When Sparks Fly (48 page)

Rob looked at him gratefully. “Do you think she’ll see me? That she’ll talk to me?”

“Only one way to find out, son,” Mac said, walking over to them. Looking at Brock, he added, “Thanks for thinking of my Rob. You’re a good man.”

“Don’t know how good I am, but I’m willing to be better,” he replied. He missed the looked shared by Mac and Rob, both silently acknowledging their approval of him.

That night in his hotel room, Brock pulled out his phone, trying to decide if he should text Jean or not. His fingers hovered over the keys.
What the fuck is wrong with me? Just do it, for fuck’s sake.

He quickly typed out a simple message, letting her know that he would try to see Laurie tomorrow. He was pleased when she replied almost immediately letting him know that she thought that would be a good idea.

Deciding to take a chance, he texted again.
Thanks for all you are doing. Hope to see you soon.

There was silence for a moment and his stomach dropped.
Damn, I shouldn’t have added that last part.

Suddenly, his phone beeped with a return message. Looking at it, he could not help but smile.
Would love to see you again. The sooner the better. :)
Letting out a huge breath, he realized that he had been holding it.

Sending one last text, telling her he would call her tomorrow, he settled down for the night and began to ponder what he would say to Laurie when he saw her. Wanting it to be epic, he worried until sleep finally claimed him.

*

Jean looked down at her phone, grinning at the message from Brock.
What is wrong with me? You’d think I’ve never liked anyone before. Well…it has been a long time.

“Are you all right?” Laurie asked, cutting into her thoughts.

Jean jumped. “Yes, Yes. I was just…um…checking for missed phone calls.”

Laurie eyed her suspiciously. Jean turned to the kitchen to keep her blushing face away from Laurie.
Brock is her estranged father; the last thing I need to do is start something with him.
Sucking in a deep breath, she turned back around to hug her friend and changed the conversation. “Will you be all right at the doctor’s tomorrow?”

Laurie made a face of disgust. “Yeah. I promised Emma I’d call her as soon as it was over.” Sighing, she added, “I’m heading to bed. I need all the rest I can get if I’m going to face twenty-four little first graders tomorrow.”

Jean soon followed, taking her phone with her. It seemed silly, but just in case Brock texted again, she did not want to miss it. Lying in bed, she looked at the picture on her nightstand. Taken just a few weeks before Rick was killed, it showed them standing in front of the house she now lived in. They had just put a contract on it, but had not moved in. Rick never got the chance to live here. But somehow Jean could never think of calling anywhere else home.

Closing her eyes, she found herself thinking of the tall, dark-haired Brock in her living room. And slept peacefully.

*

The doctor’s appointment should have been over but there was no sign of Laurie. Brock and Rob sat in the truck, neither speaking, each lost in their own thoughts.

“There she is,” Rob said suddenly.

Both men looked up as she walked slowly out of the office, talking on her cell phone.

“She’s on the phone to Emma,” Rob explained. Brock looked at him questioningly and Rob continued, “They’re as close as twins practically. Emma raised her and Laurie relies on her for support. She’s hoping that Emma will move here this summer.”

Brock just nodded and then stepped out of his truck as he saw Laurie walk slowly toward her little, yellow Volkswagen bug after tossing her cell phone into her purse.

She was looking down, lost in thought, not seeing Brock until she was standing at his truck parked next to her bug. She looked up, surprised and yet smiling. The two stood and gazed at each other, their faces becoming familiar to one another.

He pushed off of his truck and walked the few feet over to her.

She spoke first. “Brock. What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Jerking his head toward the medical building, he asked, “How’d it go today?”

Laurie looked up into her father’s grey eyes, the same eyes that stared back at her each day in the mirror. Giving him a tentative smile she said, “It went…well. I gave him all of your information and he was very positive about things. I start some new medications this week, so we’ll see how it goes.”

The tentative smile on her face reached in and touched a part of Brock he never knew existed. Throwing caution to the wind, he stepped closer, looking down at his daughter’s beautiful face and continued.

“Laurie, I don’t know what place I have in your life. I don’t know if you want me to have a place.” Looking down at his rough worn hands clutched tightly, he sighed. “I guess it sounds like I don’t know much.”

Tears welled in his eyes as he swallowed hard a few times to choke them back. Shaking his head as though to pull his thoughts from the past back to the future, he brushed a tear away and looked down at the face that reminded him so much of Sarah.

“No, that’s not right. I do know somethin’. I know I fell in love in one night with a beautiful girl that made me feel things I didn’t know I could feel. I know I wanted to be with her and for twenty-five years I thought she was completely lost to me. I can’t go back. I can’t change what happened. Too many past mistakes in life for us to make ourselves crazy over. But I now know she isn’t totally lost to me. She lives on in you. I may have missed the first twenty-five years of your life, but I sure as hell don’t want to miss any more.

“So unless you tell me to leave, I ain’t goin’ anywhere, Laurie. I just hope you want to let me in at least part of your life,” he said. Lips curling up in a small smile, he added, “I ain’t too proud to beg.”

Reaching over to capture his work-worn hand in her much smaller one, Laurie smiled up at him. Tears spilling over, heart aching with a need that she never knew existed, Laurie spoke a word that had never crossed her lips. “Dad.”

His grey eyes looked into hers and his brow furrowed in question.

“I have a Dad. I knew that somewhere I had a father. I convinced myself that I didn’t need a father. I had Mom, Grandma and Grandpa, and Emma. A father simply wasn’t needed or missed. But now I have a Dad. And I don’t want to lose him.”

Brock wrapped his hand around hers, holding it so tightly she could feel it right to her heart. Tears, falling freely and unashamedly, now coursed down his cheeks. “Well, all right then. You’ve got your Dad. And I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

He pulled her in for a hug and felt a piece of himself fall into place. Not wanting to let her go, he knew that he needed to. It was time for someone else. Leaning back, he smiled and jerked his head over toward his truck and said, “And Laurie? You need to go put that boy outta his misery.”

As he drove out of the parking lot, he looked into his rearview mirror and saw his daughter and Rob embracing.
His daughter. That feels fuckin’ great.

*

He was almost to the hotel when he decided to take a detour. And a chance. Turning the truck around, he drove to Jean’s house instead. Pulling into her driveway, he sat for a moment looking at her house. He had not really noticed it the day before.

It was quaint in a nice little neighborhood, with mature trees and flower beds just beginning to come to life. Her two-story house was seated back from the street with a picket fence around the large yard.
I wonder who cuts the grass for her in the summer. Was this the house they lived in together?
Cold feet almost took over, but then he looked up as she stepped out onto her front porch. Her smile warmed him and he found himself at the bottom of her porch steps without even realizing how he got there.

“I took a chance you’d be in,” he said.

“I’m glad you did.” She stepped back, asking, “You want to come in?”

“I actually thought that you might be hungry. I could take you somewhere.”

A look of uncertainty crossed her face and he inwardly cursed for putting her in an awkward position.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That was presumptuous of me.”

“Oh no,” she said quickly, stepping back toward him. “Not at all. The truth is…I’d really like to have dinner with you. It’s just that…” her voice trailed off.

He waited patiently for her to find words to fit her feelings. She bit her lip, and he found that all other thoughts left his mind except for wanting to be the one to nibble on her lips himself.

“Brock?” she said softly, regaining his attention on her eyes. “Laurie’s going through so much now and I feel like I need to check with her.” She let out a sigh. “That sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?”

Brock walked up the steps slowly until he was just a step apart. The sweet scent of her shampoo wafted his way and he found himself leaning toward her a bit more, just to inhale deeply. Leaning back he looked into her chocolate eyes. “No, it doesn’t sound ridiculous at all. You’re her good friend and I’ve just found a new place in her life. It may not be what she wants or needs right now.”

She nodded, grateful for his understanding. Her gaze latched onto his stormy gray eyes and she smiled brightly. “I’ve got some homemade stew on the stove and biscuits in the oven. You’re more than welcome to both and I’ve love the company.”

Nodding, he could not think of a better dinner with anyone else he would rather be with. “Well, all right. Lead the way.”

Laughing, she turned and moved into the house with him right behind.

Two hours later sitting on the sofa once again, this time with a beer for him and a wine glass in her hand, they sat talking like old friends. Music, books, places they had been and places they wanted to visit.

He regretfully looked at the clock. “Hate to say it, but I’d better be gettin’ back to the hotel. Laurie and Rob looked good when I left them but I should be gone in case she comes back here tonight.”

She smiled wistfully, “I know.” Standing, she placed her hand on his arm, once again surprised at the steely muscles under her fingers. “Brock? I want to let you know how much I enjoyed this. Tonight. Here with you.” A giggle slipped out as she said, “I’m not making much sense, am I?”

Stepping closer, he felt her hand tighten on his arm, not remembering the last time he craved a woman’s touch. But he wanted hers. “You’re making perfect sense. I feel it too.” One more step took him right into her space so that she was just a whisper away. “I haven’t wanted to be with someone in a long time. Not like this. We just met, but Jean, I want to keep seeing you.”

He saw desire flash through her eyes only to be replaced with indecision. “It’s okay, darlin’. We’ll take it slow and take care of Laurie first. But this,” he said putting his arms around her, “is happening.”

Pulling her in, he kissed her. Soft. Gentle. A sweet kiss that was just a promise of things to come. Things to hope for. Things to celebrate.

As his arms slid away, she stared at the stormy depths of his eyes, mesmerized. She could not remember the last time she was kissed, but she knew it had not been like that. Touching her lips with her fingers, she could still feel the tingling.