Broken Man (12 page)

“Let’s wait until the weekend,” she barely managed to whisper into his ear as she finally managed to gain control of herself and somehow decided to stick with her plan. “I want us to have plenty of time.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” he smiled as he also managed to regain control, their bodies still locked in embrace.

She kissed him one more time, gently sending him on his way before she entered her apartment and closed the door. Bracing herself on the other side of the door, she sighed as she felt where he had touched her and her mind relived everything that had just happened, her body going weak and her feelings overtaking her once again.

“Oh my God,” she again whispered to herself as she trembled with excitement, and finally, gave up control.

Chapter Eleven

Jack looked over at Amanda, still asleep in the passenger seat, and he smiled as he exited the interstate for the last leg of their journey to his brother’s house.

It had been a beautiful morning, the weather cooperating with their plans, the early sunrise over the beach gradually giving way to the soft white clouds buffeting the blue sky of the mountains north of Allentown. As he looked at the clock that read 10:45, Jack considered waking Amanda so she could enjoy their arrival, but decided it best to let her sleep.

He knew she was tired, having worked into the morning the night before after having been equally busy with school the entire week. He had tried to provide a stimulant, stopping for gas, coffee and donuts, but even the sugar and caffeine weren’t quite enough to keep her from sleeping the entire trip. That’s okay, they would have plenty of time together over the next couple days.

She is so beautiful, Jack thought to himself as she turned her head toward him, trying to find a comfortable position to rest. She is hardly wearing any makeup and her hair looks like she just got out of bed, but that is the essence of her beauty, Jack realized as he made a right turn onto the country road that would lead to his brother’s house. Natural, honest, almost angelic in appearance, God had for once gotten it right in matching her inner and outer beauty.

The kids are going to love her, he smiled as he thought of how automatically she would be able to connect with them, children thankfully so unsusceptible to the pretense and superficiality with which she was uncomfortable. She sometimes seems like a child herself, Jack was surprised at his need to protect her, although she definitely is a woman, and an amazing one at that.

Jack thought of kissing her in the hallway, the way that it felt, the softness of her lips, and his mind drifted back to that pleasant place. He again smelled the scent of her perfume, heard the sound of her breathing, and felt the naturalness of her body as they touched. His mind then took it a step further, and he smiled as he thought of her beautiful body naked on a soft white cloud of a bed, her looking up at him with those big brown eyes as they made love, unaware of anything but each other.

“What are you smiling about, Jack,” she startled him as she yawned.

“Oh, nothing,” he lied as he enjoyed seeing her awake. “I’m glad you are up, we are just about there.”

“Perfect timing,” she replied, unaware of her interrupting Jack’s daydream. “Sorry I slept the entire way, but now, I won’t need a nap.”

“That’s good,” he smiled, although a nap sounded great after the thoughts he had just had. “The kids will probably keep you pretty busy.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” she smiled back at him. “What do you want to do today?”

“Well, Matthew and I start our draft at noon, and that will probably take a couple hours,” he said as he turned into the gravel driveway that lead to the house. “Mike is working until about five, but I figured you could spend some time with Mary and Elena.”

“That sounds like fun, maybe we can have some girl talk.”

“I’m sure you will,” he replied as he pulled up to the house.

* * *

“Amanda, you can dump the chocolate chips now,” Elena instructed as she stirred the batter.

“Okay,” she followed her orders. “What do you need me to do next.”

“Preheat the oven to three-fifty, and check to see if we need to grease the cookie trays.”

“Will do,” she smiled at Jack’s nine year old niece. “I think your cookies are going to be delicious.”

“I hope so,” she replied with concern. “My last batch didn’t turn out so well.”

“I know these are going to be fine,” she reassured Elena as she turned on the oven and looked over at Jack and Matthew in the family room in front of the computer, having another debate over who to draft.

“Uncle Jack,” she heard Matthew prepare another argument for his player. “Rodriguez has an OPS of .941 and Jackson has an OPS of .922, but Jackson is six years younger and just entering his prime.”

“I understand that, Matt,” Jack argued for his player one more time. “But, Rodriguez is a proven commodity and has been doing it for a long time. Jackson has had only had two good years and has not yet proven himself.”

“Rodriguez is on the downside if his career and most players decline significantly after thirty-five,” Matthew gave a compelling argument, especially for an eleven year old. “Trust me, Uncle Jack, Jackson is the way to go, he has so much more upside.”

“Alright, Matt,” Jack smiled as he caught Amanda’s eye and gave in to Matthew as he had all morning. “Go ahead and take Jackson.”

He would be such a good father. I wonder why he has never had children.

Amanda surprised herself with a thought that suddenly came out of nowhere. Children were something she thought about now and then, but not obsessively like a lot of women. She was already twenty six going on twenty seven, and wasn’t close to being in the position to even think about having children. It would probably help to be in a relationship first, she chastised herself.

Maybe she shouldn’t even have children. It’s difficult to want to bring a child into the world when your own childhood wasn’t exactly filled with warm memories. Amanda questioned whether or not she would be a good mother with nothing to go by, no standard set. Maybe Jack struggles with this same issues, she thought to herself.

But, I know he would be great, Amanda fantasized about a life with him as she watched Jack and Matthew look up the statistics on their next draft pick. And, I think I would be a good mother as well, she gave herself credit, her maternal instincts salvaged by her relationship with her grandmother.

I wonder what would have happened if she hadn’t been there for me.

“Are you ready to put the dough on the tray,” Elena interrupted her thoughts with more pressing concerns.

“Let’s do it,” she smiled as she retrieved the trays from on top of the stove.

“Are you sure we don’t need to grease them, Amanda,” Elena looked at her for confirmation.

“I’m sure, honey,” Amanda replied. “All the butter in the dough takes care of it for us.”

“Okay, I believe you,” Elena replied as she spooned the first cookie onto the tray. “Are you and Uncle Jack going to sleep over tonight.”

“We are going to stay over,” Amanda smiled as she clarified their sleeping arrangements. “I am going to stay in the guest room and Uncle Jack is going to sleep on the couch.”

“You can sleep in my room if you want,” Elena looked at her hopefully.

“I would love to honey,” she responded as she came up with a valid excuse. “But, Uncle Jack and I are used to staying up pretty late, and I don’t want to keep you up.”

“That’s okay, I understand,” Elena replied as she spooned another cookie onto the tray. “Is Uncle Jack your boyfriend?”

“I guess he kind of is,” Amanda smiled as she tried to figure out how to answer that question. “Your uncle is a wonderful man.”

“I know he is,” she smiled back at Amanda. “Do you think you are going to get married.”

“It’s a little soon for that, Elena,” she laughed and wondered if Jack could hear their conversation. “But, I promise, if we ever decide to, you will be the first to know.”

* * *

“So, how did the two of you meet,” Mary smiled as she retrieved a another bottle of wine from the rack over the bar, the kids finally safely asleep in their rooms, an inferno blazing in the fireplace.

“We met at the casino,” Jack replied as he took another sip of wine. “It was actually Christmas night, the night before I came up here.”

“Sounds like love at first sight,” Mary looked so pleased to see him happy. “Amanda, what did you think when you first met him.”

“Take it easy, Mary,” Mike tempered his wife’s enthusiasm. “This isn’t twenty questions.”

“No, it’s okay,” Amanda smiled and enjoyed the interrogation. “I like to embarrass Jack, it’s kind of fun. Let’s see, my first impression of him was that he didn’t hit on me, which I liked. My second impression was that he was very handsome, which I also liked. My final impression was God, he is really old.”

“Very funny,” Jack laughed. “But remember, Mike and Mary are as old as me, so you are also insulting them when you call me old.”

“No, I am not, Jack. You look a lot older than them.”

He smiled at her insult and as always, enjoyed seeing her relax. It had been a great day, playing with the kids, taking a walk through the woods, enjoying a great dinner, and watching her adapt to the new environment. Already, she seemed to fit so well into this country lifestyle, her hair strewn together in a haphazard bun, her cheeks slightly pink from the cold air and the wine, her smile warm and gentle.

“So, what happened after that,” Mary asked, hopeful for the start of a romance novel.

“Well, I knew that I liked him,” Amanda smiled shyly. “But, I didn’t see him for a couple weeks after that, and figured that I would never see him again. But then, he finally surprises me by showing up one night, and I decided I wasn’t going to let him get away easily this time. So, long story short, I practically threw myself at him every night for two months until finally, I practically had to beg him to ask me out. Can you believe it?”

“Jack,” Mary teasingly scolded him. “What were you thinking?”

“That wasn’t quite how it went,” Jack rolled his eyes and smirked as he abridged Amanda’s version of the story. “I liked her right away, and we became friends. I didn’t ask her out for a couple of months only because I didn’t know her situation and because I am just a few years older than her. Eventually though, I couldn’t resist her charms and I just had to ask her out. Do you want to tell them about our first date, honey,” he grinned mischievously at Amanda.

“You promised you wouldn’t bring that up anymore,” Amanda feigned shock.

“I’m just teasing,” he laughed as he turned back to his brother. “By the way, thanks for having us up this weekend. It was nice to get away.”

“Any time, Jack,” Mike responded as he stood up from his recliner. “I think the kids liked having both of you here. They probably get bored of Mary and I sometimes, and I don’t know nearly as much about baseball as you do.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Jack replied honestly, always impressed that Mike had turned into such a good husband and father. “You guys are doing a great job with them. They really are good kids, and you should be proud of them.”

“You really should be,” Amanda agreed. “They are lucky to have both of you as parents.”

“Well, thank you both,” Mary smiled as she stood up from the couch, following her husband’s lead. “They show their appreciation by getting us up early every weekend, so we better head up to bed. We’ll try to keep the racket down as much as possible in the morning, but I can’t promise anything.”

“That’s okay,” Amanda stood up to hug Mary. “Let them do whatever it is they usually do.”

“You will regret saying that. Is there anything else we can get you.”

“No, we’re okay,” Jack kissed Mary on the cheek. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

“The sheets and the pillow for the couch are in the hallway closet, Jack,” Mary smiled as she dropped a not so subtle hint. “If you need them.”

“Thanks, Mary,” Jack smiled awkwardly at her insinuation. “I think we will be fine.”

“Alright, guys, goodnight,” his brother escorted his slightly inebriated, hopelessly romantic wife up the stairs.

“Thanks again for everything,” Amanda looked at him as he realized they were finally alone.

Chapter Twelve

Amanda settled back down on the couch, pleased to finally have Jack all to herself.

“They are really nice,” she smiled at Jack as she took a sip of wine. “And, I love those kids. I had a great time today.”

“I’m glad you came,” he replied as he let her leg find a comfortable spot against his. “Mike wasn’t always so nice, we fought all the time when we were kids.”

“What did you guys fight about.”

“Pretty much everything, mostly stupid stuff,” he hesitated to go into detail. “We were just very different.”

“How do you mean,” she gently pried into his childhood.

“You don’t want to hear about all that. It was a long time ago.”

“I do want to hear all about it, Jack,” she half way teased him. “I want to know everything about you.”

“Okay,” he smiled as he turned to her. “But, I’ll try not to bore you with too many details. Let me think of where to start. I guess Mike was always interested in any thing mechanical, train sets, lawn mowers, mini-bikes, cars. You know the type, always fixing things and figuring out how they worked. And you know me, I can’t change a light bulb, but I loved math and baseball, and I just wanted to sit in my bedroom and analyze baseball statistics or go outside and play baseball.”