“Oh baby, I’m sorry. I know you want your son back. But you have to make sure you’re safe first.”
“Maybe I should give up on being a mother. It’s already been seven years. I’m probably better off leaving him with my aunt for another eleven.”
“Ami don’t say that. You deserve to raise your son. I will help you get through this baby. If Brad and his family have to leave their apartment, we can all move in there, me, you and your son.”
“Then he would be confused. And I can’t have live with you and not be with you.”
“Who knows Ami? Maybe by the time Gabe decides to leave you alone, we can be together.”
That was not what she wanted to hear at all Ami thought. She groaned. “Now that’s just what I want to hear.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. How much money did Gabe give you?”
She shrugged. The envelope was in her purse, where she'd shoved it after Gabe had given it to her.
"Give it to me. I'll count it."
"Maybe I'll give it to charity. I don't care if I worked for him. Taking his money makes me feel like a hooker."
"That's how he wanted you to feel. He wants you to feel like he's got power over you. You can't let him. You shouldn’t give the money away. Keep it for Charlie. Buy him something nice.”
She handed him the envelope. "What do you propose I do?"
Nick sighed. “I don’t know Ami.” He paused to count the money then said "There's over five thousand dollars here."
She groaned. "Now I really feel like a hooker. That’s almost ten times what my paycheck should have been."
"He doesn't mind throwing money around does he?" He sounded thoughtful again.
"He's not impressing me. I don't give a shit about money."
"But most people do. There's got to be something that we're missing. You already told him you didn't want the necklace and the car, so he had to know that money and fancy things don't impress you. So why did he give you so much money and in cash for your paycheck?"
"I thought we already figured that out. Because he wants to make me feel like a whore. This is making my head hurt Nick. Can I take a shower and go to bed?"
"Yeah. I’m staying here tonight.”
"Don't drive yourself crazy thinking about why he's doing what he's doing. Only he knows that. Everybody around me is worried about what he's done and what he's going to do next. I hate it."
"People care about you Ami."
"Look what good it's done me.”
"None of this is your fault."
"I slept with him didn't I? We can argue about this all night. Drive yourself crazy thinking about Gabe's next move if you want. I'm sure he's laughing his ass off about it right now."
When he didn’t reply, she sighed. "What the hell, I guess it’s better that we worry about it now instead of tomorrow. There is no way in hell I'm going to let that asshole ruin Ali and Carson's wedding."
He was sitting in front of her computer. "What are you looking at?"
He quickly closed out the window. "Nothing."
She gave him a dirty look. "Checking your e-mail to see if your girlfriend had sent you something?"
"No. You're the closest thing I have to a girlfriend."
"So what was it then?"
"I was looking at some articles about stalkers."
"Nick."
"Sorry. I want you to be safe."
"I know. But how is some story about some celebrity that got killed by a psycho going to help us?"
He grinned. "That's a lot of what came up, yeah." His smiled faded. "But the sad thing is that with the way the laws are, half the time the cops can't do anything until it's already too late."
"Now that's want I want to hear. He's never hurt the other girls, other than screwing with them emotionally. It's a game to him. A game that he gets tired of when he finds someone else to play with. Thank you for being concerned about me, but maybe it's time everyone stopped caring so much about what he does. He enjoys us running around like a bunch of idiots, thinking about what he's going to do next."
"You're probably right. You promise me that you will still be careful, though. I don't care if you don't see him or hear from him for a month. Don't let your guard down too much."
"Uh huh." She was done with this discussion she thought.
He squeezed her hand. "Why don't you go to bed?"
"I want to check my e-mail real quick."
"Okay."
She signed into her e-mail. There wasn't anything important. She logged out and turned off her computer.
When she’d finished, he came into the bedroom and she said "You ready for bed?"
“I'm sleeping on the couch."
“You’re kidding right?”
“No. I don’t regret what we did. But we have to stop doing this. It’s going to cause more pain for both of us.”
She sighed and turned away from him. “Fine Nick. Goodnight.”
He went out to the living room, closing the bedroom door behind him.
She slept better than she thought she would but Nick was still up before her. When she went out to the living room he said "Morning.”
"Good morning."
"He's parked across the street again."
"Fuck him. Let him sit there all damned day."
"Sorry. Just thought you should know."
"As long as he stays the hell away from the wedding I don't care."
"Yeah." He sat a plate of food in front of her on the coffee table.
"Thanks."
She wasn't really hungry but she knew he was trying to be nice.
They ate in silence. Once the dishes were done, they curled up on the couch together to watch a movie.
Around 11:00, Nick went home to dress for the wedding. She felt silly wearing a dress since she hadn't worn one in years.
When she got to the bowling alley, though it was still ten minutes ‘til, there were already several cars in the parking lot. Nick's car was there. She had to take a deep breath to calm her heart which had suddenly sped up. She could hear laughter as she neared the doors.
Nick was the first person she saw when she walked through the doors. He looked good she thought. His long hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail and a few strands had fallen into his face. She wanted to brush them back so badly. He met her eyes and then quickly looked away, going back to the conversation he was having with an older man standing next to him, who she assumed must be Bobby. His very pregnant wife stood next to him, a toddler clutching her hand.
She hadn't known there would be so many children. Elijah was playing with two little boys who she figured belonged to Carson's friend and his wife, who also looked pregnant.
Ali finally saw her and she came over, giving Ami a brief hug. "Hey sweetie. I'm glad you're here. How are you?"
"Good. You look gorgeous."
Ali laughed. "And quite pregnant." She patted her stomach.
Trying not to look at Nick, she turned her attention to the tall man Carson was involved in a conversation with. He must be their minister she thought. Though he didn't look much like what she'd expect a minister to look like. He looked about thirty-five with long dark hair that he hadn't bothered to pull back from his face. He was wearing jeans and a shirt that said 'I love' with a picture of a marijuana leaf. She bit back a giggle. Was your marriage still legal if your minister was stoned she wondered?
"What's up with your minister?"
Ali laughed. "He comes well recommended. Don't let his looks fool you."
"It's your wedding," Ami said.
"I'm so happy," Alicia said. She was smiling from ear to ear.
Ami laughed. "I can tell. Elijah looks so cute."
"Almost as good as his Daddy. Wish me luck."
"You don't need it. You two are perfect together."
"Thanks hon." She kissed Ami’s cheek and then walked away to join Carson.
Ami thought that the ceremony was very nice. Carson and Ali had written their
own vows and the minister had a nice voice, very soothing. When the newly married couple kissed, the men hooted and even Elijah joined in saying "Yaay, Daddy."
Tears sprung to her eyes and she made the mistake of looking up. She met Nick's eyes. Suddenly it was too much. She had to go outside, clear her head.
Chapter 16
Once outside she let out the huge sigh that had been building up. She lit a cigarette and almost jumped when Nick said "Hi."
"You scared the crap out of me.” But that wasn't the only reason her heart was beating fast.
"Sorry.”
"Yeah." She didn't know what else to say.
"When do you want to start work?"
"I don't care. As soon as tomorrow if you need me."
"Next week's cool. We're still kinda training Missy. I'll help train you, but Penny will be the one doing most of it. She'll get nervous if she has to do too much."
She nodded. She happened to glance across the street then. There was an empty house there and Gabe was sitting in the driveway watching them. He caught her eye and waved.
"Fuckin' prick," Nick muttered.
"Kiss me," she said.
"What? Ami I told you we can’t do this."
"I have to make him go away. I can't let Ali see him. He can't ruin this for her."
"Ami, c'mon. I'll go across the street and tell him to get the fuck out of here."
"Just do it Nick, please."
When he still didn't make a move, she kissed him. His response was to almost push her away at first. She put her arms around his waist and finally he gave in. When they parted, she leaned against him for a minute. She could hardly breathe. Once he'd given in, he'd almost knocked her off her feet with his passion.
"You can let go now. He's gone."
She thought that he almost sounded angry.
She looked up at him, taking a step back. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Just don't play games with me anymore Ami. I can't take it."
"I wasn't playing games." But had she been she wondered?
"Sure. Let's go back inside."
He pushed past her and was back in the building before she could say another word. She lit another cigarette.
She was halfway through her cigarette when people started coming out of the building. She waited until everyone else had pulled out, and then followed.
Once she reached the restaurant, she hoped someone had saved her a place to sit and that it was as far away from Nick as possible.
When she got inside the restaurant, she could see the section that her friends had reserved.
She was going to kill Alicia she thought. Bobby, his wife, their little girl, Carson's friends (whose names she hadn't managed to get) and their two little boys were all at a table with the unconventional minister. Which left her to sit with Carson, Ali, Elijah and Nick. Her thought about sitting as far away from Nick as possible was going to work even worse than she'd thought. There was only one chair left and it was next to Nick.
She moved around the table, making sure Alicia saw the dirty look that she gave her. Her friend smiled an angelic smile and returned her attention to her stepson. She was helping him with a set of crayons.
Nick didn't look at her when she sat down. She tried to pull her chair as far from his as she could without being obvious about it.
The waitress came back and delivered drinks, asking what she could get Ami. Then she turned her attention to Elijah. "He is so cute. I can't wait to have one of my own. I can't decide who he looks like more, Mommy or Daddy."
Neither Carson nor Ali bothered to correct her. They just smiled. The waitress looked about sixteen, too young to be worried about having a baby.
The talk turned to the wedding and the honeymoon Ali and Carson couldn't have right away because Carson couldn't get any extra time off of work. Bobby and his wife Cindy had friends that were engaged and were going to recommend the minister. Carson laughed at the idea because he'd caught a strong smell of marijuana on the guy, but Ali reminded him that he had done a good job, and was certainly worth the price. Carson conceded. The waitress was soon back to take their lunch orders.
Nick wasn't saying much. She was afraid that she'd driven him away forever. More of his hair had fallen out of the band and she wondered why he didn't take it out. But it made him look sexy, a little wild. The waitress had certainly seemed to appreciate it.
She picked at her lunch, though the food was good. When Nick was finished, he got up and announced "I've got to get to work." He shook Carson's hand and gave Ali a kiss on the cheek. "Congratulations guys. Thanks for having me. I'll see you all later."
He didn't bother to look at Ami. He walked away with long strides, finally giving up and pulling the band out of his hair when he was about halfway to the door. He was a sight to see, shaking his hair out she thought. He could have been in a shampoo commercial or on the cover of one of the trashy romance novels that Ali was always reading. Ami wasn't the only one that felt it. Carson's friend gave his wife a dirty look.
Ami almost laughed, but managed to hold it.
The party was starting to wrap up. The minister was coming their way, having already had to almost forcibly hand off the two little boys back to their parents. They had grown quite attached. Ami wondered if the man had kids himself. He wasn't wearing a wedding ring, but you never knew.
He shook Carson's hand and said "Good luck you two. Here's wishing you a long and happy life together."
“Thank you.” Elijah's head was drooping where it rested on Carson's shoulder. "Looks like it's time to head out," he said.
"Thank you so much for coming.” Ali said.
"Have a good night Ami."
Alicia gave Ami a hug. "I'll see you later hon."
"Bye guys. Thanks for having me."
They went their separate ways to their cars. Glancing across the street, she saw Gabe parked in front of the clothing store that was across from the restaurant. She gritted her teeth when Gabe looked at her and blew her a kiss, a cocky grin on his face.
A few minutes later when she pulled out of the parking lot, Gabe pulled out in front of her.
If she hadn’t slammed on the brakes she would have ran into the back of Gabe's truck.
She almost called the cops on him then but once again decided against it. Once at home, she was bored and ended up watching four movies before she fell asleep on the couch. She missed Nick already.
A noise awoke her in the middle of the night. She reached for a cigarette, getting up and stretching. She moved to the window, moving back the curtain. She looked down at her car and then had to blink and look again. There was something on her windshield. Something big.
Just then her phone chimed a text message. She was afraid it was going to be Gabe but it was Ali instead.
It said 'Hon you'd better call the cops. Your car was vandalized.'
'Was it him?'
'Didn't see him but you know it was.’
'I'm coming down. Did it wake up Elijah?'
'No, thank goodness. It's bad hon. I hope you’ve got good insurance.'
She put on her shoes and grabbed her phone and her house keys. Carson was standing outside by the picnic table, pacing. He nodded at Ami. "You call the cops?"
"No. I'm gonna do it now.”
"Can I bum a smoke from you?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you smoke Carson?"
He sighed. "I quit almost six years ago but this shit is really pissing me off. Ali is freaked out. She doesn't want to admit it, but I know she is. If this fuck doesn't stop playing his games and something happens to the baby, I am going to go ballistic."
"I'm sorry."
"Not your fault."
She handed him a cigarette and her lighter.
"Nick's going to call you."
"Why did you tell him?"
"Because he cares about you. Because he would have kicked my ass if I wouldn't have." He gave her a crooked smile. She thought that he looked tired. "Go inside. See if
you can get Ali to chill out."
"Okay. Thank you for being a good friend Carson, though I want to kick your butt for calling Nick."
He laughed. "Go inside."
She stepped away, made her phone call to the police, and then quietly opened his apartment door.
Ali was sitting in the chair rocking. "Hi," she said.
"Hi. I'm sorry."
Ali shook her head. "Don't you dare be sorry. You're not the one that smashed the crap out of your car."
"It's my fault though."
Ali shook her head again. "Nope. Don't you start with that bull. You cannot control the actions of another person. Gabe's a fucking psycho. Did Nick call you?"
"No."
"Carson had to talk him out of coming over here."
"Great."
"He's going to look at your car in the morning and make sure nothing else has been messed with."
"How bad is it?" She went to the window. Carson was leaning against the picnic table, finishing the cigarette.
"It's bad. All the tires are slashed to shreds. You can see the rock that went through the front window."
"Damn it."
"Honey, we have to do something about this fucker."
"But what?"
Ali started to speak but then Ami's phone rang. It was Nick. She didn't want to answer but she gave Ali a look and pressed the button. "Hello."
"Ami what the hell is going on?"
"I guess Gabe trashed my car."
"I heard that but that's not what I'm concerned about. I'm concerned about you. Has he called you or texted you today?"
"No. He was watching me at least twice. I don't know if he was after that. I guess he must have been with what happened."
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. I was asleep. I didn't know anything happened until Ali texted me."
"When Carson and Ali move out, you are moving in with me. I don't care if you don't like it. Gabe is getting scary."
"Yeah. But I'm not moving in with you." No way in hell was she moving in with him she thought.
"Yes, you are. I'll be perfectly respectful. You're the one that's always trying to seduce me remember?"
Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set Page 90
