Unbroken -Part One - A Second Chance at Love Romance: The Collective - Season 1, Episode 1

by Riley Edwards

  “Just forget it. You wouldn’t understand,” JJ snapped.

  My eyes widened in disbelief. Sure, JJ was a normal ten-year-old boy and I got some backtalk, but he had never been overtly disrespectful before.

  “JJ!” Reid warned, his tone leaving no room for argument.

  JJ pushed his lips together and contorted his face. He looked as if he had swallowed a whole lemon. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

  After a moment, Reid continued, “Are you talking about the pick-up game at the beginning of every season?”

  JJ pushed the ripped-up pieces of napkin around in front of him.

  Reid waited him out, his eyes never leaving JJ’s face. The man had the patience of a saint. I wanted to hurry this along. I was anxious to know what pick-up game they were talking about.

  “Yeah. The father-son game,” JJ muttered, barely above a whisper.

  Tears gathered in my eyes and spilled over my cheeks. I angrily swiped them away. It had been years since we had come up against a father-son activity. I was emotionally wrecked from Jimmy’s visit and this morning’s fiasco. It was times like these that I missed Jacob so much. Not only his physical presence, but also his guidance. He would know what to do in a situation like this. He was the strong one, not me.

  Reid spoke softly. “JJ, look at me.” He waited until JJ’s damp eyes came up to meet his. “I’ve been waiting to ask you if you would let me play in the pick-up game with you. I know I’m not your dad. I could never replace him, buddy, but I would like to stand in for him if that’s all right with you. I didn’t want to bring it up to you if you weren’t interested in playing, but if that’s what’s holding you back, I’d be honored to play alongside you. I got your six, remember? You’re part of the team. I’ll always have your back, little man.”

  JJ’s face lit up. “Is that alright, Mom? I wanna play. Would it be alright if Reid played with me?”

  Reid would be honored to stand beside my son.

  I tried to swallow the lump in my throat and blink away my tears. It was no use. They just kept coming. My shattered heart felt a little less jagged at that moment. Reid had just put a sliver back in place. I was nowhere near whole, but at that moment I was a little less broken.

  I opted not to speak, nodding my head instead. In an attempt to cover up my breakdown I used my napkin to cover my mouth.

  Damn. In a restaurant, no less.

  Chapter Ten

  A Hundred Large

  Reid

  “Here you are, enjoy. Is there anything else I can get you?” Melanie placed our plates on the table and tilted her head to the side as she studied Ava crying next to me.

  I shook my head and gave her a reassuring smile. The last thing Ava would want was any attention drawn to her tears.

  “No, we’re great, Melanie. Thanks. Is that wife of yours at work today?”

  As much fun as it was teasing Ava about her jealousy, and that is exactly what it was, now was not the time nor the place. Melanie’s wife, Roni, worked for me as an office manager. If Ava thought Melanie was pretty or flirtatious, she would think doubly so of Roni. It was ironic. Melanie wasn’t flirting with me, she was innocently flirting with Ava.

  “Yes. The flu bug seems to have passed, thank the Lord. I was ready to send her to her parent’s house,” Melanie laughed.

  “Bullshit. You love taking care of her,” I shot back.

  “You’re right, I do. I just like teasing her. I don’t want her to know how soft I really am. I have a rep to protect. Give her a smooch from me when you see her.” She winked at me. “And little man, I snuck you a couple extra pancakes on that plate. Enjoy.”

  “Really? Thanks so much, Melanie. That’s really cool of you.” JJ looked at his plate and counted the pancakes.

  There was no way he would be finishing that stack.

  My phone vibrated on the table. Before I could silence it, the office number across the screen.

  “Yo,” I answered.

  “How long until you’re in the office?” Austin asked.

  “Food just got here. Not that long, depending on bridge traffic.”

  “Shit,” Austin grumbled.

  “What’s the rush? Is Mac there already?” I tried to use a nonchalant voice. I didn’t want any added stress on Ava and JJ. They’d had enough for a lifetime.

  “There’s a hundred large in the duffle.”

  Shit. Fuckity fuck. I bit the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from uttering a string of colorful language that Ava would no doubt chastise me for using in front of the little ears. Mother shit! Whoever owned that hundred thousand would want it back. This had just gone from fucked to completely FUBAR’d. Fucking Jimmy Kelley would die.

  “Anything else of interest?” I asked.

  “No dope. There’s a notebook you’re gonna want to look at. If I’m not mistaken he’s running a book.”

  Christ Almighty, the shit storm kept getting better and better. Gambling. What would be next? Was he running women and guns too?

  “Copy that. See you soon. Do me a favor? Make sure that the notebook and anything else of interest are in my personal safe. The rest needs to go in the vault until Mac can pick it up.”

  “Already done.” Austin disconnected. He was a thorough son-of-a-bitch. I was lucky to have him on my crew.

  “Everything alright?” Ava seemed to have pulled herself together.

  Earlier, when I saw the tears well in her eyes I desperately wanted to pull her soft body into my arms and hold her, comfort her, take all of the pain away from her. But I knew that even if she let me comfort her now, she would be horrified later. Damn if this woman didn’t try to do it all. Trying to get her to let me help was like pulling teeth. She was the best mother I knew. She juggled her busy schedule with ease, always cool under pressure. I wondered if she knew how much JJ bragged about her, how much he adored her and looked up to her. Her strength and determination were unparalleled.

  “Yep. Austin was just checking in. No need to worry about anything.”

  “Reid, did the popcorn machine get delivered yet?” JJ asked.

  “Little man, if you keep throwing me under the bus like this, I won’t be able to buy you anything else.” I shook my head and the laugh I was trying to swallow down won out. Damn kid.

  “What popcorn machine?” Ava gave me the stink eye and twisted her mouth. She really had the scolding mother routine down pat. If I was honest, it was hot as hell watching her try to reprimand me. That’s a no-go sweetheart.

  “Oops. Umm... nothing, Mama,” JJ tried.

  “It’s nothing. All the guys in the office love popcorn but they always seem to burn the microwave shi...stuff. JJ had a great idea about a commercial popper. It was brilliant. Now I don’t have to smell the burnt crap.” None of that was true, I hoped that burnt popcorn really did smell bad. The truth was that JJ loved popcorn. He saw the popper machine on TV and said it looked cool, so I bought him one.

  “Yeah, right. I can see a bunch of ex-military types and general badasses not being able to handle microwave popcorn. He suckered you, just admit it.” Ava’s face lit up and she let out a laugh. The kind that brightened her whole face, and made her look carefree. What I wouldn’t give to be the one that put that look on her face every day.

  “Hey, I didn’t sucker him. I just said it would be cool,” JJ said while shoveling the largest bite of pancakes I had ever seen into his mouth.

  Ava continued to giggle. “He used the look, didn’t he? The one where he gives you those big, brown, pleading eyes.”

  “I was played,” I agreed.

  Ava was right. When JJ wanted something, he cleverly mentioned it and acted like it was your idea to buy it for him in the first place.

  “Popcorn is a healthy snack. No one wants me to starve, do they?” JJ asked, laying on the innocent look.

  “Well, after you finish inhaling those pancakes, no one will have to feed you for a week,” I joked, pushing my empty plate off to the side.

  I must hav
e been shoveling my food in just as fast as JJ had been. I was eager to get to the office. I wanted a chance to look at the contents of Jimmy’s duffle bag before Mac got there. I would share information with him, but there were always a few details that I left out. He knew how I worked. Anything that would tie him up in red-tape got left out of my report. I never wanted to put him in a position of having to lie or be charged with evidence tampering.

  “So, Melanie’s married, huh?” Ava asked.

  “Yep, her wife works for me. Roni. You’ll meet her today.”

  “Um.” Ava pushed the food around on her plate.

  “Um what? Still jealous?” I leaned into Ava. I could pretend it was so JJ didn’t hear me teasing his mother, but truthfully, I just wanted an excuse to touch her.

  I had waited for what felt like a lifetime to be this close to her. I wasn’t going to waste a minute of it. I knew it was only a matter of time before she was buttoned up tighter than a nun again.

  “You wish.” Ava playfully knocked my arm with her shoulder.

  What I would give to know what was going on in that pretty little head of hers. I was happy to see that the tears had dried up and she was smiling.

  “I’m stuffed! Next time we come here, I want Melanie to be our waitress again. She’s the best. I think she told them to put extra chocolate chips in, too. Is she really married to Roni?” JJ spoke around a forkful of pancakes.

  “Yes, her and Roni are married,” I replied.

  “That’s so cool. Roni is really nice and super-hot too.”

  Ava reprimanded him. “JJ, it’s not polite to call a woman super-hot. She may be beautiful, but it is more important that she is kind and intelligent.”

  “Oh, she is, Mom. She is really smart. I hear her on the phone bossing the guys around. They all listen to her. And she is always nice to me. She sneaks me Jolly Ranchers when no one is looking. But she is still super-hot. I hear the guys say that, too. Austin thinks that she is the perfect woman.”

  Whelp, JJ heard way more around the office than he should. I’d have to remember to tell the guys to keep their traps shut when he was around. If I wasn’t careful, Ava wouldn’t let me spend time with JJ and that just wasn’t an option. I loved the time I got to spend with him.

  Melanie appeared next to me and started clearing the plates. “You must be talking about Roni. She has an endless supply of Jolly Ranchers. They are her favorite and she doesn’t share with just anyone. You must be pretty special if she sneaks you some. She won’t even share with me. You want a box for that, Ava?”

  “Sure. Umm, you know my name?” Ava asked, pushing her plate towards Melanie.

  “Of course I do. I’ve heard all about you from Roni. She loves JJ, thinks he is just the best little kid ever. We’ve been talking about starting a family. She was reluctant until she started spending time with him. She told me we could have five kids, as long as they’re all like JJ. She also told me that you own Del Mar’s and you’re a fantastic mother - she knows this because your son not only tells her how great you are, but because it shows in how well-behaved he is. She said you were beautiful. She knows that because she has seen a picture of you in Reid’s office. And, I’d have to say, she was wrong. You’re not beautiful. You’re stunning. That’s about all I know about you.”

  I really wished that Melanie had left the part about the picture out of her monologue.

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Nothing to say, sweetie. My Roni makes it her business to know everything about everyone. As a matter of fact, I’m gonna call her now and tell her I got to meet you first, even if it’s only by thirty minutes. She’s gonna shit bricks when she finds out you’re on your way in.” Melanie winked at Ava. “I’ll box this up for you.”

  I handed Melanie my credit card in an effort to expedite her departure. The longer she spoke, the more freaked out Ava looked.

  My phone vibrated on the table again, reminding me I had bigger problems than Ava freaking out over my receptionist being a huge gossip.

  “Yea?” I answered Austin’s call.

  “Hey man, sorry to bother you, but you need to get here sooner rather than later. He’s here.”

  “Fu…” I caught myself just in time, “Yep. We’re leaving now.” I angrily stabbed at the end call button on my phone.

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Ava said.

  I battled with myself over telling her the truth or not. On one hand, I didn’t want her any more upset than she was. On the other, she needed to know how much danger she was in with Jimmy Kelley being near. In the end, the truth won out.

  “It’s not. We’ll talk about everything when we get to the office. No need to bore you with the details now.”

  “Okay.” Thankfully, she understood why I didn’t want to discuss the details in public or in front of JJ.

  Melanie came bouncing back to the table with my card. “Here you are. You’re all set. It was nice to finally meet you, Ava and JJ. I hope this isn’t too forward, but we’d love to have you over for our Sunday family dinner and game night. Roni and I do it every Sunday. It’s a ton of fun and totally kid friendly.” She looked so hopeful as she spoke to Ava.

  “But we’re not family. I wouldn’t want to intrude,” Ava declined.

  “PSHH,” Melanie breathed. “You and JJ are totally family. You’re Reid’s, that makes you family, whether you want to be or not.”

  Holy fuck. Melanie needed to stop talking!

  “Well, in that case, thank you. JJ and I would love to come.”

  “Great. I’ll get your number from Roni and call you, I’m not a texter, I call. Too many emotions are lost in a text, I like personal interaction, not some stupid text, alright, back to work I go, tootles, give Roni a smooch,” Melanie rushed out all in one breath.

  That woman should be an Olympic swimmer with her breath control. Jesus H., she talked too much.

  I stood, and pulled out Ava’s chair in an attempt to move things along. “Alright. Well, let’s go. Nice seeing you, Melanie.” God only knew what Melanie would say next if I didn’t stop. She’d have Ava running for the hills quicker than a jackrabbit on a date.

  “Jeez, Reid. We’re coming.” Ava grabbed her to-go box and purse, motioning JJ to come along.

  I could tell by the way Ava was worrying her lip as we walked out to the car, the questions would be rolling in any second now.

  “What did Melanie mean when she said ‘I am yours’?” Ava asked.

  And there it was.

  “Who knows? Melanie is kooky, you just have to ignore her half of the time. You don’t have to go to Sunday dinner if you don’t want to. She can be pushy, too. Kooky and pushy, that’s Melanie.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Jimmy Fucking Kelley

  Ava

  There was a whole lot of yelling going on in the conference room.

  JJ was showing me around Reid’s office, talking about all the cool awards and pictures on the walls, but I was only half paying attention. I was more curious about the yelling. I was trying not to let my temper get the best of me, but I knew they were in there discussing Jimmy. I should’ve been in there.

  “…and this one is of Reid when he was in Iraq,” JJ said, tapping a framed photograph on the wall. “It’s hard to tell which one is him, because they all have on camo and face paint, but he’s in the middle.”

  My attention snapped to the picture. I knew that Reid had been in the Army, but I had never seen any pictures. He didn’t keep any in his house. At least, none that I’d ever seen.

  I stared at the picture of him and his team. He looked sexy as hell dressed in his uniform. Where did that thought come from? Sexy? I hadn’t said that word in years, hadn’t even thought it. What was wrong with me?

  I looked at the rest of the pictures. Reid in various locations. In some he was holding his gun, in others he held an American flag. One picture caught my attention; he was kneeling in front of a pair of boots. A rif
le was standing vertically with a helmet resting on top.

  “That was taken when his friend Peters died. It’s a memorial. You know that black metal bracelet that Reid wears?” JJ asked.

  Sadly, I had to think about it. I guess I’d noticed Reid wore a bracelet, but I never really paid attention. God, I was a selfish bitch. I knew very little about Reid’s personal life. I had never asked him about his service, or even what his job was in the Army. He knew my favorite coffee and JJ’s favorite breakfast. Reid knew every facet of my life and I knew nothing about his.

  “Yes, I know the bracelet,” I said, stretching the truth a tad.

  “That is Peters’ hero bracelet. It has his name, where he died, and dates on it. Reid said that he never takes it off. That every time he looks at it he says Peters’ name out loud. He also said that no hero should ever be forgotten, that no one should forget their name. Reid says that’s his way of making sure that Peters is remembered.” JJ sure seemed to know a lot more about Reid than I did.

  Quite possibly that was because, on top of being a selfish cow of a friend, I was a crappy mom who had other people watching her kid all the time.

  “Ava!” Mac yelled from down the hall. “Can you come in here?”

  “A please might work!” I yelled back.

  “Please,” Mac ground out.

  I could practically hear his teeth clipping as he gnashed them. Jerk! I was still pissed with him about his behavior this morning at my house.

  “I’ll go into Reid’s office and play my Xbox,” JJ said.

  I needed to count to ten before I entered the conference room; calm my nerves so I didn’t fly off the handle at the men who had undoubtedly just made decisions on my behalf. Jimmy was right on one count; they were overgrown apes!

  When I walked into the room, five sets of eyes snapped to me. Mac, Reid, Austin, Rick, and Jimmy fucking Kelley.

  “What the hell is he doing here?” I screeched. There was no other name for the sound that came out of my mouth. “Why is he here?”

  “Ava, calm down,” Mac had the nerve to say to me.