Breaking All The Rules (Book 1 - Second Chances Series) (7 page)

Now she was getting on my nerves. Everything she was saying was an assumption, just a bunch of gossip and speculation. “He’s twenty-nine, Janette. He should have a house of his own. Besides do you know how much money Ethan made playing soccer and doing endorsements? He needs all the tax write offs he can get.”

“Stand up for him all you want Miss Cougar, but don’t fall for him. He’ll break your heart and fly away.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to say the last man who broke my heart was hers. The fact that he wouldn’t fly out of Garrison had been the end of us, but of course I didn’t. I merely shook my head.

Janette stood and stretched like a bored cat. “I need to go on to the church, but when I get home I’m going right to bed.”

I took a good look at her. “Maybe you should do that now. You look extremely tired.”

“I don’t miss Bible study, especially now that this red scarlet letter is branded on my forehead.”

We giggled. “Honey it’s going to be alright in about nine days.”

“It will won’t it?” She was thoughtful. “Nine more days and I’ll be Mrs. Terrance Wright.”

She walked out of the room. I felt a stabbing pain in my heart. I’d dubbed myself Mrs. Terrance Wright in high school and now my sister would have the title. I sighed. This was too weird.

I lie on the bed for a few minutes listening to my sister move around downstairs, then outside and eventually heard her car start and pull away. I had yet to ask her where she and Mr. Terrance Wright were planning to live. This house was bigger than the one Terrance owned or rented or whatever was his situation. I’d been afraid to ask her, not wanting to learn that that they would reside here and raise their babies in this house, because if they did it would no longer feel like home.

I rolled over on my stomach and pressed my made-up face into the comforter. I just didn’t know. Everything about her choice of husband made the marriage difficult for me to stomach. Of course she hadn’t been thinking about that when she’d gone out and slept with him. I groaned. Now I knew for sure why you stayed away from the exes.  I’d never really thought about the implications of it before. I just knew to follow the rule. Whomever had made it had to be a woman that had been through this “ish”, because only someone who had been where I was could possibly understand all the factors that could come into play when someone close to you dated an ex.

I stood and surveyed myself one more time in the mirror. The makeup made me look like I was going on a date. I couldn’t have Ethan thinking I was going to break my “no dating younger men” rule. There was enough rule breaking going on right now. Besides, he was Terrance’s cousin, dating me would mean he was with Terrance’s ex. Did men care about that? I wasn’t sure.

“Why are you even going there in your mind?” I asked my reflection. “Ethan is a friend and he wouldn’t ever be anything more.” I walked into the bathroom that joined my bedroom to my sisters and washed the makeup off my face, reapplied my moisturizer and a little lip gloss just as the doorbell rang. I turned to leave the room and then turned back to the mirror and pointed at myself. “Ethan is just a friend,” I repeated. “He’s twenty-nine, Terrance’s cousin, and he appears to be backslidden. They’ll be no opening your mouth tonight.”

I turned off the light and made my way down the stairs. I pulled the door open and all that I’d just told myself seemed to evaporate into a mist in the sky. Ethan was standing there looking all kinds of yummy and chocolaty. Once that woodsy scent coming off his body hit my nostrils all I could think was that I wanted to break every rule I had ever made.

***

Palermo’s
was upscale for Garrison. Crisp white tablecloths, wait staff in white and black moving about with their hands behind their backs and what appeared to be fine china on the tables. I thought about Renea’s desire to hold the bridal shower here all on my tab and knew that chick had to be crazy. If everybody came that showed up at the house last night this was going to be a thousand dollar party and that’s if they didn’t order a bunch of liquor.  

Ethan didn’t seem at all phased by the fanciness. I was sure he’d grown accustomed to eating in places much more posh when he was dining overseas. He’d been curiously quiet in the car and I started to feel insecure like he’d wished he’d known about my dating rules prior to making the commitment. He wasn’t alone in these thoughts. I wish I hadn’t let him put his tongue in my mouth prior to knowing he was no longer in love with Jesus. Not loving the Lord was for sure a deal breaker. Relationships were hard when you were spiritually incompatible, but he sure smelled good.

“Mr. Wright!”  The maître d exclaimed. “It’s a pleasure to have you with us at Palermo’s this evening. Madame.” He took my hand and gave it a little shake. “Please come this way.”

The restaurant was designed in a circle with a sunken center that included tables on both levels. We were seated in a less than private location on the second floor. He put menus in front of us and pulled out my chair. “Sir, the owners would like it if you accepted dinner on the house. We appreciate you joining us.”

Ethan said a simple thank you and the maître d disappeared.

I raised an eyebrow. “Wow, no wonder you have so much money. Do you get to eat free all over the world?”

“When people recognize me,” he said. “I prefer to pay and keep my privacy. You see where he put us. I’ll be in the local paper tomorrow and before this meal is over we’ll be interrupted for several autograph and picture taking sessions.”

“Doesn’t sound like a bad problem to have,” I said.

“It’s not, unless it’s your problem,” he replied with a sigh. “I’m not complaining. I loved playing soccer and I like being rich.”

I smiled and then so did he for the first time since he’d stood in my door.

I opened my menu. “I’m glad to finally see a smile.”

“I apologize for being a little off. I found out one of my former teammates was killed in a boating accident this morning. I’m kind of in shock.”

I felt horrible. How selfish I had been for wanting the chipper Ethan who’d taken my mind off my problems. I reached across the table for his hand and squeezed it. “I’m so sorry to hear that. Please forgive me for not sensing something deeper was wrong.”

Ethan squeezed my hand back. “It’s okay. How could you? We hardly know each other.” He opened his menu and mumbled. “Not that I don’t want that to change.”

I smiled inwardly. It was nice to have the complimentary Ethan back. I had to admit the attention he showered on me made me feel special.

A waiter interrupted us to take our drink and menu selections. Once he was gone we resumed our conversation.

“So, do you want to talk about your friend?” I asked. “How old was he? Which team did he play for La Rojas or Tricolores?”

“You know the teams I played for?” he chuckled. “Someone has been using Google.”

I brushed my hair off my shoulders and raised my neck proudly. “What makes you think I had to Google you? Would it surprise you to know that I followed your career?”

Ethan’s face took on a serious look. “Yes it would. I’d be surprised to know you cared.”

“You’re our local celebrity.” I nodded past him. “And that’s about to be confirmed right now.”

A man and a boy who looked about ten years old approached our table with a notebook in hand.

“Mr. Wright, I don’t mean to disturb your dinner, but my son and I are big fans. If you and the lady,” he glanced toward me, “don’t mind the interruption, my son would love a picture and your autograph.”

Ethan lifted the child onto his lap. “Of course.” He looked at me and made the biggest smile he could manage. “Do I have anything in my teeth?

I giggled and shook my head. “You look fine.”

He turned the boy toward him. “What about you, dude? Do you have anything in your teeth?” The child laughed and opened wide so Ethan could inspect his mouth. “Nah, you’re good. They both turned to face his father and after a few flashes of light and Ethan’s signature on the pad, they were gone.

I sat back and crossed my arms. “I’m impressed.”

“Don’t be. Making kids laugh and playing soccer come natural to me. Be more impressed that I learned to play that piano.”

The waiter returned with our drinks and bread. I reached for my water goblet. “Speaking of which, I didn’t get to ask you how you learned to play.”

He snapped a finger and wagged it. “Yeah, that’s because I was too busy trying to get my tongue in your mouth.”

I pinned him with a look. The old Ethan had definitely resurfaced.

He tossed his head back a bit. “I’m just saying, I remember how it went down last night.” He smiled. “I took lessons when I was in France. It was kind of lonely and boring being in a foreign country. Taking lessons assured me that I would have something to do on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Plus the teacher spoke English, fluently and that was what I was looking for. Most of my teammates spoke French. The coach spoke French. I didn’t have anybody to talk to. I tried to learn the language, but you know you’re never fluent so…”

I nodded. “Impressive.”

“Yes, be impressed with that. Learning piano was hard.”

“You make it look easy.”

“Well, I had my heart in it last night.” His gaze was more than smoldering under the dim restaurant lights. We chatted a little more about his piano lessons and then we were served our salads and more bread.

I bowed my head for grace and noticed that Ethan did as well, but he certainly hadn’t taken the lead on it. The sadness he’d exuded earlier crept back over him.

“We hadn’t finished talking about your friend,” I said.

“You could tell I was thinking about him. I’m sorry to be bad company for you.”

“You’re not.” I shook my head. “I want to know about him, so please tell me.”

“We played together in France. He was from South Africa, the oldest of fourteen children. He loved the game, but loved that he was in a position to take care of his family at home even more.”

“That’s a wonderful testament to his life that he cared for his family.”
             

“Yeah, but such a waste. He was still playing.”

“Tragedies like that are so hard, but I suppose there’s a reason for everything.” I put an elbow on the table and rested my chin on my fist. “What do you think about that?”

Ethan’s eyes had been lowered. He raised them and I could see the pain. “I don’t know. I guess it’ll all make sense one day.” He took a long sip of his water. “Traveling the world and seeing some of the suffering makes it difficult to understand, so I admit to having a great many doubts over the years.”

My cell phone rang one of my special ringtones. I reached into my purse for it. “This is Janette. Let me see what she wants.” I pushed the talk button expecting to hear my sister’s voice. “Terrance…. yes.” I listened to him and ended the call just as the waiter arrived with our plates. “We need to take this to go,” I said and then I turned to Ethan. “Would you mind taking me to the hospital? Janette is in labor.”

Ethan and I rushed to
Garrison General Hospital
and made it to the emergency room before the rims stopped spinning on his monster truck. We reached Janette’s room and upon entering things appeared deceptively calm. Janette was hooked up to a monitor that reported the baby’s heartbeat and revealed if she was having any contractions.  She wasn’t hanging upside down and I guessed she hadn’t had her cervix sewn up or any of the other horrible things I heard they did to women to keep babies from sliding out.

Terrance stood from a chair in the corner that looked way too tiny for a man of his height. “Thank you for coming,” he said to me and then he looked  at his cousin and simply nodded. “I forgot you didn’t have a car. Ethan, I appreciate you bringing her.”

“No problem. We were together,” Ethan said. Not together at dinner. Just together. Although he should have remembered we were having dinner, for some reason Terrance didn’t look particularly happy to hear that.

More pissing in the pond
, I thought.
Men.

I interrupted. “What’s going on with Janette? How could she be in labor so early?”

“I’m right here,” Janette’s voice was weak. “You don’t have to talk like I’m not.”

I joined Janette at her bedside. She reached for my hand. “They gave me medicine to stop the contractions from coming. I was having preterm labor.” She played around with the pillows behind her and then she seemed to remember she was in a hospital bed and used the button to raise the head of the bed.

“Preterm labor. How far along are you?” I asked.

“I’m twenty-eight weeks.”

“Much too early to have the baby.” Terrance took her hand on the other side of the bed. “The doctor says she’s dehydrated, so they’re giving her some fluids and she’s going to be on bed rest for a few weeks.”

“Bed rest,” Ethan interjected. “Does that mean you have to stay in the hospital?”

“Heavens no. I’m probably going to be released tonight, but I have to take it easy. Keep my feet up and get plenty of rest.”

“And she has to drink lots of water.” Terrance added.