Home Again (3 page)

“Danna?” he said with his mouth hanging open. When she saw him, she almost passed out herself. He’d changed a lot since she’d seen him. Now a real man, he was tough and rugged looking with stubble across his jaw and messed up dirty blond hair. His blue eyes were still as piercing as ever, and she could still smell that cologne he wore in high school wafting past her nose.

“Hi, Jack,” she said softly. He switched off the radio, and stood up, shaking the hay off his jeans.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, still not cracking a smile or looking like he wanted her there.

“I’m back. Well, for awhile at least. It’s nice to see you…” she said.

“Okay,” he said as he turned around and gathered up his tools. Walking past her, he headed straight for his office leaving her standing there feeling like an idiot. Not exactly the warm welcome she was hoping for.

Danna followed him and found him sitting behind his desk adding something up on a calculator. Fuming mad at the cold welcome, she crossed her arms and glared at him from the doorway.

“Excuse me?” she said in her snappiest tone.

“What?”

“What kind of welcome was that after not seeing me for all these years. I came all the way over here to see you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Was I supposed to clap or bow at your feet, Princess?”

“Why are you being such a jackass? Your sister said you’d be happy to see me, but I can see this was a big mistake,” she said.

“My sister? When did you talk to Katie?”

“This morning. I ran into her at the grocery store.”

“Well, she shouldn’t have said anything about me. I am none of your business, Danna.”

It became obvious that he had nothing to say to her, so Danna opted to retain some of her dignity and leave. Turning to walk away, she tripped over a piece of lumber that was sticking a little too far into the pathway and went tumbling to the ground.

“Ouch!” she yelled as she grabbed her ankle and fell to the ground. “Crap, crap, crap!” she said as the tears welled up in her eyes and fell over her cheeks.

“Danna!” Jack said as he quickly ran out from behind his desk and knelt beside her on the ground. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry…”

“It really hurts…” she said with tears escaping her eyes.

“Let me take a look,” he said carefully lifting the leg of her jeans. “It’s not swollen yet. Do you want to try walking on it?” His touch sent shivers up her spine which only made her angrier at herself for being in this position.

“Just help me get to my car, and I’ll get out of your hair,” she said avoiding eye contact.

“Come on, don’t be like that…”

“Don’t be like that? You mean don’t be a jerk? Because you were a really big jerk to me a few minutes ago!”

Jack slid down to his butt and leaned against the wall, sighing as he ran his fingers through his thick hair.

“I know I was. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t sue you,” she said trying not to laugh.

“Danna, I really am sorry. You know I’d never do anything to hurt you intentionally,” he said looking at her.

“I know. But you did.”

“I am used to stepping over that piece of wood. I totally forgot…”

“No. I’m not talking about my ankle,” she said searching his eyes.

“Oh.”

“Jack, you never gave me an opening to say how sorry I am about the way things ended with us.”

“It was a long time ago, Danna,” he said.

“Then why do I get the feeling you’re still hurt?” she asked softly.

“Because I guess I am. I wish I could say it doesn’t matter all these years later, but it does. You were my life for years, and then you were just gone. That was bad enough, but then you went and married some guy in Vegas. What was that about?”

“Stupidity. My normal spontaneous nature. I don’t know really,” she said shaking her head.

“That hurt me more than anything because I always thought you’d come back to me at some point. If I just waited long enough…”

“And then I showed up out of the blue today…”

“Why are you here, Danna?”

“Because I lost my job and wanted to get a fresh start.”

“There’s nothing fresh about Dallas Springs. Everything here is from the past.”

“Then why does it feel like it’s exactly the place I need to be?” she said softly as Jack slowly looked up.

“It does?”

“It does right now,” she said realizing that her heart was flip flopping in her chest. She hadn’t felt this way about any man since she’d left Jack standing at the end of her driveway on the day she left for college. Why did she ever leave him?

Without warning, Jack slid in front of Danna, putting his hand through her hair as he searched her eyes silently.

“Jack…” she pleaded as he pulled her face to his in an agonizingly slow manner. Brushing his lips against hers ever so slightly, Danna felt like her body had been hooked to an electric charger. Overcome himself, Jack’s mouth pressed into Danna’s with force as his tongue parted her lips. Gasping between kisses, Danna was lost in his scent and the feeling of finally kissing him again.

Suddenly, Jack pulled away and shook his head. “God, what am I doing?” he said.

“Kissing me…” Danna said leaning closer.

“No, Danna. We can’t do this. It took me years to get over you, and I can’t do it again. I’m sorry,” he said as he stood up. “Let me help you get home.”

“No… I don’t need help…” she stammered as she attempted to stand up, falling right back down again.

“Danna, you’re hurt. We need to get you over to Dr. Stewart’s office…”

“I’ll drive myself!” she snapped, trying to stand up again.

“No, you won’t. That’s your right ankle,” he said as he picked her up in his arms. Danna pushed against his chest trying to break free.

“Put me down!”

“No. You are the most hard-headed woman I’ve ever met!” he yelled as he walked toward the driveway.

“I said put me down!” she continued to yell as she slapped at his chest and his arms all the way to the car. He slid her into the seat and ran around to the driver’s side before she could get out. Finally giving in to her throbbing ankle, Danna sat quietly in the passenger seat until they arrived at Dr. Stewart’s office near the town square.

Jack carried Danna into the doctor’s office and went with her into the examining room. Thankfully, it was just a sprain, and the doctor was able to wrap it. Recommending she stay off of it as much as possible and take an anti-inflammatory, he sent her home an hour later.

That didn’t stop Jack from carrying Danna to his car anyway, which irritated her to no end. As they drove toward her house, Jack suddenly stopped the car at a clearing halfway up the mountain.

“Remember this place?” he asked without looking at Danna.

“Of course I do, Jack. This is where we had our first kiss. We were in Billy McNamara’s truck,” Danna said with a sly smile as she remembered the old days.

“You’re a much better kisser now,” he said with a laugh.

“Yeah. You too,” she said looking over at him. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Jack.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, and then looked at her. “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, Danna. You were just young.”

“I wanted to
be
something, and I thought leaving you and Dallas Springs was the only way that could happen. Turns out, I was wrong. I should have stayed. I always knew that you were my future, but I had to get out of here to prove it to myself. Now it’s too late to go back,” she said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

“I never stopped thinking about you. I always thought that you’d come back one day, but then you got married…”

“I already told you that was my biggest mistake. The only man I ever wanted to marry was you, Jack.”

“You did?” he asked, surprised at her admission.

“Of course. Surely you know how much I loved you all those years, Jack. I just needed to get out of here for awhile and find myself. I made some mistakes along the way, but the moment I saw you in the barn, every feeling I had for you came flooding back. And if you asked me right now to stay in Dallas Springs and never leave, I would stay forever just to have a chance at being with you again,” she said, the words flooding out before she could stop them.

Jack’s mouth gaped open, and she could tell that he had no idea what to say.

“I can’t ask you to stay, Danna,” he finally said without looking her in the eye. “I asked you the last time, and you still left. It has to be your decision. I don’t want you here just because of me.”

“I still love you, Jack.”

“And I still love you, Danna, but our love was never enough, was it?” he said.

“There’s something else,” she said.

“What?”

“You know how poor we were growing up. My mother struggled to make ends meet for me and my sisters. When I left you, it was partly out of selfishness. I saw how hard you worked on the farm, and I was terrified that you’d always been this poor farm laborer who couldn’t offer me anything. I didn’t want to be a struggling mother one day, Jack. As much as I loved you, I was already thinking about the future.”

“So you left because you didn’t think I had enough money?” Jack asked in shock.

“Partly. I’m being honest.”

Jack immediately started laughing, and Danna couldn’t figure out what was so funny.

“So, you left me to strike out on your own, and then you got fired and had to come home?”

“Yes, but that was a mean way to say it,” she said crossing her arms.

“Then you’re going to find this next part quite ironic,” he said with a sly smile.

“What?”

“Danna, I own the farm now. On the other side of the land, we have a retail store and an adventure center where tourists come to zip line and go through our boot camp courses. We board horses and have a small dairy farm on the west side…”

“What are you saying, Jack?”

“The farm is highly successful, and I was just named the wealthiest person in five counties.”

“Seriously?” Danna said with a laugh. “Wow. That is so great, Jack. Congratulations.”

“Ironic, huh?”

“Very ironic,” she said smiling at him. “No matter what has happened between us today, I want you to know how much I’ve missed you.”

“You have?”

“Of course. Every time something good or bad has happened in my life, I’ve wished I could pick up the phone and call you. You were my other half for all those years. I wish we had a chance to get back to being friends at least.”

“I don’t think we can, Danna.”

“You don’t?” she asked, shattered at his response.

“I can’t just be your friend, Danna. Not possible.”

“Oh.”

“Let’s get you home,” he said as he started the truck and drove Danna home.