by Gen Griffin
“Curtis.” Trish forced herself to focus on the problem at hand. “He has a temper and I'm sure stranding him on the side of the road didn't improve his mood.”
“Well, I hope you have full coverage insurance because your car is totaled.” David crossed his arms over his chest and scowled down at the visibly burned vehicle.
“Unfortunately, no,” Trish sighed. “Liability was all I could afford after Curtis and I split. I'm lucky I had insurance at all. Not that my crappy $50 a month bare-bones policy is going to help me much. I guess I'll be walking everywhere from now on.”
David finished winching Trish's car onto the flatbed. “Your grandfather has a relatively decent pick-up truck hidden in the garage behind your house. His driver's license was revoked 5 years ago so I fail to see any reason why you can't confiscate it for your own use.”
“Grover has a truck?” Trish was stunned.
“He does. He keeps trying to drive it around town. If the Callahan County Sheriff's Department had an impound lot, they'd have impounded it by now. Lucky for him, they don't.”
“He's legally blind.”
“I never said it was a pretty truck. It has a lot of dents.”
“I'll bet it does,” Trish said after a moment's pause. She sighed. “I guess a dented truck is better than a barbecued car.”
David smirked at her. His shaggy brown hair was falling into his dark green eyes. It made him look like a little boy despite all his tattoos. “Have to take your blessings where you can find them, I reckon.”
“My blessings.” Trish snorted and shook her own head. “I'm sorry. I usually try to stay optimistic. I just haven't been having a very good run of luck lately.”
“Me neither,” David said as he finished with the cables. “My house burned down last night and I've got a psychotic sheriff's deputy chasing me around town trying to arrest me for every crime that's committed in the county. Want to talk about it?”
Trish considered pouring her heart out to David about Curtis for roughly half a second and then she shook her head no. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't be whining. Especially not to you.”
“You can whine to me. I don't mind.” David smiled at her. “Really, you can talk to me. I won't tell anyone your secrets and I won't hold them against you.”
“You make pretty impressive promises,” Trish said.
“I'm an impressive guy,” David replied with a wink.
Trish took a deep breath and then smiled at him. “You are very impressive, and almost disturbingly sexy. We should get back to Possum Creek before my grandfather shoots the mailman again.”
“Your grandfather has shitty aim and the mailman wears Kevlar,” David replied. “But before we go back to town, there's something we need to talk about.”
“What's that?” Trish asked, feeling strangely hesitant.
“I want to know the truth about why your ex-husband is trying to hurt you.”
“Who told you that Curtis is trying to hurt me?”
“Addison,” David said.
Trish sighed and closed her eyes. “I don't know.”
David leaned against the bed of the wrecker. “Addison's worried about you. He thinks your ex-husband is dangerous. I've been friends with Addison for most of my life. His instincts about people are normally pretty good. Tell me if he's right?”
“I don't know,” Trish repeated.
“Trish, you were with this guy for four years. Deep down, you know whether or not he's dangerous.”
“It's not that simple. I can't think of any reason why-”
“What aren't you telling Addison?” David cut her off mid-sentence.
“What?” Trish asked, genuinely baffled.
“He said that you told him you can't think of any reason your ex would want to kill you. He said you don't have any life insurance and that you aren't asking for money in the divorce. He says you told him your ex has nothing to gain from hurting you. What aren't you telling him?”
“I've told Addison everything. Well almost everything,” Trish said. She blinked and bit her lip. “I've told Addison everything that matters when it comes to me and Curtis.”
“You said almost everything,” David said flatly. “Tell me.”
“It's not important.” Trish intentionally looked away. The heat of embarrassment was flushing through her cheeks.
“Why does your ex-husband want to hurt you?” David repeated the original question.
“I don't know.”
“Then how do you know that whatever you're not telling Addison isn't important?” David countered. “I'm trying to help you, Trish. Addy doesn't want me to let you out of my sight until we're sure your ex has left town. If I'm going to have to shoot a man to keep you safe, I need to know what I'm killing him for.”
“You're not going to have to shoot Curtis,” Trish said quickly.
“Because he'd never hurt you?” David hiked one eyebrow at her skeptically and then turned back to the burned car.
Trish took a deep breath and realized he had a point. She swallowed the lump in her throat and blinked back tears. “Addison's right. Curtis wants to hurt me, but I don't know why. I've spent the last three months trying to think of a single reason for Curtis to put everything he cares about on the line for me and I can think of nothing, David. Nothing.”
“Nothing?” David asked. “Are you sure?”
“He never even loved me,” Trish felt more than a little bit humiliated.
David frowned at her. “You don't think he loved you?”
“He gave me a fake engagement ring.”
“Okay, I know you're pissed about the fake diamond. I don't blame you for that, but try not to let that color your opinion of the entire relationship. You wouldn't have married him if you hadn't thought he loved you.”
Trish leaned her forehead against the cool metal side of the wrecker. “It's complicated.”
“It can't be that complicated,” David said.
“Why do you care so much?”
“What?” David frowned at her.
“Why do you care?”
“Because...I care. I just do.”
“You have no reason to care. You've known me for less than two days.” Trish wasn't entirely surprised to find herself crying for what felt like the hundredth time this week. “Why do you care about me when its pretty obvious I'm not worth caring about?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” David asked.
“Curtis is the only man I've ever been with, David. He and I dated for three years before he proposed. When he proposed to me, I told him the ring was too extravagant for me. He told me I was worth it and that he loved me.” She was crying openly now. “I was happy. I was stupidly, ridiculously happy.”
“Trish-.”
“No. Hush. Listen to me. I was happy and I was in love. At least, I thought I was in love. Two months after Curtis proposed I picked up his phone and found pictures of a naked girl on it. I confronted him. He said he had cold feet about the wedding and that was why he was cheating on me. He swore he'd never do it again but we moved the wedding date back by six months. The night before we were supposed to walk down the aisle, I caught him cheating on me again.” She used the neckline of the shirt she was wearing to wipe tears away from her face.
“Trish-.”
“Stop, David. Let me finish because I never want to have this conversation again.” She waited for him to acknowledge her.
He hesitated and then nodded. He appeared to be gnawing on the inside of his cheek but his lips were pressed tightly together.
She took a deep breath. “I wanted to cancel the wedding a second time, but Curtis convinced me to go through with it. He said it would be too humiliating to cancel the ceremony when all the guests were already in town. He begged me not to break up with him. He promised to go to counseling with me. He showered me with gifts for weeks after we got home from the honeymoon. He woke me up every morning and told me how much he loved me before he left for work. I honestly thought
we were going to be okay. And then I went to the gynecologist for my annual exam and made the horrifyingly embarrassing discovery that Curtis had given me an STD.”
“Oh shit.” David looked taken aback.
“Right. Oh shit. For the record, this is the part I haven't shared with Addison. Or anyone else.”
“I get that,” David said.
“The STD was curable, thank god. All it took was a round of antibiotics and it was gone. With that said, I decided to confront Curtis about how I'd caught an STD when I was in a monogamous relationship with my husband.”
“I'm going to guess the conversation didn't go well,” David looked distinctly uncomfortable now.
“He was working late, so I went to see him at work. I brought him dinner because I wanted to sit down for a real conversation. When I walked into his office, I caught him face-first in the crotch of a stripper who was facing prostitution charges. Apparently, he gives discounts to clients who are willing have sex with him.”
“Oh Jesus,” David reached for her. “Trish, I'm sorry.”
“No. Stop.” She held up her hand. “You asked me for the truth about my relationship with Curtis and you're going to get it.”
“Okay then. Go on.” David met her eyes calmly. She was surprised by the sympathy she saw in his expression.
“Curtis and I got into a big fight when I caught him with the stripper. I told him I'd had enough and that I was divorcing him. He tried to talk me out of the divorce. He begged me to give him one more chance. I told him we'd talk about it the next day. I figured I was exhausted and emotionally drained. I thought I'd be better off if I waited to make a decision in a calmer state of mind. I slept on the couch that night. The next morning, we went out to breakfast and Curtis talked me into agreeing to go through marriage counseling one last time.” Trish stopped and looked hard at David. She took a deep breath before continuing. “Two hours later, he shoved me off his boat in a storm and I nearly drowned.”
“What?” David stared at her with shock clearly visible in his eyes.
She held up her right arm to show him the same scar she'd shown Addison the day before. “We made up, agreed to try to save the marriage and then he tried to drown me. I don't swim well. I don't like the water.”
“He pushed you off a boat?” David repeated.
“He was smiling when he did it.” Trish felt strangely relieved to be admitting the truth she'd denied to herself for the last 3 months. “But he said it was an accident and everyone believed him.”
“You stayed with him even knowing that he'd hurt you?” David demanded.
“Not exactly,” Trish said. “I filed for divorce and then moved here.”
David blinked at Trish. “You moved here because you were trying to get away from him?”
“Yes and no,” Trish said. “My mother asked me to move here because Grover needed help. And, after I thought it over for a little while, I didn't think it was such a bad idea to get some distance from Curtis either.”
“Shit,” David said.
Trish looked away from him. She wished she could make herself stop crying. “I had almost convinced myself that maybe I was wrong about him intentionally pushing me off the boat until last night.”
“When he jerked your car off the road,” David filled in.
“When he apologized right before he snatched the steering wheel out of my hands,” Trish clarified. “That was pretty much when I knew one hundred percent for sure that he wanted to hurt me.”
“Fuck.” David was clenching his keys so tightly in his fist that it looked like the metal might actually cut through his skin. “Did you tell Addison everything you've told me?”
“I've told him almost everything. Not the STD part. I'd appreciate it if you kept that to yourself.”
“I won't tell a soul,” David crossed his heart with his right hand. “I can't believe Addison didn't shoot the sorry motherfucker last night.”
“He wanted to,” Trish admitted reluctantly. “I stopped him.”
David hesitated. “What do you mean?”
“Addy had Curtis on his back with the barrel of his gun two inches from Curtis's nose. He was about to pull the trigger when I told him not to.”
“So Addy just let him go?” David demanded.
“He fired right past his head and told Curtis that he would kill him for real if he didn't leave me alone. Then we left him standing right here with the wrecked car. Told him to call a cab and then forgot about him.”
“Addison fucked up,” David said angrily.
“No, he didn't.” Trish said. “It's my fault, David. Not Addy's. I didn't want him to hurt Curtis. I don't want anyone to hurt anyone. Violence never leads to anything other than more violence.”
“Sometimes it serves a purpose,” he countered.
“I was raised to solve my disagreements with words, not fists. Not guns.” Trish wiped her eyes again. “I know you're not like that. I know you and Addison are pretty much 'shoot first, ask questions later' kind of guys. I'm not used to that and it scares me. Everything about this situation scares me.”
“Trish, I'm not trying to scare you.” David reached for Trish. “But I'm not going to let that bastard hurt you either.”
“Why do you care?” Trish asked as David put his hand on her arm and began pulling her towards him. “Why do you care if he hurts me?”
“Because...” David appeared to be at a genuine loss for words. He chewed his lip with a hesitation Trish hadn't seen from him before. “I'm in love with you.”
Trish stared at him for a long moment and then shook her head. “You said that last night, but I think you're insane. Why would you be in love with me?” She asked. “Obviously I'm not worth much. The only man I've ever slept with told me I was crappy in bed and then tried to kill me.” She broke down into racking sobs.
David didn't say a word as he pulled Trish into his arms. He held her tightly and rocked her against his chest. His chin was balanced snugly on the top of her head.
“Curtis told me last night that I look better with my clothes on,” Trish whispered miserably. She didn't even try to hide how much those words hurt her.
“Curtis is a fucking idiot,” David informed her flatly.
“I'm sorry. I know I'm being a cry baby. It's just that everything that's happened with Curtis has made me feel worthless.”
“You're not worthless.” David bent down and gently kissed her lips.
Trish closed her eyes and kissed him back. His lips tasted a little salty and her own were more than slightly dry, but there was still something inexplicably good about his warmth. This boy felt right. God knew, everything else about her current situation screamed 'wrong', but David had felt right since the first moment she'd laid eyes on him.
“I feel worthless,” Trish repeated. “I gave everything I had to my marriage with Curtis and it failed miserably. He wants me hurt or maybe even dead and I honestly can't even tell you why.”
“We'll figure it out,” David told her calmly.
“How?”
“I have no idea. But I won't let that jackass hurt you. You can trust me on that.” His dark green eyes were almost too bright and they radiated with honesty.
“I do trust you,” Trish whispered. “I don't know why I trust you, but I trust you.”
“You trust me because you know I'm in love with you,” David said.
“You keep saying you are,” Trish replied. “I'm thinking you fall in love easy.”
“No. I don't.” David shook his head at her and then leaned back against the truck. He bit his lower lip, took a deep breath and then met her eyes. “I know I probably shouldn’t be saying this, especially because you're not technically divorced yet, but I want you. And not in a casual way. I play for keeps.”
“You only met me last night,” Trish whispered. “You don't exactly strike me as a true love at first sight kind of guy. How can you be so sure that you want me?”
“Maybe I don't believe in love at firs
t sight, but I've always said that when I met the right girl, I would know. You're the right girl.”
Trish gaped at him. “What?”
“If I fell in love with you at first sight, it was because you were holding my gun and blowing alligators away in a cocktail dress. If that wasn't enough, I've watched you put Kerry in his place without flinching twice now. You're living a fucking nightmare with your ex and yet you're holding it together. You're one tough girl, and I can appreciate that. Not to mention that you act like you have faith in me when you don't have to and I haven't even done anything to prove myself to you.”
“David.” Trish had no idea what to say to him. The depth of his words shook her to her very core. He was using the word 'love' after less than a day and he managed to make it sound like the most reasonable feeling in the world.
“I've seen everything I need to see.” David faced her intently. “You're the girl I want, Trish. I know this is a fucked up situation and that you probably think I'm crazy, but just go with me here. We'll be good together.”
“You don't understand. I've gone so long trying to pretend everything in my life was alright. And then I met you,” Trish said softly after a moments hesitation. She closed her own eyes and tried to gather her thoughts. “And you're off balance and unpredictable. I don't know why it feels so stupidly good to be in your arms or why I feel so safe with you, but I definitely don't feel dead inside anymore. That scares me more than you could ever understand.”
“I'm not trying to scare you.”
“I know. Its me, not you. I'm the kind of girl who needs commitment.”
“Commitment?” David rolled the word over his tongue as if it tasted strange.
“I'm not asking you to commit to being in a long term relationship after you've known me for a day,” Trish clarified. “That would be crazy and I know you're not...”
“You want me on my knees?”
“What?” Trish blinked at him, completely confused.
“Do you want me on my knees?” David repeated.
“I don't want you to beg,” she said softly.