Page 45 of Beautifully Used
“Lena and I took a walk on the beach yesterday around sunset.”
“Oh.”
My jogging became a little slower and I tried to relax my shoulders. I glanced behind us to see Gabrielle and Lena jogging so slowly they were almost walking… as they talked. I guessed Gabrielle was having a similar conversation with Lena that I was having with Jackson.
“How long?”
I gave him a reserved glance. “Since yesterday. And before you start to lecture me, let me tell you that I’ve stopped sleeping around. In fact, I haven’t been with a woman since before you and Lena tied the knot.”
“Wow,” was all he said.
We ran in silence for a few seconds until I couldn’t stand it. “She’s different.”
“Uh huh.”
“She is!”
“I know. I said, ‘uh huh.’”
“Yeah, but there was something in that ‘uh huh.’”
“Nothing in my ‘uh huh,’ bro, ‘cept a couple of u’s and h’s.”
“Well, keep ‘em to yourself.”
“Sure.” He glanced behind us. “I can do that, but not sure I’ll need to.”
I followed his glance with my own. Lena waved, smiling profusely, and I knew she and Gabrielle were discussing the kissing. Not a big deal, I told myself.
“I like her.”
“Glad to hear it. I don’t need to tell you how bad I’ve felt about the Beth situation, and I’ve always understood why you did the things you did. I probably would have been the same way. It’s hard to trust someone once that’s been damaged.”
“Yeah, well, I’m over it. Well, over the shock of it. I don’t know if you ever get over something like that.”
“No. I don’t think so.” My brother had never chastised me for the way I had treated women after the fiasco with Beth. My mom had left me alone, as well. I suppose I should be grateful for having such an understanding family. I sometimes wonder what my dad would have had to say about the way I’d acted.
“Gabrielle got a phone call last night from that creep Jeff.”
“She did?”
“Yeah. At least we think it was him. He called her a slut and told her he was watching her.”
“Watching her? How?”
“Don’t know. I don’t think he really is. I think him calling yesterday and saying she was a slut after we’d been kissing on the beach is nothing more than coincidence. I think he’s just trying to harass her.”
“Slime-bag has nothing better to do.”
“I called Doc this morning and asked him to check to see if the jerk was still around up there, just to ease Gabrielle’s mind. I haven’t heard back yet.”
“Did you call Derrick?”
“Yeah. He said he hadn’t seen him, but it’s only been a day. He told me he’d give me a call if the asswipe showed up in the bar.”
“Did he mention how Rufus was?”
“Yeah, and I asked, too. He said he was moping around like he’d lost his best friend.”
