Pulling into the same spot he had taken yesterday, Ian shifted into park and killed the engine. G2 must have known what to expect, because as soon as the bench seat was empty, he gave Ian a look and plopped down. "Be good, G. I'll bring you out something to eat."
Slamming the door, he caused a rattled boom to echo between buildings on the empty street. Todd glanced in his direction as he waited and he held the entrance to the diner wide-open.
"Thanks." Ian offered a slap on the shoulder as he slid by, focused on the smell of homemade food waiting to be scarfed down.
"Good morning!" The same woman from yesterday greeted them as they made their way in below the chiming bell. "You've brought a friend, I see."
The woman was pointing behind Ian, making note of Todd's presence. "Yeah, he finally decided to show up," Ian called out, taking a jab at Todd for yesterday's absence. The man knew he was just giving him shit. He could tell by the lopsided grin he had on his face.
The woman danced around the diner, giving a subtle swipe with her rag on the table she picked out for them to sit at. "Well, come on over and have a seat. What can I get you guys to drink?"
"Coffee for me, please," Ian said, taking the opportunity to look up at her, and caught a glimpse at the counter. No sign of anyone else. Drawing his eyes back to the table, he smirked at Todd. "He'll take a coffee, too, I'm guessing."
"All right, I'll be right back," she said, hurrying off toward the counter, singing along with whatever song was playing over the speakers at the moment.
Todd's mouth had to have been watering the way he was eyeing the menu. He was studying it like it was his last meal and everything sounded good. "You figure out what you're having yet?"
Todd's eyes diverted from the page of the menu just long enough for them to meet with Ian's. "Not yet. What are you thinkin’ about gettin’?"
Ian pulled the menu out from behind the napkin dispenser and opened it, laying it out in front of him as he looked over the options for the day. Yesterday's was more than filling. It had been delicious, but today he was looking to try something else, something different altogether. "I think I'm going to have a couple waffles. Stacked with strawberries and whipped cream."
Todd scanned the menu for another minute longer before the waitress brought their coffee mugs to their table. She reached into the front pocket of her apron and pulled out the same crumpled notebook she used yesterday. "You boys know what you want or do ya need another minute or two?"
Ian shrugged as he looked over at Todd, leaving it up to him to decide. With a shrug, Todd folded the menu and requested just about the whole damn thing—excluding the cow.
Laughing, Ian tucked the menu behind the napkins. "I'll have two waffles stacked with strawberries and whipped cream."
Scribbling down their orders, she asked, "Would you like sausage or bacon to go along with them?"
"Sure, you can throw some of both on the side."
She must have been looking for signs of the stray in his truck as her eyes ventured out the window. "Will you need a to-go box today?"
He smiled because he knew she had to have known better than to ask. She knew the dog wasn’t going to leave his side, not for a while anyway. "Yep, G2’s still with me. The owner hasn’t been by yet to pick him up."
With a raised brow, she asked, "G2, huh? You’ve given him a name already?"
Swallowing down the gulp of coffee he just took, he said, "Well, I felt bad for the guy."
She smiled as though she knew the truth. He was attached to the mutt and wasn’t too fond of letting the dog go back to being without a home. It was obvious and he didn’t care. So what if he took care of a stray dog like it was his own. It was the least he could do for the poor thing.
She tucked the notepad into her pocket and nodded before walking off in the direction of the kitchen. He took that spare minute to check once more for the brunette, but there was still no sign of her anywhere. Knowing his luck, it was her day off and he wouldn’t be able to see her for another day or two.
Chapter 6
She’d almost made it out of the house after applying a thick layer of makeup and taking a dose of Tylenol to stop her head from pounding. It was all his fault she had to call in today. She’d been working at the diner for over six months and had yet to call in once. If it wasn’t for John's controlling ways, she would have been in the car and heading to work.
Instead, she was sitting on the couch, listening to him apologize repeatedly and telling her he didn’t know what came over him last night. He didn’t mean to hit her that hard.
"Well, you shouldn’t have hit me at all," she said, for the fifteenth time since hanging up the phone with Cat.
"I know, and I'm sorry. I should have never done it."
He was pathetic the morning after. On his knees and shit, begging for her to forgive him. For what? An hour or two and he would be right back to doing it again. Pathetic. What was even more pathetic was the fact she was still sitting here, letting the shit continue. Instead of leaving, she was staying. He had that effect on her. Made her feel loved enough to believe he meant every word he said and would never do it again, but here she was dumb enough to believe him.
"But you did," she said, once again for at least the tenth time since waking up and dealing with the aftermath of his crazed antics from last night. "And I'm not sure there's going to be a next time."
Pushing him away risked another episode, but she would take her chances. She didn't need him hanging on her right now, not now or not ever. The love she had once felt for him was slowly dying and there was no way his words were ever going to make her feel different. It would take a miracle and for his fists to stop swinging for her to fall in love with him again.
Last night had been her breaking point. Now, sitting at home with a pounding headache and nowhere to go, she had plenty of time to figure shit out.
Except, he wasn’t going to allow her the time by herself to do anything that excluded him. Escaping his charades, she walked into the bathroom. Assuming she wasn't going to be leaving the house any time soon, most likely tomorrow, if she was lucky, she decided to wash the globs of makeup off her face.
The warm water splashed against her swollen cheek, causing her to wince at first, but after a second or two, the pain dissipated and the water relieved some of the pressure under her eye. She knew the bruising would look horrendous, almost like she was dressing up for Halloween or attending a mock trauma session for the local school—if only it was that easy.
A gasp interrupted her wishes and tormented thoughts of what could have been and what most likely would be. Catching his reflection in the mirror, she hesitated as she waited for his next move. It was obvious by the look in his green eyes he saw the damage he had done. If only the image of herself staring back at him, damaged and bruised, would forever stop him from attacking her verbally and physically every time he got upset at her.
"I'm so sorry, babe," he said, reaching out to pull her close to him, but she couldn’t resist the urge making her pull away. She saw the look on his face—a mix of hurt, anguish, and there was probably a hint of anger, too. "I didn’t mean to hurt you."
She ignored his words like they were full of contempt and deceit. She had once believed him. Once was probably an understatement. There had been several times where she had continued to let her guard down and allowed this kind of crap to continue. There wasn’t a single time where she hated him as much as she did now.
"I think it's time we get away from each other," she said, keeping a close eye on his reflection in the mirror. She could see the bitterness and the anger twist his once sincere and apologetic features. She knew this was pissing him off. Hell, his reactions were so predictable, she could almost count down the time she had until his hand would make contact with her skin—no way gentle or endearing, but rough and wicked. "For good."
She turned to leave the bathroom. She was five steps from the bathroom door when he grabbed her arm, causing her to tense on contact and
stand rigidly still, awaiting what was coming next.
"It's that new guy in town, isn't it?"
Closing her eyes out of frustration, through gritted teeth she said, "I have no idea who that guy is. This isn't about anyone except us." Knowing she was pushing his limits with the mocking tone she spat off with, she kept still, waiting for him to either slap her or let her go.
Yanked by the arm, he twisted her around so now she was face-to-face with him. The green eyes she had fallen in love with were now dark with anger and full of rage. She had overstepped with her tone, but she didn’t care. What was he going to do? Damage her some more? She was already damaged. There was nothing more he could do that he hadn't already done.
"We're not through," he said, gripping her arm tighter. His strength was insane when he was angry with her. It surprised her that death hadn't found her yet. A part of her knew it had come close a time or two, damn near scaring him to realize he had almost lost her. That was his biggest fear—losing her. He couldn’t wrap that obsessive mind of his around the fact he was going to lose her regardless of what he did or didn’t do. "You can't leave me just because you have found a new boy toy to love. I know how women like you operate."
"Women like me? Do you even have any idea who I am?" Her questions were filled with emotion that she was fighting so hard to keep control of. There was no way she would let him see her cry. If she cried, there went all seriousness of her tone and he wouldn’t believe she was leaving. Hell, she wasn’t even sure she would. She had nowhere to go that he wouldn’t be able to find her. "You have no idea."
Releasing her arm with a shove, he huffed past her, slamming her into the corner of the doorway on his way by. Her back had been sore from being tossed around like a rag doll last night, and now the corner of the wall sent searing pain through her shoulder blades.
He was storming out the door before she could figure out where he was headed. A part of her didn’t care, but the other part of her knew how crazy he was and she hoped he wouldn’t find the new guy in town and do something stupid—for her and the new guy's sake.
Chapter 7
He couldn’t take his mind off the brunette he had seen the other day. His gut had told him that he recognized her. Even if she wasn’t Jenna, he still wanted to know who the woman was who had tripped his inner feelings, causing a jumble of thoughts attempting to distract him from what he had come to West Grove for.
Todd took a bottle of water from the cooler and tossed it to Ian, taking one for himself before closing the lid. "You still thinking about who you were looking for at the diner?"
Ian had to give it to the guy. For being the town drunk, he wasn't slow to pick up on what was happening around him. Even if Ian played dumb, the guy would call his bluff. Taking a chance he wouldn’t, Ian said, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Dropping his empty bottle in the trash, Todd shook his head and pointed a finger in Ian's direction. "You may think I'm just a drunk and a dummy, but I know you were looking for someone at the diner. You couldn’t focus on eating without checking over your shoulder every few minutes."
"Oh, that was nothing," he said, trying to brush it off. "Just a nervous habit, is all."
Todd smirked, calling his bluff without saying a word. Ian tossed his empty bottle and headed for the ladder. They had made plenty of progress on the roof, but still had a little over half left to shingle and then they could move on to another project—replacing the vinyl siding.
"I guess you'll tell me or I'll just find out eventually," Todd said, mumbling his way up the ladder behind Ian. He stepped over the top rung and found his footing on the roof before asking, "Are you going to tell me?"
Ian couldn’t help but laugh. The man was demanding and unrelenting, but Ian gave him credit for trying. He wasn’t ready for anyone to know about his shitty past, and probably never would be. He hated the fact he had hurt her. That he had chosen the Army over her. If he had known where shit would end up, or how fucked up he would be over everything that had happened—between him and Jenna, him and Iraq—he would have never left West Grove. He would have stayed and provided Jenna with the life she had always talked about—a house of their own, a fenced-in yard with a couple of kids and a dog.
Standing on the roof, he took a look at his surroundings. Everything Jenna had talked about was right here—minus the kids. He had a house, a fenced-in yard, and a dog. Even if the place was a dump, it hadn't been at one time—a time before he allowed renters to move in and have their way with the place. Fuck.
"Just forget about it, man. It's not a big deal." He had no choice but let it go. He wasn’t going to get into details with Todd. What would it change by talking about it? Not a damn thing.
Kneeling down, he grabbed a few shingles and tossed them out in front of him. Taking the hammer, he pounded nails while Todd laid the shingles straight, overlapping them just right. The man was a pro at this roofing business.
A few hours later and they had completed the last of the roof. It was a good feeling to have gotten it done in a couple days. He was more than thankful Todd had stepped up to the job when he had feared he would have been stuck doing the work by himself.
Climbing down the ladder, he was alerted by G2’s raised fur and lowered head in the direction of the driveway. Someone was heading their way and G2 wasn’t about to let them get too close.
Ian hopped down and made his way over to G2, taking the time to secure his hand through his collar. It wasn't his dog, but he wasn’t going to be responsible for a person getting attacked.
A man approached from the east side of the house, turning the corner and walking straight toward Ian and Todd. The guy walked with an attitude, a sort of cockiness Ian had seen many times before. This guy was looking for a fight and Ian wasn’t going to have it. Besides, the guy looked like he couldn’t stand up against what Ian had to offer if it came down to fist blows and scrapping around the backyard.
"Can we help you with something?" Ian played it cool. Hell, he honestly didn’t want any trouble.
The man raised a pointed finger, trailing it between both Ian and Todd, his brows furrowed and his stance a weak attempt at being threatening. "Which one of you were at the diner the other day?"
While G2 was still showing his teeth with a low rumbled growl, Ian had to fight back against laughing at this guy more than holding back G2. He looked over at Todd before looking back at the estranged man who had waltzed into his yard. "I guess that'd be me. I heard they still had good food and thought I would grab a bite to eat before starting on this place." He pointed to the newly replaced roof as proof to the man that he wasn’t lying about getting shit done around here.
He didn’t know this man from Adam, but that wouldn’t stop him from taking him out. Who the hell comes to another man's yard and starts shit? One who wanted to be knocked the fuck out.
"Why do you ask?" His tone was mocking, all while he fought to keep the smirk off his face. When the man stood before him, his muscles twitching in his face, Ian said, "The last time I knew, a man didn’t rush into another man's yard wanting to know about the local diner without wanting to know something more. If you're wondering if I recommend eating there, I do. They have good food."
"Don’t get smart with me, kid. I'm not one to mess with."
His threat may have been one to take serious, but Ian wasn’t going to have it. There was no reason for this man to be on his property, running his mouth just because Ian ate at the downtown diner. How pathetic of an argument would that be? Pretty pathetic since taking one look at this guy proved he was out of his mind for coming here in the first place.
"Hey," Ian said, holding his hands up in an attempt to calm the guy down. This was not a good time for a fight, and the last thing he needed was to wind up in jail over some stupid argument about eating at the damn diner. "What's this about?"
Another jagged finger pointed in his direction. "You tell me. You think the two of you can sneak around town and not be noticed?"
/> Ian glanced at Todd, who in turn gave him a response by shrugging his shoulder, obviously thinking this man was out of his mind. The guy stepped closer and Ian could smell the booze on him. This guy was drunk and looking to stir up some trouble. Not here. Not today. Ian wasn’t having it. He had work to do. He didn’t have time for this guy's silly drunken antics.
"Look, I don’t know who you are or what you're doing here, but I have no idea what you're talking about. So why don’t you leave the way you came and head on back to where you live." Ian wasn’t offering an ultimatum. This guy didn’t have a choice in the matter. This wasn’t going to be a sit around and shoot the shit, nor was it a blame game for whatever this guy was trying to pull off. "Go on."
G2 tensed at Ian's side, keeping himself on full alert, more than ready for the guy's next move. The thing was, Ian secretly wished the guy would make a move. He was ready to relieve some of this tension from the last couple of weeks.
"What you talkin' to me like I'm a dog for?" The man stumbled forward, unable to stand straight. His words came out jumbled and slurred, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to fight Ian. The man looked hideous as he stumbled, taking a failed attempt to connect a right hook to Ian's face.
Three seconds. That's the time it took for Ian to have the guy in a headlock and shoved into the ground. G2 grabbed hold of the man's ankle, sinking his teeth further into the man's skin. Given the situation, Ian could have taken the man out a whole different way. Instead, he utilized his training he had learned in the Army to defend against the enemies.
"I think you have it all wrong, man," Ian grunted as he lifted him up by the back of shirt, securing the man's wrists in one gripped hand. "I'm not the one you want to mess with."
The guy spat his chew on the ground, mumbling under his breath about being defeated. Ian made a deal with him. Either leave now and never look back, or leave the hard way and end up in county. Either way, Ian would be happy.
Saving Jenna Page 4
