Beautifully Used (The Beaumont Brothers Book 2)

by Griscom, Susan

  I grinned. “Okay. Mums the words.” I closed my eyes and listened to the soft tunes Brodie played. I’m almost certain I fell asleep. Maybe. Not completely, because the sudden silence jarred me awake and I sat up straight. Brodie still sat in the chair beside me, the guitar perched against the tree on his other side, his eyes closed. I sank back again and closed my eyes. We were both exhausted from all the work, not to mention the fact that we both had slept on the couch last night. It was nice having him there. I wondered why he stayed with me. Up until last night, he never really seemed to pay much attention to me. There was also the fact that he hadn’t been out with any of the women Lena claimed he spent so much time with, at least not since I’d been there.

  A week and a half after the wedding, I was still staying in Brodie’s spare room, and to my surprise, Brodie still stayed home every night. We ate dinner together when he wasn’t working at the bar, and even then I’d gone to the bar with him, mostly because I didn’t want to stay at the house alone. I lugged the laptop along with me a couple of times to work on the second book, but I did manage to have a few beers while I hung out and listened to the band. I even sang a few songs with them, since Lena and Jackson weren’t there.

  Tonight would be one of those stay at home nights. It was late afternoon. Brodie had taken the day shift at the bar and wasn’t home yet. I didn’t mind staying alone during the day. It was mostly at night, when the shadows lurked outside in-between the trees and in my mind that bothered me.

  I opened the freezer to pull out some chicken to defrost. I’d said I would cook dinner. I was going to make chicken parmesan, an old family recipe.

  Music from my cell phone sang out the generic ringtone I’d programmed for unknown callers. I didn’t recognize the number but slid the answer switch across the screen.

  “Hello?”

  “Gabrielle Demeres?” It was a man’s voice and my back stiffened. The police said they’d be in touch about testifying against Jeff.

  “Yes?”

  “You called about a room for rent. Are you still looking?”

  My shoulders relaxed as if someone had removed the weight of a fifty-pound bag of potatoes from them. “Oh. Yes.”

  “The room you called about last week just became available again. The other person didn’t work out. So, if you want, you can come by and take a look.”

  “Yes. Yes, I do.”

  “Can you come by in about an hour?” I glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall above the window. It was four. Brodie said he’d be home around five. I didn’t have a car, so I’d need to wait.

  “Um … can we make that about an hour and a half?”

  “That’ll be fine.”

  “Can I get the address?”

  He rattled off the house number and street as I jotted them down. I hoped Brodie knew where this was, and I hoped he came home in time. The prospect of getting my own place was exciting. A room in a house where other people lived, but still my own room. I fished in the freezer for the chicken and placed it in a pot with hot tap water to speed up the defrosting. Satisfied with the way it sat covered in the water, I took off for my room to change into some jeans and a tank top. My shorts vibrated before the music from my cellphone sang out again. I reached in my pocket and pulled out my phone. I grimaced at yet another unfamiliar number. “Hello?” My voice sounded too shaky.

  “Gabrielle Demeres, please.” It was a female voice, but very austere sounding.

  “Yes.”

  “Hi Gabrielle. This is the county police department. We wanted to let you know that the case you have against Jeffrey Adams has been dismissed so there will be no need for you to come in to testify.”

  “What?”

  I listened to her repeat the sentence, but my mind escaped to a place a million miles away. “How … how is that possible?”

  “I’m sorry. He had a witness come forward … a Miss Kate Bradley. She said that she was with the two of you the entire time and that you were all out there having some fun. She said she left when you told her you wanted to be alone with Mr. Adams, and that you intended to … let’s see, her exact words were, ‘fuck him silly.’”

  “That can’t be. There was no one there but us. There wasn’t anyone else there when the cops came. They saw. How do you explain the bruises on my face? The cut lip? They saw what he had done to me!” My voice raised an octave on that last sentence and I had to calm myself before I started shouting at the woman on the phone. Before I flat out called her a liar.

  “That’s all I know, ma’am. Would you like the number of the district attorney’s office?”

  “No. I have it. Thank you.”

  I went to my room and picked up the card that the cop had given me from the top of the dresser. I decided to wait until Brodie came home before calling. I was too upset to even get the number entered into the phone correctly.

  “They’d never believe you Gabby girl. You know that,” Thomas whispered in my ear.

  I shook my head. This couldn’t be possible.

  “Gabrielle?” I looked up to see Brodie standing in the doorway. “What’s wrong? Why didn’t you answer me? I’ve been calling you for about five minutes. I saw the chicken in the sink. It’s all defrosted. I put it in the fridge for now until we’re ready to cook it.” I didn’t say anything. My lips wouldn’t work. I could only stare at him. “Gabrielle? What’s wrong?” Brodie stepped into the room and came up to stand in front of me. He took the card from my fingers. “What happened?”

  “They … she … um, a lady called from the police. She said Jeff has been released.”

  “What?”

  “They dismissed all the charges.”

  “How? Why?” Brodie’s hands were on my shoulders and he led me to the edge of the bed and sat me down. Then he sat beside me.

  I shook my head. I didn’t know how to explain what she had said. I didn’t know if I could explain what she had said.

  “Gabrielle, tell me what happened.” His hands were back on my shoulders and he was staring at me. I stared back into his blue eyes. Did those eyes really care about me? Would those eyes be any different than the ones who’d betrayed me before?

  “She said he had a witness. Another female that claimed to have been with us the entire night, and who said that we were all just having fun. She told them that I said I wanted to be alone with him. That I wanted to have sex with him.”

  “How the hell can they believe that when there was no one else there that night when they questioned us? And who is this girl?”

  I shook my head. Still too shocked to do anything more than that.

  Chapter 23

  Brodie

  I was beyond pissed, to say the least. I called the DA to find out why they believed some cockamamie story and not ours. They told me the same thing they’d told Gabrielle, adding in the quote that Gabrielle had left out about her wanting to fuck him silly, something I could never imagine her ever saying. When I asked them who the girl was that’d lied for him, they told me her name was Kate Bradley. She’d sworn that she’d been with Jeff and Gabrielle the entire evening, and only left them when Gabrielle told her to, insisting that she wanted to be alone with Jeff. She said she’d snuck past me because she had a feeling that I was jealous and was about to start something that she didn’t want any part of.

  I couldn’t picture her, nor did I have any recollection of meeting anyone at the wedding with that name. Then I remembered. The dark haired girl in the pink dress sitting alone at one of the tables at the reception. A girl I hadn’t recognized, and whom I figured had come with someone as a guest. I’d never given her much thought, until now. But why lie for Jeff?

  After the phone call to the DA, I reluctantly drove Gabrielle to the house to look at the room she wanted to rent. There weren’t many rooms available around this town, and she needed to act fast before someone else took it. On the way, I told her about the detective agency Jackson and I used to have, and told her that I wanted to investigate this Kate charact
er. Gabrielle didn’t seem interested in talking about it. In fact, she was quiet for most of the ride, somewhat withdrawn and spent most of the trip just staring out at the trees. The house wasn’t too far away from mine, about two miles as the crow flies, but about three in actuality considering all the side roads winding around on the way to the heart of downtown. Not a bad area, but not the best either. The thought of her living here sickened me.

  It was a single room and that was all, hardly large enough to hold a twin-sized bed. She’d have to share a bathroom with a little boy since the room didn’t have one of its own. Not like the room she already had at my house. This tiny room only had a small closet with two sliding doors. At least the room at my house had a walk in closet and its own bathroom. When she told the man that she’d take it, I pulled her outside to talk to her, giving the man an apology on our way.

  “Gabrielle, why do you want to move here? There’s no privacy. You’ll have to share a bathroom with a seven year old boy.”

  “I can’t afford much else.”

  “But why don’t you just stay at my house? At least you’d have your own bathroom and shower, plus a walk-in closet.”

  She stared at me, her eyebrows knitted closely together. “I didn’t think that was an option.”

  “Well, it is.” I didn’t want her to live somewhere else.

  She bit her bottom lip and scratched her temple with her finger, then looked up at me. “How much?”

  I raised my eyebrows. She hadn’t been paying anything. She’d been a guest. I hadn’t even thought about charging her. Hell, Jackson had Lena living there for free. I didn’t feel right charging Gabrielle. I shrugged. “I don’t know. You don’t need to pay me anything for now. We can work it all out later.”

  She shook her head. “I won’t live there for free. Being there as a guest these past few weeks was fine, but I need to pay for myself from here on out. This place is $400 a month so I can pay that much.”

  I coughed and lowered my voice. “They want $400 for that tiny room?”

  She nodded then turned and stepped up to the door and waved at the man inside. “Thanks. Um … I’m going to keep looking.” She skipped down the two steps and when she reached me, she put her hand on my arm, edging me down the walkway to the car.

  “Were they giving you kitchen privileges?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “Dayum. I should charge you no less than $600 then.”

  “I’m only going to pay $400,” she said and crossed her arms over her chest.

  I nodded and pulled the truck away from the curb. Happy she was staying with me. Well, at my house. Especially now that Jeff was free of all charges and out of jail.

  Chapter 24

  Gabrielle

  I got Brodie to agree not to tell Jackson and Lena about what had happened with Jeff right away. I told him I would tell Lena in private, and he could tell Jackson at the same time, but I didn’t want to be in the room when he told Jackson. It was embarrassing enough that Brodie even knew about it. I wanted to be the one to tell Lena. She would never forgive me for keeping it from her if she found out from someone else. I was glad my lip, as well as Brodie’s lip, had healed before Lena and Jackson returned from their honeymoon. She was very curious about my living arrangements when I told her I had never stayed at their house and that I was renting the bedroom at Brodie’s. I assured her that Brodie and I had checked on her place several times during the week to make sure everything was okay and that Rufus had stayed at Brodie’s with us. I also had to convince her more than once that there was nothing going on between Brodie and me, and that took up most of the morning and two pots of coffee.

  “But the strange thing is, Lena,” I began after sipping yet another cup of coffee. At this rate, I was sure to find the energy and inspiration I needed to write that next chapter in my book. “Brodie isn’t anything like the way you had led me to believe.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, I don’t think he sleeps around with every woman he comes in contact with. At least I haven’t seen it. In fact, I haven’t seen him with anyone the whole time I’ve been here.”

  “Really?” She said reflectively. “That’s odd.”

  “Why is it so odd?”

  “Because for the past year, ever since I’ve known him, he’s made a great effort not to sleep here at home, and when he did, he was never alone and it was never with the same woman more than a few times at the most.”

  “Well, he’s been sleeping here every night, alone, since I arrived.” A fact that I was extremely glad about, especially now that Brodie and I were housemates. And now friends to boot. I didn’t want to hear him in his room getting it on with some floozy he picked up in the bar, nor did I like the idea of being left here in the old farmhouse alone with my thoughts and fears after what had happened at the reception. Which reminded me, I still needed to tell Lena about it.

  I went to the fridge and pulled out some turkey lunchmeat and eight slices of bread. “There’s something I need to tell you.” I began speaking as I stayed focused on the sandwiches I was making. I spread some mayonnaise on each slice then laid the turkey on four of them.

  “What?”

  I turned to glance at her and she smiled. I decided it was best to just say it. Quickly. “At the reception, Jeff Adams tried to rape me.”

  Lena was on her feet and standing beside me before I could even blink. Her arm was around my shoulder. “What happened?”

  I told her the whole story, and about how the police believed Jeff and the girl he had lie for him, choosing not to believe Brodie or me. “I suppose since Brodie hadn’t shown up until later, it really was her and Jeff’s word against mine,” I found myself admitting.

  “This is horrible, Gabby. I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because you would have wanted to postpone your honeymoon, and I wasn’t having any of that.”

  “You’re right. I would have. And so would’ve Jackson. I’m sure of it.”

  “That’s why I didn’t tell you. That’s exactly why Brodie and I decided not to let you know until you came home.”

  “I’m glad Brodie was there in time. Oh my God, that’s so frightening. I can’t believe … Jeff. He doesn’t look like a rapist.”

  “And what exactly does a rapist look like?” Brodie asked as he and Jackson entered the kitchen.

  She turned to face him. “Good point.”

  I chimed in to her rescue. “Beady, sinister-looking eyes, possibly balding head, or maybe just shaved, let’s not forget the scruffy beard. Or a hooded mask over his face and a big knife in his hand. That’s what a rapist is supposed to look like. Not like a freakin’ cover model, not like Jeff Adams.”

  The three of them just gawked at me not knowing what to say. I suppose the cover model comment may have been a bit much, but Jeff had been awfully attractive. Handsome guys weren’t supposed to be rapists. They weren’t supposed to need to attack a woman to have sex with them. Women usually threw themselves at them. But not me. Not me. It suddenly became so fucking obvious. I turned back around to concentrate on the sandwiches in front of me. I wiped the tear off my cheek with the back of my hand. I sucked in the rest of the tears, determined to hold it together long enough to finish making these goddamn sandwiches.

  “So, how was the honeymoon?” Brodie asked after the awkward deluge of silence. Thank God.

  I kept my back toward them all as Lena sucked in a breath and began talking about Hawaii and the excursions they went on; the snorkeling, the beaches. I cut each sandwich in half and positioned them all neatly in a circular pile on a large plate, placing it in the middle of the table. Brodie got out four beers and twisted off the caps before placing one in front of each of us while Lena and Jackson took turns telling us every little detail about their fairy tale honeymoon. Everything was perfect and back to normal once again.

  The next two weeks flew by, and I was able to complete another ten chapters in the new book. Brodie still slept at home
in his own bed every night, and I wondered if or when he would start going back to his past habits. I considered that maybe he was just staying home because of what had happened to me and was being nice by not leaving me alone. I’m sure I mentioned more than once about how much it frightened me that Jeff was out walking the streets. One of these days, I’d get up the courage to ask Brodie about his past. Lena mentioned that something horrible had happened that made him not want to settle down with anyone or even get into any type of relationship, though she also said that she didn’t know what it was since Jackson told her he wasn’t at liberty to say. She’d shrugged it off as one of those brotherly things that she had no intention of trying to understand or get in the middle of.

  I desperately tried to keep thoughts about my own past from entering my mind, as well as push any visions of Jeff’s attack away. I didn’t want them to interfere with the romantic scene I was writing. I did, however, think of Brodie and how different he was from the very first time I’d met him. I wondered how different things might have been if I hadn’t struck him and had let him kiss me. Come to think of it, I did let him kiss me. It wasn’t until his hand suddenly started roaming over my breasts that I had stopped him. I closed my eyes, thinking of that kiss, trying desperately to remember how his lips had felt on mine, but the act had been so brief, my memory couldn’t conjure any type of feeling. I hugged my arms around myself, wishing for a do-over.

  Chapter 25

  Brodie

  The unusually slow evening at the bar dragged, so I made good use of my time and wiped down the countertop as I waited for Derrick to come in and relieve me. The door to the bar swung open wide as Jackson came in carrying his guitar. It was Wednesday night, and the band wasn’t scheduled to play. “What are you doing here?”