Page 42 of Betrayal & New Beginnings

Her explanation made sense.Itold her not to worry about it.Mymove here toGeorgiawas kind of last minute, soIdoubtedArcherandVincehad been given much notice either.

“You seem in a good mood today, given everything that has happened the last few days,”Ruthienoted, then paused and leaned in closer. “Youhangin’ in there?”

I sighed thinking back to what a painRandallhad been in my life the past year and howIhated thatIcouldn’t just move on.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”Sheheld up her hands as if to tell me there was no pressure.

“I don’t mind.Honestly, it would be kind of nice talking to someone about it,”Iexplained to her. “MyfriendKatiefrom back inTennesseeis great to talk to, but she doesn’t know the guys like you do, so you may have more insight, which would be helpful.Though, if we talk about this,Imight need something a little stronger than aDr.Pepper.”

As if she’d heard us, our waitress walked up right at that moment to take our order.

“Let’s get some stronger drinks, then.Archercan drop us both off so neither of us has to drive,” she declared, and we both ordered a margarita and our meals.

I started at the beginning, telling her all the details aboutRandall.Herfacial expressions changed from anger to sadness to sympathy and then to a murderous glare, but she never interrupted or pressed me for extra information.Shejust accepted whatIwas willing to give, and for thatIwas so grateful.

“I just feel like an idiot sometimes for not seeing him for the monster he is,”Itold her. “Especiallysince my brother and gran clearly saw somethingIdidn’t.”

“Forgive yourself for not knowing what you didn’t know before you learned it,”Ruthiesaid to me and then paused. “That’smy favorite quote fromMayaAngelou.Ifind it’s a good reminder to not be so hard on yourself for past mistakes in life.”

That quote really hit home for me.Irealized she was right.Ineeded to do that.Forgivemyself for the mistake of being withRandallwhenIdidn’t know the kind of monster he was.Thequote made me wonder aboutRuthie’spast.Didshe too have a rough past?Shemust have seen the question and concern on my face, because she spoke up again.

“I promise to tell you my story too, but let me talk toArcherfirst,” she said quietly. “Itinvolves a police case he worked on, andI’mnot sureI’mallowed to share all of the details.”

I’d like for her to share and be able to help her like she was helping me, butIalso understood what she was saying.Hopefullywe could become good friends and she would confide in me when she was ready.

Just then, she looked up and to my side and produced a small smile.

“How did self-defense class go?”

I heardWade’ssmooth voice beforeIsaw him appear to my side of the booth.

“Are you two considered ninjas now?IfIsteal one of your tortilla chips, are you going to make me regret it?”

He had a big smirk on his face as he joked with us.He’dchanged from earlier and was now wearing jeans, anAtlantaFalconsT-shirt, and a baseball cap on backwards.Helooked so good, and he clearly wasn’t even trying.Ifelt my face heating asRuthiereplied back to him.

“Touch my chips and you’ll have to sleep with one eye open.”Sheglared at him, but then smiled to let him know she was messing with him.

He chuckled then put his hand on my shoulder and gave a small squeeze.

“You ladies enjoy your dinner,” he uttered then walked over to the bar to meetArcher.

I looked back atRuthie, and her eyes were wide, staring at me.Whileshe said nothing, the look on her face spoke volumes, telling me she didn’t miss the soft touch to my shoulder.

Her eyebrows rose as she smirked.Iknew my face was likely turning pink.Shechuckled a little at my clear embarrassment.

Maybe it was because my brain was fried from everything the last few days of dealing withRandall, or maybeIwas just tired from the intense workout at self-defense class, or maybe both, but instead of opening my mouth to tell her it was no big deal,Iended up blurting out the truth instead.

“We had sex!”Isaid quickly then gasped in disbelief thatI’djust told her that.

Her eyes widened at first in shock, but then she gave me a small smile.Iknew my face must have been bright red by now, soItook my hands and covered it, leaning down into them on the table.

“Don’t leave me hanging!” she replied.

I sighed and realized in for a penny, in for a pound.

“It happened the night after we went to his family’s house for lunch,”Itold her about the building sexual tension with him the last few weeks.

I explained thatIhad woken up hearingWadetalk in his sleep, thoughIdon’t disclose any details about the night terrors or hisPTSD.Itold her all the other details though.

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