Page 16 of Crashing Without Justice

“Fuck,” I hissed. “Luke-”

“I don’t even know anyone named Rebecca Thompson,” he went on, and my heart dropped to my stomach as soon as he’d said the name. “What the fuck, Harding?”

“Rebecca Thompson is one of Trista’s cousins,” I told him, my pulse pounding painfully in my skull. “They’re really close, and Rebecca babysits Trista’s kids a lot. They have kids the same ages.”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” he bit out.

“Luke, I’m so sorry-”

“I don’t need you to be sorry, Harding,” he snapped. “I need you to get that fucking bitch under control.”

“I’m trying,” I assured him. “But she-”

“She’s fucking with the wrong people here, Harding,” he continued, anger lacing every single word coming from his mouth. “It’s everything I can do to keep Amy from knocking on her front door and kicking Paige’s fucking ass.”

I stood up to pace a situation that was getting out of control quickly. “Paige will call the police if Amy shows up at the house,” I said, trying to sound calm. “Do not give Paige that power.”

“The fucking bitch sent my wife texts that I’m cheating on her, Harding,” he repeated. “The only reason that I’m not the one knocking on her door is because Amyknowsthat I’d never cheat on her. Amy also knows that Paige is fucking crazy, so that helps.”

I winced.

I couldn’t help it.

This wasn’t the first time that someone had commented on Paige’s character, but I’d been too in love with her to side with anyone else at the time. I’d seen perfection in everything that Paige had done, and that’d been my mistake. I had let her smile blind me to everything else, and because of that, I had so many regrets where my family and friends were concerned. I should have recognized her ‘helpful’ nature for the controlling tendencies that they really were. I should have listened more when everyone in my life had started to have the same opinion of my wife.

“Look, tell Amy that I’m really fucking sorry,” I told him, knowing what I had to do now. “I’m going to call the police and file a complaint against her, so if you can send me screen shots of the texts, that would help.”

I could hear Luke let out a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone, and it only made me feel worse. “This isn’t right, Harding,” he said. “I get that she’s a woman scorned and all that bullshit, but dragging innocent people into your drama is not right. For Christ sakes, she’s a forty-four-year-old woman, she should be handling this with a little bit more maturity than she’s displaying right now. Besides, no one gives a fuck that you cheated on her. How is that any of our business?”

“She’s just trying to hurt me back,” I muttered, her reasons irrelevant at this point.

“Get the bitch in check,” he said, any compassion for Paige long gone. “I mean it.”

He hung up before I could make any more false promises, and when I dropped back on the couch, Trista was immediately reaching for me. Her hand felt comforting in mine, but barely. Just like me, she didn’t have any answers to Paige’s madness, either.

“What happened?”

“Paige sent Luke’s wife a bunch of texts, telling her that he’s cheating on her,” I answered, my head beginning to throb.

Trista let out a quiet gasp. “Are you serious?”

I nodded, squeezing her hand in mine. “I’m afraid so.”

“Oh, God…what…does his wife believe her?”

I shook my head, thankful for that little bit of a miracle. “Thankfully, no,” I told her. “Luke adores Amy, and he always has. She’s the single most important thing in his life, and everyone knows it.”

“What…what does she think she’s going to accomplish by doing all this?” she asked. “I just don’t get it, Harding. Even if we did decide to stop seeing each other, she can’t honestly believe that you’d go back to her after everything that she’s done, right?”

I shook my head again. “I don’t know. At this point, I honestly have no idea what she’s thinking or why she’s doing what she’s doing.”

Trista let out a troubled sigh as she let go of my hand to run both of hers through her dark hair. “This is so insane, Harding.”

I stared into her emerald-colored eyes, my heart and mind absolutely torn. “Is it bad that I don’t want to call the police?” I asked her. “Is it wrong that I still feel bad for her?”

“Guilt is a motherfucker, Harding,” she replied rather coldly. “So, I understand why you’re reluctant to put her in check, but she’s no longer onthe right side. Can’t you see that? She is crossing lines that no sane person crosses.” She eyed me a bit before adding, “In fact, has it ever occurred to you that she might need some professional help?”

This time, I ran my hands through my hair. “I can see now where she might.”

---