Damaged Souls (Broken Man) - By Christopher Scott Page 0,44

my mother and me. I still miss him sometimes.”

“And you always will,” Jack again became choked up as he thought of Brittany.

“I better get back to bed,” Greg interrupted his thoughts as he stood up and seemed to realize they had talked enough for one night. “Thanks for talking with me.”

“No problem,” he responded with a greater appreciation of Greg than ever before. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

They shook hands, still not quite comfortable with the intimacy they had shared earlier. As he watched Greg slide open the door and walk inside, Jack thought back on their conversation and found a glimmer of optimism as he discovered a weakness in his opponent’s defense. Suddenly, he felt better about their chances, finding a fresh perspective as he plotted a new strategy and planned the coming week.

Maybe this isn’t so hopeless after all.

* * *

That was an interesting conversation, Greg thought to himself as he laid in bed, still unable to sleep.

It certainly wasn’t what I had planned to discuss. I wanted to talk about Delaney, but who am I kidding, I am never going to be able to talk about my feelings for her with Jack. No, that would be too strange, too awkward a conversation. Sure, if it was some other girl, it would be no problem, but Delaney is practically his daughter. It just wouldn’t be right.

I’ve never told anyone what I just told him. It feels good to get it off my chest, to get it out of my system. I don’t think I ever truly understood how much it bothered me until now.

But, it did. I guess the worst part is the betrayal. Here was this man who could have stepped up, who could have looked out for his deceased friend’s son. Mr. Caldwell could have done the right thing, he might have even been a father figure to me. But instead, he decided to violate any trust I may have had by taking advantage of my mother. What kind of a man would do such a thing?

Certainly not Jack, Greg was reassured as he rolled onto his side. Jack had been under no obligation to take me in or to look after me. I was just this awkward friend of Delaney’s when I first met him five years ago, he didn’t know me from Adam. It would have been easy for him to simply ignore me as everyone else had.

But, he hadn’t. He had somehow known how to get through to me without pushing too hard. Jack had managed to find the right balance, leading more by example while occasionally lending guidance with his words. I was lucky to have this man come into my life at such an important age and just when I thought it would never happen.

I don’t know why Jack doesn’t feel like he did a good job. Maybe I should have been more open about how I felt, how much I appreciated everything he did for me. I’m going to do a better job of that in the future.

Jack is a lot like my dad, they are so similar. Smart, ambitious, both with a good sense of humor. It’s too bad they never got to know each other, Greg thought about the two of them together as he closed his eyes.

I think they would have been friends.

Chapter Sixteen

“Slow down for a second, Jack,” Mike didn’t seem to know where their conversation was going as they sat in his downtown office on a beautiful Monday morning. “That’s not quite how it works.”

“I just want to go in a little different direction with this,” Jack tried to explain his strategy as he took a sip of coffee. “I think it’s time we go on the offensive.”

“That’s going to be difficult,” Mike again tried to explain the legal system. “The sheriff is dragging his feet on the investigation and basically grinding it to a halt. And as you saw in my report, most of the kids at the party are connected to the football team and aren’t saying anything.”

“You still have a good relationship with the District Attorney, right.”

“Yeah, we went to law school together,” Mike replied. “But, this isn’t a matter for the D.A. yet.”

“And I’m not sure I want it to be, at least not yet,” Jack didn’t unveil his entire plan. “Do you think you could set up a informal meeting with him.”

“I can probably make that happen.”

“Okay, that’s the first step,” Jack followed the diagram in his head. “And,