The Millionaire's Redemption

Chapter 4

At ten after seven, Angela locked the front door. Damn him. She should know by now Jack's promises were a waste of time, but she got her hopes up anyway. Jack had always been her Kryptonite. Capable of hurting her in ways others couldn't.

A cramp struck her right calf just as she was sliding the deadbolt into place. As she jerked her leg upward, her fingers brushed the area above her knee, at the hard plastic ridge where prosthetic met nub. She thought she'd rid herself of phantom pain years ago. Apparently, Jack's reappearance was calling back a whole host of issues.

Most days she barely gave her injury a second thought. Only those rare times in the dead of night when sleepy and confused, she'd forget and fall getting out of bed. She refused to acknowledge that it was usually a dream about Jack that woke her in the first place.

In all honesty, Jack's desertion didn't completely surprise her. In a way she couldn't blame Jack for giving up on them. Eighteen and Yale-bound, he was out of her league before the accident so why would he want to shackle himself to a girl with a dysfunctional family and half a leg? She considered herself lucky they lasted as long as they did.

A knock on the door broke her thoughts. Familiar blue eyes peered through the glass, causing her insides to flutter.

Stop it, Angela. This wasn't the old days when Jack's appearance meant a trip to paradise in his sports car. Soon as he said his piece, he'd be gone again.

"Sorry I'm late. Fiorello's went out of business and I had to look for a new florist."

"A lot has changed since your last visit," she replied. He could interpret her words whatever way he wanted.

"Not everything, I hope," he said, holding out the bouquet he'd brought with him. "Are zinnias still your favorite?"

The sight of the brightly colored flowers tossed all Angela's self-admonishments out the window and her heart did a little dance. "You remembered."

"I remember a lot of things about that summer. Both the good and the bad," he added quietly.

Impossible to have one without the other, wasn't it? What with the way the two memories were entwined.

Jack was walking the perimeter, studying the artwork and menu items. "Place looks like it's doing well."

"Can't complain." The one positive of the accident was that the settlement helped her build a business. "Fortunately for me, people like cannolis and cookies year round."

"Who wouldn't? Especially if you're using your grandmother's recipe. Remember how we would raid her kitchen?"

What she remembered was how much she loved seeing him sitting at her battered kitchen table. Out of place, yet so right looking.

Oh, to go back to those days, when her heart didn't fear being crushed.

The crinkle of the flowers' wrapper beneath her fingers reminded her the wish was impossible. She set the bouquet on a nearby table to keep from being distracted by more memories. "I doubt you came all the way from Manhattan to talk business," she said. "So why don't you tell me what you really want."