A Perfect Distraction(104)
He threw his head back and glared at the ceiling. “How could you betray me like that?”
No answer. No rumble of thunder nor lightning bolt—the lights didn’t even blink.
Typical.
Anger erupted. For all his sins, Jake would never stab a friend in the back. Hell, he wouldn’t do that to an enemy. Adam may have seemed like a good man, but he hadn’t understood the meaning of friendship or loyalty.
Jenny touched his arm. “Adam wasn’t a saint, but he wasn’t the devil, either. Like the rest of us, he was a human being with flaws who made some bad decisions.”
“How can you defend him? His ‘bad decisions’ nearly cost me my life and my career.”
“He paid a pretty high price himself.”
Her soft words cut through his rage. She was right. Adam had paid the ultimate price.
Jenny had been right about Adam all along. Hell, everyone who cared for him had said the same thing but he hadn’t been able to see it. Until now.
Saint, sinner...sinner, saint. It wasn’t that simple, that black-and-white. If it wasn’t that simple for Adam, then maybe it wasn’t for Jake, either.
Maybe he wasn’t the devil he thought he was. Maybe there was a good man inside Jake Badoletti after all. That was something to think about. At least, once today was done.
“This nightmare will soon be over,” he said. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“I know you’re still reeling and you’ve got to get back into the meeting. But before I go, there’s something you should know.”
What else could she possibly throw at him? “Go on.”
“Maggie never doubted you.” Jenny forced him to meet her steady gaze. “She was determined to do something. She pushed to find the truth.”
Jenny explained what they’d done. “Maggie risked missing the meeting that would have guaranteed sole custody of Emily because she wouldn’t give up on you.”
She reached up and kissed his cheek. “Think about that, Bad Boy.”
The realization of what Maggie had been prepared to sacrifice for him was humbling. All because she believed in him. Even after he’d pushed her away, her faith in him hadn’t wavered. She’d seen beyond his reputation, beyond his nickname, beyond his own self-doubt. She’d seen the man he wanted to be.
The man he was.
The fist that had gripped his heart since the accident loosened. He blew out a shuddering breath and with it went the anxiety and guilt of the past eleven months. The self-recrimination and the self-doubt. With it, too, went his anger toward Adam. For what he’d done—taking the drugs and framing Jake. For what he hadn’t done—believed in their friendship enough to ask for help.
And, Jake was finally able to admit, for dying.
Adam’s death had been the wake-up call Jake had needed. His own survival had been a chance to put things right. What Jake hadn’t understood until now was that with everything his friend had lost when he’d died, Adam had lost the chance to put things right, too.
As he walked back down the corridor to the conference room, Jake realized this was another wake-up call. A chance for a do over. One he intended to seize with both hands.
He’d still do everything he could to win the Stanley Cup and raise it in Adam’s honor. But he also planned to do something else his friend had never got the chance to do—live a life that was long, happy and free from regrets.
A life that, assuming he could get her to agree, would include Maggie and Emily.
His pace quickened as his mind buzzed with renewed purpose. He had a lot of work to do. Starting today.
Starting now.
Jake opened the door to the conference room. “If we’re done here, I have some things I need to take care of.”
* * *
“WOULD YOU LIKE breakfast?”
Maggie smiled at the flight attendant. “Tea and a bacon sandwich would be lovely.”
She was exhausted. Unable to sleep, she’d been too restless to read or watch a movie. Hopefully, adrenaline and caffeine would keep her going until she was on the plane home.
The lack of phone service on the plane had left too much time to think and worry—about Jake, her upcoming meeting with Lee then Jake again.
Had Jenny arrived in time? Had the information been enough?
Would Lee actually sign the papers? Could this finally be the end of it?
How had Jake reacted when he’d learned about Maggie’s help?
She’d deliberately pushed aside thoughts of the future. There’d be plenty of time for that on the return journey, once she’d seen how everything played out.
Maggie stirred her tea. The time hadn’t been wasted. She’d sorted out her jumbled feelings about her past and decided finally to stop beating herself up about loving a celebrity lifestyle. Who wouldn’t enjoy going to glamorous events, meeting household names, wearing designer fashions and receiving special service—like an upgrade to upper class when the woman at the Virgin Atlantic check-in had recognized her?