Page 28 of Beautifully Used
I nodded. Not sure what to say. I figured she was thinking about how attracted she’d been to Jeff before he’d showed her his true colors. “No one would have guessed that about the guy, Gabrielle, so don’t beat yourself up about it.” When she only glanced at me briefly and shook her head at her coffee cup, I added, “I asked Jackson about him, you know.”
Her eyes raised to meet mine in question. “When you were dancing with him. I asked Jackson about him. Nobody really knew him all that well.”
“Why was he invited to the wedding?”
I shrugged. “Jackson invited the whole soccer team. Hell, he invited the whole town.”
“You got there in time. He didn’t… he wasn’t… he never…”
“I’m glad,” I interrupted, not wanting her to have to say it. She seemed grateful for that. “Gabrielle, I don’t… I mean, I’m not going to pretend to know how you feel about what happened, but I want you to know that I wouldn’t blame you if you broke down and cried or yelled or screamed. Got angry. Hell, I’m angry.”
“I am angry, Brodie. But I don’t know how to feel about it. He didn’t get to rape me. I’m glad about that, but at the same time, I’m pissed because now he won’t go to jail.”
“He will for attempted rape and assault.”
She shook her head. “Not the same.” She stood, headed toward the door, and turned toward me. “Look, Brodie, I appreciate what you did for me, but you heard him. He told the cops that he never intended to go that far. That he was never planning to screw me. That we were just having an intimate make out and fondling session until you came and interrupted us. It’s his word against mine, and what if they believe him?”
“We’ll just have to make sure they believe us; your word and my word.”
“You weren’t there the entire time. You can’t testify to something you didn’t see. He’s liable to say anything up until the point when you yanked him off of me and started fighting with him. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so very grateful and glad that you stopped him, but another part of me is almost sorry because now he’s going to be free to do it to someone else. There is no proof of what he was going to do. He’ll do it to someone else, or worse yet…” She stopped and sucked in a sob. She didn’t need to complete the sentence. We both knew what her fear was, maybe it was my fear too; that he’d try to find her and finish what he’d started.
“Let’s get going and clean up the back yard. I have to find a place to live, and I only have two weeks to do it.”
“You know Lena and Jackson won’t kick you out if you don’t find something by the time they get back.”
“I know, but I don’t have the slightest desire to room with newlyweds either.”
“Why don’t you just stay here, then?” The words had left my mouth before I had a chance to think about them. Gabrielle and I may have had our differences, but I didn’t like the idea of her staying alone at Lena and Jackson’s after what happened.
“Here?”
“Sure.”
“You want me to stay here? With you?”
I shrugged. “Not with me.” I suddenly felt like I needed to clarify that. I knew she didn’t like me all that much. Even if we had shared a dance and a movie last night. “But here. Yes. Why go to Jackson’s when all your stuff is already here? You can just stay in the same bedroom you’ve been staying in until you find something.”
Chapter 22
Gabrielle
* * *
Brodie and I took down all of the decorations and piled all the dirty glassware and dishes into the crates the rental company had supplied. We sat in the shade of a large oak tree on two teak Adirondack rocking chairs, sipping lemonade and watching as the two men from the rental company took the wooden planks of the dance floor apart and loaded them onto a truck with all of the tables and chairs. I was glad to see the dance floor go. Even though Brodie and I had shared our first dance there, it also held some rather unpleasant memories since I’d danced with Jeff there, too. I’d like to forget I ever thought he was attractive.
Brodie handed one of the guys an envelope that I knew held a sizable tip. One thing I’d learned about Brodie over the past couple of weeks was that he never skimped on tips. I guess running a bar and relying on those every day elevated the importance of them. I’d always considered myself a generous tipper until I’d met Brodie and Jackson.
Even after the men had finished loading up the truck and were long gone, I stayed outside on the chair while Brodie went inside to fill our glasses with more lemonade. Rufus lay by my feet, content to be in the shade. It turned out to be a fairly warm day, much like yesterday and the day before. The weather didn’t show much variation this time of year. It was either hot or extremely hot. I watched Brodie stroll out from the kitchen door, tray balanced on one hand, guitar case dangling from the other. We stayed outside in the shade of the tree most of the afternoon while Brodie strummed softly on Jackson’s guitar. He gave me a shhhh, holding his finger to his lips and said, “Don’t tell Jackson I played his guitar. He’s kinda OCD about other people touching it.”
I grinned. “Okay. Mums the words.” I closed my eyes and listened to the soft tunes Brodie played. I’m almost certain I fell asleep. Maybe. Not completely, because the sudden silence jarred me awake and I sat up straight. Brodie still sat in the chair beside me, the guitar perched against the tree on his other side, his eyes closed. I sank back again and closed my eyes. We were both exhausted from all the work, not to mention the fact that we’d both slept on the couch last night. It was nice having him there. I wondered why he stayed with me. Up until last night, he never really seemed to pay much attention to me. There was also the fact that he hadn’t been out with any of the women Lena claimed he spent so much time with; at least not since I’d been there.
A week and a half after the wedding, I was still staying in Brodie’s spare room, and to my surprise, Brodie still stayed home every night. We ate dinner together when he wasn’t working at the bar, and even then, I’d go to the bar with him, mostly because I didn’t want to stay at the house alone. I had lugged the laptop along with me a couple of times to work on the second book, but I did manage to have a few beers while I hung out and listened to the band. I even sang a few songs with them since Lena and Jackson weren’t there.
Tonight would be one of those stay at home nights. It was late afternoon. Brodie had taken the day shift at the bar and wasn’t home yet. I didn’t mind staying alone during the day. It was mostly at night, when the shadows lurked outside in between the trees and in my mind that bothered me.
I opened the freezer to pull out some chicken to defrost. I’d said I would cook dinner. I was going to make chicken parmesan, an old family recipe.
Music from my cell phone sang out the generic ringtone I’d programmed for unknown callers. I didn’t recognize the number but slid the answer switch across the screen.
