Whispers that Scream

Chapter Twenty

Adam

Adam sat in his rocking chair on his porch with his ears perked and waited for Jane to return home from meeting her friend. He had an ice-cold Dr. Pepper in his hand and was watching a boat idle its way down the canal. The motor broke the serenity that he enjoyed this far out in the marsh, but he also liked to people-watch, so it wasn't a complete waste.

He leaned forward to get a better look, confident that his sunglasses would hide the direction of his gaze if the boat's occupants happened to look up at him. The boat carried a father and a young boy. The father pointed at the boy, and the boy jumped up, clapping his hands. The boy sprinted from the front of the boat to the steering wheel and took over the captain's duty. The father grasped him by his shoulders and pointed out the middle of the canal to the boy. The boy had an intense look of concentration on his face while his father gave him a light punch on the arm and commended his sailing skills. The boy let loose a smile that only comes from being praised by a father, and cheered.

Adam smiled at the scene until he thought of his own life. He'd never be able to have that special memory with a son of his own. Always lusting after the unobtainable Adam. Saner men have gone crazy over less.

He tore his gaze from the boat and drew his thoughts back to Jane. He really hoped that it went well, or at least, it wasn't a total disaster. Jane had been through enough to last a lifetime already, and with the amount of effort she had been putting in recently, she deserved for something to succeed. He would take a quick peek when she got home, just to see how her mood was. He didn't want to intrude or act like a stalker, pouncing on her the second she pulled up, but he had to see for himself.

He assumed that they had graduated from an arrangement to friendship, but he didn't know how Jane viewed their unique relationship. He wouldn't bring it up or assume any familiarity past that of acquaintances until she confirmed as much. He had guessed wrong too many times in the past, leading to embarrassingly awkward moments. He learned long ago that he'd rather not guess than guess wrong.

The sun was just beginning to set over the marsh, a sight that he would never get tired of when he heard Jane's Sonata turning off the highway and onto the gravel driveway. He stood up from his rocker and walked towards the end of the porch to look down onto her car. The top of her car blocked his view of her face as he waited for her to gather her things. He started tapping his hip nervously, stilling when he realized his nervousness wasn't from the impending social situation, but nervousness at wondering how the meeting went. Was Jane ecstatic or devasted? His constant worry about himself normally left him little room to worry about others. Please let it have gone well.

Jane gathered her things, shut the engine off, and exited the car. She waited a second for her sunglasses to defog before starting towards the steps that would lead her to her home. Adam wanted to call out to her and ask her how it went, but racing thoughts paralyzed him once again.

What if it went terribly? What if her friend never wants to see her again? What if she's crying?Trying to factor in all these possible scenarios so that he could call out with the correct tone and facial expression overwhelmed him. Flustered, Adam thought of how weird it would be if she got to the top of the steps just to notice him gawking at her silently from his porch. He rushed inside his home. He would act like he hadn't seen her drive up for a few minutes, and then walk over to see if she wanted to talk.

After waiting long enough that Adam estimated she'd had a chance to put her things down and use the bathroom if she needed to, and it seemed natural for him to walk over, he took a deep breath and headed over to her house. He halted at her door and took a few seconds before gathering his courage and knocking on her door.