Time Bomb

Riley sat next to Josh staring into space, people moved all around her, some even speaking and telling her how sorry they were. She stayed, like stone, not bothering to move from the bench or speaking back. It may be rude of her, it may come off as cold yet she didn’t care. Mindlessly playing with the hem of her black dress, she snuffled a little and willed herself not to cry again.

What happened to her now?

Her mother was gone; she had the house, providing she could manage to keep the mortgage on it. There was a car, once again if she made payments. This wasn’t the time to be worrying about money, but the bank didn’t help. It was as if the second they heard they were on the phone harassing Riley about what she was going to do. What she wanted to do was run away, never look back and just forget about this horrible dream she had been trapped in.

To top it all off Jack was gone, which Riley didn’t blame him. She had been horrible to him. Right now she wanted Jack, although he couldn’t be blamed for not being there. Riley was the only one who could take that blame. Riley had refused to speak to anybody in the last few days, except for Josh.

After she’d told Matt and Kevvy what had happened, Riley had went into a shell. Frantically, Matt had called Josh demanding he get to the house quickly as he could. Josh had never been so terrified, when he’d arrived and they’d told him the news he had fell onto the couch, sitting next to Riley. Sad and helpless Matt and Kevvy watched as two worlds fell completely apart. Riley’s because of her mother and Josh’s because of Riley.

“Riles, are you okay?” Josh asked the loaded question, squeezing her hand in his.

“What do I do, Josh?” Riley wailed, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his suit coat.

“We’ll figure it out, we always do.” Josh whispered, holding her close, kissing the top of her head and rocking her back and forth in his arms.

“I don’t know what I can do. If I don’t make the bank payments, I lose my house and then I’ll have no home. I need to sort mom’s things out and then this damn funeral, I can’t...”

“Riley, calm down. We’ll sort things out after, leave these to me. I’ll make it all work out.” Josh soothed her.

“It’s what yours good at.” Riley quietly commented, sniffling back a few more tears.

Soothing her, Josh hugged her closely; she didn’t need to worry about money right now. Riley had other things going on and the last thing Josh wanted was for her to burn herself out over the silly things. If she had her mind clear, Riley would know that Josh would never let her go homeless or without. In the last days that had passed, Riley had hardly slept, she’d hardly eaten anything and Josh was lucky that this morning he got her out of bed and into a shower.

She had been staying with Josh the last couple of days, hiding from the world and everything that was going on. As much as she hated him sometimes, Josh was her safe place. When she needed a shoulder to cry on, he was there to comfort her and to catch her fall. Even Josh hadn’t been enough to get her motivated this morning, thankfully Riley had given in and listened to Cassadee. She and Rian had flown in the night before, godsends Josh was sure.

Slouching on the bench, Riley sniffled and rested her head on Josh’s shoulder; he had hardly left her side all morning. Closing her eyes for a minute, to gather her exceptionally jumbled thoughts, Riley’s breathing steadied as the buzz of people around her began to fade. In the hum of her mind, she could hear Josh talking to somebody. The voice registered as Cassadee.

Opening her eyes, Riley muttered a hollow “Hello” to her friends. Josh moved to make room for Cassadee and Rian. Leaving Riley in capable hands, Josh moved on, Cassadee gave Riley a sad look.

“Did you need me to do anything or get anything for you?” Cassadee asked, rubbing her friend’s arm anxiously.

“No, I’m fine. Thank you for coming though.” Riley replied hugging yet another person, this time it was more of a comfort, she owed Cassadee big time. “You gave up time with your family, you really didn’t have to.”

“I wouldn’t leave you, not now. You’re family to Rian and me too, right now you are way more important.” Cassadee embraced the other girl, holding onto her as long as she could.

“Cass is right.” Rian added, taking his turn to hug the distraught Riley.

Muttering her thanks, Riley hugged them both tightly. During the funeral, she had lost it at the podium, Rian and Cassadee had been her saving grace. As Josh stood up to take his cousin’s place in front of the people gathered to pay their respects, Rian had ushered Riley to sit down between him and Cassadee. They had held her hands and let her cry all she needed, offering a shoulder and a tissue.

Minutes passed as Riley quietly sat between Rian and Cassadee, neither one saying a word. In the noise and chatter, Riley’s breath caught in her throat. The familiar voice met her ears, but it was highly unlikely. Before Riley could confirm or deny that her mind was telling the truth, she was interrupted by Josh. Kneeling down in front of his cousin, he rested his hands on top of hers.

“Do you want to go home; Mike said he’d take you?” Josh asked running a hand over Riley’s hair, in a calming manner.

Cassadee chimed in with how maybe it was a good idea; Riley needed a break in all of this. Listening to Josh and Cassadee discuss how it was better for Riley to be away from all of this, she tuned them out. The sight of Jack only a few feet away had sent her heart racing and more tears rolling down her cheeks.

Glancing at the tall, lanky, dark haired man standing on the other side of the room, Riley wiped her eyes and shook her head. “I have something to do.” She interrupted the discussion on her well being.

Catching a glimpse of Jack, Josh nodded as a small smile traced his lips. Patting Riley’s knee he encouraged her to go speak. He knew Matt had called Jack the day after, telling him the news. Without hesitation, Jack had informed Matt that he’d be on the next flight out and whatever Riley needed, he’d do his best to help her. Pulling Riley to her feet, Josh scooted her in the direction of Jack.

Slowly, Riley crossed the room. Lifting his head from talking with Ian, Jack’s face fell and a dismal expression graced his dark and handsome features. Seeing Riley so sad and depressed tore him in two, during the service when she’d left the stage in a mess Jack had wanted to rush toward the front of the church and hold her. Feeling foolish that he hadn’t been there to help her, he had stayed glued to his spot.

“Hey, Riley. How ya holding up?” Ian asked, knowing his question was vaguely dumb.

“Hi Ian.” Riley softly spoke; the look on her face answered everything for him.

Taking this as his cue to leave, Ian ducked out of his conversation with Jack and gracefully made his exit. Pushing a strand of dark hair out of Riley’s eyes, Jack rubbed his thumb across her cheek, brushing away her tears. Riley sobbed as Jack pulled her into a hug; his body was warm and comforting.

“You came.” Riley whispered, clutching to the sides of Jack’s suit coat and holding onto him tightly.

“Matt called me; he said you might need a friend.” Jack informed her, wrapping her tighter in his arms.

It was a simple gesture, in the moment it was hiding her from the world, protecting her from all the bad things in life. It was something Riley had missed about him the most, his ability to make everything bad in her world turn good. Jack always protected her, she liked that. Josh would always keep her safe, he always had, but Jack was the one who protected her from all the bad dreams and the horrible things.

“You didn’t have to come, I know you hate me.” Riley muttered.

“I don’t hate you, I could never hate you. We hit a rough patch, I had to stand back up and be a man about it. Smiley, I’d never hate you.” Jack countered, kissing her forehead and rubbing his thumb against her cheek.

“I’m so sorry, Jack.” Riley mumbled, her body shaking in anxiety.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

The last thing Jack wanted was Riley beating herself up over something so silly. Yes, she had hurt him; Riley never needed to know that. Jack had hurt for days over her putting him out; he’d gotten over it and would never bring that up to her. When Matt had called to tell Jack about Riley’s mother, Jack’s heart broke. He couldn’t imagine how Riley had been feeling or what kind of thoughts were going on in her mind. Jack hated himself for not being honest with her, he hated that he’d put Riley through the bullshit that he had.

“Wh..where are you staying?” Riley’s soft tone broke him away from his own thoughts.

“I have a hotel, downtown.” Jack replied

“Oh .” Was all Riley said.

“If I need to, I can cancel the room.” Jack answered quickly. “If you need me to stay with you, I can. I mean, assuming you want somebody to stay with you; you may want to be alone. I don’t know.” Jack rambled on.

Riley shook her head. “No, I can’t be in the house. I’m staying with you.” She whispered in his ear, her breath causing the hair on Jack’s neck to stand up.

This was not the place, nor was it the time but lord had Jack missed this woman!