Returning Pride

by Jill Sanders

  Chapter Two

  Iian knew she was back in town. He probably knew it before anyone else did. He’d sensed something was coming all day yesterday. It was hard to explain to anyone; since he’d lost his hearing, he could just feel things. At least when it came to Allison Adams.

  He liked to think he was a patient man. He had, after all, learned a new way of living at the age of eighteen, and a completely new lifestyle. In all his twenty-eight-years, he’d never waited for anything as long as he’d waited for Allison Adams.

  Allison had been there in first grade, her long blonde hair swinging with every step she’d made walking down the long school hallways. He remembered the first time she’d approached him. Her cheeks were red, her hands on her hips, and her eyes full of anger. She’d been beautiful. His little seven-year-old mind had gone blank.

  She’d come to her sister’s defense after some of the boys he’d been playing ball with had accidentally hit Abby in the ankle. Iian had been the leader of the pack and had received quite the tongue lashing from Allison. He remembered he’d apologized to Abby in front of his friends, never once taking his eyes off Allison. The apology had labeled him a wimp in the eyes of the gang of seven-year-old boys. And so, after making a fool of himself in front of everyone that day, he’d pretty much tried to ignore her for the next ten years or so.

  In his teens, he’d stumbled through inviting her to their school dance, his voice cracking a half dozen times, but the final results were worth it. They’d gone to the dance and had ended the night with a perfect chaste kiss. The next day Allison’s father had died of a stroke and she had backed away from him. He’d let her go then with a promise to himself that if he ever got another chance, he would never let her go again.

  It was around nine the next morning when he walked into the hospital with his sister and sister-in-law, Megan. When everyone was saying their ‘Hello’s’, he looked across the room at Allison and noticed that she was built like most models, tall and slender. However, now she looked too thin and pale, there were dark circles under her deep blue eyes. Her blonde hair, which had been very short the last time he’d seen her, was now longer and pulled back. He knew she had freckles on her nose and a slight dimple in her right cheek when she smiled. He was so glad she was home.

  Allison had spent the rest of the night in the uncomfortable chair sitting next to her mother’s bed. Her thoughts had wandered from her mother to her father, then to the last time she had been in this hospital. When her sister, Abby, had died.

  Abby and Ally had been as closest as two sisters could have been without being twins. They were both dusty blondes with deep blue eyes and were tall and curvy, so unlike their mother, who was shorter and had dark curly hair.

  When they had lost their father, the sisters had banded together and taken over the management of the family’s small antique store. They’d worked there after school every day. They even spent all their long hours of every warm summer inside, instead of running around like normal teenage girls should have. All for the sake of family.

  Then a few years later, they had gotten news that Abby had Lymphoma. The cancer had spread so quickly that she was gone within months of her diagnosis, before she had even turned sixteen.

  Their mother took to spending most of her days on the couch and Allison was left to fend for herself. Adam’s Antiques had sat on Main Street and had been her father’s passion. She’d struggled the first year alone, trying to figure out how to run a business and a household had been hard. Finally, she’d found her balance.

  She’d put her desires in the closet for the first two years after her sister’s death. Never once going out on a date or focusing on herself, instead she had focused on her family business and silently painted in the back room. But one day that had all changed, the day she had met Megan, she had her to thank for launching her art career. Something she could never repay her friend for.

  Allison had felt something pulling her back to the small town of Pride, lately. She’d woken up in a cold sweat one day last week, and it had only taken her a day to pack the essentials in her plush Los Angeles apartment. She’d cleared her schedule and left. She just knew it was time to come home.

  Now when she looked up and saw her two friends walking into the room, she smiled. When she saw Iian trailing behind them, her heart jumped. He looked like he would rather be anywhere but in the sterile environment, and was immediately mesmerized by him. It had been hard to live almost her whole life with a crush on someone who pretty much ignored her. She felt plain and grimy from having slept in the hospital chair all night. She hadn’t even gone home to shower, and for that matter was still wearing the clothes she’d left California in. She must look terrible.

  She greeted her friends and updated them on her mother’s condition. The doctor’s still hadn’t told her anything more.

  When Dr. Stevens walked in a few minutes later, she gave him her full attention.

  “Allison, I’d like to talk to you privately.” He nodded towards the hallway.

  “No, please, they can be a part of this,” she smiled at her friends, her honorary family.

  “Well,” he said, taking a seat across from Allison. “As you know there are a few things that we’re concerned about. Your mother had a very high temperature, and her red blood cell count isn’t what we want to see. We’re running more tests and would like to keep her here for a few days.” He said as he looked over the chart again. “I know you answered this question last night, but has she been taking any medications that you’re aware of?”

  “No, um, I think she had some blood pressure medicine, but I’m not sure what it is.”

  “That’s fine,” he said as he wrote something down. Just then Allison looked up and saw her mother looking back at her.

  “Mom!” she rushed to the side of the bed. “How are you feeling?” Dr. Stevens walked over and started checking her mother’s vitals.

  “Allison? Where am I? What happened?” She looked around the room at all the faces.

  “You’re at the hospital in Edgeview. I came home and you had a fever,” she said sitting next to her mother as she held her frail hand.

  “Take it easy, Mrs. Adams. Just lie back. I’m Dr. Stevens. How are you feeling?”

  “I don’t know. Can I go home? I don’t want to be here.”

  “Mom, they want to keep you a few more nights. How long have you been sick?” Allison could tell something wasn’t right. Her mother’s eyes kept darting around the room.

  After the long silence Allison asked again. “Mom?”

  “Oh Abby,” she patted her hand. “I was just dreaming about you, I’m so glad you’re here. Your father was getting worried, you know we don’t like it when you sneak out at night.”

  She laid her hand on Allison’s cheek, which had gone very pale.

  Iian stood once again on his hill, looking over the town of Pride. He often came out here to think or take long walks along the shore to clear his head. He could make out a stream of smoke coming from the Adams’ chimney and wondered how they were doing.

  It had been a few days since the trip to the hospital. Alzheimer’s was a hard blow and he knew that Allison had been very busy since returning home.

  Lacey, Megan, and a group of church women had been helping her out. He’d even helped by making a big batch of his own chili, which he had his sister deliver instead of taking it there himself. It wasn’t that he was avoiding seeing her again. He just thought that she had a lot on her mind and he didn’t want to get in her way. His sister, on the other hand, had scolded him for not being more neighborly. But she’d delivered the chili and left the subject alone, Iian thought she knew about his secret crush on Allison.

  Looking up, he remembered seeing Allison in the grocery store yesterday. She’d been alone and had been cornered by a dozen of the older women in town, which in his mind, accounted for half the population in Pride. Once he’d stepped into the building and given his sternest look towards the group, the women h
ad dispersed. Allison had left without a glance in his direction.

  As he stood looking out at the vast ocean spread before him, he realized that he was lonely. He’d been living in his large house for almost two years by himself. Sure, he had kept himself busy at the restaurant most days, and then there were the family dinners every week. Looking back, he couldn’t remember the last time he had been out on a date. He’d tried dating after his accident, but it always left him feeling frustrated with the lack of ability to communicate.

  Because of the communication issues, he’d hand picked most of his staff in the kitchen at the Golden Oar. Two of the other chefs knew sign language, and the other one was quickly picking it up. Lacey was still in charge when it came to the dining room staff, and he let her be. The kitchen was his place, and looking over the town he realized, so was Pride.

  His brother and sister now had their own families, which were getting bigger. Everything seemed to be changing without him. Since things were changing, it was about time he stood up and grabbed what he wanted before it was too late, and he figured he might as well start tonight after work.

  “Come on Mama. Would you like to get out of this old house and have a real dinner?” It had taken some adjusting, but Allison had fallen into a pattern the last few weeks since she’d returned home.

  The first couple of days home had been a blur. They had seen several specialists in Edgeview and they had also seen Dr. Stevens regularly. Once the news had spread throughout the small community, everyone within two counties had stopped by and delivered dish after dish of food. Some women had even come and cleaned the house for them. She felt that everything was falling into order.

  The medications appeared to be working to regulate her mother’s basic health issues, and Allison was finding her own pattern with her mother’s Alzheimer’s episodes. Still, she hadn’t gotten a good night’s rest since arriving home. Her mother tended to wake at odd hours to do the strangest things like cooking or laundry. It had gotten so strange, that Allison didn’t feel comfortable falling asleep without one ear tuned in to the hallway, just in case.

  She still felt tightness in her chest every time her mother called her Abby, but it didn’t shock her as much anymore.

  Allison usually enjoyed getting out and decided today on a whim that they would go down to see Lacey at the Golden Oar.

  Her mother, however, was not cooperating. Allison had laid out her mother’s best slacks and a green silk shirt that she knew her mother loved. It was becoming more like she was babysitting a child instead of a full-grown adult. Her mother’s moods were sporadic, and occasionally, Allison wished for help.

  She walked over to the bed where her mother sat in her sweats and a large t-shirt. She sat down and pulled her mother’s hand into her own and said, “Mom?” Her mother’s eyes darted back to her face, and blinked. “Do you want to go out?”

  “Yes, dear, that would be nice. Shall we get ready?”

  Half an hour later as they sat in front of the Golden Oar, her mother refused to leave her truck.

  “If you think I’m going in there, you’d better think twice. People will see me! I look a mess,” she said as she patted her hair, which Allison had washed and curled for her earlier that day. Allison noticed it could use a trim, but other than that, she thought her mother looked very nice. Her clothes were even pressed and tidy. She watched her mother run a hand over her slacks and wondered what she was upset about.

  “Mom, we got all dressed up to have dinner. Do you want to go home instead? You look fine.” She leaned over and flipped down the sun visor and showed her mother the small mirror.

  Her mother patted her hair again, and then reached down and pulled some lipstick out of her purse. She applied it with even, quick strokes, snapped the lid back on, then flipped the visor up.

  “There, now I’m presentable. Well, come on, I’m starving.” Her mother smiled over at her.

  Iian had been making his usual rounds in the dining hall to make sure everything was moving smoothly. He enjoyed the people of his town; for the most part he could communicate with most of them pretty well.

  Currently he was sitting at a table with

  Jenny and Lori. The two friends had decided to have a girls’ night out, and had gone through several margaritas each. He’d gone to school with the pair and he’d even tried dating them in the past, but communication had been an issue. Now they were just good friends. Conversations were slow-going when he had to read lips and since he didn’t like speaking, due to how unsure he was about his voice. But, he knew that it was a part of who he was now. After all, not everyone knew sign language.

  Iian thought that the women were quickly on their way to becoming drunk. He had been trying to fend off Jenny’s advances, when he felt a familiar pull. He couldn’t explain it, but he knew that Allison was about to walk into the restaurant a second before she did. He glanced over at the door and waited.

  The restaurant had never looked or smelled so good in her whole life. The large dining room was still beautiful, it’s tall windows overlooked the ocean and the boat docks of Pride. Looking out the large windows at the sunset over the Pacific, she thought the restaurant still had the best views in town. The cherry wood of the dining tables and the hardwood floors gleamed. However, it was the paintings that hung on each wall that had always held her full attention. Iian’s grandmother had painted every one over eighty years ago, and every single one was a masterpiece.

  She’d spent a good deal of her childhood here and remembered feeling like it had always been a part of her. After all, she’d gotten her first glimpse of what she had wanted to do in life here. The creative artwork had opened a door in her mind. One of her earliest memories was sitting at the back table with her family and trying to copy the beautiful mermaid painting that hung over the fireplace. Looking up now she smiled, seeing the painting was still in place.

  As they were seated, she noticed Iian sitting at a table with two women. She thought how typical it was of him to be surrounded by women, one was hanging off him and Iian actually appeared to be enjoying it. As she looked at him, he glanced over and just smiled at her with one of his sexy, lopsided grins.

  When he flashed it reminded her of the dance they’d gone to in junior high. She could have sworn that there was a connection there, but he never called her back after. She’d chalked it up to him not being interested. She kind of felt broken-hearted. After that, he’d flaunted around town with almost every cheerleader at the small school, at least he had until his accident.

  Trying to ignore him and his sexy smile, she took a seat next to her mother, two tables down from the group. She still thought of him as a good friend though, it’s just that she’d always hoped for something more. He’d made it very clear to her that he wasn’t interested in her that way. Oh, he didn’t say so, she could just tell from the way he treated her.

  Trying to focus on the now she asked, “What are you going to have, mom?” Allison looked over the menu. “Everything looks so good.”

  Her mother was studying the menu as well. “Hmm.”

  “I can recommend the lemon halibut in white wine sauce, or the steak with portobello mushrooms. How are you ladies doing tonight?” The question was from Iian who stood behind her mother looking very tense.

  It shocked her to hear the richness of his voice, she didn’t realize she’d missed the sound. The last words he had spoken to her had been so long ago.

  When she looked up at him, her heart almost jumped out of her chest. Iian was not only tall and muscular, but he had added some muscles since the last time she’d been in town. His waist was narrow and the rest of him looked very good in dark blue jeans that were a little worn. He had on black boots and a white chef’s button-up shirt that, she noted with pleasure, strained around his biceps. His hair was a little longer, but he still had the jet black curls that she always loved. His face was strong and there was a little cleft in his chin. She really liked that little cleft. He had a cocky smile on hi
s face as he watched her scope him out.

  “We’re doing okay. Would you like to sit?” She asked gesturing towards the empty chair next to her mother. He nodded his head and took a seat and gave her a big smile that had her toes going numb.

  Her mother fluffed up her hair and said, “Oh, hello Todd. How’s your father?”

  Allison’s cheeks turned red a little, and she said, “No, mom, this is Iian, Todd’s brother, remember?”

  Iian noticed her flush cheeks, but since he’d been looking at her mother, he wasn’t sure what had been said. He did understand what Allison had said, so he looked over at Mrs. Adams.

  “Hello, Mrs. Adams. How lovely you look this evening.”

  “Oh, well, you Jordan boys are all very handsome men. Don’t you think so, Allison dear?” Her mother smiled at Iian.

  He watched as Allison’s flush deepened and his smile widened even further. It had been years since he allowed himself to speak in front of her. He thought it would make him feel awkward, however, it had actually had the opposite effect. Seeing her blushing face, allowed him to relax back in the chair and continue his conversation with the two women. Maybe it was the fact that he was on his turf, he didn’t know but it seemed that while he started to relax, Allison started to get on edge. He realized he enjoyed watching her blush, and especially liked it when she bit her bottom lip, which made it hard to read them instead of wanting to kiss them.