by Leigh, Jenn
“You made a beautiful bride,” Mark noted as he stood near me, looking at the photo.
“Thanks. It was the best day of my life, besides the birth of my kids. I married my best friend that day. We were inseparable, you know.”
“I bet,” he offered. “He was a handsome dude, by the looks of it. I’m actually kind of jealous right now. He landed the perfect woman.”
I blushed. “I was no saint—that’s for sure—but growing up together helped move our relationship along.” I put the photo in the box.
“What about you?” I asked. “Surely you have a love interest. You’re too good looking not to have any prospects out there. What about Nilka?” I added.
Mark picked up some toys and put them in the boxes he had brought up. “Nilka and I have a history, for sure. We were high school sweethearts for a long time, but lives change.
“She went away for a year right after high school. It was kind of a weird situation. We were never told why she left, but I guess we grew apart … Well, she grew apart from me. I was devastated, but she made herself clear. Now, I just hang back and wait. I’ve been on a few dates, but I think Nilka was the “one”. It’s too bad she doesn’t feel the way I do.” He had his back to me, packing up the clothes.
It was nice to have the distraction while we were packing. I wasn’t sure I would have made it through if I had to look at Julia’s little dresses or Anthony’s little league uniform.
I felt for Mark. He clearly had feelings for Nilka, and I thought she felt them, too. I hoped they could get to a point where they could be together. I would have to keep my eye on them and see if I could push them in the right direction—toward each other.
“Sometimes, people can’t see the forest for the trees, and it makes them do things they don’t realize. I truly hope things work out for you, and I’ll help in any way I can. It’s the least I can do since you guys are helping me,” I offered sincerely.
“Thanks.” He turned back to me and smiled.
By this time, we only had a few things left to pack up in the spare room, and that was Julia’s blankie, Anthony’s stuffy, and Jake’s cologne.
“I’ll give you a moment with these ones,” he offered politely as he walked by with a box in his arms, kissing my head.
I lifted Julia’s blankie to my nose and inhaled her scent. It was very faint after all this time, although maybe I was inhaling the memory more than the actual scent. She had carried this thing everywhere around the house. Through weeks following the accident, I had slept with her blanket in order to be close to her along with Anthony’s stuffed dog he got as a baby. The thing was horribly dirty, but it smelled like him—boy and dirt. I had sat on the floor in the middle of the room and sobbed into the blanket and the stuffy, hoping they could still see and feel me. I missed them horribly.
The last thing to go into the box was Jake’s cologne. I lifted it to my nose and inhaled deeply. I had gotten him hooked on the brand in college. All of his clothes had smelled like it. I had loved his hugs and how he had adored it when I had nuzzled his neck with my nose whenever we were on the couch cuddling or lying in bed, talking about the day. He had made me feel so safe and loved. The scent brought me that same comfort and safe feeling.
I unscrewed the cap and tipped the bottle over so a small drop fell onto my finger. I rubbed it on the inside of my wrist, put the cap back on, and then set it in the box with the rest of the stuff. Then I stood up and took the box out to the main area where Mark was waiting patiently.
“I think I have everything packed up, at least anything significant.” he said. “Just need to get the cat. She has been proving elusive, though.” He chuckled, pointing to a scratch on his arm.
I tsked at him and said, “I’ll get her. She doesn’t like strangers.” I headed off to my room where Tabby spent most of the day. I found her under the bed, coaxed her out, and picked her up. I had her soft-sided carrier all ready to go. This was one area I had her trained on. She was familiar with the carrier, so she never fought me on it.
“There we go, Tabs,” I cooed to her.
“All set?” he asked.
“I guess so. I’m not sure why this is necessary. I mean, it was just a text,” I sulked.
“I think I speak for all of us when I say we aren’t sure what’s happening or what that text means, but we’d rather err on the side of caution. I know this isn’t ideal, but we aren’t a bad bunch to hang out with.” He gave me a wink and a smile.
“I’ll be the judge of that.” I smiled and winked back. “Let’s grab everything and get back before Josh gets his knickers in a knot over how long we’ve been.”
Mark made a mock-terrified face. “Agreed.”
We packed up the truck and drove back to their home. Home—I was still looking for that place.
Chapter 9
JOSH
It pissed me off that she didn’t want me to take her to her place. However, I knew she was punishing me for making her move in. I wasn’t sure what was happening with this text situation, but I would rather be safe than sorry when it came to her safety.
“What’s taking them so long?” I asked Daniel who was finishing vacuuming the living room.
“They’ll get here when they get here, bro,” he said as he put the vacuum away. “Why don’t you go and clean the spare room and bathroom for our new roomie? I’m heading out to the grocery store to get some things for supper. Steak, potatoes, and salad sound good to you?” he asked, heading toward the door.
“Sure. Get a dessert, too,” I threw in as he was picking up his keys.
“Okay. See you in a bit,” he said, closing the door behind him.
I went up to the spare room and made sure it was clean and empty for Natalie. I also cleaned the bathroom and put new linens on the bed for her. After that, I decided to head down to the basement for a bit of a workout, doing some weight training and spending time on the punching bag we had set up last year.
I was just getting to the punching bag when I heard the front door open and the shuffling of feet.
I ran up the stairs to see Natalie carrying a box that was clearly too big for her to hold.
“Here, let me get that,” I said as I reached for the box.
I started toward her room with her following behind me.
“Here is your new space,” I said, walking into her room and setting the box down. “I’ve cleaned it up, so it’s pretty empty, just needs a woman’s touch.” I winked at her. “How many more boxes do you have? I’ll bring them up so you can unpack.”
“Just a couple more and three suitcases. Leave the cat in the carrier for now, though.”
Was it odd that I smelled cologne? What the hell happened with her and Mark? He better not be trying to steal my girl from me.
A surge of jealousy shot through me as I made my way back down the stairs. I saw Mark looking at the cat in the carrier and rushed up to him, punching him in the stomach.
He bent over with a whoosh. “What the fuck, man?”
“What were you doing with her? She smells like man,” I seethed.
Mark straightened up and rubbed his stomach. “Fuck, Josh, jealous much? That fuckin’ hurt, you ass.”
“I’m not sorry if you were getting busy with what is mine. Stay away from her,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Josh, dude, take a step back, man. I have no interest in her, and you of all people should know that. What’s gotten into you? You’re acting like an ass.” Continuing to rub his stomach, he whined out, “Don’t make me call Mom, because even though we are grown men, Mom will still take us down. I doubt you want that humiliation with Natalie around.”
He had a point.
“Why does she smell like another man, then?” I was desperate to know, sure my eyes looked wild.
“I’m sure, if you ask her nicely, she would tell you that she put on her dead husband’s cologne when we were packing her stuff up. Can I be a fly on the wall when you ask, though? Because I think you need to be
taken down a peg or eight, and I want to watch.”
I gripped the back of my head and blew out a huge breath. Fuck. Of course she would do that.
“Shit.” Was all I could say.
“I’d say so.” Was Mark’s reply. “Where is Daniel?” he asked.
“Went to the store to get stuff for supper.” I said as I grabbed two of the suitcases to take to Natalie.
I went up the stairs and found her sitting on the edge of her bed with a photo in her hands.
“I’m torn about what to do with this picture. See, I’ve always slept with it by my bed on my nightstand, but it feels weird to have it in another man’s house.” She looked up at me with unshed tears.
I sat beside her and looked at the picture of the four of them, a family photo taken in the fall. She and her husband were sitting in the middle of the photo with the two kids throwing leaves in the air. It was a perfect photo—all the leaves were caught falling on the camera, and everyone had bright smiles on their faces.
I took a breath then said, “Sweetie, you can have this photo anywhere you’d like. If you want me to mount it in the living room, I’ll do that. If you want to have it in here with you, you can do that, too. Don’t feel like you have to hide this part of your life. I know there will be good days and bad, and I expect tears now that I know what happened to you. Whatever you need, I’m here for you. We’re all here for you.” I grabbed her hand.
“Thanks,” she said tearfully.
I got up after a few minutes to leave her alone in her thoughts.
As I was almost out the door, she stopped me. “I want to move past this. I know I can’t live in the past, so please be patient. I do like you, and I want to give things a try, but I need time.”
“I know.” I looked over my shoulder at her. “I’m a patient man.”
I headed back downstairs to find Daniel and Mark putting groceries away.
“How is she doing?” Daniel asked.
“All things considered, I think she’ll be fine. Although, I think this move brought back some pretty heavy memories for her, so I don’t expect her to come out anytime soon,” I answered, putting a gallon of milk away.
“She was pretty sad at her house when we packed up,” Mark stated. “I thought I was going to have to call in reinforcements. I hated hearing her cry like that. It tore my heart in two.”
“All we can do is support her, and hopefully, we’ll get into a routine in the next few weeks or so. We do need to talk to Mom and Dad like we agreed, though. I think we should do it tonight, get it all over with at once. What do you think?” I looked at both of them.
“I get why you want to involve Mom and Dad.” Daniel stated with a worried look on his face. “How do you think they will handle it?”
“We may be taking a risk over their reactions, but I think it’s better if they know what’s happening. You know Mom, she would be super suspicious if we didn’t tell her what was going on when Natalie all of a sudden starts coming to work with us. Then we’d have her nosing in our business when all it would have taken was a simple conversation up front.” I explained
“Maybe we should invite them over so we don’t have to pack her up. Do you think we should invite our friends, too? I mean, they saw the text, and they’re bound to ask questions, so wouldn’t it be better if we can get it over with in one go? And besides, they might be great resources to us if we need them for anything,” Daniel stated.
I wasn’t sure how she’d take that, so I said, “I’ll go and ask.”
I went up the stairs and knocked softly. When I heard “Come in,” I opened the door to see her putting away her clothes.
“You’ve made some good progress in here,” I offered with a smile.
“Thanks. I couldn’t just sit and sulk, so I started unpacking.” She returned my smile.
“We were talking downstairs, and when we talked about everything that has happened to you, we all said we needed to inform Mom and Dad. Daniel offered to bring them here in a familiar space to talk about everything. He also thought it might be necessary to invite all our friends over, as well, since they saw that text. That way, we could get it all done at one time. What would you like to do?” I asked.
“Um…” She paused. I was worried I had pushed her too far because she was deep in thought for a while after, but then she said, “I think it would be okay. I agree that I’d rather do it in familiar territory, and I would rather not have to rehash it time and time again. So, okay, let’s do it. You’ll be with me, right?”
I pulled her in for a hug. “Of course, baby, anything you need, you got it,” I said into her hair. God, she smelled good. I just wanted to stay in this embrace for hours.
“Thanks,” she said, her voice muffled in my shoulder.
I kissed the top of her head and left her room, going downstairs where I told the guys to invite everyone over.
Dinner went off without a hitch. After we had our dessert, we invited everyone into the living room where I started the conversation off.
“Thanks for coming out tonight. I know this isn’t a normal occurrence, but some things have happened to make this conversation necessary. This is a very difficult situation for Natalie, but we need to hear this from her.” I looked at everyone as I sat next to Natalie, grabbed her hand, and waited for her to speak.
“Hi, um, like Josh said, there have been some difficult things in my life that have come up again, and so it would be best if I shared them with you. Please don’t take pity on me once I finish, though. That isn’t why I am telling you my story,” she started.
I heard a cell phone go off in the kitchen and thought it was mine, so I slipped out and headed into the kitchen as Natalie started her story.
I grabbed the offending cell phone and opened the text message.
Have they figured it out that you are a murderer yet?
I glanced over at Mark and Daniel, and they both looked at me in return, both concern and questions flashing in their expressions. I frowned and shook my head slightly, telling them to stay put. Then I forwarded the message to my own phone and deleted it off Natalie’s. She didn’t need any more stress.
I joined her back on the couch and returned my hand into hers as she finished her story.
I looked over to my mom who was fully crying and sobbing into my father’s chest. Our friends were in various stages of shock and sadness. I noticed Mark trying to comfort Nilka. He was still hung up on her. I wish I knew what the problem was, but neither of them had ever shared, and I didn’t push. You could tell there was something there, though.
After a few more hours of talking and comforting each other over the situation—during which we didn’t let my parents know about the texts—everyone went home. Natalie was looking more drained than ever, so I sent her to bed.
“You saw another text, didn’t you?” asked Daniel as Mark came up beside him.
I nodded my head. “I sent it to myself and deleted it off her phone. She doesn’t need any more stress right now. We need to find out who is sending these texts. They are starting to get out of hand.”
“Do you think we should involve the police?” Mark asked.
“Well, we could, but there is nothing threatening about the text at this point, so it’s doubtful that anything will happen right now. We just need to see if we can track the cell number and find who is texting her.”
“Hmmm … I wonder if Shane’s friend Mike can help. He’s all about computers and shit. I’ll talk to Shane in the morning,” Mark suggested.
“Okay, that sounds good. I’m beat. Let’s call it a night.”
Chapter 10
2 years, 7 months, 10 days
A few weeks had passed, and I had to say that living with a bunch of guys had been easier than I had thought. I would have to remember to thank Laurel for raising her boys right. They all cooked and cleaned, and they weren’t big on clutter. I was worried I was going to be a maid to a bunch of slobs, but I had to say the transition had been mostly stress
free.
Josh and I were becoming closer, although we hadn’t shared any more intimate moments. I thought he was giving me my space to work through my head, and I greatly appreciated it.
You would think spending all day and all night with these guys would get old, but there was never a dull moment. We liked to play a lot of games, which helped to take my mind off things. I didn’t feel as guilty as I used to when I laughed and smiled. I used to think I was betraying my family by having a good time, since they weren’t here to celebrate it with me. However, I had slowly come to terms with the fact that they would want me to move on.
The guys were big jokesters with each other, and I mostly refereed arguments as well as friendly bets and challenges. It made for a lot of laughs. In the beginning, I wondered if they were putting on a show for my sake, but as time went by, I found that was simply them—a playful bunch. I was glad I had moved here.
Today was one of the few days the guys were out of the house; therefore, I thought I would do some major cleaning. We all kept it pretty neat, but sometimes a good, deep cleaning was good. You know, the kind where you washed walls, every window, moved furnisher, and rearranged things to clean every nook and cranny. That was what I was up to today.
I changed into my yoga shorts and a tank top, put my hair up in a messy bun, and then started working my way through the house. Making good progress, I decided to leave the vacuuming to last.
I went to grab my MP3 player. I had pretty eclectic tastes, so depending on my mood, I had different music I liked. Today was an eighties day. I turned on Heart and headed into the living room.
I was vacuuming and singing my heart out, listening to “Magic Man,” dancing along to the tunes. I had a pretty decent voice, even if I did say so myself, so I loved to sing along with the music.
I belted out the tune and shook my ass in time with the beat until I turned around and screamed as loud as possible. All three guys were standing there with giant grins on their faces, whereas my own face turned a furious shade of red.