by Carter Ashby
She looked startled at first and then smiled. Her cheeks were a pleasant shade of pink. He winked at her and strode off to rescue Dustin from the future in-laws. The poor guy looked scared to death.
He was halfway to the table when he was suddenly shoved from behind. He stumbled forward a step before catching himself. He smiled because he knew it was Nick. He balled up his fist, spun around and slugged Nick square on the nose. Nick flew back, landing on his back and sliding backwards on the floor. A second later, blood started pouring from his nostrils and tears filled his eyes. He scrambled to his feet faster than Travis would have thought possible.
They looked at each other and reached a silent agreement. Travis led the way outside. The brisk air felt good on his hot skin. He shoved his sleeves up, walked out into the street and turned to wait for Nick. Nick appeared two seconds later and was followed by Arden, Shannon and Alice. Russell and Vince ambled out and leaned against the wall.
Travis grinned at Nick. "You just made a bad night so much better."
Then, faster than Travis could duck, Nick took a swing at him. It connected and knocked Travis back a half-step. He tasted blood on his lip and laughed.
"Stay away from her," Nick said.
He swung again, but this time Travis ducked and hit him with an upper-cut in the stomach. Nick bent over, gasping for breath, so Travis yanked him up by the hair and swung again, hitting him in the jaw. Nick stumbled backwards and would have fallen except that he landed against a parked car.
Dustin and Emma came running out. "For fuck's sake, Travis," Dustin yelled. "You're thirty-four years old."
"Leave me alone, Dustin. This is my Christmas present to myself."
"No," Dustin said, coming towards him. Nick was pulling himself back up and Dustin shoved him. "Stay down," he said. He got in Travis's face. "This is over. Go start the car." They'd driven there together, Dustin and Emma, Travis and Kristen.
Travis shook his head. "I'm not done with him."
Arden was at Nick's side and they were arguing.
"You're done. Go start the car, I said."
Travis looked at him, his smile dying on his face. He shoved Dustin hard on the chest, but Dustin didn't shove back. "You're no goddamn fun anymore, you know that?" Travis shouted.
Dustin's expression remained stern. Travis spared one last look for Arden who met his eyes for a moment. She didn't seem angry. Shocked, maybe. Then he turned and strode down the street to his car. He got in, started the engine and waited for the air coming from the vents to warm up.
Several minutes later, Dustin climbed in the passenger side. "Brody's taking Kristen home. Emma's going back with her parents...who, thank God, didn't come out to witness that ridiculous display. I swear to God, I can't take you anywhere."
"If you were any kind of brother you'd have helped me beat him up." Travis didn't really mean it. The adrenaline had drained and he was left feeling more depressed than he had before. He sighed and put the car into gear.
"You shouldn't have kissed her. You knew he'd be watching."
Travis didn't answer. He just said his prayer over and over in his mind until he fell asleep in his bed that night.
Arden stormed in the front door of her house, right past her smiling parents who had heard the car pull up and rushed to greet her. Nick was close on her tail. She stopped at the base of the stairs and turned on him. "That was the most humiliating thing that's ever happened to me!" she shouted at him.
"You want to talk about humiliating? How about having to watch your fiancée be kissed by some knuckle-dragging, white trash hick. And what were the two of you doing back in the kitchen alone, huh? What's going on between you? The truth this time!"
"I've been nothing but truthful. I wasn't feeling well and he came back to check on me. Then we came out and he grabbed a quick kiss under the mistletoe. It barely even qualifies as a kiss. You saw him practically making out with Kristen."
"Bottom line, you left me no choice but to defend you."
"Defend me? Don't blame me because you're insecure!"
"Whoa!" Mark Butler interceded, holding his hands up. "What's going on?"
Arden took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. Once she'd regained her composure, she opened her eyes and spoke calmly. "Travis stole a kiss from me under the mistletoe and so Nick picked a fight with him and got beat up."
"Hey," Nick said, "I got a punch in."
"Yes, dear," Arden said with mocking sweetness, "but Travis is a neanderthal. His skull is this thick." She held up her thumb and forefinger as far apart as they would spread. "You'd have to have a crowbar to have any effect whatsoever. So I wouldn't be so proud of your one punch."
Nick glared at her. He actually looked sexier with blood drying on his lips and a soon-to-be black eye than she had ever seen him. Travis had looked extra sexy too. She wondered why her hormones were kicking into gear over two grown men engaging in such a childish act as street fighting.
"Nick, perhaps you'd better go home," Mark said. "You'll both feel better in the morning and be able to discuss this in a more civil manner."
Nick pulled himself up straight and schooled his expression. He nodded, turned and left. Her parents turned on her then. "Arden," Laura said, "this has got to stop."
"What?" Arden asked, opening her eyes in wide innocence. "What has to stop?"
"This infatuation you have with that mechanic. The flirting. Whatever else it is that goes on. You need to stay away from him." Arden's father nodded in agreement.
"You're all being unreasonable. I'm not doing anything to encourage Travis. And I can't be held responsible for his actions and for Nick's. What they did was their fault, not mine."
"Nick might not feel so insecure, darling," Mark said, "if you reassured him of your love and put out more effort to distance yourself from Mr. Lanier."
Arden huffed. "So now it's my job to worry about Nick's feelings of insecurity?"
Laura and Mark looked at each other and laughed nervously. "Well..." Laura said hesitantly, "...what did you think marriage meant?"
"Marriage means my own house, car, credit cards; freedom to shop whenever I want..."
Laura and Mark looked at each other again, this time frowning. "Arden," Mark said, "You can have those things on your own. Without a husband. Is that all you want from Nick? Don't you love him?"
Arden froze. For some reason it had never occurred to her that she could have that kind of independence alone. She had a job she loved. A good relationship with her family. If she wanted a house of her own, cars, credit cards...just general independence...she didn't need Nick.
Arden sank to the steps and sat. Laura sat next to her and rubbed her back. "The thing I love most about Nick," Arden said softly after a few minutes lost in thought, "is that being with him won't change anything about my life."
"Oh, dear," Laura said quietly.
Arden stared in front of her for a long time. She didn't pay any attention when her parents wished her goodnight and went upstairs to their bedroom. Maybe she sat there a half an hour. Maybe longer. Finally she stood to go to bed.
There was a knock at the front door. Arden rolled her eyes. It was probably Nick. She went to open the door.
As she started to open it, it was suddenly pushed the rest of the way in. Arden stumbled back as a bedraggled young woman barged in, her dark hair a mess and makeup streaking down her cheeks.
"Ashley? What the..." Arden started.
"I came here to tell you that me and Nick have been sleeping together," said the woman.
Ashley Strauss, the daughter of June and Rory Raymer, was a year younger than Arden and a few inches shorter. She made this abrupt confession in a slurred, high-pitched voice.
The words didn't immediately register with Arden as she was overcome with the shock of a drunk Ashley barreling into her foyer. "What are you doing here?" Arden asked.
"I come to tell you that Nick's been cheating on you with me," Ashley repeated, louder this time. "Since
before you were engaged."
Arden knew she should be more bothered than she was. Maybe it was just the shock. "I think I'd better take you home," Arden said.
"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Ashley shrieked.
At this point, Mark and Laura came down the stairs in their pajamas.
"I'm telling you your fiancé is a cheating son-of-a-bitch. I told him if he didn't help me out I was going to tell you everything. He comes to me telling me you don't satisfy him and that he can't stop thinking about me. Sometimes we screw for hours and then he talks about how he wishes he had the courage to leave you. I've been to his apartment in the very bed you've slept in with him. I change the sheets so I don't have to smell your perfume. I put on your lingerie and make fun of you."
Ashley's tirade went on and on. All about how cold and lifeless Arden was and how much Nick resented her but that he only wanted to marry her for her money. The initial confession had only produced a mild reaction, but as Ashley continued blathering on and on, Arden quit hearing the words over the increasingly loud ringing in her ears. She felt a heat like she'd never experienced burning just under her skin. Her heart rate increased. Her hands balled into fists. And still Ashley persisted, describing in perverse detail the various encounters between herself and Nick. Arden felt hot tears streaking down her face and that is when her anger unleashed.
She lunged at Ashley, knocking her to the ground. She locked her hands around Ashley's throat and squeezed with all of her might, screaming obscenities that had never before entered into her imagination, let alone crossed her lips. Ashley kicked and clawed, making contact a few times, resulting in some scratch marks on Arden's face and neck.
Before too much damage could be done, Mark pulled Arden off of Ashley just as Ashley swung a fist at Arden. The punch landed on her left eye and she cried out in pain. Ashley scooted back against the wall, gasping for air.
Laura dialed the police. Arden stood sobbing in her father's arms. She lost track of all time. Before she knew it, she was sitting on the stairs next to Sheriff Hartley and giving her statement.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The next morning Travis sat in the cramped office at the garage catching up on a little bookkeeping. He kept finding himself smiling. He'd heard gossip that Arden had gotten in a fight with Ashley Strauss. It couldn't possibly be true. But the mental image tickled him anyway.
He heard a car pulling in the driveway and glanced up on instinct. He was surprised to see Brody Jessop's black SUV parked outside the office.
Brody was a nice, clean-cut sort of man. He coached high school basketball and generally wore nice slacks and a dress shirt during the day. He was the same age as Travis and the same height, but narrower across the shoulders and a bit leaner. Probably because he didn't have little old ladies paying him with pie to fix their cars.
But even though they'd gone to school together, Travis didn't know Brody very well. They'd maybe spoken to each other twice over the past five years. Travis stood and greeted Brody at the office door. Brody nodded formally at him and then Travis stepped aside so he could come in.
"What can I..." Travis started.
"Are you dating Kristen?" Brody interrupted.
"Uh..."
"Don't lie to me, you bastard. I want to know what you think you're doing trying to steal her away from me like this."
Travis opened his eyes wide in shock. "Steal her away?"
"You took her to that Christmas party. And a friend of mine told me your car was parked outside her apartment one night last week."
Travis sat down in his chair and glared at Brody. He was willing to have a civil conversation but he wasn't in the mood to be yelled at. "You drove her home from the Christmas party. Seems like that makes you the winner."
"She won't talk to me."
"Good for her."
Brody tensed all over, but he wasn't the type to get in a street brawl on a Saturday morning. Travis waited and watched as Brody finally relaxed and slumped back in the chair. "I just want to know if you're the reason things have gone so wrong," Brody said.
Travis gritted his teeth. The jackass didn't even know Kristen. She would be so much better off with Travis. He knew her and would treat her the way she deserved to be treated. But she didn't love him. And he'd be lying to himself if he didn't admit that she would be his second choice, too. He sure as hell wouldn't treat her that way, though. "Brody, I didn't even know you were trying to have a relationship with her. I know she's in love with you and she keeps falling back to me because she says you're not interested in her."
"Is that what she says?" Brody asked, looking angry again. "God, she never listens. She just hears what she wants to hear."
Travis narrowed his eyes at him. "Women are funny that way."
Brody shook his head. "Last week we had an argument. We'd been seeing each other for a couple of months. Just dinner a couple of times a week. Nothing serious. So naturally, she asked if I was thinking about getting serious this time. I told her I just wasn't ready yet. I needed time. I'd like to keep seeing her, but I wasn't ready to commit yet."
Travis gritted his teeth. "She's thirty years old. Which don't mean a thing to you and me, but all she sees every day is the passing of her childbearing years."
"She's got plenty of time for that."
"Well she doesn't think so. And even if she does, she's given you three years. What more do you want?"
Brody buried his face in his hands. "The divorce was only finalized three years ago. I've got two kids. I just haven't been ready to get back in the dating game, let alone get married and have more kids."
"So, then, what's it to you if I hook up with her once in a while?"
Brody's face turned red again. "I don't want you seeing her anymore."
"Then you'd better get your fucking act together. Three years is more than enough time to get over a divorce. She's going to come to her senses, one of these days, and give up on you. Then she'll be all mine."
Brody's jaw set and his eyes narrowed. "Stay away from her."
Travis laughed. "No."
"Goddamn you!"
Travis stood, then and leaned over his desk. "If you and she are dating, I'll stay out of the way. But if you're just putting her on hold until you're ready, then I figure she's fair game. So get lost, Brody, and leave me the hell alone."
Brody leapt to his feet and stormed out of the office. Travis sat back and smiled to himself. It felt nice helping Kristin out. Even though he was still alone and had lost his backup plan. He still loved her and wanted her to be happy.
That morning Arden had a huge fight with her parents. They insisted she give Nick some benefit of the doubt. She didn't disagree with them. It just irked her that their first course of action was to defend Nick rather than to offer her comfort. So she'd yelled at them and stormed out and now she was watching Saturday morning cartoons on Shannon's couch with a blanket wrapped around her.
"Oh I love this one!" Arden shouted to Shannon who was in the kitchen baking blueberry muffins and brewing coffee.
"Which one is it?" Shannon shouted back.
"The one where the little Martian wants to blow up Earth so he can see Venus."
Shannon laughed.
Arden snuggled down into the couch and pulled the blanket up under her chin. Shannon was equal parts best friend and loving grandmother. Today Arden was taking advantage of the second part.
"How's your eye, dear?" Shannon shouted.
"Fine. It doesn't hurt if I don't touch it." Arden had never had a black eye before. She was determined not to go into public until it was completely healed.
"Do you want chocolate milk?" Shannon asked.
"Yes please!" Arden grinned to herself.
Just then Russell came in the front door. He'd been working on his truck out in the garage. It was freezing cold, so he had on a heavy flannel jacket over his flannel shirt. Arden wondered if the man owned clothing made from any other fabric besides flannel and denim. He brushed his hair
out of his eyes and looked down at Arden.
"Um, I called Travis to come help me with my truck. I just thought you would want to know."
Shannon came around the corner from the kitchen and handed Arden a tall glass of chocolate milk with a straw in it. "That is so thoughtful of you, Russell," Shannon said.
He blushed and looked down at his feet.
"Did you tell him I was here?" Arden asked.
"No. It didn't come up. But I guess he'll figure it out when he sees your car in the driveway."
Arden's eyes narrowed. She had never been terribly comfortable around Russell. She got the feeling that he didn't like her and she sometimes felt like he was making fun of her. But she could never get a firm grasp on whatever it was that was making her uneasy. Like seeing movement out of the corner of your eye, but when you look, it disappears.
Russell kissed Shannon and went back outside to his garage. Shannon smiled after him, so much in love that it was sickening.
"You've been married six years," Arden said, "and you look at him like you just fell in love yesterday."
Shannon shrugged. "He doesn't let me get close to him. Just every once in a while he opens up to me and I get to love him. The rest of the time I feel like I'm still that teenage girl chasing after him, trying to get him to fall in love with me." Shannon turned and walked dreamily back into the kitchen.
Arden rolled her eyes. She hoped to God she would never be that delusional in love. Shannon returned carrying a tray with muffins and two cups of coffee. She sat next to Arden and patted her on the knee. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
Arden slumped back. "I don't know. I just wish all of this would go away. I hate being bothered trying to sort through all of these feelings."
"Yeah, it's terribly inconvenient, isn't it?" Shannon said, a twinkle in her eye.
