Page 67 of The Coworker
Because the last man who told me he loved me tried to kill me.
But there is no way I can leave him hanging. It’s obvious how badly he wants me to say it back. I’m sure he would pretend it’s all right if I didn’t, but inside, it would kill him.
“I love you too,” I say.
He kisses me, and I want it to be this wonderful moment when we tell each other we love each other for the first time, but I can’t stop thinking about the last time I said those words.I love you, Shane.
Then a few hours later, he was tightening that necklace around my throat.
Our kiss is interrupted by the sound of Josh yelling at the TV screen. I had told him to go up and do his homework, but apparently, he decided to play more Nintendo. “Oh my God,” I say. “That kid is in serious trouble.”
I go out to the living room just in time to see something exploding on the television screen. I poke Josh hard in the shoulder. “Up to your room now, buddy.”
“But, Mom—”
“Josh,now.”
“I’m right in the middle of this level!”
“Listen to your mom,” Tim says sternly.
I love the way Tim is with Josh. He respectfully defers to me on everything, but he always backs me up if I need him to. And Josh really loves him. The two of them are pretty adorable when they’re doing something together—Nintendo, baseball, home repair.
Josh grumbles, but he shuts off his game and throws the controller down on the sofa. With the Nintendo off, the television turns to cable, which is showing the evening news. Josh stomps up the steps one by one, then the door to his room slams loudly.
“Am I that mean?” I ask Tim.
“No way,” he says. “I used to teach fifth grade when I started, and sometimes these kids need a push in the right direction. But he’s a good kid. He wants to do well in school, and he’ll be grateful that you made sure he did his work.”
“Maybe…”
My eyes go straight to the television screen, which is showing a local news story. It’s about a missing woman. Kelli Underwood, who disappeared two days ago. She was discovered to be missing when she didn’t show up for her waitressing job.
Waitressing job?
I look closer at the television. There’s a photograph of the missing woman plastered on the screen. And right away, I recognize her.
It’s that waitress from the Shamrock. The one I knew from high school. The one I ran into at the grocery store, who yelled at me for testifying against Shane and told me to stay away from Tim.
Tim is also staring at the television screen. His eyes widen when they show the photograph of Kelli. His fingers grip the edge of the sofa, his knuckles turning white.
“Isn’t that the waitress from the Shamrock?” I say as casually as possible.
“Um.” He rips his eyes away from the television screen. “Is it? Maybe. I haven’t been there in a long time. Not since we went together.”
“You’re not sure? Didn’t you say you went out with her?”
“No,” he says. “I mean, barely. We got a drink together when she was done with her shift. That’s it. It was nothing.”
“I see…”
I’m almost certain he told me they went out on two dates. And Kelli certainly seemed to remember it when she confronted me at the supermarket. But he doesn’t want to admit it.
Maybe because this isn’t the first girl he’s gone out with who suddenly vanished.
“Listen, Brooke…” He runs a slightly shaky hand through his hair. “I think I might head back to my place. I’m kind of beat and we’ve got an early morning meeting tomorrow. So I’m just going to sleep at my own place.”
I had assumed after we exchanged “I love you’s” for the first time, we would make passionate love soon after. But instead, Tim can’t seem to get out of here fast enough. And then when he’s walking down the steps of my front porch, he trips and almost falls on his face.
