes popped open, and she stared up at him, almost like he was a ghost. “Beck?”

“It’s me,” he said.

Then she sat up and patted the space beside her.

He considered inviting her inside, but he decided to wait and see how this played out. He carefully sat down so as not to rock the bench too much.

“It’s cold out here,” he said, eyeing her curiously.

“I had my towel.”

He chuckled. For having such a small car, she’d certainly stocked it with everything she needed.

“I would have waited inside, but I didn’t have a key,” she said.

“I was going to give you one…” Would she still want one now?

“I know.”

“What are you doing here, Jenna?” He didn’t feel like tiptoeing around anymore.

“I wanted to apologize.”

“You already did that.”

“But then you walked away from me.”

He sighed. “We can’t keep doing this. There has to come a point where you trust me, or this won’t work.”

She inhaled deeply. “I know that, but when I saw you with her…”

“You should have come into the kitchen instead of running away. It would have saved us both a lot of time and frustration.”

She nodded, looking contrite.

He shifted to face her. “I love you, and I want to marry you someday. Do you really believe I would have done something to jeopardize our relationship?”

She shook her head.

“We wasted a lot of years due to a stupid misunderstanding. I never want that to happen again.”

“I agree.”