Fall into Her (Fall into Him Book Two) (7 page)

They made their way through the crowded tables to a small booth for two
at the back of the restaurant. Jennifer hadn't really needed the escort. She
could have made it there blindfolded. It was their booth. She gave Brad a shy
smile as she slid into the seat across from him.

“Things any better at work today?” He asked after giving the waitress
their wine selection.

Jennifer shook her head, unable to meet his eyes. She was afraid that
whatever she saw there would make her starting crying. “I might have actually
quit.”

“You might have quit? You're not sure?”

She shrugged. “I told my boss that I was quitting but I don't know if
he took it seriously.” She didn't add that she wasn't sure if she wanted Philip
to have taken it seriously. She took a deep breath. “You know what, Brad, I
don't want to talk about my work. It's depressing and I've had enough of that
for today.” She raised her head. “Why don’t you tell me what you've been up to
since I saw you last.”

Brad looked pleased by her query. “Well, for the last six months, I've
actually been working as a nutritionist for a minor league baseball team down
south. Then, about three weeks ago, I got a job offer from Bud Melville.”

“The hockey coach?” Jennifer recognized the name. Rachel was insane for
hockey. Jennifer had never understood the appeal.

“Right,” Brad nodded. “Anyway, I did a phone interview and then, last
week, I got the job.”

“Congratulations!” Jennifer said whole-heartedly. “I'm glad you're
doing so well.”

“I am,” Brad took a sip of his wine. “And it's not just with the job
either. I've really changed the way I look at things, Jenny. I don't see the
world the same way I did before.”

Jennifer raised an eyebrow. While she was still hurt from her encounter
with Philip, she wasn't quite as vulnerable as she'd been the previous night.
She wasn't sure she was ready to accept that Brad had done a complete
one-eighty. “What happened to cause this change?”

Brad shifted in his seat and abruptly stood. “I have to use the
restroom. I'll be right back and I'll answer your question. I promise.”

As he hurried away, Jennifer took a sip of her wine. It wasn't as good
as the bottle she had at home, but it wasn't bad either. She wondered just what
Brad had gone through that had made him have this metamorphosis. It wasn't like
his previous behavior had really had some sort of root basis in his childhood.
She knew his parents. Granted, Mitsy and Buster Miller hadn't been the most
affectionate of parents, but they hadn't abused him. If anything, they'd
spoiled him, which, Jennifer supposed, could have contributed to some of Brad's
problems. The Millers had actually been one of the wealthier families in town
and Jennifer had sometimes envied them. Well, envied them for their money
anyway. Had Brad experienced some sort of tragedy recently that made him
realize that he needed to change—even if it was just to change the way he
communicated with other people in his life? Tragedy could do strange things to
people.

Maybe, Jennifer thought suddenly, that's what had happened to Philip.
Maybe there was some horrible tragedy in his childhood or adolescence or even
when he'd been a young adult. Things like that left scars, and not just
physical ones. Her previous observation regarding psychological training fit in
here as well. If Philip had been through something awful as a child, he
probably would've been sent to see a psychologist. If that was the case, was
she being too harsh on him? Shouldn't she be more understanding of why he
didn't want to talk about his past? If she'd been abused or abandoned or
anything like that, she didn't think she'd want to talk to people about it.
Maybe she should try to give him a second chance like she was giving Brad.
After all, Philip's situation might be a bit more understandable.

Then again, she countered, if something tragic had happened to Philip,
wasn't it also possible that he was damaged beyond repair? Could she really be
in a relationship with someone who needed so much help just to interact with
people? How far gone was too far? And when did sympathizing with or pitying
someone stop becoming a reason to be with someone?

The questions were still circling in her mind when Brad returned from
the restroom. He still looked a little nervous, but didn't back away from her
previous question.

“You asked what changed me,” he started. “The simple answer is you.”

Jennifer wasn't sure what exact expression was on her face, but she
knew it was one of genuine surprise.

“It didn't take me long after I lost you to realize that I'd made a
horrible mistake letting you go,” Brad continued. “You'd always been there for
me, taken care of me, and I'd taken it all for granted. I wanted to get you
back and I knew that I didn't deserve a second chance, not the way that I was.
It was then that I decided to make myself worthy of you.”

Jennifer could hardly believe what she was hearing. Brad had changed
because of her? He'd cared about her enough to become this better person?

“I read self-help books and psychology books and tried to figure out
where we went wrong, what I'd done wrong. I started looking for a better job so
I could support us.” Brad took a deep breath. “And then I realized that there
is one way I could prove that I really have changed, that everything I've told
you is true. One way to show you that I want this time to be different.”

Before Jennifer could even start to speculate what Brad could possibly
mean by that, he slid out of his seat and, there, in front of her, dropped to
one knee. He held up a small black box and, as he opened it, said, “Jennifer
Brooks, I've loved you since I was a boy and I want to love you for the rest of
your life. Will you marry me?”

Jennifer still couldn't believe that Brad had actually done it. They'd
just been sitting there at Angelo's, enjoying a nice meal and having a
surprisingly pleasant conversation when he'd said it. The words still echoed in
her ears.

“Jennifer Brooks, I've loved you since I was a boy and I want to
love you for the rest of your life. Will you marry me?”

She just sat there, mouth hanging open like an idiot, unable to say
anything. A proposal from her ex was the last thing she was expecting after the
insanity of the last few days. However, she couldn't say that it was the only
surprising thing Brad had said that night. It was the other parts of their
conversation that convinced her not to immediately turn him down.  Instead, she
told him that she needed time to think.

The cab ride back to her apartment was a blur. She sat blankly, staring
out of the window watching rain start to fall—pitter-pattering against the
window.  She didn't even remember giving the cabbie her address, and he had to
say “Miss” twice when they arrived in front of her steps to get her attention.

She hurried up the stairs to her apartment building, eager to get out
of the light rain. She didn't mind rain when it was warm, but it had taken on
that chill that came with the night. Just before she made it through the doors,
it suddenly began to pour, soaking through her clothes almost instantly. When
she stepped inside, she was greeted by a cold blast from the central air that
pumped through the lobby. By the time she reached her apartment, she was
thoroughly chilled.

“Jennifer!”

Despite her discomfort, Jennifer couldn't help but smile as her
roommate, Rachel, hurried over carrying two fluffy white towels. Jennifer
accepted one of the towels gratefully and began to wipe off her face as Rachel
wrapped Jennifer's thick, dark hair in the other towel. Jennifer peeled off her
wet clothes and wrapped one of the towels around her as she padded over,
barefoot, to her bedroom. Once wrapped in her robe, she returned to the living
room to find Rachel waiting with a Winnie the Pooh mug of hot chocolate.

Jennifer took the mug, wrapped her hands around it, and let the warmth
travel up through her body.

“What prompted the mother hen treatment?” She asked as Rachel poured
cocoa into a green Seamus the Leprechaun mug.

“I may not know all of the details, Jennifer, but I know you well
enough to know that something's been going on over the last few days and I
haven't been here for you.”

“Rachel—” Jennifer started to protest. She knew that her friend had
been dealing with her own issues, most far more important than not being able
to choose between two men, and she wasn't about to let Rachel feel bad about
having been gone over the last few days.

“No.” Rachel shook her head. “Don't start apologizing.” She raised an
eyebrow at Jennifer's look of surprise. “Come on, Jennifer. I know you. You
were going to tell me that I didn't need to feel obligated to be home for you
because you know that I have more important things on my mind...” She waved her
hand like she was shooing a fly. “And so on, and so forth.”

Jennifer wasn't sure if she should be grateful that Rachel was trying
to spare her guilt or annoyed that she was so predictable, so she settled on
taking a sip of her cocoa and waiting for Rachel to continue. She knew she
wouldn’t have to wait long.

“I'm not saying this because I think you expect me to be there. I'm
just simply stating a fact.” Rachel's voice had taken on its big sister
quality. “Now, I'm betting that confused expression on your face means that
things just got a bit more complicated, so why don't we forgo all of the 'I
know you would've been here if you could've' drama and cut straight to you
telling me what's got your mind in such a mess.”

A wave of relief washed over Jennifer. This was one of the reasons she
loved Rachel so much. No one else could just cut through the bullshit and get
down to business half as well as the woman situating herself at the other end
of the couch.

“Do you remember that night when Brad came over here and I told you
about how he'd been when we were together?”

Rachel's baby blue eyes darkened as she scowled. “Did that bastard do
something again?”

Jennifer gave her friend a wry smile. “Yeah. He proposed.”

Rachel’s jaw dropped as her eyes widened. “Wait a minute. When did he
do that?” Rachel sat up straighter, hot chocolate forgotten.

“Tonight,” Jennifer said as she set aside her mug.

“Wait—wait—back up.” Rachael shook her head. “How did he have the
chance to ask you tonight? I must’ve missed something big here.”

Jennifer sighed. “All right, but you have to promise to let me finish
before you say anything.”

Rachel mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key, but Jennifer
wasn't so sure that would help.

“A couple of days ago, I came home from work and Brad was sitting by
the door,” Jennifer began. “I didn't want to be rude, so I invited him in.” She
held up a warning hand as Rachel opened her mouth. “Let me finish.”

Rachel closed her mouth and Jennifer continued. “We talked for bit, and
he let me debrief about a bad day I was having at work. He was really sweet and
listened so well. We got to talking and he told me how sorry he was for how
things had gotten out of hand between us. And then he told me that he wanted us
to try again.”

“Please tell me...”

“Rachel, you promised.”

“Sorry.” Rachel folded her hands over her knee. “Continue.”

“I told him I'd need some time to think about it. Then, the other day,
when you were helping out your family, I had another bad day at work and needed
to talk to someone. I wasn't going to call you even though I knew you'd be okay
with it because my little drama here wasn't really that important. Really!
Problem was, I was alone here with my thoughts, which you know is never a good
idea.” Jennifer knew Rachel was going to be pissed at what came next, but she
forced herself to keep going. “So I called him.”

“You did what?!”

“Rachel.”

She comically reenacted her exclamation in silence just to stress her
shock, and then apologized for interrupting.

“He listened so well the night before, that I thought I'd see if he'd
be that way again. Kind of like a trial run to see if he's really changed.”
Jennifer pulled the towel off of her head and tossed it onto the coffee table.
Her hair was still damp, but she couldn't stand having the towel on her head
any longer. She was getting a little anxious to finish her story. “He was
really nice and gave me advice. He even said that if my boss didn't appreciate
me that I should stand up for myself. Brad's never told me to stand up for
myself before.”

“So you went out with him.” Rachel had apparently decided to finish the
story for Jennifer. “And he proposed.”

Jennifer nodded.

“And what did you say?” Rachel's voice was carefully neutral, not
giving Jennifer even the slightest hint as to what she was thinking.

“I said I needed time to think about it.” Jennifer bit her bottom lip.
“I'm not sure what to do.”

“I guess what it really comes down to,” Rachel spoke slowly. “Is if you
believe he's really changed and if you still love him.”