High Risk Rookie

by Odette Stone

“I’d what, Mom?” My tone went sharp.

  She raised her eyebrows. “I was going to say that maybe you’d learn your lesson.”

  I blinked several times. “My lesson? Are you somehow blaming Eduard’s indiscretion on me?”

  She rolled her eyes and poured herself a glass of wine. “I’m trying to mince my words here.”

  “Just say it.”

  “Levi is extremely handsome—and he’s younger than you. What do you think will happen down the road?”

  I folded three more napkins while I let that one sink in. It didn’t matter that she was talking about a hypothetical relationship. It was her thoughts that hurt so much. Even if I had much the same thoughts. “You think he’ll cheat on me?”

  “Well, history has a way of repeating itself.”

  “You think because Levi is younger and better looking than me, it’s inevitable he’ll cheat on me?” I thought about that for a moment. “Wait. Do you think Eduard cheated on me because you think he’s more attractive than me?”

  “Why do you always have to be so literal?” my mom complained. “If you want a relationship to work out, you could take a few lessons from your sister. She knows how to focus on being a partner first.”

  I stood up, unable to listen anymore without getting into a massive fight.

  “Where are you going?” she demanded, as I walked out of the kitchen towards the front door.

  Without responding, I stepped out into the cool night and slammed the door behind me. Then I sat down on the steps. Emotions churned inside of me. In the real world, I had thick skin impervious to the worst of verbal attacks. One hour with my mom, and I felt almost mortally wounded.

  I should leave. Levi and I should pack up and walk out of here.

  A car drove up the driveway, its bright lights shining in my eyes. I raised my hand until the engine turned off. Levi got out of the car and walked over towards me.

  “Hey.”

  “Hi.”

  “I got the ice.”

  “Thank you.”

  He sat down beside me on the steps, but he didn’t speak after that. When Eduard cheated on me, it had shaken my confidence. Now my mom’s caution against Levi made him seem even more off-limits. Not to mention how he had hurt Eduard to protect me and then our talk in the bathroom. He wasn’t who I thought he was. And that threw me.

  I stared into the dark. “You know, I thought being here this weekend would be different.”

  I could feel him looking over at me. “How so?”

  I gave a self-conscious shrug. “My sister wronged me—no one can deny that fact. I thought they would care about that, but instead…”

  “Instead, they’re pretending it didn’t happen in the first place.”

  I met his gaze. “It makes me feel stupid for caring.”

  “Keep fighting for what you want from people.”

  “Krista!” My mom called from inside. “I need your help.”

  I dropped my face into my hands. “I don’t know why I care so much. I am so stupid when it comes to these people.”

  He put a big hand on my neck and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You care because they’re your family.”

  I stood up. “I’ve moved your bags into the guest room across the hall from me.”

  He gave me a nod. “Have a good night.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Levi

  The house was a bustle of guests arriving and people talking, but I hadn’t seen Krista in over four hours. She had disappeared into the kitchen and hadn’t come out. The whole place smelled amazing, and my stomach rumbled as her parents’ friends waited impatiently for the afternoon meal to start.

  I stood between two older gentlemen who were discussing their golf game in detail. Eventually, the women from the kitchen started to file out and bring bowls of steaming food to the table.

  My eyes followed Krista as she carried a bowl of peas and carrots to the table. She looked around the room and our eyes met.

  She gave me a cute smile before she disappeared back into the kitchen. Eduard slowly came downstairs with Helene at his side. His arm was in a heavy-duty sling. The pain meds had obviously made him foggy. It gave me satisfaction that he would be no threat to Krista for the rest of the weekend.

  Bea came and stood in the living room as Krista’s father carried a giant roasted turkey to the center of the table. I watched him with interest. He had been all but absent the entire time I had been here. I hadn’t even been introduced to him yet.

  “Everyone, please come and take a seat,” Bea announced. She started to direct people where they should sit around the table. As everyone moved to sit down, I moved towards Krista, but Bea stepped in front of me.

  “Levi, why don’t you sit down there, near the end.”

  I looked around the table. Every couple had been seated side by side, but her mom was asking me to sit at the opposite end of the table from Krista.

  “I’d like to sit with your daughter.”

  She touched my arm and said in a quiet but patronizing voice, “I think Krista needs a little time with her sister. Do you mind?”

  I looked over at Krista, who was sitting at the opposite end of the table, kitty-corner to her sister. Eduard sat on the other side of Helene, but he seemed completely dazed.

  Without speaking, I took my seat and kept my focus on Krista, who was talking to Helene. The food started to be passed around, and everyone talked as they filled their plates. I couldn’t hear what Krista was saying to her sister, but they were engaged in a serious conversation. Eduard was staring down at his plate, but he hadn’t started to eat. I wasn’t sure if he was upset about their conversation or too out of it to care.

  “He’s not going to cheat on me,” Krista’s voice rang out loud.

  The entire table fell silent as we looked towards the two sisters. Krista was staring intently at Helene.

  “You don’t know that.” Her sister spoke in a knowing voice as she dished food onto her plate and then added some to Eduard’s plate, like he was a child.

  “Levi’s not a cheater,” Krista said between clenched teeth.

  I froze as everyone’s eyes shifted towards me before looking back at Krista.

  “Look, I just want you to be realistic about these things,” Helene continued in her know-it-all voice. “You’ve already been hurt…”

  Krista sat there with an incredulous look on her face. “And whose fault is that?”

  The woman across from me leaned over and loudly whispered to her husband. “I told you we should have gone to your mother’s for Thanksgiving.”

  Helene looked around the table with big eyes in an attempt to garner sympathy from her audience. “Why am I being punished for caring about you?”

  Krista stood up. “I don’t think you do care about me. You’ve been hurtful and unkind.”

  That’s it, beautiful, tell her exactly how you feel.

  Bea decided to chime in on the conversation. “Krista, sit down, please. We all know your sister is sorry, but please put it in the past. For all our sakes.”

  Krista remained standing. “No one knows she’s sorry, because she’s never apologized.”

  Helene stood up, her face red. “Why should I apologize to you? You were a terrible girlfriend to Eduard. You were never there for him.”

  The room collectively gasped.

  Krista’s voice went cold. “Excuse me?”

  “You basically drove him into my arms. You never called him, you never made him dinner—you were always working.”

  “Are you justifying your actions because you think I didn’t deserve him?”

  “Sorry if the truth hurts.”

  Krista paused, and I mentally willed her to take another shot back. “At least I have a job.”

  Bea stood up. “This is not the time or place for this conversation. We need to let everyone enjoy their dinner.”

  “You’ve always been jealous of me,” Helene yelled. “Of my talent.”

  Krista laughed
as she crossed her arms. “You used to have talent. I think the term we now use for you is washed-up.”

  “Stop this right now,” Bea demanded in a shrill voice.

  Helene made a noise of sheer frustration. With her bare hand, she picked up the mashed potatoes from her plate and fired them at Krista.

  Splat. They landed dead center on Krista’s chest. Potato and gravy went flying, with a streak of potato hitting Krista’s cheek.

  The entire room, myself included, sat there and watched in disbelief.

  Helene yelled, “Is it my fault that Eduard fell head over heels in love with me? You’re so jealous of our love story.”

  Krista picked up her roll and fired it at Helene. It veered left at the last second and hit Eduard on the forehead. “Well, I guess that excuses infidelity. It doesn’t matter who you hurt because you are in love.”

  Helene grabbed a fistful of mashed potatoes off Eduard’s plate and tossed them towards Krista. She missed wildly, and the couple next to Krista both cried out when they were sprayed in the crossfire. “You don’t want me to be happy! You have never wanted me to be happy.”

  Krista reached over to the center of the table and stuck both her hands in the peas and carrots. “News flash: no one in this family cares about what I want. They never have.”

  Her sister moved to stand behind two unsuspecting guests just as Krista took her shot. The vegetables rained down on the couple like orange and green confetti.

  Helene reached over the two people and grabbed two handfuls of mashed potatoes off their plates. Like an audience watching a golf game, we scarcely breathed as she took her first shot. One handful hit the wall behind Krista. The other handful glanced off her shoulder, and gravy and potato exploded like a bomb. “He wanted me. He told me that he wanted me from the moment he saw me. More than he’s ever wanted you.”

  Krista looked between Eduard and her sister. “I’m so happy for you both. You two deserve each other because you are the two most spoiled, self-centered people I know.”

  When Helene reached for the cranberry sauce, the guests cried out.

  “Yeah, well, no one believes Levi is your boyfriend. Eduard did some digging. He’s one of your clients. You’re such a joke, bringing him as your pretend date.” She held both sides of the bowl and tossed the contents towards Krista. If she had aimed for the woman with the blue cardigan, she would have set records. The woman sat there, covered in blood-red cranberry sauce, looking like a shocked victim at a crime scene.

  Helene wasn’t done laying down the insults. “As if someone like Levi would ever want to sleep with you.”

  I focused on Krista, who stood there looking so lost and sad it almost cracked my heart. Her eyes found mine, and I stood up—to comfort, to deny, to do something to help her out.

  Bea pointed at Krista. “This is unacceptable, Krista. You always ruin everything.”

  Krista moved around the table to stand in front of her mom. She spoke in a calm and honest voice. “Why is a party more important than how a family gets along? This stuff matters, and you never let us talk about it.”

  Her mom slapped her face with such speed Krista’s head snapped to the side. I moved back so fast, my chair knocked over. I watched as Bea raised her hand to strike Krista again, but I would never get there in time. I picked up my plate and smashed it on the floor. Chunks of it went flying, as did most of the food on my plate.

  The surrounding people cowered.

  Bea turned, her eyes wide. They got wider when she saw what I had done. “That’s a Denby plate.”

  I didn’t hold back any of my rage at her abuse towards Krista. “You touch her again, and I’ll smash every dish in your home.”

  She was breathing hard. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Every fucking dish, Bea. That’s a promise.”

  With extreme reluctance, she stepped aside.

  I stepped around the table and walked over to Krista, who stood there, her eyes downcast as she struggled to contain her emotions.

  I held out my hand to Krista. “Come on. We’re leaving.”

  I looked over at Krista, who sat silently in the passenger seat beside me. She hadn’t spoken to me since we had gotten in the car. I didn’t know if she had texted Charlie or Mica to let them know we were coming, but I let her sit in peace. We could work out the details later.

  As the signs for Port Alberni came up alongside the road, I looked over at her. “I should get gas.”

  She didn’t speak or react, so I pulled in and filled the car.

  “We should be there in about two hours,” I told her as I got back in.

  Still no response.

  I started the car and wondered if there was something I should be doing. My only goal had been to pack us up and remove Krista from that situation, but her quiet introspection worried me. Krista was who she was because she expressed all of herself, all the time. It felt spooky when she wasn’t speaking.

  I gave her a couple of long looks as we drove through town and pulled back onto the highway.

  She made a little noise.

  Her face was in her hands. Her shoulders were shaking. Krista fucking Taylor was weeping.

  I pulled the car off the highway, into the parking lot of an out-of-town motel.

  She continued to sob silently in her hands. Her car was too damn small to pull her into my lap. I got out, walked around to her side, and opened her door. Without speaking, I reached in and unbuckled her seat belt.

  “Come on.” I held out my arms to her. “Come here.”

  She stepped out and let me wrap my arms around her while she sobbed. I rubbed her back and waited out the storm. When her sobs started to subside, I caught her eye. “It’s going to be okay.”

  She stared back at me. “My family hates me.”

  I squeezed her tight. “No one could ever hate you.”

  “How do I even start to fix that?”

  I had no clue. I used my thumbs to wipe her wet tears from her cheeks and lied. “I’ve seen worse family fights than that one.”

  Those big blue eyes lifted to my face. “Really?”

  Nope. It didn’t get much worse than that. “Really.”

  She looked around. “Can we just stay here tonight instead of going to Tofino? I’m so tired.”

  The motel was on the faded side, but the lawn was manicured to perfection, and there were colorful wooden Adirondack chairs in front of each room.

  “You don’t want to see Charlie?”

  She shook her head. “I want to sleep.”

  I looked up and spotted the vacancy sign. “We can. Any preference for your room?”

  “Can we get one room but two beds?” She wasn’t meeting my eyes.

  It took me a moment to realize she wanted me near to feel safe. And that realization humbled me. “I’ll go check us in.”

  Once we had checked in, she showered and then crawled into one of the beds. Within minutes, she had fallen asleep. I ate, watched TV on silent, went for a run, and watched her sleep. Krista slept like she lived. She was five feet nothing, but she used up every inch of that bed in her sleep. It was almost as if she were trying to take up as much space as she could.

  My phone vibrated with a call from Mica.

  I stood up and walked outside before I answered.

  “Hey.”

  “Happy Thanksgiving.”

  “You too.”

  He got right to business. “Have you heard from Krista?”

  “Depends on who wants to know.”

  “Charlie says she’s been texting her all day with no response.”

  “She’s safe.”

  “You know this for sure?” he confirmed.

  I debated how much to tell Mica. Charlie and Mica were obviously great friends of Krista, but Krista was fiercely private. Still, I believed Mica and Charlie had her best interests at heart, so I decided to be honest. “She’s with me.”

  “I thought she was going to her parents’ for Thanksgiving. That’s why Charlie wa
s worried.”

  “We were at her parents’ place for the weekend. It didn’t go well. Now we’re in Port Alberni.”

  Mica took his time answering, which told me I had surprised him. To his credit, he didn’t dig further. “I know enough about her family struggles.”

  The whole situation concerned me. “They upset her.”

  “What kind of upset?”

  “She cried.”

  He growled. “Krista doesn’t cry.”

  “Well, she did.”

  “How is she now?”

  “Sleeping.”

  “We have this place for two more nights. You come here whenever you want. Charlie will take care of her.”

  No, I will. “Thanks. I’ll check in tomorrow.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Krista

  I woke up in bed, feeling hot. The clock between the beds said it was around four thirty in the morning. Levi lay sprawled on his stomach, clutching a pillow. He had kicked off the covers and was completely naked. I crept off my bed and stood at the end of his bed. The moon through the open window cast long shadows that highlighted his buttock muscles, still firm even as he slept.

  I moved to the bathroom and had a long, cool shower as the day replayed in my head.

  The food fight, my sister’s words, my mother’s hand striking my face—it all came back to me, making me feel sick. I couldn’t even meet my own reflection as I brushed my teeth. I shut off the bathroom light and crept back into the room. After sleeping so much, I was no longer tired.

  I heard Levi sigh in his sleep. I moved to stand next to his bed so I could get a closer look. He now lay in the center of the bed on his back, but the blanket was pulled over his waist, covering what I wanted to see most. His body, which looked like it was carved from stone, made me aware of all my imperfections.

  As if someone like Levi would ever want to sleep with you. Helene’s voice taunted me.

  Maybe part of me had misread Levi’s signals because I wanted to feel desirable. Now I felt unsure of everything, including my ability to read people. It had been a mistake to bring Levi along this weekend. I had all but forced him to get involved in my most private business, but today he had witnessed me at one of my lowest moments.