Mended Heart

by Mary Manners

  Jade’s eyes locked with Mrs. D’atello’s. She dropped the suitcase and raced toward the front door. “Take me to the hospital. I want to see Susie. Please.”

  ****

  “What’s taking so long?” Shane tossed a Reader’s Digest magazine he was mindlessly skimming through onto the cluttered table beside his chair. Stiff plastic bit into his back between his shoulder blades. He shifted to ease the pressure.

  “Patience, my friend.” Bryce pressed a foam cup into his hand. Shane felt the warmth of coffee. Steam rose, bringing with it the aroma of French vanilla creamer. “The doctors are just being careful. I spoke with a nurse at the intake desk. They’re running one more test, just to be sure.”

  “Sure of what?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Shane stood to pace the tile floor. “This is all my fault.”

  Bryce touched his arm. “Don’t go there. It was an accident.”

  “Losing my temper and speeding like a banshee was no accident.” He shrugged from Bryce’s grasp. “If I’d had more common sense that night, we’d have never crashed and you’d have never gotten hurt. You’d still be plowing over linemen, and you could have easily run after Susie this afternoon. You could have caught her. She’d have never made it through the gate, let alone all the way into the street. She wouldn’t have been hurt.”

  Bryce’s rich brown eyes darkened. “Leave the past where it belongs, brother. Let’s look forward.”

  Shane grimaced. Look forward? To what? His father had engaged in an affair with Jade’s mother. And he’d kept the truth from Jade. Now there was a pretty good chance she might never speak to him again.

  Tears clouded his vision. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.

  “I need some air.” Coffee sloshed over the rim of the cup as he strode toward double glass door that led to the overcrowded parking lot. He dumped the cup into a trashcan and leaned against the brick building. Hunching his shoulders and hanging his head, a prayer cried from deep inside. He welcomed it. There was nowhere else to turn.

  He wasn’t sure how long he let the warm night air brush over him; the minutes seemed like hours. A gentle hand pressed against his stubbled cheek and startled him.

  “Shane?” He looked up to see Jade staring at him, her soft green eyes filled with worry. “How is she?”

  “I don’t know.” He couldn’t believe she’d come. Her hair was windswept, her eyes dark with sleeplessness and puffy from tears. He noticed for the first time how much weight she’d lost over the past few weeks. The fingers that had brushed his cheek were long and delicate. He cleared his throat and swiped telltale moisture from his eyes with the back of his hand. “The doctor hasn’t come to say yet.”

  “I’m so sorry. She’ll be OK. I feel it in my bones.”

  Her words encouraged him. “I sure hope you’re right. Bryce said she was unconscious when the paramedics brought her in. Oh, Jade, she’s so small, and the car came fast.” His stomach clenched as he remembered the troubling details Bryce had related in the waiting room. He was helpless to hold back the anguish.

  “Shhh.” She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face against his chest. The scent of her was so familiar, so soothing, he felt the tension ease out of him.

  Despite the oppressive humidity in the evening air, he trembled.

  “It’s going to be OK.”

  His hands got lost in her hair as he rested his chin against the crown of her head. Her embrace warmed him, a safe haven amid the tumultuous storm of uncertainty. “How did you know?”

  “Mrs. D’atello came by. She said you called her because you were...worried about me.”

  “I was. I am,” he murmured. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t. Not now. Let’s just pray for Susie. The rest isn’t important right now.”

  ****

  Jade’s heart rate was just beginning to return to normal. The sight of the doctor in his rumpled white coat had brought back memories and pain that was still a raw scrape on her tender heart.

  She’s suffered a few minor bruises and a slight concussion. We’ll keep her overnight for observation, but she should be just fine in a few days. It’s a miracle, really.

  The doctor’s words were a balm to Jade’s soul. Susie would be OK. She glanced at Shane, who was keeping vigil in the chair beside the hospital bed where Susie lay sleeping, and her belly tightened into knots. He’d cried at the doctor’s diagnosis, sobbed actually. The depth of his love for Susie was magnified in eyes like two bottomless, sea-blue pools.

  Carly’s eyes were plastered on a TV mounted to the wall opposite the bed. She’d muted the sound but muttered at the screen in an attempt to solve the mystery Wheel of Fortune word phrase before the contestants figured it out first. Upon hearing that Susie would heal just fine, Mrs. D’atello had gone home. Even though she was in remission, the cancer had stolen the lion’s share of her stamina. She was wiped out and needed to rest. Jade had promised to bring Carly home in a while.

  The chair beside the doorway was empty now. Mrs. Calkin had left half an hour ago, after the doctor assured them Susie would make a full recovery. Jade wasn’t sure how she’d learned about the accident, but Bryce must have phoned her and asked her to come...just in case. She hadn’t uttered so much as a word to any of them but sat ramrod straight, her gaze fixed on the tile floor.

  Bryce jotted notes on a steno pad as he relaxed in a chair across the room. Built like a rugged mountain, his chocolate-kiss eyes had smiled at her when Shane introduced them. She liked him immediately. His voice, warm as honey, soothed jangled nerves. It was easy to see why Shane considered him a treasured friend. He walked with a slight limp, but Jade could easily picture him toppling a line of football opponents like dominos. An accident had rendered him unable to run near full speed, though, ending what had been a promising and lucrative NFL career.

  Even so, he’d told Jade the accident was the best thing that had ever happened to him. And she believed him.

  “I got my head on straight now.” He nodded and winked at her. “Before I was dead, but now I’m alive.”

  The comment puzzled her, yet he went on. “The good Lord used Shane and a couple of bad decisions to set me straight, and now we’re both traveling down the right path.”

  “Don’t be so sure about me, brother.” Shane grimaced. “I think I’ve been in a hazard lately. The good Lord’s calling, ‘Fore.’”

  “Maybe so. But you can find your way out of the worst sand trap if you only ask for guidance.”

  I will guide you if you will listen.

  “Believe me, I’m asking.” Shane addressed both Bryce and God.

  Jade found their exchange both mystifying and somewhat humorous. Neither minced words, which she found most refreshing.

  “What do you do for a living now, Bryce?” she’d ventured as the conversation lulled.

  “I talk.” He laughed. “That’s about the extent of it.”

  “You’re way too modest.” Shane ducked as Bryce lobbed a paper wad at him. “He’s a motivational speaker. And he’s written a book or two, as well.”

  “What kind of books? Football stuff?”

  “In a way. I like to relate great football tactics to real life situations. There’s the blind side, the fake—”

  “Don’t forget the Hail Mary,” Shane chimed in. “I’ve tossed up my share of those.”

  “Yeah, there’s that, too.”

  “Wait a minute.” Jade’s ballet flats slapped the tile floor as she sprang from her chair. “You wrote Going the Distance. I found it in the Top Ten section at the bookstore. I read it just before I came back here to help Mama.”

  “You’ve acquired another groupie.” Shane poked fun but then quickly became serious. “Bryce writes good stuff, doesn’t he?”

  “Amazing stuff.” Jade slapped the thighs of her jeans. “Everyone should hear it.”

  Bryce’s laugh rumbled from deep in the pit of his belly. “If Shane has his way, they will.�
�

  “Bryce speaks to youth groups and at Celebrate Recovery services across the country,” Shane explained. “That’s why he’s scheduled to speak in North Knoxville next Wednesday.”

  “I’d still like to go.” Jade stretched kinks from her back.

  “You won’t be here next Wednesday.” Carly popped a corn chip into her mouth as she eyed Jade. “Remember the packed suitcase you dumped on your living room floor?” The words were jumbled over crumbs. “I thought you were leaving.”

  “What?” The laughter went out of Shane’s voice. “You’re still leaving?”

  Suddenly the room closed in on Jade. Stale air stifled, and the scent of ammonia burned her lungs. She lowered her eyes, unable to meet Shane’s questioning gaze. “Yes. I mean, I don’t know. I told you I want to go back to teaching.”

  Carly switched off the TV and crushed the chip bag between clenched fists. “It’s getting too hot and crowded in here for me. I’m going to get a soda.”

  “I’ll go with you.” Bryce hustled from his chair. He nodded at Shane. “We’ll be back in a while.” The crown of his head barely cleared the door frame as he followed Carly into the hall.

  Shane turned his back to her and smoothed matted blonde ringlets of hair from Susie’s forehead. A golf ball sized bruise marred ashen skin. The doctor said it would clear up completely within a few weeks, and that she’d be running and playing as usual by mid-week.

  “I don’t know why anyone would want to trade the beauty of the Smoky Mountains for the concrete and hustle of Chicago.” His voice was sandpaper raked across the tender flesh of her heart. “And rush hour...the crowds...”

  Jade’s chin came up. “Maybe I like crowds.”

  “I guess. It’s easy to hide in them.”

  Wounded, she stood and crossed her arms. “You don’t understand.”

  “I do.”

  “I miss teaching. I miss the children.”

  “You can teach here. Knoxville has plenty of kids who need a good teacher, and I’ll bet you’re the best around.”

  “It’s not the same.” Her chin rose. She wouldn’t allow him to warm her heart with compliments.

  “It could be better.”

  “I’m scared.” Her voice cracked. “It hurts. This”—her hand swept from him to Susie’s limp form in the bed—“hurts.”

  “I know.” He stood to face her. Calloused hands brushed a strand of hair from her flushed cheek. She felt the burn of blush wash over her neck as his eyes, full of questions, studied hers. “Will you promise me something?”

  “I...don’t know if I can.”

  He sighed, and the spearmint scent of his gum was so familiar, so...Shane, that she nearly allowed herself to be swept into his arms. “Will you at least think things over carefully, pray about them, and give it some time before you make a final decision?”

  “That’s a tall order.” She glanced at Susie, resting snugly in the bed as sleep healed her bruised body, and reconsidered. “Yes, OK.” She could give him that much, at least.

  The corners of his mouth twitched as he drew her close. The warmth of his body soothed her battered nerves. Dipping his head, he claimed her lips with his. The kiss was brief, merely a gentle brush of his lips over hers, yet it left her dazed and tingling. Her head swam and the room seemed to brighten.

  “I should...find Carly.” She ran the tip of her tongue over her lips. The taste of spearmint was now hers, too. “I should get home.”

  His eyes locked on hers, searching. “Where is home, Jade?” The question was gentle, not reproachful.

  “I...” She couldn’t think. Her belly flipped and throbbed from his touch. “I don’t know.”

  Mended Heart

  13

  Jade swung the Honda through elegant black wrought-iron gates and down a long, winding driveway. The house was upscale in every sense of the word. Enormous white pillars flanked the mahogany front door. Oversized Palladium windows gave passers-by on the tree-lined street a glimpse of an expansive polished brass candelabra chandelier that graced a soaring two-story foyer.

  What am I doing here? She couldn’t have felt any more out of place if she’d been driving a bus while dressed in ratty, mismatched pajamas. Painful high-school memories swept over her like a tidal wave. She’d been that girl...the one dressed in a faded T-shirt and hand-me-down jeans, from the run-down trailer park across town.

  Sunshine reflected off the ripples of Lake Loudon beyond the house. What must it have been like for Shane to grow up here, with inviting water and a boat dock for a back yard playground? The wild college parties he must have hosted when his parents were away on business...she could only imagine. Even in high school, he and his posse of football buddies had been perpetually surrounded by a flock of the most popular girls. It seemed every girl in the school was more than ready and willing to be at the beck and call of Shane Calkin—every girl but her.

  But now the responsibilities of raising Susie and mentoring troubled teens seemed to fill Shane’s days. Could a person really change that much—and for good?

  Automatic sprinklers switched on across the lush front lawn, and a splash of water spattered the Honda’s windshield, startling Jade. She pressed the brake, threw the car into reverse, and nearly backed down the driveway to escape into the road. But she drew in a breath and commanded her heart rate to slow to a manageable thump. She parked the car and got out before she lost her nerve completely.

  Her pumps clicked on the cobblestone walk as she wound her way toward the front door. The sundress Mama had bought her swished against her legs in the gentle summer breeze. She’d splashed a generous dose of perfume onto each wrist and brushed a hint of shimmery pale pink gloss over her lips.

  The melodic chime of the doorbell still sounded as the door opened with a flourish.

  “Jade, how good to see you again.” Mrs. Calkin looked as though she’d just stepped from the cover of Vogue. Her hair was highlighted to a subtle bronze and perfectly coiffed, and the pale peach linen suit she wore hugged still-youthful curves. “I’ve just returned from a business meeting downtown. Please, come in.”

  Jade smoothed her dress as she stepped over the threshold and into a massive marble-tiled entrance hall. When she glanced down, her reflection stared up from the polished floor. “Thank you.”

  Mrs. Calkin’s elegant cream-colored pumps clicked delicately over the tile floor as she turned and began to walk. “Come into the sitting room. Would you like some tea?”

  “That would be...nice.” Her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and her belly fluttered violently with questions that had yet to be answered. She drew a breath and fought to maintain composure as she followed Mrs. Calkin into a sunlit room that was larger than the entire trailer she’d grown up in. Polished wood gleamed beneath a floral-patterned high-backed sofa and wing chairs. The coffee table held an elaborate silk centerpiece and china figurines that might have easily cost more than she made in an entire month for her work at the church.

  Mrs. Calkin strode to the doorway and summoned the housekeeper. “Sarah, please bring us some tea.”

  The elderly woman appeared for a moment to apprise the situation, then simply nodded and retreated toward what Jade assumed was a hallway leading to the kitchen.

  “I...I’m sorry for intruding, but—”

  “Don’t apologize, my dear.” Mrs. Calkin’s smile reassured. Her eyes, the same mesmerizing blue as Shane’s, glittered. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  “You have?”

  “Of course. You’re not one to let things go unquestioned. I saw it in your eyes at your mother’s funeral.”

  “You did?”

  “Yes, I did. Sit.” She motioned to the sofa and waited as Jade settled herself among exquisite hand-embroidered throw pillows. “I’m very sorry for your loss. You have no siblings, correct?”

  “I don’t.” Jade shook her head. She studied framed photos that graced the mantle of a gas fireplace. There was Reid, a young girl smiling
into the sunlight, dressed in a cheer outfit and holding golden pompoms. She had the same dark eyes as Shane, but her hair was wheat-blonde, like Susie’s. And, in a five by seven silver frame she saw Shane, dressed in his football uniform and holding the ball, smirking into the camera just the way she remembered him from their high school days. She drew her eyes away and focused on Mrs. Culkin’s question. “And Mama was an only child, too.”

  “Such a pity.”

  The housekeeper returned holding a silver platter filled with a dainty gold-etched teapot and delicate china teacups. Petit fours were elegantly displayed. She began to fill the cups, but Mrs. Calkin motioned her away. “I’ll take it from here, Sarah. Thank you.” She nodded and backed toward the doorway. Rubber-soled shoes whispered over the tile floor.

  Jade took the cup Mrs. Calkin offered. The scent of chamomile tickled her nose. “Thank you. It smells wonderful.”

  “Drink.” Mrs. Calkin waved a hand. “It will soothe the butterflies in your belly.”

  “How do you know...I have butterflies?”

  “Because you’re going to ask me about your mother...and my husband. How else would your belly feel?”

  ****

  Shane flipped the steaks on the grill and watched Bryce push Susie on a swing in the back yard. She squealed in delight and leaned her head back as the swing soared high into the air. Golden hair fanned out around her. The aroma of juices from the T-bones danced as they sizzled above gas flames. His stomach growled in anticipation, and Maggie scampered up onto the deck to sit at his feet.

  “Later, you mischievous little imp.” He shook a pair of tongs at her. “I’ll save you a bone.”

  “Higher, Bryce. Push me higher.” Susie’s voice was music across the summer breeze. Shane marveled at how quickly she’d healed. No nightmares, no skittishness. If it weren’t for the hideous purple bruise across her forehead, he’d think he’d imagined the whole thing. The doctor said it would heal completely, in time. Thank God.