by Mandy Baggot
“That boy can move like no one I’ve ever seen before,” Eddie replied a smile crossing his face.
“They play Reading this weekend,” she reminded him.
“It’s going to be a hard game. They’re a good team, very tactical,” Eddie told her.
“Have you seen them play this year?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty. What’s your line up going to be?” Eddie wanted to know.
“I haven’t finalized anything yet.”
“Well, maybe we could look at it together,” he said with a sniff.
“You’re supposed to be resting, not getting excited over ice hockey. I can manage,” Robyn insisted.
“Listen, I had oatmeal for breakfast and some awful shit with asparagus last night. I need something to focus on,” Eddie informed her.
“Not one gram of trans-fatty acids has passed his lips,” Max piped up loudly.
“I don’t believe that for a second. You’re obviously just getting better at stashing it,” Robyn answered.
“Robyn, that hurts me,” Eddie said.
“Hmm, well, we’ll see. Robyn made a beeline for the closet next to Max’s bed.
“Did you know I can sniff out trans-fatty acids from fifty yards?” Robyn asked Max.
“Yeah? So what?” Max said, screwing up his face and crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“So I think you and Dad might just be storing up some goodies nearby, like—in here!” Robyn announced as she pulled open the door.
Out fell family-sized pack after family-sized pack of chips, followed by enough Hershey’s chocolate bars to restock a large store.
“None of that has anything to do with me,” Eddie spluttered immediately.
“This is unbelievable! Oatmeal and something disgusting with asparagus and, all the while, you’re topping it with chips and chocolate! I knew it was too good to be true!” Robyn blasted, pulling out the contraband and piling it on Max’s bed.
“Stop it! If the nurse comes in, she’ll take it all away! You have to let a dying man have a few simple pleasures,” Max croaked, leaning forward and trying to get his hands on the treats.
“You’re not dying,” Robyn announced crossly.
“We’re all dying, gal,” Max answered with a throaty cough.
“But not all from cholesterol overload. These are coming with me, and if you get more, I’ll tell the first nurse I see that you both want a sponge bath,” Robyn informed them.
“She’s evil, your daughter, Eddie, pure evil,” Max yelled.
Chapter Fourteen
He’d spent all morning looking forward to a shopping trip. He liked his food as much as the next guy but shopping for it? He knew the anticipation wasn’t the idea of cruising down a few aisles, it was Robyn. What was her story? He really wanted to know. He wanted to get to know her. So, she didn’t do dates. Neither did he right now. He’d slept with three women in two months just to prove he could, just to take away the humiliation of the whole damn episode. It hadn’t been good, it wasn’t his style, and he didn’t want to do it again. But Robyn was different. He’d only known her a few days, but there was something almost familiar about her.
His phone bleeped and he took off his eye protectors. He looked at the screen and his face began to heat up. Veronica. What the Hell could she have to say to him?
“What flavor chips? And we have to have some dips? Which dips? Ranch? Cheese and chive?” Robyn asked as she stopped the cart opposite a shelf at Meijer’s that afternoon.
“You choose,” Cole suggested, looking at his mobile phone and starting to type.
“Well, ranch is my favorite, so we’ll have ranch. Oh, let’s take one of each of these because, to be honest, I can probably get through a bag a day on my own. But then again, I have just confiscated at least ten bags from Max and my dad, so maybe we don’t need more. You should have seen their faces!” Robyn exclaimed with a laugh as she remembered the frosty looks and the arms folded across their chests.
“Yep,” Cole replied, not looking up.
“What you doing? You thought shopping was going to be the highlight of your week this morning, now you’re barely showing any interest. Who you texting?” Robyn asked, attempting to look at the screen of his phone.
“Veronica,” Cole replied.
“Veronica?”
“Yeah.”
“And Veronica is? Your sister? A friend? A cool girl from back home?” Robyn asked.
“My ex.”
“Your ex.”
“Yeah, the one who went off with my brother,” Cole informed her.
“And you’re texting her, why?” Robyn asked, intrigued.
“She texted me, I’m texting her back.”
“Okay, are we going to start talking in riddles to each other because I’m good with that. My first is in RAT but not in CAT,” Robyn answered.
“She wanted to meet up, to talk,” Cole said.
“To explain why she was doing the dirty with your brother? That would have been good to hear. Cole, I thought it was you, you look so similar…we weren’t really kissing…I just slipped and his tongue just fell into my mouth, it could have happened to anyone.”
“Okay, we’re done. Let’s finish shopping,” Cole replied, putting his phone back in the pocket of his jeans.
“Finish shopping? We’ve barely started!”
“The cart’s full of junk food,” Cole remarked.
“Shame on you! Dill pickles are not junk food. They are one of the staple ingredients of the all-American diet, and blueberry muffins have blueberries in them, that’s fruit. And they really sort out your insides,” Robyn replied.
Cole laughed.
“So, what did you say?” Robyn asked, setting off again with the cart.
“What?”
“To Veronica.”
“I told her I didn’t want to talk and I didn’t want her contacting me again,” Cole replied.
“Nice work—oh dear, doesn’t sound like that idea worked for her,” Robyn said as Cole’s phone announced the arrival of a new text.
“Pasta,” Cole said, grabbing a package from the shelf and putting it in the cart.
“You have pasta at home. Do you go through a bag a week or something? Well?”
“Well what?”
“Aren’t you going to see what it says?” Robyn asked.
“No.”
“No?”
“I don’t care what it says. There’s nothing she can say that would make me want to speak to her again, okay?” Cole snapped.
“Man, she hurt you bad,” Robyn remarked.
“Can we just shop?”
“Sure, of course, it’s none of my business,” Robyn said, pushing on with the cart.
“Listen, I wasn’t being an ass, it’s just…” Cole began, hurrying after her.
“It’s fine, I shouldn’t have asked. I know I talk too much and, seeing as we’re sharing a house, you have my permission to tell me to shut up when it gets to be too much.”
“Robyn, I didn’t mean…”
“Now, onto my favorite aisle—ice cream,” she announced, a look of delight crossing her face.
“You told me it was only your aunt who had a drawer dedicated to ice cream.”
“I did, didn’t I? But you have a fridge that talks to you! In fact, it suggested to me only this morning that it was severely lacking in the whole ice cream department and begged to be restocked,” Robyn said, opening a freezer door.
“Did it really?”
“Didn’t you hear it? Didn’t it wake you up with its constant muttering, I need chocolate toffee and mint chocolate chip.”
“No, someone cooking on the barbecue, singing ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ woke me up,” Cole informed her.
“I don’t sing.”
“Pinocchio, your nose will grow!”
“Was it really bad and out of tune?”
“The birds had their wings over their ears.”
“That is so mean! And birds don’t hav
e ears, do they?” Robyn asked, piling more tubs into the cart.
“Stop! You’re crazy!” Cole exclaimed as he attempted to halt her.
Robyn hoofed another half dozen tubs into the cart and set off down the aisle as quickly as she could. This was more fun than she remembered. She jumped onto the cart and let it glide down the aisle toward the cereal section. She jumped off and was about to turn down into the next row, when the sight of something stopped her in her tracks.
Just up ahead was a man, six foot tall, wearing a green baseball cap, a gray t-shirt, and faded blue jeans. Just peeking out under the cap was a shock of ginger hair.
Robyn felt the breath catch in her throat as she watched him put a packet of Cheerios into the basket on his arm. The way he moved, his gangly, awkward appearance and the red hair—she knew instinctively who it was. She felt the realization wash over her.
Her heart was hammering so hard in her chest it hurt. She backed away, frantically dragging the cart with her. She didn’t want to see his face. She couldn’t bear to see his face.
She pulled the cart hard, didn’t see Cole, and collided with him.
“Whoa! You okay?” he asked, steadying her as she threatened to fall into the display of half-price liquid hand soap.
“I have to go,” Robyn stated, perspiring and wringing her hands together.
“Go? Go where?” Cole asked, his head tilted as he took in her anxious expression.
“I just have to go. I’m sorry,” Robyn said, backing away from him and abandoning the cart.
“Robyn? What’s happened? Come on, look, don’t go, I’ll pay more attention. Hey, I love ice cream, I could eat it for every meal, talk to me,” Cole urged, taking hold of her arm.
“No, let go,” Robyn ordered, and she wrenched her arm free and began sprinting down the aisle toward the exit.
Tears were welling up in her eyes, and she needed to get out of the store before she came face-to-face with him.
What was he doing here? People said he wasn’t around. He shouldn’t be here, not now—not ever.
Chapter Fifteen
Robyn ditched Leonora outside the front of Gold Realty and rushed into the office, still sweating and breathing like she was about to have a heart attack.
“Good morning, ma’am. How can I help you today?” a middle-aged woman with gold-rimmed glasses questioned, beaming at Robyn with a pearly white smile.
“I need to see Sarah Gorski please,” Robyn announced nervously.
She felt sick and faint and she couldn’t catch her breath. She could see his face in her mind’s eye. The freckled complexion and the crooked smile.
“Are you looking to buy or to sell?” the woman asked, picking up a pen and preparing to write on a clipboard.
“What?” Robyn asked, looking at the woman and trying to concentrate on what she was saying.
“What sort of property are you looking for?”
“I’m not looking for a property. Could you tell her Robyn Matthers needs to see her?”
She was feeling really sick now. It was like seeing him had turned her insides out. Her stomach felt heavy and twisted. She could smell him; the memory of it was almost forcing her to retch.
“Take a seat. Would you like some coffee?” the woman offered.
“No, no thanks,” Robyn replied, thankful to have the opportunity to sit down before she fell down.
It was all so long ago, but sometimes it felt like it had happened yesterday. The fear hadn’t lessened, the memories hadn’t dulled, and the pain still felt raw. Whatever she told people about it being forgotten was a lie. She hadn’t forgotten a thing. Everything was etched on her like an internal tattoo.
“Robyn? Is everything okay?” Sarah asked as she appeared in the reception area.
Her glasses were perched on her nose, her portfolio was in her hand, and she was looking like the efficient professional she obviously was. Robyn, for some reason, felt worse. She was the girl who liked to get covered in oil, the childish one, the girl whose parents should never have got together in the first place. Sarah was an adult, and Robyn knew she was one tug away from unraveling again.
“Have you got like ten minutes?” Robyn asked awkwardly, still wringing her hands together.
“Sure. What is it? You don’t look too good. Are you okay?”
“Sit in Leonora?” Robyn suggested.
“Leonora?” Sarah asked.
“Come on,” Robyn urged, pulling her friend by the arm.
She led her outside and opened up the door of the Mustang. Sarah got in and Robyn joined her, instinctively locking the door.
“What’s happened? Is it your dad? Oh Robyn, has he had another heart attack?” Sarah asked, concerned.
“I saw Jason,” Robyn blurted out, looking at her friend with wide, tear-filled eyes.
“What?” Sarah exclaimed in horror.
“He was right there, in Meijer’s, right in front of me,” Robyn said, her voice cracking and tears spilling from her eyes.
“No, Robyn, he couldn’t have been. He hasn’t been back here, not since…not since everything happened,” Sarah assured her.
“I know it was him,” Robyn stated, wiping at her eyes with her fingers and trying to stabilize her breathing.
“Are you sure? I mean, you haven’t seen him for years. I haven’t seen him for years. No one I know has seen him for years, except Grant. Anyway, Grant flies to Mississippi to see him, that’s where he lives now,” Sarah explained.
“It may be where he lives, but it isn’t where he is! He’s on Westnedge, in the freaking supermarket!” Robyn announced hysterically.
“Okay, well let’s think about this logically. Why would he be here now? I mean, he’s been gone nine years, why would he come back now? I mean, there’s nothing here for him, no job, no friends. Okay, there’s his dad, but their relationship is as up and down as the housing market. And nobody in this town wants him here. What’s he got to come back for?” Sarah asked her.
“Do I have to spell it out for you? He’s back because I’m back! Grant probably told him I was back, and he’s come here to make me live the whole thing all over again!” Robyn shrieked.
“But what has he got to gain from doing that?”
“What’s he got to lose? I can’t be here with him here. I can’t be in the same town as him, the same state as him. I don’t even want to be in the same country as him—that was the whole point of leaving,” Robyn began, struggling to maintain control of her emotions.
“Listen to me, Rob, it won’t have been Jason. It can’t have been Jason. You saw Grant last night at hockey practice, didn’t you? If he was here, he would have told you, you know he would. He wouldn’t be stupid enough not to tell you,” Sarah reassured her, taking hold of her friend’s hands.
“You think I’m crazy, don’t you? You think I’m seeing things because of what the twins did,” Robyn said with a shake of her head.
“The twins? What have they got to do with anything?”
“They’re ghoulish little freaks I can’t believe are related to me! Painting things on walls and whispering to each other, looking at me with those black, soulless eyes. They wrote Jason loves Robyn on my bedroom wall and it made me feel sick. I couldn’t stay a second longer, I couldn’t bear to see them sniggering across the breakfast table. Pam and Bob couldn’t have been sorrier, but those brats rule that house and they’re out of control.”
“You left?”
“Yep, ran away to a million dollar house on the lake.”
“What?”
“Brad hates Cole, Cole probably hates Brad, and they’re supposed to be gelling as a team. At least they both seem to like Henrik, although none of us know what nationality he is. Dad’s started a Hershey’s chocolate diet, and he’s in cahoots with Max who must have a porter in his employ to be able to smuggle that amount of crap in without detection. Milo hates the new uniform and I’m scared he’s going to grow a beard, and I haven’t managed to order any plates for my customers
to eat off of when I reopen the roadhouse next week. I should phone Clive, but I can’t bring myself to because I know, deep down, that how I’ve been living my life isn’t right. And Cole, well he doesn’t like ice cream quite as much as I do, although he lied and said he did to make me feel better, and I left him, at the supermarket, with a cart full of food,” Robyn blurted out.
“I think you’re going to have to explain because I didn’t understand any of that,” Sarah admitted, looking at her friend with concern.
“I don’t know what to do,” Robyn said, sighing heavily.
“Maybe you should go back and see the counselor,” Sarah suggested.
“You still don’t believe me. You don’t believe I saw him,” Robyn stated, staring at her friend.
“I’m not saying that. I just think it’s unlikely, that’s all. You’re tired, you’re probably still jetlagged, and…” Sarah answered.
“Get out!” Robyn ordered, leaning over Sarah and opening her door for her.
“Robyn, don’t be stupid. I just don’t think it was Jason. It’s too much of a coincidence.”
“Get out!” Robyn screamed.
“Robyn, I…”
“By the way, Mickey doesn’t want to get married, so you really need to stop dragging him past wedding dress stores. They could be giving the frocks away for free and he still wouldn’t set a date!” Robyn blurted out.
She clamped her lips shut and bit down on her tongue. Why had she said that?
Sarah just stared back at her friend, tears immediately pricking her eyes. She didn’t say anything else. She got out of the car and shut the door behind her, hurrying back into the office, clutching her folder to her like a shield.
Robyn let out a frustrated sigh and punched the steering wheel with her fist. Why was this happening?
The shopping was all put away and he didn’t know what to do next. Where was she? He was worried. Hell, he was more concerned for Robyn now than he had been when Veronica had pulled an unannounced all-nighter—probably with his brother.
He shouldn’t have let her go. He should have gone after her, caught up with her. They could have left the store and gone for a drink and he might have found out the reason for her panic. He was a tool. This was how he let people down. He shouldn’t want to be involved. Being involved just got your heart stomped on. Anyway, he didn’t need someone to make his life worthwhile—he had his career for that. Didn’t he?