by Abbi Glines
“Your… uh Dad and Georgianna aren’t there. They left. Nan is but she is quieter now. I think she’s worried about Rush. It would be hard at first but after you ripped the bandage off you’d get over them. Over everything. Besides, the way Woods’ eyes lit up when I mentioned you coming back you could distract yourself with him. He is more than interested.”
I didn’t want Woods. And nothing would distract me. Bethy didn’t know everything. I couldn’t tell her that either. Not today.
“As much as I want to… I just can’t. I’m sorry.”
I was sorry. Moving in with Bethy and getting my job back at the club would be the answer to my problems, almost.
Bethy let out a frustrated sigh and laid her head back on the seat and closed her eyes. “Okay. I get it. I don’t like it but I get it.”
I reached over and squeezed her hand tightly. I wished things were different. If Rush were just some guy I had broken up with it would be. But he wasn’t. He never would be. He was more. Much more than she could understand.
Bethy squeezed my hand back. “I’m going to let this go for today. But I’m not looking for another roommate right away. I’m giving you a week to think about this. Then I have to find someone to help me pay the bills. So will you? Think about it?”
I nodded because I knew that was what she needed even if I knew her waiting was pointless.
“Good. I’ll just go home and pray if God even remembers who the hell I am.” She winked at me and then reached across the seat to hug me.
“Eat some food for me, okay? You’re getting too skinny,” she said.
“Okay,” I replied, wondering if that were going to be possible.
Bethy sat back. “Well, if you aren’t gonna pack up and head back to Rosemary with me then at least let’s go out. I need to stay the night before I do that drive again. We can go find some fun somewhere and then crash at a hotel.”
I nodded. “Yes. That sounds good. Just no honky-tonks.” I couldn’t walk into another one of those. At least not this soon.
Bethy frowned. “Okay… but is there anything else in this state?”
She had a point. “Yeah… we can drive into Birmingham. It’s the closest big city.”
“Perfect. Let’s go have some fun.”
When we pulled into the driveway at Granny Q’s she was sitting outside on the porch shelling peas. I didn’t want to face her but she had given me a roof over my head for three weeks with no strings attached. She deserved an explanation if she wanted one. I wasn’t sure Cain had told her anything. His truck wasn’t here and I was immensely grateful.
“Want me to stay in the car?” Bethy asked. It would be easier if she did but Granny Q would see her and call me out for being rude if I didn’t let my friend come inside.
“You can come with me,” I told her and opened the car door.
Bethy walked around the front of the car and fell into step beside me. Granny Q hadn’t looked up from her peas yet but I knew she’d heard us. She was thinking about what she was going to say. Cain must have told her. Dang it.
I looked over at her as she continued to shell those peas in silence. Her short white bobbed hair was all I could see of her. No eye contact. It would be so much easier to just go inside and take advantage of her not speaking to me. But this was her home. If she didn’t want me here I needed to pack up and leave.
“Hey, Granny Q,” I said and stopped, waiting for her to lift her head to look at me.
Silence. She was upset with me. Disappointed or mad; I wasn’t sure which. I hated Cain right now for telling her. Couldn’t he keep his mouth shut?
“This is my friend Bethy. She came to visit me today,” I continued.
Granny Q finally raised her head and gave Bethy a smile then turned her eyes on me. “You take her on in and fix her a nice big glass of iced tea and give her one of them fried pies I got cooling on the table. Then you come on back out here and talk to me a minute, hmmm.” This wasn’t a request; it was a subtle demand. I nodded and led Bethy inside.
“Did you piss off the old lady?” Bethy whispered when we were safely inside.
I shrugged. I wasn’t sure. “Don’t know just yet,” I replied.
I went to the cabinet and got a tall glass down and went to fixing Bethy a glass of iced tea. I didn’t even ask her if she wanted it. I was just trying to do what Granny Q had said.
“Here. Drink this and eat a fried pie. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I said and hurried back outside. I needed to get this over with.
Blaire
The wooden planks cracked under my feet as I stepped back onto the front porch of Granny Q’s house. I let the screen door close behind me with a loud bang before remembering it was old and its springs were long ago rusted. I’d spent many days of my childhood on this front porch shelling peas with Cain and Granny Q. I didn’t want her upset with me. My stomach twisted.
“Sit down girl and stop looking like you’re ready to cry. God knows I love ya like you’re my own. Thought you would be one day.” She shook her head. “Stupid boy couldn’t get it together. I hoped he’d wake up ‘fore it was too late. But he didn’t, did he? You done gone and found ya someone else.”
This had not been what I was expecting. I took the seat across from her and began shelling peas so I wouldn’t have to look at her. “Cain and I were over three years ago. Nothing that is happening now is affecting that. He is my friend, that’s all.”
Granny Q made ahmph sound and shifted in the porch swing she was sitting in. “I don’t believe that. You two wereinseparable as kids. Even as a boy he couldn’t keep his eyes off you. It was funny to watch how much he adored you and didn’t even realize it himself. But boys hit them teenage years and lose their ever loving minds. I hate he did. I hate he lost you, girl. ‘Cause there won’t be another Blaire for Cain. You were it for him.”
She hadn’t mentioned my pregnancy tests. Did she even know I’d bought them? I didn’t want to recap my past with Cain. Sure we had history but there was so much sadness and regret that I didn’t want to go there. I’d been living in a lie my father had constructed then. Remembering it hurt. “Has Cain come by here today?” I asked.
“Yeah. He came by this morning looking for ya. I told him you’d not come back home from your early escape. He looked worried and turned and left without telling me anythin’ else. He’d been crying though. Don’t reckon I’ve ever seen him cry before. Least not since he was a boy.”
He’d been crying? I closed my eyes and dropped the peas into the large plastic bucket Granny Q was using. Cain wasn’t supposed to be upset. He wasn’t supposed to cry. He’d let me go a long time ago. Why was this so hard on him? “How long ago was that?” I asked, thinking about the hours that had passed since I’d bared my soul to him in the parking lot of the pharmacy.
“Ah, ‘bout nine hours ago I’d guess. It was early. He was a mess, girl. At least go find him and talk to him. No matter how you feel about him now he needs to hear from you that things are okay.”
I nodded. “Can I use your phone?” I asked, standing up.
“Of course you can. Eat you one of them fried pies while you’re in there. I made enough for an army after he ran off this morning. They’re his favorite flavor,” she said.
“Cherry,” I replied and she gave me a smile. I could see so many things in those eyes of hers. I knew Cain. Nothing about him surprised me. I understood him. We had a past. I loved his family and they obviously loved me too. This was safe.
Bethy was standing on the other side of the door sipping her glass of sweet tea and holding her phone out to me. She’d been listening. I wasn’t surprised.
“Call the boy. Get this over with,” she said.
I took her phone and walked into the living room to give myself some privacy before dialing Cain’s number. I knew it by heart. He’d had the same number since he got his first cell phone when we were sixteen.
“Hello,” came his reply. I could hear the hesitation in his voice. Something was off. He sound
ed like he was talking through his nose.
“Cain? Are you okay?” I asked suddenly worried about him.
There was a pause then a long sigh. “Blaire. Yeah… I’m fine.”
“Where are you?”
He cleared his throat. “I, uh… I’m in Rosemary Beach.”
He was in Rosemary? What? I sank down on the sofa behind me and gripped the phone tighter. Was he telling Rush? My heart slammed against my chest and I closed my eyes tightly before asking, “Why are in you in Rosemary? Please tell me you didn’t…” I couldn’t say it. Not with Bethy in the other room and more than likely listening to me.
“I needed to see his face. I needed to see if he loved you. I needed to know… because, I just needed to know.” That made no sense.
“What did you say to him? How did you find him? Did you find him?” Maybe he hadn’t found him. Maybe I could stop this.
There was a hard chuckle on the other end of the line. “Yeah, I found him alright. Ain’t real hard. This place is small and everyone knows where the rock star’s son lives.”
Oh god, oh god, oh god... “What did you say to him?” I asked slowly as horror washed over me.
“I didn’t tell him. I wouldn’t do that to you. Give me some damn credit. I cheated on you because I was a horny ass teenage boy but dammit Blaire when are you gonna forgive me? Will I pay for that mistake the rest of my life? I’m sorry! GOD I’m so fucking sorry. I would go back and change everything if I could.” He stopped and made a grunt that sounded like he was hurting.
“Cain. What’s wrong with you? Are you okay?” I asked. I didn’t want to acknowledge what he’d said. I knew he was sorry. I was too. But no, I was never going to get over it. Forgiving was one thing. Forgetting was another.
“I’m fine. I’m just a little battered. Let’s just say the guy isn’t crazy about me, okay.”
The guy. Rush? Had Rush hurt him? That didn’t sound like Rush at all. “What guy?”
Cain sighed, “Rush.”
My jaw fell open as I stared straight ahead. Rush had hurt Cain? “I don’t understand.”
“It’s okay. I got a room for the night and I’m sleeping this off. I’ll be home tomorrow. We have some things to talk about.”
“Cain. Why did Rush hurt you?”
Another pause and then a weary sigh. “Because I asked questions that he didn’t think were my business. I’ll be home tomorrow.”
He asked questions. What kind of questions?
“Blaire, you don’t have to tell him. I’ll take care of you. Just… we need to talk.”
He’d take care of me? What was he talking about? I wasn’t going to let him take care of me. “Where are you exactly?” I asked.
“Some hotel just outside of Rosemary. They think their shit don’t stink in that town. Everything there costs five times too much.”
“Okay. Stay in bed and I’ll see you tomorrow.” I replied then hung up.
Bethy stepped into the room. She cocked one of her dark eyebrows as she stared at me waiting. She’d been listening. I’dknown she would.
“I need a ride to Rosemary,” I told her standing up. I couldn’t let Cain lay hurt in a hotel room and I couldn’t chance that he’d go back and try to talk to Rush again. If Bethy could drive me there I could check on him and then drive him home.
Bethy nodded and a small smile tugged on her lips. I could tell she didn’t want me to see how happy she was to hear this. I wasn’t staying. She didn’t need to get her hopes up. “This is just about Cain. I’m not… I can’t stay there.”
She didn’t appear to believe me. “Sure. I know.”
I wasn’t in the mood to convince her. I handed her the phone and headed back to my temporary bedroom to pack some things.
Rush
Grant had finally given up on me and gone to dance with one of the girls who had been flirting with us since we walked into the club. He’d come here for some fun and I’d needed the distraction but now that I was here I just wanted to leave. Taking a drink of my beer I tried not to make eye contact with anyone. I kept my head down and a scowl on my face. It wasn’t hard to do.
Jace’s words kept replaying in my head. I was scared… No; I was terrified to let myself believe that she’d come back here. I’d seen her face that night in the hotel room. She was empty. The emotion in her eyes was gone. She had been finished- with me, with her father, with everything. Love was cruel. So fucking cruel.
The bar stool beside me scraped across the floor as it was moved back. I didn’t look over at it. I didn’t want anyone to talk to me.
“Please tell me that ugly scowl on your pretty face isn’t over a girl. You might break my heart.” The smooth female voice was familiar.
I tilted my head to the side just enough to see her face. Although she was older now I recognized her immediately. There are some things a guy doesn’t forget in life and the girl who takes his virginity is one of them. Meg Carter. She’d been three years older than me and visiting her grandmother the summer I turned fourteen. It hadn’t been a love connection. More like a life lesson.
“Meg,” I replied, relieved it wasn’t another unknown female here to throw herself at me.
“And he remembers my name. I’m impressed,” she replied then looked up at the bartender and smiled. “Jack and Coke please.”
“Guy doesn’t forget his first.”
She shifted on her stool, crossing her legs and tilting her head to look at me causing her long dark hair to fall over one shoulder. She still wore it long. I’d been fascinated with it back then.
“Most guys don’t but you’ve led a different life compared to most guys. The fame has to have changed you over the years.”
“My dad’s famous not me,” I snapped, hating it when females wanted to talk about something they knew nothing about. Meg and I had fucked a few times but she didn’t really know much about me back then.
“Hmmm, whatever. So, why you so glum?”
I wasn’t glum. I was a broken mess. But she wasn’t someone I intended to unload on. “I’m good,” I replied and glanced back at the dance floor hoping to catch Grant’s attention. I was ready to go.
“You look like you’ve got a broken heart from hell and don’t know what to do with it,” she said reaching for her Jack and Coke.
“I’m not gonna talk to you about my personal life, Meg.” I let the warning edge in my voice ring through loud and clear.
“Whoa there, handsome. I wasn’t trying to piss you off. Just making small talk.”
My personal life wasn’t small talk. “Then ask me about the fucking weather,” I said with a snarl.
She didn’t respond and I was glad. Maybe she’d move on. Leave me alone.
“I’m in town taking care of my Grans. She’s sick and I needed something new to do with my life. I just went through a messy divorce. A change of scenery from Chicago was what I needed. I’ll be here for at least six months. Do you think you’ll be ornery the entire time I’m here or are you gonna get nicer anytime in the near future?”
She wanted to see me. No. I wasn’t ready for that. I started to reply when my phone alerted me of a text message. Relieved to have an interruption so I could think about how I was going to respond to her I pulled it out of my pocket.
The number wasn’t one I recognized. But the “Hey It’s Bethy” caught my attention and I stopped breathing as I opened the text to read the entire thing.
Hey it’s Bethy. If you aren’t a stupid fuck then you’ll wake up and get with the program.
What the hell did that mean? What was I missing? Was Blaire in Rosemary? Is that what this meant?I stood up and put enough money on the bar to cover my beer and Meg’s drink. “I gotta go. It was nice to see you. Take care,” I said as an after thought as I stalked through the crowd until I found Grant having dry humping on the dance floor with some redhead.
His eyes met mine and I nodded at the door. “Now,” I said and turned to head outside. I was leaving him here if he hadn’t c
aught up with me by the time I reached my Range Rover. She could be here. I was going to find out. Asking Bethy what she meant by that jacked up text was pointless.
Blaire
I reached over and nudged Bethy’s leg to wake her up. She’d been asleep for the past two hours. We were just outside of Rosemary Beach and I needed her to drive so I could look for Cain’s truck at all the inexpensive motels.
“We there?” she mumbled sleepily and sat up in her seat.
“Almost. I need you to drive. I gotta look for Cain’s truck.”
Bethy let out a weary sigh. I knew she was only doing this in hopes of getting me to Rosemary and keeping me there. She could care less about finding Cain. But I’d needed a ride. I was going to drive Cain home. And he and I were going to talk. He had no business coming out here to see Rush. I only hoped he hadn’t told him about what he’d caught me buying.
It wasn’t that I wanted to keep it a secret from Rush. It was just that I hadn’t let everything sink in yet. I needed to process it. Figure out what I wanted to do. Then I’d contact Rush. Cain going after him like a crazy person was not what I wanted. I still couldn’t believe he’d done it.
“Pull over here. I need to run in and grab me a latte first,” Bethy instructed. I did as she asked and parked the car in front of Starbucks.
“You want something?” Bethy asked as she opened the door. I wasn’t sure that caffeine was good for the… for the baby. I shook my head and waited until she got out of the car before I let out the sob in my chest I hadn’t been expecting. I hadn’t thought about what those two pink stripes meant. A baby. Rush’s baby. Oh, God.
I stepped out of the car and walked around the front to get into the passenger side. By the time I was back in the car and buckled up Bethy was headed back to the car. She looked a little more awake already. I pushed thoughts of my baby back and focused on finding Cain. I could dwell on my future, on my baby’s future later.
