Actually, they were, but I didn’t have a gun. Just lethal anger pumping through my veins.
“AJ, what are you doing here?” Bess called from the porch.
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe looking for you? After all, we were dating, getting to know each other real well, and then you dropped me like a hot potato. Kind of like it looks you’re about to do with your dog.”
My words dripped with venom, and my muscles were tense from anger. A thick cloud of negative energy circled me that even I could sense.
“Um, I don’t know what you mean. I’m not dropping Brooks and I didn’t drop you. And I have company, so I don’t feel comfortable discussing this right now,” she answered back.
I’d made it up the front steps by now, and I didn’t care that she hadcompany.
“Hey, I’m AJ.” I stuck my hand out to the other woman, who was much older than Bess. Probably mid-fifties, and wearing a WildFlower housekeeping uniform.
“May,” she said quietly, holding Brooks on his leash.
The dog’s butt wriggled on the porch as his tail wagged for me. At least someone was happy to see me. I bent over and scratched him on top of his head.
Clearing my throat, trying to dislodge the lump that had formed, I said, “May, would you mind giving Bess and me a sec?”
She nodded as I took Bess by the arm, only just noticing she was in her waitress uniform and not her usual jeans and sweater. Breathing deeply, I noted she smelled like potatoes au gratin and whiskey. I should have realized this woman had been at work since six o’clock this morning serving food to less-than-appreciative people.
But I didn’t. I couldn’t.
After pulling her aside, I said, “Bess, what the hell are you doing? Why are you avoiding me? What are you doing with your dog?”
“AJ, I told you. This was going too quick for me. I’m overwhelmed, and it’s all too hard to figure out. Balancing who we are as friends and lovers—with you being my sponsor—it doesn’t work for me. I needed you as a support, and now I’m feeling that loss. Since I need some space, I’m going away for a few days, and May is watching Brooks.”
She waved her hands between the two of us the whole time she talked about that balancing bullshit, finally letting them fall at her side before dropping the real bomb.
“Away?” I roared into the night.
Now I’d gone and done it. She backed up a step.
“You’re scaring me, AJ.”
Reining in my emotions, I reached out with a gentle touch to her arm. “I’m sorry, Bess, but you caught me by surprise. Where are you going? When were you going to tell me?”
She focused her brown eyes on me, soft with emotion, and said, “Florida, for a few days of rest and relaxation. I was going to text you tonight. I apologize, AJ, but I need this. I need to get my head on straight.”
I spun around, stamping my foot on the ground, finally landing back face-to-face with her and replied, “This is fucked, and you know it. If you’re holding a grudge about Christmas Day, I said I was sorry. You said you accepted that! Now, you’re hauling off to Florida? By yourself?”
“It’s not that. I just need to figure some stuff out.”
She averted her eyes and slipped past me as she said, “I have to go say good-bye to my dog and pack. I’ll call you when I get back, and we can talk, okay?”
It didn’t escape me that she’d completely ignored my question about whether she was traveling solo. My temper popped another notch higher.
“No, that’s not okay, but you don’t leave me much choice,” I said before walking back to my truck and kicking the door before opening it.
I sped away for the second time from Bess, wondering if she ever watched me drive away.
Even once.
