Page 31 of QB Keeper
“At least then I’d have some company,” I say with a laugh, but it’s fake at best. Cash’s mornings have been getting earlier, his nights later, and even when he is home, he’s too tired to do anything together. I’m trying my best to be understanding because this project is about to make life a lot easier for some very well-deserving women and their children, but it’s starting to wear on me. I always feel like I’m coming in second place to whatever Cash has going on in his life. It would be nice to be a priority, just once.
Monroe scoffs. “You’re too good for that guy,” she says bluntly. “First of all, he takes everything you do for granted. Secondly, he’s pretty, but not nearly as pretty as you are. Youcould do better.” One thing about my bestie…she doesn’t mince words. She’s always had a strong dislike for my fiancé and has never been shy about letting me know.
I roll my eyes and chuckle quietly, because there isn’t really a point in arguing. I’m too frustrated with him right now to put any energy into defending him. He doesn’t exactly deserve it at the moment.
I take a few photos of her, then send them so she can get them posted to the boutique’s social media accounts. We seem to see an influx of customers on the weekend when we make a post on Friday about new inventory, so I'm crossing my fingers that tomorrow brings more people through our doors.
“Nice work, girls,” Claire says, looking up from her phone. “You've done enough today, and you got here extra early this morning. Why don't you both take off and enjoy the rest of your evening?” The words are like music to my ears because all I can think about is pouring a glass of wine and soaking my body in a hot bubble bath. If I'm lucky, I'll have enough time before Cash comes home to enjoy a little one-on-one time with my vibrator. It's been months since I had actual intercourse, and if I don’t get myself off tonight, I’m going to turn into a different person. Nobody wants that.
I don’t argue, packing up my things and hightailing it out of the building toward my car. I make the ten-minute drive, pulling into the garage and noticing that Cash is already here. I should be excited that he’s home before dark, but I immediately get the feeling that something is off. I hear loud music coming from upstairs, which catches me off guard because if he’s up there, he’s either in bed or in his office working. But if it’s the latter, he wouldn’t have the volume so loud. On the few occasions, he’s worked from home, he’s asked me to keep the noise down because it distracts him. He doesn’t even like it when I run the vacuum if he’s in his office.
I don’t bother announcing myself as I enter the house, because he wouldn’t hear me anyway. Making my way up thestairs, I notice that the office is wide open and empty, so I bypass it, heading toward the bedroom. The door is slightly ajar, and just as I go to push it open, I come to a dead stop when movement catches my eye on the bed.
I recognize Cash’s back as he lies naked between a woman’s parted legs. I’m frozen, watching as he thrusts into her, grunting while her loud moans fill the room over the rock song that plays in the background. His hand goes up to the headboard and she hooks her ankles above his ass, her fingers sliding around his torso and digging into the skin below his shoulder blades. My brain is screaming at my body to move, but it’s like my feet are stuck in cement as I watch my fiancé, who hasn’t touched me in months, fuck another woman in the bed that we share.
“Fuck, baby,” he says, breathing heavily. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she says back, and that seems to snap me from my stupor. Tears well in my eyes as I turn toward the stairs and run as fast as I can out the front door. I don’t grab my purse, my keys, or anything else. All I can think about is getting out of the house and away from all of this.
I sprint down the driveway, not really even knowing where I’m going. It’s before five o’clock, so my parents aren’t home yet, but I run toward their house. If anything, it’ll give me a place to hide while I try to figure out what I’m going to do. I’m numb as my feet carry me down the sidewalk, my vision blurring with the tears that are filling my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall.
“Grace, are you okay?” says a familiar voice. I look up to find Tanner running toward me, concern written all over his face as he approaches. I know I should be mad at him right now, but the sight of him comforts me, making me crash right into his body and wrap my arms around him, fisting the back of his t-shirt in my shaking hands. He embraces me, holding so tightly that it forces the breath from both of our lungs. Fora split second, I breathe him in, succumbing to my need to feel safe and protected.
I allow myself just a few more moments of it before I pull away. The tears I was holding in have now started running down my cheeks, prompting him to reach up and smooth them away.
“What’s going on?” he asks. “Are you hurt?” He looks me over for any signs of injury, but I shake my head rapidly.
“I need,” I start, choking on my words. “I need to get out of here. I left all my stuff inside.” I look back at my house, terrified at the thought of going back in there. But as if he can read my mind, Tanner wraps a protective arm around me and leads me to his car. I know I shouldn’t get in. He’s hurt me worse than anyone else ever could, but all I can think about right now is getting away from here before Cash realizes I saw him. He’ll know as soon as he sees my bag on the counter and my car in the garage. I just can’t face him right now.
He opens the door to his Tesla, ushering me in and reaching across my body to fasten my seatbelt. There’s a nanosecond where we make eye contact, but I have to look away because it’s almost too much for me right now. After all these years, and all the anger and resentment I still hold toward him, being near Tanner feels like a lost piece of me has been returned. He shuts my door carefully, running around the front of the car and getting into the driver’s seat. He doesn’t say a word until we’re miles away from my street.
“Can you tell me what happened?” he asks softly.
I sniff, trying my best to get myself together so I can speak. “I got out of work early today. I was excited to get home, but thought it was really weird that Cash was already there. He’s been working really late for the past six months, so it was strange to see him home before dark. I knew something was wrong as soon as I got inside.” I swallow thickly. “He wasn’t alone.”
I see his hands as they tighten against the steering wheel.His jaw clenches and I can tell that he’s angry. “That stupid motherfucker. I’m going to kill him,” he says quietly.
“No, you aren’t,” I say. “I can’t go home right now. I have two days before I have to be back at work. I just need to figure out where I’m going to stay until I can process all of this.” Tears well up in my eyes again, but I fight them back. I’ve survived worse. I’m not letting Cash break me.
He stays silent for a moment, eventually exhaling slowly. “I have somewhere you can stay.”
I don’t answer. I just give him a tight nod because as much as I don’t want his help, I’m kind of desperate right now. Once Cash realizes I caught him in bed with another woman, he’ll be looking for me. I doubt he’ll call my parents and tell them he can’t find me because they’d have questions. He plays the role of doting fiancé in front of them, so he wouldn’t be willing to run the risk of them finding out he’s been cheating on me. My phone is in my purse on the counter, so I just need to find a way to text my mom and dad that I’m spending the weekend out of town. That should be enough to buy me a couple of days without raising any red flags. Even though I didn’t do anything wrong, I don’t want to get them involved until I’ve sorted out my own emotions.
We drive in silence for a few more minutes, but as soon as he turns down the gravel road, my stomach twists. I sit up straight, looking over at him. I’m sure he can see the fear written across my face as he comes to a stop in front of the lighthouse.
“No,” I say, shaking my head rapidly. I do everything I can to stop the stinging in the back of my eyes, but it’s no use. They fill with tears and spill over immediately as every memory of the last time I was here rushes back into my mind. Him telling me he didn’t love me and walking away as I begged him not to. Crying in the middle of this very road for what seemed like hours before finally getting in my car and driving myself home, where I barely made it into my room before I broke down again. Dayswent by where I was on autopilot, crying myself to sleep, just to wake up the next morning and do it all over again. “I can’t.”
He kills the ignition, turning in his seat to face me. I look away because I'll be damned if I let him see what being here is doing to me. He doesn’t deserve to know that I’m still affected by it. “Nobody will think to look for you here. I’ll leave you alone if you want, but you’ll be safe, and you can stay as long as you need to.”
He takes his key ring in his hand, removing a key and extending it to me. I stare at it as if it’s on fire, pressing my back against the door in an attempt to put space between it and me. “Why do you have a key to the lighthouse, Tanner? Your parents said they sold it.”
His eyes meet mine. “They did. To me.”
I pull my brows together in confusion. I have so many questions, but my emotions are currently all over the place and I don’t think I can handle drudging up the past any further than just being here is already doing. I need to process one thing at a time.
“Will you please stay?” he asks. I turn, looking at the beautiful home, noticing how literally nothing has changed. I can see through the windows that the same curtains are hanging inside. The Adirondack chairs that we used to sit in by the fire are pulled up near the dock. Can I even do this? Can I stay here when it’s filled with so many memories that ended in me losing so much?
I consider my options, which are basically none. I can’t go to the inn here on the harbor because people will recognize me. I don’t want to go to my parents’ house because I don’t know what to tell them. And I’m not going home. I need time to cool off before I tell Cash that we’re over. But we are. That’s the only thing about this that I’m completely certain of.
