Page 12 of Love Unbound
“You should be. It looks great, Jodi.”
Free’s praise meant more to her than he could possibly know. Tessa looked up and waved, Jodi waved back with a smile. Tessa’s eyebrows went up in a silent question, her eyes pinging between Jodi and Free quickly. Thankful that Free had turned to look out over the park, Jodi grinned broadly and shrugged her shoulders in answer. She mouthed “tomorrow” and Tess nodded excitedly.
Free turned back to Jodi and with a smile, they continued down the busy side streets. They finished their ice cream and each threw their paper napkins in a nearby garbage receptacle. The sun was getting low on the horizon over the bay that extended out into Lake Michigan. Harbor Springs on one side of the bay, Bay Harbor on the other, with Petoskey nestled neatly between them both. Jodi had always loved her hometown and the beauty of it. The resort town was well known across the world for the jaw-dropping, traffic stopping sunsets on the bay.
About three blocks away, they could hear a commentator over a loudspeaker announcing the score of a local softball game being played at the Bay Front Park, right at the water’s edge of the bay. “Do you want to walk down and watch the game?” Free asked.
“Absolutely,” Jodi laughed. They headed down the sloped sidewalk, passing other busy storefronts and restaurants. A concrete walkway tunneled beneath the highway above them leading to what the locals referred to as the Waterfront. To their left, the water’s edge was home to a large marina, rows of docks filled to the brim with all kinds of boats, ranging from small speedboats to sailboats with towering masts, and even several impressive yachts. To their right, a baseball diamond that butted right up to the boulder strengthened shoreline was lit up with tall flood lights. The announcer’s voice carried over the vast area.
A concession stand stood just below the announcer’s box, and Free stepped toward it. “I think some salty popcorn after that ice cream sounds just about right,” he said and winked down at her.
Free bought a small white bag of popcorn and they meandered along the wide path that ran alongside the first base line. Metal stands were filled with game watchers, and along the grass were blankets and folding chairs where other spectators lounged.
“I haven’t been down here in so long,” Free laughed heartily, looking around at everything. “I remember driving down here atnight and parking way back in the loop as a teenager. That was where we did our drinking and smoking, until the police figured it out and busted us. Your dad was furious when Officer Easton showed up with me in the back of the squad car in the middle of the night. I hadn’t gotten a talking to like that, ever.”
“I remember that night,” Jodi laughed, nodding her head. “I had woken up to the lights flashing through my window. I snuck down the stairs and hid around the corner and listened to Mom and Dad talking to you. I think I was eight or nine, you and Shane had only been here for a few months.”
Free nodded, wrinkling his brow. “I was seventeen and not used to having to answer to anyone. It had been just me and Shane for almost two years after my mom died, and my dad had never been in the picture. My mom’s little sister had taken myself and Shane in, but I was a hellion, hurting and not mature enough to process it yet. I caused a lot of trouble and made my aunt’s and uncle’s lives hell. I told Shane I was leaving, and he chose to come with me.” He shrugged, chuckling with contrition. “We bounced around Texas for a little while before migrating North. I had heard that some of Dad’s family was up here, but I didn’t know where to start looking. We had gotten to Petoskey from me working odd cash jobs here and there to make gas and food money. We hadn’t eaten in days, and we found the old shack on the far side of your folk’s property. Shane and I snuck in and had started a fire, it was cold as the dickens.”
“It had snowed for the first time that year, I remember because I was mad that Mom was going to make me wear my snow suit under my Halloween costume the next day to go Trick-or-Treating,” Jodi laughed. “I had told Dad I had seen a car go down the two-track in the back. He didn’t believe me until he heard you breaking branches for the fire.”
“He scared the shit out of me and Shane when he showed up, shot gun in hand,” Free chuckled, turning his head to lookdown at her as they walked. “He wanted to call the police for trespassing, but you convinced him not to.”
Jodi smiled, remembering the night she’d first met Freeman and Shane Thorp. “I just reminded Dad that once upon a time, Gram and Papa Storm had taken in two young men and a toddler when their world was falling apart.”
“That’s right,” Free breathed, tossing a handful of popcorn into his mouth. He swallowed before continuing, “Your dad told me that he and your uncle had lost both of their parents young, too. I think that’s why we always got along. Your dad was one of the few people that understood.”
“Grandpa and Grandma Kendall were killed in a car accident when I was almost two. I don’t remember them. I had only seen them a couple times, I guess. They had moved North and met Gram and Papa on a couples bowling league after Uncle Micah graduated from high school, and since Dad had moved to New Mexico after graduation to go to college, he hadn’t made it up North to visit. He had met my birth mom while in college. I don’t remember her either, she gave me up to Dad when I was born. We have a very convoluted story.”
“I was in my twenties before I found out that Serenity wasn’t your biological mom,” Free said gently. “I had always just assumed.”
Jodi smiled. “Even though I’m not hers biologically, it never felt like I wasn’t one hundred percent her daughter. She’s been the only mom I’ve ever known. She’s been in my life since I was two. I’m sure it helped that I look just like her, too. Shaun, Fallon, and myself all inherited the Kendall blue eyes and brown hair from Dad’s side, but hers is just similar enough to not make many people question anything. She was the best thing to happen to me and Dad.”
“Your folks were the best thing to happen to me and Shane, too. After that night with the police, your parents toldme I needed to straighten my shit out. I remember feeling disappointed in myself for letting them down. That was when I knew I had found home finally,” he said quietly with a small smile. “The rest was history.”
“Dad wouldn’t ever tell you this, and if you repeat it to him, I will deny I said anything,” Jodi warned, shaking a finger at him and laughing, “but he was… crushed when you left. He felt like he had lost a son and best friend.”
Free nodded sullenly. “I know. I left a lot behind.”
Jodi bit her tongue until it was painful. She had promised herself not to bring up his leaving again, but of course they had come full circle and it hung in the silence between them as they continued to walk.
“He missed you,” Jodi murmured. Then, garnering all of her courage, she whispered, “I missed you.”
Free turned his head to look at her as he took a deep breath. “I missed you, too.”
“You did?”
“Of course,” she heard him say, though she was entranced by his aquamarine eyes in the setting sun beyond the horizon. “I thought about everyone all the time.”
“Why didn’t you come back before now?”
They had walked far enough to come up on a large pond with a wooden bridge that crossed over it. They started across but stopped halfway down, and Free leaned his forearms against the wooden rail. Jodi leaned with her back against it directly beside him. She watched as he squinted against the setting sun, those impossibly dark lashes spiking away from those eyes she loved to look at.
“I’ve already explained this,” he breathed finally, keeping his eyes trained forward and away from her.
“I didn’t want you to go,” she whispered, her throat dry from nerves.
“Please, let’s not talk about this,” he implored gently, bowing his head. “I told you why I had to leave, why I didn’t come back.”
