“I think someone needs to drink and lighten the fuck up, don’t you think? Who thinks Samantha here, should- Hey give that back!”
I did the only thing I could think of to get her down off of that table top, I took the bottle straight out of her hands and started to walk away backwards, knowing that she’d follow the only thing she actually cared about. “I am not a child! Give that back, you little bitch!”
I could feel the heat creep into my cheeks, she’d never called me that out in public before. I watched as she stumbled off the table and onto the straw bales; just waiting for her to fall.
Surprisingly, she made it down onto the floor and started following me in a sketchy pattern. By this point, I didn’t care much who was watching this all unfold, I just wanted out of this place. I’d seen it all, heard it all. That was until what came out of her mouth next.
“It doesn’t surprise me, you taking away my drink like this, ruining my fun. You’ve already taken away everything I ever cared about anyway, why not go for a home run.” I stopped dead in my tracks, the gasps around me sounded ten times louder than they actually were.
“What did you say?”
She smirked. She knew she’d hit me where it hurt. “You heard me, you took Tommy away from me and now you want to ruin my fun tonight.”
The room started spinning. Was she really insinuating that what happened to Tommy was my fault? I did this to him, I already knew that, but hearing it come out of her mouth was another thing altogether. I couldn’t breathe, I needed air.
“You don’t mean-” She ran at me with surprising speed and I felt a hard slap across my face, bringing me back to reality. Tears were starting to roll down my face as I looked into my mother’s eyes, they were lifeless. There was no remorse, no concern, not even a recollection of what had just happened. She looked down at the bottle in my hands, grabbed it and stumbled her way out the front door.
I couldn’t move, I stared at the door she just left through until a hand touched my shoulder, bringing me back in the room. Not turning to see who it was, I stormed out of the building.
She was pressed up against my car, chugging down what was left of the bottle and a sudden rage took over me. I walked towards her with purpose and knocked the bottle clean out of her hands. “What the fu-”
“No! You don’t get to play the victim this time. I’ve let it go on for far too long now, clearing up your messes, looking after you as if the roles were reversed and taking all the abuse that you throw at me day after day. Enough is enough, I won’t cover for you anymore, you’re on your own. Tommy would be ashamed of you!”
That sparked something in her. Her head snapped up from the broken bottle on the sidewalk and she screamed at me. “You think this is easy for me? Being like this, you seeing me like this?”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You’ve got to be kidding me, easy for you? I’ve lived for the past twelve years of my life with you this way, I hardly know any different. I had to quit school at fifteen-years-old and get a job because of you. I lost out on all the normal teenage year’s kids have; sleepovers, boyfriends, parties and so on. So don’t you dare try and talk to me about this situation not being easy because I’m living it, I’m living it every single day. Not a day goes by that I don’t wake up and wish I was somebody else!”
Tears were streaming down my face and I had to try and get my breathing under control before peering back at her. I was wasting my time, the blank look she had on her face proved that.
“No matter what I say to you, you won’t change, will you?” I waited for a reaction from her, anything, but there was nothing. “Just get in the car, I’m taking you home and then I’m done with you.”
With no complaints, she managed to open up the passenger door and slot herself into the seat. I took a few calming breaths and wiped my face with the sleeve of my sweater before getting into the car myself. By the time I’d pulled out of my parking space, she was asleep. I felt beyond angry at both her and myself. Why I’d ever let it get this far, I didn’t know but I did know it was time for a change.
Getting her into our apartment wasn’t a small feat, I managed to get her as far as the sofa, and made sure she was on her side before making my way to my room with plans to look for another apartment. I refused to go through this torment time after time, when I said she was on her own, I meant it.
I hated letting myself think back to the past, my hands were shaking and I wasn’t sure all the coffee I’d drank was to blame. That night changed my life, in more ways than I could count, it was freeing and frightening all in one. I could live my own life without having to look after anybody but myself, or so I’d thought.
I rubbed at my eyes before picking up my cell to call Mrs Gracefield, the one person who hadn’t really spoken to me properly ever since that night. After that night, we were the talk of the town for a very long time, which was nothing new really. There were just more judgemental and sympathetic looks than usual. I stared at my cell before finally deciding to just put on my big girl pants and dial the number, it rung and I waited for her to answer.
“Gracefield’s Floral Arrangements, Avery speaking, how can I help you?”
“Hey, Avery, it’s Sam, Sam Reynolds. Your mom wouldn’t happen to be there, would she?” Avery was four years below me in school so I didn’t really know her but she seemed like a nice enough girl. She’d just finished college for the summer and was helping out at her mom’s shop.
“Sorry, Sam, you’ve actually just missed her. Can I take a message? Or do you want me to just get her to call you back?” Great.
“Could you just tell her I’ll drop by a little later please? It’s regarding the fundraiser.” The last thing I wanted to do was drop by but I didn’t want to screw this up, I needed those tables.
“Sure thing.” I thanked her before I hung up, feeling a little deflated. I looked down at my expanding list, it felt like nothing was getting done and I started to feel a little overwhelmed.
I cursed myself for taking all this on but no one can say no to Nora, I didn’t even have a choice in the matter really. The conversation went something along the lines of talking about the fundraiser, me saying it sounded like fun and the next thing I knew we were hired.
I stood up, leaving the list where it was to go and sit in the window seat. The sun was beating down and I was quite looking forward to mine and Kee’s walk. Thinking about it now, I wondered where Kee was. She’d been gone nearly forty-five minutes already, we only had another fifteen before lunch was over.
Just as I was about to go send out a search party, she came barrelling through the door looking really suspicious. “Woah there. What’s the rush?”
She looked at me like she wasn’t expecting me to be here. “What do you mean?”
I squinted my eyes at her. “Kee, are you okay?” She rushed away from the door to put her purse in the back room.
“Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be?” The bemused look on her face made me laugh.
“Well considering you came back empty handed after being out for nearly fifty-minutes, I think you owe me a little explanation as to why I’m not tucking into a chicken Caesar salad right about now. I know where you went and if you haven’t got food that could only mean one thing.” I waggled my brows at her and she looked down at her hands.
“We were just talking, take your mind out of the gutter. I completely forgot about lunch though, want me to go run and get you something?” She seemed distant somehow, what in the world was wrong with my best friend?
“No, that’s okay, Kee, I’ll just grab something in Sharlington. I’m heading over there to pick up some things for the fundraiser anyway, you want anything? I’m guessing you didn’t eat either. Oh, by the way, what did he say about you know what?” She picked up the appointment book and spoke to me while running her finger down the page.
“No, nothing for me thanks, I’m not hungry. I don’t think he knew about Connor being here and not just this time. I don’t
think he knew at all.” She didn’t think?
“What do you mean you ‘think’? That’s what you went to ask him, was it not?” I raised an eyebrow at her, totally confused.
“Yeah, I forgot. Now go on, I’ve got to get ready for my next client.” Was I being dismissed? What the hell was going on? She grabbed my purse and shoved it at me. “And get me a burger, please.” I chuckled and decided I’d question her later before making my way towards my car.
By midday, I couldn’t wait any longer. I’d only waited this long because I couldn’t turn up while he was working, the man did have a business to run after all so I waited patiently until lunch time.
Jumping in my truck, I drove the fifteen minutes to Little Hollow, all the while, reciting what I would say to them both in my head. I’d planned to ask Lewis to invite Keeley over for lunch under false pretences, in the hope she’d stay and hear me out.
Pulling up outside the garage, I hopped out and was greeted by a gorgeous golden retriever and I bent down to give him a rub. “Hey, boy, where’d you come from?” I heard a little giggle and looked up.
“She’s a girl doggy silly, her name’s Ruby.” A little girl, not much older than three or four stood in front of me.
“That’s a really cool name, did you pick it?” She nodded enthusiastically and I looked around for any sign of her parents, finally spotting a flustered looking woman about my age half running towards us.
“Katy, sweetie, I told you not to run off like that. Anything could’ve happened to you.” She eyed me warily and I stood up and stepped back to keep my distance.
“Ruby came to see this nice man,” she said in way of explanation. Her mom’s face was full of distrust.
“She’s a beautiful dog. I’m Connor.” I went to shake her hand and she flinched. I withdrew it away from her immediately, I was a pro at this. I knew all the tell-tale signs by now; I’d lived with it for seventeen years of my life. “Well, I won’t take up anymore of your time. It was nice to meet you?” I posed it as a question and waited on bated breath for her answer, trying to show her I was no threat to her.
“Faith,” and that’s all she said before putting a purple lead on the dog and grabbing little Katy’s hand. She turned around and gave me a little wave before skipping off happily beside her mom. Seeing her flinch like that cut me deep, I hoped she got out of whatever situation she was in, if not for her, then for her sweet baby girl.
I shook the encounter off and turned towards the garage. The shutters were open today so I walked right in and found Lewis under the hood of a beautiful Chevy pickup.
“Nice.” I nodded in appreciation.
He looked over and smiled. “Hey, man, I was wondering if I’d see you again after you ran out of here yesterday. You alright?” I picked up a wrench and tossed it from hand to hand.
“Yeah, something’s been playing on my mind though and I need to just come right out and ask it.” I took a deep breath. “What’s going on between you and Sammy?” He stopped what he was doing and looked at me.
“Sam hasn’t been all that sociable since, well, you know what. It’s just been her and Keeley. I just wanted to get her out, there’s nothing more going on, in fact, every time I asked her out she always turned me down. And I think I’m kind of into Keeley.” He winked at me. “You’ve got to understand though, she’s not the same girl she once was, Con,” he warned.
I understood, I really did. I wasn’t expecting anything from her, I just wanted to make sure she heard my side of the story. I started to tell Lewis about my plan to get Keeley to talk to me when I was nudged from behind. I swiveled around and to my surprise, there was an angry faced Keeley standing in my way.
“You have a nerve still being here.” I looked over at Lewis, who looked as bewildered as me. He shrugged and I turned back to look at her. Her eyes were icy blue and stared daggers straight into mine. She huffed before saying, “Don’t look at me like I’m a crazy person, you know damn well what I mean! You doing this to her is cruel and I want you gone. She wants you gone too if you didn’t already know that.”
Now hang on a minute.
“And by she, I’m assuming you mean Sammy? And what would I be doing?” I leaned in to her, I could be cocky when I wanted to be. She faltered and looked at Lewis as if seeing him for the first time.
“Stop acting like a chauvinistic pig and just admit that you’re in the wrong, you never should have come back here.” She was trying not to raise her voice but I could tell it was taking all that she had.
“I think we’ve got off on the wrong foot, Lew would you mind if I talked to Keeley alone please?” Lewis frowned then looked from me to her, seeking confirmation.
“Sure, you guys can go on into my office, it’s more private there.” I gestured towards the back of the garage and she stormed towards it. “Good luck,” he whispered and winked at me.
I followed her in a far less brisk pace than she was using so that when I got to the office, she was already there leaning against Lew’s desk waiting for me. I turned to shut the door, giving myself a few seconds to recalculate what I was going to say.
“I don’t know what Sammy has told you but-”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, you know damn well what she’s told me,” she gritted out.
“Look, regardless of what she thinks went on, I didn’t just leave her. I had a good reason.”
She rolled her eyes. “You think she’s overreacting then do you?” Narrowing her icy stare, she waited for my answer.
“I never said that. I know you both think I’m a horrible person, I left my best friend at the worst time of her life, right? But I was just a kid myself back then and it wasn’t easy for me either, she could’ve lost us both that night”
“But she did lose you both.”
“I meant for good.” I closed my eyes getting myself together and then looked back to her. “I was seventeen years old and I could’ve lost my life that night had I not had left with my mom.”
She looked at me and after several agonizing seconds gave me a simple nod to carry on. By the time I finished telling her a bit about my background, finishing with mine and my mom’s getaway, she was staring at the ceiling of the little office. I could see the wheels turning in her head.
“Why would you choose to keep coming back here? Surely that’s a little insane, to risk what happened yesterday? Do you have any idea what you’ve dug back up?” I couldn’t tell if she was genuinely interested in an answer or if she just said what she was thinking but I decided to answer her anyway.
“I didn’t mean for her to ever find out, I’ve always been so careful. It’s something I’ve needed to do for me and I realize how much she’s hurting; believe me I do.” Because I was feeling it too. “Sammy was my everything and seeing her again…look, I’m just going to come right out with it. I need you to try get her to listen to me.”
She swirled around, eyes bulging. “Oh do you? You may have spun me a heart wrenching story but it doesn’t take away the fact that you’ve had eight years to drop by and explain this to her yourself. That girl is like a sister to me and I won’t have you coming here ruining everything she’s pieced back together. Tiny piece by tiny piece. We’ve all had hard lives, believe me, but Sam deserves to put the past behind her, for good!” She paused and just as I was about to plead my case, she put up her finger. “But, I can’t shake this feeling that she needs a little closure on the past instead of just burying it away. She has a habit of doing that. I can’t guarantee I can get her to listen to you but there’s a fundraiser Saturday night that we’ll be at, be there and I’ll have her on her own so that you can talk to her.”
As she walked out of the office, I couldn’t help but smile at this small triumph.
I made my way back out onto the garage floor, Lewis was still in the hood of the Chevy but looked up as I got near. “How’d it go? She didn’t look too mad so I guess it wasn’t a complete flop?” I was trying not to be too optimistic at this point but I coul
dn’t help but smile back at him. “It worked then?”
“I sure hope so. Good luck with that one though, Lew, she’s one feisty woman.” He chuckled “She told me about some fundraiser Saturday night, they’re both going to be there. Fancy it?”
He wiped his hands on a rag. “Sure, man,” he said with a wink. “Wanna grab something from the diner?”
“Why not.”
We walked out the garage and I couldn’t help but feel better than when I walked in. I hoped she’d hear me out, having her best friend on my side, well kind of, was better than nothing right?
Driving over to Sharlington, I couldn’t get the thought of Kee acting so weird out of my head. I didn’t get it; she was never secretive with me. Maybe it was just the fact she was liking Lewis and she wasn’t used to it?
But why wouldn’t she tell me? I’d told her more intimate things than that before. Maybe she just didn’t want to share her good news while I was going through a bad time. Which was kind of nice of her but I’d rather she just told me and we could pretend to be normal girlfriends and talk about boys for just one day.
I pulled up to the superstore and parked my car, thinking it was best to just forget about it until later I put my mind to the task at hand. I didn’t have time to dawdle about, I still had to get all these bits and get back to visit Mrs Gracefield before my final client of the day.
Seems luck was on my side; I’d missed the lunch time rush. I picked up everything I needed and checked out in twenty minutes, that had to have been some sort of record surely. I was so hungry by this point I could’ve eaten my own arm so I stopped by the local fast food joint and got me and Kee some lunch. So much for the salad.
Stuffing fries into my mouth as I drove along the winding country roads to Little Hollow, my mind wandered back to Kee and Lewis. I smiled. They were complete opposites but would complement each other and make a good couple, now if only she could have a head to mouth filter installed, everything would go down smoothly. I snorted and laughed at my own little joke.
One Moment (The Little Hollow Series Book 1) Page 8
