by JL Hallow
“But you have to work.” She stated.
“I can take the day off. Not like I haven’t earned the time off. I never use my PTO days and this is a pretty good reason to.” He said with a shrug.
“You’d really do that?” She asked questioningly.
“Listen, I’ve got a real issue with women and children being mistreated. So yeah, I’m willing to do whatever I can to make your life easier. I don’t need to know the details. If you want to share them one day, I’ll listen, but I don’t need to know. I know enough. Do what you need to do. You can even take my truck so he doesn’t see your car in town.”
Grace started at him, dumbfounded by the genuine kindness. Without a word, she stood and gathered her mostly empty plate and brought it to the sink. She returned a moment later for his, the guy ate like he was in the military. Or perhaps like a normal first responder who was waiting for their next call. She didn’t say anything until the dishes were washed and stacked in the drying rack. Slowly, she turned and leaned back against the edge of the sink.
“Okay.” She said simply.
“Okay?” He twisted around in his chair to look at her.
“Yeah, okay. You can watch her and I’ll take you up on your offer to help. Mike and Caroline told me they would trust you with their kids. Mike is…overprotective at best. So if he trusts you, I trust you. Are you sure you trust me with your truck?”
“Well I guess that settles it then and no, I don’t. I don’t trust anyone with my truck.” Gabe said with a smirk. “I’m going to go grab a shower and a little nap before she gets up. When she is, you can introduce us.”
“Good, because I don’t trust anyone with my daughter. So I guess that makes us even. Sounds perfect, I’ll introduce you when you’re both awake.” Grace watched him leave the kitchen, and for the first time in a long time, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Chapter Twenty-Four: Perspective
Greg and Grace, present day
“That was the start of things with Gabe. We’re actually really good friends these days… Maybe even a little more than friends. Victoria and I lived there for about two months while we got on our feet. Getting the divorce papers signed wasn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be but I stayed true to what I said. The very next day, I went to a lawyer and had the papers drawn up. I was willing to give up everything. The only thing I wanted was my kid, the car, and the dog. And I was willing to negotiate on the car.” Grace paused, taking a breath.
“I really just wanted things over and done with quickly. I just wanted to be on my own. Anyhow, I went through what I needed to in order to expedite the process and he was served. It took Miranda, my divorce lawyer, a little over a week to get everything together. She had the first part done quick but there were a few things I needed tweaked. She was great though, stayed professional, made things as easy as possible. The problem wasn’t on my end though, it was on his. He ignored those papers for weeks and weeks. I was only able to contact him through my lawyer because I got rid of my phone, bought one of those track phones and changed my number entirely. But every time I called to check in on the papers, it was the same damn thing, he wouldn’t sign them.”
“So, what finally made him sign?” Greg interrupted.
Grace laughed, fighting to hide the smile. “Mike and Gabe. After about ten weeks of this going back and forth, I think they’d both gotten fed up with things. I guess they showed up at the house and banged on the door. They wouldn’t tell me all of the details of what happened when he opened it but I’m pretty sure they put the fear of God into him. I know the gist of it and I think that’s why he backed off and hasn’t tried to make any kind of contact with me. Those two on their own are intimidating. Together? They’re a force to be reckoned with, absolutely terrifying. Mike is the scary quiet type. It finally happened recently after a few months, the guys just got so fed up.”
Greg nodded, soaking in her words as she spoke freely. “What happened with your house stuff? I’m assuming you moved out of Gabe’s?”
“Yeah, it was hard at first to get going and get things settled. Difficult to find a house and save enough money fast. Mike and Caroline ended up giving me a big loan and that helped a lot. Aaron kept me from getting a job for so long that I practically had nothing. It took a little while to find the perfect place, one that was far from Aaron without being too far from help. One that I didn’t have to associate myself with the neighbors. You know, I was a bit picky with it. But that said, Mike, Gabe, and a couple guys from the firehouse helped me get our things from the old house. We even had a police escort. We waited until he was at work, I used my key because he was too dumb to change the locks and then we went back and I took every single thing that was mine and Victoria’s. Gia’s things too. We loaded it all up into a couple trucks and Gabe let me take over his garage for a few weeks. I left the key on the counter and never looked back.”
“And the new house?”
“Oh, it was a bit of a mess at first, but it’s given me some projects to do. I found it and fell in love. The landlord is this older woman, in her seventies, has two kids that live out of state and after losing her husband, she just doesn’t need a house so big or with two floors. She takes money off the rent when I do new projects and she signed a long term lease for me in case anything happens to her. Gabe has helped with some of the projects. Like I’ve painted a few rooms with some paint I found in the garage, then we redid the tile in the bathroom, replaced the sink with one I found at a tag sale, and then painted that room too. It’s slowly but surely coming along.”
Greg raised a questioning brow, a smirk toying at the corners of his mouth as he looked over to Grace. The way she talked about Gabe had him questioning whether the guy was a friend or more than that. “This Gabe character, he seems to be awful helpful.” He said observantly.
Grace blushed and shook her head. “He’s just a friend.” She insisted but the deep blush rising in her cheeks suggested otherwise. “It’s…refreshing to have someone like him, honestly. For so long it was only Mike and Caroline and now, I’m starting to branch out a little more. Not much but he’s introduced me to some of his family. He’s got a younger sister that babysits for me occasionally. Good kid and it’s nice to have a break. I don’t think anyone realizes how exhausting it can be to work from home. Sometimes I don’t feel like I get a break.”
“You never said what you’re doing for work now?”
“You’re right, I didn’t! I was so caught up in my new little home, I forgot. I actually work for a healthcare company. Medical filing and things like that. On top of that, all of the freelance work I can get. I can choose to accept the jobs or deny them but it allows me to work from home while I get adjusted to my new life and get my life in order. Not many jobs would let me leave so often for court things and I certainly can’t afford child care all the time. I don’t even pay Corrie, Gabe’s sister. She does it because she wants to. The cost on child care these days would be my entire paycheck if I was working another job. She’ll be starting preschool soon anyhow but at least I’ll be home when she gets home from school. I think it’ll help her to have a few friends her age. I’m hoping anyhow and I’ll finally get a bit of a break.”
“Well, despite the setback with the court stuff and custody, it seems like things are actually starting to fall into place for you. You have a great support system, a safe house, Victoria sounds like she’s adjusting…”
“You know, when you put it that way, you’re right. Things are starting to fall into place.”
“I shouldn’t pry, but what happened with the divorce papers?”
Chapter Twenty-Five: Divorce
Aaron, the day the divorce papers are served
Aaron heard the knock on the door and paused at the kitchen counter. He wasn’t expecting anyone. Usually during this time of day he was sleeping. Today was different. He couldn’t sleep in the quiet house. He had become so used to Grace tip-toeing about while she tried to wrangle their playful daugh
ter and keep her quiet during the morning hours. Strangely enough, those sounds had helped him stay asleep. He…missed it.
Abandoning the sandwich on the counter, Aaron headed down the hall to the front door to answer it and silence the knocking. When he opened it, one of his coworkers was standing on the other side, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. “Hey Aaron.”
“Hey McCoy… what brings you here off shift? Everything okay?” Alarm bells started going off in his head, warning him that something big was about to happen.
“Listen man, I hate to do this.” He held out a manila envelope. “You’re being served.”
“WHAT!” Aaron’s hand lashed out and snatched the envelope from him. “With what?”
McCoy held up his hands. “I’m just doing my job. I’ll see you later.” Without another word, he retreated down the steps and let Aaron stew in his own anger.
It wasn’t like that temper was any kind of secret around the department. At first, it had been, but as time went on his irritability got harder and harder to hide from those who knew him best. That was when the rumor mill started. McCoy, unlike most of the other cops in the small department, had little to no interest in getting involved in the bullshit. Aaron was a good dispatcher, he gets his head in the game on shift and that was all he needed to know about the guy. Other than that, he kept his head down and minded his own damn business.
Back on the steps, Aaron was retreating into the house with the envelope clutched firmly in his hands. He slammed the door shut, his hands quickly fighting to rip the envelope open, struggling to believe this was actually happening. When the information on the papers sank into his brain, pure rage shot through his gut. Divorce papers? Fucking divorce papers! Grace had officially gone off the reservation. Leaving in the middle of the night had been bad, coming to get all of her and Victoria’s things while he was working, even worse. But having him served with divorce papers? Who the hell did she think she was?
Before he could think twice, Aaron swung at the wall. His fist smashed through the drywall, he knuckles cracking and bleeding as he yanked his arm back. The damage to the wall did nothing but piss him off even more. Storming into the kitchen, he threw the stack of papers on the counter. He hadn’t read anything past the word ‘divorce.’
He stormed into the kitchen, pacing the small room for several minutes. The anger running through his veins was not something that would be tampered down easily. Aaron took a deep breath and stopped. He took a moment to compose himself before he went back to the sandwich he was building at the counter, hands shaking as he layered the meat onto the bread and slapped some mayo onto it. Swiping up the sandwich, he leaned back into the counter and stared dead ahead at the envelope. He wanted to throw it in the trash, maybe set the fuckin’ thing on fire. But he didn’t. Instead, he stood there, eating his sandwich and plotting what he was going to do next. There was no way he was going to sign those papers. Not a chance.
When he was finished eating, he brushed the crumbs off his shirt, wiped the counter down and headed upstairs to take a shower. The shower did nothing to calm the rage. It only gave him more time to think about things and how he would get out of the situation. How he would keep Grace and Victoria.
By the time he was finished, exhaustion from working the night shift started to wear on him. It was already eleven in the morning, he had been off since eight…he needed to catch some sleep, having been up for over twenty-four hours as it was.
Leaving the attached bathroom, Aaron moved to the bed and dropped the towel on the floor before he pulled the comforter back and slid into the bed. The bamboo sheets were cool against his skin and the blackout curtains helped block out the light from the morning sun, but neither of those things helped his pounding headache. It was a deep throb at his temples, a sharp burn behind his eyes.
As he eventually fell into a fitful sleep, he knew one thing was certain: he wasn’t going to sign those papers. It just wasn’t going to happen.
Over his dead body would he put ink to paper.
Chapter Twenty-Six: Sign or Die
Mike, Gabe, and Aaron.
“What do you mean he still hasn’t signed the papers?” Gabe fought not to roar out the words in response to Grace’s admission.
“For fucks sake, he cannot continue to do this to you, Grace!” Gabe stood up from the couch and stalked into the kitchen.
“Where are you going?” Grace asked, shooting up from the couch to follow him.
She could feel the panic rising in her chest, not because he was yelling but because he was leaving. Where was he going? Hopefully not to do something stupid, but judging by the look on his face? That’s exactly what was going to happen. She had pleaded with him for months to stay out of things with her and Aaron and he had respected that…up until that very moment. “Don’t. I know you’re going to see him but don’t. I will find a way to get him to sign the papers without involving you.” Begging, she was reduced to begging; Something she never wanted to do again. “Gabe, please.”
“I’m going to Mike’s.” He said, snatching his coat from the back of the kitchen chair.
“Why?” She questioned, shifting to put her body in front of him and the front door. She knew he was lying to her face.
What was supposed to be a nice lunch and maybe working on another project around the house had turned into… well, it looked like it was shaping up to be a shit show. Grace crossed her arms over her chest and stared up at Gabe. She wasn’t very intimidating at her height and weight, but the ferocity in her eyes wasn’t something he could tame. No one would ever have that power over her again.
“Because he and I need to have a talk that I can’t and don’t want to have over the phone. So are you going to move out of my way so I can go have that talk? Or do I need to pick you up over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and move your tiny ass?”
“You leave my ass out of this.” She jabbed her finger into the center of his chest. “Please don’t go. I know that’s not what you’re doing.” Her tone had softened significantly as she looked up into those deep brown eyes, hand falling from his chest.
“Please, Gabe.” She begged.
Gabe let out a sigh, carefully reaching for her. His hands landed on her upper arms and he bent down to look at her. “Grace, you’re asking the impossible of me. Mike and Caroline need to know what’s going on and I want to talk to Mike in person, okay? I’ll come back later, I’ll call you when I get there and when I leave…”
Grace scowled and pulled away, unblocking the front door. This stubborn man was going to be the reason for one more grey hair. But it wasn’t like she could hold him hostage, could she? “I’m not an idiot. I know you’re about to do something stupid. You’re not just going to Mike’s. But whatever, leave.” She threw her hand out, gesturing toward the door.
Gabe shrugged, pulling his keys from his pocket. “Grace, I’ll be fine.”
Before she could say another thing to try and convince him not to leave, he left, closing the front door behind him. He was furious. Over the past few months of getting to know Grace, he had become intensely protective of her and Victoria; Knowing that Aaron still had not released her from that marriage was slowly killing him. It was the one thing she needed to finally be free of him, and if he had to help convince Aaron to sign the papers? He damn well would.
When Gabe reached the black F-350, he slipped his phone from his pocket and got in. Mike answered on the third ring. “Hey man, what’s going on?”
“We need to take a ride.”
“What?”
“I’m on my way to come pick you up.”
“Okay…where are we going though and how far away are you?” Mike started to move around the house and Gabe assumed he was gathering his stuff.
“I’m about twenty minutes away, give or take. We’re going to Aaron’s…and we’re not leaving until he signs the divorce papers and I have them in my hands to bring back to Grace.”
Mike was silent at first, then he released a
heavy sigh. “This is a bad idea. Grace…you’re awful protective of her. She’s going through a shit storm of a divorce, who the hell knows if she’ll ever be able to love another guy after this…Are you sure you really want to do this? I think you should just let her lawyer handle it.” Caroline started talking in the background, no doubt digging for more information.
“Doesn’t matter. How I feel about her has no bearing on what I need to do. She needs to be free of him and can’t persuade him herself and her lawyer isn’t doing jack-shit. So are you coming or not?”
Mike sighed. “Well I damn well can’t let you run into the fire alone, now can I?” He grunted. “I’ll be ready when you get here.” Mike hung up the phone, swearing under his breath as he did so.
This was a terrible idea.
~
The twenty-minute drive took Gabe a little over fifteen. He hadn’t realized how fast he had been driving until he pulled into the driveway and took in Mike’s scowling face as he stomped down the front steps. Without saying anything, Mike threw up his hands. Not only was Gabe getting involved in something he had no business being involved with, he was going to drive like a speed demon and potentially risk killing himself in a wreck too?
Mike approached the driver’s side and yanked open the door. “Get out.”
“No. Why?”
“Because you’re driving like an asshole and I have a wife and kids to come home to so get the fuck out of the driver’s seat and let me drive at the very least.” The look on his face left no room for argument.
