One Last Dance

by Nancy Stopper

  Sawyer dug in his pocket and handed over Joey’s keys.

  Joey ran to his truck, peeling out of the yard and racing down the dirt road. He couldn’t take this, take Brittany’s calm explanations anymore. If he didn’t get away from all of them, he couldn’t be responsible for what he did.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  BRITTANY STOOD IN the yard as Joey’s truck tore down the dirt path. Tears welled in her eyes. She turned back to the trailer. Maybe she could catch a glimpse of Rachel in a window or at the door. The curtain at the one dirty window beside the door fluttered, but it settled back into place and then nothing. Her heart seized but she stayed put. If Rachel saw Brittany was out here, maybe she would take some comfort. Maybe she’d even come out to talk.

  She’d waited in the yard the entire time the three men were in the house, the silence more deafening than yelling. Because she knew firsthand what could be happening in the quiet. What had happened behind the closed door of her own house.

  “What do we do now?” Lucas asked, running his hand through his hair.

  “How long has this been going on?” she asked. Other than the bits Joey had told her, she didn’t know the specifics behind Rachel’s situation, other than what she’d seen for herself. And that was enough to raise concern.

  “I don’t know, honestly. I guess she started dating Shane about eighteen months ago. At first, everything was fine. She was taking classes through the community college and working her shifts at J.J.’s. She had her own place. She hung out with her friends. Everything seemed okay. Over time, things started to change. She came around less and less, and she was always with Shane.”

  “When did she move in with him?”

  “I can’t really remember. Over the winter, maybe? Joey told me she stopped taking her classes. Shane said they couldn’t afford it. But my parents, our parents, have offered over and over to help her with any expenses she needed so she could stay in school.”

  “She doesn’t want their interference. If they’re involved, she may have to answer questions she doesn’t want them to ask.”

  Lucas’s eyes widened, and Sawyer’s head snapped around from where he had been staring at the trailer.

  “What do you know?” Lucas asked. “Something you’re not telling us?”

  Brittany stared at the tall evergreen trees, the wind blowing them gently. The sun filtered through the branches, casting dancing shadows in the dirt and pine needles she shuffled beneath her feet. She shouldn’t have opened her mouth. She knew what it was like to not be able to trust anyone. And she wanted Rachel to trust her. “No specifics, not really. I recognize the situation she’s in. She loves Shane, and despite what it looks like, she feels safe with him. Something drove her to him. And she’s going to stay until something drives her away.”

  “But I don’t understand,” Sawyer said. “The Rachel I know would never have stood by and let someone abuse her. She was strong and… and… audacious.”

  “She reached out last night. Or she tried to, at least. That’s a step in the right direction. She has to do this for herself. I know you guys don’t want to hear it, but she won’t leave until she’s ready. If you try to force her, she’ll just go back to him. We can only hope she sees Shane for who he is before it’s too late.”

  “You sound like you speak from experience,” Lucas said.

  Brittany didn’t respond. He’d asked a question he knew the answer to, at least deep down. Her situation was her private burden to bear, but she could at least try and make life better for someone else. An unspoken message passed between the men in the silence.

  Brittany shoved her hand into her pocket. Damn. She’d come with Joey and he’d sped out of the driveway without her. “Sawyer. I’ve got your keys. Do you think you can give me a ride back to town?”

  “Good thing. Otherwise, we’d have all been riding back with Lucas. Hop in.”

  “I should go talk to Joey. I doubt he went home, though,” Lucas said.

  She could guess where he went. And if she were right, Lucas would never find him. “No, let me. I have an idea where he’s gone. I’ll have him call you later.”

  Lucas scrubbed his hand over his chin. “Are you sure you’ll be okay? You don’t know how he is when he gets like this.”

  “I’ll be fine. Really, Lucas. Thanks. I’ll tell him to call you.”

  She slid into the car while Sawyer and Lucas shared a few more words. Sawyer eventually joined her, threw a last look back at the trailer, and pulled out of the yard with Lucas following. Away from a woman who needed help but didn’t know it yet.

  Brittany watched the trailer as they drove away and could have sworn she saw Rachel’s face in the window. It took everything in her not to ask Sawyer to go back and coax Rachel out of the house. Out of the situation Brittany knew to be volatile. But after watching her mother year after year make excuses for, apologize for, and tiptoe around her father, Brittany knew Rachel had to do this on her own.

  Brittany had seen the heartbreak on Joey’s face when he’d left the trailer, and she wished someone had cared for her the way he cared for his sister. But his anger scared her, too. She’d seen that look in her father’s eyes before. Joey wasn’t like her father. She knew that deep inside her. Joey would never hurt her. But his expression told her that sentiment wouldn’t extend to Shane.

  “What happened in the house?” she asked Sawyer.

  His lips pursed into a firm line, his muscles twitching in his clenched jaw. “Same thing as always. Shane didn’t mean to hurt her. If she had only done something different. He was sorry. He was drunk. I’ve heard it all in the past. I just never thought in my lifetime I’d hear those words from her.”

  “You care for her, don’t you?”

  Sawyer shot her a look. The anguish in his eyes betrayed his feelings. So did the grip of his hands, his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel. His silence spoke louder than any words he could say.

  She placed her hand on his shoulder. “We’ll just have to keep a close eye on her and pray she gets out soon.”

  Before long, Sawyer pulled into Joey’s driveway, her car the only vehicle there.

  “Are you going to be okay? Joey’s not here.”

  “I’ll be fine. I think I know where to find him.”

  “Listen, Brittany, I never thought I’d say this, but you’re really good for him. I think he needs to find a way to keep you around.”

  “Thanks, Sawyer.” She climbed out of the car and headed up the stairs. She watched from the porch as he backed out of the driveway and gave one last quick wave before he pulled away.

  Her stomach pinched and fluttered. her hands shook from the turmoil she’d witnessed and the memories it conjured. While she’d stood in the yard, her mother’s face had flashed in her mind, her eye bruised and her cheek swollen. Memories of Brittany’s sister, cowering in the corner, afraid of their father. Brittany shook her head. Right now, she had to focus on Joey. She headed into the house to grab her car keys and a few other things. She only prayed she could remember the way.

  The drive stretched on forever, Brittany’s knuckles growing painful on the steering wheel. She recognized a few landmarks and made a couple of turns. Hopefully she wouldn’t get completely lost. Joey didn’t need to be alone... not now. She wanted to help him through it. For once, she wanted to give to someone else what had never been given to her.

  She recognized a copse of trees and turned onto the dirt road just past it. The undercarriage scraped the ground of the rutted road as she wound her way up into the hills. Thank God. Joey’s truck sat in front of the same gate they’d ducked under that first day. She parked in the same dirt patch.

  She climbed out, shoved on her backpack, and headed up the path. She put one foot in front of the other, determination on her mind, as she hiked toward his cabin. After what felt like hours, she finally stepped into the clearing. He wasn’t sitting on the porch of his cabin… it didn’t look like he’d even gone in.

 
The sound of water falling over the rocks wasn’t the soothing sound it had been the day she’d been out here before. Had it only been a week? Not even a week. So much had happened since then.

  Maybe he was down at the river. She headed toward the bank but stopped when she spotted his boat tied up on the dock. She placed her hands on her hips and blew out a huge breath, staring at the flowing water until she no longer saw it. Where could he be? His truck was in the clearing. He had to be here somewhere.

  Her heart beat heavy in her chest. When she finally found Joey, she’d have to expose some of her deepest secrets. She’d never shared all of the details of her childhood with anyone. The bits and pieces she’d told Rachel were painful enough without digging into the specifics of what had driven Brittany away from town and her family. And what had kept her at arm’s length from every man in her life… the fear that other man were like her father and that she was like her mother. She’d spent her entire adult life proving to the world that she was strong—stronger than her mother had been—and that she didn’t need a man to make her happy.

  After standing on the river bank for a while, she headed up to the cabin, only to encounter Joey in the yard.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” he shouted. “I don’t want you here.”

  She bristled, fumbling back a step. Her heart raced and her breathing shallowed as ugly memories flooded her mind. Hiding in her bedroom, hugging her sister, as her father’s yells rang through the locked door. Cowering in the corner when he stalked her. His screams as he stood over her, with his hand open, before he smacked her across the face.

  She shouldn’t have come here. She wasn’t strong enough for this. This wasn’t her business, anyway. This was his family. He didn’t want her here, so she would just leave. Back to the safety of her car and then to New York, where she wouldn’t have to confront the past.

  “Well?” he asked.

  “I wanted to talk to you,” she said, her voice weaker than she wanted. Dammit. Why was she getting drawn back into this? Just the tone of his voice had her shaking. The only reason she hadn’t run was she knew… she knew in her heart that Joey would never hurt her. She had to do this. For Rachel. And for herself, because helping someone else might be the only way Brittany could finally put her childhood to rest.

  She stepped forward and he didn’t retreat—a good sign. She took another step forward, and his chest rose with a deep breath, and the muscles in his jaw ticked. They stood staring at each other for a moment before she reached for him, stretching her arms around his neck. She longed to provide him comfort, but he pushed her away.

  “Not now, Brittany.” Joey paced across the yard. “I don’t understand why you’re here. This isn’t your business.”

  “But it is my business. It’s everyone’s business. At least it should be.” If only someone had stepped in when she was growing up.

  “What do you know about anything? You don’t know me or my family.”

  “I know abuse. And Rachel is being abused.” He didn’t understand. He may not ever understand. That didn’t mean this didn’t need to be said.

  “It’s not the same, Brittany. You may have seen your mother abused. But this is Rachel and she is being abused.”

  “I know, Joey. I know because…” She had to get this out. It was too important. But she’d never said the words out loud in this way. Her heart raced and her hands shook. “Because I was abused, too!”

  Joey stopped pacing, his gaze locked on hers. She saw the rise and fall of his chest as he drew in several ragged breaths. He stomped up the stairs, but he didn’t tell her to leave. She waited in the yard for a few minutes, preparing to have this conversation. She knew his feelings were raw because of what was happening with Rachel.

  Eventually, she stepped through the door, closing it behind her. Joey stalked around the cabin like a caged animal.

  “Will you come and sit with me?” she asked tentatively. He paused for a moment and clenched and unclenched his fists. She’d learned enough about him in the last few days to know that he needed to process what she’d just said.

  Eventually, he sat down on the couch, his elbows on his knees and his head hanging. She slid her backpack off her back and grabbed the bottles of water, handing him one as she joined him.

  “Thanks.” He drew a long drink from the bottle but didn’t say anything else.

  Her heart raced and her hands shook. She could do this. She needed to do this. For him, and for herself. “It started when I was thirteen. I was finally as tall as my mother and thought I could stand up for her. Keep him from hitting her. But I was young and stupid. He raised his hand to me and slapped me across the face for daring to talk back to him.”

  Joey didn’t look at her, his head still drooping. “What did your mother do?”

  “She didn’t do anything. She stood by and let him hit me.”

  Joey’s head snapped up. Exactly the reaction she’d expected. Why hadn’t her mother defended her? If Brittany’s family had been anything like the people she’d met in Oak Grove, her life would have been different. “What kind of mother does that?”

  “One who has been beaten down, literally, for so long she’s lost her voice. When we were younger, she tried to leave him a couple of times. He always said he would never do it again and begged her to come back. And she did.”

  “But things changed when he started hitting you?”

  “Not for her, they didn’t.” The pain splitting her heart apart expanded. “I always wondered if she was relieved.”

  A look of shock crossed his face. “What?”

  “If he was hitting me, he wasn’t hitting her.”

  Joey jumped up from the couch and paced across the floor. He pressed his hands to the wall and took a few deep breaths before he came back and sat beside her. “Didn’t she try to get help?”

  “She’d tried. But my father was friends with the sheriff. They were good ol’ boys, drinking buddies. No one believed a word my mother said. She was ashamed. Ashamed she let him hit her. Ashamed she couldn’t leave him. After a while, I doubt she even considered leaving.” Tears welled in Brittany’s eyes. Images of her mother flashed in her mind, her shoulders hunched over as her father yelled at her. Her mother’s arms that hugged Brittany when she’d cried after her father’s abuse. The whispered words, reminding her not to ever tell anyone.

  “But what about your friends? Didn’t someone notice?”

  “I got pretty good at hiding things, covering the bruises with makeup, wearing long sleeves to hide my arms. And I had a handful of excuses when the injuries couldn’t be hidden.”

  “And they believed you.”

  “I didn’t give them a choice. What could I do? He was my father.”

  Joey leapt up from the couch. “You could fight back. Rachel could fight back. You left. Why can’t Rachel?”

  “It went on for years. I was eighteen when I left. And I left with nothing. I earned scholarships to pay for school—thank God—or I might never have gotten out of there.”

  “But Rachel has us. She has our parents. She knows we’re here for her.”

  “She loves him, Joey.”

  “She shouldn’t.” He paced again and Brittany stood.

  “But she does. And somehow, in her mind, she equates his hitting her with his love for her.”

  “That’s crazy.”

  “I know it sounds crazy to you, but not to her. Let me ask you… do you know of a boyfriend, or someone else in her life, who really hurt her? Not physically, I mean. Someone who let her down, disappointed her in some way. Her self-esteem took a hit somewhere. Something set her on this path toward Shane.”

  “No, nothing. She hasn’t had a lot of boyfriends. But come to think of it, things were tense between her and my parents last spring. I walked in on several screaming fights and Rachel running out in tears.”

  “That could be it. Or it could be any number of things. Did you ever ask your parents about those arguments?”

 
; “I didn’t, but you can be damn sure I will. What do I do about Rachel?”

  “Nothing. You can’t do anything until she’s ready to ask for help.”

  “That’s not good enough!” His voice grew louder, echoing in her ears. “There has to be something. Just because your mother didn’t leave doesn’t mean that Rachel can’t.”

  Brittany shrank away from him. But Joey wasn’t her father. Joey wasn’t yelling at her. He was angry about the situation. No matter what, Joey would never hit her. She kept telling herself that.

  She reached for him, needing to touch him. To provide him the comfort she’d never had growing up.

  He stiffened and then turned fiery eyes on her. “Is this what you came for? A quick lay?” He crashed his lips down on hers. It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t tender. It wasn’t Joey. Not the Joey she had come to know over the past week.

  She wrenched her lips away from his and wiped her hand over her mouth as though she could wipe away his anger. “Joey, stop.”

  “I don’t want to talk anymore. So unless you wanna screw, you should go. Head back to your little car and back to your nice little life in the city where you belong and leave us alone.”

  She reeled. Those words hurt. He was lashing out and didn’t mean what he’d said. That didn’t stop it from hurting, though. More than she’d expected. That was when she knew. Knew that she loved this anguished man sitting in front of her. Because if she didn’t love him, this wouldn’t hurt so much.

  She had to try. One more time. “I didn’t think you should be alone right now.”

  “What are you going to do about it? I was alone before I met you, and I’ll be alone when you go back to the city, so what makes you think I want you here now? Just go.”

  He turned his back to her, ending their conversation. Dismissing her. If that was what he wanted, that was what he’d get. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she grabbed her backpack and hurried out of the cabin.

  Chapter Twenty-Four