Someday Beach (15 page)

He nodded slowly. “You can’t even imagine what life was like for me. Not that you don’t have it bad.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “Sorry.”

She shook her head. “No, I understand. I’d love to hear about it. Go on.”

He looked around. “How about we go sit in a dark booth at Cassey’s and have a beer. I could use a beer to get through this story.”

She nodded. She could use a beer too, maybe even two.

“I’ll leave a note for Marlene and Laura telling them to take the rest of the day off.”

He smiled. “Now you’re talking.”

“
I
was five years old, almost six, when my mom’s new boyfriend first started abusing me.” He looked at her across the table and felt his stomach roll. He’d never talked about it, not to anyone before, not even his father or brothers. No one knew the silent pain he’d gone through. But something in him wanted—no, needed—to tell Shelly. Especially after today. She had to know what she was committing herself to.

“I’m sorry.” She frowned and took another sip of her beer. “It must have been horrible.”

He nodded. “Not the kind of abuse you’re thinking.” He waited and watched acknowledgment cross her eyes. Her hand quickly reached across the table and took his.

“Oh my God!” It came out as a whisper.

“Eight months. Most of my very first memories are of what he did to me on an almost nightly basis.” He watched tears come to Shelly’s eyes again and blocked out the memories that threatened to drown him. “At first I was too young to really understand. I listened to his bull about it being a game and a secret.” He closed his eyes, then opened them again and took a large drink of his beer so he would have the guts to finish the story.

“How’d you get away?” Her hand felt cold and smooth in his. When he looked down at their joined fingers, he was amazed at the difference between them. Her pale skin was perfect and his darker hands showed signs of hard work. Suddenly, he didn’t feel good enough for her. He wanted to pull his hand away and shove it in his pockets, but she held it firm.

“I didn’t get away as much as was abandoned.” He heard her gasp. “One night my mother was watching the news. There was a report of a woman who had stabbed a man that had broken into her house to rape her. After Mom left to go to work, I took the biggest knife we had in the apartment and hid it under my pillow.” His eyes were focused on her hands as he talked. He couldn’t bear to see the pain and sympathy in her eyes. “The first time he woke me that night, I was too afraid.” He shook his head. “I’d been asleep and had forgotten about the knife. But sometimes he would come back a second time, and this time I was waiting for him. I stabbed him six times.” He looked up at her when she gasped again. “I didn’t kill him. Actually, I didn’t do much damage. It took my mother less than five minutes to fix him up. He was more pissed than anything. I remember sitting in the corner holding the bloody knife, thinking I should have tried harder.” He looked back down at their hands. She’d tightened her grip on him and he was thankful. It was almost like an anchor, holding him to the present. “When I told my mother why I’d stabbed Mike, she slapped me and called me a liar. The next week, she drove me to the boys’ home and signed the paperwork, dissolving her rights to me.” He blinked and was shocked to see a tear fall onto his hand. He looked up and realized it was his. Shaking his head, he smiled a little. “It was the second best thing that has happened to me.” He looked at her face and felt all of the bad memories fade away.

“Marcus…” She shook her head and closed her eyes. “I had no idea…” She looked at him and he could see the pain in her eyes. “My parents look like saints now.” She chuckled nervously.

“Don’t,” he said in a low voice. When she looked up at him with questions in her eyes, he continued. “Don’t pity me. Like I said, it was the best thing that could have happened to me, getting away from that evil. You did the same thing by coming here.” He reached over and took her other hand. “You took your own life in your hands and decided to start over.” He smiled. “If I was half as strong as—”

Her chuckle interrupted him. “Half as strong… You were stronger at six than I am at twenty-four.” She shook her head. “I can only hope to be as strong as you one day.”

He smiled. “You were today.” She looked up at him and smiled back. “Freaking Xena the warrior, facing off with her mortal enemies.”

“Who?” She blinked up at him and he laughed.

“Okay, I see a whole weekend and a stack of DVDs in our future.” He laughed some more when she just smiled at him. “You are every inch a warrior princess, and I was so proud of you today.”

Her smile brightened and then quickly changed as she looked down at their hands. “I just hope it did the trick.”

“If not, I’m sure you can stand up against anything.”

“With you by my side, I feel like I can.” She got up and crossed over to sit next to him. When she reached up and placed a soft kiss on his lips, he realized he’d been denying the depth of his feelings for her.

Looking into her eyes, he felt something loosen in his chest. “I love you.” It came out as a whisper and he felt her tense in his arms. “No, don’t tense.” He used the back of his fingers and brushed them up against her soft cheek. “Listen to me. Look at me. I run a construction business in a small beach community. I’m no high-powered businessman with fancy cars, fancy houses. I’ve got a pretty screwed-up past, but a wonderful family that I wouldn’t trade for the world, and I love you. Completely. Wholly. Painfully. I’m not asking you to—”

“I love you too,” she interrupted. When his eyes moved to hers, he saw that she was telling the truth. “I can’t believe it happened so quickly, but there it is. I’ve been denying it for days.” She sighed and shook her head. “Weeks actually.”

He chuckled. “Me too.” He rubbed a finger over her wet cheek.

“I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.” She sighed.

“So you’ve said.” He pulled her closer and enjoyed the way she fit against him. “What do you say to eating some food and then clocking off early? I’d like to drive by the place on Sugar Sand Lane and take another look at it with you. I’ve got the code so we can take our time looking.”

She pulled away and smiled up at him. “I’d love to.”

“Good, because I hope you know, I plan on making it our place. If you’ll move in with me once it’s finished, that is.”

She smiled. “I’d love to.”

When they drove up the driveway, he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. His mind was whirling with ideas and plans for the place.

“Tell me what you’re envisioning,” Shelly said beside him.

He glanced over at her and nodded, then proceeded to tell her all his ideas. As they walked through the place, he told her his plans. He even sketched out the kitchen for her as they stood at the island.

When they stepped out onto the back deck, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. There was a light breeze coming off the water and she shivered in his arms.

“We should have grabbed your coat.” He kissed the top of her head.

“I’m okay as long as you have your arms around me.” She rested her head back against his chest and he could imagine them standing here like this for the rest of their lives.

*******

The next day Marlene, Laura, and Shelly had to play catch up. Marcus had been called off early to another job. But he hadn’t left her until she’d promised to call him if her parents showed up.

She doubted they would, but she knew the fight wasn’t over. She’d logged into her bank and changed her security information, removing them as her emergency contact. She’d noticed that her trust fund was blocked to her, but she didn’t care. As long as they couldn’t touch her inheritance from Nanna, she was fine. She had plans to call the bank later today to make sure that they couldn’t.

It took the three of them all morning to finish setting up the store. By the time lunch rolled around, the place was looking great. There were still a few items that had to be tagged, but for the most part, they were ready to open the doors.

The man had come and installed her credit card line and machine earlier that day, and she was very eager to try it out on the first sale.

Marlene and Laura left to grab some lunch, so she stood in the store and soaked up everything. Her eyes scanned every detail, from the color of the walls to the warm rich feeling of the floors, the bright-colored clothes that hung on the racks and the shoes that shined on the wall. She would have loved to shop at a place like this.

Sighing, she turned and almost bumped solidly into someone.

“Oh!” She gasped when she saw Tyler frowning down at her. His hands were on her shoulders, keeping her from falling over. “Tyler?” She frowned and wished more than anything that she’d anticipated her parents making this move. “What are you doing here?”

He dropped his hands and she watched his left eyebrow rise in question. “I came because your parents asked me to.” Even though his voice was calm, she knew it could raise higher with anger.

“They shouldn’t have called you.” She crossed her arms over her chest. She desperately wished to take a step back, but she wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction. “I meant it when I ended it between us.”

He nodded slightly. “Well, I understand, but our parents have a different agenda for us. It looks like we’ll be going through with the wedding after all.”

She sighed. “I’m not marrying you. You know that.” She flinched a little when his hands went back to her shoulders and tightened on her arms.

One of the reasons she’d broken off the relationship was his recent behavior. She didn’t like to be dominated. He had started to act differently, demanding to know where she was, what she was doing at all times. He’d never hit her, but he had yelled and cussed and said some hurtful things to her.

“Listen, I dislike the plan as much as you do, but I’m not going to jeopardize my inheritance or yours.” He turned and started walking towards the door. “So, we’ll just go tell them the wedding is back on.”

At this point, he was almost dragging her out of the front doors. She was so shocked at his behavior, she didn’t think to pull away.

But when the cool air hit her face outside, she woke up. Tugging her arms free, she took a few steps away from him.

“I’m not marrying you. I don’t care about my inheritance or yours.” She watched his face turn a dark shade of red.

“Shelly, this is neither the time nor the place to have this discussion. Besides, it’s too late. You’ve already agreed to the wedding and if you don’t go through with it, my parents are prepared to sue yours for breach of contract.”

“Breach of contract?” she squealed. “What are you talking about? I didn’t sign any contract. Nor would my parents.”

“Verbal contract.” Tyler smiled.

Shelly laughed. “Oh, that’s rich.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Is that why your parents are pressuring mine? What do they hope to gain from our marriage?”

He stood there looking at her like she’d grown an extra head.

“What was the plan?” She waited, thinking. “Go ahead, try and sue. It won’t stand up in court. Actually, I’m pretty sure you’ll get laughed at by every lawyer.” Tyler chuckled and raised that damn eyebrow of his again.

Then she gasped inwardly when she remembered what Tyler’s father did for a living. She doubted even a high-powered lawyer like him would win a case like that. She continued to stand her ground.

“You can make it easier on your family by just going along.” He reached out and took her arm in a vice grip again. “Imagine the rumors and scandals we can have floating around about you and your family. Your father will be ruined.”

“Get your hands off my daughter.” She heard anger in her father’s voice that she’d never heard before. She turned and watched her parents step closer. She hadn’t realized they’d been standing a few feet away. When she blinked, she noticed Marcus and Roman standing behind them a little ways. Marcus looked like he was about to tear Tyler in half, but Roman was holding his arms pretty tightly.

“Dad?” Her father marched over to where she stood, standing between her and Tyler.

“If you ever get near my family again, I’ll hire a better lawyer than your father and sue your entire family right out of Washington. Have I made myself clear?” He waited until Tyler backed down and nodded. “Now, I don’t care what you tell your family about what happened here, but I will be making an official announcement later tonight about the engagement being off. If I were you, I’d hop on the earliest flight out.”

Shelly watched as Tyler rushed down the boardwalk towards the parking lot. Then she turned and was immediately engulfed in Marcus’s arms.

“Are you okay?” When she just nodded, he pushed back and gently moved her sleeves up her arms. When she looked, she noticed red rings around both of them where Tyler’s hands had grabbed her. “I’ll kill him…” Marcus moved to follow the man to the parking garage.

“Don’t, son.” Her father shocked her by putting a hand on his shoulder. “I’ve kicked him where it counts.” He shook his head and frowned down at the marks on her arms. “Unless Shelly wants to file charges?”

Shelly shook her head. She just wanted it all to be over with.

“Let’s get you inside,” Roman said, taking her arm gently. “You must be freezing out here without a coat.”

She hadn’t even realized that she was shivering. Nodding her head, she allowed Marcus and Roman to lead her inside while her parents followed them.

“Do you want some water?” Roman asked.

She shook her head no, and rubbed her hands together. Marcus walked over and yanked one of the new sweaters off a hanger and set it gently over her shoulders. “Put your arms through this to warm up.”

“Marcus, this is a…” She started to object to using a sweater that was for sale in her own store.