Shore Feels Right

by Annette Mardis

  “Who are you calling?”

  “Jo, Wesley, and anybody else I have to so that son of a bitch goes away and doesn’t come near you, me, or any of my friends ever again.”

  Beside her in an instant, Cosby plucked the phone away from her, stuck it in his pants pocket, and dropped his hand over it.

  “Give that back!” She couldn’t budge his hand no matter how hard she pulled.

  “Promise you won’t call anybody, that you’ll just let it go.”

  “I’m not promising any such thing; now give me back my frigging phone.” Her voice had risen in volume, and she slapped at his hand. He frowned at her and stood his ground.

  “Sorry, baby, I can’t do that. Now let’s get something to eat. I didn’t have dinner, and I’m starving. I’ll bet you are, too.” He wasn’t hungry, but he was desperate to change the subject.

  “Eat? Are you out of your mind? I don’t care if we have to stand here all night. You’re going to give me an explanation. What were you and that dumbass fighting about? Did he say something hateful to you?”

  Cosby tried not to let his expression give away the answer, but her features hardened and she asked in a voice dripping with venom, “What did that miserable excuse for a human being say now?”

  Cosby certainly didn’t want to tell her, but he knew she’d keep yammering at him until she got what she wanted. As he repeated the phone conversation he’d overheard, he watched a myriad of emotions cross Monica’s features. The one that bothered him the most was resignation. She seemed to shrink in front of his eyes, as if the constant reminders of her past transgressions had worn her down and made her doubt she’d ever be absolved.

  “Now you know why I shoved him,” Cosby hastened to add. “What he said was so degrading, so nasty, I couldn’t let him get away with it.”

  “Is that the only reason it pissed you off?”

  “What do you mean?”

  She gave him a look he couldn’t decipher and then walked over to sit on the couch. She slumped forward, holding her head in her hands. Cosby eased himself down next to her, kissed her temple, and tried to ignore the questions swirling inside his aching head.

  Talk about a no-win situation. I need reassurance, but how am I supposed to ask for it without giving her the impression I doubt her character or her commitment?

  An unsettling silence stretched out for at least five minutes before she suddenly sat up ramrod straight and pierced him with her gaze.

  “Tell me you trust me and that you’re absolutely convinced I’d never cheat on you.”

  Cosby hesitated for a moment, and that was all it took for Monica to look at him as if he’d shattered her heart into a million pieces. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she wiped them away before they could fall.

  “How can you sleep beside me every night and tell me you love me when you obviously think so little of me?” she demanded. “How can you believe for even one second that our whole relationship is a big, fat lie?”

  “Come on, baby, I never said that.” He tried to put his arm around her, but she moved away as if she couldn’t stand for him to touch her.

  “You didn’t have to. It’s written all over your face. I can’t be with someone who doesn’t trust me.”

  She jumped up and paced while Cosby held his breath. Finally, she spun back toward him with her hands on her hips.

  Uh-oh.

  “You need to leave,” she ordered, “now.” With that, she marched into the bedroom and slammed and locked the door.

  He sat there, stunned. Her voice had been oddly detached, and that sent a shiver of unease through him. He’d expected to take the brunt of her temper, and he could’ve dealt with that. At least he’d have known she cared enough to fight for him, for them. But the utter lack of emotion in her tone told him she might well be willing to let him walk out of her life without another word. He charged to the bedroom door and pounded on it.

  “Open this damned door. We’re not finished talking.” He’d shouted louder than he’d intended to, amped up on panic and a desperate need to fix things.

  “Yes, we are. Go away.”

  “The hell I will. Now open this door before I tear it off the hinges!”

  It never occurred to him the threat might frighten her, but he felt like a total Neanderthal when he heard her answer.

  “There’s no way I’m letting you in here until you calm down.”

  “I’m sorry, honey, I didn’t mean to sound so crazy. You know I’d never, ever lay a hand on you in anger, don’t you?”

  A couple of tense moments passed, then she unlocked the door and swung it open.

  “Just because you’re bigger and stronger than I am doesn’t give you the right to use brute force.” Monica walked to the dresser, took out the rest of his socks and underwear, and tossed them on the bed with the others.

  “C’mon, you’re overreacting.” He ignored the flare of fire in her eyes. “You know I love you, more than I’ve ever loved anyone. Let’s sit down and talk this through. Please.”

  “There’s nothing left to talk about.” Shorts and T-shirts hit the bed next.

  “Look, you can’t blame me for wondering why you’d stick with me. Raines can give you anything you’d ever want. Mansions in multiple cities, expensive jewelry, exotic vacations. I’m just a regular guy who gets grease on his hands and sweat stains on his shirts. Since most of my money’s tied up in my business, it’ll be a while before we can even scrape together a down payment on a house.”

  “You are such a freaking idiot.” She disappeared into the closet and came back out with one of his suitcases, which she tossed in the general direction of the bed. It bounced off the side of the mattress and hit the carpet with a muffled thud. “You must think material things are more important to me than you are. Finish packing your own damned stuff. I’ve got to get out of here.”

  “Son of a…Monica, where are you going?” He followed her as she hurried into the living room to retrieve her purse.

  “Anywhere that you’re not.” She headed to the front door, and he blocked her exit. The look she gave him could’ve melted candle wax. “Cosby, get the hell out of my way.”

  “Not until you agree to discuss this like a rational adult.”

  “Oh, so now I’m acting like a child, am I? If you don’t move, right now, I’ll turn you into a eunuch.”

  He didn’t really think she’d hurt him, but just in case he covered his groin with his hand and turned slightly away from her.

  That only made her madder. “If you don’t let me leave right now, I’ll call the police and tell them you’re holding me here against my will.”

  Cosby couldn’t have been more surprised, and hurt, if she’d kneed him in the nuts.

  “You’re crazy, you know that?” he accused.

  “So people tell me. Now move.”

  “I still have your cell phone.”

  “I’ll call 911 on the landline.”

  They stared at each other for a tense moment, and then she walked over and lifted the cordless phone out of its base. Narrowing her eyes at him, she punched in two numbers. Just as she was about to punch in the third, he stepped away from the door.

  “If you want to leave that badly, then go right ahead.” His anger drained away as sadness washed over him. “But you’d better be sure this is what you want, because I won’t be here when you get back.”

  She set down the phone, straightened her spine, and walked out the front door without sparing him another look.

  Chapter 34

  Monica sat in her car outside the grocery store a couple of miles from home and tried to make sense of what had just happened. How had they let their pride and stubbornness turn what should’ve been a spirited discussion into a life-altering confrontation? And how were they going to repair all the damage they’d just done?

  She rested her forehead on the steering wheel and closed her eyes to contain the flood of tears ready to burst forth. Her heart told her to head back to her apartmen
t, throw her arms around Cosby, and tell him how much she loved him and wanted him to stay. But her head reminded her that she had no use for a man who didn’t believe in her 100 percent, no questions asked.

  She really needed to talk to someone she trusted, but she couldn’t bear it if her sister blamed her for screwing up yet another relationship. And I can’t ask Melanie to choose between me and Cosby, she mused. Monica thumbed down the contacts list on her phone, stopping on Dani’s name. We’re friendly, but are we really friends? Evan? No, bad idea. Flipper? Even worse. Tanner? He’d probably listen, but I doubt his girlfriend would appreciate it, and I’d rather be alone than cause a rift between them. Same with Jack. The “snipe and gripe” group? Maybe, but everyone at the aquarium would know my personal business if I confided in any of them besides Dani.

  She sat in the parking lot a while longer, putting off the inevitable. At some point, she’d have to go home to an empty apartment, and just the thought made her heart ache. Finally, she started the car and pulled out with no destination in mind. She hoped she could drive until she was numb or at least exhausted enough to stumble into bed and fall fast asleep.

  While she waited at a red light, her cell phone rang. She looked at the display. Melanie. She launched into a series of questions as soon as Monica accepted the call.

  “Cosby is at my house saying you booted him out, but he won’t tell us anything else. Why would you do that? What in the world are you two fighting about? And how can I help get you two back together?”

  “Hello to you, too. Listen, I’m in the car right now, just driving around. Let me pull off the road so we can talk.”

  “How about meeting me at that little diner over on Fifth Street? We can get a cup of coffee and a piece of pie, and you can tell me what happened.”

  “I don’t think I’ll be able to eat anything. My stomach’s too upset.”

  “Then you’ll have coffee and I’ll have pie. Come on. You sound like you could use a friend right now.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “Oh, I think I do. Are you forgetting what happened at my house the night of the cookout?”

  “No, but I don’t want to get you in trouble with your husband or Cosby. You won’t hurt my feelings if you take your family’s side over mine.”

  “Let me worry about that, okay? You’re important to me, too, you know. Now, say you’ll be at the diner when I get there in about fifteen minutes.”

  “Melanie—”

  “Say it.”

  “Fine, I’ll be there. And I really appreciate this.”

  “You can thank me with a nice big slice of chocolate silk pie.”

  * * * *

  Monica hadn’t thought she could eat so much as a bite of anything, but when she saw how good Melanie’s pie looked, she ordered a piece, too. As they sat there sipping their coffee and nibbling on their dessert, they dissected the events of the evening. To her credit, Melanie didn’t assign blame, preach, or spout platitudes. Instead, she did what Monica needed most. She listened.

  “You know, it doesn’t really matter who said what or who’s right and who’s wrong,” Melanie noted after a while. “What’s important is how you feel about each other and whether he’s the one you want to be with.”

  “I wish it was that simple.”

  “It is that simple. You have to ask yourself the same question I did when Gavin struggled with his temper. Do you want to live without him? If the answer is no, then all that other stuff is just background noise.”

  “But how do I get past the fact that he was willing to believe the garbage Truman spewed? If Cosby really loves me, shouldn’t he trust me unconditionally?”

  “Theoretically, yes. But the man’s only human. I mean, how would you feel if, say, Charlize Theron threw herself at Cosby?”

  “That woman’s name just keeps coming up, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes, and I don’t mean to rub salt in any wounds. She’s the first person I thought of, for obvious reasons, to illustrate my point. If it makes you feel better, let’s say it’s Sofía Vergara. You know, the Latina bombshell from Modern Family.”

  “Oh, sure, that makes me feel better.”

  Melanie laughed. “Maybe she’s not the best example, either, but you get what I’m trying to say.”

  “I do. Even if Cosby never gave me a reason to doubt him, I’d still feel inadequate and suspicious if either of those women made a play for him.”

  “So then, how do you expect him to react when a man like Truman Raines keeps sniffing around you? And I know you don’t want to hear this, because I see no evidence that you’re anything like the woman you were when you had that fling with your married coworker, but you can’t expect people to forget something like that easily.”

  Monica opened her mouth to protest, but Melanie held up her hand and continued talking.

  “I know you don’t think it’s fair to have it thrown back in your face time and time again. And I know you’re wondering if you’ll ever be allowed to live it down. And it’ll happen, eventually. But until then, you’ll have to keep proving yourself. It’s just the way things are.”

  “Well, it sucks.” Monica pouted.

  “Yes, but let’s say for the sake of argument that you’ve always been a paragon of virtue and Cosby had cheated on a previous girlfriend. Nobody would blame you for having that in the back of your mind. It doesn’t mean you love him any less. It’s only normal to want to protect yourself.”

  “I guess.”

  “You don’t have to take my word for it. But please think about it. I honestly believe that in a day or two, or however long it takes for your emotions to stop running so high, you’ll both see what’s really important and what you need to do to find your way back to each other.”

  “And in the meantime?”

  “Cosby can stay with us, and I’ll tell him the same things I just told you. And I’ll keep on telling him until he admits I’m right.”

  * * * *

  The boys were in bed and Cosby sat talking to Gavin in his living room when the doorbell rang.

  “Who the hell is that at this hour?” Gavin grumped. “It’s almost ten o’clock.”

  “Probably the cops,” Cosby replied with a calm he didn’t feel.

  “Go on the back porch and stay there while I get rid of them.”

  “Hell, no. I’m not getting you in trouble, too. I’ll sit right here while you answer the door.”

  His brother shot him a pleading look before giving up and heading to the door. He opened it to find an attractive, all-business woman in gray slacks and a polo shirt who introduced herself as Detective Joanna Tompkins of the Gulf Shore Police Department. Gavin led her into the living room and then attempted to excuse himself, but Cosby asked him to stay.

  “I guess you know why I’m here,” she told Cosby.

  “I have a hunch, but I’d rather hear it from you.”

  Her lips turned up slightly, and she perched on the other end of the couch.

  “Truman Raines claims you assaulted him tonight in the men’s locker room at the aquarium and also damaged his personal property. Any truth to that?”

  “He was on his cell saying disgusting things about my girlfriend, so I grabbed his phone, dropped it on the floor, and stomped on it. Then I shoved him against the lockers and told him to shut his filthy mouth. He kept jawing, so I shoved him into the lockers again. He landed three punches before Flipper and Evan came in and pulled us apart.”

  “I take it that’s where you got that fat lip, swollen nose, and those bruises?”

  “Yes. I don’t believe I hurt him, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to.”

  “That’s not the kind of thing you’re supposed to tell an investigating officer.”

  Cosby ignored that comment. “Just curious: Why is the department’s lead detective handling this case instead of a patrol officer?”

  Jo shifted as if the subject made her uncomfortable.

  “Let’s just say I didn�
�t want you hauled into the station in handcuffs before I figured out what’s going on. I think we can agree that Truman Raines is…well, we both know what he is. But I can’t ignore what happened earlier, especially when he’s adamant about pressing charges. The fact that you put your hands on him first gives him grounds to argue self-defense, although you obviously got the worst of the bargain.”

  “He could’ve busted up that asshole pretty badly, but he didn’t,” Gavin argued. “Not even when the idiot started swinging at him again.”

  Cosby cut in before she could answer. “Did Raines tell you about that? And did he tell you what he did to Evan and Flipper?”

  “He didn’t, but the other two did. I’ll be looking into those allegations, don’t worry.”

  “Good.” Cosby turned to his brother. “It doesn’t matter what I didn’t do. It’s what I did that put me in this position.”

  “I’m afraid you’re right, Cosby,” the detective agreed.

  She started to say something else but apparently decided against it. Cosby understood she had to keep her personal feelings to herself and avoid even the appearance of impropriety, although he suspected she wanted the whole thing to go away, just like he did.

  Cosby stood up and held out his hands. “Go ahead and cuff me if you have to.”

  “I don’t think that’ll be necessary as long as you voluntarily come to the station and give me your statement,” Jo replied.

  “My brother’s not saying anything else without a lawyer,” Gavin interjected.

  “That’s absolutely your right,” she told Cosby. “Are you saying you want to retain counsel before we go any further?”

  “Hell yes, he is,” Gavin insisted.

  Cosby ignored his brother and addressed Jo. “Let’s go talk and see what happens. I have nothing to hide.”

  “Let the record show he’s being cooperative,” Gavin announced.

  “So noted. Cosby, why don’t you take your car and follow me to the station?”

  He stood up and Gavin hugged him. “As soon as Melanie comes back I’ll head over there, too.”

  “I appreciate your support, but that’s not necessary,” Cosby told his older brother. “I’ll call if I need you, okay?”