What the hell did he do to her?
“Gracie.” I turn to look her in the eyes. “Did he hurt you?”
“No. Not physically.”
Jesus. Is she not over him? I’m almost afraid to ask. “Then what?”
“He was a bum. He told me he worked in construction. Never had any money. Didn’t own a suit to go anywhere nice.” Her voice is tremulous. Her body quaking as if she were standing in a foot of snow naked.
“He was always taking trips on someone else’s dime. When we broke up, he packed up most of my things, including my car, and left me with nothing but debt and that ridiculous excuse for a truck you found me with on the side of the road that day.”
My ire continues to boil the more she speaks. He’s clad in a nice suit and tie, sipping what appears to be scotch while the man next to him is chatting up a young blonde. I can’t make out his friend, as his back is to us. Yet I’m assuming it’s her ex that has her so rattled. As much as I hate seeing her this way, I need to hear this. If nothingmore, so I can reassure her she’ll never have to deal with the likes of him again.
“I’m sure he figured I’d never have the money to come to a place like this.”
I glance back at her, unable to understand the expression on her face. She doesn’t seem angry. I mean, I know she is. But this is something else entirely.
“I’m sure he didn’t think I’d figure it out.”
“Figure what out?”
“The guy he’s with. That’s Victor. The photographer.”
I do a double take. My eyes narrow.
That motherfucker.
Grace
Humiliation settledinto my very bones on the drive home. There was no sense trying to salvage the evening. My appetite plummeted the moment I saw the two of them together and the horror that is my life came into focus.
This situation with the photos wasn’t the universe conspiring against me.
It was Brad.AndVictor.
Seeing them together made it all click into place in the ugliest way possible. Like someone finally shined a light on all of the dark corners. All of those places where I’d felt eyes upon me.
Brad didn’t just disappear. He waited and watched in the shadows. And once he realized how thin my life had worn, how frayed everything had become, he must’ve decided the timing was finally right. Convincing Victor to make his move. To dangle an offer in front of a girl who was already standing on shifting ground.
I was an easy mark.
Ben never once made a scene. Not even when I could feel myself shrinking into his side. Instead, he gathered me closer, angling his body toward mine like a shield. Instead of retaliation, his attentionwas so fully on me it felt like he was trying to block the world out with his presence alone.
He murmured reassurances into my ear, promises he’d already given at the altar. That he’ll take care of everything, that he won’t let anyone hurt me. And somehow that made the tears sting even more.
Because he shouldn’t have to. No husband should start his married life off this way. With everything on his plate right now, he doesn’t need this.
Thankfully he left to meet his friends, claiming he was eager to share our impulsive nuptials with them. But I know the truth. My new husband was trying to give me what I needed. The space to lick my wounds.
I’m grateful for the quiet. For the ability to fall apart where no one can see me do it. Even this beautiful, loving, supportive man who asked me to be his forever Valentine.
I curl into myself on the edge of the bed and finally let the sobs come, pressing my sleeve to my mouth like it might keep the sound from escaping. This isn’t me. I’m not the girl who folds into herself when life gets hard. I’m a dust yourself off and get back to it kinda girl.
I think about the day I danced around my nearly empty apartment while Kelly Clarkson belted outStronger, my fists punching the air, my heart pounding with the certainty I was going to be okay. I held my head high. I believed in my own resilience.
But knowing I was watched, that I’d been targeted, knocks the wind out of my sails.
Sniffling, I bitterly swipe the tears from my face, staring off into space. I’ve tried so hard. So damn hard. And still I always feel like I’m one wrong step from losing everything. Like the world isn’t quite solid beneath my feet.
