by Debbie Civil
Chapter 7
Cold fury has settled in my gut. Mom broke up with Peter for me. That’s why he hasn’t made any attempts to call me. At first, I assumed that he was just giving me space. Then, I figured that Peter was busy. It never occurred to me to call Peter. No, that’s a lie, I couldn’t call Peter. Mom has constant possession of my phone. In fact, the only time I see it is when I drive to the police station. But I’m usually not in a good frame of mind, so calling Peter then, has been out of the question.
“That’s just messed up,” Rain says as she fingers a coral colored dress.
“Want it?” I ask, suddenly having the urge to spoil my cousin. We may not be blood cousins, but Rain has always had my back.
“Nope. I have nowhere fancy to go.” I grab the dress and toss it in the cart. I’m about to drop some major money. She had no right orchestrating a break up with Peter.
“Mom doesn’t know that you and Peter hit it off?” I ask, not even knowing that myself.
“Nope. I’m sort of dating his eldest brother Craig. He’s hot,” Rain gushes, a wistful expression crossing her face.
“Has he asked you to go with him to the wedding?” Eli asks as she walks over to us. Rain nods.
“I’m not going. It’s…” She doesn’t agree with the way I’m being treated. I know my cousin. She’s the type that refuses to socialize with people that hurt who she loves. Eli looks confused.
“I’d like it if you came,” she my cousin tells Rain, her face lighting up. “Craig talks about you, a lot.” Rain nods.
“I’m just that interesting.” I hit my cousin in the arm.
“Chelsea, do you want to see the dress?” Eli asks hesitantly.
“She’ll hate it. Chelsea likes the color red. Pink just isn’t her color,” Rain says, as if she had seen the dress before. Eli frowns.
“Oh, well, you…”
“Eliza, did you know that Mom broke up with Peter?” Eli nods then looks down at the ground.
“Mom mentioned it to me the other day. I was going to tell you. But Nathan figured that you’d find out soon enough. We can’t afford to make anyone upset. You know what’s at stake,” Eli pleads. Rain inhales, waiting for my legendary temper to spike. But instead, tears begin streaming down my face. Rain wraps me in a tight hug and rubs my back. I shake with emotion. I thought that when I came back to Gately, everything would be the same. The five of us would hang out, watch movies, and go on another spontaneous road trip. But I was wrong to hope for normalcy. Instead, I’m stuck in a reality where people constantly play with my life like it is a board game. No one is thinking about my well -being. No one’s listening. Instead, they are making decisions that suit them.
“Its okay, Chelsea. Everything will be all right. Peter will understand. He hasn’t moved on. I’m still here. You still have me.” Rain knows the right things to say to me. How could she not? She’s known me since I was a toddler. Rain understands me far better than Eli does. My tears stop flowing and numbness comes over me. I release my friend and wince at her wet shirt. She doesn’t care. I turn to see that Eli is still there, frozen, as if crying was the last thing that she expected.
“That’s fine. You have to look out for yourself. Rain, are you hungry?”
“I always am,” she says and I laugh. Eli frowns.
“Chelsea, I…”
“Its fine, Eliza. I’m going to buy these clothes and get out of your hair.” Eliza looks defeated. She slumps as she joins her friends.
“You need a dress for the wedding,” Rain tells me. “Not that pale pink mess they call fashion.”
“Fine,” I grumble.
The next hour is spent trying on all of the clothes that I’ve selected. Finding a dress for Eli’s wedding is easy. Rain has an eye for detail. She finds a red off the shoulder gown that sparkles. It’s a v neck and form fitting. The best part of this whole ordeal is that I don’t need to get the dress altered. We don’t pay any attention to the girls in the bridal party. They have faded into the background. It’s just Rain and I. I force Rain to buy the formal dress plus two sun dresses. Shopping for shoes is miserable. Rain is so picky. She claims that the right pair of shoes can make or break an outfit. I just don’t care. By this point, I’m starving. As I’m sitting on the bench, Danny chooses this moment to approach us. She frowns at us and raises a brow at Rain. As I’m trying on the shoes, Rain fills Danny in. Apparently, she had no idea about my mother’s antics. I’m relieved by that. Danny has been so kind to me. I would hate it if a wall is erected between us.
“So Eli knew about what Chelsea’s mother did and didn’t say anything?” Danny quietly asks Rain.
“Pretty much. I can’t believe it. I thought that Eli and Chelsea were really close.”
“No. She’s closest with Carmen,” Danny corrects. I want to correct Danny and tell her that at this very moment, I’m closest to her. But I don’t. I know that by tomorrow, Carmen will be my most trusted confidante again. Rain squeals are proclaiming that the shoes will work for my dress and I wholeheartedly agree. I stand on wobbly legs and sigh as I toss the shoes into the cart. Danny looks concerned.
“That’s a lot of stuff,” she hedges.
“Don’t worry about it,” I say as I wheel the cart to the register. Carmen is standing there, staring at a pair of earrings that are dangling from her fingers. I sigh, snatch them from her and gesture for the worker to box them up. Why not? They are beautiful. Everyone hovers as the woman that had greeted us walks up to me. She has a scowl on her face and I’m unsure why. The store clerk, an oblivious girl who chomps her gum happily, begins to scan the contents of the cart. When it’s all set and done, Rain gasps at the total. I am going to shell out 11 thousand dollars. I pass over my debit card and it’s as if everyone takes a breath. When the card scanner squeaks and the woman hands the card back to me, the woman in the pantsuit relaxes. A man returns with the earrings that cost two thousand dollars, and I nod and my card gets scanned again. Carmen smiles gratefully at me and Stephanie looks agitated with envy. It’s evident, by her look, she was hoping to buy those earrings. Well, good. I’m glad.
“How could you afford all of that?” Eli asks, her eyes going wide.
“Grandmother gives me an allowance,” I explain. Everyone including Bob gapes.
“She… She isn’t that free with her money. I…” Eli is speechless. Carmen shrugs.
“At least I got the earrings I wanted.” I nod at my cousin and make eye contact with her. Her eyes are friendly and thankful. I have a hard time believing that she wouldn’t have told me about Peter. Danny nods as if she can read my mind.
“I don’t think she knows,” Rain hisses in my ear. “Don’t tell her, she’ll start snooping. Maybe you shouldn’t let it on that you know.”
“Eli will give her mother the heads up,” Danny says. “She can’t risk the drama. They already think her choice of groom isn’t wise,” Danny whispers to me. And Rain looks deflated. I feel her pain. She knows that now that I’ve caught up to what Mom was doing, she will insist on plastering herself to me. Well, I am not going to worry about this.
“Rain, how did you get here?” I ask. She smirks.
“Mike Low owed me fifty bucks. I told him that if he drove me to Gately, the debt was forgotten,” she explains, and my heart warms even more. She loves me enough to risk being stranded. I shoot her a smile, gratitude filling me.
“Thanks. I know how much you hate asking for favors.” Rain waves her hand in dismissal.
“You’re going to feed me, so it will make up for it.” Eli picks this moment to call me over to her. I shake my head at her. We will talk at home. Carmen, the nosy one, frowns and begins studying our facial expressions. She can sense trouble a mile away. “Let’s go. Drive me back to Elmview. I can wait for food. Besides, he can’t wait any longer.” After telling Danny goodbye, Rain and I and one of the attendants carry our bundle to my car. After stuffing it all into the trunk, we get into the car and I sigh.
&nbs
p; “Are you sure? We can…”
“Stop worrying about me, Chelsea. I’m going to be fine. I had breakfast before I came here.” My stomach rumbles, reminding me that I am running on empty. Rain turns on the radio, and we cruise along and sing. Neither of us is good and at some point, Rain declares that we both should shut up. I agree, and we continue driving in a companionable silence. Since my phone is deemed unsafe, Rain texts Peter to meet us at her house. I hope that reporters aren’t watching Rain’s place. In fact let’s just hope that they don’t know anything about her. Though, that seems rather doubtful.
“Aren’t they following Peter?” I ask, panic making my throat tight. Rain looks confused.
“Who?”
“The press. Aren’t they…”
“After a week of him saying no comment and the police being called, he’s fine,” Rain says.
“Did they bother you?” My cousin smirks.
“Yup. I’ve gotten call after call asking if I want to make a comment. Don’t forget the Facebook friend requests from strangers and 495 people now following me on twitter. But I avoid talking about you. Donald, being a rat, enjoys taunting them. He writes stuff like, I Miss Chelsea, she makes the best muffins. But he doesn’t ever mention the stuff about Adam. Well, he doesn’t now. After he blogged about how Adam is nothing but a no good liar, and his comments were read on the five o'clock news, he got the hint,” Rain explains, and I smirk. Donald Simpson is a very aggressive guy. He doesn’t back down from a challenge and will call just about anyone on their bull. He’s family.
“Do your parents hate me?” Rain chuckles.
“Nope. But your parents and mine had a falling out. Since they were accepted in the Philips family fold again, your parents want nothing to do with mine. Let’s just say your mother has gotten a complex.” None of this surprises Rain. She doesn’t think highly of my folks. I think about that for a moment, and an idea comes to mind.
“How close are you and Peter?”
“I’m the one who caught him drinking and forced him to get help,” Rain admits, growing silent. “Chelsea, he’s a little brother to me. You have nothing to worry about.”
“That’s not why I asked.” as I turn onto Rain’s street. She frowns.
“What is it?”
“Rain, did Peter ever tell you about what happened before I jumped out of the Limo?” Her eyes go wide and she nods.
“You still don’t remember?” Her shock is barely contained. I pull up in front of the one story sky blue house and turn off the engine. Rain has to tell me. This might answer the burning question in my mind. Why is Dad being so weird?
“Chelsea, isn’t that a good thing?” Rain asks cautiously.
“The prosecutor told me that Dad said something awful to me. I’d rather find out from a friend instead of a courtroom full of people. You know how terrible defense attorneys can be.” Rain frowns.
“Peter wrote it all down. He’ll tell you,” she offers as she opens the door and runs toward the house. Rain is a track star, so her speed isn’t surprising. Groaning, I slam the door shut and open the trunk, grab the garment bags containing her stuff and chase after her.
“Hi Chelsea,” Peter says as soon as I enter the kitchen. I toss Rain’s stuff on the table and throw myself into his arms.
“Peter,” I cry against his shirt. “It’s so good to see you.” He laughs and tightens his hold on me.
“It’s good to see you too, sweetheart. How have you been?”
“Miserable. I’ve missed you. I’m so sorry about what my mother said to you. Had I known…? I couldn’t get away. And Mom never let me have my phone except for when I went to the police station. I…”
“I know, love. Calm down. I didn’t believe the texts,” he whispers, his lips brushing against my right ear. The sensation is wonderful.
“How did you know?” I ask as I run my fingers through his silky black hair. This conversation needs to end. He needs to kiss me as of five minutes ago.
“Grace told me.” His words catch me by surprise. But Peter doesn’t notice. As his hand begins stroking my back, he continues. “She called me looking for you two days after I started receiving the texts. I told her about our break up, and she told me that it couldn’t have been true. She said that you had been pining for me. She told me that once she talked to you, she would make sense of everything. Then, she demanded that I pick her up from the airport,” Peter finishes, and I gasp.
“Grace is here?” I ask, confused.
“Yup. Her parents want nothing to do with her. So she borrowed her father’s debit card and bought a one way ticket to Massachusetts. They didn’t let her take any of her things, Chelsea. She’s been wearing all of Donald’s old t-shirts and sweats. I guess Lilly also donated to her. But you’d have to ask Malcolm about that,” he says bitterly.
“Oh, Peter. I’m so sorry about everything. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you. I…” He kisses me. This kiss is long and passionate. He lifts me off the ground to get better access. I wrap my legs around his waist and deepen the kiss. His hands press against my lower back, making sure that I don’t fall. My hands are tangled in his hair, and I’m lightly scratching his scalp. Our tongues are entwined, moving as if it is instinct. It has been so long since I’ve been held by him. The only thing I want to do is get closer to Peter. Now, I want him to consume me. Suddenly, Peter pulls away and takes a deep breath. His brown eyes, which have grown more intelligent over the last two years, are still dark with passion. But he’s slowly coming back to himself. My heart is beating so loud that it could probably be heard a mile away.
“Chelsea,” he whispers as he presses a gentle kiss to my forehead. I sigh.
“Peter. I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetheart. Chelsea…”
“Peter, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know Adam would lie. He is lying. I’d never try…”
“Chelsea, I was there. Sweetheart, I was there. I know what’s true. You went back in to save my life. You… You shot your uncle to keep me safe. And I’m sorry you had to do that,” Peter says gently.
“I’m sorry that you got caught up in all of this. Had I let you go when you asked, you…”
“You would have been dead. Chelsea, I don’t regret staying with you. I regret that any of this happened. Eric Philips is a monster. He will pay. When the time comes, justice will be served,” Peter hisses. A chill travels up and down my spine. At that moment, I notice that my sweet Peter has hardened. This experience has touched him deeply. He’s older in his features and in his attitude. In fact, his arms are thicker, and he is ripped. Seriously, he had to be hitting the gym every day. Why? Does having muscles make him feel safe?
“He will pay for everything. I still can’t understand why he did all of this,” I say as I’m snatched from Peter’s arms. I squeal, and Malcolm is hugging me to his chest. I wrap my arms around him, and he chuckles and places me on my feet.
“Seriously, brother, get a room,” Malcolm jokes. Peter looks over his shoulder, as if expecting someone. Maybe, he’s looking for Lilly. When he doesn’t see her, Malcolm shakes his head, and Peter sighs in relief.
“Where is she?” he asks slowly. Malcolm’s face turns serious.
“Look, you don’t want to see her and Chelsea doesn’t care for her. There wasn’t a reason to bring her around,” he reasons. I sigh as a thin, lightly muscled version of Peter strolls into the room. This must be Craig. The guy looks different than the other Jacobs boys. His hair is longer, and his eyes are a lighter brown.
“I’m Craig,” he says, taking me in for a hug. I feel welcomed by him. He pulls away, and I say “I’m Chelsea.”
“So, who else is here?” I ask and then the boys move father into the kitchen, and I see her. Carmen Philips is smirking as if she has pulled off the greatest heist. I frown at her.
“I blackmailed Jake into bringing me here. I had to see that you were okay,” she says. “I also packed a few of your things.” My brows furrow in confus
ion.
“For what?” I ask.
“Do you trust me?” Carmen asks.
“With my life,” I respond, and it means a lot to her. Carmen being here makes me realize that she does care. Because being here isn’t in her best interest.
“You are going to hide away for a while, Chelsea. You need to spend some time away from your mother. I can’t allow her to follow you anymore. It will drive you mad.”