by Lynda Chance
Ty retreated, signaling to Josh with a placating motion of his hand. “Calm down. I fucked up. I’m sorry. If you tell me y’all are still together, I’ll respect that. I’m sorry, man.”
“We’re still together,” Josh said through clenched teeth.
“Does she know that?”
“She will.”
“I’m sorry.”
“If you were any other person, you’d be dead right now. You understand that?” Josh thundered.
“She didn’t kiss me back. In fact, she pushed me away, so be angry with me, but what you’re thinking about her is wrong.” Ty answered.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better? You put your fucking tongue in her mouth. She’s mine. All mine. Nobody had tasted her except for me, and you fucked that up. Forever. You fucked that shit up forever.”
“It was just a kiss—”
“I’m going to kill you.”
“Josh, listen. You really want her to go through her entire life without being kissed by another dude? You want her to wonder her whole life what else is out there? At least it was me … and I’m telling you she felt nothing. And there was no damn tongue involved. Her lips were sealed tight and she pushed me away.”
“Are you insane? You’re trying to make me feel better with that trivial defense?”
“She was crying. I snapped. I’m sorry.”
Josh had wasted enough time on this bullshit. He needed to see Hannah before she left town. He pulled his keys from his pocket and prepared to leave. “If you ever touch her again, I mean put a single finger on her, I’ll beat the shit out of you so bad you’ll be in the hospital for a month. Do you understand me?”
“Yeah, okay.”
Josh gave him one last disparaging look and left to go find Hannah.
****
Josh called Hannah on the drive to her house and she picked up on the third ring. “What?” she asked curtly.
“How’s your mom?” Josh asked.
“Not good.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Her tone sounded sullen and Josh began to feel tension pounding in his head. “I’m coming over.”
“No,” she said adamantly.
“Hannah—”
“I don’t have time to do this right now. I need to be with my mom. Her mother just died, Josh. She’s taking it hard. Grandma was only sixty-five.”
“I need to see you, we need to talk about what happened last night.”
There was silence before she spoke. “Talk about the way you made me feel like shit for something that I can’t do anything about?”
“You need to understand my side of things, Hannah. You’re not getting it.”
“You’re right. I’m not getting it. I guess I need some time.”
He felt her words like acid burning through his gut. “Are you throwing that back in my face?”
“Take it however you want. I’ve got to go now. I’ve got a pile of laundry to do before we can pack.”
“How long will you be gone?”
“About a week.”
“When you get back, we’re going to get this shit straight between us.”
She was silent on her end of the line.
“Hannah?”
“You hurt me, Josh.”
She wasn’t seeing his side of this at all. “I hurt you? What the fuck? You let Anderson ram his goddamn tongue down your throat. You don’t think that hurt me?”
“Oh my God. He didn’t get that far. I pushed him away.”
“Yeah? Are you telling me the truth?”
“Are you calling me a liar?” Hannah asked with venom.
Josh was silent for a moment but a sense of relief was running through him as well. “It still hurt,” he admitted curtly.
“You shouldn’t have broken up with me.”
“I didn’t break up with you!” he snarled.
“It felt like it last night when you wouldn’t say we were okay,” she maintained.
“Look, I’m sorry. We’re okay, all right?” Josh felt his head throbbing like a pickaxe against his forehead while he waiting for her answer.
“We’ll see,” Hannah said.
Josh almost lost it right then and there. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“We’ll talk about it when I get home.”
“Hannah, I’m warning you, and you better listen up and listen good. You’re mine. Every sweet little inch, understand me? You belong to me, and no matter what kind of fight we had … while you’re gone you best remember that you belong to me. And just so you’ll know, just so we’re on the same page about this and you don’t have any doubts in your head … I’m going to be here waiting for you when you get back, because I’m yours and nobody else’s. Is that clear enough for you? We’re together and if you don’t remember that then there will be hell to pay.”
“Threatening me isn’t helping any, Josh. But don’t worry, I’m not going to do anything wrong. My grandmother just died, remember? What do you think I’m going to do? Go out partying?” Josh heard her ragged inhalation. “I’ll see you when I get back, okay?”
“I don’t guess that I have any other choice.”
Chapter Fifteen
Hannah had been gone almost a week when Josh was stopped by none other than Rebecca Sutty after he left the feed store for his lunch break. He gave her a disparaging look and before she could even open her mouth, he said, “I’m with Hannah. Leave me alone.”
She glanced around, her eyes darting to and fro, and then she looked at Josh again. “I know that. I need to talk to you.” She glanced around again and Josh could almost feel her immediate fear. “You’re going to be a cop, right?”
“Yeah,” he said with a slight question in his voice.
“I need to talk to you about Jesse.”
That name induced the same fury in Josh now as it always had. There was absolutely no question in his mind that Jesse had done something to put the fear in Rebecca’s eyes. And although he had no respect for Rebecca and didn’t like her as a person, he knew that nobody deserved the kind of treatment that Jesse had been known to hand out. He pointed to a bench on a vacant lot between two buildings that had partial privacy. The city council was trying to beautify the town, and whenever property went unattended, they planted flowers and put benches out. The little ‘mini-parks’ now dotted the town.
They sat down and her fear remained evident as she spilled out her story. She brushed away tears and Josh was shocked that he could feel such concern for a person he disliked so intensely. Her story began to end. “It’s turned into all out rape and he won’t let me break up with him. I don’t know what to do. I’m scared to death of him. He gets more violent every day.”
“You’re never going to willingly see him again and you’re leaving here to tell the sheriff, that’s what you’re going to do.”
She dragged in a breath. “I’m so scared. Will you go with me?”
“Yeah.”
****
It was perfect timing that Katie had driven in for the beginning of her winter break from college that afternoon. After work, Josh cornered her in her bedroom and told her what had happened. “No more bullshit, Katie. Somebody’s going to wind up dead. You’re going to go to the sheriff tomorrow and make a statement, got it? I’ll go with you, and hold your hand the entire time if you want, but it’s happening. I swear to God, you’ll thank me later. You want some girl’s rape or even death to be on your conscience?”
Katie’s face had lost all color. “No, I don’t.”
Josh hated to cause his cousin pain but she had to do this. “It’ll be okay, I promise.”
“Will you go with me and promise to stand beside me?”
“Yeah.”
Katie gave him a determined look. “Okay, we’ll do it tomorrow.”
****
The funeral had been miserable. Her grandmother had literally passed away on her own birthday, and so close to the coming Christma
s holidays that everyone had been even more saddened. Hannah couldn’t believe that the dates on her grandmother’s tombstone were the exact same except for the year. Who ever heard of dying on your own birthday? But evidently, it wasn’t all that uncommon. Women, especially, were known to somehow manage to live until a major milestone, and then quietly let go. Hannah just hoped that her grandmother had died in peace.
Coming back home was bittersweet. Zach had accompanied them and stayed with them at her grandmother’s house in Shreveport and even though the reason for it was sad, Hannah enjoyed the time with her brother. She hated to say goodbye when he went back to Dallas. He was still bitter about the tragedy that had happened, and Hannah knew the funeral had been rough on him.
Hannah had missed Josh every time she’d thought about him, but luckily, she’d been so busy helping her mother get through the week that she hadn’t had time to dwell on the fight they’d had. But the minute she got back home, it all came roaring back and her stomach was tied in knots.
She realized that she’d been rough on him, even while knowing that he’d been rough on her as well. And maybe she should have pushed and screamed and thrown a fit when Ty had kissed her, but she hadn’t and she couldn’t go back for a re-do.
She texted both Josh and Ava and told them she was home.
Josh didn’t answer and that was a concern, but Ava called back instead of texting. Hannah answered on the first ring. “Hey.”
“Hannah. I’m glad you’re home.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Hannah answered. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, but I need to tell you something.” Ava’s voice sounded strained and Hannah got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“What’s up?”
“Have you heard from Josh lately?”
“Not in the last few days. We texted a few days ago but it was quick. He asked me how it was going and I said, ‘okay,’ and that was about it.”
“Well, it’s probably nothing, but I’m your friend and I’m going to tell you what I saw.” Ava’s tone was one of determination and Hannah’s throat almost closed up entirely with trepidation.
“Okay. What’d you see?”
“I saw him talking to Rebecca Sutty in town yesterday.”
Distress hit Hannah in the gut and refused to let go. “Where at?”
“They were sitting at a park bench close to the feed store.”
Hannah tried to settle her nerves before speaking. “Tell me everything you know.”
“That’s all I know. I don’t know how long they were there because I couldn’t stand there all day and spy on them. It could have been two minutes or it could have been an hour. But he had his arm around her.”
“What? There’s no way,” Hannah said in disbelief.
“I’m telling you, he had his arm around her. It looked highly suspicious, especially after the fight y’all had.”
Hannah sucked in oxygen and tried to think about it reasonably. “He wouldn’t cheat on me. There’s no way in hell. Not even in revenge for that stupid kiss your brother laid on me. Besides, Josh hates Rebecca. No, there has to be a reasonable explanation, and I’m going to give him a chance to explain.”
“Whew. Thank God you feel that way. I don’t think he’d cheat on you either, but I had to tell you.”
“Yeah, I know. So do you think it has anything to do with Jesse?”
“Crap. I bet it does,” Ava answered quickly.
“What do you think he did now?” Hannah asked.
“Since Josh had his arm around Rebecca, I’m sure that means she was upset about something.”
“Yeah, that’s it. She’s scared of Jesse and doesn’t know what to do.”
“Shit … we’re good, Hannah.”
Hannah let out a short laugh. “Yeah, we are. It’s either that or Josh is cheating on me and he wouldn’t do that.”
“I agree. So what now?”
“I’m not going to tell him you told me any of this. It’s been rocky enough between us lately.”
“Yeah, okay. You want to come over?”
Hannah knew Ava was lonely, but she couldn’t go over there, not today. “I promised Steven that just as soon as I got back, we’d work on our physics project.”
“That stupid boat thing?”
“Yeah. The school is open and he says it’s definitely going to float this time.”
“Good luck with that.”
“Thanks. It better float, because if it doesn’t, I’m going to flunk the class.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Yep, bye.”
****
An hour later, Josh still hadn’t returned Hannah’s text and a tiny, niggling bit of anxiety settled in her stomach. She pulled up into the almost deserted school parking lot and looked at the cars scattered about. It was Saturday, and there was only a week of school left before the Christmas holidays began. Most of the cars on the lot she recognized as belonging to teachers, and Hannah figured they were there trying to get ahead of schedule and wrap things up now rather than later.
She got out of her car and pocketed both her keys and her cell phone. She walked over to the side entrance and let herself into the south gym and then through the double doors to the pool room. She didn’t see Steven yet, but his two best friends, Brett and Matt, were there and they’d already gotten their prototype boat to float. Hannah smiled in awe and walked up to them. “Badass, guys. That’s so cool. How long did it take you to get it to do that?”
Matt just blushed but Brett answered, “Not long.”
“Okay, spill it. How’d you do it?” Hannah asked.
Brett smiled from ear to ear. “You’re familiar with Archimedes’ Principle?”
“Sure. An object in liquid is held up by force,” Hannah answered distractedly, studying their cardboard boat.
“Yeah. And the buoyancy, or force, has a magnitude of the weight of the liquid displaced by the object—”
“The water displaced by the cardboard boat,” Hannah slotted in, catching on.
“Right. So we also know that the volume of water displaced has a weight equal to the boat.”
“Okay. So you made the boat flat-bottomed instead of v-shaped because both of y’all have to be in it on judgment day and it will be heavier, right?”
“Exactly. More weight equals more water displaced. We made it long and flat like a barge so it would more evenly distribute the weight across its surface area.”
Matt had pulled the boat from the water and Hannah inspected it closely. “That’s really brilliant, y’all. That makes it remarkably stable also, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah. More stable and more buoyant,” Brett said as he watched her.
“Well, it’s awesome. Y’all nailed it. I hope Steven and I can do half as well.”
“You will, no problem.”
Hannah sat down on the edge of the pool and took her socks and tennis shoes off and dipped her feet into the cold water while she waited for Steven to get there. Brett and Matt fell into another shy silence, and except for the tiny ripple the water made as it sloshed against the tile coping, the building was silent. Hannah’s jeans were tight and she pulled her keys and cell phone from her pocket and set them down beside her. She watched as the guys finished up what they were doing and began to gather their stuff together.
“Are y’all leaving?” She wasn’t scared to be alone in this part of the school, she’d just never been alone here before, that was all.
“Yeah, we have to go. We’re doing some landscaping over at the football field for extra credit.”
“Do y’all really need extra credit?”
Brett grinned. “Nah, but it’s an easy ten points and somebody has to do it.”
Hannah laughed. “See y’all later.”
They walked out, carrying their boat between them and Hannah picked up her cell phone just to double check that she hadn’t missed a text from Josh. The sound of the double doors shutting behind the boys echoed thr
ough the empty room. There was no message from Josh, but she was about to set the phone down again when a text came from Steven. I’m sorry. Can’t make it. The cat died and my mom’s hysterical.
Hannah answered, No problem, sorry about the cat.
She was 17 and blind and deaf.
K. Later. I’m going to go meet up with Josh now. Hannah set the phone back down and stood to her feet, brushing the dirt from the backside of her jeans. Someone cleared their throat behind her and with a gasp, she turned and came face to face with Jesse Whitaker.
While she stood frozen a foot away from him, fear congealing in her throat, he looked at her with cold, empty eyes. With a single kick of his foot, he pushed both her keys and her cell phone into the water.
****
Josh couldn’t believe he’d let his battery die on his phone. He’d just gotten through a very rough hour at the sheriff’s department with Katie, and all he wanted to do was talk to Hannah. He expected her home today, and all he wanted was to hold her.
He’d had an exceptionally rough week, and with plenty of time to think about how shitty he’d acted toward her, his emotions were wavering between being pissed at himself and worrying that she wouldn’t truly forgive him.
He was an ass, pure and simple. The very thing that had made her so unpopular with the girls in school was the same thing that had made him almost go ballistic with anger. There was no question about it. He had to get over the money. He had to understand that the money didn’t matter, and that Hannah’s love was all he wanted. If she came with a bunch of baggage, well then, so be it.
He’d learn to live with it because he couldn’t live anyway else.
Since he was still in town, he drove by the Andersons to see if her car was there, but it wasn’t. He left and went to the store to grab a Coke. He saw that kid, Steven-something, looking at the over-the-counter medications as Josh walked toward the refrigerator. “Hey,” he said as he walked past.
“Hey.”
Josh grabbed the drink and on his way back, Steve stopped him. “Where’s Hannah?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t spoken to her since she got back.”
“She said she was going to be with you,” Steven said with a frown on his face.
“When was this?”