by J. L. Paul
Dropping my head, I toyed with a loose thread on my shorts. “Soon, he was calling me all the time. I did enjoy spending time with him, but I wasn’t in love with him. I didn’t really have romantic feelings. I just sort of went with it, thinking that we were sharing a friendship. But then he proposed.”
“And you accepted,” Greta finished. “But why?”
I released a long, tired breath. “I was desperate. My grandfather was ill, in the hospital after a massive heart attack. He was stressed and depressed and worried and ashamed. And he still had people calling the house and the law firm looking for money.”
“Brad offered to pay all that off, didn’t he?” Jake asked.
I nodded, too ashamed to speak.
“Iz,” Jake said in a soft voice as he took my hand. “Iz, don’t be ashamed or embarrassed. Who the hell are we to judge? You were in a tight spot and thought that you’d found a solution.”
“I didn’t know what else to do,” I admitted. “I tried to tell myself at night that it was all for Grandpa and my parents. I tried to think of the positives so I wouldn’t feel like a … prostitute.”
“You’re hardly a prostitute,” Greta said. “It was more like an arranged marriage. That thing used to happen all the time – still happens today, too.”
“I made a total mess of things,” I said.
“You didn’t gamble that money away,” Matt said.
“No, but by agreeing to marry Brad in exchange for help, and then breaking the engagement…” I couldn’t finish the sentence – didn’t want to think about it.
I managed a wry smile. “I think Seth knew, though. I think he realized that I wasn’t marrying Brad for love. We had a huge argument after the engagement and our relationship has been strained, since.”
“We’ll help however we can,” Jake said.
I shook my head. “This isn’t like when I was in high school, Jake. It’s not me drinking too much and pushing away my friends.”
“I know,” he said, ignoring the emotion behind my outburst. “It’s a more mature problem. And I think we’ve all matured a lot in the past few years. If we sit down together, we can figure something out.”
I studied his earnest face, my heart expanding with love. I touched his cheek. “I know. I’m sorry, I’m just worried. I don’t know what’s going to happen now. This magazine article is probably just the tip of the iceberg.”
“I’m not worried about him,” Jake said. “We’ll fight back, that’s all. Sooner or later he’ll realize that you’re not going back to him.”
“Iz,” Matt said, stepping forward. “If your parents will agree, I’ll sit down with them and their financial records, help them sort all of this out.”
“Matt is the brain, remember?” Jake said, giving my hand a shake. “He even takes online classes in finance.”
“Really?” I asked, looking up at Matt.
Blushing, he nodded.
I opened my mouth to object, thinking that my family had been through enough shame in the past year or so. Certainly they wouldn’t want Matt, someone they knew, wading through their records, probing into their finances.
But then, looking at the concerned faces around me, I realized that this was my family, too. They’d been my family since the night that Jake and I met in a fast food drive-thru. They’d taken me and my family into their fold, embracing us with their love and affection.
They truly wanted to help.
My eyes watered with unshed tears – tears of relief and overwhelming love. One fell to my cheek and I wiped it away, hoping to staunch the rest.
“I’ll talk to them, see what they say,” I said.
“Excellent,” Jake said, kissing my cheek.
“Thank you guys, very much,” I said.
“We’re happy to do whatever we can,” Nick said, smiling. I returned his smile just as Greta released a sound somewhere between a wail and a sob.
“Greta!” I exclaimed, getting to my feet. “What’s wrong?”
Jake reached out for his sister but she shook her head, sniffling and swiping at the tears on her face.
Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Matt gave us a tiny smile. “She’s a little emotional these days.”
“Greta,” I said in what I hoped was a comforting tone.
She ignored me, her eyes on Jake. “You’re going to be an uncle and if it’s a boy, I’m naming him James, after Dad.”
No one said a thing as Greta’s words hovered in the air above us. Jake broke the silence by tugging his sister into his arms, holding her close as she released her tears.
“I guess congratulations are in order,” Jake said. She nodded in his chest, stepping back to give him a watery smile. Jake yanked Matt into a man hug. “Take care of them both, man.”
“No problem,” Matt said, grinning.
“That’s it,” Nick said, looking a little misty. “A celebration is in order. We’re going to gorge on food and I’m buying.”
“That’s the smartest thing I’ve heard all day,” Jake said, taking my hand. “Let’s go.”
Fifteen
With a somewhat lighter heart, I left with Jake on a Friday afternoon, about six weeks after I’d left Brad, to go to my parents’ house. My mother, in hopes of coaxing her children home, organized a family cook out for my father’s birthday, although it wasn’t for a few days. I wasn’t complaining, though, as I was eager to check on my family in person and make sure that Brad’s deceitful interview hadn’t caused more damage that my father wouldn’t admit. Brad’s sad story had been tabloid fodder since that first interview, his face always on the cover of some rag or other. And recently he’d even appeared on a cheesy tabloid talk show.
Jake had spent the night before, organizing a trip to LA with the band in order to shoot a video. He invited me to go along but as I’d just plotted out the flower beds and figured out what I wanted to plant, I was looking forward to the week alone to get to work. Besides, if I was being truly honest with myself, I wanted a little space. Jake and I had been living in each other’s pockets since the night I left Brad and it felt like a good time for each of us to take a breather. It wasn’t that I didn’t love him and want to be with him – it was more like a reality check; a chance for each of us to be sure that this was what we wanted before we took any further steps. Neither one of us had admitted as much, but it was sort of an unspoken thing between us.
“So, I’m leaving Thursday and should only be gone about a week,” he said as he shoved sunglasses over his eyes. He’d put the top down before we left and I lifted my face to the wind blowing across my skin. “If it’s any longer than that, well, you can fly out, if you’d like.”
“I don’t know,” I said, dropping a hand to his knee. “I might just enjoy the peace and quiet so much that I may call Rob Ross and beg him to keep you longer.”
“Sure you will,” he said, giving my hand a squeeze.
I laughed as my cell rang. Digging it out of the bag at my feet, I thrilled to see Cammy’s name on the screen.
“Cammy! Hey, how are you?” I asked. “I haven’t talked to you in ages.”
“I know,” she sighed. “I’ve been so busy that I haven’t called you or Annie in forever. But everything’s good. I’m actually going to be in Chicago next weekend.”
“Great!” I said. “We can get together.”
“I have a job interview Saturday at the aquarium but I’ll be free for the rest of the weekend.”
“You have to stay with me,” I said, flashing a questioning look at Jake.
“Of course,” he said. “She can stay as long as she’d like. Hell, what’s one more?”
“Who is that?” she asked.
“Jake. He said you can stay at his place. He’ll be in LA anyway so we’ll have the place to ourselves,” I explained.
“Jake?” she asked. “Wait a minute. What happened to Brad?”
I laughed. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you all about it when you get here.”
“And Jake is the Jake?” she asked. “Our Jake?”
“Yes,” I said, wincing when she squealed.
“I am so glad you two are back together!” she exclaimed. “Wait, are you back together?”
“Yes,” I said with a sideways glance at Jake. “We are.”
“I knew it,” she said. “I knew you’d find each other someday.”
Rolling my eyes, I couldn’t help but smile. Cammy and her dreamy, romantic self.
We chatted for a few more minutes, making plans for her visit. When I ended the call, I placed my phone in my bag, leaning back in the seat, soaking up the warm sunshine.
“That’s cool that Cammy will be here,” Jake said. “I haven’t seen her in a long time.”
“She’s still the same Cammy,” I said. “She has an interview with an aquarium in Chicago. I hope she gets it. Then she’ll be around all the time.”
“I’m just glad she’ll be hanging out with you while I’m gone,” he said.
“Jake,” I sighed. “I’ll be fine.”
“I know,” he said. “The gate is stronger than ever plus I have the alarm system. You’ll be safe.”
I didn’t respond, knowing that he took my safety very seriously since the night I’d shown up on his porch with bruises on my face.
Brad wouldn’t dare try anything on Jake’s property, anyway. That wasn’t his style. He would fight his battle with me differently – with demeaning words and money. That’s why it was still strange that he had hit me that night.
I continued to mull the situation with Brad while Jake took several phone calls. When we finally turned onto my parents’ street, I was totally unprepared for what we found.
“Shit.”
Jake’s muttered oath was the same thing ringing in my brain.
Parked along the curb on the otherwise quiet street were several cars. And camped on the sidewalk in front of my mother and father’s house were a horde of reporters, standing around, drinking coffee, waiting for some signs of life behind the blinds.
“What are they doing here?” I asked, outraged that this part of my life had reached my family.
“They’re probably bored with Brad and are waiting for your parents or your grandfather to respond in some way,” Jake said. “It’s like a dream come true, I’m sure – a war waged in their papers.”
“There’s no way in the world that my dad or my grandpa would talk to them,” I said. “And I’m certainly not going to reply to Brad’s nonsense.”
“I know,” Jake said as he hit the button for the top, nearly stopping until it covered us, and then rolled up the windows. He inched the car into the driveway, churning up the mob.
“Hang on a second, Iz,” Jake said as he killed the engine. He glanced at the reporters in the rearview mirror, the group poised with cameras and pens, waiting for us to get out of the car and give them something to write about. “Call your dad and ask him to open the garage door. We’ll run in that way.”
Nodding, I dug into my purse but before I could get my phone out, the garage doors opened.
“Let’s go,” Jake said, opening his door. I followed suit, grabbing my bag and making a mad dash for the garage. A barrage of questions followed us, each louder than the next. I ignored them until a familiar voice rang out over the others.
“Bella, maybe you’d like to make time to talk to an old friend,” the voice said. I whipped my head around to find Karen Lange, an old classmate of mine from Meridian Valley. Giving her a wave, I continued to look at her as Jake snatched my hand and dragged me into the garage.
“Geez, Bella, how do you deal with that?”
I dragged my eyes from the crowd, disappearing as the garage door came down, and found my brother, leaning against the wall, his finger over the garage door button.
“Hey, Seth,” I said, giving him a perfunctory hug. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” he said as he shook Jake’s hand. “Jake, good to see you, man.”
“You, too,” Jake said. “I hear you finally settled down.”
“Yeah, something like that,” Seth grinned, opening the door to the house, glancing in my direction. “My wife, Caroline, and my daughter, Maggie, are inside.”
My parents rushed to us as soon as we stepped into the kitchen, but my eyes were on the little girl in my sister-in-law’s arms.
“Hey, Mags,” I said, taking the baby. “How are you?”
She stared at my face, her big blue eyes trying to place my face. I couldn’t blame her for being confused as I’d only seen her a handful of times during her entire fifteen months of existence. Still, she was a friendly little child with beautiful blonde curls and a smile that would melt the hardest of hearts.
“Jake, good to see you,” Dad greeted, shaking Jake’s hand. My mother yanked him into a bone-crushing hug. “Thanks for bringing her down here safely.”
“No problem,” Jake said, wrangling free from my mother’s hold.
“Do you have any bags?” Mom asked.
“Yeah, in the trunk,” Jake said. “I’ll get them in a few – once the mob settles down.”
“I’ll get them,” Seth said, disappearing into the garage again. While he was gone, Dad led us into the living room, inviting us to sit, and introducing Jake to Caroline. After Seth retrieved the bags, we sat around, chatting, Jake reacquainting himself with my family.
“Where’s Grandpa?” I asked after scouting out the room and finding no sign of him.
“He’s with his old fishing buddy, Marcus,” Dad explained. “He’s been staying with him this week but he promised to be home tonight. He wanted to see everyone.”
Maggie quickly grew bored with me, climbing off my lap to plop on the floor beside a pile of brightly colored blocks. My parents pelted Jake with questions about the other band members and his latest tour. I caught Seth staring at me and shot him a questioning look.
“Bella,” Seth said. “I helped Dad dig out some boxes of your crap in the basement. I’ll show you where they are in case you want to take some of it with you.”
Nodding, I followed him down the stairs, sensing some sort of talk coming.
I was right.
As soon as we located the boxes and began to rummage through them, Seth started talking.
“I’m glad you’re through with that Stanich idiot.”
“Don’t bother with the I told you so spiel,” I said, holding up a hand. “Yes, you were right.”
“It’s not about being right,” he said, sinking to the floor. “He was an idiot, using you for some purpose. And I knew you didn’t want to marry him – I knew you had some sort of deal going on.”
I nodded, my eyes fixated on my old stuffed animal collection in one of the boxes. I didn’t want to have this conversation again but it had to happen if I was ever to get my relationship with my brother back on the right track.
“I’m not trying to make you feel bad about it,” Seth said. “But you almost threw away your life. You never would have been happy being some sort of … trophy wife or whatever he was trying to make you into. You weren’t even yourself, dressing the way he wanted and speaking all fancy. It wasn’t you.”
“I know,” I whispered.
“And I didn’t mean to argue with you,” he said, running hands through his hair – hair that was so like mine. “I just couldn’t stand back and say nothing. Of course, I never thought it would result in us barely speaking.”
“I made a mistake,” I admitted. “A huge mistake. But, luckily for me, I got out of there before it could get worse.”
“But he hit you,” Seth said.
I nodded.
He sighed, a loud, angry sigh. “If I ever see that bastard, I’ll probably go to jail.”
“Don’t start with all the manly crap. I’ve heard enough from Jake and the others.”
“It’s not a manly thing,” he protested. “You’re my little sister. I’m supposed to look out for you, even if you’re not ten anymore.”
I laughed, feeling as i
f a lead weight had been hefted out of my heart. “I know. I’d feel the same way if some woman did something like that to you.”
He cracked a grin so familiar that my heart twisted. “I’m sorry that I blew up at you. I guess I went about things the wrong way. I just don’t want this shit with Brad to interfere with our family any more than he already has.”
I moved over to throw my arms around his neck. “I’ve missed you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said, hugging me back.
“It’s about damn time.”
We broke apart to find Caroline standing in the doorway, Jake and Maggie behind her.
“I was about to kick Bella’s ass in a game of pool,” Seth said, climbing to his feet. “Maybe we can play teams?”
“Sure,” Jake said, his black bandana now on Maggie’s head.
“What are you doing to my niece?” I asked as I tried to take her from Jake’s arms. She clung to his neck; burying her face in his shoulder.
“She liked it,” he shrugged. “Doesn’t she look cool?”
***
My grandfather returned home that evening, just in time to join us for dinner. It was a lively affair, full of conversation and laughter. Tension still hung in the air, but far enough up that it didn’t interfere with our meal.
After dinner, Jake took our bags up to my old bedroom, which had been turned into a beautiful guest room, complete with a vase of fresh cut flowers on my old, refinished dresser. The comforter was a light blue, matching the floral print wallpaper and the blue curtains.
“I’m surprised you’ll sleep with me in your parents’ house,” Jake said with a smirk.
“Calm down, tiger,” I said. “We’ll just be sleeping, that’s all.”
“Of course, angel,” he said, dropping a kiss on the top of my head before we trudged back down to the living room to engage in a board game. My father, a sucker for family game nights, was thrilled to have everyone under his roof, playing games that had seen better days. It almost made me feel normal again.
When the little party broke up, I headed for my room, but before Jake could follow, my grandfather summoned him into my father’s office. Fearing the worst, I went upstairs alone, slipping into bed, unable to sleep. I had no clue why my grandfather would want to speak to Jake as they hadn’t really had what I would consider a close relationship in the past.
