John Francis

Sitting there in silence after Jon had hung up on Richie, Amanda was barely aware of the man quietly thinking his own thoughts.

While everything was urging him to step in, tell Jon what had happened, why Amanda had left, that what he believed about her was wrong, there was a huge problem with doing that. How did he tell Jon that it was his own mother who had instigated this, first by investigating Amanda and then by demanding she leave.

It also seemed his mother had taken Amanda’s note and the items she had left and substituted her own. She had done this in such a way that it was almost guaranteed that Jon would despise the woman he loved.

How do I tell Jon what his mother did?

He had no answer for that – except he couldn’t.

“Richie…Richie…” Amanda’s voice called him softly, breaking him out of his deep thoughts.

“Yeah? Sorry, I was thinking. What, honey?”

“I wanted to thank you for what you said, but I think we both know things are over.”

Shaking his head in refusal, thinking furiously, Richie held up a hand to stop her.

“I don’t know how yet, but this isn’t over. I want to help you and I will…”

“We are not telling him about his mother, Richie. No matter what. Do you hear me?”

Amanda’s voice was firm and unyielding. No matter what Mrs. Bongiovi had done, she had done it for Jon, to protect him and even though what she thought she knew was wrong, Amanda would never tell Jon about it.

Sighing, Richie reluctantly agreed.

“Yeah, that’s what I was just thinking about. I won’t be telling him about his mother. You have my word on that.”

They sat in silence again, both lost in thought. Richie’s head snapped up as an idea came to him.

“We have a meeting about the Soul, two days from now. I’ll be there and you can see him.

“What if he won’t see me?”

“I’ll make sure he does. I want to do this, Amanda. I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance to explain what was going on. Let me help, okay?”

She looked at him, sincerity radiating from every inch of his six foot height. She smiled softly at him, grateful to once again have his friendship and trust.

“It’s not going to work because there’s nothing I can tell him. How did I find out about Jeremy? Either someone told me or I already knew. He won’t believe me.”

“Dammit! I know that, but you’ve got to try…there’s got to be a way.” He sat heavily on the side of the bed.

They thought in silence for longer than a few minutes, both running different scenarios and both always coming to the same conclusion.

“Shiiiittt…” Richie breathed out after a lengthy silence.

The lighter-heartedness Amanda had felt a short time ago was fading rapidly. There was just no way.

Taking a deep breath, she spoke.

“I can’t. I won’t tell Jon about his mother.”

Richie looked at her, knowing he had reached the same conclusion. But he also knew something else.

We’re not the ones who are going to tell Jon about that.


~~~

Richie and Amanda flew back to New Jersey early Monday morning. He had finally managed to talk her into staying in the area for a few days. She was reluctant to do so, but the truth was she was feeling desperate to talk to Jon, to see him, and she missed his touch with an ache she hadn’t known she could feel.

Right now, concentrating on Jon, she was able to lock away how she felt about Jeremy’s betrayal, his children, his new life and the broken remains of hers.

There were some pictures taken of Richie at the airport with Amanda hanging back as far as she could so she would be out of the shot. It didn’t work as she was now also recognizable to certain portions of the public and later that afternoon photos of both were on the internet.

“Hey Jon, it’s Tony.”

“Hi, what’s up?” Jon answered his cell as he got out his car at the arena for the upcoming practice.

“What’s Amanda doing in California with Richie?”

“What?” Jon stopped walking as he listened to his brother.

“Matt called earlier. There are shots of both in the airport.”

Jon was thinking frantically. He wasn’t ready yet to talk about this, even to his brother.

“She has a relative out there and since I was busy, she took a few days.” He held his breath waiting to see if that explanation was accepted.

“Oh, okay, that’s cool. Just wondered. So, you’re coming to the parents house Thursday?”

Jon blew out the breath he had been holding, tension pouring off him.

“Yeah, I’ll be there. Talk to you later, okay?”

“Sure, Jonny. Later.”

The brothers hung up. One proceeded with his day without a care.

It wasn’t Jon.

~~~

Richie had a plan.

The main part it began with a surprise visit to Mrs. Bongiovi. He arrived a bit after the normal dinner hour on Tuesday and knocked on the door. John Sr. answered, a pleased yet puzzled smile on his face. He extended his hand to his son’s friend of over 25 years.

“Hi, Rich, how are you doing son?

“Good, Sir, hope I’m not catching you folks at a bad time.”

John shook his head, motioning for Richie to come in.

“Not at all, come on inside.”

Richie did so as John called out to Carol that they had a visitor.

Mrs. Bongiovi came in from the kitchen with a dishtowel in her hands.

“Why Richie! Hello! What a pleasant surprise. How are you?”

Richie accepted her hug of greeting and returned it, furiously thinking of how he could get her alone. Mr. Bongiovi unwittingly provided the means as he apologized that he had an evening arranged at one of his buddies houses and that he was actually on his way out. Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Richie accepted his apologies for having to run and they said their goodbyes.

Carol turned to Richie after her husband had left.

“Come on in the kitchen. I was just putting on a fresh pot of coffee.”

Richie followed her into the inviting room, a warm spacious kitchen that really served as the heart of the house.

Settling down in a chair at the table with a fresh cup of coffee in front of him, Richie looked at Jon’s mother with such an expression of seriousness that her maternal instincts were instantly aroused.

“Richie! What’s wrong? Is it Jon?” Her voice rose as her concern grew.

Holding up a hand, he allayed her concerns about Jon…at least the immediate one…and then his tone changed.

“Mrs. B, you and I have to talk.”

Carol turned wide eyes toward Richie as he began speaking. Several times he heard her gasp and often she turned her head away as if she could refuse to hear what he was saying simply by not looking at him. He laid everything out for her, from meeting Amanda by chance in California, to seeing her own note and the report, to talking with Amanda’s ex-husband.

She cringed when he relayed in full detail what Amanda had found out and what her part in that had been.

Then, to his own surprise, Richie also told Jon’s mother about how Jon and Amanda met. He gave her details she hadn’t know, how changed Jon was from nearly the first day of meeting her, how Amanda had not sought him out, how Jon was the one who refused to let her go. She had never heard any of this before and it cast the whole situation in a new light. She now knew why her son’s friends were so protective of Amanda. She had been accepted because she had proven herself over and over.

Turning toward Richie, tears blurring her eyes, she bowed her head.

“I’ve really made a mess, haven’t I?” Carol asked softly.

Richie didn’t answer her question, but instead posed one of his own.

“What are you gonna do about this, mom?” Her head shot up at his words and her eyes cleared.

“Fix it.”

~~~

Jon had dinner at his parents’ house a few nights later. He and his dad talked football while his mother prepared some of his favorite dishes. While both Jon’s parents tried to engage their son in conversation, they were met with one word answers and a quick departure after the minimum of socializing he could get away with.

Carol sat at the table after her son left. She loved him too much to not see how miserable he was. She already knew how wrong what she had done was, but was coming more and more to the realization that only she could help both her son and the woman he loved. She was wrong about Amanda and wrong about how Jon felt about her.

One thing she knew for sure, the text message she had sent from Jon’s phone when he was talking to his father was a start.