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Jill was surprised to hear the doorbell ring. She rarely had visitors at the house and wasn’t expecting anyone. Andrew would be home soon, but he never rang the bell.
Jake. Great. Just great.Jill stepped away from the window and opened the front door.
“What can I do for you, Jake?” It wasn’t a stretch for her to add a touch of annoyance to her voice and she hoped it would eventually discourage his surprise visits.
He smiled and pulled a bouquet of carnations from behind his back.
Really? Carnations? Is there any cheesier flower than that?
He seemed to be waiting for a response. She had no intention of inviting him inside so she stepped out onto the front porch, taking the carnations as she walked. She leaned against the porch railing and set the flowers next to her.
“Jake, what’s this about? Why do you keep doing this?” She tilted her head and studied the man she had once loved. The man who’d walked away from her.
“I miss you, Jill. I’ve been thinking and I think I made a big mistake. I want us to try again.”
“What!” she sputtered. “I... That’s insane… I don’t even know what to say to that.”
He took her hand but she pulled it back from him.
“Please, Jill. Say you’ll give us another try. I broke things off with Missy. I know I was wrong, but I can do this. I can make this work. I know I can.” He sounded earnest, but there were an awful lot of ‘I’s in what he’d said.
She shook her head. “I’m not some project for you to keep working at.”
“I know, Jill. But we’re good together. We had such a good life, together, you know?”
“No. I don’t know. I’ve realized a lot of things over the past several months. Our marriage wasn’t right, Jake. I thought I was happy, but I didn’t see how much I was giving up. I’m sorry, but I don’t love you anymore.” Jill tried to be calm and firm, wondering if maybe this time he’d listen to her. For once, would he just listen?
“But Jill,” he began.
“No. Stop.” She sighed. “Look, Jake. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to give us another try. I’m in love with someone else. I’m getting married to a man I love with all my heart. And the best part is, he loves me just as much. He respects me. He would never treat me the way you treated me.”
His face grew hard and his hands gripped her arms tightly. Too tightly.
“You can’t. You can’t marry someone else. You’re supposed to loveme, Jill.” Jake's eyes were hard and flashed with anger.
She didn’t know if she was more stunned that he had grabbed her or that hestilldidn’t care about her feelings. How had she not seen him for who he truly was over the time they’d been together?
She didn’t have much time to respond to him because Jake was lifted off the ground and tossed down the porch stairs.
“Oh, God, Andrew. Don’t hurt him!” Jill grabbed Andrew’s arm and tried to pull him back.
She’d have better luck stopping a freight train, but it only took Andrew a few seconds to get himself under control.
“Leave. Now,” he bit out through clenched teeth.
Jake scrambled backwards in the driveway as Andrew stalked him.
When his feet finally found purchase, Jake scurried to his car and quickly drove away while Jill pulled Andrew back to the porch.
Her arms tingled as Andrew ran his hands gently over them, scowling at the red blotches that were blossoming on her arm where Jake had grabbed her. He let out a deep roar and turned back toward his car, presumably to go after Jake, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the porch.
“It’s not important, Andrew. Let him go.”
“Did he hurt you?” His voice rippled with anger. He was controlling it, but only just.
“I’m okay. He wouldn’t have really hurt me,” she answered.
She slipped her hands around Andrew’s back and brushed her hands up and down in long strokes, soothing away the tension.
