Break Me (The Summer Series)

by James, Harper

  “Okay, girl. Bye.”

  Gemma hurried to switch over, fumbling the phone in the process. “Abe?”

  “Yeah.” He sounded terrible. “Gem, I’m so sorry about last night.”

  “What happened? You had me worried to death.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.” He let out a shaky breath and continued to whisper. She could have sworn he was crying. “Can you meet me at our spot on the beach?”

  “Now?” she asked, confused.

  “Yeah.”

  “Abe, I can barely hear you. Why are you whispering?”

  He cleared his throat. “Sorry, yes, I, uh, want to meet now.”

  “Sure,” she said, already throwing the blanket aside, “let me get changed and I’ll be there.”

  “Gem,” he asked hesitantly.

  “Huh?”

  “I-I love you.”

  “I love you too, Abe.”

  “Always?”

  She looked toward Kate in confusion. “Yes, always.”

  Eighteen

  Gemma and Kate made it to the spot on the beach in record time for two girls just waking up. Kate had insisted on coming when she saw the look on Gemma’s face after hanging up. It was clear she was freaking out. Gemma was still terrified that something was wrong. Abe had acted so strangely, and further than that, he would never forget to show up for her, not on the day they planned to move in together and not just after telling her how badly he wanted her all night. She sat and faced the water, knowing he would calm her as soon as he arrived.

  It had been an hour and he was still nowhere to be found. She looked down at her blank phone for what must have been the fiftieth time and started to stand. Maybe they got their signals crossed and he was meeting her at the house? Maybe he wanted to grab her things so that after they hung out at the beach they could just go back to their place? God, she loved the thought of their place. That calmed her a little, and she dusted off her shorts and started to head back toward the house. Kate reached out to hold her hand for comfort.

  Lifting her eyes from the sand, Gemma didn’t even have to search to see him. He was walking toward her slowly. “See”—Kate nudged her—“I told you he would be here soon. He was probably off saving some poor whale or something.”

  Gemma laughed. “Are there even whales on Emerald Isle?” Kate just shrugged.

  He looked as sexy as ever, wearing board shorts, a T-shirt, and some sunglasses. She smiled at him, making herself walk to him as opposed to running. He looked a little hung over from the night before, and she didn’t want to make it worse. Just seeing him, she figured she knew why he hadn’t called. It hurt, that was for sure, but if she had learned anything from her fight with her mother, it was that people weren’t always perfect and they didn’t always make the smartest decisions. At least he was here with her now. They could talk about it, go get her stuff, and then, when he was feeling better, make up for what they missed last night. When he smiled at her, it was missing its usual glow. It was the saddest smile she had ever seen from him, and she instantly wanted to take it away. Kate waved and walked far enough away so she couldn’t hear, lying back on the sand to get some sun.

  “Hey,” he said as they finally reached each other.

  “Hey.” She smiled up at him as she wrapped her arms around his middle. He was slow about it, but he did eventually lift his arms around her and rest his cheek on her head.

  “Gem.” His voice cracked, and the tears she heard in his voice had her pulling away to stop him.

  “Abe, it’s okay. I know I should make you grovel, but I can tell you’re upset about it. It’s okay.” She lifted up on her toes and kissed his lips again and then smiled up at him. “I love you. Now take me to get my stuff and let’s go home.”

  “Gem.” He stepped back and she saw the tears running down his cheeks. “I have to tell you something.”

  “Abe?” She swallowed and inhaled, stepping back. “What?” She shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts that were inundating her. “What’s going on?”

  “I did something.”

  “Damn it, Abe. Stop hedging and tell me what’s going on.” Her heart was racing and her breathing suddenly became a challenge.

  “Last night”—he let out a sob—“I went back to the party. I was going to have one more beer. That’s it. I was going to have the beer, wait on your call, and then take us home. I remember Trey asking me if wanted a shot. I remember Emily and Ryan saying goodbye as I took the beer he offered next. And then I woke up today.”

  “Okay? I don’t see why you’re so upset about this. Clearly the shots and beers we had before I left took more of a toll than you realized. I’m not pleased about you driving when it appears you were pretty wasted, but it’s okay.” She reached up and put her thumb under his eye, wiping some of the tears.

  “Baby, that’s not it.” She jerked her hand away, not wanting to hear what came next. Something inside of her said to run, to end things before she heard his next words, but there was no way she could step back. One, because she couldn’t walk away from him if there was any chance for a future. Two, because she was a masochist. “I wasn’t alone.”

  “No!” Gemma yelled as she stepped just out of his reach, instinctively putting her hands over her ears and closing her eyes. He reached out and touched her elbow, and she jerked back violently. She slowly opened her eyes as she lowered her hands and wrapped her arms around her middle. Fury radiated off of her. She began to shake with pain and rage. “What the hell happened last night and tell me the truth this time.”

  “Gem.”

  “Don’t call me that. Don’t you dare call me that,” she wailed, her heart sinking in on itself. The ache that radiated from her center pulled her shoulders inward. She put her hand to her chest to keep it from coming apart. “Tell me the truth. I know you wouldn’t cheat on me. I know you’re better than that. Tell me what happened.” By this point, Kate was standing to the side, holding her hand over her mouth, crying her own tears. “You just drank too much. You crashed so you wouldn’t make an ass out of yourself in front of me. I forgive you.” She sobbed. “I forgive you for falling asleep. Let’s go home.”

  Gemma could see the “No” on his face. “You got carried away having fun and forgot about me, she said. It’s a new relationship. It hurts, but we’ll get past it.” The “No” was there again. A stream of tears was running down his cheeks. Gemma stepped another pace back, making sure there was no way he could reach out to her.

  “I don’t even know, don’t remember, but I woke up and”—he gasped for a breath past the pain and tears—“she was there with me. She said we slept together. I swear I don’t want Megan. I don’t even know . . .”

  A slap rang out, pulling the few people around them who hadn’t noticed the disturbance into the unwanted drama. “Get away! Just get away from me!” she screamed.

  “Gemma.” He stepped forward to grab her, to hold her, to make her understand.

  “You. Are. Just. Like. HIM!” Kate stepped up and pushed Abe in the chest, rage making her body shake. “Get away from her!”

  Abe stumbled backwards, almost falling. He tried in vain to plead with Gemma with his eyes. When she looked away from him, he finally turned to leave. Gemma fell to her hands and knees, gasping for breath in her suddenly defective lungs. Air eluded her. The shattering sinking pain in her chest suffocated her. Pain radiated everywhere. Kate fell to her knees beside her, pulling her into a hug, tears running down her own cheeks.

  ~*~

  Kate

  Kate knew what this meant for her sister. Abe was Gemma’s chance to learn to trust, to forgive men for the mistakes of her father, and to believe she might deserve a happily ever after. In the span of a few weeks, he had ruined it and potentially Gemma as well. “Come on, sweetie.” Kate helped Gemma to her feet and wrapped her arm around her, leading her through the gawking onlookers and toward their house.

  When Kate was able to push Gemma through the front door, both girls collapse
d at the foot of the stairs. Kate had essentially carried the crumbling Gemma home. Gray came running down the stairs at the sound of them and stopped short when he saw Gemma. “What happened?” He asked as he bent to help Kate get Gemma to her feet. The three of them slowly made their way up the stairs and to the girl’s room.

  “Dad,” Kate said. No one said anything else. It wasn’t just about their dad, but in the end, the extent of this devastation would always reflect on him.

  Gemma crawled into bed and rolled away from them, sobbing into the comforter she had balled up against her mouth. Kate sent Gray after some water and some vodka. Once he was out of sight, she ran to the bathroom for a couple of supplies, and then she crawled in bed behind Gemma and wrapped her arms around her. “Please calm down, Gem.”

  “Don’t.” She let out a wail. “Please, never call me that again.”

  “Okay.” She rubbed her shoulder. “But, Gemma, you have to calm down. You’re really worrying us, and if you don’t calm down a little, I’m going to have to get someone.”

  “Please,” she begged, her voice growing frantic and her eyes going wide, “please, don’t leave me.” She rolled over and put her head on Kate’s chest, heaving out her pain.

  “Shhh.” Kate nodded her thanks to Gray, who placed the two drinks on the bedside table and then sat on Kate’s bed silently. “We aren’t going anywhere. I need you to drink something.” Kate pulled away and the two sat up. She first handed Gemma the vodka and instructed her to drink every drop. Once that was down and Gemma’s eyes were burning for an entirely different reason, Kate handed her the two Tylenol she had grabbed before crawling in bed and gave her the glass of water. “Gemma, lie down.”

  Gemma did as she was instructed growing tired from the quick effects of that much alcohol and an hour of crying. “Kate, I’m nothing anymore.”

  “You are so much more than that boy, Gemma. He screwed up, and I never saw that coming with the way he felt about you, but you will not fall apart because of this. You are better than that. I promise we’ll get through this.”

  “I gave him everything,” she whispered as her eyes closed of their own accord.

  “You gave him everything for a time, but now you are taking it back. You will recover. You will be stronger. I promise, sweetie.” Gemma didn’t respond; she had exhausted herself.

  Once she knew Gemma was asleep, Kate walked out of the room with Gray right behind her. She instructed him to start packing his bag and, when he was done with that, to start loading anything that he could into the back of the car. She walked up the stairs and found her mother working on a photo album in the kitchen. “Follow me,” she told her, not looking back to make sure she was behind her as she continued toward the next flight of stairs.

  They climbed the last set of stairs in the house to the fourth floor loft and found her father hunched over his computer as usual. She had to clear her throat twice to get him to look up, and the annoyed look on his face showed just how he felt about her interruption. “Dad, we need to talk.”

  “Kate, you know I’m working.”

  “Now,” she said and sat on the couch across from his desk. Her mother followed her and sat in the vacant seat beside her. “We have to go home. Now.”

  “Excuse me?” her mother asked, her eyes narrowing in confusion.

  “What?” her father added.

  “Look, I know enough by our ages that there is a lot more to the story of you and Mom than you’re telling us. I also know about the hatred Gemma and her mother have for you both. I don’t need details because you are my parents and it wouldn’t do any good, but I’m telling you right now, that history is repeating itself for your daughter. We need to get her out of this place. Immediately. Gray is packing and starting to load the car. Gemma finally cried herself to sleep so you two can start doing the same. I’ll start on our things and let you know when she’s up. I expect everyone to be ready as soon as that happens.”

  Both of her parents nodded; her mother had tears in her eyes and looked back and forth between her husband and daughter. “Kate, what happened between us was—”

  “I don’t want to hear about it. You are my parents, you have always loved me, and I will always love you. But right now, you can do something good, something that, in a small way, makes up for the crap you pulled eighteen years ago.”

  “Kate”—her father took a shaky breath—“is she . . . pregnant?”

  “No, Dad.” Kate looked to her hands. “She just thinks she’s broken.”

  Her father turned to his laptop and pressed save before beginning the shutdown process.

  “Let’s go, then.”

  ~*~

  Gemma

  Gemma woke up to Kate zipping her bag and handing it to Gray at the door. “What’s going on?” She rubbed her eyes, and then as if it hit her again, she sucked in a breath and looked to Kate with desperate eyes.

  “We’re going. Now.” Kate walked over to Gemma and helped her out of bed. “Everything is loaded. Your bags were already packed so that helped. We need to get going though. Emily has been calling for an hour. It’s only a matter of time before everyone shows up. I’m assuming you don’t want to see them.”

  Gemma shook her head no and headed for the door. Kate was on her heels as they climbed into the back seat just before the rest of the family walked out of the house and started to get in the car as well. Just as her father was backing the car out of the driveway, Emily and Ryan sped around the corner. Kate yelled to go on and neither girl looked back as Emily jumped out of the car, waiving for them to stop.

  Soon after, their phones both started ringing in tandem. Gemma laid her head in Kate’s lap and closed her eyes, shaking with the effort to hold back her tears. Kate made eye contact with her father and saw the regret consuming him. This was the first time he had to face what Gemma’s mother had gone through, no doubt.

  ~~~

  Hours later, Gemma woke up and sat forward, trying to get her bearings. She looked over at Kate, and her sister smiled sadly at her. “How are you?”

  “Miserable.” Gemma laughed weakly. “Do you think Dad will buy me a plane ticket home?”

  “Why?” Kate asked, clearly confused.

  “Well, I can’t move in at school for a month. I have to live somewhere, Kate.”

  “Duh, but why do you have to go home? You can stay in your room at our house.”

  Gemma visibly pulled back in confusion. “I have a room at your house?”

  “Yeah”—Kate laughed—“of course. It’s across from mine, next to Gray’s. You didn’t know?”

  “How would I know?” She stared off, trying to remember if anyone had ever told her that.

  “Well, I don’t know, I guess I thought you would assume. You’ve always had a room. In all three houses we’ve had.”

  “No, kidding . . .?” Gemma said, more to herself than Kate.

  Kate chuckled to herself. “So, you’re going to stay with us for the rest of summer, right? I’m not ready for you to leave yet.”

  “Sure.” Gemma leaned her head against the window. “Why not?”

  Nineteen

  They pulled into the driveway as a surprised neighbor came walking around the side of the house. “I’m going to talk to Larry,” Karen said as she opened her door. “I’ll let him know he doesn’t have to worry about the plants anymore this summer.”

  “Okay, dear. Gray,”—their father turned in his seat to face their son who sat in the middle row of the van—“help me with the bags. You girls go on inside and get settled.” He avoided eye contact with them and turned to get out of the car. Gemma wanted to be angry with her father, to blame him for all of this. And she would soon. First she had to stop hating Abe so much.

  Once they were inside, Kate led the way through the house, pointing out rooms that were obvious, such as the kitchen, and rooms that weren’t because of the doors that hid them, such as Gray’s room and the bathroom. When they walked up the hall, she stopped and pointed. “My ro
om and this”—she pushed open a door—“is yours.”

  Gemma looked at her for a moment and then walked in ahead of Kate. She was speechless as she looked around. The room was perfect. Her bed was on the only open wall. It was simple and plush and way too inviting. The outside wall had a nook that sat at the window overlooking the backyard and a desk that had a computer waiting for her. There was a television facing her bed and an assortment of DVD’s below it. On further inspection, she found that they were all classic novel adaptations. The last wall was a full, built-in bookshelf. It was full of books she had never heard of and books she knew by heart. She tried to hide her awe, but as usual, Kate couldn’t be fooled.

  “He is so meticulous when it comes to your room. In every house, he makes sure it has exactly what you would need. I remember when we were looking before they bought this one. We found one that all of us loved. It was beautiful, but”—she sighed—“the room that would have been yours didn’t have any room for a desk. He said, and I quote, ‘There is no way that my daughter won’t want a place to write down her thoughts. If she can’t have a desk, then we can’t have the house.’”

  “We were so pissed at you.” Kate snorted. “I remember screaming at Mom that you didn’t even come to our house and there was no way in hell you ever would. She patted my hand and told me to have faith, just like dad. I still can’t believe you’re actually here.”

  “Me neither,” Gemma said absentmindedly as she walked toward the window, running her fingers along her comforter. Her phone rang from her bag by the door, and she glanced at Kate with a look of sorrow, loss, and fear. “Who is it?”

  Kate walked to her bag and pulled out the phone, a mix or anger and sadness crossing her face. “Him.”

  “Give it to me.”

  “Gem, I don’t think that’s a very good idea right now.” Kate didn’t move toward her, so Gemma started back across the room.

  “For starters, I asked you not to call me that,” Gemma said in a near growl. “Secondly, if I don’t talk to one of them, they will just keep calling. I have to deal with this.”