Deceived

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter 15: Memories of us

Time: Fall 2008

No copyright infringement intended.

"Can you hang in there now?" Reba asked, expectantly.

"Piece of cake. The cavalry is on her way, right?" Brock responded casually.

"Yeah. You know you have eight years of tormenting me to make up for."

"You're darn right I do, but we did have some good times, didn't we?" he smiled weakly at her.

Reba's eyes met Brock's. In that moment, their hearts connected. Suddenly, Reba broke eye contact and walked into the kitchen to get a cold washcloth for Brock's forehead to try to bring the fever down. She looked back to the living room and thought of Brock.

Brock was lying there, trying to figure out what was scaring his wife. She seemed to flee the scene anytime they shared a tender moment together.

Reba brought the ice cold washcloth back for Brock. She found him with his eyes closed. She began to worry about him being unconscious again. That was a bad sign at this point. "Brock! Come on, Brock! Open your eyes now! Don't you do this to me! Don't you die on me! Think of our children. Please think of Maggie and Jake. They still need you. You don't get to do this to me again. You don't get to swoop in, causing all kinds of chaos, and then just leave us again. The kids have already lost Alex. They don't need to lose you, too." Reba decided to take the most drastic measure and slapped him on the cheek.

"Oww! Geez, Reba. You're always so violent." Brock's eyes were open now.

Reba put her head down on his chest and hugged him tightly. "Thank God!"

"What's the matter with you?"

"If you let me close my eyes, you may finally be rid of me."

"We're divorced. I am rid of you, except for the moments when you storm into my house uninvited. That's enough for me. I'll probably never be completely rid of you. We do have four children and a grandchild together. You've always been a part of my life, ever since you walked into Holliway's. I remember that one night when you walked in and someone played that stupid Louie Armstrong song."

"It was Nat King Cole, because you are unforgettable. That song is perfect for you. I was trying to get your attention."

Reba and Brock argued over who sang the song on the jukebox that night for another couple of minutes.

"It was Nat King Cole. How can you forget something like that? It was the first time that we had a real conversation together. I prided myself on such a sappy romantic move and you don't even remember."

Memories flooded the couple of that night twenty-five years ago. Brock and Reba sat together at the bar. Reba had been nursing her hurt. Things with Mike were rocky at best. Brock was down because he'd heard that Mike was thinking about marrying Reba. Reba seemed to hate Brock. They'd never even had a decent conversation together and she'd written him off as a dumb jock. She was hurting that night and he reached out to her as a friend. Things went from there. That's when the stubborn redhead let the misunderstood blonde guy into her heart.

"Okay, I remember that now. Did you really plan that?" Reba sat beside the couch on the floor and looked up at him.

Brock slyly smiled. "Yep, all I had to do was get you to talk to me. After that, you seemed to know that there was more to me than meets the eye."

"Sure. You have an ego the size of Texas. You love to flirt with most of your attractive female patients. You've spent more time with the high school football team that you coach than your own family. You're vain 'cause you keep touching up the gray and tanning yourself to look younger."