by Amy Johnson
Twenty minutes later she met him at Denny’s, a worried look on her face, her brown eyes somber. They got the small talk out of the way and then Jack told her word for word what had happened with Megan. Stacy leaned back in the booth and sighed.
“Well, I know she loves you, Jack. I’m sure of that. Maybe it’s like you said and she needs some time to adjust. I mean she’s endured some pretty major changes in her life over the past month.”
Jack’s gaze never left his coffee cup. “Maybe.”
“She’ll come around, Jack, just give her some time.”
He’d given her fifteen years. “That’s what I’m doing.”
“I could talk to her,” Stacy suggested.
“Nah, thanks anyway though.”
“Maybe you just need to go after her, be persuasive, not take no for an answer.”
Jack shook his head. “Nope I won’t chase her. She knows what I want and when she comes around, if she comes around, it has to be completely her decision. It will have to be because she loves me. Because she wants me. Not the other way around.”
They sat in silence for a moment then Stacy said quietly, “Jack.”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. I couldn’t do this without you.”
Jack smiled and thought of the irony of the situation. He’d been helping her with her sobriety and now he was leaning on her to keep him sober. His mother had told him once that God put certain people in your life for a reason. She was obviously right about that because if he hadn’t been sponsoring Stacy, if he wouldn’t have been ashamed of himself for letting her down he’d have been shit faced drunk right now. “Anytime,” he said and truly meant it.
***
It had been over a week since that dreadful night at Jack’s when she’d snuck out of his house like the coward that she was. Aside from his urgent visit the next day she hadn’t heard from him or seen him at all. It was as if he’d just walked away without looking back. She chided herself for feeling sorry for herself, she’d done it to herself. Jack had been up front about what he wanted. He’d told her he loved her and that he always would and she believed him. She was the one who had run and she regretted it now.
Jack was doing okay; she’d checked on him through Stacy who was going to meetings with him a couple times a week. Stacy also reported that he’d literally poured himself into his work, taking on extra cases and working long hours. Stacy had also cautioned her about losing Jack.
“If you love him, Megan, you’d better tell him so,” Stacy had said. “So what if marriage scares you, you don’t have to get hitched right away. What would really suck is losing him forever.”
That would suck Megan agreed. In fact it would be downright unbearable but Jack wanted all or nothing and Megan wasn’t ready to give it all to him.
Stacy had had an answer for that too. “Megan, he just wants you. Sure he wants his ring on your finger but he won’t rush that. He’ll wait until you’re ready.”
Damn Stacy was always so sensible. She made everything seem so darn simple when in reality it was a huge complicated mess.
“Just call him, Megan,” Stacy had urged. “He misses you and I know you miss him. Remember he’s not Ted and quit making him pay for Ted’s mistakes.”
And that was when it began to make sense for Megan. She’d been so wrapped up in all the chaos in her life that she hadn’t dealt with her anger toward Ted. And as long as she was carrying that around she was denying herself the right to love and trust again. She had lost Ted, but that had been Ted’s fault. She wouldn’t let Ted keep her from being happy by losing Jack too. That’s when she cried. For Ted, for herself, for the loss of her marriage and for Ted’s death.
She was mad at Josie, too, for sleeping with Ted. Although she hadn’t confirmed it, she knew it in her heart so she called Josie and asked her about it and Josie didn’t deny it. She had slept with Ted about a year before Megan and Ted started dating. She never told Megan because Ted had asked her not to and she didn’t think it was relevant since it was before Megan and Ted were together. Megan dropped it and forgave Josie. She loved her too much not to and forgiving her was much easier than carrying around the hurt.
Next, she did what she should have done a week ago. She picked up the phone and called Jack. She got his voicemail and left a heartfelt message. “Jack, its Megan. I’m an idiot and I’m sorry. Please call me. I miss you.”
The last thing on her list was to completely get rid of Ted. She’d packed most of his belongings and loaded them into the U-Haul which his brother had finally picked up and taken care of. But there were still little pieces of Ted all over the place and she couldn’t move on until they, too, were gone. She started in the basement, packing up all his processing equipment and various collections of junk he’d kept. Mickey had helped her get all of that stuff out and disposed of, some of it going to his parents, some to charity and a small portion—his baseball cards and autographed sports stuff—she set aside for Tiffany’s baby. If the baby was in fact Ted’s, and she had no reason to believe otherwise despite Ted’s supposed vasectomy, it deserved something of its fathers.
She was going through the bookcase when she found their old yearbooks. She pulled one out—hers judging from the notes from friends— and thumbed through it. There was a photo of the entire football team with Ted looking impossibly young, smiling that heart stopping smile that had made the butterflies go crazy in her stomach. She ran her thumb over his face in the photo and sighed. Who would have thought things would’ve ended up this way?
Flipping through the pages she found a photo of her, Josie, Stacy, Mickey and Ali. They were nothing but a blur of big hair, blue eye shadow and leg warmers; the notation said ‘Friends Forever’. She smiled. Now that was one statement that had certainly held true. They’d been inseparable then and now they were each other’s life lines. Her eyes filled with tears as she realized just how much she’d been blessed.
She turned to the last page in her yearbook and was startled when a familiar name jumped out at her. She wiped her eyes and stared at the signature, so sure her eyes were deceiving her. They weren’t. She read the caption.
“The first time I saw you, you stole my heart and it will be yours forever. You were standing there in your cheerleading uniform, chatting with your friends and you looked my way and smiled. I melted inside and I knew at that moment I was yours. Of course I’ve only been able to love you from afar; after all you’re Ted’s girl. But my mother always said, ‘When it’s true love, set it free. If it comes back, it was meant to be. I guess only time will tell, but until then, I’ll spend my time loving you. Always, J.J. Westin.”
Megan hastily turned the pages until she found the W’s. There smiling back at her was a much younger, much scrawnier, much geekier version of Jack smiling shyly at the camera, those big brown eyes glittering.
“Oh my God,” Megan muttered. Suddenly things fell into place. She remembered Jack, that shy kid who was always around but no one ever really noticed him He was quiet and awkward, too skinny for his frame and the butt of way too many jokes from the cool kids and the jocks. Megan had actually felt sorry for him because he seemed so…sweet. She had always been nice to him but in hindsight she realized she’d ignored him like everyone else had. Well she wouldn’t ignore him anymore.
She remembered the story he’d told her about his long lost love, that bitch cheerleader who still held his heart. She chuckled. She’d actually been jealous of herself. She was his cheerleader, his girl and she wanted to be his wife.
On the back porch when he’d kissed her he’d said he’d waited fifteen years for that. She hadn’t understood then, but she did now and she couldn’t imagine waiting fifteen minutes to be in his arms much less fifteen years.
She thought fast and developed a plan. If it was his cheerleader he wanted…
***
Jack got home late and checked his voicemail. His father had called, a salesman offering close out savings on siding for his house, and the
last message was from Megan. Jack froze his heart thudding in his chest. He replayed the message and listened to it again. She said she’d been an idiot. She missed him. That sounded promising.
He eyed the clock. It was well past midnight; he’d been surveilling a store for the last six hours, watching the night stockers who were being accused of walking off with merchandise during the night shift. She was probably asleep and he didn’t want to wake her. First thing in the morning he’d call her or maybe better yet he’d drop by. For now, about the most he could do was drop into bed and fall into a deep, dead to the world sleep. Maybe tomorrow night Megan would be beside him.
***
Megan ran to her mother’s and rifled around in her old room until she found what she was looking for. Her mother stood sleepily leaning in the door jam.
“It’s past midnight, Megan. What on earth are you doing?”
Megan hurried past her mother, stopping briefly to peck her on the cheek. “I’m getting married, mom. See you later.”
Her mother crossed herself, “Dear lord, why me? And why not at a decent hour?”
Next stop was Josie’s. Josie answered the door yawning, wrapped up in a sheet. Dr. Ross called out to see who was there from the bedroom.
“I need a favor Jos,” she said and once she had what she needed she left as abruptly as she’d barged in, dragging Dr. Ross and Josie with her both bewildered.
An hour later she watched as Josie picked the lock.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so turned on,” Jon said. “My woman is a criminal. A run of the mill thief in the night.” Josie had the door open in less than a minute.
“Hot damn,” Jon continued. “You gotta admire skill like that.” He took Josie’s hand and kissed it. “Will you marry me, Josie?” Josie blinked. “You know I love you and hell woman, I’d save a hell of a lot of money if I ever needed a locksmith.”
“Well gee, when you put it that way, how can I say no.” Josie answered then folded herself into his arms. “Let’s go home and I’ll be the naughty burglar.”
“I’ll be the, hardnosed, horny cop,” Jon said and before Megan could thank them they were gone, Jon carrying his future bride down the sidewalk into the night.
Must be a full moon tonight, Megan thought.
Megan moved like a cat through the house and paused at the open door to Jack’s bedroom. He was asleep on his side, clutching her pillow against his chest. His handsome features were dangerous and dramatic in the moonlit room, his face smoothed out in a peaceful sleep. She almost didn’t want to wake him. Almost.
“Give me an I!” she shouted and Jack’s eyes shot open. Immediately he squinted trying to focus. He looked completely surprised. Megan stood at the foot of his bed in her cheerleading outfit, pom poms and all, her hair long and brown, her face free of makeup except for a light splash of lip gloss. She looked just as she had fifteen years ago; the first time he’d seen her.
If this is a dream do not wake me up!
“Give me an L!” She shook her hips and swung her pom poms.
“Give me an O!” Jack was sitting straight up now, the sheet carelessly crumpled around his waist, allowing her to gaze at his broad chest, hard abdomen. Oh yeah!
“Give me a V!” She kicked one foot out in front of her, amazed at how well she remembered the moves. Jack was speechless and she liked that. She had plenty she needed to say.
“Give me an E!” Jack reached for her and she allowed him to cop a quick feel.
“Give me a U!” She shouted as he hauled her down on top of him so that she was straddling him. He ran his fingers through her long brown hair amazed. Then the wig fell off in his hand.
In a low sultry voice she said, “What does that spell? I love you, Jack.”
He took her mouth then devouring her, drinking her in, staking his claim to her. She broke the kiss and whispered low in his ear. “I hear you’ve got a thing for cheerleaders.” She ran her tongue down the contours of his neck.
“Only one,” he responded.
“Yeah?” she unleashed that crooked smile on him. “You like the uniform?”
He was already tugging at it trying to get it off. “I like it better off.” His grin was wicked, wild and purely Jack.
He made love to her slow and sweet and for the first time in her life she felt complete, content and truly happy. He tightened his hold on her and with his breath warm on her temple he said, “Don’t ever leave me again.”
“I won’t,” she rolled her head to stare into his mesmerizing gaze. “You set me free and I came back. So I guess this means we’re meant to be.”
“Damn right we are, babe.” He traced his finger down her cheek, over her jawline.
“So what happens next?” she asked holding her breath. Jack reached into his nightstand and pulled out a small silver box. “Marry me, Megan?”
About the Author
Amy Johnson lives in New Mexico with her husband, children and 4 dogs. She is currently working on her next book which is a sequel to Meg's Moment. She enjoys writing, reading and crafting.
Author's photo taken by Leslie Bailey Photography.
