Unforgettable - Linda Barrett (ebook audio reader .TXT) š
- Author: Linda Barrett
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She glanced around the table, finding sympathy laced with curiosity in her friendsā expressions. Okay. She could handle that. Her message, however, was meant for Doug. She returned her gaze to him.
āIn my world,ā she began, āpeople leave. First my parentsāand you have no idea what that was likeāand then you, and I wasnāt sure about Mike and Lisa staying together either. I know you have to accept whatās out of your control, like a car accident on an icy road. But Iām not going to volunteer for more heartache and grief. My life is great as it is. Your being in Boston is totally immaterial to me.ā
āThen it seems,ā he said softly, āthat I have a lot of work to do.ā
The waitress approached, and conversation turned to food and drink. āJust a cup of chicken soup,ā said Jen. āIāve lost my appetite.ā
āMaybe him tagging along wasnāt a good idea,ā said Evan, nodding toward Doug. āYouāve managed to upset Jen, whoās a very cool woman. So, letās get the whole picture. Why else are you here? What kind of projects?ā
Jen looked at her co-worker. Who would have thought that this quiet guy would speak up now? Still watersā¦.?
Doug shifted in his seat. His gaze swept both sides of the booth. āIām a writer. I worked hard and got lucky, too. I have a new play, and its debut will be here with the Commonwealth Regional Theater company. And thatās as far as Iām thinking.ā
Jen heard nothing after Commonwealth. Her choir, The All-City Chorus, rehearsed at that theater twice a week, and sheād be there in the morning. āāOf all the gin jointsā¦āā she murmured.
Sheād never doubted his talent, and sheād been right. His very first play had been staged in college. A rare honor. Heād been thrilled, of course, but shy about it. He used to say that writers were too insecure to brag. And now, heād been modest in front of her friends. It seemed heād been totally focused on his craft while living in New York.
āCongratulations,ā she offered. āSounds like youāll be busy with rehearsals and whateverāfor a little while, and after a successful run here, poof! Back to Broadway. Works well for me.ā
āWriting your own script, Jen?ā Dougās eyes gleamed. āSorry to disappoint. I didnāt renew the lease on my New York apartment becauseā¦.Iām also this yearās playwright-in-residence at our alma mater. If The Sanctuary goes to Broadway, Iāll commute.ā
She needed air.
āIām back, Jen. And tomorrow Iām hunting for new digs. I canāt stay with my sister indefinitely. Any suggestions?ā His glance traveled from Jen to the others, and she sighed in relief at the change of topic. An objective, neutral topic. Boston sported a dozen or more neighborhoods attractive to singles.
āIt really depends on your budget,ā said Liz. āIn this town, a one-bedroom can run anywhere from sixteen hundred to double that a month.ā
āIād like to be close to the theater, if possible.ā
āThen that would be downtown,ā said Evan slowly. āA great choice.ā
Could the night get any worse? First the theater, now Jenās neighborhoodāa walking neighborhood where she could run into him at any time. āI doubt he can afford it.ā
In unison, all eyes turned toward first toward her, then toward Doug.
āSheās got a point, man,ā said Even. āBut there are other great locations.ā
āThere sure are,ā said Jen calmly now. āMany good areas. You donāt need to be downtown.ā
Dougās eyes narrowed. āAny particular reason, Henny-Penny?ā
Liz coughed and hid her mouth. Matt looked away. Not a shred of acting material in them.
āNo reason at all.ā Jen waved her arm in dismissal. āSearch the whole city. Means nothing to me if you go into debt.ā Deflection might work.
āFor crying out loud, I might have known,ā said Doug with a sigh. āThe starving playwright thingā¦. Well, Iām not quite there, and you donāt have to worry Iāll be asking for a loan. I do know how to budget.ā He chuckled and looked around the table, making eye contact with each person for a moment. āAlthough I seem to be in a minority among the financial whizzes here.ā
Everyone laughed. āFinancial whizzes believe in budgets, too,ā said Liz.
āWho knows?ā Doug said. āOne day soon, I might be asking for advice.ā
And thatās when Jen knew that Doug had turned her friends into his friends, too.
Jen signed her bill and got ready to leave. Hanging around for an evening with Doug was not going to happen. And she did have a rehearsal in the morningānot that an early start time had ever impeded her evening activities in the past.
āHang on a sec. Look, Jen, karaokeās about to start. Go on. Sing. Remember way back one Christmas in Woodhavenā¦?ā
Oh, God. Donāt go thereā¦donāt go back to a time when happy endings beckoned. When she used to look as eager and hopeful as Doug did right now!
Would it be easier to sing something and put an end to all this nonsense? As a kaleidoscope of titles flashed through her mind, she smiled her herself. Perfect. Sheād send him a musical message.
āIf youāre sure you want a song from me, okay. But donāt complain afterwards.ā Escaping the booth, she quickly made her way to the emcee. He worked the gig every weekend and knew her.
āJennifer Delaney! Lucky us,ā he greeted her, handing her the mic and the song list. āWhatās on for tonight?ā
She scanned the list. āRight there,ā she said, pointing at Gloria Gaynorās name. āLetās get the place hopping.ā
The manās eyes widened. āOkay with me, sweetheart. Nail it.ā He turned toward the diners. āTo start the evening off, we have one of Bostonās own, one of our regulars ā and I think sheās ready to rock the house!ā With a flourish, he handed the mic to her. She grasped it as though she were in a concert arena, twirled and waved at the audience.
āReady?ā Their noise assured her. She nodded at the emcee. āLetās go.ā
The piano chords echoed, her voice accompanied them. I Will Surviveā¦. And she took the crowd through the heroineās story. How the boyfriend tried to hurt her by leaving. And then the outrage of him showing up again, uninvited. But, I Will Survive.
It was only when she reached the end that her personal lightbulb blazed, illuminating the truth sheād hidden so well. She, too, still had a lot of love to give and to share. It flowed through her with promise and warmth. Doug Collins could no longer block the feelings sheād held frozen in place, preventing her from reaching for a full life. Only she had that power. Perhaps heād actually done her a favor by showing up. He didnāt own her heart, not anymore.
She held the mic while the crowd applauded and whistled. She didnāt hear them. āWhat a feeling,ā she whispered. āIām finally free to beā¦me.ā
##
āThat was quite a performance,ā said Doug, quietly. āMessage received, but Iāll walk you home anyway. Itās a long trek to Beacon Hill.ā
Beacon Hill? Sheād moved out of her sisterās home three years ago. Her decision. A big decision. But she had grown up since the tragedy, no longer that frightened sixteen-year-old girl caught in a whirlwind of anger, fear, andā¦grief. A girl who had searched for hope and finally the courage to spread her wingsāa little bit.
She stared at Doug, who had started to leave the table, glad he was clueless. āNo, thanks. Iām quite capable of making my own way.ā
āI know youāre capableā¦ā
āGood luck with your apartment hunting.ā She waved him back, headed toward the exit, then called out over her shoulder, āWhy donāt you try Cambridge or the Seaport?ā
Her cell rang as soon as she hit the street.
āMike! Hiā"
āLisaās water broke,ā he began without preamble. āThe babyās coming earlier than expected, and Emilyās at a rehearsal. Can you get here right away to stay with Bobby?ā His voice was tight, his words rushed. Her brother-in-law definitely did not sound like Mike Brennen, confident quarterback of the Boston Riders, a position heād held for ten years. He sounded like a worried husband.
āWhy donāt you all go straight to the hospital,ā Jen said, āand Iāll meet you there. Saves time. Seems like the baby canāt wait to make an appearance.ā
āGreat idea. See you in a few.ā
Walking was not an option now. Uber. She needed Uber. She searched her phone apps, made the call and paced outside the restaurant.
Five minutes could be an eternity. She barely noticed the noise when customers entered or left the place. She barely heard the karaoke music. She did recognize a familiar male voice, however, call her name.
āJenā¦what are you still doing here? I thoughtā¦
āChange of plans, and lookā¦hereās my ride.ā She charged inside the car without waiting for driver to open her door.
āBrigham and Womenāsāyou know where that is, right? And step on it!ā She slammed the door shut and looked outside to see a puzzled Doug gazing after the cab.
##
Two hours later, after returning with little Bobby to her sisterās house, she cuddled with her nephew, reading the three-year-old just one more story while his eyelids drifted closed. She inhaled the clean, little-boy aroma of baby shampoo and snuggled in for a goodnight kiss.
āSweet baby,ā she whispered. āYour Auntie Jen loves you very much.ā
She heard a contented sigh, then another, and tiptoed from the room, leaving the door open. Taking one more glance, she chuckled at the sight of his nerf football under one arm and his favorite worn-out blankie under the other. At the end of the hall, she descended to the main floor of the brick Tudor, the home of her teenage and college days, the roomy suite on the top floor perfect for the adolescent girl she had been.
According to Mike, the Beacon Street house would always be home to Lisaās siblings. In time, heād become the legal guardian along with Lisa, to Jenās younger sister and brothers. And Jen had been Lisaās right-hand gal from the beginning. Her twin brothers were still in college with two years to go, and Emily, sweet, talented Emily, had just turned eighteen and had taken over Jenās suite.
She heard the sound of a key in the front door and glanced at her watch just as the door opened.
āJenny! I didnāt know you were coming tonight.ā Emily rushed forward, violin case in hand, and hugged her sister, then looked around. āWhere is everyone?ā
āBobbyās sleeping upstairs, maybe dreaming about his new baby sister. Come into the kitchen.ā
But Emās complexion had paled. āItās too soon. Isnāt it?ā
āJust a little. Mike said everythingās fine. The baby is justā¦just petite.ā Jen pressed her lips together. āSheās in an incubator, but all her systems are working. Breathing on her own. No tubes.ā
āOh, thatās good. Right?ā
āYeah, thatās very good. She just needs time to grow. And I need you to stay home tomorrow morning with Bobby-boy. Mikeāll be at the hospital with Lisa, and I have a mandatory rehearsal. The concertās in two weeks.ā
It seemed like a year before Emily responded. āI can change my practice time tomorrow.ā The teen paused, looked at Lisa with shiny eyes and quivering lips. āWhy do bad things always happen in this family? Why is everything so hard? Even Lisaās little baby hasā¦hasā¦to struggle.ā
Stepping close to her sister, Jen wrapped her arms around her. āEvery family has bad stuff, Em. But we Delaneys are tough. The baby, too. Theyāre naming her Brianna. Do you know what that name means?ā
Emily shook her head.
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