“There are so many things I need to tell you. For one, how proud I always was of you. Funny, I told the whole world, but I guess I never got around to telling you. I am proud of you, son. So damn proud,” he whispered hoarsely.
He lifted Jake’s hand, held it between his palms, then rubbed it gently. “I never told you that the day you were born was the best day of my life. I know I did a lousy job as a father. I’d give anything to change the past and make things different between you and me. Damn it, Jake, I love you. You’ve got to give me another chance. Please come back, son. Please.”
Cliff Hawkins pinched the tears from his eyes and laid Jake’s hand down on the bed. “I’m not giving up, Jake. I just got you back into my life…and I’m not about to let you go.”
He stood and looked at Ali. “I’m sure Jake would rather wake up to see your big green eyes than these tired old blinkers.”
“I can’t stay much longer, Mr. Hawkins. I have to get back to work.”
“I understand, Ali. You’ve already spent a lot of time here. I know it’s hard on you, but I think your daily visits are helping Jake.”
“That’s what I need to tell you, Mr. Hawkins—”
“Please, I told you to call me Cliff.”
She nodded. “Cliff. I can’t come tomorrow.”
Ali could see his panic.
“But why?” he asked. “You know that Jake needs you.”
“Yes, but I have to take my daughter to her doctor’s appointment.”
He looked confused. “I didn’t know you were married.”
It was a question Ali had been asked a lot. This was the one time she wished she could lie. “I’m not.”
Jake heard her voice again. It seemed to float around him, all sweet and cheerful. And this time, he could understand more of what she was saying. It was as if her voice were coming through a tunnel. It was something about a beautiful day and that he should see the morning sun shining off the snow.
She came closer and touched him. First she picked up his hand, then she brushed the hair off his forehead. All the time talking about how she was going to stay until he woke up.
Who was she? Half-formed images flowed through his mind. A woman. The picture blurred again, retreating into darkness. A woman.
Her soft voice called his name again. “Jake, please…”
He felt the tender caress of her hand on his skin.
He knew it had been a long time since anyone had given him comfort in his life. Not since…Ali.
Two days later, when Ali walked into the private hospital room, Margo was busy at Jake’s bed, changing the IV.
“Hi, Margo. How’s he doing?”
Her friend smiled as she smoothed out the bedsheets. “Well, his vital signs are steadily improving. And according to his chart, Jake had a restless night.”
“And that’s a good sign?” Ali asked, confused.
“It’s a very good sign. Hopefully it means he’s fighting the coma.”
After Margo left, Ali walked across the room to the bed. “Jake. Why don’t you wake up?” She fought to make her voice upbeat and steeled herself against another day of false hope. What if he never woke up? she thought again. No. She wouldn’t let herself believe that could happen. How could she live with the fact that she’d kept her daughter from ever knowing her father?
“It’s such a pretty day today,” she said. “The sun is out, the temperature is in the thirties. Not too bad for southern Minnesota.”
She pulled off her coat and placed it on the chair. Each day she had been careful to look her best. She’d never been vain, but she wanted to be at her best when Jake woke up. She’d tied her hair back today, away from her face. She’d even trimmed her bangs. She wore a green sweater and her favorite black wool slacks. Even her grandmother had asked why she was so dressed up. For Jake, Ali had admitted truthfully, but only to herself.
She glanced down at the man in the bed. The bruises on his face had faded. Now it was easy to recognize the handsome man he’d always been. But it hadn’t been his good looks that attracted Ali to him. It had been his big heart. He’d been kind to everyone. And he’d tried to be like a big brother to her. It wasn’t his fault she’d fallen head over heels in love with him.
Ali walked around the room. “Oh, Jake,” she whispered. “I had a crush on you since the first day Darcie brought you home. Some of my fantasies were pretty advanced for a fourteen-year-old.” She felt the heat rise in her cheeks. “It wasn’t so much that you had to return my feelings. I just thought you deserved someone nicer than Darcie. Sometimes I hated the way she treated you.”
Ali returned to the bed and sat on the edge. “I wanted to tell you that Darcie would end up hurting you, but I couldn’t. She’d nearly convinced me that she loved you, but I knew her, I read the signs. Maybe if I had told you…given you some warning…”
Ali picked up Jake’s hand. His palms were rough. A man’s hand. A hand that had touched her, and pleasured her beyond her wildest dreams.
“When I came after you at the cottage, I only wanted to see if you were all right. But when you kissed me…it was like a dream come true. I have never regretted what happened between us that night. I never could. That night was so special. We made a child together, Jake.” Ali smiled proudly. “Joanie’s so beautiful…and so like you.”
Ali stared at him, hoping to see some response. “You should see your daughter. She’s got your coloring, your hair and eyes. She’s even inherited the Hawkins stubbornness. I’ve shown her your picture, but she needs more. She needs you in her life, Jake.” Ali wiped away her tears.
“I know you’ll be angry with me for not telling you, but I’ll deal with it. Just wake up. Please. For Joanie. For me,” Ali whispered.
She leaned toward him and placed her lips gently against his.
Suddenly his mouth began to move slowly beneath hers.
Panic surged through her, but she continued the kiss, and to her shock and joy, she soon realized that she hadn’t imagined his response. She couldn’t move, didn’t want to. Oh, God, it had been so long. Ali jerked back to look at his face, praying that he had opened his eyes. But he hadn’t.
“C’mon, Jake.” She cradled his face with trembling hands. “It’s Ali. You know it’s me, don’t you? It’s okay. You’re going to be all right.” She hugged him, then went running out the door.
Her heart racing, she somehow made it to the nurses’ station and found Margo. “Jake is waking up.”
Chapter Two
It was Ali. Ali’s voice. Ali’s lips on his. Jake felt as if he were drowning in the softness of her voice, her sweet scent. He was on the edge of heaven, and it was costing him all his strength just to return the kiss.
