Wrecked and Yours Trilogy: A Second Chance Love Story

by CeeCee James

  * * *

  Jason arrived home about three hours later. The house was spotless, vacuumed and mopped. He found her on a ladder scrubbing the top porch windows.

  “Been busy, I see.” He stood below her with his hands pushed in his pockets. The muscles in his chest and shoulders pulled his shirt tight.

  “Oh!” she let out a startled squeak, and then threw the wad of wet paper towels she held at him. “You scared me, you creep!”

  He watched them fly past him and land on the ground. “Your aim is still as good as ever. No wait, I forgot your talent is singing.”

  That got her to laugh and she climbed down off the stepladder. He gave his half-smile and reached out to give her a hug. Wrapping his arms around her, he rocked her a bit.

  “You always do that,” she said, snuggling in deeper.

  “What?”

  “Rock me when you give me a hug.”

  “What can I say?” She could tell he was grinning by the way he spoke. “You feel good in my arms.”

  “Awww.” She felt good in his arms too. Safe. Her stomach tightened. He only wants to be friends, she reminded herself. Stop thinking that way. We’re finally good now, and I don’t want to mess this up.

  “I’m proud of you.”

  She lifted her head and smiled. “You are?”

  “Yeah.” His crooked tooth peeked out. “Calling her. That took guts.”

  He leaned in closer, his lips by her ear. “Really, really impressed.” The last word was a warm exhale on her neck. He breathed in deep, taking in the hint of her vanilla scent.

  “Hey.” Miranda pulled away with a smile, trying to hide her shiver. “I have a surprise for you.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  She led him into the kitchen where a steak was furiously sizzled in a frying pan on the stove. Jason’s eyebrows immediately rose in concern.

  “Err…” he started.

  “No, it’s fine. It’s pan searing. Sit!” She waved him off, while rifling through the utensil drawer for a fork.

  “Huh,” he said, settling on one of the bar stools.

  Miranda spun around to the stove, fork in hand, to spear the steak. The steak stuck a bit, but she pried it off. She reached into the cupboard for a plate and plopped the steak onto it. Then, opening the microwave, she removed a potato.

  “There,” she brushed her hair off her forehead and smiled up into his face. ‘I made you dinner.”

  He looked at the steaming plate and arched his eyebrow.

  “Oh! Let me get you some butter.” She hurried to the fridge to locate the yellow tub. Placing it next to him, she settled back with a satisfied grin and waited for him to take a bite.

  Jason licked his lips and stared at the plate. The steak had shriveled to half its original size. He paused, fork in hand.

  Miranda’s gaze wavered from the plate to his unmoving hand.

  “It’s food. Eat it.” She edged the plate closer to him.

  “Knife?” he asked.

  Rolling her eyes, Miranda got him a knife.

  After sawing the steak for a minute, he put a piece in his mouth. His face creased in concern as he crunched a bit. “Water?” he choked. Swallowing, he poked the hard potato. Then, he hid his smile behind his hand.

  “It’s—” he began. “I mean, wow. The seasoning is really special.”

  She handed him his water and sat next to him in a defeated slump.

  After a minute of poking and prodding, he looked at her. “I’m so sorry. I can’t do this,” he said, smiling, but his eyebrows furrowed with worry.

  “It’s fine,” Miranda muttered. “I have cereal.”

  She walked to the cupboard and brought out her box of Toasty O’s and slammed it on the counter.

  “Um.” He stared at the box. “You know, I actually ate on the way home.” He set his plate on the floor for Archer. “But, nice try. I appreciate the effort.” He walked over to her. Slowly, he laced his fingers through hers, his hand nearly twice the size. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”

  He led her down the stairs and around the edge of the lawn. From there it opened up to the lake. The honk of a goose caught her attention. The bird glided on the water next to its partner while tiny ripples followed them. It was so beautiful.

  Jason slung his arm around her shoulders and steered her towards the water’s edge. “Look.” he pointed. “You see that?”

  Out on the lake was a boat.

  “Yeah, I see it.”

  He hung on to her while they watched the sailboat struggle to unleash the sail. Soon the canopy swelled into a pillow of white and the boat surged forward. Jason interlaced their fingers again, his rough and calloused against her own. They walked farther along the lake shore. Miranda glanced up at him.

  “Err, do friends hold friends’ hands?” Her heart beat a bit faster with hope.

  He smiled at their hands clasped together, and gave a sigh. His face softened as he looked at her, and he shrugged in a resigned way. “I guess our kind do.”

  His gaze made her stomach flutter with butterflies and she had to look away, breathless. Don’t read too much into this. “You ever wonder why Uncle Stew left his house to us?” Miranda asked.

  Jason stared out at the water, then squeezed her hand three times. “Because he knew we were family.”

  Miranda bit her lip. “You and Cassie are all the family I have.”

  “You’re all the family I have, too.” He stopped walking and pulled her to his side. Slowly, he ran his hand up her arm. His thumb caressed her shoulder, his green eyes studying her.

  The way he looked at her made her legs feel weak. Then his eyebrows creased and she felt him pull away.

  The butterflies stopped cold and she glanced back at the lake.

  He followed her gaze. Both of them silent.

  Archer dropped a stick at their feet and barked. Jason grabbed it up and chucked it ahead of them on the beach.

  Jason reached for her hand again, shaking it a little this time. “So, you know what the best part of being family is?” he asked.

  “No, what?”

  “I’m your elder, so you have to respect me.”

  Miranda gave him a long blink. “Excuse me?” Suddenly, with that statement, everything suddenly shifted back into a safe place.

  He caught the expression on her face and laughed.

  “Very funny, bucko. I’ll remember that the next time I make dinner.”

  “You mean burn it.”

  She swatted his arm. “That happened just this once.”

  “Math isn’t one of your skills either, I see. Or is it memory?” He grabbed his chin like he was thinking.

  “Shut up. I’ll give you something to remember.”

  His crooked grin came out in full force. Miranda winked when she saw the gleam in his eye.

  22

  Present Day

  Jason jiggled his truck keys. “You ready to go?”

  Miranda instantly tensed at his words. This was the moment she’d been dreading for a long time, but it was long overdue. Her sister deserved answers. Miranda pushed up the sleeves of her pale blue shirt, and grabbed a tinfoil- covered plate of cookies from her second baking attempt. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  On the ride to the hospital Jason filled her in on how Cassie had walked to the end of the hall the day before. “She’s doing good. She’s real strong.”

  “She always has been.” Miranda agreed.

  “I told her to put those soccer legs to good use. Like the time she got red-carded.”

  Miranda snorted then, remembering the fight that broke out on the field when an older classmate on the other team had punched her sister. That gal hadn’t expected the reaction she’d unleashed. The coaches had to pull them apart, and it had ended with the two of them being kicked off the field.

  It got quiet in the truck again. Just as Jason was about to turn the radio up, Miranda asked, “Does she know?”

  “Know what?”

  “That
she lost the baby?”

  Jason sighed. “Well, she hasn’t brought it up, but I imagine the doctors have said something to her.”

  “She hasn’t told you?” Miranda was shocked.

  “Nope.”

  “So, we’re supposed to pretend we don’t know?”

  Jason glanced over at her. “Yeah, that’s probably the best, don’t you think?”

  He swerved a bit, running over one of the yellow turtle reflectors in the center line. “Did you ever get that police report?”

  “What?” Miranda blinked. “Oh, yeah. Just one person in the vehicle. Cassie was definitely driving. It took over an hour to cut her out of the driver’s seat.”

  “No alcohol?”

  “No. They said it was raining hard that night, and she hydroplaned and lost control.”

  He turned up the music again and they listened to Green Day. I am strong, Miranda told herself. But sometimes it’s okay not to be strong. I am going to practice just being me.

  Peggy was at the nurses’ station when they walked in. “She’s expecting you,” she said, giving Miranda a thumbs up.

  Jason opened the door and stepped back, letting Miranda enter first. When she hesitated he gave her a wink. “You’ve got this.”

  Trembling, she blew out a heavy breath and walked in.

  Her sister sat in the bed, her eyes wide and alert. The remote in her hand was pointed at the TV as she flipped through the channels.

  Tears pricked Miranda’s eyes. “Hi, Chickee.”

  “Hey, Sis,” Cassie turned to her and her voice cracked. Her lip twitched at the corner. “You bring me a Twinkie?”

  Miranda rushed over and nearly fell on the bed to give her sister a hug. They held each other for a long time.

  “I love you so much,” Miranda whispered.

  “I love you, too. And you got me all wet.”

  Miranda pulled back and giggled at the tear marks on her sister’s hospital gown.

  They pulled away from each other. Cassie had dark circles under her eyes, but her cheeks were pink. She plucked the neckline of the gown higher and noticed Jason in the doorway. “Come on in and join the love fest.”

  He gave them a shy smile, his hands tucked in his pockets, before walking over. Reaching around, he hugged both Miranda and Cassie together. His eyes were wet when he pulled away.

  “Aww, you old softie, are you crying?” Cassie teased.

  “Don’t be thinking just because you’re an invalid doesn’t mean I won’t take you down,” Jason answered. “Besides, you still owe me fifty bucks.”

  “In your dreams,” Cassie snorted. She glanced back at her sister. “It’s good to see you.”

  Miranda slid into the chair next to the bed. “You look amazing. Way better than the last time I was here.”

  “Speaking of that.” Cassie frowned. “I can’t believe you listened to the ramblings of a delusional woman coming out of a coma. You’ve never paid attention to me before.”

  “You told me to leave. I wanted to respect you.”

  “Leave?” Cassie’s blonde eyebrows furrowed, then smoothed rapidly. She bit her lip. “No, Miranda. I was saying Leif. I was calling for my boyfriend.”

  “Your boy—” Miranda glanced at Jason, then back to her sister.

  “I guess we’ve got a lot to talk about.” Cassie added.

  “It’s okay. We’ve got time.”

  “Yeah, and, if it’s okay, I’m not ready yet.” Cassie grimaced and shifted on her bed. “But, not to put you on the spot, I want to know what happened to you when you left after the funeral.”

  Miranda picked at a thread on the thin hospital blanket, and nodded. “I owe you an explanation. But it’s not going to be good enough, not nearly good enough.” She exhaled deeply. Fear prickled her, and buzzing began in her fingers and chest. Do Not Freak Out. Inhale for six, hold for four, exhale for eight. She took a couple slow breaths, and tried to relax her body.

  “I’m going to be honest, Cassie. I don’t know if I can explain what happened. I had to seek help and still don’t understand it, myself,” Miranda started.

  Cassie looked away and pressed her lips together. “Well, you owe me something. You left for nearly two years.”

  Miranda’s ears roared, and the urge seized her to run out the door. I knew this would happen. I can’t make up for what I did. She took another deep breath.

  Cassie raised her eyebrow. “Well?”

  “The day Uncle Stew died,” Miranda began. “I’d received an acceptance letter to SPU. I thought I was finally going to get my chance.” She swallowed. “You know how I’d been waitressing at the Chicken Hutt for four years. You were a senior in high school, and doing great. I was so proud of you.” She smiled at her sister. “Soccer, friends, good grades, you had it all. You had Uncle Stew, Laura, and Jason.”

  Here, she glanced at Jason, who was absorbed with the heart monitor and refused to meet her eye. She blinked hard and looked down. “I applied to a few colleges. At first I never dreamed of getting in, but then I was so freaking excited about the possibility. To finally get a chance for something I wanted, and not be responsible for anyone else. To be free.” Her eyes stung. “I’m sorry. I know that sounds terrible. But then, when Uncle Stew died, I knew I could never leave you.”

  Cassie snorted sarcastically.

  Miranda’s heart ached to see the distrust, and hurt in her sister’s face. “And I did anyway.” She sighed. “Cassie, I can’t expect you to accept what I don’t even understand myself. I can only explain it like a prison of claustrophobia. Everywhere I went, the store, the gas station, people stopped me to ask how I was going to take care of you now.”

  “The wake at the Elk Club was the worst.” Miranda covered her face with her hands at the memory. “So many of Uncle Stew’s friends came around me, telling me how sad they were for me. I started to have flashbacks of Dad’s funeral. I ended up running for the bathroom. My chest was so tight, I couldn’t take a full breath. The bathroom was crowded with women. Their perfume, their cloying words.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I just wanted to get away as fast as I could.” She paused to take in a deep breath, half in memory of the smothering sensation. “I guess I was having a panic attack. Anyway, I ran outside looking for a place to escape.”

  Cassie and Jason watched her silently.

  “There was a guy there, the son of one of Uncle Stew’s friends.” Miranda stopped and licked her lips. “It was just a stupid thing. He’d been drinking at the wake, and came stumbling towards me. I was standing in the back, you know, where the garden shed was. He had a cigarette.” Miranda shook her head with a sarcastic laugh. “Asked me for a light. I told him I didn’t have one. H—he pushed me against the shed to kiss me. I tried to get away, but he kept pulling me back. Then I stomped on his instep. As soon as his mouth was off of mine I screamed. He called me a slut, but I ran. I ran all the way home.”

  The hospital room was so quiet that when the blood pressure cuff went off the three of them jumped. Miranda stood up and walked over to the table for the box of tissues. She wiped her face and returned to the chair.

  “You should have told us,” Cassie said.

  “I would have killed him,” Jason growled.

  “He was just some drunk guy. Any other time I would have shoved him off, but that night it took me back to Dad’s funeral.” Miranda’s face flushed with guilt. “I…I feel like it’s my fault Dad died.”

  “Miranda! It is not!” Cassie gasped.

  “I’ve never told you.” Miranda covered her face again with her hands. “Uncle Vince did something worse two days before Dad died. I’d told Dad about it, and he was on his way to confront our uncle when he had his car accident.” Tears leaked out from under Miranda’s hands.

  “It’s not your fault.” Cassie touched her sister’s hair. “Look at me.” Miranda lifted her head but covered her face with her hands, too ashamed to make eye contact. “Miranda!”

  “I couldn’t let Uncl
e Vince ever have a chance to hurt you.” Miranda whispered. “That’s why we ran that night. But I’ve felt guilty ever since.” She wiped the balled-up tissue under her eyes. “I don’t know if that contributed, but when I got back to Uncle Stew’s house after his wake, I wasn’t in my right mind. All I could think about was that I had to get out of there. I felt like I was going to explode. I told myself I’d just needed a break, just a week or so. Just some time to figure this out. I knew Jason would take care of you, and that you had Laura, school. I didn’t know what was wrong with me, and I was stupidly telling myself you’d be better off without me. The next thing I knew I was on my way to Seattle.”

  “When I texted you that night”—Miranda met her sister’s eyes— “you said that you were moving in with Laura. And I just let myself believe that, believe that you were okay.”

  She picked at the polish on her thumbnail, and shook her head. “Deep down inside, I knew you weren’t okay. But by then I was too ashamed to come back. I couldn’t face you both. The depression and failure overcame me.”

  Her vision blurred, as tears trickled down her face. “I’d screwed up in the worst way possible. I can never say I’m sorry enough.”

  Jason stood watching them.

  Cassie leaned back on her pillow and closed her eyes.

  “I’m sorry Cassie,” Miranda whispered. “No matter what it takes, I’ll make this right with you.”

  Cassie gave a weak laugh. “Aw, Sis. You’ve always thought you had to make it right, to be the strong one and take care of me. I think that’s the real reason you didn’t come back. You were afraid you had disappointed me. But I love you. I just want you to be you.”

  Miranda felt hope flutter in her chest, and she looked down. “I’ll try to remember that.” Something changed inside of her. She didn’t know what it was, but a weight lifted.

  “You know,” her sister continued. “I had no idea that happened to you with Uncle Vince.”

  “Wh— what did you think when I told you to run that night? Why did you run?”

  “Well, two reasons,” Cassie said. “I trusted you. You’d always taken care of me, been my second mom. Really, been my only mom.” Cassie hesitated. “That’s why it hurt so much when you left.”