Free Learning to Breathe Again by Kelli Heneghan Page A

Jason’s arms around her, her
head thrown back, laughing. Setting the frame back down, her gaze
roamed over the remaining pictures. Startled, she realized most of
them were of Jack and Nicole.
    Frowning, she moved away and grabbed her
bags, heading for her room. She pulled out the purchases she’d
made, hanging the dress on the closet door. Should she still wear
it? What was up between him and Nicole? Did she trust him? How well
did she know him? What if he…
    “ STOP!” She screamed it at
the top of her lungs. Thank God he wasn’t home yet. She buried her
face in her hands. What had that stupid therapist told her to do?
Deep breaths? Check. Not helping much, but she was doing
it.
    Trying to get her thoughts under control, she
pulled her backpack over to her and dug her journal and a pen out.
She pressed her lips together as she flipped to an empty page and
then started writing out the very questions that had just been
running through her mind.
    It was one of the coping techniques that had
been suggested to her. Write it out, then cross out the ones that
you may already know the answer to, or that may not really matter.
Sometimes, it helped. Sometimes, it triggered a bigger attack. But
it was one of the few that helped get it her thoughts in order.
    She wrote for a long time. Her fingers were
cramped by the time she was done, and with a gasp, she realized she
had about a little over ninety minutes before Jack was due
home.
    Tossing her book and pen aside, she rushed
into the bathroom. She hadn’t wanted to put any effort into looking
good for a guy in almost three months. Tonight, that was
changing.
    She was just finishing with her hair when she
heard a knock on the bedroom door. Butterflies were taking flight
in her stomach. Crossing over to the bedroom door, she swung it
open with a smile. “Hey. I didn’t hear you come home.”
    His eyes raked over her. “With the music as
loud as you had it, not surprising.” A wink told her he teasing.
“And you were in the shower.”
    “ Oops. I forgot about the
music. It’s a good thing you don’t have neighbors.” Her lips tilted
up as she her own eyes skimmed over him in his navy slacks and
light blue button down dress shirt. His hair was still damp from
his own shower. “You look nice.”
    “ You look amazing. You ready
to go?” He held his hand out to her and without hesitating, she put
hers in it and walked down the hall with him. She felt the warmth
in her cheeks as he helped her with her wrap, his hands lingering
on her shoulders. She closed her eyes and breathed in his
scent.
    He dropped his hands from her shoulders
offered her his arm with a slight bow. “Your chariot awaits, my
lady.” She giggled and shook her head, allowing him to lead her to
his truck.
    “ So I didn’t get any frantic
phone calls begging me to come save you. I take it you found the
square without any problems?”
    “ I did. You have a nice
town. Everyone was very outgoing and helpful. Oh!” She made a face,
shifting to face him. “By the way, I wasn’t sure if, well, uh, one
of the ladies started talking and I told her who my brother is. I
guess she knew Jason and Nicole are out of town and she asked if I
was staying with Nicole’s family. I sort of said yes, but didn’t
say it was you.”
    Jack laughed. “Welcome to small town living,
where everybody knows your name and personal business.” He reached
over and patted her leg. “Don’t worry about it. I forgot to mention
that Pop, uh, that’s what I call my uncle, stopped by today. He
knows you’re here.”
    “ You call your uncle
‘Pop’?”
    “ Uncle Steve got to be too
formal, but he’s not my dad. When we came up with the name, I still
had hopes someday I’d find who my dad was.”
    “ And your aunt?”
    “ For some reason, I never
had an issue calling her ‘Ma’.” He shrugged, but his hands clenched
on the steering wheel.
    Not even realizing she was doing it, she slid
her hand across the seat and placed it